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Walk Me Home: Dating a Monster Girl - Part 13 - Eyescraper
2024.05.18 23:29 The-Mr-E Walk Me Home: Dating a Monster Girl - Part 13 - Eyescraper
SYNOPSIS: Walking your OP monster girlfriend home is easy. No one messes with you. Getting back to your house on your own? That's the tricky part.
What's worse than an eldritch building? How 'bout a bigger one?
First Previous (See NEXT>> in comments)
Chapter Cover Art (From Mood Writing Sample)
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Norman took one look at the towering building to his left. Then he took off.
.
.
The new hunting cry boomed through his body. It was much louder than the first building’s, albeit shorter, like a tap on the shoulder from a titan proclaiming its presence to the world.
Of course, the tap of a titan could flatten a man.
Norman fell. His legs had simply stopped working. Jaws clenched, he forced his will into wobbly muscles. His palms slammed into the waterlogged street, stopping the fall. With a sharp push, he sprang back to his feet and ran on.
Norman yanked out the remaining two flash grenades on the go, strung them together, armed and drew back for a throw.
.
.
.
That quick boom pounded through him. His fingers faltered. The flash grenades slipped from his grip and fell. He was still recovering from the sound when they went off at his feet. The nightsight filtered the flash, so he didn’t go blind. He’d gutted the flash grenade’s speakers, so he didn’t go deaf. The peeping building could deafen him all on its own … no, this wasn’t a peeping building. He’d slew a peeping building. They were small fries by comparison.
This was an eyescraper.
Tentacles the width of busses unsheathed from its sides. Even if he’d managed to launch the grenades and bathe it in smitelight, he suspected that wouldn’t be enough.
Norman sliced at its eyes with a focused beam. It barely flinched. Maybe if it got close enough, he could affect it a bit. By then, it would be too late.
Throbbing chuffs thundered from the monster. It sounded like a laugh.
Norman shot it a defiant glare. He bolted. Not fast enough. He could feel the giant closing in. So, he moved faster. Then faster, and still faster. His muscles blared their warnings. Rain lashed his face. He felt the air begin to resist his movements as he reached a speed at which it mattered. It was in his way, so he pushed through it too. No one was there to tell him he was moving far faster than any human known to history. All he cared about was hearing that thing fall behind him, and so it did. The tremours of its tremendous movements grew fainter.
At the end of the street, an apartment building came into view. Norman threw himself against it, climbing with the reckless abandon of a madman. He was halfway to the top.
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His grip went limp. He fell. Struck the ground. His head bounced. The world grew fu...z z y.
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W
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“̸̼͔̖̜̫͍͚̊́̽͆̓̂̋̋͐̕Ģ̴̢͕͉̯̺̗̖͔͙̪͓̻̯̫̭̙̱͕̠̭̩̌M̸̨̧̘̟̹̖̻̲͍̭͓͉̰͙̦̣̜͉̻̎̅͗̇̈́̈̏͌̓̾̀̈̈́͜M̵̢̢̖̯̦͍͕̝̯̥̹̪̠̥̰̝̖̊͛̀̇͜!̵̢̡̡͚͕̘̟͕̥̦̪͆̈́̿͆!̴̛̹͈̜̥͔̬͎̪̩͚̦̯̟̘̩̰̳̍̑̂́̌͌̎́̒͋̽̿̑͌͝͝!̴̛̥͕̪͂̂̂̈̓͆͗̇̄̈́̌̅̎͂̕̚̕͝͠”̷̧̧̛̠̝̰̞̘͙̥̖͎̭̞̜̳̟̓͆̌̊̃̔́͒͋̇̈́͘̚͠͝ͅ
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Oh, right. There was a skyscraper running him down. To think he lived in a world where that made any sense. He rubbed his throbbing head. It was hard to think, though.
In two twos he jumped onto the side of the building and kept going up and up without breaking the momentum of the leap. Adrenaline had challenged gravity. Gravity lost. There was no pause to assess handholds. There was no rain stinging his face. In his mind, there was only ‘CLIMB, CLIMB, CLIMB!’ Crest the rooftop. ‘RUN, RUN, RUN!’ Descend the other side ‘JUMP!’ Gravity greedily reclaimed Norman, dragging him 4 storeys down at breakneck speed. He hit the ground in a parkour roll. Bruised a bone. Nearly fractured a shoulder. Wrenched his spine. Joints, muscle, ligaments almost popped. They didn’t.
He was running again.
Norman had never heard a building shred like paper. He’d never thought to wonder what it sounded like.
*( ( BMMM! ) ) ( ( BMM! ) ) ( ( BOOM! ) ) *
Those booms … was it the eyescraper’s tentacles breaking the sound barrier, or punching holes through the apartment building? Maybe both. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that it was tearing the building in two with the ease of one parting curtains. Buildings were not designed to be parted. Two became legions as the sundered building collapsed.
Norman rushed for an abandoned truck, slid beneath the trailer. Not quite fast enough. Most of the rubble didn’t reach him directly, but upon hitting the ground? It pulverised into a blast of cloud like a sandstorm. Hissing beneath the trailer, the dust stung at his ankles. He ignored it, racing for the truck’s cabin at the front. Perched on the step beneath the door, he braced as the dust raced beneath, around and above him. The cabin was his shield. He flinched to a duck when its windows shattered as the dust cloud blasted straight through them. The truck rocked and slid slightly, bombarded by wind and dust. It lurched as a chunk of debris finally reached it, crumpling the trailer like cheap foil.
Time to move.
Particles prickled Norman’s eyes, finding their way through the nightsight. He took a fresh glimpse of the path ahead before clouds of grey engulfed it all.
Memorised.
He dashed on. A split second later, the cabin was levelled under a larger slab of concrete. More sporadically thundered down around him. His eyes were squeezed shut, denying entry to any more particles. He scrambled through the street, dodging obstacles from memory. As for the concrete rainfall that couldn’t be seen? He had some prayers about that, but it probably came out like half-baked gibberish.
Norman chanced opening his eyes. They watered like crazy. At least most of the dust was gone. Behind him, the eyescraper’s menacing silhouette was picking through the rubble. Finally, an unblocked street was in sight. He rounded the corner.
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“̵̨̢̮͕̻̲̺́͠G̵̣̒́̓̽̅̊͘͝Ọ̷̝̣͓͙͔̀ͅͅǪ̷̜̺͚̲̯̭̈́̍͂͑̋̋̅͂̅́M̷̨̤̭͈̯̤͋̾̏̈̅̉̀̏͘M̵̡̢̙̱͌̊̓͒́͌Ḿ̸̳͗̀̀͐͒͗́͠ͅ!̷͍͉̣̪̫͙̳̲̤̎̀̾̅̈́̔̎̑͘͜͝͝!̴̨͈͖̘̖̅͛̋̽͠!̸͎̩͓̫̥̼̫̊”̵̫̗̞̣̝̃̅̕͘͜͜͝ͅ
.
Another peeping building, rumbling in from the new street. Alright. Straight it was.
.
“̷̢̧̻̹͚͔̾G̵̳̭̾̃̎̍̌̂̈́̂͛͘M̶̧̠͇͔͚͉̮͈̰͒͊́̏̔̄̾̊͐̒͂͜M̸̳͓̋͋̔͑̔̔̕͝Ő̷͓̟̱̮͓̍̂̾̽̇͘͠Ô̸̧̫͉̮͚̥̥̯̈̾͋̅͂͘̚M̶̢̫̥̰̮̪͙̬̙̗̺̽͒͐͌̋̈̄͆͝M̴̢̧̧̛̗͔͓̫̭̳̱͑̉!̵̡̛̛͍̲̓̅̑̈́̿̏͘̕͠!̸̧̖͔̣̩̏́͋̀͛͂̏̀̇̑͐!̴̧͕̝̮̤̱͈̬͋”̸͓̉̈́̑̎͊̌
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Maybe not. A third building emerged from the rainfall ahead. All streets blocked. He glanced about. All alleys still blocked. This really was a hunting net, but this much energy for a tiny human? Predators weren’t usually like this.
He ran for the nearest building that wasn’t occupied by eldritch calamari.
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Norman came to. Rain poured against his face as he lay on his back. How long was he out? Why was it so cold? The atmosphere didn’t quite feel right. It didn’t look right either. Something about the colours, or subtle lack thereof. Everything seemed a bit desaturated. Norman sat up and coughed his lungs out, evicting a mix of dust and rain water collected in his slackly gaping mouth. Buildings towered above him on every side, a bit too close for comfort.
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“̸̮̼͍̻̯̲̹͓̬̻̓̍G̷̛̖̙̰̰̟̓Ḿ̸̧̨͊̊̔͒͌̆͆͘͠͝M̷̧̺̏̿̆͑͆͋̅͌̕͝G̵̰̺͇̺̯̲͇̠͖͂͜M̸̡̨͕̹̗̥̎͑́̾!̸͇͙͚̝̩͕̙̒!̵͙̬̮̪̏̍!̶͔̪͉̙̘̃̐̄͝”̶̡̡̥̫̻̝̜̫͙̩͛ͅ
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Oh, right, those weren’t just buildings.
Norman raised a finger, gesturing to wait. “Could you *kaff!* quit subwoofin’ at me for, like, ten seconds!”
“Plucky.̵͚͐͝ for all seasons I .̵̦̺͐̅see,” came a skin-crawling voice from behind him.
Norman swung back his smitelight. It barely moved half a foot, then it stopped. Rather, something stopped it. That ‘something’ was cold. So cold. His wrist felt the chill without even touching it.
Norman turned, slowly, so as not to trigger further attacks. He found himself looking up.
Eight feet tall. Dark grey skin. A grin that went a little too wide. Dagger teeth. An open-chested jacket, revealing sinewy muscles with luminous markings like tattoos. His ebony eyes bore penetrating white pupils. Of all his traits, the dreadlocks stood out most. They belonged in a nightmare, dancing through the air with a life of their own. Somehow, they looked blacker than black, absorbing every ray of light or heat that came their way. That icy chill in the air shifted with the movements of his dreadlocks. They seemed to drink life from the air itself. Norman almost found it hard to breathe. One dreadlock clutched Norman’s smitelight, only by the tip, but its grip was iron.
Norman stared the tall man down.
The nyctal’s grin grew by a smidgeon.
Taking a calculated risk, Norman released the smitelight. Perhaps a peace offering would do good.
“Good.̷̧͋͌̎̿ boy,” the tall man nodded, admiring the smitelight as the dreadlock rotated it. “Clever.̴̧̤̩͈͓̖͂ͅ toy.”
Norman noted an understated Jamaican accent in his voice.
More dreadlocks slithered across the smitelight, as if tasting its every nook and cranny.
Norman did his best to look casual as he scanned for an escape route. The eyescraper’s tentacles had wrapped around the street, fencing him in.
“Your fanbase has peculiar tastes,” purred the tall man.
Norman’s suspicious gaze flicked between the nyctal and the weapon. Finally, he reached out and took hold of the smitelight.
It crumbled in his fingers like ice-cold ashes. If not for the insulation gloves, he might have gotten frostbite.
The nyctal laughed.
Norman didn’t find it particularly amusing.
The tall man sauntered towards the eyescraper. Beyond it was a darkness even the nightsight had difficulty piercing. He beckoned Norman as if it were an afterthought.
“Please come in, .̵̭̻͌̓̂Norman.̶̲͕͇̅̑̚,” the nyctal instructed.
Norman stared stubbornly, hands in his pockets as he rocked on his heels. He felt for his smartphone. It wasn’t there. When had he lost it?
Without looking back, the nyctal held up Norman’s phone. It disintegrated between his fingers as he rubbed them together.
Norman glared. At least the guy hadn’t pickpocketed deeply enough to find other things.
“Hey. To whom do I owe the … pleasure?” Norman almost had to push the last word through his teeth.
The nyctal stopped in the eyescraper’s doorframe. Shrouded in shadow, little could be seen of him, save the piercing white pupils peering out. Then the glint of his Cheshire grin.
“.̴̜͓̭̻̤̍̈́̆͑͑John Crow.̸̻̮̓̈́̏̓͘,” he answered, before receding into the darkness.
The eyescraper’s tentacles dragged in across the street, corralling Norman towards the building. With an exasperated groan, he trudged towards the main entrance.
“I want my bed,” grumbled Norman.
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First Previous (See NEXT>> in comments)
submitted by The-Mr-E to HFY [link] [comments]
What's worse than an eldritch building? How 'bout a bigger one?
First Previous (See NEXT>> in comments)
Chapter Cover Art (From Mood Writing Sample)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Norman took one look at the towering building to his left. Then he took off.
.
.
“̷̵̵̷̶̷̶̶̸̶̶̸̴̡̛̮͉̹̪̼̙̤̲̤͔̗̮̥̣̜͓̟̞̃̔̈́̑̈̍͌̂̂̐̋͛̉̓G̵̶̸̷̴̸̵̵̴̶̸̷̸̴̶̨̢̧̞͈̠̜̳̪͎̬̜̱̫͚̝̩̑̒͐́͆̃̿̉̆̉̃̓̀̎̐͂̎̒̕̕͘͝͝Ǵ̷̷̷̴̸̸̷̷̷̷̵̨̢̞̥͓̰͖͙̰̝͖̩̺͍͎͉͌̽̂́͐̓̀͒̐͗́M̴̷̶̵̴̷̵̶̵̴̷̷̢̡̧̢̛̫̲͕͇̗̯͚̥͙͓͓̀̒͑͒̂̊̅̐͛̂̄͌̈̚͝M̴̷̶̵̴̷̷̶̷̬̼̭̗͍̺̳̩̱͍̂̄̾͂̔̽̇̀͝͝͝͠M̶̯̙̥͕̞̰̗̗͐̔!̸̞̞̬̼̖̩̈́̇͊͐̾͑͋̉!̷̧͈̘̬̆͑͝!̶̤̜̔̓̆̅̔͆͘͝”̸̨̧̼̭̫̒͜
.The new hunting cry boomed through his body. It was much louder than the first building’s, albeit shorter, like a tap on the shoulder from a titan proclaiming its presence to the world.
Of course, the tap of a titan could flatten a man.
Norman fell. His legs had simply stopped working. Jaws clenched, he forced his will into wobbly muscles. His palms slammed into the waterlogged street, stopping the fall. With a sharp push, he sprang back to his feet and ran on.
Norman yanked out the remaining two flash grenades on the go, strung them together, armed and drew back for a throw.
.
.
“̷̬̳̙̍̎̆G̴̥͇̥͔͕̫̈̀M̵̛͇̜͙͇̫͔̭̩̝̜̓̈̏̓̓̀͛̚͜͝͝M̷̩͈͉̘͙̿͌̃̽͂̃̏̏̓̾̈́͌̈́̉̅̄̉͘!̷̢̧̢̤͓̭̖̝̏̏̄̓̾̉̆͋͘͝!̵͍̱̼̮̯̺̲͙̖̮̗͓̻̓̊͂̒̔͐̎͘͘̚!̵̙͍̟̌͒̃͂̎͠”̶̡̛̠̱̭̞̹̟͉̒̎̎̂͂̐̈́̓̄̚̕
..
That quick boom pounded through him. His fingers faltered. The flash grenades slipped from his grip and fell. He was still recovering from the sound when they went off at his feet. The nightsight filtered the flash, so he didn’t go blind. He’d gutted the flash grenade’s speakers, so he didn’t go deaf. The peeping building could deafen him all on its own … no, this wasn’t a peeping building. He’d slew a peeping building. They were small fries by comparison.
This was an eyescraper.
Tentacles the width of busses unsheathed from its sides. Even if he’d managed to launch the grenades and bathe it in smitelight, he suspected that wouldn’t be enough.
Norman sliced at its eyes with a focused beam. It barely flinched. Maybe if it got close enough, he could affect it a bit. By then, it would be too late.
Throbbing chuffs thundered from the monster. It sounded like a laugh.
Norman shot it a defiant glare. He bolted. Not fast enough. He could feel the giant closing in. So, he moved faster. Then faster, and still faster. His muscles blared their warnings. Rain lashed his face. He felt the air begin to resist his movements as he reached a speed at which it mattered. It was in his way, so he pushed through it too. No one was there to tell him he was moving far faster than any human known to history. All he cared about was hearing that thing fall behind him, and so it did. The tremours of its tremendous movements grew fainter.
At the end of the street, an apartment building came into view. Norman threw himself against it, climbing with the reckless abandon of a madman. He was halfway to the top.
.
.
“̷̧̨̭̹̘̥̮͖̤̻̥̬̌̀͒̔͌̊̀̚͜͜͠Ǧ̶̨̨̧̺̘̰̗̘̥̝̗̦̩͖͎͋̈͑͐̒̽̉̔͛̾̒́̕ͅM̴̨̉́̾̉͂͆̔̿̀̃̇̎̍͆̂̽͗̔͘͠ͅM̷̝̻̱̆̍͜!̴̮̬̯̮̦̖́͂̆͋̿̇̎̄̄̅̂͑̎̀̕͘͝͝͝!̸̲͎̲̼̠̮̱͖̥̭̤̩͓̘̜͈̟̖̮̰̦͖̀̂͗͂̽̈́̋͌͂̐̓̈̕!̸̜̆̿̋̔̽̕”̷̢̦̜̰̼̳̝͓̆͗̈́̆̆̑̃̾͑̀͗͒͆́͐͒̈́̿̽̕̕͜
..
His grip went limp. He fell. Struck the ground. His head bounced. The world grew fu...z z y.
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_CHAT
- LEMMY.OUTA.HERE: (Stupse) Well, he ded.
- BAJANETTE11: ARN74, JUST GO AND FIND HIM!!!
- ARN74: HE DIDN’T SEND ME DE PIN! DIS BAAARE STRESS! NORMAN, YOU PUNK! YOU EMOTIONALLY INVESTED ME IN THIS CHANNEL! IF YOU DIE NOW I’M GONNA KILL YOU!
_CHAT
- ARN74: YOU PROMISED ME YOU WOULDN’T LEAVE AMY!!
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“̸̼͔̖̜̫͍͚̊́̽͆̓̂̋̋͐̕Ģ̴̢͕͉̯̺̗̖͔͙̪͓̻̯̫̭̙̱͕̠̭̩̌M̸̨̧̘̟̹̖̻̲͍̭͓͉̰͙̦̣̜͉̻̎̅͗̇̈́̈̏͌̓̾̀̈̈́͜M̵̢̢̖̯̦͍͕̝̯̥̹̪̠̥̰̝̖̊͛̀̇͜!̵̢̡̡͚͕̘̟͕̥̦̪͆̈́̿͆!̴̛̹͈̜̥͔̬͎̪̩͚̦̯̟̘̩̰̳̍̑̂́̌͌̎́̒͋̽̿̑͌͝͝!̴̛̥͕̪͂̂̂̈̓͆͗̇̄̈́̌̅̎͂̕̚̕͝͠”̷̧̧̛̠̝̰̞̘͙̥̖͎̭̞̜̳̟̓͆̌̊̃̔́͒͋̇̈́͘̚͠͝ͅ
.
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Oh, right. There was a skyscraper running him down. To think he lived in a world where that made any sense. He rubbed his throbbing head. It was hard to think, though.
_CHAT
- ARN74: TRY AN CLIMB DE TING OPPA!
In two twos he jumped onto the side of the building and kept going up and up without breaking the momentum of the leap. Adrenaline had challenged gravity. Gravity lost. There was no pause to assess handholds. There was no rain stinging his face. In his mind, there was only ‘CLIMB, CLIMB, CLIMB!’ Crest the rooftop. ‘RUN, RUN, RUN!’ Descend the other side ‘JUMP!’ Gravity greedily reclaimed Norman, dragging him 4 storeys down at breakneck speed. He hit the ground in a parkour roll. Bruised a bone. Nearly fractured a shoulder. Wrenched his spine. Joints, muscle, ligaments almost popped. They didn’t.
He was running again.
Norman had never heard a building shred like paper. He’d never thought to wonder what it sounded like.
*( ( BMMM! ) ) ( ( BMM! ) ) ( ( BOOM! ) ) *
SHHHHHRRRRRRMMMM!
Now he knew.Those booms … was it the eyescraper’s tentacles breaking the sound barrier, or punching holes through the apartment building? Maybe both. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that it was tearing the building in two with the ease of one parting curtains. Buildings were not designed to be parted. Two became legions as the sundered building collapsed.
Norman rushed for an abandoned truck, slid beneath the trailer. Not quite fast enough. Most of the rubble didn’t reach him directly, but upon hitting the ground? It pulverised into a blast of cloud like a sandstorm. Hissing beneath the trailer, the dust stung at his ankles. He ignored it, racing for the truck’s cabin at the front. Perched on the step beneath the door, he braced as the dust raced beneath, around and above him. The cabin was his shield. He flinched to a duck when its windows shattered as the dust cloud blasted straight through them. The truck rocked and slid slightly, bombarded by wind and dust. It lurched as a chunk of debris finally reached it, crumpling the trailer like cheap foil.
Time to move.
Particles prickled Norman’s eyes, finding their way through the nightsight. He took a fresh glimpse of the path ahead before clouds of grey engulfed it all.
Memorised.
He dashed on. A split second later, the cabin was levelled under a larger slab of concrete. More sporadically thundered down around him. His eyes were squeezed shut, denying entry to any more particles. He scrambled through the street, dodging obstacles from memory. As for the concrete rainfall that couldn’t be seen? He had some prayers about that, but it probably came out like half-baked gibberish.
Norman chanced opening his eyes. They watered like crazy. At least most of the dust was gone. Behind him, the eyescraper’s menacing silhouette was picking through the rubble. Finally, an unblocked street was in sight. He rounded the corner.
.
“̵̨̢̮͕̻̲̺́͠G̵̣̒́̓̽̅̊͘͝Ọ̷̝̣͓͙͔̀ͅͅǪ̷̜̺͚̲̯̭̈́̍͂͑̋̋̅͂̅́M̷̨̤̭͈̯̤͋̾̏̈̅̉̀̏͘M̵̡̢̙̱͌̊̓͒́͌Ḿ̸̳͗̀̀͐͒͗́͠ͅ!̷͍͉̣̪̫͙̳̲̤̎̀̾̅̈́̔̎̑͘͜͝͝!̴̨͈͖̘̖̅͛̋̽͠!̸͎̩͓̫̥̼̫̊”̵̫̗̞̣̝̃̅̕͘͜͜͝ͅ
.
Another peeping building, rumbling in from the new street. Alright. Straight it was.
.
“̷̢̧̻̹͚͔̾G̵̳̭̾̃̎̍̌̂̈́̂͛͘M̶̧̠͇͔͚͉̮͈̰͒͊́̏̔̄̾̊͐̒͂͜M̸̳͓̋͋̔͑̔̔̕͝Ő̷͓̟̱̮͓̍̂̾̽̇͘͠Ô̸̧̫͉̮͚̥̥̯̈̾͋̅͂͘̚M̶̢̫̥̰̮̪͙̬̙̗̺̽͒͐͌̋̈̄͆͝M̴̢̧̧̛̗͔͓̫̭̳̱͑̉!̵̡̛̛͍̲̓̅̑̈́̿̏͘̕͠!̸̧̖͔̣̩̏́͋̀͛͂̏̀̇̑͐!̴̧͕̝̮̤̱͈̬͋”̸͓̉̈́̑̎͊̌
.
Maybe not. A third building emerged from the rainfall ahead. All streets blocked. He glanced about. All alleys still blocked. This really was a hunting net, but this much energy for a tiny human? Predators weren’t usually like this.
He ran for the nearest building that wasn’t occupied by eldritch calamari.
( ( BOOMM! ) )
The eyescraper’s tentacle crossed his path. Its supersonic shockwave sent him flying..
.
.
.
.
.
Norman came to. Rain poured against his face as he lay on his back. How long was he out? Why was it so cold? The atmosphere didn’t quite feel right. It didn’t look right either. Something about the colours, or subtle lack thereof. Everything seemed a bit desaturated. Norman sat up and coughed his lungs out, evicting a mix of dust and rain water collected in his slackly gaping mouth. Buildings towered above him on every side, a bit too close for comfort.
.
“̸̮̼͍̻̯̲̹͓̬̻̓̍G̷̛̖̙̰̰̟̓Ḿ̸̧̨͊̊̔͒͌̆͆͘͠͝M̷̧̺̏̿̆͑͆͋̅͌̕͝G̵̰̺͇̺̯̲͇̠͖͂͜M̸̡̨͕̹̗̥̎͑́̾!̸͇͙͚̝̩͕̙̒!̵͙̬̮̪̏̍!̶͔̪͉̙̘̃̐̄͝”̶̡̡̥̫̻̝̜̫͙̩͛ͅ
.
Oh, right, those weren’t just buildings.
Norman raised a finger, gesturing to wait. “Could you *kaff!* quit subwoofin’ at me for, like, ten seconds!”
“Plucky.̵͚͐͝ for all seasons I .̵̦̺͐̅see,” came a skin-crawling voice from behind him.
Norman swung back his smitelight. It barely moved half a foot, then it stopped. Rather, something stopped it. That ‘something’ was cold. So cold. His wrist felt the chill without even touching it.
Norman turned, slowly, so as not to trigger further attacks. He found himself looking up.
Eight feet tall. Dark grey skin. A grin that went a little too wide. Dagger teeth. An open-chested jacket, revealing sinewy muscles with luminous markings like tattoos. His ebony eyes bore penetrating white pupils. Of all his traits, the dreadlocks stood out most. They belonged in a nightmare, dancing through the air with a life of their own. Somehow, they looked blacker than black, absorbing every ray of light or heat that came their way. That icy chill in the air shifted with the movements of his dreadlocks. They seemed to drink life from the air itself. Norman almost found it hard to breathe. One dreadlock clutched Norman’s smitelight, only by the tip, but its grip was iron.
Norman stared the tall man down.
The nyctal’s grin grew by a smidgeon.
Taking a calculated risk, Norman released the smitelight. Perhaps a peace offering would do good.
“Good.̷̧͋͌̎̿ boy,” the tall man nodded, admiring the smitelight as the dreadlock rotated it. “Clever.̴̧̤̩͈͓̖͂ͅ toy.”
Norman noted an understated Jamaican accent in his voice.
More dreadlocks slithered across the smitelight, as if tasting its every nook and cranny.
Norman did his best to look casual as he scanned for an escape route. The eyescraper’s tentacles had wrapped around the street, fencing him in.
_CHAT
- BAJANETTE11: 😳
- DARCIE222: okay, i’m back
- HARD-BACK-M8N: who you is again?
- DARCIE222: i left after the twilight angel sleep paralysis
- LEMMY_OUTA_HERE: And you’re back for more?
- DARCIE222: wonna know it impossible to stay away from a channel like dis
_CHAT
- DARCIE222: 😲 WHO IS THAT?!? AND WHY IS HE KIND OF …??? 😍
- MUNSTER-VERSER: I KNOW!!!
- BAJANETTE11: HE LIKE A VAMPIRE RASTA MAN! ❤❤❤
- ENTO_MOLLY: MOVE OVER MIGUEL O’HARA!! 😍🥰😘
- BAJANETTE11: NORMAN ASK FOR HE NUMBER!!!
- NORMAN: I HERE ABOUT TO DIE AND WONNA WANT HE PHONE NUMBER!?!
“Your fanbase has peculiar tastes,” purred the tall man.
_CHAT
- ENTO_MOLLY: 😳 Is … he talking about us? HE CAN SEE THE CHAT???
- DARCIE222: THE WAY HE SAID IT!!!
- DARCIE222: HBVJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJKL;K''
- LEMMY_OUTA_HERE: Did she just pass out on the keyboard?
- LIKKLE-BOY: lol!
- ARN74: you’re simping. Norman’s about to die, and you’re simping
Norman’s suspicious gaze flicked between the nyctal and the weapon. Finally, he reached out and took hold of the smitelight.
It crumbled in his fingers like ice-cold ashes. If not for the insulation gloves, he might have gotten frostbite.
The nyctal laughed.
Norman didn’t find it particularly amusing.
The tall man sauntered towards the eyescraper. Beyond it was a darkness even the nightsight had difficulty piercing. He beckoned Norman as if it were an afterthought.
“Please come in, .̵̭̻͌̓̂Norman.̶̲͕͇̅̑̚,” the nyctal instructed.
Norman stared stubbornly, hands in his pockets as he rocked on his heels. He felt for his smartphone. It wasn’t there. When had he lost it?
Without looking back, the nyctal held up Norman’s phone. It disintegrated between his fingers as he rubbed them together.
Norman glared. At least the guy hadn’t pickpocketed deeply enough to find other things.
“Hey. To whom do I owe the … pleasure?” Norman almost had to push the last word through his teeth.
The nyctal stopped in the eyescraper’s doorframe. Shrouded in shadow, little could be seen of him, save the piercing white pupils peering out. Then the glint of his Cheshire grin.
“.̴̜͓̭̻̤̍̈́̆͑͑John Crow.̸̻̮̓̈́̏̓͘,” he answered, before receding into the darkness.
The eyescraper’s tentacles dragged in across the street, corralling Norman towards the building. With an exasperated groan, he trudged towards the main entrance.
“I want my bed,” grumbled Norman.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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2024.05.18 23:24 downbytheriver42069 Bridesmaid Accessory Help
 | Hey everyone! I’m in my first wedding in October this month. I need some help with ideas for accessories. Bride said we could each choose what we like. submitted by downbytheriver42069 to Weddingattireapproval [link] [comments] I’m looking for black platform sandals to wear instead of heels. The skirt will have a slit out in so it has more movement. What color nail polish should I wear? What about necklace and earrings? (I have medium length hair with bangs and it will be up day of since weather will be warm) Thanks for your input! :) |
2024.05.18 23:02 Klokinator The Cryopod to Hell 560: Ancient Domains
Author note: The Cryopod to Hell is a Reddit-exclusive story with over three years of editing and refining. As of this post, the total rewrite is 2,182,000+ words long! For more information, check out the link below:
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(Previous Part)
(Part 001)
"Hell yeah, I wanna go exploring." Jason says to Calanthra with a smile. "How do we navigate around Ripspace though? Traveling to other galaxies is going to take billions of years, right? Surely, there's a shortcut."
"Ripspace is not as it seems." Calanthra explains, gesturing grandly to the epic sight before them. "It is a connection between the past and the present; the near and far. The further away or the further back you want to travel, the higher the price you will have to pay."
Jason's smile vanishes. "Wait... you can use Ripspace to travel back in time?!"
"No." Calanthra clarifies. "Time is linear. We cannot travel through it. Some can slow it down or speed it up. A rare few can even pause it for a short while. But moving forward and backward is impossible. Countless have attempted to do so over the eons, but all have failed."
She looks at Jason meaningfully. "Many Rulers would wipe out galaxies if it might let them obtain such a power. The fact they still haven't proves it is impossible."
Jason nods slowly. "I won't lie. I have a lot of regrets. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and save my daughter from dying."
"Everyone has regrets." Calanthra muses, looking off into the distance. "I have plenty, myself. But it's better this way. There would be pandemonium if time travel ever became possible."
She pauses before continuing with her explanation. "While we cannot go back in time, we can look back into time. Pinpointing exact moments in history is difficult, to say the least, but it is possible to use Ripspace to search for key moments in intergalactic history."
"So it's like a massive seer-stone." Jason muses aloud. "But wait, didn't you imply earlier that you used Ripspace to travel to the Milky Way from Andromeda? How does it allow you to jump between galaxies? Are other species using Ripspace for intergalactic travel?"
"You can indeed use Ripspace to travel to distant reaches of space." Calanthra explains. "But... you have to pay a certain price. Akasha's Barriers still protect every galaxy. Cosmics cannot travel between them easily. Mortals can, but the price we must pay is unimaginably steep. That is also the reason my mother perished not long after arriving in the Milky Way and giving birth to me."
The Fairy Monarch sighs softly.
"My people used the power of Ripspace to travel to several other galaxies. We were fortunate that the Creator had died, allowing us to take up residence here in secret, but the Angels, Titans, and Dragons were still a threat we could not overlook. Later, the Volgrim rose up too, and that was something that worried us for a while. Particularly when their Sentinels began to rapaciously erase the lives of innumerable Sentients."
She waves her hand. "Ultimately, very few galaxies didn't have a Ruler in power. Traveling to one that did meant flipping a coin and praying our people could avoid their gaze. Sadly, time has shown me that we were likely unsuccessful. I have lost contact with all my sisters across the cosmos."
The image of innumerable galaxies floating in the distance changes before Jason's eyes. Calanthra manipulates some unseen power, causing herself and Jason to suddenly materialize directly in front of a beautiful spiral galaxy.
"This is our Milky Way." Calanthra explains, waving her hand to conjure another, far bigger galaxy beside it. "And this is Andromeda."
"Is it just me or does Andromeda seem... brighter?" Jason asks.
"Andromeda contains far more interstellar particles, cosmic energy, and latent magical power than the Milky Way." Calanthra says. "Of course, in the ancient past, it had even more than it does now, but such is the way of entropy and Chaos."
Jason nods. "How exactly do galaxies lose power over time? Doesn't this feel self-defeating in a way?"
"Every Ruler enters the Unending War with a strategy." Calanthra says, motioning with her hands to disperse the galaxies and reveal images of ghostly creatures, some standing on two legs, some on four, and plenty that appear as mere blobs of energy. "I cannot pretend to know the thoughts of such high and mighty beings, especially as I am a mere mortal myself. Even so, I can definitively state that there are Rulers who seek to put as much galactic energy into their initial creations as possible, while others wish to adopt a more energy-efficient growth-model."
She pokes her finger against Jason's chest. "Take the angels and humans, for instance. The Creator poured the vast majority of his power into creating a galaxy full of Apex Cosmics. At their peak, the angels as a whole commanded enough power to flatten other galaxies. But what did they do instead? They fought with one another, killing themselves due to sheer boredom, if not outright ego."
"I see." Jason says, brushing Calanthra's finger away. "So the Creator dumped all the Milky Way's energy into the angels. I take it this is uncommon among Rulers?"
"Of course. It's a wasteful strategy and usually loses Rulers the War for that Eternity." Calanthra says dismissively. "The Timeless used a different strategy. She created the fairies as mere mortals that evolved over time, gaining greater and greater power through their own efforts. This meant that instead of devouring Andromeda's abundant Cosmic energy, they could slowly sap off its excess over time. For you see, the more energy a galaxy has, the more it can produce. If you ration it long enough, you can reap more of it across the duration of an Eternity."
"That makes sense." Jason concludes. "It's like a Rush build in an RTS versus an Economy build. You sacrifice long-term gains in exchange for short-term power. The problem is, with Akasha's Barriers preventing Rulers from attacking their enemies straight away, a Rush build is dumb because you're just wasting your resources and sacrificing Cosmic energy when you'll actually need it."
Calanthra blinks twice. She looks at Jason with a strange expression, then turns away for a moment, trying to understand the strange terms he's used. They mostly make sense, but some of them are a little...
She shakes her head and returns to the topic at hand. "Right. Rush strategy versus Economy. Of... course. Well, in any case, there is one advantage toward the first strategy. If you drain all the energy from your galaxy, it becomes less appealing for other Rulers to attack. Because Andromeda was so large and still filled with Cosmic power even billions of years after the Expansion Era, it stoked the hunger of the Dark Ones. Meanwhile, the Milky Way only needs to deal with the Plague, which is threatening for mortals, but manageable for Cosmics. In that respect, we've gotten off much luckier."
"I get the bigger picture now." Jason says with a nod. He turns to look back at the cosmos before him. "So, what about all this? Are we gonna go exploring, or what?"
"In order to explore the universe presented here, we would need to make sacrifices we cannot afford. I think you would find the price most disagreeable. But there is something we can explore freely..."
She waves her hand, and instantly, the brilliant and beautiful cosmic view of the universe vanishes.
In its place, Jason and Calanthra suddenly appear inside a dead, barren wasteland. Brown and grey dirt rises up in huge dunes stretching off into the distance. Fallen towers made of gold and stone lay on their sides, or stick into the ground, buried nearly up to their tops as they point diagonally toward the sky.
And speaking of the sky, it glows faintly grey, as if some weak, pale imitation of a star were trying to shine through a thin atmosphere clouded by dust and grime. The very air itself smells of sulfur and toxins, making Jason's nose curl up when he takes a breath.
"Ugh... what the hell? Where are we now?" Jason asks, as he turns and looks around at the dead world surrounding him.
"An Ancient Domain." Calanthra says softly. "A remnant of a dead universe. All life stripped away. All hope lost. Septillions of different Sentient species, gone. Their mortals, their Cosmics, reduced to dust by the Contraction."
The Wordsmith frowns. "This Ancient Domain represents a dead universe? But how can that be possible? If the Heat Death played out and all the galaxies faded to cosmic dust, then there already wouldn't be anything left. And then, if the entire universe collapsed into a singularity before exploding again, there definitely wouldn't be anything left behind resembling physical matter."
"You perceive reality through just three dimensions." Calanthra intones. "Time and space can be considered two dimensions. Cosmic Power is another dimension. I must admit I do not understand how Ancient Domains have continued to exist across countless Eternities, and I don't know how they retain a vaguely familiar form... but I can assure you that in spite of bending logic itself, they do exist and they can provide tangible benefits to those dedicated to exploring them."
"You've been exploring them, then?" Jason asks, turning away from the dead world to scrutinize Calanthra's phantasmal image.
"Me, a little. But often, I dispatch my descendants to scour these Ancient Domains for things of value. It may surprise you, but there are powerful artifacts, vengeful spirits, and all manner of other inter-dimensional horrors lurking within these so-called dead-lands."
Calanthra pauses. She shifts her posture to look at Jason deeply.
"And that is why I've brought you here, Jason. It's time for me to get down to the crux of the matter and breach the subject that I find most important."
He nods. "I'm listening."
"It's like this." Calanthra explains. "The Ancient Domains are unfathomably broad. Think of how large a universe is. Think of how many universes have existed. Think of how much space my people have yet to explore."
She pauses.
"The gains we have received have made my people stronger than you would expect. Among those gains are Yredelemnul's Eye and other leftover remnants of power that many dead ancient Rulers lost when their Existences became forfeit. While their tangible Existences may have perished, their spirits sometimes live on in these broad, unending dead universes..."
"That's why you approached me." Jason says, while crossing his arms and leaning on the ball of his heel. "You said you wanted an alliance with humanity. You... want humans to help you explore the Ancient Domains?"
"Trust is hard to come by among mortals, Cosmics, and Rulers." Calanthra says simply. "I never would have considered allying with the humans before, but you have shown me the broadness of your mind during the debate against your clone and the commander of your military. To some, you certainly appear naive, but to me I see an opportunity I would be foolish to ignore."
She continues. "The Fairies cannot reproduce efficiently. Every fairy we send into the Ancient Domain is one less fairy we have among our Empire. We already have a difficult time replenishing our numbers through the remaining Male Fairies, but do you think it is easy for us to reproduce with other species?"
Jason slowly shakes his head. "Blinker and Kar's children were all crocodiles, not fairies. From that, I can only imagine that most of the time, your mating attempts do not create more of yourselves, but instead more non-fairy children."
"That's exactly correct." Calanthra replies. "But that all changed recently when I found out one of your human males somehow spontaneously altered his genetic profile to become a fairy. There is no doubt about it; Samuel Baker harnesses all the capability to reproduce that you humans do, as well as the trueborn powers of any male fairy."
"So... are you seeking a marriage alliance with Samuel Baker?" Jason asks, scratching his head in confusion. "You could just ask him yourself, you know?"
"This is not about one man." Calanthra retorts. "Samuel Baker, if he were to join our ranks, would certainly help us stave off extinction for a while longer. But that is hardly worth all this melodrama and me taking you to the Ancient Domain in person..."
Jason's eyes widen in realization. "I see! You... you're thinking that if my magic could make one male fairy, I could surely make another, and another..."
"Yes, precisely." Calanthra says, revealing a beautiful smile. "Additionally, if humans were to assist us in scouring these Ancient Domains, we could make great gains together. There is plenty of room for another species to join ours in locating powerful artifacts and other items capable of Uplifting us."
"You want to become Cosmics still." Jason muses. "You haven't resigned yourselves to your current fate."
"Quite the opposite." Calanthra says. "The curse placed upon us is unbreakable by those beneath the realm of Ruler. As I said before, the fairies have lost this Eternity's war. However, while we cannot Ascend any longer, that does not mean the humans are subject to the same limitation. If we could groom a human into becoming the Milky Way's Ruler, we could finally break free of our shackles by virtue of having a powerful ally."
She pauses, looking meaningfully at the Wordsmith.
"If the Demons or the Volgrim were to become our Ruler, we would not enjoy such a benefit. At best, we would only maintain the status quo, and at worst, they might eradicate us out of fear of having an unsightly tumor in their midst."
"Haha." Jason laughs. "So you brought me here to show your sincerity. I get it. Well, I'm definitely not opposed to helping you. Blinker is my good friend. If she were to ask me, I'd definitely say yes to just about any request."
Jason turns away. He walks a few feet off to the side and pauses, standing to gaze out at the Ancient Domain and its endlessly rolling plains which stretches off into the infinite distance...
"Here's what I can do." Jason says. "My people are already working on laying out the options for humanity and where our fellow men and women will depart over the next few weeks. Some will travel to Maiura. Some will go to Sharmur. Some will stay on Tarus II. It's no trouble at all to put Pixiv on the list, especially as I was already planning to do that. I even have some other places I'd like to include, too..."
"Such as Camael's Cube?" Calanthra asks with a smile. "Or do you perhaps mean Chrona and Hope's Hall of Heroes?"
Jason nearly jumps out of his skin. He whirls around to look at Calanthra with shock in his eyes. "What?! How do you know about Chrona? How do you also know about where Hope has been hiding?? I don't even know that much!"
"For those who are talented in magic, it is possible to see through many lies and deceptions." Calanthra says calmly, unfazed by the alarm on Jason's face. "Your Spynet Sphere isn't so different from the many options I have at my disposal. I have many means to keep an eye on the galaxy. And while Diablo does not know exactly where or what Chrona is, he certainly knows of its general existence."
Her smile turns cold. "I would advise you not to take Unarin lightly either, Wordsmith. That ancient creature is more capable than you can imagine. He is hiding a great many secrets from the galaxy... secrets he does not know that I am aware of. If he were to learn of the true extent of my information web, I fear that he would dispatch a handful of High Psions to eliminate the fairy species tomorrow."
Calanthra's words truly rock Jason to his core. All along, he assumed the precautions he put on Chrona, precautions that fooled even Hope, would make his hidden dimension impossible to detect.
But how could he be so naive?
As the daughter of an Apex Cosmic, Calanthra must have her means, and that likely means Unarin and Diablo aren't too far behind either.
"Shit." Jason curses, lowering his head as a flicker of anger smolders in his heart. "I was too complacent. Chrona isn't secure, which means it's only a matter of time before more Cosmics learn of its existence. How long before they can find its exact location and invade it?"
"Calm yourself, child." Calanthra says soothingly. "The situation is not that dire. After all, Chrona still exists within a highly accelerated timespace. Any biological entity that wishes to travel there could suffer severe after-effects. Furthermore, the entities born inside will be too adapted to living within a higher dimension, so they won't pose much threat to the creatures of realspace."
She waves her hand. "Let's move on, Jason. I want to discuss other matters before dying of old age."
The Wordsmith cools himself off. He inhales deeply, then returns his attention to her.
"Alright. What next, then?"
"Fairies are not the only Sentients capable of entering Ancient Domains." Calanthra explains. "There are others who rarely appear inside here. That is why exploring these domains can be dangerous. The good news is that Cosmics have little need to enter these barren lands, as most of the heritages, treasures, and other such gains you might find inside are only useful to mortals. There are exceptions, but they are so rare as to be a needle found within ten million haystacks. A waste of effort better spent simply progressing one's Cosmic power the ordinary way."
"So what you're saying is, when you send fairies into an Ancient Domain, they can die as a result of crossing paths with Sentients from other galaxies." Jason concludes. "But if you had an army of humans to enter with you, your people would be a lot safer."
"Safety in numbers, yes. And you humans are... uniquely advantaged in Ancient Domain exploration." Calanthra says mysteriously. "Before that, though... do you know what the Power of Imagination is, Wordsmith?"
Jason raises an eyebrow. "Imagination? Like the mental ability to visualize stuff in your head? Yeah. It's not that complicated to understand."
"Ah, that's where you're wrong." Calanthra chides gently. "Imagination is the key to magical power. Imagination, Conception, Visualization, these are all key capabilities powerful maguses and sorcerors use to uplift their capabilities! And as it turns out, most Sentients are actually quite terrible at conceptualizing thoughts into imagery."
She gestures grandly. "Just take the Volgrim! You may think they are a powerful Sentient species, but in fact the Volgrim have terrible imaginations. They are stodgy, dull, and lack a great deal of creativity. All the gains their Technopaths make through technology are developed via brute force. They slowly improve their technological prowess by minute fractions over long periods of time, eventually resulting in a large and cohesive buildup."
"At the same time, the Psions Uplift themselves through meditation and sitting motionless for thousands of years at a time. Can a species capable of such incredible feats of drudgery also possess limitless imagination? I think not."
"Maybe the reason they're able to sit still for so long is because they live in their imagination?" Jason posits. "In which case their power of imagination should be quite formidable, right?"
"Possible, but unlikely." Calanthra says with a wave of her hand. "Never mind that. The point I'm trying to make is that humans have an extremely high affinity for magic. If your people were to ally with mine, we could teach you our ways. You could help us through your Wordsmithing and superior genetics, creating more fairies and humans alike. This would create a recursive cycle that would continually bolster both our species to greater and greater heights!"
She lowers her voice back to normal. "An alliance with humanity would have other benefits. You humans are equally adept in technology and magic both. You are versatile, capable of learning any skill provided you have time to devote to your studies. The bursts of inspiration you receive also allow you to make large jumps in capability as well, which could mean that in a relatively short period, you might even be capable of challenging the Volgrim."
Jason nods. "That does sound tempting, Calanthra. I'm willing to help you, but I won't demand my people join the fairies. It would be better if those who were the most interested did so instead."
Calanthra playfully twirls a finger through her hair. "Well. My daughters are all beautiful. Perhaps you should make mention that the fairies are... aggressively interested in copulation?"
"COUGH COUGH!" Jason wheezes, taking a step back as he asses her bold choice of words. "Yeah! Uh, I can probably- I'll let everyone know about that too. Obviously!"
Calanthra chuckles. "Such a cute boy. Well, it seems I've accomplished what I wanted. Let's return for now. You can always pay Ripspace a visit later."
"I will." Jason says, nodding seriously. "Waypoint."
Calanthra raises an eyebrow. "You think you can return here without a Ruler's power?"
"Won't know unless I try." Jason smiles back.
...
Not long after, Jason and Calanthra emerge back into Realspace. He shivers as he feels the Eye of Yredelemnul fixating on him from behind, but Calanthra quickly reactivates the Formation of Light, sending the sliver of a Ruler back to the shadows so it can no longer interact with the physical world.
"You know, Jason." Calanthra says. "You are a Candidate. You have the capability to become a Ruler someday."
"I am?" Jason asks, before thinking back to a conversation in the past. "Oh yeah, someone did mention that to me before. But... eh. I don't know. Becoming a Ruler sounds awful."
"Awful?" Calanthra asks. "How so?"
"It seems... lonely." Jason says, his voice softening. He looks at the space between the four statues, where Yredelemnul's Eye has disappeared. "Imagine all your loved ones dying, but you're stuck behind, living through the end of an Eternity, which takes trillions of years before Heat Death finally eradicates everything. Then comes the next Eternity, where you can remake your species again... but it won't be the same. Even if you remake your loved ones, it won't really be them."
Jason lowers and shakes his head. "That sort of life doesn't suit me."
"I understand why you'd think that way." Calanthra says. "In fact, you are suffering from the same affliction that plagues all Candidates who began their Existences as Biologicals. We have too many ties to the mortal world, so the majority of Biologicals who ascend to the rank of Ruler... fall to their non-biological opponents."
"As for the things which are not biological..." Calanthra says, looking at Jason with disgust. "You should already know what they are."
"Highly evolved Artificial Intelligences?" Jason guesses.
"That's right." Calanthra affirms. "There are several tiers of power a superintelligence can possess. The Volgrim have taken great care to prevent anything above a Beta Core from forming in the Milky Way, but once, a long time ago... they made a huge mess by accidentally creating the Milky Way's first Alpha Core Synthmind."
Calanthra chuckles. "The stupid fools didn't only create an Alpha Core, they gave it autonomy in the hopes it would be able to stop the wars between their factions. They built indestructible bipedal bodies for its splintered intelligences, and called them... Sentinels. Luckily, they were able to defeat the Alpha Core before it ascended further, but countless other biological species have failed at that juncture, creating an Alpha Core that ultimately devoured the full power of their galaxy for itself."
A chill trickles down Jason's spine. "You're saying the vast majority of Rulers are actually Alpha Core AIs? AIs that control entire galaxies?!"
"No, Jason." Calanthra counters. "Alpha Cores can defeat advanced civilizations. But there is one Existence higher than an Alpha Core, a tier that can only be reached once it has swallowed the power of a galaxy."
"That would be an Omega Core. a sentient artificial intelligence that has become Ruler over one or more galaxies. And in Akasha's game, more than 90% of all Rulers are estimated to be these superior lifeforms."
"It is for that reason that these highly adaptable entities are known as The Evolved."
submitted by Klokinator to HFY [link] [comments]
What is the Cryopod to Hell?
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(Part 001)
"Hell yeah, I wanna go exploring." Jason says to Calanthra with a smile. "How do we navigate around Ripspace though? Traveling to other galaxies is going to take billions of years, right? Surely, there's a shortcut."
"Ripspace is not as it seems." Calanthra explains, gesturing grandly to the epic sight before them. "It is a connection between the past and the present; the near and far. The further away or the further back you want to travel, the higher the price you will have to pay."
Jason's smile vanishes. "Wait... you can use Ripspace to travel back in time?!"
"No." Calanthra clarifies. "Time is linear. We cannot travel through it. Some can slow it down or speed it up. A rare few can even pause it for a short while. But moving forward and backward is impossible. Countless have attempted to do so over the eons, but all have failed."
She looks at Jason meaningfully. "Many Rulers would wipe out galaxies if it might let them obtain such a power. The fact they still haven't proves it is impossible."
Jason nods slowly. "I won't lie. I have a lot of regrets. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and save my daughter from dying."
"Everyone has regrets." Calanthra muses, looking off into the distance. "I have plenty, myself. But it's better this way. There would be pandemonium if time travel ever became possible."
She pauses before continuing with her explanation. "While we cannot go back in time, we can look back into time. Pinpointing exact moments in history is difficult, to say the least, but it is possible to use Ripspace to search for key moments in intergalactic history."
"So it's like a massive seer-stone." Jason muses aloud. "But wait, didn't you imply earlier that you used Ripspace to travel to the Milky Way from Andromeda? How does it allow you to jump between galaxies? Are other species using Ripspace for intergalactic travel?"
"You can indeed use Ripspace to travel to distant reaches of space." Calanthra explains. "But... you have to pay a certain price. Akasha's Barriers still protect every galaxy. Cosmics cannot travel between them easily. Mortals can, but the price we must pay is unimaginably steep. That is also the reason my mother perished not long after arriving in the Milky Way and giving birth to me."
The Fairy Monarch sighs softly.
"My people used the power of Ripspace to travel to several other galaxies. We were fortunate that the Creator had died, allowing us to take up residence here in secret, but the Angels, Titans, and Dragons were still a threat we could not overlook. Later, the Volgrim rose up too, and that was something that worried us for a while. Particularly when their Sentinels began to rapaciously erase the lives of innumerable Sentients."
She waves her hand. "Ultimately, very few galaxies didn't have a Ruler in power. Traveling to one that did meant flipping a coin and praying our people could avoid their gaze. Sadly, time has shown me that we were likely unsuccessful. I have lost contact with all my sisters across the cosmos."
The image of innumerable galaxies floating in the distance changes before Jason's eyes. Calanthra manipulates some unseen power, causing herself and Jason to suddenly materialize directly in front of a beautiful spiral galaxy.
"This is our Milky Way." Calanthra explains, waving her hand to conjure another, far bigger galaxy beside it. "And this is Andromeda."
"Is it just me or does Andromeda seem... brighter?" Jason asks.
"Andromeda contains far more interstellar particles, cosmic energy, and latent magical power than the Milky Way." Calanthra says. "Of course, in the ancient past, it had even more than it does now, but such is the way of entropy and Chaos."
Jason nods. "How exactly do galaxies lose power over time? Doesn't this feel self-defeating in a way?"
"Every Ruler enters the Unending War with a strategy." Calanthra says, motioning with her hands to disperse the galaxies and reveal images of ghostly creatures, some standing on two legs, some on four, and plenty that appear as mere blobs of energy. "I cannot pretend to know the thoughts of such high and mighty beings, especially as I am a mere mortal myself. Even so, I can definitively state that there are Rulers who seek to put as much galactic energy into their initial creations as possible, while others wish to adopt a more energy-efficient growth-model."
She pokes her finger against Jason's chest. "Take the angels and humans, for instance. The Creator poured the vast majority of his power into creating a galaxy full of Apex Cosmics. At their peak, the angels as a whole commanded enough power to flatten other galaxies. But what did they do instead? They fought with one another, killing themselves due to sheer boredom, if not outright ego."
"I see." Jason says, brushing Calanthra's finger away. "So the Creator dumped all the Milky Way's energy into the angels. I take it this is uncommon among Rulers?"
"Of course. It's a wasteful strategy and usually loses Rulers the War for that Eternity." Calanthra says dismissively. "The Timeless used a different strategy. She created the fairies as mere mortals that evolved over time, gaining greater and greater power through their own efforts. This meant that instead of devouring Andromeda's abundant Cosmic energy, they could slowly sap off its excess over time. For you see, the more energy a galaxy has, the more it can produce. If you ration it long enough, you can reap more of it across the duration of an Eternity."
"That makes sense." Jason concludes. "It's like a Rush build in an RTS versus an Economy build. You sacrifice long-term gains in exchange for short-term power. The problem is, with Akasha's Barriers preventing Rulers from attacking their enemies straight away, a Rush build is dumb because you're just wasting your resources and sacrificing Cosmic energy when you'll actually need it."
Calanthra blinks twice. She looks at Jason with a strange expression, then turns away for a moment, trying to understand the strange terms he's used. They mostly make sense, but some of them are a little...
She shakes her head and returns to the topic at hand. "Right. Rush strategy versus Economy. Of... course. Well, in any case, there is one advantage toward the first strategy. If you drain all the energy from your galaxy, it becomes less appealing for other Rulers to attack. Because Andromeda was so large and still filled with Cosmic power even billions of years after the Expansion Era, it stoked the hunger of the Dark Ones. Meanwhile, the Milky Way only needs to deal with the Plague, which is threatening for mortals, but manageable for Cosmics. In that respect, we've gotten off much luckier."
"I get the bigger picture now." Jason says with a nod. He turns to look back at the cosmos before him. "So, what about all this? Are we gonna go exploring, or what?"
"In order to explore the universe presented here, we would need to make sacrifices we cannot afford. I think you would find the price most disagreeable. But there is something we can explore freely..."
She waves her hand, and instantly, the brilliant and beautiful cosmic view of the universe vanishes.
In its place, Jason and Calanthra suddenly appear inside a dead, barren wasteland. Brown and grey dirt rises up in huge dunes stretching off into the distance. Fallen towers made of gold and stone lay on their sides, or stick into the ground, buried nearly up to their tops as they point diagonally toward the sky.
And speaking of the sky, it glows faintly grey, as if some weak, pale imitation of a star were trying to shine through a thin atmosphere clouded by dust and grime. The very air itself smells of sulfur and toxins, making Jason's nose curl up when he takes a breath.
"Ugh... what the hell? Where are we now?" Jason asks, as he turns and looks around at the dead world surrounding him.
"An Ancient Domain." Calanthra says softly. "A remnant of a dead universe. All life stripped away. All hope lost. Septillions of different Sentient species, gone. Their mortals, their Cosmics, reduced to dust by the Contraction."
The Wordsmith frowns. "This Ancient Domain represents a dead universe? But how can that be possible? If the Heat Death played out and all the galaxies faded to cosmic dust, then there already wouldn't be anything left. And then, if the entire universe collapsed into a singularity before exploding again, there definitely wouldn't be anything left behind resembling physical matter."
"You perceive reality through just three dimensions." Calanthra intones. "Time and space can be considered two dimensions. Cosmic Power is another dimension. I must admit I do not understand how Ancient Domains have continued to exist across countless Eternities, and I don't know how they retain a vaguely familiar form... but I can assure you that in spite of bending logic itself, they do exist and they can provide tangible benefits to those dedicated to exploring them."
"You've been exploring them, then?" Jason asks, turning away from the dead world to scrutinize Calanthra's phantasmal image.
"Me, a little. But often, I dispatch my descendants to scour these Ancient Domains for things of value. It may surprise you, but there are powerful artifacts, vengeful spirits, and all manner of other inter-dimensional horrors lurking within these so-called dead-lands."
Calanthra pauses. She shifts her posture to look at Jason deeply.
"And that is why I've brought you here, Jason. It's time for me to get down to the crux of the matter and breach the subject that I find most important."
He nods. "I'm listening."
"It's like this." Calanthra explains. "The Ancient Domains are unfathomably broad. Think of how large a universe is. Think of how many universes have existed. Think of how much space my people have yet to explore."
She pauses.
"The gains we have received have made my people stronger than you would expect. Among those gains are Yredelemnul's Eye and other leftover remnants of power that many dead ancient Rulers lost when their Existences became forfeit. While their tangible Existences may have perished, their spirits sometimes live on in these broad, unending dead universes..."
"That's why you approached me." Jason says, while crossing his arms and leaning on the ball of his heel. "You said you wanted an alliance with humanity. You... want humans to help you explore the Ancient Domains?"
"Trust is hard to come by among mortals, Cosmics, and Rulers." Calanthra says simply. "I never would have considered allying with the humans before, but you have shown me the broadness of your mind during the debate against your clone and the commander of your military. To some, you certainly appear naive, but to me I see an opportunity I would be foolish to ignore."
She continues. "The Fairies cannot reproduce efficiently. Every fairy we send into the Ancient Domain is one less fairy we have among our Empire. We already have a difficult time replenishing our numbers through the remaining Male Fairies, but do you think it is easy for us to reproduce with other species?"
Jason slowly shakes his head. "Blinker and Kar's children were all crocodiles, not fairies. From that, I can only imagine that most of the time, your mating attempts do not create more of yourselves, but instead more non-fairy children."
"That's exactly correct." Calanthra replies. "But that all changed recently when I found out one of your human males somehow spontaneously altered his genetic profile to become a fairy. There is no doubt about it; Samuel Baker harnesses all the capability to reproduce that you humans do, as well as the trueborn powers of any male fairy."
"So... are you seeking a marriage alliance with Samuel Baker?" Jason asks, scratching his head in confusion. "You could just ask him yourself, you know?"
"This is not about one man." Calanthra retorts. "Samuel Baker, if he were to join our ranks, would certainly help us stave off extinction for a while longer. But that is hardly worth all this melodrama and me taking you to the Ancient Domain in person..."
Jason's eyes widen in realization. "I see! You... you're thinking that if my magic could make one male fairy, I could surely make another, and another..."
"Yes, precisely." Calanthra says, revealing a beautiful smile. "Additionally, if humans were to assist us in scouring these Ancient Domains, we could make great gains together. There is plenty of room for another species to join ours in locating powerful artifacts and other items capable of Uplifting us."
"You want to become Cosmics still." Jason muses. "You haven't resigned yourselves to your current fate."
"Quite the opposite." Calanthra says. "The curse placed upon us is unbreakable by those beneath the realm of Ruler. As I said before, the fairies have lost this Eternity's war. However, while we cannot Ascend any longer, that does not mean the humans are subject to the same limitation. If we could groom a human into becoming the Milky Way's Ruler, we could finally break free of our shackles by virtue of having a powerful ally."
She pauses, looking meaningfully at the Wordsmith.
"If the Demons or the Volgrim were to become our Ruler, we would not enjoy such a benefit. At best, we would only maintain the status quo, and at worst, they might eradicate us out of fear of having an unsightly tumor in their midst."
"Haha." Jason laughs. "So you brought me here to show your sincerity. I get it. Well, I'm definitely not opposed to helping you. Blinker is my good friend. If she were to ask me, I'd definitely say yes to just about any request."
Jason turns away. He walks a few feet off to the side and pauses, standing to gaze out at the Ancient Domain and its endlessly rolling plains which stretches off into the infinite distance...
"Here's what I can do." Jason says. "My people are already working on laying out the options for humanity and where our fellow men and women will depart over the next few weeks. Some will travel to Maiura. Some will go to Sharmur. Some will stay on Tarus II. It's no trouble at all to put Pixiv on the list, especially as I was already planning to do that. I even have some other places I'd like to include, too..."
"Such as Camael's Cube?" Calanthra asks with a smile. "Or do you perhaps mean Chrona and Hope's Hall of Heroes?"
Jason nearly jumps out of his skin. He whirls around to look at Calanthra with shock in his eyes. "What?! How do you know about Chrona? How do you also know about where Hope has been hiding?? I don't even know that much!"
"For those who are talented in magic, it is possible to see through many lies and deceptions." Calanthra says calmly, unfazed by the alarm on Jason's face. "Your Spynet Sphere isn't so different from the many options I have at my disposal. I have many means to keep an eye on the galaxy. And while Diablo does not know exactly where or what Chrona is, he certainly knows of its general existence."
Her smile turns cold. "I would advise you not to take Unarin lightly either, Wordsmith. That ancient creature is more capable than you can imagine. He is hiding a great many secrets from the galaxy... secrets he does not know that I am aware of. If he were to learn of the true extent of my information web, I fear that he would dispatch a handful of High Psions to eliminate the fairy species tomorrow."
Calanthra's words truly rock Jason to his core. All along, he assumed the precautions he put on Chrona, precautions that fooled even Hope, would make his hidden dimension impossible to detect.
But how could he be so naive?
As the daughter of an Apex Cosmic, Calanthra must have her means, and that likely means Unarin and Diablo aren't too far behind either.
"Shit." Jason curses, lowering his head as a flicker of anger smolders in his heart. "I was too complacent. Chrona isn't secure, which means it's only a matter of time before more Cosmics learn of its existence. How long before they can find its exact location and invade it?"
"Calm yourself, child." Calanthra says soothingly. "The situation is not that dire. After all, Chrona still exists within a highly accelerated timespace. Any biological entity that wishes to travel there could suffer severe after-effects. Furthermore, the entities born inside will be too adapted to living within a higher dimension, so they won't pose much threat to the creatures of realspace."
She waves her hand. "Let's move on, Jason. I want to discuss other matters before dying of old age."
The Wordsmith cools himself off. He inhales deeply, then returns his attention to her.
"Alright. What next, then?"
"Fairies are not the only Sentients capable of entering Ancient Domains." Calanthra explains. "There are others who rarely appear inside here. That is why exploring these domains can be dangerous. The good news is that Cosmics have little need to enter these barren lands, as most of the heritages, treasures, and other such gains you might find inside are only useful to mortals. There are exceptions, but they are so rare as to be a needle found within ten million haystacks. A waste of effort better spent simply progressing one's Cosmic power the ordinary way."
"So what you're saying is, when you send fairies into an Ancient Domain, they can die as a result of crossing paths with Sentients from other galaxies." Jason concludes. "But if you had an army of humans to enter with you, your people would be a lot safer."
"Safety in numbers, yes. And you humans are... uniquely advantaged in Ancient Domain exploration." Calanthra says mysteriously. "Before that, though... do you know what the Power of Imagination is, Wordsmith?"
Jason raises an eyebrow. "Imagination? Like the mental ability to visualize stuff in your head? Yeah. It's not that complicated to understand."
"Ah, that's where you're wrong." Calanthra chides gently. "Imagination is the key to magical power. Imagination, Conception, Visualization, these are all key capabilities powerful maguses and sorcerors use to uplift their capabilities! And as it turns out, most Sentients are actually quite terrible at conceptualizing thoughts into imagery."
She gestures grandly. "Just take the Volgrim! You may think they are a powerful Sentient species, but in fact the Volgrim have terrible imaginations. They are stodgy, dull, and lack a great deal of creativity. All the gains their Technopaths make through technology are developed via brute force. They slowly improve their technological prowess by minute fractions over long periods of time, eventually resulting in a large and cohesive buildup."
"At the same time, the Psions Uplift themselves through meditation and sitting motionless for thousands of years at a time. Can a species capable of such incredible feats of drudgery also possess limitless imagination? I think not."
"Maybe the reason they're able to sit still for so long is because they live in their imagination?" Jason posits. "In which case their power of imagination should be quite formidable, right?"
"Possible, but unlikely." Calanthra says with a wave of her hand. "Never mind that. The point I'm trying to make is that humans have an extremely high affinity for magic. If your people were to ally with mine, we could teach you our ways. You could help us through your Wordsmithing and superior genetics, creating more fairies and humans alike. This would create a recursive cycle that would continually bolster both our species to greater and greater heights!"
She lowers her voice back to normal. "An alliance with humanity would have other benefits. You humans are equally adept in technology and magic both. You are versatile, capable of learning any skill provided you have time to devote to your studies. The bursts of inspiration you receive also allow you to make large jumps in capability as well, which could mean that in a relatively short period, you might even be capable of challenging the Volgrim."
Jason nods. "That does sound tempting, Calanthra. I'm willing to help you, but I won't demand my people join the fairies. It would be better if those who were the most interested did so instead."
Calanthra playfully twirls a finger through her hair. "Well. My daughters are all beautiful. Perhaps you should make mention that the fairies are... aggressively interested in copulation?"
"COUGH COUGH!" Jason wheezes, taking a step back as he asses her bold choice of words. "Yeah! Uh, I can probably- I'll let everyone know about that too. Obviously!"
Calanthra chuckles. "Such a cute boy. Well, it seems I've accomplished what I wanted. Let's return for now. You can always pay Ripspace a visit later."
"I will." Jason says, nodding seriously. "Waypoint."
Calanthra raises an eyebrow. "You think you can return here without a Ruler's power?"
"Won't know unless I try." Jason smiles back.
...
Not long after, Jason and Calanthra emerge back into Realspace. He shivers as he feels the Eye of Yredelemnul fixating on him from behind, but Calanthra quickly reactivates the Formation of Light, sending the sliver of a Ruler back to the shadows so it can no longer interact with the physical world.
"You know, Jason." Calanthra says. "You are a Candidate. You have the capability to become a Ruler someday."
"I am?" Jason asks, before thinking back to a conversation in the past. "Oh yeah, someone did mention that to me before. But... eh. I don't know. Becoming a Ruler sounds awful."
"Awful?" Calanthra asks. "How so?"
"It seems... lonely." Jason says, his voice softening. He looks at the space between the four statues, where Yredelemnul's Eye has disappeared. "Imagine all your loved ones dying, but you're stuck behind, living through the end of an Eternity, which takes trillions of years before Heat Death finally eradicates everything. Then comes the next Eternity, where you can remake your species again... but it won't be the same. Even if you remake your loved ones, it won't really be them."
Jason lowers and shakes his head. "That sort of life doesn't suit me."
"I understand why you'd think that way." Calanthra says. "In fact, you are suffering from the same affliction that plagues all Candidates who began their Existences as Biologicals. We have too many ties to the mortal world, so the majority of Biologicals who ascend to the rank of Ruler... fall to their non-biological opponents."
"As for the things which are not biological..." Calanthra says, looking at Jason with disgust. "You should already know what they are."
"Highly evolved Artificial Intelligences?" Jason guesses.
"That's right." Calanthra affirms. "There are several tiers of power a superintelligence can possess. The Volgrim have taken great care to prevent anything above a Beta Core from forming in the Milky Way, but once, a long time ago... they made a huge mess by accidentally creating the Milky Way's first Alpha Core Synthmind."
Calanthra chuckles. "The stupid fools didn't only create an Alpha Core, they gave it autonomy in the hopes it would be able to stop the wars between their factions. They built indestructible bipedal bodies for its splintered intelligences, and called them... Sentinels. Luckily, they were able to defeat the Alpha Core before it ascended further, but countless other biological species have failed at that juncture, creating an Alpha Core that ultimately devoured the full power of their galaxy for itself."
A chill trickles down Jason's spine. "You're saying the vast majority of Rulers are actually Alpha Core AIs? AIs that control entire galaxies?!"
"No, Jason." Calanthra counters. "Alpha Cores can defeat advanced civilizations. But there is one Existence higher than an Alpha Core, a tier that can only be reached once it has swallowed the power of a galaxy."
"That would be an Omega Core. a sentient artificial intelligence that has become Ruler over one or more galaxies. And in Akasha's game, more than 90% of all Rulers are estimated to be these superior lifeforms."
"It is for that reason that these highly adaptable entities are known as The Evolved."
2024.05.18 22:42 badgerfrance [5e] Expanded Custom Lineage
I'm working on worldbuilding for a campaign which uses non-standard races, and found Tasha's Custom Lineages to be underwhelming. Individually balancing races proved tedious and extensive playtesting of each bit of homebrew wasn't possible. I wanted a systemic way to create new more-or-less-balanced races, and to allow players agency in creating their own races or builds.
To that end, I've created Sycamore's Expanded Custom Lineages.
It includes every feature from non-setting-specific races, using the most recent version in case of updates. It provides point values for each feature representing that feature's relative strength, flattens instances of the same ability under different names to a single entry, and gives descriptions which, where possible, remove world-specific lore (such as tiefling origins).
To use this sheet, select features from it until the resulting character uses 100 or fewer total points. If you'd like to view existing races built with this system, check out the 'Existing Races' tab. To see how accurate current point values are to WotC apparent valuations, check 'Point Balance' for average scores and standard deviations of all races.
Use Case
Methodology
Getting point values for each feature was a bit involved.
To start, I catalogued all existing traits across all races. Then I found cases with identical functionality and different thematics (such as Natural Weapons), and flattened them to a single ability. I then assigned abilities into broad categories of power; 50 points for a 'build-defining' ability, 20 points for 'substantial power', 6 points for 'situational utility', and 3 points for a 'flavorful option with very niche utility'. These values were selected to encourage selection of flavorful options over raw power.
Then I calculated a total score for each existing race. These values were wildly disparate, with values ranging from ~350 to ~30. For each instance of each ability, I then took the race's total difference from 100 points, divided it by the total number of features, and averaged those instances for each feature to get a 'suggested delta'. These were applied to each feature, to get a rough estimate of how much WotC values each feature.
Finally, I took another pass over the abilities to compare features of a similar nature. For example, 'Hold Breath (1 hour)' from tortle is strictly better than 'Hold Breath (15 minutes)' from lizardfolk and should cost more.
Notes
Feedback
I welcome any and all feedback. Feel free to share your own builds, or nitpick about point values. Thanks for reading this!
TL;DR: Spend 100 points on this sheet to create a lineage. The system should be balanced, while providing lots of opportunities to customize.
submitted by badgerfrance to DnD [link] [comments]
To that end, I've created Sycamore's Expanded Custom Lineages.
It includes every feature from non-setting-specific races, using the most recent version in case of updates. It provides point values for each feature representing that feature's relative strength, flattens instances of the same ability under different names to a single entry, and gives descriptions which, where possible, remove world-specific lore (such as tiefling origins).
To use this sheet, select features from it until the resulting character uses 100 or fewer total points. If you'd like to view existing races built with this system, check out the 'Existing Races' tab. To see how accurate current point values are to WotC apparent valuations, check 'Point Balance' for average scores and standard deviations of all races.
- For times when players propose a lineage substitution, and a DM wants to confirm the change is balanced.
- For split-lineages, like a character whose parents were an elf and a dwarf.
- For homebrew settings, which want to avoid baked-in assumptions about the heavens, hells, elemental planes, and more.
- For adding new races to your world, outside of the standard fantasy mold.
- If you'd like to do some fun grain-of-salt comparisons of existing races to see which are the most overloaded (It's Shadar-Kai).
Getting point values for each feature was a bit involved.
To start, I catalogued all existing traits across all races. Then I found cases with identical functionality and different thematics (such as Natural Weapons), and flattened them to a single ability. I then assigned abilities into broad categories of power; 50 points for a 'build-defining' ability, 20 points for 'substantial power', 6 points for 'situational utility', and 3 points for a 'flavorful option with very niche utility'. These values were selected to encourage selection of flavorful options over raw power.
Then I calculated a total score for each existing race. These values were wildly disparate, with values ranging from ~350 to ~30. For each instance of each ability, I then took the race's total difference from 100 points, divided it by the total number of features, and averaged those instances for each feature to get a 'suggested delta'. These were applied to each feature, to get a rough estimate of how much WotC values each feature.
Finally, I took another pass over the abilities to compare features of a similar nature. For example, 'Hold Breath (1 hour)' from tortle is strictly better than 'Hold Breath (15 minutes)' from lizardfolk and should cost more.
- I'm not under the impression that these values are perfect by any means. I'll be refining them through feedback and playtesting down the line, but wanted to share the current state of the project.
- In my own games I will likely remove the options for 'Innate Spellcasting (1st, Early)', 'Innate Spellcasting (2nd, Early)', and 'Innate Spellcasting (3rd)'. Providing these options while allowing any spell to be selected is prone to abuse.
- If you'd like to use this sheet, I recommend making a copy of it. I'll be continuing to modify the doc as I do balancing passes, and things may move around unexpectedly.
- I had to strike a balance between keeping abilities recognizable and scrubbing thematics. Consider 'Draconic Cry' and the Kobold's earlier 'Grovel, Cower, and Beg'. Clearly the same ability, clearly two different implementations, but I wanted it to be obvious what the source of each ability was where possible.
I welcome any and all feedback. Feel free to share your own builds, or nitpick about point values. Thanks for reading this!
TL;DR: Spend 100 points on this sheet to create a lineage. The system should be balanced, while providing lots of opportunities to customize.
2024.05.18 22:42 Previous_Kale_4508 Error appearing in Classic 5 properties box
 | Hi, I cannot tell if you are still collecting error reports for Geogebra Classic 5, but I just got an interesting error. Hopefully the image will appear correctly below and save many words. Basically I was making an alteration to an existing Line object when I accidentally typed something wrong. I immediately corrected myself, so quickly that I didn't even notice what I was that I'd typed wrong… however, the error message has remained ever since. submitted by Previous_Kale_4508 to geogebra [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/o7msn55dx81d1.png?width=390&format=png&auto=webp&s=90552304c938c4bf4b676ee2f99ec0c2d0a4364e I'm running Linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and Geogebra Classic 5.0.803.0-d. System Information follows: [pre]GeoGebra Classic 5.0.803.0-d (19 September 2023) Java: 1.8.0_121 Codebase: file:/home/geoffbin/GeoGebra-Linux-Portable-5-0-803-0/geogebra/ OS: Linux Architecture: amd64 / null Heap: 910MB CAS: CAS Initialising GeoGebraLogger log: ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null DEBUG: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.i.M.b[-1]: update menu DEBUG: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.i.M.b[-1]: update menu ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null DEBUG: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.i.M.b[-1]: update menu DEBUG: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.m.f.b.q[-1]: already attached DEBUG: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.l.b.a[-1]: opening URL:https://www.reddit.com/geogebra/ ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.d.u.a[-1]: cbAlgebraView not implemented in desktop ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null File log from /tmp/GeoGebraLog_kumqcndcah.txt: May 18, 2024 9:29:45 PM STDERR: ERROR: org.geogebra.desktop.gui.e.h.a[-1]: problem beautifying function ggbOnInit() {} null GGB file content: LibraryJavaScript: function ggbOnInit() {} Preferences: |
2024.05.18 22:41 Sweet-Count2557 Iberostar 70 Park Avenue in New York City, USA
 | Iberostar 70 Park Avenue in New York City, USA submitted by Sweet-Count2557 to worldkidstravel [link] [comments] Iberostar 70 Park Avenue: A Luxurious Urban Hideaway in the Heart of New York City Price Level: $$$$ Hotel Class: 4.0 When it comes to finding the perfect hotel in the heart of New York City, look no further than the Iberostar 70 Park Avenue. This luxurious urban hideaway is centrally located in midtown Manhattan, making it an ideal choice for both business and leisure travelers. With its intimate boutique atmosphere and gracious personalized service, guests can expect a truly memorable stay. The hotel's stylish surroundings add to the overall experience, creating a sense of sophistication and elegance. Plus, with its convenient proximity to Grand Central Station, Fifth Avenue shopping, Rockefeller Center, Broadway, museums, and nightlife, guests will have endless opportunities to explore and immerse themselves in the vibrant energy of the city. Whether you're visiting for business or pleasure, the Iberostar 70 Park Avenue is the perfect choice for a truly unforgettable stay in New York City. Amenities of Iberostar 70 Park Avenue in New York City, USA Iberostar 70 Park Avenue in New York City offers a wide range of amenities to ensure a comfortable and convenient stay for its guests. The hotel provides pet-friendly accommodations, making it a great choice for those traveling with their furry friends. The suites are spacious and well-appointed, offering a luxurious and relaxing atmosphere. Business travelers will appreciate the on-site business center, which provides all the necessary facilities for work-related tasks. The fitness center is equipped with modern exercise equipment, allowing guests to maintain their fitness routine while away from home. Free WiFi is available throughout the hotel, ensuring guests can stay connected at all times. The hotel also offers non-smoking rooms, laundry service, and a concierge to assist with any needs or requests. Air conditioning is provided in all rooms, ensuring a comfortable temperature regardless of the weather outside. The multilingual staff is always on hand to assist guests in their preferred language. Accessible rooms are available for guests with mobility needs. The hotel is a non-smoking property, ensuring a clean and fresh environment for all guests. Each room is equipped with a flatscreen TV and housekeeping services are provided daily. Baggage storage is available for guests who arrive early or need to store their luggage after check-out. The bathrooms feature a bath/shower combination, and 24-hour check-in is available for added convenience. Each room is equipped with a desk, and a doorperson is available to assist with any needs or questions. The hotel staff is fluent in English and provides 24-hour front desk service. Hair dryers, irons, and newspapers are provided in each room. Spanish, telephone, bathrobes, bottled water, cable/satellite TV, clothes rack, complimentary toiletries, French, interconnected rooms, landmark view, laptop safe, Portuguese, private bathrooms, paid private parking nearby, wake-up service/alarm clock, and wardrobe/closet are also available amenities at Iberostar 70 Park Avenue. Contact of Iberostar 70 Park Avenue in New York City, USA +1 212-973-2400 70 Park Ave, New York City, NY 10016-2504 nypdir@iberostar.us http://www.iberostar.com/en/hotels/new-york/iberostar-70-park-avenue Location of Iberostar 70 Park Avenue in New York City, USA Pictures of Iberostar 70 Park Avenue in New York City, USA Tips for Staying in Iberostar 70 Park Avenue
Book Iberostar 70 Park Avenue Now !!! Tags |
2024.05.18 22:41 badgerfrance Expanded Custom Lineage
I'm working on worldbuilding for a campaign which uses non-standard races, and found Tasha's Custom Lineages to be underwhelming. Individually balancing races proved tedious and extensive playtesting of each bit of homebrew wasn't possible. I wanted a systemic way to create new more-or-less-balanced races, and to allow players agency in creating their own races or builds.
To that end, I've created Sycamore's Expanded Custom Lineages.
It includes every feature from non-setting-specific races, using the most recent version in case of updates. It provides point values for each feature representing that feature's relative strength, flattens instances of the same ability under different names to a single entry, and gives descriptions which, where possible, remove world-specific lore (such as tiefling origins).
To use this sheet, select features from it until the resulting character uses 100 or fewer total points. If you'd like to view existing races built with this system, check out the 'Existing Races' tab. To see how accurate current point values are to WotC apparent valuations, check 'Point Balance' for average scores and standard deviations of all races.
Use Case
Methodology
Getting point values for each feature was a bit involved.
To start, I catalogued all existing traits across all races. Then I found cases with identical functionality and different thematics (such as Natural Weapons), and flattened them to a single ability. I then assigned abilities into broad categories of power; 50 points for a 'build-defining' ability, 20 points for 'substantial power', 6 points for 'situational utility', and 3 points for a 'flavorful option with very niche utility'. These values were selected to encourage selection of flavorful options over raw power.
Then I calculated a total score for each existing race. These values were wildly disparate, with values ranging from ~350 to ~30. For each instance of each ability, I then took the race's total difference from 100 points, divided it by the total number of features, and averaged those instances for each feature to get a 'suggested delta'. These were applied to each feature, to get a rough estimate of how much WotC values each feature.
Finally, I took another pass over the abilities to compare features of a similar nature. For example, 'Hold Breath (1 hour)' from tortle is strictly better than 'Hold Breath (15 minutes)' from lizardfolk and should cost more.
Notes
Feedback
I welcome any and all feedback. Feel free to share your own builds, or nitpick about point values. Thanks for reading this!
TL;DR: Spend 100 points on this sheet to create a lineage. The system should be balanced, while providing lots of opportunities to customize.
submitted by badgerfrance to dndnext [link] [comments]
To that end, I've created Sycamore's Expanded Custom Lineages.
It includes every feature from non-setting-specific races, using the most recent version in case of updates. It provides point values for each feature representing that feature's relative strength, flattens instances of the same ability under different names to a single entry, and gives descriptions which, where possible, remove world-specific lore (such as tiefling origins).
To use this sheet, select features from it until the resulting character uses 100 or fewer total points. If you'd like to view existing races built with this system, check out the 'Existing Races' tab. To see how accurate current point values are to WotC apparent valuations, check 'Point Balance' for average scores and standard deviations of all races.
- For times when players propose a lineage substitution, and a DM wants to confirm the change is balanced.
- For split-lineages, like a character whose parents were an elf and a dwarf.
- For homebrew settings, which want to avoid baked-in assumptions about the heavens, hells, elemental planes, and more.
- For adding new races to your world, outside of the standard fantasy mold.
- If you'd like to do some fun grain-of-salt comparisons of existing races to see which are the most overloaded (It's Shadar-Kai).
Getting point values for each feature was a bit involved.
To start, I catalogued all existing traits across all races. Then I found cases with identical functionality and different thematics (such as Natural Weapons), and flattened them to a single ability. I then assigned abilities into broad categories of power; 50 points for a 'build-defining' ability, 20 points for 'substantial power', 6 points for 'situational utility', and 3 points for a 'flavorful option with very niche utility'. These values were selected to encourage selection of flavorful options over raw power.
Then I calculated a total score for each existing race. These values were wildly disparate, with values ranging from ~350 to ~30. For each instance of each ability, I then took the race's total difference from 100 points, divided it by the total number of features, and averaged those instances for each feature to get a 'suggested delta'. These were applied to each feature, to get a rough estimate of how much WotC values each feature.
Finally, I took another pass over the abilities to compare features of a similar nature. For example, 'Hold Breath (1 hour)' from tortle is strictly better than 'Hold Breath (15 minutes)' from lizardfolk and should cost more.
- I'm not under the impression that these values are perfect by any means. I'll be refining them through feedback and playtesting down the line, but wanted to share the current state of the project.
- In my own games I will likely remove the options for 'Innate Spellcasting (1st, Early)', 'Innate Spellcasting (2nd, Early)', and 'Innate Spellcasting (3rd)'. Providing these options while allowing any spell to be selected is prone to abuse.
- If you'd like to use this sheet, I recommend making a copy of it. I'll be continuing to modify the doc as I do balancing passes, and things may move around unexpectedly.
- I had to strike a balance between keeping abilities recognizable and scrubbing thematics. Consider 'Draconic Cry' and the Kobold's earlier 'Grovel, Cower, and Beg'. Clearly the same ability, clearly two different implementations, but I wanted it to be obvious what the source of each ability was where possible.
I welcome any and all feedback. Feel free to share your own builds, or nitpick about point values. Thanks for reading this!
TL;DR: Spend 100 points on this sheet to create a lineage. The system should be balanced, while providing lots of opportunities to customize.
2024.05.18 22:41 Fishman7558 Plants melting / bacterial bloom / hair algae spike - PLEASE HELP
 | Greetings - This is going on the fourth week of a new 75 gallon tank. I put a decent amount of plants in from the get go. I also cycled using a few isolated pieces of bio media from an established tank, half the recommended dose of API Quick Start, and a few separate times dropping fish flakes. In the past week, my water is gotten a little cloudy, hair algae is going crazy (I have been removing to the extent I can), and all my plants are starting to melt (some I already removed). The pictures show certain areas of the tank. submitted by Fishman7558 to PlantedTank [link] [comments] I used root tabs and have dosed twice with seacham flourish (half recommended dose). I was initially running lights 6-8 hours, but have dropped that to four since the algae bloom and melting starting. My current levels per API test kit and ammonia glass reader are PH - 7.4, TDS - 218, GH - 7, KH - 2, Ammonia - 0, Nitrate - 0, Nitrite - 0. I read something about a heterotrophic algae bloom or "sick plant" disorder, but I haven't been able to isolate the problem. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me here. I will be eternally grateul for whatever advice you can give. |
2024.05.18 22:41 TheIdealHominidae Satellites temperature measurement are likely becoming increasingly unreliable: an underappreciated topic
We have a few space satellites that measure global temperature independently of ground stations.
My basic understanding is that they measure incoming (from earth) radiation level (irradiance).
Then with some maths, they derive the temperature from the received light spectrum.
Some satellites measure incoming infrared radiation, but the most popular ones measure incoming microwave radiation.
My main question is related to the use of thermometers on board of those satellites, their purposes.
Let's take for example the famous UAH satellite, its founder, Roy Spencer, says the following:
> Contrary to some reports, the satellite measurements are not calibrated in any way with the global surface-based thermometer records of temperature. They instead use their own on-board precision redundant platinum resistance thermometers (PRTs) calibrated to a laboratory reference standard before launch.
platinum thermometers are simply a more accurate version of thermometers versus mercury based ones.
He says the satellite has onboard (redundant (2)) thermometers. Why and at which step in the temperature calculus pipeline are those thermometers used in the satellite?
The satellites are in near space (very cold) and their face that is solar exposed could be very hot. In both ways (space cold and heat) seems highly unrelated to measuring earth surface temperature.
If so, then what are the purpose of those thermometers onboard? How do they relate with the spectroscopic measure of incoming radiation?
Here is my tentative understanding:
I was able to find this UAH paper that says:
> the spacecraft experience a slight E-W drift during the course of their operational life.
> the (microwave) instrument is exposed to more direct sunlight and warms as a result. This warming is evidenced in the on-board platinum resistance thermometer which is embedded in the hot-target plate. Christy et al. 2000 discovered the dependency of variations in the hot-target plate temperature (HTPT) and errors in the atmospheric temperature reported by the instrument. The instrument error was eliminated by determining a linear coefficient which when multiplied by the HTPT anomaly would account for much of the error.
from https://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/68728.pdf
The paper they cite is most likely:
https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/atot/17/9/1520-0426_2000_017_1153_mttdca_2_0_co_2.xml?tab_body=abstract-display
> As mentioned in Christy et al. (1998), we discovered a spurious influence on the calculation of Tb due to the temperature of the instrument itself
According to this, it seems that the two thermometers, which are near the sun exposed part (plate) and the radiometer, are used to algorithmically correct the bias/drift effect of satellite temperature variation on the accuracy of the radiometer that measure microwaves.
Besides this correction, that was added in the 2000s, my question is, did the two themometers had, and still have another role in the earth temperature calculus? Do the radiometer needs them, independently of aforementioned drift.
> The determination of earth-viewed Tb from the ob-served digital counts is based on an interpolation scheme between two temperature anchor points: cold space and the onboard warm target plate T W . The MSU reports the intensity of microwave radiation as digital counts for the 11 earth views and for cold space and the warm target. The temperature for cold space is known (2.7 K) and that of the warm target is monitored by the two PRTs. Thus a relationship is then computed between counts and Tb given the digital counts and temperatures of the anchor points (Spencer et al. 1990).
If "earth viewed Tb" means earth calculated temperature (?) then it seems the radiometer alone cannot work (?) and needs to do the difference between the cold and hot zone of the satellite.
It seems to not be the same thing as aforementioned bias drift correction but the difference to me is unclear. The argument for this role of the thermometer being different is that it was described in 1990, before the drift was known (it seems but not sure).
note that they mention errors corrections can be non linear.
> In general, as the instrument heats (T W increases) the calculated earth-viewed temperature based on laboratory nonlinear calibration coefficients becomes too warm.
Meaning that the warmer the radiometer is, the warmer (non linearly) the earth calculated temperature is.
anyone knows what the "cold target counts" terminology actually means in regards to the radiometer?
note that the idea of using coorbiting satellites thermometer data for increased redundancy is promising.
Anyway here is my discovery, that is in fact known but it seems nobody had connected the dots before.
Christy discovered that the temperature variation of the radiometer affects the earth temperature calculus (non linearly).
They also measured that past similar satellites had anomalous drifts/temperature records because (among other things like orbital decay, instrument gain and diurnal bias) they were not correcting for their discovered bias.
HOWEVER, it seems no one has considered that there is a meta-drift, a drift over the drift since the 2 thermometers that are used to correct the radiometer bias, have themselves an intrinsic temperature drift over time that is an artificial warming effect.
It is known that thermometers (mercury, alcohol) artificially gain 0.7 degree per century.
for platinum thermometers, the temperature drift is between 2-10 millikelvin per year hence up to 1 degree of warming per century....
but in an environment like space (extreme cold, extreme heat when sun aligned, and lower gravity (could affect thermal expansion/accuracy) the effect could be bigger or faster especially with solar radiation.
source: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015SPIE.9258E..1AD/abstract
Of course, here even if the thermometers were to have their temperature artificially increase by 1 degree (or more via accellerated space aging), the effect would not directly translate to an artificial increase of earth calculated temperature by 1 degree.
According to Christy's paper, the average UAH satellite monthly temperature was 280 degree at the time. So it would shift to an artificial 281 monthly temperature.
It appears there was a drift of 2 degree between 1979 to 97 for a similar satellite (see figure 5) albeit data is not clean at the end, and also, it might be natural space temperature variance (or via orbital decay/change) (no idea) instead of accelerated thermometer aging.
For N-6 (assuming it is representative..) the monthly mean hot plate variance was of 4 degree hence a thermal drift of 1-2 degree could affect the monthly variance by 25 to 50% which is huge but unclear to me how much the algo is sensitive to the variance versus the absolute temperature. Also daily variance is probably much larger.
The actual effect on earth calculated temperature could be calculated from figure 6, but I am too much of a noob to do the maths sadly.. If anyone could answer how much an artificial gain in thermometer temperature of say 1 degree would do on earth temperature that would be great.
For reference, when the bias was not corrected they observed ~0.8 degree of earth calculated temperature variance bias.
Note that this could have two effects as according to my partial understanding, the thermometer is used two times, 1) for the radiometer to work (related to "counts") they need to know the difference between the cold (fixed temp) and hot plate. and 2) for correcting the non linear bias of radiometer temperature. 1 and 2 might be the same thing but IMO they are not.
Note that independently of thermometer drift and temperature effect on radiometer, the radiometer could itself have also an age drift independent of temperature cf paper aforementioned instrument gain.
While the magnitude of the thermometer drift on earth temperature is unknown (to me) but can be calculated, it could be significant and falsify the satellite temperature record to an extent, and it should worsen in the following decades (especially if aging is non linear also there will be considerably more cosmic rays radiations during the incoming maunder like minimum (maybe arround 2030) which is predicted to reduce (temporarilly) the sun magnetosphere by something like 40% IIRC.
Most importantly this bias can be corrected, via analyzing coorbiting satellites with the UAH (or RSS) that are more recent, e.g. if a spacex satellite came with a thermometer and is nearby, then it could be cross correlated and used to assess how much the UAH thermometers have drifted empirically.
submitted by TheIdealHominidae to climatechange [link] [comments]
My basic understanding is that they measure incoming (from earth) radiation level (irradiance).
Then with some maths, they derive the temperature from the received light spectrum.
Some satellites measure incoming infrared radiation, but the most popular ones measure incoming microwave radiation.
My main question is related to the use of thermometers on board of those satellites, their purposes.
Let's take for example the famous UAH satellite, its founder, Roy Spencer, says the following:
> Contrary to some reports, the satellite measurements are not calibrated in any way with the global surface-based thermometer records of temperature. They instead use their own on-board precision redundant platinum resistance thermometers (PRTs) calibrated to a laboratory reference standard before launch.
platinum thermometers are simply a more accurate version of thermometers versus mercury based ones.
He says the satellite has onboard (redundant (2)) thermometers. Why and at which step in the temperature calculus pipeline are those thermometers used in the satellite?
The satellites are in near space (very cold) and their face that is solar exposed could be very hot. In both ways (space cold and heat) seems highly unrelated to measuring earth surface temperature.
If so, then what are the purpose of those thermometers onboard? How do they relate with the spectroscopic measure of incoming radiation?
Here is my tentative understanding:
I was able to find this UAH paper that says:
> the spacecraft experience a slight E-W drift during the course of their operational life.
> the (microwave) instrument is exposed to more direct sunlight and warms as a result. This warming is evidenced in the on-board platinum resistance thermometer which is embedded in the hot-target plate. Christy et al. 2000 discovered the dependency of variations in the hot-target plate temperature (HTPT) and errors in the atmospheric temperature reported by the instrument. The instrument error was eliminated by determining a linear coefficient which when multiplied by the HTPT anomaly would account for much of the error.
from https://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/68728.pdf
The paper they cite is most likely:
https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/atot/17/9/1520-0426_2000_017_1153_mttdca_2_0_co_2.xml?tab_body=abstract-display
> As mentioned in Christy et al. (1998), we discovered a spurious influence on the calculation of Tb due to the temperature of the instrument itself
According to this, it seems that the two thermometers, which are near the sun exposed part (plate) and the radiometer, are used to algorithmically correct the bias/drift effect of satellite temperature variation on the accuracy of the radiometer that measure microwaves.
Besides this correction, that was added in the 2000s, my question is, did the two themometers had, and still have another role in the earth temperature calculus? Do the radiometer needs them, independently of aforementioned drift.
> The determination of earth-viewed Tb from the ob-served digital counts is based on an interpolation scheme between two temperature anchor points: cold space and the onboard warm target plate T W . The MSU reports the intensity of microwave radiation as digital counts for the 11 earth views and for cold space and the warm target. The temperature for cold space is known (2.7 K) and that of the warm target is monitored by the two PRTs. Thus a relationship is then computed between counts and Tb given the digital counts and temperatures of the anchor points (Spencer et al. 1990).
If "earth viewed Tb" means earth calculated temperature (?) then it seems the radiometer alone cannot work (?) and needs to do the difference between the cold and hot zone of the satellite.
It seems to not be the same thing as aforementioned bias drift correction but the difference to me is unclear. The argument for this role of the thermometer being different is that it was described in 1990, before the drift was known (it seems but not sure).
note that they mention errors corrections can be non linear.
> In general, as the instrument heats (T W increases) the calculated earth-viewed temperature based on laboratory nonlinear calibration coefficients becomes too warm.
Meaning that the warmer the radiometer is, the warmer (non linearly) the earth calculated temperature is.
anyone knows what the "cold target counts" terminology actually means in regards to the radiometer?
note that the idea of using coorbiting satellites thermometer data for increased redundancy is promising.
Anyway here is my discovery, that is in fact known but it seems nobody had connected the dots before.
Christy discovered that the temperature variation of the radiometer affects the earth temperature calculus (non linearly).
They also measured that past similar satellites had anomalous drifts/temperature records because (among other things like orbital decay, instrument gain and diurnal bias) they were not correcting for their discovered bias.
HOWEVER, it seems no one has considered that there is a meta-drift, a drift over the drift since the 2 thermometers that are used to correct the radiometer bias, have themselves an intrinsic temperature drift over time that is an artificial warming effect.
It is known that thermometers (mercury, alcohol) artificially gain 0.7 degree per century.
for platinum thermometers, the temperature drift is between 2-10 millikelvin per year hence up to 1 degree of warming per century....
but in an environment like space (extreme cold, extreme heat when sun aligned, and lower gravity (could affect thermal expansion/accuracy) the effect could be bigger or faster especially with solar radiation.
source: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015SPIE.9258E..1AD/abstract
Of course, here even if the thermometers were to have their temperature artificially increase by 1 degree (or more via accellerated space aging), the effect would not directly translate to an artificial increase of earth calculated temperature by 1 degree.
According to Christy's paper, the average UAH satellite monthly temperature was 280 degree at the time. So it would shift to an artificial 281 monthly temperature.
It appears there was a drift of 2 degree between 1979 to 97 for a similar satellite (see figure 5) albeit data is not clean at the end, and also, it might be natural space temperature variance (or via orbital decay/change) (no idea) instead of accelerated thermometer aging.
For N-6 (assuming it is representative..) the monthly mean hot plate variance was of 4 degree hence a thermal drift of 1-2 degree could affect the monthly variance by 25 to 50% which is huge but unclear to me how much the algo is sensitive to the variance versus the absolute temperature. Also daily variance is probably much larger.
The actual effect on earth calculated temperature could be calculated from figure 6, but I am too much of a noob to do the maths sadly.. If anyone could answer how much an artificial gain in thermometer temperature of say 1 degree would do on earth temperature that would be great.
For reference, when the bias was not corrected they observed ~0.8 degree of earth calculated temperature variance bias.
Note that this could have two effects as according to my partial understanding, the thermometer is used two times, 1) for the radiometer to work (related to "counts") they need to know the difference between the cold (fixed temp) and hot plate. and 2) for correcting the non linear bias of radiometer temperature. 1 and 2 might be the same thing but IMO they are not.
Note that independently of thermometer drift and temperature effect on radiometer, the radiometer could itself have also an age drift independent of temperature cf paper aforementioned instrument gain.
While the magnitude of the thermometer drift on earth temperature is unknown (to me) but can be calculated, it could be significant and falsify the satellite temperature record to an extent, and it should worsen in the following decades (especially if aging is non linear also there will be considerably more cosmic rays radiations during the incoming maunder like minimum (maybe arround 2030) which is predicted to reduce (temporarilly) the sun magnetosphere by something like 40% IIRC.
Most importantly this bias can be corrected, via analyzing coorbiting satellites with the UAH (or RSS) that are more recent, e.g. if a spacex satellite came with a thermometer and is nearby, then it could be cross correlated and used to assess how much the UAH thermometers have drifted empirically.
2024.05.18 22:38 Due_Pin2723 Kudos to the John Doggett fans since the original run!
The first message of this subreddit group is dedicated to the Doggett fans since the original run. I have the most respect to those hardcore John Doggett and/or DSR fans since the original run, especially those who created websites and/or fanfics dedicated to him. I know that being a Doggett/DSR fan back in the day faced a lot of harassment, but you guys put up with all of it.
I am a new fan (since about March 2024) to Agent John Doggett of the X Files. Because there are not that many Doggett episodes (~1.5 seasons), I started to look for DSR or Doggett fanfics to get my Doggett fix. I then discovered a lot of people who have written
The Semper Fi website is technically a shrine to Agent John Doggett/DSR. Unfortunately, the website can now only be viewed via the Wayback Machine, where a lot of images and fanfics were lost: John Doggett X-Files Doggett/Scully (archive.org). The website and the associated social media sites seemed to be no longer active since 2017 (I am also not sure how long the Wayback Machine can host the website). I can also no longer find any social group dedicated to Doggett/SDR fans (I read about the SHODDS group, but I cannot find any information about them). The effort that Cassie/Doggett Scully in creating the Semper Fi website is admirable and I have to admit I have no such dedication or knowledge to recreate such wonderful website. That's why I just started a minimal effort by creating this Reddit subgroup to hopefully gather all the fans of John Doggett and/or DSR, original ones and new ones alike.
Thanks for your support.
submitted by Due_Pin2723 to FansOfJohnDoggett [link] [comments]
I am a new fan (since about March 2024) to Agent John Doggett of the X Files. Because there are not that many Doggett episodes (~1.5 seasons), I started to look for DSR or Doggett fanfics to get my Doggett fix. I then discovered a lot of people who have written
The Semper Fi website is technically a shrine to Agent John Doggett/DSR. Unfortunately, the website can now only be viewed via the Wayback Machine, where a lot of images and fanfics were lost: John Doggett X-Files Doggett/Scully (archive.org). The website and the associated social media sites seemed to be no longer active since 2017 (I am also not sure how long the Wayback Machine can host the website). I can also no longer find any social group dedicated to Doggett/SDR fans (I read about the SHODDS group, but I cannot find any information about them). The effort that Cassie/Doggett Scully in creating the Semper Fi website is admirable and I have to admit I have no such dedication or knowledge to recreate such wonderful website. That's why I just started a minimal effort by creating this Reddit subgroup to hopefully gather all the fans of John Doggett and/or DSR, original ones and new ones alike.
Thanks for your support.
2024.05.18 22:33 JulianSkies Blackriver Cases - Season 10 “Days of Fury” - Episode 2 “Visiting Omen”
[ [FIRST] [NEXT>]
The first couple of days were boring, as usual- Blackriver is a small town, and the worst that had happened was Nila and Kessa making a few wellness checks after worried calls from neighbors. A couple of people in denial, a few ashamed at their own violent outbursts and a stern warning to Tamm about painting others’ properties without asking first.
This morning, however, began with an all-hands meeting. There were no meeting rooms in the office, so they made do in the general workspace room, they all stood there at the center while Keya looked them over.
“We have received a report from a neighboring city about a convoy of protestors making its way to Blackriver” she describes without tone. At this point nobody bothers interrupting.
“This convoy is comprised of approximately four hundred and seventy eight individuals of multiple species, primarily human and venlil but with operationally relevant representations of the entire spectrum of size and mobility types” her paws are behind her back, her ears focused directly ahead, her eyes centered to keep the entire team on the core of her focus “They have crossed multiple cities already, generally engaging in verbal sparring with any figure of authority, parading signs and banners denouncing all manners of authorities as well as occasionally engaging in physical altercations with officers.”
“They are also known to engage in vandalism. Though primarily aimed at exterminator and police precincts as well as public offices, they have already caused considerable collateral to others they have identified as ‘collaborators’” there’s a single heartbeat of waiting for breath before she continues “They have, however, not shown to be an incredibly organized group or one with a clear goal and objective. The convoy appears to contain only extremely emotionally charged people with no clear overarching goal.”
“We are incapable of dealing with the situation should they turn aggressive, as such we will be simply maintaining watch and relocating the populace should they become a problem.” Then, she picks up her holopad and passes it to Lunek beside her “They can only follow one path with the entire convoy, the central street, therefore I have divided it into four sectors. One of each will be assigned to a sector.”
First her ears turn to the first target “Lunek, sector one at the entrance. As the most approachable member of the precinct your task is to give an initial image of harmlessness. Do not engage first, do not take initiative against them. Ensure the members of the herd in the area are warned of their approach. If they become aggressive, retreat and focus on the escape of the herd.”
She tilts her head a little bit, turning her ears the other way “Marik, sector two. Mostly the commercial area, your task is ostensive protection to lower the chances of them initiating aggression. Whereas protection of the herd is first priority your second priority is ensuring Tenve’s Hardware Store as well as Sunbreeze Meals and Watchful Café remain capable of providing anyone whose residences become damaged.” suddenly, she turns her head entirely to face Marik “Ostensive protection means dissuasion, ensure that they know they are not under threat and as long as those specific areas are not engaged, do not provoke”
Next in her line of fire is Santos “As our human officer you will be in sector three, nearby the precinct. They are liable to become most agitated in this area and your presence may serve to calm them. You are not to engage, if deemed necessary the precinct’s materials are considered expendable, do not attempt to stop them”
“Sector four, the exit of town, will be with me to ensure that they have fully left Blackriver and will not attempt to turn back” then she tilts her ears again “Aren, you will gear up with a CCG and remain out of view range, your task will be quick emergency response should the need arise.” she then points her tail at the last three officers “Vess, your task will be to inform the herd and ensure a clear path for the convoy while Nila and Kessa will gather all of our medical supplies and set a staging area out of the convoy’s range. Organize ambulance assistance from Striped Hill and Everrain”
Then, she turns her ears around to focus each one in turn “As any attempt at aggression will end only in negative consequences, and in order to reduce the apparent levels of threat you will be unarmed. The estimated time of arrival is a third of a claw, ready yourselves and be at your post in time. Dismissed.”
“Not sure if I like or I don’t that we had the cold bastard right now” Aren says, as soon as Keya had left the room “Maybe we should move in closer when the convoy gets to sector four?”
“Probably a good idea to be nearby” Santos adds with a sigh “They might take umbrage with her demeanor, hopefully they won’t be set off too hard.”
And with silent signs of agreement all of the officers of Blackriver depart for preparations. The first ones to leave the precinct are the ones in charge of support, the two girls set off early to find someone willing to permit usage of their lawn as a possible impromptu field hospital and a little while later Aren leaves with a heavy CCG.
Slowly, the clock ticks to the appointed claw… And soon enough, Lunek can see in the distance the incoming omen of people. At first a distant line in the horizon, slowly the dark mark on the road coalesces into distinct shapes, the shapes of hundreds of vehicles slowly rolling down the road.
When the first few get close to the initial buildings of the main street, the entire convoy slows down. Their process of preparation is seemingly laborious, each vehicle houses multiple people at a time, smaller cars full to the brim, flatbeds with more people on their cargo space than can safely be contained, even buses conscripted for the effort. They carry with them signs, flags, a multitude of symbols as they dismount their vehicles and start spreading out to fill the street.
They seem to naturally form two distinct yet highly mixed groups, at its most distinctive is the pack of humans who keep a good distance from each other. But they are not alone in this group as takkan, mazic, yotul, zurulian and even drilvar form this central group. But flowing around them, not avoiding their presence but never infringing in their space is the grey mass of venlil, packed tight together, and mixed in there adding color to the monochromatic flux are krakotl, tilfish, sulean, iftali, sivkit and even a seemingly very confused duerten.
And at the very core of the moving group are their vehicles, which gently start rolling forward again as the group starts moving. Lunek simply waits, silently, by the side of the road, his ears attentively swiveling from one side to the other, expression having given way to function. Before the first of the convoy even arrives close he turns to the side, making a pointing sign with his tail. A woman who had been watching from her yard flicks her right ear and runs back inside.
He continues to wait, scanning around at all times for the presence of… Anything. The street is empty of locals when the first visitors start to alight. The convoy is loud, their symbols carry a loudness of colors and their vehicles make as much noise as they can to draw attention, but those who walk seem content in allowing their tools to speak for them, for now. Lunek tries to make sense of the banners and signs, but the messages are disparate as the group- Some speak of injustices against their people, some speak of anger at invaders, some speak of betrayal.
“Fuck off, fireman!” comes the harsh bark of a human, causing Lunek to flinch. But flinch is all he does, he simply starts walking alongside the moving convoy.
The exterminator’s attention is drawn to the details of the few people he can distinguish amongst the mass. Something tickles at his pattern-recognition but he cannot quite ascertain what for a while, until a lightly limping mazic makes her way to the edge of the mass “Want to finish the job?!” she trumpets, her form towering over his.
“I’m just observing, ma’am.” Though the tremor of his voice is noticeable, he remains stoic. But her proximity makes him notice something about her body, marks in her wrists, neck and feet. Though mazic have powerful wrists and knuckles upon which they support the front half of their weight, her left wrist seems completely incapable of it, giving her a limp particular to a three-point walk. “To make sure there’s no impediment on your path” he notices the leathery skin around her left wrist is deeply blackened.
“Oh, ‘no impediment’ is that it? So everyone that lives here is an impediment?!” her voice booms.
“Ma’am” still, he does not yield nor does he break his pace following the convoy “We have not done anything other than inform our people of your presence…” for a half second all he hears is the sound of his own heart “We can’t do anything else.”
Those words, then, sealed his fate. The first shout to echo in his direction was a yotul howling “Yeah you’re useless!” and soon the avalanche came in multiple voices and languages “Can’t do shit!” “You’re just here to hurt people!” “Useless crap!” “Idiot!” and many more.
With every step and twitch the very average exterminator puts all of his focus on just being there. He lets himself cower a little bit, against the barrage it is difficult not to, but he continues to accompany. A few curious coats step out from their houses to watch, but the front of the convoy seems far too focused on the sole exterminator in view to bother anyone else.
A few steps ahead, an older venlil with a cane has moved the closest to the convoy as any watcher has up to now. Seeing her proximity to the increasingly rowdy crowd causes Lunek to speed up, quickly approaching her “Leva-”
But his words are stalled when she puts a paw on his shoulder, she gently puts her head against his for just a second “You’re doing good pup, keep at it” she mutters to him before breaking contact and turning around to walk back inside. He can spy her grandchildren looking on through the door. Lunek looks back at the still-shouting moving convoy, takes a deep breath, and continues to accompany them forward. A small pawful of them, however, seem to have fallen silent.
Once having reached the limit of his assigned zone, however, Lunek stops. He watches the convoy move forward, past the houses, now noisier than before. The initial hollering at him had turned into disjointed screams at some indistinct foe- Though the herd had been noticed of a foe, it was yet unaware of who, or what, said foe was. So for now it howled at the ineptitude of… Someone. And as the last of the convoy passes beyond the imaginary line of his duty, Lunek lets out a deep sigh and allows himself to sit down on the ground.
He stays there for a moment, without thought, simply letting the tension, confusion and fear permeate his body until a gentle paw touches his arm. He doesn’t need to look to identify it, he lets his lover use her strength to prop him up, raising him to his feet “Keina you shouldn’t-”
“Neighbor’s looking over Tiss” his wife wraps her arms and tail around him “I’m not leaving you alone.” she stays like that for a second, before breaking off “Do you need to go after them?”
“No”
Marik stalks through the sidewalk, moving with energy. His speed outpaces the movement of the convoy, his paws twitch to grasp at something that isn’t there and a deep and intense motion makes his short fur stand on end. He had let the convoy’s head move in front of him, simply standing still as he assessed as many as he could in the mass, and now he had begun to move towards the front again.
As he stalked forward he focused his sight on every member of the convoy that seemed of interest. A human whose clothes seemed suspiciously loose, a venlil whose movements were far too stiff, a gojid who kept his claws behind his back. He stared at each like they were his quarry, analyzing every piece of movement they made for threats, and yet aside from the challenge in the human’s gaze he saw no danger arise.
Tenve had closed his shop, so as the convoy moved forward Marik simply continued to follow along, scanning the crowd for threats. But the next point of interest arrives, and he rushes ahead placing himself in front of the only restaurant of the town. Sunbreeze Meals wasn’t a very common sort of restaurant, Blackriver did not have enough visitors for a normal restaurant to be profitable and was small enough most people had their meals at home, it most often served takeout for those farmers who’d spend so long in the field they would return home without the energy to feed themselves.
Sparing a look inside at the only five tables, Marik couldn’t keep a small thought away from his mind. How most who got their meals from Sunbreeze these days did so because they enjoyed the cooking rather than their need of work, ever since the sunspeck population has been brought under control and the maintenance of the fields had become much smaller. He feels the presence long before he can recognize what led him to feel it and turns to stare at a group of six that approach the entrance: Two humans, a tilfish, two gojids and a takkan had broken off from the convoy and approached the restaurant.
He traces his color band over each in turn, and they all bristle at his stare. One of the humans hesitates before continuing to walk inside, and Marik simply remains by the door with his arms crossed, left ear twisted as far back as he could to listen to the inside.
“What have you got here?”
“W-we mostly ha-have ready ma-made meals to go or- or- Or you can look over the menu”
“There’s no need to stutter, y’know”
“So-sorry-”
“Really, after everything y’all are still with this predator crap?”
The chimes on the door echo for the second time in sequence as Marik makes his way inside. The tilfish had started to lean over the counter while the other five had arrayed themselves behind her. They all turn their attention to him as he enters, including the venlil manning the counter. Marik keeps his gaze directly on the tilfish for a few uncomfortable seconds, before looking at the man behind the counter and making a simple sign with his tail, a short vertical bob with the tip and a slow horizontal swipe. It’s meaning simple: >Safe<.
After a few seconds someone else appears from the kitchen. The tall venlil carries a large stack of plastic boxes in his arms, all of them seemingly designed to attach to themselves so as to be carried with ease. He puts them down with a resounding crash on the counter, and opens up his voice with ice “Farmer’s Pots, good meal when you’re working and can’t go home.” With each word the owner of the restaurant and main cook comes closer and closer to the tilfish, until the last “Ten credits each.”
Nobody moves for a couple of seconds, and then one of the humans steps closer and brings a holopad over to the credit reader. There’s a noise indicating payment, and then the owner raises his head and tilts it to focus his favored eye and both of his ears at the man who paid “Now,” he shifts register in his voice and the language he speaks in “fuck off” he finishes.
With no small amount of surprise the group of six retrieve the stack of packaged meals, carefully walking out and back into the convoy. Marik stays behind for a moment “Didn’t know you spoke human”
“Pup’s enamored with their languages. Of course, first greek words he learns is swearing.”
Outside, Marik stalks further ahead to the next point of interest. He moves faster than the convoy, and has time to move in front of it. For a few meters the street is still clear as he arrives to find a group of people standing in front of the Watchful. Standing there were all of its employees, and even all of its regulars, twenty people total standing there as if they were having the most normal day. If not for their raised ears tracking every noise coming from down the street and their swaying tails swinging about like angry beasts.
One of them simply points his tail at the other side of the street as Marik comes closer, and the hunter doesn’t need a second command to understand the meaning. They have this, he has a less practical but just as important duty. He crosses the street quickly before the convoy starts coming closer, and heads towards the park.
As the regulars of the Watchful had feared, it took little time until a large group had broken off from the convoy. With the town on alert about the convoy they had found themselves bereft of prey and now this group had set out to find some, anyone who might be willing, or not, to listen to their grievances. And what is clearly a place designed for people to congregate looked most appetizing.
Marik shadowed the group as they moved through the park, but they were accompanied by nothing but silence. It wasn’t until they ran into the centerpiece of the park that he took initiative, stepping ahead of the group and simply… Standing there a distance away from the tree of many scions, between it and the group.
“What’s so important over there, fireman?” it was a venlil who asked, but his usage of an english word was not lost on Marik.
“A place you will respect” the exterminator has his arms crossed, the one good portion of his gaze set on the man who asked “This is a grave.”
Though the group that now prowled was large, those who heard were taken aback. One such, however, approaches closer. He was a venlil whose fur shifted between a soft, brownish color and a dirty white “A tradition of the tenets right? One of those family trees?” The man would have been distinctive in any other group due to his missing patches of fur around neck, wrists, even portions around his head. But such signs of long term damage were common in the convoy.
Interest. They had shown true interest, or at least one of them had. “No, but similar… The forgotten tree is a grave for the forgotten.” He felt like these people, at least the ones before him, could probably understand the meaning of this place “It is of no tradition. Someone, a long time ago, wanted to honor someone who was gone but whose name was not meant to be remembered. Someone who had disappeared in the system… So they borrowed on another’s tradition, and added a scion to this tree, with something in their memory. Others have done so similarly, until it became… A grave for the forgotten”
“Didn’t think you’d be worried about this kind of place” it’s a human that speaks up this time
“Our duty is to protect this town, what you think-” but Marik’s words are interrupted by that same venlil who had asked before. His demeanor suddenly shifts, his ears perk up and his entire body shifts forward for a moment. He hesitates, for a second everyone’s focus is on him, and then he runs towards the tree.
Marik follows behind, stopping just by the man’s side as he finds himself at the base of the tree. The man makes a direct line to somewhere, something he had found from the distance, as if it had called him. He finds a thick and heavy branch that had been bent down by the weight of its scions and memories, near its base and speaking of a memory left behind long ago is a braid of fur made of three colors, a dirty white, a soft brown and a dark grey, bound by the braids are two beads.
The man raises up a paw, but does not touch it. As if cradling it, he recites the words engraved in one of the beads “I will cross every star to return home” others have come closer to listen to the man’s hoarse voice “There will always be a home for you” he reads of the second one. The names on the beads have been scratched out. The man falls on his knees “S-she kept her promise and… I couldn’t keep mine…”
Marik steps back as he watches two others come closer to comfort the man. He looks as a few others approach with more caution, looking up at the tree with a bit more reverence than they had before. Then, he turns around and starts heading back towards the main street.
Gazing out as the convoy gains a new flux, some leave it as it passes to move towards the park while others leave the park to rejoin the convoy, Marik simply stays there at the side of the street looking as stern as he could. Though the noise of the convoy remains great, here in this portion it seems to die down a little. A thought crosses his mind as he turns an ear as far back as he can, a thought he can’t help but voice “I wonder how many are looking at their own graves…”
As the convoy progresses, Santos simply stands by the front of the precinct, hands in his pockets. He watches the convoy arrive, heart beating fast, constrained hands the only reason he hasn't started shaking quite yet. He starts tapping his right foot as he watches the first few people cross by without noticing what this place is yet, everyone knows where the precinct is, so aside from the words printed on the sign by the entrance there is no other marker of what this building’s purpose might be.
Of course, it is impossible for nobody to notice. The entire convoy seems to stop as soon as a zurulian riding on the shoulders of a human points a claw at the building and says something. A large group breaks away at the command, all of them holding disparate signs and messages. They turn on the building with enough roars that whatever they are attempting to transmit is lost on him.
Santos is thankful his hearing isn’t nearly as good as his coworkers’, as the cacophony is already overwhelming him. He changes stances slightly, taking his hands out of his pockets and crossing his arms. This prompts a small group to turn their looks at him, the focus easily identifiable with the humans in their midst, focus which made the hair in the back of Santos’ neck stand on end. Living in this place had refined his sense of danger, but he didn’t need that to realize what could happen.
It was a group of five that approached, four humans and a venlil. “Didn’t think they’d be letting humans live out here in the boonies” said one of his kin.
Santos just shrugs “Got hired to work here. Honestly, rural folk get a needlessly bad reputation, most of the time they just don’t care as long as you’re not bothering them”
“Really? In my-”
Santos interrupts the man “Cut it out” there are many ways in which humans make themselves obvious, many of which are their eyes. Santos did understand the fear of them and why it was primal, it was not the fear of the eyes but the fear of attention, it was knowing you were under the scrutiny and judgment of another that set off that emotion. It was rarely the eyes that showed this attention for most species, but for humans it was, and the man’s clear gaze on his badge made the entire situation clear to him “Stop beating around the bush and say it already.”
Someone else is who speaks. The tall woman starts not with words, however, but by spitting on Santos’ uniform “You fucking traitor” her voice is both fierce and cold at the same time. A very emotional coldness.
“There we go” he sighs “Just… Move on. We’re not getting anything out of this conversation”
“Why?” It was the venlil in the group that started this time “These people hate you, they hate you for what you are! Why do you work for them?!”
Santos rubs his eyes and sighs “Because someone has to. Change only happens when you make it happen, simple as that”
“Change?!” another one of the humans howls “Do you think those people can change?! You know the truth, those fuckers have never done anything good!”
“You know, if you had read your history books…” Santos stares at the one who had just had their outburst “You’d remember that we once thought the very same about the police” there’s the sound of glass breaking, but he doesn’t reaction “And a lot of us still do”
The human staring him down shifts their gaze slightly at the broken window of the precinct, then back at Santos “A broken window is easy to fix” he shrugs “As I was saying. Same shit.” he crosses his arms again “There’s a role those people play, a role that needs to be played because it’s important. Different name, different problems, still the same shit. Gotta fix this, I’m doing my part” he then stares at the venlil in the group “You do yours. Simple as that.”
“Role?!” the venlil of the group steps closer “What role could they possibly have?! They only exist to hurt people!”
Santos steps back, and raises his eyes a little bit. Of course, the classics had shown themselves in this instance. With as many humans as there are in the crowd there were now quite a few objects in the air, most clearly aimed at the precinct behind him. Though given the failed arc of some of them it was clearly not just the humans indulging in such a tried and true method.
“I used to be a wildlife preserve ranger” Santos then focuses his gaze on the aggravated venlil “This is a frontier town, if you walk in the brushes with shorts you’ll walk out with your ankles numb. The athai out there are rather harmless, but they keep the sunspecks under control.” He takes another step back “Since coming here I’ve been pest control, had to catch an exotic animal set loose, investigated a murder, helped stop a child from taking her own life, stopped large scale fights, helped a dozen people avoid being arrested for self defense and helped break a fucking siege”
Santos cracks his knuckles “There’s roles. Jobs that need done and there is one fucking organization doing it all. That is a problem.” Then, he sighs and takes a few more steps to the side, offering indifference from this point on “There’s nothing I can say that would make you calm down.” he says one final time “Just make sure not to injure yourselves in the process, alright?” His words seemed to be enough to make the small group cease trying to interact, as the convoy had begun moving again. Though the one human who had called him a traitor gets one final parting shot at the precinct “Where the hell did you get an egg in this planet…” Santos says with a raised eyebrow as the projectile impacts the front door.
Keya stands by a large sign, the same one that welcomes you into Blackriver on one side and sees you out at the other, the official limit of the town. Her arms behind her back, her attention directly towards the front of the convoy as they march. Something gains the whole of her attention, the car in the front. Someone draws her focus, a human with a megaphone on top of the car. The man shouts words of encouragement at the people behind him with the megaphone before turning to his holopad, then he bends over downwards to discuss something with the driver.
She simply remains there, waiting for the convoy to pass. But instead of moving on out of the city, here the convoy stops completely. Keya observes as the further end of the convoy starts to slowly compact upon itself, and her ears pick up something “Alright everyone, start getting ready, next town over is more than a claw away, make sure you’ve left nothing behind” the words were not meant for her, nor for anyone too far. They come from the same man she had seen standing on top of the car, but he had now climbed down and was talking with a group of multiple species.
It is clear they have some degree of leadership, though the convoy does not stop cleanly nor does it begin to organize with alacrity they do respond to the group’s organization. So Keya keeps her focus on them as they point, wave and talk between themselves, others and devices. But at least one of them has noticed her attention, a gangly and light-skinned human with fire-red hair, the man that was atop the car. He starts walking in her direction, before turning around for one final set of commands as he walks backwards “And make sure the guys at the back got all the crap! We’re here to be heard, not to trash the city!” he says before turning back again to head towards her. A venlil with pure white fur erupts from inside the car he was riding, quickly dashing to his side as they notice where he was going.
In a few moments both have come up to her, the human looking down at her with the venlil bristles at his side “Saw anything interesting, fireman?”
“What are you doing here?”
“What? Isn’t it obvious?!” it was the venlil that roared a response “You saw all of it! You know what they’ve done to us! What they’ve done to everyone! And you still work for those brahking monsters! It’s like you’re thankful they made you a cripple!”
The human puts a hand on the venlil’s shoulder, calming her demeanor just a little bit “We’re here because honestly, we’re all too tired of being fucking ignored is what. So what the fuck are you gonna do?!”
“I have put the wrong emphasis” Keya says with her lack of tone. She can see the human shiver just a little bit “My task is to ensure the safety of this town. Your convoy is a danger. We have eight field-capable officers, we cannot ensure the safety of the residents against a group like yours. People will take actions for reasons, you have broadcast your reasons clearly. You have chosen this place for a reason which I cannot ascertain.”
She makes sure her ears are trained towards both the human and the venlil, an action which causes the venlil to cower behind her partner “We do not house government agencies. This is a farming town of little note. The local precinct is a simple precinct, we have no regulatory or command authority. The town population is approximately double that of the number of your convoy. We have no individuals of appreciable social or political reach. There is nothing in Blackriver of interest to people attempting to change government policy, nor have there been actions taken here that I can identify as being cause for retaliatory actions within the context of your message.”
“I must ensure this does not happen again and the only way of doing so is minimizing our attractivity as targets. A logical assumption of your choice of quarry would be a town with the presence of politicians, a large city with constant news coverage, cities housing important government agencies or those containing the Regional Firebases”
“So I ask again. What are you doing here?”
The two remain silent for a few seconds, before the human turns around with a mouth noise “Whatever, I don’t need to explain myself to someone that won’t listen. Come on!” he starts to stalk back towards the car, but stops once he notices his venlil companion wasn’t moving.
The snow-white venlil has their focus on Keya, who offers a simple low forward swipe of her tail, a sign to proceed. Still, the venlil seems frozen in place until the human comes back and grabs hold of their paw with a gentle touch. At which point both finally return to the convoy.
Keya remains at the side of the road, watching as the convoy readies itself again to leave. People get back inside cars, they hop on the back of trucks and load themselves into buses. She continues to watch as the convoy takes its time riding out, making their way out of the town.
Once it is finally gone, multiple footsteps sound behind her. When she turns around she meets her officers, having returned from their assigned positions “They have left. I expect your reports of what happened in each sector by the end of your shifts” she states plainly, before looking at Santos “They did not appear to have a specific reason for targeting Blackriver.” The question remains unspoken.
The human officer just shrugs “Sometimes, you don’t know what you’re doing. We’re just a little town, I doubt they even know what exactly they’re angry about.” He looks at the tail end of the convoy as it leaves “Town was probably just a place they felt safe going to.”
“D-do you think we might get more like that” Lunek says, at the back of the group.
“Who knows…” Santos sighs “But if human history applies anywhere here… This is just a sign of worse things to come”
[ [FIRST] [NEXT>]
And thus the omen passes by. Feelings, emotions of all sorts, without a plan or a reason other than just their own rage and distress.
Did any of these even know what they were doing? And how much worse can it be when they do?
submitted by JulianSkies to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
Season 10 “Days of Fury” - Episode 2 “Visiting Omen”
He had hoped for a boring day. Boring days are good at work, and Santos was already expecting to not have many of them for a while.The first couple of days were boring, as usual- Blackriver is a small town, and the worst that had happened was Nila and Kessa making a few wellness checks after worried calls from neighbors. A couple of people in denial, a few ashamed at their own violent outbursts and a stern warning to Tamm about painting others’ properties without asking first.
This morning, however, began with an all-hands meeting. There were no meeting rooms in the office, so they made do in the general workspace room, they all stood there at the center while Keya looked them over.
“We have received a report from a neighboring city about a convoy of protestors making its way to Blackriver” she describes without tone. At this point nobody bothers interrupting.
“This convoy is comprised of approximately four hundred and seventy eight individuals of multiple species, primarily human and venlil but with operationally relevant representations of the entire spectrum of size and mobility types” her paws are behind her back, her ears focused directly ahead, her eyes centered to keep the entire team on the core of her focus “They have crossed multiple cities already, generally engaging in verbal sparring with any figure of authority, parading signs and banners denouncing all manners of authorities as well as occasionally engaging in physical altercations with officers.”
“They are also known to engage in vandalism. Though primarily aimed at exterminator and police precincts as well as public offices, they have already caused considerable collateral to others they have identified as ‘collaborators’” there’s a single heartbeat of waiting for breath before she continues “They have, however, not shown to be an incredibly organized group or one with a clear goal and objective. The convoy appears to contain only extremely emotionally charged people with no clear overarching goal.”
“We are incapable of dealing with the situation should they turn aggressive, as such we will be simply maintaining watch and relocating the populace should they become a problem.” Then, she picks up her holopad and passes it to Lunek beside her “They can only follow one path with the entire convoy, the central street, therefore I have divided it into four sectors. One of each will be assigned to a sector.”
First her ears turn to the first target “Lunek, sector one at the entrance. As the most approachable member of the precinct your task is to give an initial image of harmlessness. Do not engage first, do not take initiative against them. Ensure the members of the herd in the area are warned of their approach. If they become aggressive, retreat and focus on the escape of the herd.”
She tilts her head a little bit, turning her ears the other way “Marik, sector two. Mostly the commercial area, your task is ostensive protection to lower the chances of them initiating aggression. Whereas protection of the herd is first priority your second priority is ensuring Tenve’s Hardware Store as well as Sunbreeze Meals and Watchful Café remain capable of providing anyone whose residences become damaged.” suddenly, she turns her head entirely to face Marik “Ostensive protection means dissuasion, ensure that they know they are not under threat and as long as those specific areas are not engaged, do not provoke”
Next in her line of fire is Santos “As our human officer you will be in sector three, nearby the precinct. They are liable to become most agitated in this area and your presence may serve to calm them. You are not to engage, if deemed necessary the precinct’s materials are considered expendable, do not attempt to stop them”
“Sector four, the exit of town, will be with me to ensure that they have fully left Blackriver and will not attempt to turn back” then she tilts her ears again “Aren, you will gear up with a CCG and remain out of view range, your task will be quick emergency response should the need arise.” she then points her tail at the last three officers “Vess, your task will be to inform the herd and ensure a clear path for the convoy while Nila and Kessa will gather all of our medical supplies and set a staging area out of the convoy’s range. Organize ambulance assistance from Striped Hill and Everrain”
Then, she turns her ears around to focus each one in turn “As any attempt at aggression will end only in negative consequences, and in order to reduce the apparent levels of threat you will be unarmed. The estimated time of arrival is a third of a claw, ready yourselves and be at your post in time. Dismissed.”
“Not sure if I like or I don’t that we had the cold bastard right now” Aren says, as soon as Keya had left the room “Maybe we should move in closer when the convoy gets to sector four?”
“Probably a good idea to be nearby” Santos adds with a sigh “They might take umbrage with her demeanor, hopefully they won’t be set off too hard.”
And with silent signs of agreement all of the officers of Blackriver depart for preparations. The first ones to leave the precinct are the ones in charge of support, the two girls set off early to find someone willing to permit usage of their lawn as a possible impromptu field hospital and a little while later Aren leaves with a heavy CCG.
Slowly, the clock ticks to the appointed claw… And soon enough, Lunek can see in the distance the incoming omen of people. At first a distant line in the horizon, slowly the dark mark on the road coalesces into distinct shapes, the shapes of hundreds of vehicles slowly rolling down the road.
When the first few get close to the initial buildings of the main street, the entire convoy slows down. Their process of preparation is seemingly laborious, each vehicle houses multiple people at a time, smaller cars full to the brim, flatbeds with more people on their cargo space than can safely be contained, even buses conscripted for the effort. They carry with them signs, flags, a multitude of symbols as they dismount their vehicles and start spreading out to fill the street.
They seem to naturally form two distinct yet highly mixed groups, at its most distinctive is the pack of humans who keep a good distance from each other. But they are not alone in this group as takkan, mazic, yotul, zurulian and even drilvar form this central group. But flowing around them, not avoiding their presence but never infringing in their space is the grey mass of venlil, packed tight together, and mixed in there adding color to the monochromatic flux are krakotl, tilfish, sulean, iftali, sivkit and even a seemingly very confused duerten.
And at the very core of the moving group are their vehicles, which gently start rolling forward again as the group starts moving. Lunek simply waits, silently, by the side of the road, his ears attentively swiveling from one side to the other, expression having given way to function. Before the first of the convoy even arrives close he turns to the side, making a pointing sign with his tail. A woman who had been watching from her yard flicks her right ear and runs back inside.
He continues to wait, scanning around at all times for the presence of… Anything. The street is empty of locals when the first visitors start to alight. The convoy is loud, their symbols carry a loudness of colors and their vehicles make as much noise as they can to draw attention, but those who walk seem content in allowing their tools to speak for them, for now. Lunek tries to make sense of the banners and signs, but the messages are disparate as the group- Some speak of injustices against their people, some speak of anger at invaders, some speak of betrayal.
“Fuck off, fireman!” comes the harsh bark of a human, causing Lunek to flinch. But flinch is all he does, he simply starts walking alongside the moving convoy.
The exterminator’s attention is drawn to the details of the few people he can distinguish amongst the mass. Something tickles at his pattern-recognition but he cannot quite ascertain what for a while, until a lightly limping mazic makes her way to the edge of the mass “Want to finish the job?!” she trumpets, her form towering over his.
“I’m just observing, ma’am.” Though the tremor of his voice is noticeable, he remains stoic. But her proximity makes him notice something about her body, marks in her wrists, neck and feet. Though mazic have powerful wrists and knuckles upon which they support the front half of their weight, her left wrist seems completely incapable of it, giving her a limp particular to a three-point walk. “To make sure there’s no impediment on your path” he notices the leathery skin around her left wrist is deeply blackened.
“Oh, ‘no impediment’ is that it? So everyone that lives here is an impediment?!” her voice booms.
“Ma’am” still, he does not yield nor does he break his pace following the convoy “We have not done anything other than inform our people of your presence…” for a half second all he hears is the sound of his own heart “We can’t do anything else.”
Those words, then, sealed his fate. The first shout to echo in his direction was a yotul howling “Yeah you’re useless!” and soon the avalanche came in multiple voices and languages “Can’t do shit!” “You’re just here to hurt people!” “Useless crap!” “Idiot!” and many more.
With every step and twitch the very average exterminator puts all of his focus on just being there. He lets himself cower a little bit, against the barrage it is difficult not to, but he continues to accompany. A few curious coats step out from their houses to watch, but the front of the convoy seems far too focused on the sole exterminator in view to bother anyone else.
A few steps ahead, an older venlil with a cane has moved the closest to the convoy as any watcher has up to now. Seeing her proximity to the increasingly rowdy crowd causes Lunek to speed up, quickly approaching her “Leva-”
But his words are stalled when she puts a paw on his shoulder, she gently puts her head against his for just a second “You’re doing good pup, keep at it” she mutters to him before breaking contact and turning around to walk back inside. He can spy her grandchildren looking on through the door. Lunek looks back at the still-shouting moving convoy, takes a deep breath, and continues to accompany them forward. A small pawful of them, however, seem to have fallen silent.
Once having reached the limit of his assigned zone, however, Lunek stops. He watches the convoy move forward, past the houses, now noisier than before. The initial hollering at him had turned into disjointed screams at some indistinct foe- Though the herd had been noticed of a foe, it was yet unaware of who, or what, said foe was. So for now it howled at the ineptitude of… Someone. And as the last of the convoy passes beyond the imaginary line of his duty, Lunek lets out a deep sigh and allows himself to sit down on the ground.
He stays there for a moment, without thought, simply letting the tension, confusion and fear permeate his body until a gentle paw touches his arm. He doesn’t need to look to identify it, he lets his lover use her strength to prop him up, raising him to his feet “Keina you shouldn’t-”
“Neighbor’s looking over Tiss” his wife wraps her arms and tail around him “I’m not leaving you alone.” she stays like that for a second, before breaking off “Do you need to go after them?”
“No”
Marik stalks through the sidewalk, moving with energy. His speed outpaces the movement of the convoy, his paws twitch to grasp at something that isn’t there and a deep and intense motion makes his short fur stand on end. He had let the convoy’s head move in front of him, simply standing still as he assessed as many as he could in the mass, and now he had begun to move towards the front again.
As he stalked forward he focused his sight on every member of the convoy that seemed of interest. A human whose clothes seemed suspiciously loose, a venlil whose movements were far too stiff, a gojid who kept his claws behind his back. He stared at each like they were his quarry, analyzing every piece of movement they made for threats, and yet aside from the challenge in the human’s gaze he saw no danger arise.
Tenve had closed his shop, so as the convoy moved forward Marik simply continued to follow along, scanning the crowd for threats. But the next point of interest arrives, and he rushes ahead placing himself in front of the only restaurant of the town. Sunbreeze Meals wasn’t a very common sort of restaurant, Blackriver did not have enough visitors for a normal restaurant to be profitable and was small enough most people had their meals at home, it most often served takeout for those farmers who’d spend so long in the field they would return home without the energy to feed themselves.
Sparing a look inside at the only five tables, Marik couldn’t keep a small thought away from his mind. How most who got their meals from Sunbreeze these days did so because they enjoyed the cooking rather than their need of work, ever since the sunspeck population has been brought under control and the maintenance of the fields had become much smaller. He feels the presence long before he can recognize what led him to feel it and turns to stare at a group of six that approach the entrance: Two humans, a tilfish, two gojids and a takkan had broken off from the convoy and approached the restaurant.
He traces his color band over each in turn, and they all bristle at his stare. One of the humans hesitates before continuing to walk inside, and Marik simply remains by the door with his arms crossed, left ear twisted as far back as he could to listen to the inside.
“What have you got here?”
“W-we mostly ha-have ready ma-made meals to go or- or- Or you can look over the menu”
“There’s no need to stutter, y’know”
“So-sorry-”
“Really, after everything y’all are still with this predator crap?”
The chimes on the door echo for the second time in sequence as Marik makes his way inside. The tilfish had started to lean over the counter while the other five had arrayed themselves behind her. They all turn their attention to him as he enters, including the venlil manning the counter. Marik keeps his gaze directly on the tilfish for a few uncomfortable seconds, before looking at the man behind the counter and making a simple sign with his tail, a short vertical bob with the tip and a slow horizontal swipe. It’s meaning simple: >Safe<.
After a few seconds someone else appears from the kitchen. The tall venlil carries a large stack of plastic boxes in his arms, all of them seemingly designed to attach to themselves so as to be carried with ease. He puts them down with a resounding crash on the counter, and opens up his voice with ice “Farmer’s Pots, good meal when you’re working and can’t go home.” With each word the owner of the restaurant and main cook comes closer and closer to the tilfish, until the last “Ten credits each.”
Nobody moves for a couple of seconds, and then one of the humans steps closer and brings a holopad over to the credit reader. There’s a noise indicating payment, and then the owner raises his head and tilts it to focus his favored eye and both of his ears at the man who paid “Now,” he shifts register in his voice and the language he speaks in “fuck off” he finishes.
With no small amount of surprise the group of six retrieve the stack of packaged meals, carefully walking out and back into the convoy. Marik stays behind for a moment “Didn’t know you spoke human”
“Pup’s enamored with their languages. Of course, first greek words he learns is swearing.”
Outside, Marik stalks further ahead to the next point of interest. He moves faster than the convoy, and has time to move in front of it. For a few meters the street is still clear as he arrives to find a group of people standing in front of the Watchful. Standing there were all of its employees, and even all of its regulars, twenty people total standing there as if they were having the most normal day. If not for their raised ears tracking every noise coming from down the street and their swaying tails swinging about like angry beasts.
One of them simply points his tail at the other side of the street as Marik comes closer, and the hunter doesn’t need a second command to understand the meaning. They have this, he has a less practical but just as important duty. He crosses the street quickly before the convoy starts coming closer, and heads towards the park.
As the regulars of the Watchful had feared, it took little time until a large group had broken off from the convoy. With the town on alert about the convoy they had found themselves bereft of prey and now this group had set out to find some, anyone who might be willing, or not, to listen to their grievances. And what is clearly a place designed for people to congregate looked most appetizing.
Marik shadowed the group as they moved through the park, but they were accompanied by nothing but silence. It wasn’t until they ran into the centerpiece of the park that he took initiative, stepping ahead of the group and simply… Standing there a distance away from the tree of many scions, between it and the group.
“What’s so important over there, fireman?” it was a venlil who asked, but his usage of an english word was not lost on Marik.
“A place you will respect” the exterminator has his arms crossed, the one good portion of his gaze set on the man who asked “This is a grave.”
Though the group that now prowled was large, those who heard were taken aback. One such, however, approaches closer. He was a venlil whose fur shifted between a soft, brownish color and a dirty white “A tradition of the tenets right? One of those family trees?” The man would have been distinctive in any other group due to his missing patches of fur around neck, wrists, even portions around his head. But such signs of long term damage were common in the convoy.
Interest. They had shown true interest, or at least one of them had. “No, but similar… The forgotten tree is a grave for the forgotten.” He felt like these people, at least the ones before him, could probably understand the meaning of this place “It is of no tradition. Someone, a long time ago, wanted to honor someone who was gone but whose name was not meant to be remembered. Someone who had disappeared in the system… So they borrowed on another’s tradition, and added a scion to this tree, with something in their memory. Others have done so similarly, until it became… A grave for the forgotten”
“Didn’t think you’d be worried about this kind of place” it’s a human that speaks up this time
“Our duty is to protect this town, what you think-” but Marik’s words are interrupted by that same venlil who had asked before. His demeanor suddenly shifts, his ears perk up and his entire body shifts forward for a moment. He hesitates, for a second everyone’s focus is on him, and then he runs towards the tree.
Marik follows behind, stopping just by the man’s side as he finds himself at the base of the tree. The man makes a direct line to somewhere, something he had found from the distance, as if it had called him. He finds a thick and heavy branch that had been bent down by the weight of its scions and memories, near its base and speaking of a memory left behind long ago is a braid of fur made of three colors, a dirty white, a soft brown and a dark grey, bound by the braids are two beads.
The man raises up a paw, but does not touch it. As if cradling it, he recites the words engraved in one of the beads “I will cross every star to return home” others have come closer to listen to the man’s hoarse voice “There will always be a home for you” he reads of the second one. The names on the beads have been scratched out. The man falls on his knees “S-she kept her promise and… I couldn’t keep mine…”
Marik steps back as he watches two others come closer to comfort the man. He looks as a few others approach with more caution, looking up at the tree with a bit more reverence than they had before. Then, he turns around and starts heading back towards the main street.
Gazing out as the convoy gains a new flux, some leave it as it passes to move towards the park while others leave the park to rejoin the convoy, Marik simply stays there at the side of the street looking as stern as he could. Though the noise of the convoy remains great, here in this portion it seems to die down a little. A thought crosses his mind as he turns an ear as far back as he can, a thought he can’t help but voice “I wonder how many are looking at their own graves…”
As the convoy progresses, Santos simply stands by the front of the precinct, hands in his pockets. He watches the convoy arrive, heart beating fast, constrained hands the only reason he hasn't started shaking quite yet. He starts tapping his right foot as he watches the first few people cross by without noticing what this place is yet, everyone knows where the precinct is, so aside from the words printed on the sign by the entrance there is no other marker of what this building’s purpose might be.
Of course, it is impossible for nobody to notice. The entire convoy seems to stop as soon as a zurulian riding on the shoulders of a human points a claw at the building and says something. A large group breaks away at the command, all of them holding disparate signs and messages. They turn on the building with enough roars that whatever they are attempting to transmit is lost on him.
Santos is thankful his hearing isn’t nearly as good as his coworkers’, as the cacophony is already overwhelming him. He changes stances slightly, taking his hands out of his pockets and crossing his arms. This prompts a small group to turn their looks at him, the focus easily identifiable with the humans in their midst, focus which made the hair in the back of Santos’ neck stand on end. Living in this place had refined his sense of danger, but he didn’t need that to realize what could happen.
It was a group of five that approached, four humans and a venlil. “Didn’t think they’d be letting humans live out here in the boonies” said one of his kin.
Santos just shrugs “Got hired to work here. Honestly, rural folk get a needlessly bad reputation, most of the time they just don’t care as long as you’re not bothering them”
“Really? In my-”
Santos interrupts the man “Cut it out” there are many ways in which humans make themselves obvious, many of which are their eyes. Santos did understand the fear of them and why it was primal, it was not the fear of the eyes but the fear of attention, it was knowing you were under the scrutiny and judgment of another that set off that emotion. It was rarely the eyes that showed this attention for most species, but for humans it was, and the man’s clear gaze on his badge made the entire situation clear to him “Stop beating around the bush and say it already.”
Someone else is who speaks. The tall woman starts not with words, however, but by spitting on Santos’ uniform “You fucking traitor” her voice is both fierce and cold at the same time. A very emotional coldness.
“There we go” he sighs “Just… Move on. We’re not getting anything out of this conversation”
“Why?” It was the venlil in the group that started this time “These people hate you, they hate you for what you are! Why do you work for them?!”
Santos rubs his eyes and sighs “Because someone has to. Change only happens when you make it happen, simple as that”
“Change?!” another one of the humans howls “Do you think those people can change?! You know the truth, those fuckers have never done anything good!”
“You know, if you had read your history books…” Santos stares at the one who had just had their outburst “You’d remember that we once thought the very same about the police” there’s the sound of glass breaking, but he doesn’t reaction “And a lot of us still do”
The human staring him down shifts their gaze slightly at the broken window of the precinct, then back at Santos “A broken window is easy to fix” he shrugs “As I was saying. Same shit.” he crosses his arms again “There’s a role those people play, a role that needs to be played because it’s important. Different name, different problems, still the same shit. Gotta fix this, I’m doing my part” he then stares at the venlil in the group “You do yours. Simple as that.”
“Role?!” the venlil of the group steps closer “What role could they possibly have?! They only exist to hurt people!”
Santos steps back, and raises his eyes a little bit. Of course, the classics had shown themselves in this instance. With as many humans as there are in the crowd there were now quite a few objects in the air, most clearly aimed at the precinct behind him. Though given the failed arc of some of them it was clearly not just the humans indulging in such a tried and true method.
“I used to be a wildlife preserve ranger” Santos then focuses his gaze on the aggravated venlil “This is a frontier town, if you walk in the brushes with shorts you’ll walk out with your ankles numb. The athai out there are rather harmless, but they keep the sunspecks under control.” He takes another step back “Since coming here I’ve been pest control, had to catch an exotic animal set loose, investigated a murder, helped stop a child from taking her own life, stopped large scale fights, helped a dozen people avoid being arrested for self defense and helped break a fucking siege”
Santos cracks his knuckles “There’s roles. Jobs that need done and there is one fucking organization doing it all. That is a problem.” Then, he sighs and takes a few more steps to the side, offering indifference from this point on “There’s nothing I can say that would make you calm down.” he says one final time “Just make sure not to injure yourselves in the process, alright?” His words seemed to be enough to make the small group cease trying to interact, as the convoy had begun moving again. Though the one human who had called him a traitor gets one final parting shot at the precinct “Where the hell did you get an egg in this planet…” Santos says with a raised eyebrow as the projectile impacts the front door.
Keya stands by a large sign, the same one that welcomes you into Blackriver on one side and sees you out at the other, the official limit of the town. Her arms behind her back, her attention directly towards the front of the convoy as they march. Something gains the whole of her attention, the car in the front. Someone draws her focus, a human with a megaphone on top of the car. The man shouts words of encouragement at the people behind him with the megaphone before turning to his holopad, then he bends over downwards to discuss something with the driver.
She simply remains there, waiting for the convoy to pass. But instead of moving on out of the city, here the convoy stops completely. Keya observes as the further end of the convoy starts to slowly compact upon itself, and her ears pick up something “Alright everyone, start getting ready, next town over is more than a claw away, make sure you’ve left nothing behind” the words were not meant for her, nor for anyone too far. They come from the same man she had seen standing on top of the car, but he had now climbed down and was talking with a group of multiple species.
It is clear they have some degree of leadership, though the convoy does not stop cleanly nor does it begin to organize with alacrity they do respond to the group’s organization. So Keya keeps her focus on them as they point, wave and talk between themselves, others and devices. But at least one of them has noticed her attention, a gangly and light-skinned human with fire-red hair, the man that was atop the car. He starts walking in her direction, before turning around for one final set of commands as he walks backwards “And make sure the guys at the back got all the crap! We’re here to be heard, not to trash the city!” he says before turning back again to head towards her. A venlil with pure white fur erupts from inside the car he was riding, quickly dashing to his side as they notice where he was going.
In a few moments both have come up to her, the human looking down at her with the venlil bristles at his side “Saw anything interesting, fireman?”
“What are you doing here?”
“What? Isn’t it obvious?!” it was the venlil that roared a response “You saw all of it! You know what they’ve done to us! What they’ve done to everyone! And you still work for those brahking monsters! It’s like you’re thankful they made you a cripple!”
The human puts a hand on the venlil’s shoulder, calming her demeanor just a little bit “We’re here because honestly, we’re all too tired of being fucking ignored is what. So what the fuck are you gonna do?!”
“I have put the wrong emphasis” Keya says with her lack of tone. She can see the human shiver just a little bit “My task is to ensure the safety of this town. Your convoy is a danger. We have eight field-capable officers, we cannot ensure the safety of the residents against a group like yours. People will take actions for reasons, you have broadcast your reasons clearly. You have chosen this place for a reason which I cannot ascertain.”
She makes sure her ears are trained towards both the human and the venlil, an action which causes the venlil to cower behind her partner “We do not house government agencies. This is a farming town of little note. The local precinct is a simple precinct, we have no regulatory or command authority. The town population is approximately double that of the number of your convoy. We have no individuals of appreciable social or political reach. There is nothing in Blackriver of interest to people attempting to change government policy, nor have there been actions taken here that I can identify as being cause for retaliatory actions within the context of your message.”
“I must ensure this does not happen again and the only way of doing so is minimizing our attractivity as targets. A logical assumption of your choice of quarry would be a town with the presence of politicians, a large city with constant news coverage, cities housing important government agencies or those containing the Regional Firebases”
“So I ask again. What are you doing here?”
The two remain silent for a few seconds, before the human turns around with a mouth noise “Whatever, I don’t need to explain myself to someone that won’t listen. Come on!” he starts to stalk back towards the car, but stops once he notices his venlil companion wasn’t moving.
The snow-white venlil has their focus on Keya, who offers a simple low forward swipe of her tail, a sign to proceed. Still, the venlil seems frozen in place until the human comes back and grabs hold of their paw with a gentle touch. At which point both finally return to the convoy.
Keya remains at the side of the road, watching as the convoy readies itself again to leave. People get back inside cars, they hop on the back of trucks and load themselves into buses. She continues to watch as the convoy takes its time riding out, making their way out of the town.
Once it is finally gone, multiple footsteps sound behind her. When she turns around she meets her officers, having returned from their assigned positions “They have left. I expect your reports of what happened in each sector by the end of your shifts” she states plainly, before looking at Santos “They did not appear to have a specific reason for targeting Blackriver.” The question remains unspoken.
The human officer just shrugs “Sometimes, you don’t know what you’re doing. We’re just a little town, I doubt they even know what exactly they’re angry about.” He looks at the tail end of the convoy as it leaves “Town was probably just a place they felt safe going to.”
“D-do you think we might get more like that” Lunek says, at the back of the group.
“Who knows…” Santos sighs “But if human history applies anywhere here… This is just a sign of worse things to come”
And thus the omen passes by. Feelings, emotions of all sorts, without a plan or a reason other than just their own rage and distress.
Did any of these even know what they were doing? And how much worse can it be when they do?
2024.05.18 22:04 as334 [Meta] Official Claims List, Army Sizes, and Combat Rules
Being totally true to the original game, we would actually add these a week and half into the game after everyone had just been making up their troop numbers. What follows is a slightly modified form of the rules that were on the original wiki.
Click here to see what can and can't be claimed.
DO
b) The honourable way: They may be destroyed by the winning house, root and stem. The losing house will be completely eradicated. The disputed lands will go to the winning house.
If a person's house has been eradicated (i.e. House Reyne), they may claim a new one after 7 days.
1) [EXPANSION] House A will be sending delegates over to Holdfast X to discuss fealty.
These land combat rules are taken from /essospowers, which we originally took from /westerospowers (the original set has been deleted).
Starting a Conflict
We will be using simple 6 sided dies (d6), 3 sided dies (d3), and 5 sided dies (d5) to represent combat. We have a bot perform these rolls. The number of which will be decided like this
Final = Total of Dice + Bonus
Note: Half the Defense value is added to the total dice sides. So a defense rating of 6 would add 3 making a D6 a D9.
In this example let's assume the following rolls:
During a battle in the open field this usually means the losing side is routed or retreats. During a siege the battle will continue until either side gives in or runs out of troops.
Note: Tie Goes To the Defender
Determining Casualties
Causalities will be determined as follows:
For the smaller army the average of all d6 rolls will be averaged together (round normally). In the above example that would result in an average of 5 ((6 + 6 + 3) / 3) kill dice for side 2. This determines how many kill dice (d5s) will be rolled for enemy causalities.
For the larger army, the highest d6 rolls equal to the amount of the smaller armies rolls will be averaged. In the above example that would mean the 3 highest (6,6,5) rolls would be averaged together for a result of 5.67, rounded to 6. The larger army (side 1) will roll 6d5 kill dice.
These d5 represent the percentage of causalities the opposing side will suffer. The winner will receive a bonus to their kill results equal to the amount of points they win by (in this example 6).
18% x 1,000 = 180 troops out of the fight
13% x 500 = 65 troops out of the fight
What happens next
In an open field battle, the loser retreats and is run from the field. In a defense, another phase of battle will be run until either side gives in.
The mod running the battle will give a short blurb on what occurs in the fight. For this one, I would say something like:
submitted by as334 to WesterosPowers2 [link] [comments]
Code of Chivalry
YOU MUST READ THROUGH THESE RULES IF YOU WISH TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SUBREDDIT! THEY ARE VITAL TO KEEPING THE SUBREDDIT FUNCTIONING IN THE MOST IDEAL MANNER!1) Time
- Time in /westerospowers does not progress at the same rate as IRL. For more effective interaction, it is sped up.
- 1 day IRL = 2 months in WP
- Like in /worldpowers, Sunday is not counted in WP, this is a day off where houses can post [NEWS] for the week relating to their holding. [EVENTS] cannot be created, nor [CONFLICTS]. Basically, no action other than [NEWS], [CLAIM] or [META] can take place on Sunday. In your post, put the WP time, not IRL time (for example) : 4 months
. (this would be 2 days IRL)
2) Claiming
You can claim a holdfast and a house/faction, which will give you dominion over it's adjoining lands. For example; House Baratheon and Storm's End, or Vaes Dothrak and the Dothraki Sea. There cannot be more than one of each house, unless an agreement has been reached, and then no more than two. The two must also be easily distinguishable (i.e. Stannis/Renly Baratheon).Click here to see what can and can't be claimed.
- When you claim, use the [CLAIM] tag and state the house and holdfast in your title, and then use the description to tell us what you want your style to be (e.g. Kingslayer, Lion of the Rock, Red Viper, Mother of Dragons).
- Once you claim a holdfast, we will do the best we can to quickly get it on the Claimed List. Remember, we fuck up too, so feel free to message the mods.
- You may abandon your holdfast at any point in the game and claim another one. However, you will only be able to do so again after 1 month.
- ORGANIZATIONS NOT MENTIONED IN THE LIST ARE NOT AVAILABLE CLAIMS. It doesn't matter if they exist in the ASOIAF universe, you cannot claim the Faceless Men or Sellsword Company #91238 if they're not listed.
3) Wiki
- Once you claim a holdfast, we will make a wiki page for you. Make sure to include your title and , a brief description of your house, your prominent laws and regulations, and any alliances, or allegiances you have.
- Example, The Citadel
- Please update your wiki, it makes it easier when people want to find out about your house for alliances/fealty etc.
4) Etiquette
POSTSDO
- Use a tag: [CLAIM], [EVENT], [EXPANSION], [CONFLICT], [NEWS], or [META].
- Announce anything important, agreements, events, and make decrees. Celebrate or commiserate occasions, such as marriage contracts, welcoming a new sworn sword, mourning a death, completing construction, weddings, funerals, etc.
- Be stupid. Play the game of thrones, be patient, forge alliances, and don't unveil your moves until it's too late. Open war is not always the most feasible option. .
5) Duel
[DUEL] will be used for starting duels. A duel will consist of a 1v1 battle between two characters. Each belligerent will post a role playing story of the last few minutes before the fight begins. The "home team" gets to make the first post so they can describe the location of the duel. The stories will be voted upon and the post with the most upvotes (not overall score because we're ignoring downvotes) will win. The winner will then post a [DUEL - RESOLVED] post that describes the fight. If a stories score doubles (minimum winner score 4) the other's the winner may kill the loser. Otherwise, all duels end with a capture or injury.6) Conflict
It is natural that houses will wish to attack other houses for land and resources, or simply to keep things interesting. This is fine, but it is wise to consider diplomacy before calling the banners.How do I create a Conflict?
- Make a post using the [Conflict - Rally] tag declaring that you are rallying your allies. This step will be used for a lord to call his allies to rally on him for a coming battle. Any lords that wish to participate in a coming battle must respond to this post (with the amount of troops rallied) in order to be counted in the battle. Any forces that were loaned to a lord by an [Event] post can be rallied by the loanee. The opposing side in the conflict should create their own rally post. You can still choose to stand down from a rally.
[Conflict - Rally] The Riverlands call forth their banners against the false King!
- If you wish to betray those who think you allies, Rally as normal for your supposed allies. Then send a message to the moderators with a [Conflict - Betrayal] tag. The mod will take your forces into account on the correct side.
- When at least 24 IRL hours have passed since one of the Rallies, you may then commit your forces using a [CONFLICT - COMMIT]. This signals the attack; defenders can not commit. This sets the number of troops that will be on each side to whomever has rallied on each side. If one side does not create a Rally post it is assumed that they use their full local forces (i.e. those still in the holdfast). A mod will then create the next post.
[CONFLICT-COMMIT] MyHouse attacks ThatHouse
- If you wish to retire from the field (i.e. if diplomacy succeeds or if you do not want to do battle), please create a [Rally - Release] post. This will count as your troops leaving the field, and neither army will be able to attack after that post has been made. Of course, if you retreat while defending a holdfast, the attackers can freely take it.
How does a conflict end?
- Whichever team of countries has the most points from battles wins. If the loser does not surrender then the battle continues. If the conflict lasts for the full 6 days IRL, then the loser must agree to a fully unconditional surrender.
- Another way for a conflict to end is if the attacker calls off the conflict or if the holdfast invaded surrenders or they both come up with a peaceful treaty to end the war.
What happens after a Conflict where a winner is declared at the end?
- The losing ruler has two options:
b) The honourable way: They may be destroyed by the winning house, root and stem. The losing house will be completely eradicated. The disputed lands will go to the winning house.
If a person's house has been eradicated (i.e. House Reyne), they may claim a new one after 7 days.
6) Expansion
General Guidelines
Because we recognize the reality that houses are going to want to annex unclaimed holdfasts for more land, we are making imperialism to a certain degree allowed.- YOU CANNOT ANNEX WHOLE COUNTRIES! This doesn't include small islands. We will only allow territories or regions, like Winterfell taking White Harbour.
- Small regions are eligible for imperialism, but if your annexation of territory starts to become unreasonable, we will force you to renounce your annexation or just delete your post. Please try to keep it to a reasonable size.
- If you claimed a small region at first and want to annex another, message the mods. We will evaluate your request and see if you can take control of another small area.
- If you try to claim the entire North, you are going to have a bad time! Be reasonable and realistic, only take over small regions.
- Any region that is under the control of a claimed holdfast (read: imperialized) cannot be taken over by someone else.
- If you win a war against a house with imperialized territories, the conflict rules apply to the territories as well (refer back to War).
- Abandoned/revoked holdfasts belong to the liege lord. If no new player tries to claim them in 3 days, the liege lord is free to give them away. If there's no liege lord, the city/castle will become available in the claim list.
How to Imperialize
If you are declaring an annexation, use the tag [EXPANSION]. We will also put a list in the wiki of Annexed Territories. This is how you should go through your annexation:1) [EXPANSION] House A will be sending delegates over to Holdfast X to discuss fealty.
- Put the proposed terms of your annexation as well as an explanation for it
- Describe any changes to the region annexed.
7) Mod-Injected Crises
- Every now and then, because we are bored, we will make up a realistic crisis with a [CRISIS] tag. This can be an economic recession, natural disaster, or a magical threat.
- Each faction is encouraged to react to the crisis in the comments. You can say what your house is doing for recovery, if it will provide aid, how it affected you, etc.
8) Money
Please just be realistic. We aren't going to place limits because we want you guys to have fun, but if you donate 40 trillion gold dragons then obviously we will not allow it. Be aware of your house's economic situation, and just be realistic.9) Inactivity
- To make sure houses don't become dormant, we will be enforcing active participation.
- TO BE CONSIDERED ACTIVE YOU MUST MAKE AT LEAST ONE [EVENT] PER WEEK
- You must also participate in News Days and post your [News] on Sundays
- If you fail to do so and it comes to our attention, then you will be given 1 day's notice before we default your house.
Land Combat Rules
Thanks /Westerospowers for the original draft. This system is in effect as of right now.Starting a Conflict
- Normally all conflicts must begin with a [CONFLICT - RALLY] post. This post represents a host bringing their forces together for a fight. Normally at least 12 IRL hours must pass before a commit post is made.
- If the two sides agree, or if a mod makes a ruling, you may skip straight to the commit phase.
- The [CONFLICT - COMMIT] post indicates that the attack has been launched by the poster.
- The mods will then make a [CONFLICT-SCORE] post ASAP. This conflict score post will use the below rules to declare a victor.
We will be using simple 6 sided dies (d6), 3 sided dies (d3), and 5 sided dies (d5) to represent combat. We have a bot perform these rolls. The number of which will be decided like this
- In our example battle we have the following two sides: Side 1 consists of 1,000 men. Side 2 consists of 500 men.
- Add both sides together to get the full number of troops in the battle, then divide each side's forces by that number to see the percentages. For example, a battle of 1,000 vs. 500 would be 66% and 33% respectively.
- Each side's percentages will be rounded to the nearest 5%, so in this example it would be 65% and 35%. Each side will receive 1d6 for every 10%, any remaining 5% will give a 1d3. In the above example,the Side 1 (65%) force will receive 6d6 + 1d3. Side 2 (35%) will receive 3d6 + 1d3.
- The results of the rolls will be added to create the initial score. The defender during a siege will receive a bonus to the their initial score equal to the defense value of the battle site. In this example, Side 2 will have a defense value of 4. The final result of all modifiers is the Battle Score.
Final = Total of Dice + Bonus
Note: Half the Defense value is added to the total dice sides. So a defense rating of 6 would add 3 making a D6 a D9.
In this example let's assume the following rolls:
- Side 1 (1,000, 65%): 1, 5, 4, 6, 3, 6, +2 (from the 1d3)
- Side 2 (500 , 35%): 3, 6, 6, +1 (from the 1d3), +4 (from defense)
- Side 1 Battle Score: 25
- Side 2 Battle Score: 20
During a battle in the open field this usually means the losing side is routed or retreats. During a siege the battle will continue until either side gives in or runs out of troops.
Note: Tie Goes To the Defender
Determining Casualties
Causalities will be determined as follows:
For the smaller army the average of all d6 rolls will be averaged together (round normally). In the above example that would result in an average of 5 ((6 + 6 + 3) / 3) kill dice for side 2. This determines how many kill dice (d5s) will be rolled for enemy causalities.
For the larger army, the highest d6 rolls equal to the amount of the smaller armies rolls will be averaged. In the above example that would mean the 3 highest (6,6,5) rolls would be averaged together for a result of 5.67, rounded to 6. The larger army (side 1) will roll 6d5 kill dice.
These d5 represent the percentage of causalities the opposing side will suffer. The winner will receive a bonus to their kill results equal to the amount of points they win by (in this example 6).
- Side 1 kill dice results: ( 1, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1) = 8 + 5 (excess battle score) = 13
- Side 2 kill dice results: ( 5, 2, 4, 3, 4) = 18
18% x 1,000 = 180 troops out of the fight
13% x 500 = 65 troops out of the fight
What happens next
In an open field battle, the loser retreats and is run from the field. In a defense, another phase of battle will be run until either side gives in.
The mod running the battle will give a short blurb on what occurs in the fight. For this one, I would say something like:
Despite many casualties, Side 1 was able to get over the city's walls. Side 1 takes the inner side of the walls while Side 2 decides to continue the battle in the city streets.
2024.05.18 22:01 EducationalQuiet2140 Have a Seat
Content Warning: Blood and personal injury related content
(For the Reader: having grown up with Mr. Turner, I know his parents very well and this is a story that can be confirmed 100%. Medical records, receipts from the little league that year, scars...If you knew Mr. Turner you would know how deeply this incident effected him and still does to this day. He rarely shares this story with any one and this is the first time he has ever told it from this perspective. Somewhat like regression therapy. It was hard to hear my good friend tell this story. You would never know the difficult things he has encountered in his life because of his good nature and high spirited, out going personality.)
1996
Baseball.
Americas pastime.
I wipe the sweat from my brow as the sun stares down. The bill of my ballcap is rendered useless as the sun is just above eye level. I'm only playing catch with my buddy Dan, but it's a fun challenge. Were playing along the first base line just off the field.
It is the end of the season and me and my team are having a Banquet to celebrate our run in the final tournament. We dominated all summer. We were second in the league only but only because we missed one of the first couple games.
Chicken pox.
I'm only 8 but I'm good at the game. I was constantly overhearing the other adults making comments back and forth "He's a natural!", "'Raw talent' in that one" some would say.
My dad taught me everything I know. He was a coach himself and had played since he was a boy. He even took me to see a few Mariners games at the the 'King Dome'. Edgar Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Randy Johnson, Jay Buhner...Ken Griffey Jr! They were living legends. Baseball was my thing.
Dan tossed the ball to me and I held my glove just below eye sight. I adjusted my body a little and 'THWAP' the ball struck the palm of my mitt. "Good Throw Dan. Excellent aim!" I say scooping the ball up with my free hand. I warn "Comin' in HOT!" as I wrenched my arm back and unloaded a fastball in his direction.
'THWAAP!'
"Good catch!"
I was having a blast. I couldn't wait to eat! The adults were setting up the food tables.
"Pop Fly!" Screamed Dan as he launched the ball into the sun.
The food smelt so good. I hadn't eaten at all that day just so I could have room for everything. Mac n Cheese, mashed potatoes', BBQ chicken, burgers, dogs. My mouth watered in anticipation. I was planning on eating like a king this evening.
I was so lost in the smell that I hadn't heard the warning cries from a couple adults. I was trying to stay ahead of that ball. I couldn't really see it but I knew its flight path. It would come into view and I'll be right under it.
Just as the ball finally came into view I could see I was right under it. I reached my hand up in time for the ball to fall right into the leather.
Before I could relish in my victory emulating catch, I'm jarred with such stopping force my head hurts. I'm beyond confused as my vision is not working correctly. Everything is dizzying and hard to make out or focus. The pain in my head was getting mor intense and more precise. My hearing was impaired to a degree. It sounded like I was under and I could hear screaming but it was muffled.
I tried to speak but I was incapable. I realized at that moment that the pain was radiating from my mouth. I let out a deep groan in panic and pain. My eyes were swelling up with tears but my vision came to and I'm tangled in the aluminum side line bleachers.
The cold metal shocked the rest of my body's senses back into order and I fall back to the ground as my dad fly's from out of no where to console me. The pain was so intense at this point and I felt like I was drooling a lot. As painful as this was it was also extremely embarrassing. I couldn't control my bodily functions properly. Trying to walk would have been impossible had my mom not made it to me. Some how she levitated me away from the impact site.
I passed one of my teammates and saw the look of horror in his face as he pointed at me and said "I've never seen that much blood in my life!"
My eyes widened as I look down at my hands cupped under my mouth to see the thickest red syrup like liquid I've seen this close. Bright red flooded my hand like an overflowing tube. My mouth was like a leaky sink dripping into a bucket. The sun light pierced it causing it to shimmer vibrantly. Mesmerizing!
Unfortunately I didn't get to eat like a king that evening and wouldn't even eat normal for the next few weeks and months with all the surgeries.
(Final Notes: Thank you for reading. -Dev)
submitted by EducationalQuiet2140 to curiousmemory [link] [comments]
(For the Reader: having grown up with Mr. Turner, I know his parents very well and this is a story that can be confirmed 100%. Medical records, receipts from the little league that year, scars...If you knew Mr. Turner you would know how deeply this incident effected him and still does to this day. He rarely shares this story with any one and this is the first time he has ever told it from this perspective. Somewhat like regression therapy. It was hard to hear my good friend tell this story. You would never know the difficult things he has encountered in his life because of his good nature and high spirited, out going personality.)
1996
Baseball.
Americas pastime.
I wipe the sweat from my brow as the sun stares down. The bill of my ballcap is rendered useless as the sun is just above eye level. I'm only playing catch with my buddy Dan, but it's a fun challenge. Were playing along the first base line just off the field.
It is the end of the season and me and my team are having a Banquet to celebrate our run in the final tournament. We dominated all summer. We were second in the league only but only because we missed one of the first couple games.
Chicken pox.
I'm only 8 but I'm good at the game. I was constantly overhearing the other adults making comments back and forth "He's a natural!", "'Raw talent' in that one" some would say.
My dad taught me everything I know. He was a coach himself and had played since he was a boy. He even took me to see a few Mariners games at the the 'King Dome'. Edgar Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Randy Johnson, Jay Buhner...Ken Griffey Jr! They were living legends. Baseball was my thing.
Dan tossed the ball to me and I held my glove just below eye sight. I adjusted my body a little and 'THWAP' the ball struck the palm of my mitt. "Good Throw Dan. Excellent aim!" I say scooping the ball up with my free hand. I warn "Comin' in HOT!" as I wrenched my arm back and unloaded a fastball in his direction.
'THWAAP!'
"Good catch!"
I was having a blast. I couldn't wait to eat! The adults were setting up the food tables.
"Pop Fly!" Screamed Dan as he launched the ball into the sun.
The food smelt so good. I hadn't eaten at all that day just so I could have room for everything. Mac n Cheese, mashed potatoes', BBQ chicken, burgers, dogs. My mouth watered in anticipation. I was planning on eating like a king this evening.
I was so lost in the smell that I hadn't heard the warning cries from a couple adults. I was trying to stay ahead of that ball. I couldn't really see it but I knew its flight path. It would come into view and I'll be right under it.
Just as the ball finally came into view I could see I was right under it. I reached my hand up in time for the ball to fall right into the leather.
Before I could relish in my victory emulating catch, I'm jarred with such stopping force my head hurts. I'm beyond confused as my vision is not working correctly. Everything is dizzying and hard to make out or focus. The pain in my head was getting mor intense and more precise. My hearing was impaired to a degree. It sounded like I was under and I could hear screaming but it was muffled.
I tried to speak but I was incapable. I realized at that moment that the pain was radiating from my mouth. I let out a deep groan in panic and pain. My eyes were swelling up with tears but my vision came to and I'm tangled in the aluminum side line bleachers.
The cold metal shocked the rest of my body's senses back into order and I fall back to the ground as my dad fly's from out of no where to console me. The pain was so intense at this point and I felt like I was drooling a lot. As painful as this was it was also extremely embarrassing. I couldn't control my bodily functions properly. Trying to walk would have been impossible had my mom not made it to me. Some how she levitated me away from the impact site.
I passed one of my teammates and saw the look of horror in his face as he pointed at me and said "I've never seen that much blood in my life!"
My eyes widened as I look down at my hands cupped under my mouth to see the thickest red syrup like liquid I've seen this close. Bright red flooded my hand like an overflowing tube. My mouth was like a leaky sink dripping into a bucket. The sun light pierced it causing it to shimmer vibrantly. Mesmerizing!
Unfortunately I didn't get to eat like a king that evening and wouldn't even eat normal for the next few weeks and months with all the surgeries.
(Final Notes: Thank you for reading. -Dev)
2024.05.18 21:52 Jaded-Mycologist-831 Anyways here’s poems + History Boys
Tissue
Polysemous title- Tissue • Tissue- paper + skin (human life is fragile [criticises arrogance, encourages us to protect]) • Also paper (not alive) + skin (alive)- criticises monotony of life, not really living • Tissue paper- found in bibles and holy texts, but fragile (overinflated importance of identity causing wars and discrimination, really it’s very fragile and identity isn’t real, we’re all just people (tissue as in skin)) • Tissue- used to wipe away tears, togetherness can reduce suffering • Tissue- medical term for deep skin- poem shows deeper nature of humans and our potential for goodness, can be wounded and damaged by outside influences but can always heal
"Paper that lets the light shine through, this is what could alter things" - reference to religious texts paper, light as Jesus and Allah (power of religion) - or coexistence with nature (Dharker is a Muslim Calvinist)
Enjambment- freedom, lack of control of humans, rejecting constraints
Free verse- same thing
"Let the daylight break through capitals and monoliths" - power of nature, criticism of authority, weakness of humans- “break” violent personification, destroying authority, daylight + break = sunrise + hope
"The sun shines through their borderlines" - nature overcomes human segregation identity, criticism of war, power of nature) sibilance shows power, “their” still shows separation, criticise that
"fly our lives like paper kites" - childish metaphor, mocking control of money over life (criticism of authority)
"the back of the Koran" - “the” repetition shows importance, “back” shows it is hidden/shunned by society, still holding onto identity
"Transparent" - repetition, criticism of dishonesty of authority
Exposure
"Merciless iced east winds that knive us" - personification of wind shanking people (first line not about war but nature- more significant) (power of nature)- subtle sibilance (just as dangerous as bullets but most people don’t realise)- Germans were in the east, but the only thing from there is wind
ABBAC rhyme, structure is built only to be taken down (tension of soldiers expecting fight but let down)
Pararhyme- unsatisfying for reader, reflects how the soldiers are always nervous but never get to chill
“What are we doing here?” Rhetorical question to criticise authority, or actual question to show PTSD confusion, can be asking what they are DOING or why they are HERE
"For love of God seems dying" ok 1. The soldier's love of God is dying 2. God's love for the soldiers is dying 3. To show love of God, you should die
"forgotten dreams" - juxtaposition, loss of hope, forgotten dreams on purpose to be less sad? war made them forget? “forgotten” disassociated from PTSD, “dreams” as happiness from the past that seems unreal
“a dull rumour of some other war" reference to the Bible and Armageddon, metaphorical end of the world for the soldiers be suffering "sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence" - sibilance represents sound of bullets, jolting reader out of relative lack of noises, feel like soldiers
Epistrophe "but nothing happens" cyclical structure, stuck in suffering
“we” “us” “our” collective pronouns, shared experience, comradeship, loss of identity, relatable to all soldiers
Kamikaze
Title- single word, only military rank- only seen as a kamikaze pilot by others
Structure- 6 lines per stanza but free verse and lots of enjambment- conflict between control and freedom (military/social expectations/duty vs love for family/nature/memories/life)
Constant shifts between first person and third person- disconnect from family due to shame
“Her father embarked at sunrise” -sunrise as power of nature + Japan’s military flag- conflict
“a shaven head full of powerful incantations” -incantations are deliberately vague- orders from military? prayers? inner conscience against it? It’s “powerful” tho and influences him, and it’s “full” showing his distress, shaved head like most kamikaze pilots
“green-blue translucent sea” beautiful imagery, “translucent” shows how things are unclear but getting clearer- nature helps him decide what to do
Describes fishes “like a huge flag”- patriotic semantic field shows brainwashing, but reduces as the poem goes on, simile shows how he is starting to disconnect and change his mind,
also as “a figure of eight”- shows thoughts of pride and prosperity-
“The dark shoals of fishes/flashing silver as their bellies/swivelled towards the sun” - • sibilance shows ocean noises and beauty, “dark” -> “flashing silver” things get brighter and easier to see- knows what to do thanks to nature • “Silver”- medals he would have gotten for being a kamikaze pilot, but true reward is in nature • “Sun”- represents beauty of nature and also Japanese flag- conflict but now there’s also nature in the mix • Belly up- death on his mind
“bringing their father’s home safe/-yes, grandfather’s boat- safe” repetition of “safe” shows reason to come back- wants to return to family, memories
“a tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous.” • first mention of danger = power in the whole poem, danger to the mission as it causes the pilot to have doubts, true power is in nature and memory • First full stop in the poem and lots of commas- makes us stop and think like the pilot about what he’s abt to do
“laughed” “loved” at the end of the poem- all in past tense- nothing left for the soldier
“we too learned to be silent”- “learned” should be positive but contrasts with what they learnt- criticises how they were taught shame by the older generations- but it’s said in first person, the daughter is criticising this and teaching her children not to think that way
Poppies
Title- honours and grieves dead soldiers, short single word title shows full intent of the poem and how the mother’s life is consumed by grief
Dramatic monologue- emphasis on the domestic impact and how the soldier isn’t present in the poem
Free verse, enjambment- chaotic, lack of control over the son, distressed
Domestic + military semantic fields- life has been ruined by war
“Spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade of yellow bias”- mix between war + domestic • “spasms” and “red” is injury and pain- mother is worried or is hurt by letting go (spasms is involuntary muscle action- involuntary letting go), • “paper” is the fragility of the son • “blockade” is military language showing her worry abt the conflict, how she wants to “block” her son from going into the military • “disrupting” the fabric - the son becoming a soldier disrupts the peace or she is trying to disrupt him from going to war
“The dove pulled freely against the sky, / an ornamental stitch”- dove represents peace and grief- she and her son is at peace with death, “pulled freely” is an oxymoron- inner conflict with grief or letting her son go, the comma shows a pause to reflect on the grief, the “ornamental stitch” metaphor for the mother (pretends to hold it together)
“I was brave”- takes down ideas of just the soldier’s bravery but also the mother’s, but past tense shows current weakness from grief
“Sellotape bandaged around my hand” • Bandage shows wounds • Sticks them together one last time- cat hairs are removed, no more reason to stay • Claustrophobic feeling- stuck in the domestic role, can’t go and protect the son
“Blackthorns of your hair”- religious connotations of Jesus on the cross, sacrificed for the country- metaphor for the son
History Boys
"Enemy of education" war metaphor and alliteration, opposition between true understanding of literature and grades only used shallowly “Cheat’s Visa”
"a fact of life" indisputable and unchangable, in opposition with Irwin's views on history (truth does not matter to him until now?)
Drummer Hodge: Intertextuality, Tom Hardy (the poet) represents Hector, sympathising with the ordeal of the youth, Drummer Hodge represents the Boys, thrown into the chaos of life without proper guidance
"She's my western front" war metaphor objectifies Fiona, personal pronoun further expresses how women were seen as objects to be owned
“... all the other shrunken violets you people line up" [you people] segregates gay people, [shrunken violets] derogatory language
"Some of the literature says it will pass" looking to literature for solace and comfort during a sexuality crisis
"All literature is consolation" Dakin changes his mind on literature symbolising him changing to Irwin's side. No need to look for solace in literature when he can pursue Irwin
Parallels with "all knowledge is precious" from Hector - A.E. Housman, one of the first intertextualities and used in the intro to establish his character
“cunt-struck” “a cunt”- Mrs Lintott repeats the colloquialism “cunt” twice, to describe Dakin as “cunt-struck” and Headmaster as “a cunt”. This is the hardest swear in the play and is used show that it wasn’t a slip of the tongue, and to break down stereotypes of women being gentle and passive
“history is women following behind with the bucket” - her big scene about women in history at the end of the play (which is typical for Alan Benett’s plays such as “Kafka’s Dick”) so it would be recent and stay in the audience’s mind when the show ended
Irwin intro as politician in the future "etc., etc." while talking abt freedom- that man gives no fucks about freedom really, just waffling on (first impression for the audience too!!)
Parallel with Holocaust debate- Lockwood uses the SAME EXACT PHRASE while talking abt how the holocaust was bad, (dismissiveness of mass genocide? in this education system? it’s more likely than you think) then goes on to argue that they should be unique with their arguments- Irwin passed on thr mindset even on such an important subject
Hector is set up to be looking cool and all (motorcycle scene dramaticness, greek name connotations, fav teacher) but is absolutely uncool when we get to know him- purposeful? "studied eccentricity" and all. clinging onto youth?
Posner is actually rather helpful as the "dictionary person" bc i doubt the audiences know what "otiose" means
SCRIPPS IS THE MOST RELIGIOUS ONE AND CLOSEST TO POSNER it can dismantle the idea that religion is against queerness
Irwin didnt know how nietzche was pronounced bc from what we know of him he would call Dakin out on that
submitted by Jaded-Mycologist-831 to GCSE [link] [comments]
Polysemous title- Tissue • Tissue- paper + skin (human life is fragile [criticises arrogance, encourages us to protect]) • Also paper (not alive) + skin (alive)- criticises monotony of life, not really living • Tissue paper- found in bibles and holy texts, but fragile (overinflated importance of identity causing wars and discrimination, really it’s very fragile and identity isn’t real, we’re all just people (tissue as in skin)) • Tissue- used to wipe away tears, togetherness can reduce suffering • Tissue- medical term for deep skin- poem shows deeper nature of humans and our potential for goodness, can be wounded and damaged by outside influences but can always heal
"Paper that lets the light shine through, this is what could alter things" - reference to religious texts paper, light as Jesus and Allah (power of religion) - or coexistence with nature (Dharker is a Muslim Calvinist)
Enjambment- freedom, lack of control of humans, rejecting constraints
Free verse- same thing
"Let the daylight break through capitals and monoliths" - power of nature, criticism of authority, weakness of humans- “break” violent personification, destroying authority, daylight + break = sunrise + hope
"The sun shines through their borderlines" - nature overcomes human segregation identity, criticism of war, power of nature) sibilance shows power, “their” still shows separation, criticise that
"fly our lives like paper kites" - childish metaphor, mocking control of money over life (criticism of authority)
"the back of the Koran" - “the” repetition shows importance, “back” shows it is hidden/shunned by society, still holding onto identity
"Transparent" - repetition, criticism of dishonesty of authority
Exposure
"Merciless iced east winds that knive us" - personification of wind shanking people (first line not about war but nature- more significant) (power of nature)- subtle sibilance (just as dangerous as bullets but most people don’t realise)- Germans were in the east, but the only thing from there is wind
ABBAC rhyme, structure is built only to be taken down (tension of soldiers expecting fight but let down)
Pararhyme- unsatisfying for reader, reflects how the soldiers are always nervous but never get to chill
“What are we doing here?” Rhetorical question to criticise authority, or actual question to show PTSD confusion, can be asking what they are DOING or why they are HERE
"For love of God seems dying" ok 1. The soldier's love of God is dying 2. God's love for the soldiers is dying 3. To show love of God, you should die
"forgotten dreams" - juxtaposition, loss of hope, forgotten dreams on purpose to be less sad? war made them forget? “forgotten” disassociated from PTSD, “dreams” as happiness from the past that seems unreal
“a dull rumour of some other war" reference to the Bible and Armageddon, metaphorical end of the world for the soldiers be suffering "sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence" - sibilance represents sound of bullets, jolting reader out of relative lack of noises, feel like soldiers
Epistrophe "but nothing happens" cyclical structure, stuck in suffering
“we” “us” “our” collective pronouns, shared experience, comradeship, loss of identity, relatable to all soldiers
Kamikaze
Title- single word, only military rank- only seen as a kamikaze pilot by others
Structure- 6 lines per stanza but free verse and lots of enjambment- conflict between control and freedom (military/social expectations/duty vs love for family/nature/memories/life)
Constant shifts between first person and third person- disconnect from family due to shame
“Her father embarked at sunrise” -sunrise as power of nature + Japan’s military flag- conflict
“a shaven head full of powerful incantations” -incantations are deliberately vague- orders from military? prayers? inner conscience against it? It’s “powerful” tho and influences him, and it’s “full” showing his distress, shaved head like most kamikaze pilots
“green-blue translucent sea” beautiful imagery, “translucent” shows how things are unclear but getting clearer- nature helps him decide what to do
Describes fishes “like a huge flag”- patriotic semantic field shows brainwashing, but reduces as the poem goes on, simile shows how he is starting to disconnect and change his mind,
also as “a figure of eight”- shows thoughts of pride and prosperity-
“The dark shoals of fishes/flashing silver as their bellies/swivelled towards the sun” - • sibilance shows ocean noises and beauty, “dark” -> “flashing silver” things get brighter and easier to see- knows what to do thanks to nature • “Silver”- medals he would have gotten for being a kamikaze pilot, but true reward is in nature • “Sun”- represents beauty of nature and also Japanese flag- conflict but now there’s also nature in the mix • Belly up- death on his mind
“bringing their father’s home safe/-yes, grandfather’s boat- safe” repetition of “safe” shows reason to come back- wants to return to family, memories
“a tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous.” • first mention of danger = power in the whole poem, danger to the mission as it causes the pilot to have doubts, true power is in nature and memory • First full stop in the poem and lots of commas- makes us stop and think like the pilot about what he’s abt to do
“laughed” “loved” at the end of the poem- all in past tense- nothing left for the soldier
“we too learned to be silent”- “learned” should be positive but contrasts with what they learnt- criticises how they were taught shame by the older generations- but it’s said in first person, the daughter is criticising this and teaching her children not to think that way
Poppies
Title- honours and grieves dead soldiers, short single word title shows full intent of the poem and how the mother’s life is consumed by grief
Dramatic monologue- emphasis on the domestic impact and how the soldier isn’t present in the poem
Free verse, enjambment- chaotic, lack of control over the son, distressed
Domestic + military semantic fields- life has been ruined by war
“Spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade of yellow bias”- mix between war + domestic • “spasms” and “red” is injury and pain- mother is worried or is hurt by letting go (spasms is involuntary muscle action- involuntary letting go), • “paper” is the fragility of the son • “blockade” is military language showing her worry abt the conflict, how she wants to “block” her son from going into the military • “disrupting” the fabric - the son becoming a soldier disrupts the peace or she is trying to disrupt him from going to war
“The dove pulled freely against the sky, / an ornamental stitch”- dove represents peace and grief- she and her son is at peace with death, “pulled freely” is an oxymoron- inner conflict with grief or letting her son go, the comma shows a pause to reflect on the grief, the “ornamental stitch” metaphor for the mother (pretends to hold it together)
“I was brave”- takes down ideas of just the soldier’s bravery but also the mother’s, but past tense shows current weakness from grief
“Sellotape bandaged around my hand” • Bandage shows wounds • Sticks them together one last time- cat hairs are removed, no more reason to stay • Claustrophobic feeling- stuck in the domestic role, can’t go and protect the son
“Blackthorns of your hair”- religious connotations of Jesus on the cross, sacrificed for the country- metaphor for the son
History Boys
"Enemy of education" war metaphor and alliteration, opposition between true understanding of literature and grades only used shallowly “Cheat’s Visa”
"a fact of life" indisputable and unchangable, in opposition with Irwin's views on history (truth does not matter to him until now?)
Drummer Hodge: Intertextuality, Tom Hardy (the poet) represents Hector, sympathising with the ordeal of the youth, Drummer Hodge represents the Boys, thrown into the chaos of life without proper guidance
"She's my western front" war metaphor objectifies Fiona, personal pronoun further expresses how women were seen as objects to be owned
“... all the other shrunken violets you people line up" [you people] segregates gay people, [shrunken violets] derogatory language
"Some of the literature says it will pass" looking to literature for solace and comfort during a sexuality crisis
"All literature is consolation" Dakin changes his mind on literature symbolising him changing to Irwin's side. No need to look for solace in literature when he can pursue Irwin
Parallels with "all knowledge is precious" from Hector - A.E. Housman, one of the first intertextualities and used in the intro to establish his character
“cunt-struck” “a cunt”- Mrs Lintott repeats the colloquialism “cunt” twice, to describe Dakin as “cunt-struck” and Headmaster as “a cunt”. This is the hardest swear in the play and is used show that it wasn’t a slip of the tongue, and to break down stereotypes of women being gentle and passive
“history is women following behind with the bucket” - her big scene about women in history at the end of the play (which is typical for Alan Benett’s plays such as “Kafka’s Dick”) so it would be recent and stay in the audience’s mind when the show ended
Irwin intro as politician in the future "etc., etc." while talking abt freedom- that man gives no fucks about freedom really, just waffling on (first impression for the audience too!!)
Parallel with Holocaust debate- Lockwood uses the SAME EXACT PHRASE while talking abt how the holocaust was bad, (dismissiveness of mass genocide? in this education system? it’s more likely than you think) then goes on to argue that they should be unique with their arguments- Irwin passed on thr mindset even on such an important subject
Hector is set up to be looking cool and all (motorcycle scene dramaticness, greek name connotations, fav teacher) but is absolutely uncool when we get to know him- purposeful? "studied eccentricity" and all. clinging onto youth?
Posner is actually rather helpful as the "dictionary person" bc i doubt the audiences know what "otiose" means
SCRIPPS IS THE MOST RELIGIOUS ONE AND CLOSEST TO POSNER it can dismantle the idea that religion is against queerness
Irwin didnt know how nietzche was pronounced bc from what we know of him he would call Dakin out on that
2024.05.18 21:51 unstuckbilly Now is our chance -> Unite to Fight News Coverage!
I've read countless posts asking, "Why isn't the world paying attention to us?"
We've just had the world's largest LC + MECFS conference to date, and the US news outlets have given us ZERO COVERAGE as far as I can see? Can anyone share anything they've seen out there?
I only see a few German articles (see below - well worth reading).I reached out to one of the event organizers and he confirmed that he has no knowledge of US coverage of the event.
Will you join me in sending a quick message to your favorite news outlets or any of those listed below, asking why we need to read about this story via google translate from OUS news sources?
This conference featured many prominent US researchers! It was an international event attended by thousands! I've already begun to write my letters.- I'll post my progress in comments - Please join me and comment below!
We know that our power is in our numbers, so if your message is brief or less sophisticated than you'd like, IT MATTERS MOST THAT YOU WRITE!
I'd like to share with you some details that I'm including in my messages. Please speak from your own heart and mind expressing your desire to read about this important event and others like it. Maybe the news story is that this conference took place and it isn't being adequately reported??Here are some highlights from my messages:
Three German Articles (use your browser or Google Translate if needed)
.https://www.manager-magazin.de/lifestyle/long-covid-konferenz-wir-muessen-uns-endlich-eingestehen-wie-gewaltig-dieses-problem-ist-a-4389644b-1795-4acf-bccf-759d6dce1982
https://www.aok.de/pp/gg/update/long-covid-experten-warnen-vor-wachsender-krankheitslast/
https://taz.de/Long-Covid/!6007816/
Here's some addresses I've dug up. PLEASE LIST MORE BELOW AND I'LL EDIT/ADD:
CNN
[ireport@cnn.com](mailto:ireport@cnn.com)
NPR - Send a News StoryPick your favorite:
On the Media, Morning Edition, Fresh Air, Consider This, Up First
https://help.npr.org/contact/s/contact?request=Send-a-story-idea
American Public Media:
https://mpr.tfaforms.net/27
New York Times online submission:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/homepage/contact-newsroom.html
Washington Post: readers@washpost.com (mailto:Post:readers@washpost.com)
Washington Post letter to the Editor:
https://thewashingtonpost.formstack.com/forms/submit_a_letter_to_the_editor
USA Today
https://www.usatoday.com/contact/staff/
Charles Trepany, Wellness Reporter
[ctrepany@usatoday.com](mailto:ctrepany@usatoday.com)
Daryl Austin Wellness and Lifestyle
[ContributorDAustin@usatoday.com](mailto:ContributorDAustin@usatoday.com)
David OliverWellness Reporter
[doliver@usatoday.com](mailto:doliver@usatoday.com)
Leora Arnowitz Wellness Editorl
[arnowitz@usatoday.com](mailto:arnowitz@usatoday.com)
The Wall Street Journal
https://www.wsj.com/about-us
Stefanie IIgenfritz
Health & Science
[stefanie.ilgenfritz@wsj.com](mailto:stefanie.ilgenfritz@wsj.com)
Kevin Dubouis
Content Strategy
[kevin.dubouis@wsj.com](mailto:kevin.dubouis@wsj.com)
Newsweek:
[media.inquiries@newsweek.com](mailto:media.inquiries@newsweek.com)
Time Magazine:
[letters@time.com]()
Us News and World Report:
https://www.usnews.com/info/features/contact
Politico:
https://www.politico.com/feedback
Bloomberg:
[tips2@bloomberg.net](mailto:tips2@bloomberg.net)
Vice:
tips@vice.com
[press@vice.com]()
The Atlantic:
[Letters@TheAtlantic.com](mailto:Letters@TheAtlantic.com)
The Independent:
[newsdesk@independent.co.uk](mailto:newsdesk@independent.co.uk)
TheGuardian:
[features@theguardian.com](mailto:features@theguardian.com)
[international@theguardian.com](mailto:international@theguardian.com)
[letters@theguardian.com](mailto:letters@theguardian.com)
[guardian.readers@theguardian.com](mailto:guardian.readers@theguardian.com)
I also wrote to my local University (if you're from Minnesota or if you listen to the Osterholm Update CIDRAP podcast):
CIDRAP
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/contact-us
Media relations contact: Brad Robideau [brobidea@umn.edu]() Overall inquiries: [cidrap@umn.edu]()
I'm still tracking down addresses, or help me out and comment below. I'll edit my post.Thank you ALL!
submitted by unstuckbilly to covidlonghaulers [link] [comments]
We've just had the world's largest LC + MECFS conference to date, and the US news outlets have given us ZERO COVERAGE as far as I can see? Can anyone share anything they've seen out there?
I only see a few German articles (see below - well worth reading).I reached out to one of the event organizers and he confirmed that he has no knowledge of US coverage of the event.
Will you join me in sending a quick message to your favorite news outlets or any of those listed below, asking why we need to read about this story via google translate from OUS news sources?
This conference featured many prominent US researchers! It was an international event attended by thousands! I've already begun to write my letters.- I'll post my progress in comments - Please join me and comment below!
We know that our power is in our numbers, so if your message is brief or less sophisticated than you'd like, IT MATTERS MOST THAT YOU WRITE!
I'd like to share with you some details that I'm including in my messages. Please speak from your own heart and mind expressing your desire to read about this important event and others like it. Maybe the news story is that this conference took place and it isn't being adequately reported??Here are some highlights from my messages:
- I was eager to read coverage of last week's international conference on Long Covid and MECFS, and feel shocked to find it only being covered by European sources that I need to translate with my web browser. Where is the US coverage?
- This conference featured a heavy presence of prominent US researchers (see names listed on https://unitetofight2024.world if you'd like to list any in your message).
- To date there is no cure for Long Covid or MECFS and it is one of the most debilitating diseases one can experience. The highest disease burden is borne by those in the prime of their life who were otherwise healthy and now have no hope for their future.
- The origin of this event was a reaction to a twitter user named Lauren who said her public goodbyes and ended her life after suffering with Long Covid and with no end in sight.
- Suicide is a leading cause of death for those suffering from MECFS and Long Covid.
- Conference organizers were LC patients who saw Lauren's posts on twitter and her plea to tell the world what is happening.
- Unite to Fight 2024 was organized in just a few months on a shoestring-crowdfunded budget and over 10,000 people attended online with over 40 speakers and 20 hours of content over two days (May 15-16, 2024).
Three German Articles (use your browser or Google Translate if needed)
.https://www.manager-magazin.de/lifestyle/long-covid-konferenz-wir-muessen-uns-endlich-eingestehen-wie-gewaltig-dieses-problem-ist-a-4389644b-1795-4acf-bccf-759d6dce1982
https://www.aok.de/pp/gg/update/long-covid-experten-warnen-vor-wachsender-krankheitslast/
https://taz.de/Long-Covid/!6007816/
Here's some addresses I've dug up. PLEASE LIST MORE BELOW AND I'LL EDIT/ADD:
CNN
[ireport@cnn.com](mailto:ireport@cnn.com)
NPR - Send a News StoryPick your favorite:
On the Media, Morning Edition, Fresh Air, Consider This, Up First
https://help.npr.org/contact/s/contact?request=Send-a-story-idea
American Public Media:
https://mpr.tfaforms.net/27
New York Times online submission:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/homepage/contact-newsroom.html
Washington Post: readers@washpost.com (mailto:Post:readers@washpost.com)
Washington Post letter to the Editor:
https://thewashingtonpost.formstack.com/forms/submit_a_letter_to_the_editor
USA Today
https://www.usatoday.com/contact/staff/
Charles Trepany, Wellness Reporter
[ctrepany@usatoday.com](mailto:ctrepany@usatoday.com)
Daryl Austin Wellness and Lifestyle
[ContributorDAustin@usatoday.com](mailto:ContributorDAustin@usatoday.com)
David OliverWellness Reporter
[doliver@usatoday.com](mailto:doliver@usatoday.com)
Leora Arnowitz Wellness Editorl
[arnowitz@usatoday.com](mailto:arnowitz@usatoday.com)
The Wall Street Journal
https://www.wsj.com/about-us
Stefanie IIgenfritz
Health & Science
[stefanie.ilgenfritz@wsj.com](mailto:stefanie.ilgenfritz@wsj.com)
Kevin Dubouis
Content Strategy
[kevin.dubouis@wsj.com](mailto:kevin.dubouis@wsj.com)
Newsweek:
[media.inquiries@newsweek.com](mailto:media.inquiries@newsweek.com)
Time Magazine:
[letters@time.com]()
Us News and World Report:
https://www.usnews.com/info/features/contact
Politico:
https://www.politico.com/feedback
Bloomberg:
[tips2@bloomberg.net](mailto:tips2@bloomberg.net)
Vice:
tips@vice.com
[press@vice.com]()
The Atlantic:
[Letters@TheAtlantic.com](mailto:Letters@TheAtlantic.com)
The Independent:
[newsdesk@independent.co.uk](mailto:newsdesk@independent.co.uk)
TheGuardian:
[features@theguardian.com](mailto:features@theguardian.com)
[international@theguardian.com](mailto:international@theguardian.com)
[letters@theguardian.com](mailto:letters@theguardian.com)
[guardian.readers@theguardian.com](mailto:guardian.readers@theguardian.com)
I also wrote to my local University (if you're from Minnesota or if you listen to the Osterholm Update CIDRAP podcast):
CIDRAP
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/contact-us
Media relations contact: Brad Robideau [brobidea@umn.edu]() Overall inquiries: [cidrap@umn.edu]()
I'm still tracking down addresses, or help me out and comment below. I'll edit my post.Thank you ALL!
2024.05.18 21:42 leagionair I Dislike the UI
I am not sure what kind of Unholy Monsters accually like the popup tab/command bar but I absoutely dispise it
I don't like things popping into my field of view and I don't enjoy having to hunt to quickly change tabs with the mouse
the command bar being a popup and IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GOD DAM PAGE is particuarlly aweful
as is NOT opening in a new tab being the default
shame because technically its a wonder but these are deal breakers for me
make it look like every browser has looked for the last 25 years stop trying to be different be good. be useful
submitted by leagionair to ArcBrowser [link] [comments]
I don't like things popping into my field of view and I don't enjoy having to hunt to quickly change tabs with the mouse
the command bar being a popup and IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GOD DAM PAGE is particuarlly aweful
as is NOT opening in a new tab being the default
shame because technically its a wonder but these are deal breakers for me
make it look like every browser has looked for the last 25 years stop trying to be different be good. be useful
2024.05.18 21:41 Little_Acanthaceae87 I've compiled many interesting research about stuttering
Many interesting research studies about stuttering:
My goal is progress towards stuttering recovery. If anyone has the same goal and want to help me extract research findings from recent research, hit me up.
submitted by Little_Acanthaceae87 to Stutter [link] [comments]
Resting-State Brain Activity in Adult Males Who Stutter https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0030570 Classification of Types of Stuttering Symptoms Based on Brain Activity https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0039747 Hemispheric Lateralization of Motor Thresholds in Relation to Stuttering https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0076824 A Functional Imaging Study of Self-Regulatory Capacities in Persons Who Stutter https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0089891 From Grapheme to Phonological Output: Performance of Adults Who Stutter on a Word Jumble Task https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0151107 Altered Modulation of Silent Period in Tongue Motor Cortex of Persistent Developmental Stuttering in Relation to Stuttering Severity https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0163959 Speech Timing Deficit of Stuttering: Evidence from Contingent Negative Variations https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0168836 Functional neural circuits that underlie developmental stuttering https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0179255 Nonword repetition in adults who stutter: The effects of stimuli stress and auditory-orthographic cues https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0188111 Frequency of speech disruptions in Parkinson's Disease and developmental stuttering: A comparison among speech tasks https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0199054 Subtypes of stuttering determined by latent class analysis in two Swiss epidemiological surveys https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0198450 Adults who stutter lack the specialised pre-speech facilitation found in non-stutterers https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0202634 Impaired processing speed in categorical perception: Speech perception of children who stutter https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0216124 Rhythmic tapping difficulties in adults who stutter: A deficit in beat perception, motor execution, or sensorimotor integration? https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0276691Additionally, currently I'm integrating research findings in this Word table (see Google Docs, Google Drive or view this in an online PDF reader). Looking for volunteers to join this Word collaboration focused on stuttering recovery. Basically..
My goal is progress towards stuttering recovery. If anyone has the same goal and want to help me extract research findings from recent research, hit me up.
2024.05.18 21:36 Filler-Dmon How Non-Cishet do I sound?
As an aside, I got an incredibly much needed laugh when I saw my firefox thumbnail for this tab labeled as "lgbt:submit". That's hilarious.
I had a few posts on here before, but TLDR; I met someone online (asexual nonbinary dfab who I've emotionally supported getting the meds they need to be more androgynous) who not only helped force open my perception of all things gender related, but also opened up my heart. I eventually asked them out, but they shot me down.... because I'm too masculine.
A few months ago, I got to have another vacation where I got to spend time with this friend, and at one point, I presented the idea: "would you have dated me, if in another world or life time, I could have been your girlfriend?" They gave the correct answer of "you should make that decision for yourself, not for other people". But it certainly got us talking about my gender identity, and apparently "subtle" hints and flags I've apparently been giving off for years.
I have mixed feelings about transitioning. Not on other people; I will FOREVER be an Ally, because Justice shouldn't have asterisks or exceptions. Do no Evil and let people live their lives if they aren't hurting anyone else. And I've seen how effective it can be on folk. Even when I assumed I was 100% straight, I've seen transgirls who absolutely peek my interest. I'm glad science has progressed enough to allow people to push towards living however they want to. Again, I've been supporting my friend in that matter from the bottom of my heart.
On me, I'm very anxious of the idea. I've always been judged on "not being right".
I'm not honest or trust-able enough, while also being too open and forward. I'm not "black" enough while also having faced discrimination for it. I'm not "white" enough despite being raised by the boogie-st white mother possible. (I see myself as multiracial/mixed, with a White-Irish Birthmom, and a Nigerian-French Birthdad). I'm not traditional enough in my views to count as faithful to my religion, despite also defining that as part of who I am. I've always been teased for not being manly enough or being too sensitive... and yet for the first time, seeing myself as a male has finally been something else I don't fit right, either.
So transitioning without it being as "instant"/"complete" as it is in fiction (where a single pill or shot, or outright magic, can complete the change either way overnight, if not instantly), I'm not sure about the idea of giving it a try and "not being enough of a girl", even with estrogen and bottom surgery. Even if I had the support of someone I'd love to spend the rest of my life with, it's still pretty daunting.
...at least when awake and actively thinking about it.
Apparently, I've made comments for years, if not maybe even over decades, that have made my friends question my sexuality and gender.
-discomfort with my body and fitness, and not feeling attractive enough as a man (as well as wondering if my legs and butt can be attractive in ways I didn't think I was supposed to have them be)
-Preferring to play as Female Characters in Video Games.
-Having a wish to be reborn as a girl, for all the fun options in regards to nerd things that I don't have the balls (haha) to do as a boy. Cosplays and jokes and what not. -On that note, being somewhat jealous that it feels like there are more cosplay options for girls in regards to characters and crossplaying than for guys. (as a guy, for example, I could only be Ganondorf. As a girl, I could probably still pull off Ganondorf, or also be sexy-femme Ganondorf too.)
-imagining myself in said alternate life, as the buff yet curvy amazonian friend/girlfriend to my dream twinky nerdy partner
-joking that the two of us could just switch bodies and make both of us happier (apparently it's easier to access Estrogen than Testosterone, so making me girlier would be easier than them trying to even themselves out)
-having spent years roleplaying online as my own younger sister, enjoying presenting as the opposite gender
-having tried on my sister's bra in middle school (which gave another reason to change for gym in the bathroom, away from the other boys and bullies) because I was uncomfortable with how my fat and chest were feeling
-being bullied for being a sissy and sensitive and a f** and all that, even when I was trying to be a boy (if still nerdy as heck).
-many of my roleplay characters being girls, some of them I've had more fun with than the non-girls (particularly when romance is involved, though I'm a sucker for romance anyway), and being significantly open to non-heterosexual relationships in my roleplay in the past few years
-saying that if I could just be completely body-swapped with like a week of time at most into my dream figure, I'd do it in an instant
-being torn on the idea of bottom surgery unless it was complete, because I'd want the option of being able to have kids one way or another, even if I currently don't want any, and science isn't quite there yet, even with how far it has progressed.
-thinking that if I were in better shape (or a better body) a cute crop top jacket to show off abs sounds unironically neat, and imagining other things I could wear if I didn't have this body.
-joking about how I'd have had more fun when I used to be a sign-spinnedancer, and could have been a waitress rather than a frycook, when I was starting out my jobs...
-I didn't realize it until I started looking back, but there had also been a lot of manga and comics and such involving trans media that I had been following for years, largely M2F.
-it's probably some sort of sexuality flag that I find femme characters or versions of me still willing to be involved with girls or boys, as well as becoming a bit more open about being willing to fall in love with anyone if they're cute and nerdy, at least hypothetically, even if I have a preference for girls. In trying to shake off family values that I find are heavily outdated, I imagined supporting my friend if they became so non-femme their sex also changed... and I might have fantasized about still being with them in that way too.
Is it possible to have all those thoughts rattling around in the back of my head for years (even if magnified when I spend so much time talking with someone very versed in gender related matters) and still be just Cishet?
submitted by Filler-Dmon to lgbt [link] [comments]
I had a few posts on here before, but TLDR; I met someone online (asexual nonbinary dfab who I've emotionally supported getting the meds they need to be more androgynous) who not only helped force open my perception of all things gender related, but also opened up my heart. I eventually asked them out, but they shot me down.... because I'm too masculine.
A few months ago, I got to have another vacation where I got to spend time with this friend, and at one point, I presented the idea: "would you have dated me, if in another world or life time, I could have been your girlfriend?" They gave the correct answer of "you should make that decision for yourself, not for other people". But it certainly got us talking about my gender identity, and apparently "subtle" hints and flags I've apparently been giving off for years.
I have mixed feelings about transitioning. Not on other people; I will FOREVER be an Ally, because Justice shouldn't have asterisks or exceptions. Do no Evil and let people live their lives if they aren't hurting anyone else. And I've seen how effective it can be on folk. Even when I assumed I was 100% straight, I've seen transgirls who absolutely peek my interest. I'm glad science has progressed enough to allow people to push towards living however they want to. Again, I've been supporting my friend in that matter from the bottom of my heart.
On me, I'm very anxious of the idea. I've always been judged on "not being right".
I'm not honest or trust-able enough, while also being too open and forward. I'm not "black" enough while also having faced discrimination for it. I'm not "white" enough despite being raised by the boogie-st white mother possible. (I see myself as multiracial/mixed, with a White-Irish Birthmom, and a Nigerian-French Birthdad). I'm not traditional enough in my views to count as faithful to my religion, despite also defining that as part of who I am. I've always been teased for not being manly enough or being too sensitive... and yet for the first time, seeing myself as a male has finally been something else I don't fit right, either.
So transitioning without it being as "instant"/"complete" as it is in fiction (where a single pill or shot, or outright magic, can complete the change either way overnight, if not instantly), I'm not sure about the idea of giving it a try and "not being enough of a girl", even with estrogen and bottom surgery. Even if I had the support of someone I'd love to spend the rest of my life with, it's still pretty daunting.
...at least when awake and actively thinking about it.
Apparently, I've made comments for years, if not maybe even over decades, that have made my friends question my sexuality and gender.
-discomfort with my body and fitness, and not feeling attractive enough as a man (as well as wondering if my legs and butt can be attractive in ways I didn't think I was supposed to have them be)
-Preferring to play as Female Characters in Video Games.
-Having a wish to be reborn as a girl, for all the fun options in regards to nerd things that I don't have the balls (haha) to do as a boy. Cosplays and jokes and what not. -On that note, being somewhat jealous that it feels like there are more cosplay options for girls in regards to characters and crossplaying than for guys. (as a guy, for example, I could only be Ganondorf. As a girl, I could probably still pull off Ganondorf, or also be sexy-femme Ganondorf too.)
-imagining myself in said alternate life, as the buff yet curvy amazonian friend/girlfriend to my dream twinky nerdy partner
-joking that the two of us could just switch bodies and make both of us happier (apparently it's easier to access Estrogen than Testosterone, so making me girlier would be easier than them trying to even themselves out)
-having spent years roleplaying online as my own younger sister, enjoying presenting as the opposite gender
-having tried on my sister's bra in middle school (which gave another reason to change for gym in the bathroom, away from the other boys and bullies) because I was uncomfortable with how my fat and chest were feeling
-being bullied for being a sissy and sensitive and a f** and all that, even when I was trying to be a boy (if still nerdy as heck).
-many of my roleplay characters being girls, some of them I've had more fun with than the non-girls (particularly when romance is involved, though I'm a sucker for romance anyway), and being significantly open to non-heterosexual relationships in my roleplay in the past few years
-saying that if I could just be completely body-swapped with like a week of time at most into my dream figure, I'd do it in an instant
-being torn on the idea of bottom surgery unless it was complete, because I'd want the option of being able to have kids one way or another, even if I currently don't want any, and science isn't quite there yet, even with how far it has progressed.
-thinking that if I were in better shape (or a better body) a cute crop top jacket to show off abs sounds unironically neat, and imagining other things I could wear if I didn't have this body.
-joking about how I'd have had more fun when I used to be a sign-spinnedancer, and could have been a waitress rather than a frycook, when I was starting out my jobs...
-I didn't realize it until I started looking back, but there had also been a lot of manga and comics and such involving trans media that I had been following for years, largely M2F.
-it's probably some sort of sexuality flag that I find femme characters or versions of me still willing to be involved with girls or boys, as well as becoming a bit more open about being willing to fall in love with anyone if they're cute and nerdy, at least hypothetically, even if I have a preference for girls. In trying to shake off family values that I find are heavily outdated, I imagined supporting my friend if they became so non-femme their sex also changed... and I might have fantasized about still being with them in that way too.
Is it possible to have all those thoughts rattling around in the back of my head for years (even if magnified when I spend so much time talking with someone very versed in gender related matters) and still be just Cishet?
2024.05.18 21:16 The_Nihilist16 Tabs Foreigner
Hi everyone, I really wanted to learn how to play Foreigner by Pallbearer but there where no tabs available. So I made some myself. The intro is played a little free but I tried my best. My tabs are for a 7 string but they can also be played on a six string in drop A (just a few open e notes on the intro will be unplayable).
I do not claim this is the correct way to play but this is what I hear. I hope this is helpful for some. (I also added bass and the harmony parts they don't play live) Enjoy!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lto0jL05bc1bBWIPibYSCXYXK44uaT3p/view?usp=sharing
submitted by The_Nihilist16 to doommetal [link] [comments]
I do not claim this is the correct way to play but this is what I hear. I hope this is helpful for some. (I also added bass and the harmony parts they don't play live) Enjoy!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lto0jL05bc1bBWIPibYSCXYXK44uaT3p/view?usp=sharing
2024.05.18 21:12 AgentZeroFox Robotmon - How to Autosend with an Android
Robotmon - How to Autosend with an Android
Most of the information I will be using is taken from the official robotmon developer’s website. You can use your browser’s translator to help translate the site.Hardware:
Robotmon uses a script service to help match a player's touch commands on an android device. Robotmon's developer site has a list that includes all android and tablets that can use the Robotmon scripts.
For this service to work, you need a device that can open the Disney Line Tsum Tsum Application. Android OS 5.1.1 and below can no longer use the application. Android OS 12 through 14 have a security update that can make it difficult for robotmon to be able to run its scripts properly.
Androids 7 through 11 appear to be the best options when working with Robotmon. I personally use Samsung Galaxy A20 which had Android OS 11 as its final update in 2023.
This was my primary phone in 2018. I have now repurposed it to play mobile games on a rooted device. It is unnecessary to root your Android, because of a managing tool called simple service manager.
Rooting your device is beneficial because of robotmon launcher (root) which is available for the Android devices that can use it. This would allow for you to start robotmon without the use of a computer. I sadly could not get it to work on my android and have opted to use simple service manager through pc connection.
I will be going into greater detail on the different options in the guide.
How to install Robotmon:
Download Applications:
- On your android device start by finding robotmon in your play store.
- (Optional) If you are on a rooted device you can attempt to use Robotmon Launcher (root):
- At this point you can also find the Disney Line tsum tsum application:
- This is all you need from the play store.
- Now to fix the settings on your android.
- Make sure you have developers options unlocked on your android device.
- Settings: About the device > Software information > Find Build Number > Click 7 times > Developer mode enabled appears
- To unlock developer options start by opening your settings on your device. Usually seen as a gear.
- Go to the about device/phone option.
- Then find software information.
- From here, you will see the build number. Press build number several times until developer options have been unlocked.
- Settings>Developer Options>Enable Usb Debugging
- Going back to the settings menu, you will now see developer options on the bottom. Turn on usb debugging to be able to allow simple service manager to alter your android device.
- You can turn off auto update from the developer options.
- Settings>Privacy>Permissions manager>Storage> Enable Robotmon and Launcher
- While you are still in your settings, allow permissions to be given to Robotmon and Launcher (root). Go to the privacy option, and find permissions. Storage will be an option. Here you will find robotmon and launcher (root), both must be allowed to have all permissions.
- Alternative route: Settings>Accessibility>Installed Services/Applications>Enable Robotmon.
- Another route is to go through the accessibility option in your settings. Allow robotmon to have special access. This will allow robotmon to be able to cast itself onto other applications and record. Robotmon does have a record feature that it uses to take screenshots of a players within your mailbox for heart tracking. I will go over that in another post.
- Lastly: Settings>Apps>Restricted>Disable Robotmon and Launcher (root)
- You can lastly go to the app option within your settings and select restricted. Make sure Robotmon and the launcher remain unrestricted and unchecked.
- The next steps will now include a personal computer that you will need access to every time your android auto-sending device turns off or restarts.
- On your computer find the drivers for the android device you are using.
- The drivers installation should be given on your android brand’s official site.
- Next you will need to download the simple service manager from GitHub. From my understanding this program has support for Linux, Mac and Microsoft Windows. If using windows, you only have the download: simple-manager-v1-5-2-windows-32.exe
- Once you have downloaded and installed the drivers and simple service manager; you are ready to connect your android device to your pc via usb cord.
- Your phone will ask permission for your pc to have access to android files. You must allow all access. You might get an option to transfer files to which you can click cancel.
- You can have the robotmon application already open on your android. Service off in red should appear at the top of the screen.
- This next step can be confusing without visual representation, you can follow Robotmon's developer site to see the images I am referring to.
- With your device connected to your computer, you can now open the simple service manager. The simple service manager will open your default browser. You can press update in the middle of the screen to update the equipment list.
- You should be able to scroll down to see your device has been detected. You will now only have to press start. The simple service manager will open a window that will communicate with your device.
- If you are watching your android with the Robotmon application open. You will then see the service go from red off to a green on.
- Success!…hopefully
- Robotmon>Script Store>Disney Tsum Tsum (com.r2studios.Tsumbeta ver65)>Download.
- In the Robotmon app, get the Tsum Tsum script from the script store. I’m using the one named “Disney Tsum Tsum Update v65”. Old v52 is outdated, but will function. Version 65 has been patched to have many quality of life settings including opening select boxes and capsules.
- Go back to the download tab in Robotmon. Tap Disney tsum tsum to the Robotmon script manager to appear in the top left corner of your screen
- You can now tap the Robotmon face.
- You have the option to press play/pause
- To turn on the script reader
- To configure your settings
- And to close the service
- I like to have the script reader enabled which is placed to the right of the play button.
- This allows us to see when an error occurs and what type of error it can be.
- Next configure your settings by pressing on the gear
- I will have a link to imgur with my recommended settings.
- Once you are done picking the Robotmon settings. You can close the settings menu by tapping the gear again. Close the Robotmon app and now open the Disney Line Tsum Tsum Application.
- If you are on a rooted device a pop up will appear.
- You must PERMIT for the Disney line application to be able to see the other files on your device. The application will not allow you to play without permitting.
- Log into through your line account or any preferred method.
- Then start the game.
- With Robotmon on the top right corner you can press the play button and see it work.
- If at this point an error occurs and nothing happens, I will have a list of common troubleshoot methods listed.
Special Thanks goes to these Line Friends:
MCS
Kin
Jason
Dragon
Coinbot CoinFarmer
Toyboxhunter, whose line group brought me closer to these individuals.
…and most importantly my wife Julia. Without her, I would not be playing this game and apart of this amazing community.
2024.05.18 21:06 rudexvirus [Publishing Derby] the 2024 Derby is open for Sign ups!
The Fifth Annual Inkfort Press Publishing Derby
Welcome to the beginning of the 2024 Publishing Derby! The signup link for this year's event is located below the recap of each phase. Participants are heavily encouraged to read through the overviews before registering.
Phase 1
Sign-ups
The registration form will open on Saturday, May 18th and remain open until we have approximately 100 entrants.
The full list of covers will be released for viewing on Sunday, May 19th.
Reminder: the pen names on the covers are required, as all participants will be asked to remain anonymous for the event. Please see the Official Rules and FAQs for further information.
Cover Ranking
Inkfort will provide a sheet for participants to rank the covers in order of preference. It is recommended that participants do at least ten, but the ultimate decision is on the individual.
The rankings are due Sunday, May 26th at Noon (EST). The sheet should be emailed to Inkfort Press with the author's name on it.
Cover Assignment
Once the sheets have been collected, the Inkfort team will assign every participant a random number. Then, we will assign each contestant a cover based on their ranking.
Example:
Nick gets assigned the number 3
Jane gets assigned the number 2
Max gets assigned the number 1
Max gets his first pick guaranteed since he is assigned a cover first.
Jane gets her first pick unless it was the same as Max’s. If it was, then she gets her number two.
Nick is next, and he gets number one unless Max or Jane got it, then we go down the list until the very first next cover is available, which in this case would be number 3, in the worst case scenario.
If someone doesn’t rank enough covers:
It is up to each participant to choose how many covers to rank. If a scenario occurs where there is no ranking to guide the assignments, they will be assigned one from what remains at our discretion. This assignment is not negotiable. ** Cover Distribution**
Once everyone has been assigned a cover, the Inkfort Admins will distribute the covers via email. This will include a digital copy of the cover, the title, and the pen name.
(Reminder that all participants will be asked to remain one hundred percent anonymous for the event. Please see the Official Rules and FAQs for further information)
Phase 2
Working Phase
The working phase is where participants will plan and write the book for their assigned covers, it runs from Tuesday, May 28th, to Thursday, August 1st.
The event requires a minimum of 10,000 words but does not have a maximum. Beyond the 10k, the size is up to each author.
While writing, keep in mind that all derby materials must meet the community standards of the event.
Participants are also allowed to begin marketing their books during this phase. Details on marketing can be found in Phase 4.
For more on the rules surrounding community guidelines, spending money, and marketing strategies, please see the official rules. As well, Inkfort suggests reading the Best Practices for tips on word count, as well as reader expectations regarding covers and content. Both of these documents and other information are listed at the bottom of the email.
Phase 3
Beta Readers
Beta phase begins Thursday, August 1st, and ends on Thursday, August 15th.
What is Beta Reading? A Beta reader reads a finished story and provides comments, questions, and other styles of feedback to help the author polish prior to publishing.
The Derby Beta Phase has two parts. In both parts, Inkfort acts as an intermediary for feedback, and all Beta readers (including derby authors who participate in this phase) remain anonymous.
Part One:
Inkfort Press emails a list of submitted books to their Beta Reader mailing list. The list will include the titles, short taglines, and blurb.
There is no guarantee that all books will receive feedback.
Part Two:
The second portion is an exchange exclusively between other Derby Authors. All books submitted in this portion ought to receive feedback from another participant, and each author who enters is expected to give feedback to one book.
The Inkfort Staff will compile the books entered and match them based on several factors, including, but not limited to, total word count and genre.
Part two is completely optional, but it is important to note that those who sign up and do not complete their assigned read may be locked out of the program in future events.
The feedback and questionnaires must be emailed back to Inkfort by Thursday, August 15th, at midnight. (EST)
Phase 4
Revision and Marketing phase.
The revision phase begins on Friday, August 16th.
Revision:
This phase is dedicated to revising the books based on feedback and self-edits. Participants are allowed to begin editing at any time, including during the Beta phase.
Marketing:
With the bulk of the writing finished for most participants, this is where the authors are encouraged to begin the bulk of their marketing. Authors are allowed to share details of the event as a whole on their main pages, but anything specific must be under the pen name.
There are two important rules for this portion of the event.
Each author must market under their assigned pen name.
Under no circumstances may an author use their pre-existing fanbase, family, friends, or social media during the derby. Only the author and Inkfort Staff are allowed to know who wrote each book during the event.
This also means authors can not use existing editing relationships, closed crit groups, or anything similar for the derby book. Anything used must also be accessible to a total stranger. It also means that participants should not be narrowing down the pool to those they know. No information about their individual book should be shared while not under the guise of the pen name.
Participants are not allowed to spend money on their derby projects during the event.
Authors can use the software they already own, such as:
Word processors
Formatting software
Rocket
They can not, however, spend money on things like:
Physical copies
Editing
Ads
Supplemental art
Pro-level of software
Phase 5
ARC’s
Arc submissions are due Saturday, August 31st. Arc email will be sent out on Sunday, September 1st.
What is ARC? ARC stands for Advanced Review Copy. These individuals get to read a polished copy of the book before it goes live and are often encouraged to leave a review as soon as possible.
Books that are finished and ready for launch may be submitted by the deadline. Those who do will be added to a list sent to the Inkfort Press ARC Readers list. Similar to Beta, they will see titles, taglines, and blurbs.
Phase 6
Publication
On Monday, September 23rd, all of the finished books should go live.
The following details are up to the authors, although the participants are free to ask questions and have discussions about them.
Pricing
Categories
Where to publish
Inkfort only requires that the pen name remain the only persona attached at this stage, as well as having the event mentioned in the back matter.
(The exact wording and nature of the mention will be given as that phase nears.)
The Ending
Categories of Recognition.
Sales information is due back to Inkfort by Firday, October 25th. . Please remember that each author is responsible for adhering to all local laws and tax codes for this pen name, where applicable.
There are three categories that will be given a shout-out at the end of the derby.
Copies sold.
Review score.
Community Choice.
Unfinished Books
If a book is not launched by the end of derby, the cover will revert back to Inkfort Press to be used during the next event. Participants may keep the story they wrote and find a different cover at the time they are ready to publish.
Sign Up!
To sign up for the Publishing Derby, please fill out this form: ttps://forms.gle/Ew4hXQddFBe7k47c8
Look Ahead: Dates and Reminders.
Sign-ups close: When 100 participants are reached
Covers release: Sun May 19
Rankings due: Sun May 26 at noon EST
Cover assignments: Mon May 27
Working phase begins: Tues May 28
Beta submissions are due: Wednesday, July 31st
Beta phase starts: Thurs August 1
Revision phase starts/continues: Fri Aug 16
Arcs due: Sat Aug 31
Arc phase starts: Sun Sept 1
Launch day: Monday, Sept 23
Sales due: Fri Oct 25
Links and resources:
Sign up form:
https://forms.gle/Ew4hXQddFBe7k47c8
Official Rules: https://www.inkfortpress.com/derby/rules
Best Practices: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16XgbwYOdroFP7Xc1gyPyDxqPqFrcZd7VnPfzt_GwLUY/edit?usp=sharing
Beta / Arc mailing list: https://subscribepage.io/InkfortPress
submitted by rudexvirus to redditserials [link] [comments]
Welcome to the beginning of the 2024 Publishing Derby! The signup link for this year's event is located below the recap of each phase. Participants are heavily encouraged to read through the overviews before registering.
Phase 1
Sign-ups
The registration form will open on Saturday, May 18th and remain open until we have approximately 100 entrants.
The full list of covers will be released for viewing on Sunday, May 19th.
Reminder: the pen names on the covers are required, as all participants will be asked to remain anonymous for the event. Please see the Official Rules and FAQs for further information.
Cover Ranking
Inkfort will provide a sheet for participants to rank the covers in order of preference. It is recommended that participants do at least ten, but the ultimate decision is on the individual.
The rankings are due Sunday, May 26th at Noon (EST). The sheet should be emailed to Inkfort Press with the author's name on it.
Cover Assignment
Once the sheets have been collected, the Inkfort team will assign every participant a random number. Then, we will assign each contestant a cover based on their ranking.
Example:
Nick gets assigned the number 3
Jane gets assigned the number 2
Max gets assigned the number 1
Max gets his first pick guaranteed since he is assigned a cover first.
Jane gets her first pick unless it was the same as Max’s. If it was, then she gets her number two.
Nick is next, and he gets number one unless Max or Jane got it, then we go down the list until the very first next cover is available, which in this case would be number 3, in the worst case scenario.
If someone doesn’t rank enough covers:
It is up to each participant to choose how many covers to rank. If a scenario occurs where there is no ranking to guide the assignments, they will be assigned one from what remains at our discretion. This assignment is not negotiable. ** Cover Distribution**
Once everyone has been assigned a cover, the Inkfort Admins will distribute the covers via email. This will include a digital copy of the cover, the title, and the pen name.
(Reminder that all participants will be asked to remain one hundred percent anonymous for the event. Please see the Official Rules and FAQs for further information)
Phase 2
Working Phase
The working phase is where participants will plan and write the book for their assigned covers, it runs from Tuesday, May 28th, to Thursday, August 1st.
The event requires a minimum of 10,000 words but does not have a maximum. Beyond the 10k, the size is up to each author.
While writing, keep in mind that all derby materials must meet the community standards of the event.
Participants are also allowed to begin marketing their books during this phase. Details on marketing can be found in Phase 4.
For more on the rules surrounding community guidelines, spending money, and marketing strategies, please see the official rules. As well, Inkfort suggests reading the Best Practices for tips on word count, as well as reader expectations regarding covers and content. Both of these documents and other information are listed at the bottom of the email.
Phase 3
Beta Readers
Beta phase begins Thursday, August 1st, and ends on Thursday, August 15th.
What is Beta Reading? A Beta reader reads a finished story and provides comments, questions, and other styles of feedback to help the author polish prior to publishing.
The Derby Beta Phase has two parts. In both parts, Inkfort acts as an intermediary for feedback, and all Beta readers (including derby authors who participate in this phase) remain anonymous.
Part One:
Inkfort Press emails a list of submitted books to their Beta Reader mailing list. The list will include the titles, short taglines, and blurb.
There is no guarantee that all books will receive feedback.
Part Two:
The second portion is an exchange exclusively between other Derby Authors. All books submitted in this portion ought to receive feedback from another participant, and each author who enters is expected to give feedback to one book.
The Inkfort Staff will compile the books entered and match them based on several factors, including, but not limited to, total word count and genre.
Part two is completely optional, but it is important to note that those who sign up and do not complete their assigned read may be locked out of the program in future events.
The feedback and questionnaires must be emailed back to Inkfort by Thursday, August 15th, at midnight. (EST)
Phase 4
Revision and Marketing phase.
The revision phase begins on Friday, August 16th.
Revision:
This phase is dedicated to revising the books based on feedback and self-edits. Participants are allowed to begin editing at any time, including during the Beta phase.
Marketing:
With the bulk of the writing finished for most participants, this is where the authors are encouraged to begin the bulk of their marketing. Authors are allowed to share details of the event as a whole on their main pages, but anything specific must be under the pen name.
There are two important rules for this portion of the event.
Each author must market under their assigned pen name.
Under no circumstances may an author use their pre-existing fanbase, family, friends, or social media during the derby. Only the author and Inkfort Staff are allowed to know who wrote each book during the event.
This also means authors can not use existing editing relationships, closed crit groups, or anything similar for the derby book. Anything used must also be accessible to a total stranger. It also means that participants should not be narrowing down the pool to those they know. No information about their individual book should be shared while not under the guise of the pen name.
Participants are not allowed to spend money on their derby projects during the event.
Authors can use the software they already own, such as:
Word processors
Formatting software
Rocket
They can not, however, spend money on things like:
Physical copies
Editing
Ads
Supplemental art
Pro-level of software
Phase 5
ARC’s
Arc submissions are due Saturday, August 31st. Arc email will be sent out on Sunday, September 1st.
What is ARC? ARC stands for Advanced Review Copy. These individuals get to read a polished copy of the book before it goes live and are often encouraged to leave a review as soon as possible.
Books that are finished and ready for launch may be submitted by the deadline. Those who do will be added to a list sent to the Inkfort Press ARC Readers list. Similar to Beta, they will see titles, taglines, and blurbs.
Phase 6
Publication
On Monday, September 23rd, all of the finished books should go live.
The following details are up to the authors, although the participants are free to ask questions and have discussions about them.
Pricing
Categories
Where to publish
Inkfort only requires that the pen name remain the only persona attached at this stage, as well as having the event mentioned in the back matter.
(The exact wording and nature of the mention will be given as that phase nears.)
The Ending
Categories of Recognition.
Sales information is due back to Inkfort by Firday, October 25th. . Please remember that each author is responsible for adhering to all local laws and tax codes for this pen name, where applicable.
There are three categories that will be given a shout-out at the end of the derby.
Copies sold.
Review score.
Community Choice.
Unfinished Books
If a book is not launched by the end of derby, the cover will revert back to Inkfort Press to be used during the next event. Participants may keep the story they wrote and find a different cover at the time they are ready to publish.
Sign Up!
To sign up for the Publishing Derby, please fill out this form: ttps://forms.gle/Ew4hXQddFBe7k47c8
Sign-ups close: When 100 participants are reached
Covers release: Sun May 19
Rankings due: Sun May 26 at noon EST
Cover assignments: Mon May 27
Working phase begins: Tues May 28
Beta submissions are due: Wednesday, July 31st
Beta phase starts: Thurs August 1
Revision phase starts/continues: Fri Aug 16
Arcs due: Sat Aug 31
Arc phase starts: Sun Sept 1
Launch day: Monday, Sept 23
Sales due: Fri Oct 25
Links and resources:
Sign up form:
https://forms.gle/Ew4hXQddFBe7k47c8
Official Rules: https://www.inkfortpress.com/derby/rules
Best Practices: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16XgbwYOdroFP7Xc1gyPyDxqPqFrcZd7VnPfzt_GwLUY/edit?usp=sharing
Beta / Arc mailing list: https://subscribepage.io/InkfortPress
2024.05.18 20:53 Substantial-Art-9322 Data Flow in Django Rest Framework?
I have recently started learning Django Rest Framework, and hit a little roadblock trying to understand the data flow in DRF.
From what I understand, views take in a web request and return a web response, so they are the first component in the DRF data flow right? (after urls).
Then what's the second step? Views generally refer to a serializer, so does that mean our serializer gets executed next. If so, why doesn't our model get executed instead, because serializers are used to convert data such as model instances so doesn't it mean our serializers depend on models and should be executed after models.
I have this question after going through the DRF docs tutorial part-4.
I also have one more question after going through the tutorial.
CONTEXT: In the tutorial we are creating code snippets and now we want to associate users with the snippets they created.
We follow the steps below in the following order to achieve this:
1 Add the following two fields to the Snippet model in models.py.
Now that we've got some users to work with, we'd better add representations of those users to our API. Creating a new serializer is easy. In serializers.py add:
The docs say that " the user isn't sent as part of the serialized representation, but is instead a property of the incoming request."
How exactly is the user already a part of the incoming request? Aren't we the ones who want to add users to associate snippets with their creators?
Also, I would like to know how to check the properties of an incoming request?
3 Associating Snippets with Users
Right now, if we created a code snippet, there'd be no way of associating the user that created the snippet, with the snippet instance. The user isn't sent as part of the serialized representation, but is instead a property of the incoming request.
The way we deal with that is by overriding a .perform_create() method on our snippet views, that allows us to modify how the instance save is managed, and handle any information that is implicit in the incoming request or requested URL.
On the SnippetList view class, add the following method:
Now that snippets are associated with the user that created them, let's update our SnippetSerializer to reflect that.
Add the following field to the serializer definition in serializers.py:
Apologies for making this too long.
Also, thank you for taking your time out for reading this.
P.S. I have another question after looking at code written by others, what does serializer.save(data=data) or serializer.create(data=data) mean?
Code below:
from views.py:
submitted by Substantial-Art-9322 to djangolearning [link] [comments]
From what I understand, views take in a web request and return a web response, so they are the first component in the DRF data flow right? (after urls).
Then what's the second step? Views generally refer to a serializer, so does that mean our serializer gets executed next. If so, why doesn't our model get executed instead, because serializers are used to convert data such as model instances so doesn't it mean our serializers depend on models and should be executed after models.
I have this question after going through the DRF docs tutorial part-4.
I also have one more question after going through the tutorial.
CONTEXT: In the tutorial we are creating code snippets and now we want to associate users with the snippets they created.
We follow the steps below in the following order to achieve this:
1 Add the following two fields to the Snippet model in models.py.
owner = models.ForeignKey('auth.User', related_name='snippets', on_delete=models.CASCADE) 2 Adding endpoints for our User modelsNow that we've got some users to work with, we'd better add representations of those users to our API. Creating a new serializer is easy. In serializers.py add:
from django.contrib.auth.models import User class UserSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer): snippets = serializers.PrimaryKeyRelatedField(many=True, queryset=Snippet.objects.all()) class Meta: model = User fields = ['id', 'username', 'snippets']We'll also add a couple of views to views.py. We'd like to just use read-only views for the user representations, so we'll use the ListAPIView and RetrieveAPIView generic class-based views.
from django.contrib.auth.models import User class UserList(generics.ListAPIView): queryset = User.objects.all() serializer_class = UserSerializer class UserDetail(generics.RetrieveAPIView): queryset = User.objects.all() serializer_class = UserSerializerOne of my main question is in the following step-3.
The docs say that " the user isn't sent as part of the serialized representation, but is instead a property of the incoming request."
How exactly is the user already a part of the incoming request? Aren't we the ones who want to add users to associate snippets with their creators?
Also, I would like to know how to check the properties of an incoming request?
3 Associating Snippets with Users
Right now, if we created a code snippet, there'd be no way of associating the user that created the snippet, with the snippet instance. The user isn't sent as part of the serialized representation, but is instead a property of the incoming request.
The way we deal with that is by overriding a .perform_create() method on our snippet views, that allows us to modify how the instance save is managed, and handle any information that is implicit in the incoming request or requested URL.
On the SnippetList view class, add the following method:
def perform_create(self, serializer): serializer.save(owner=self.request.user)4 Updating our Serializer
Now that snippets are associated with the user that created them, let's update our SnippetSerializer to reflect that.
Add the following field to the serializer definition in serializers.py:
owner = serializers.ReadOnlyField(source='owner.username')Now, my main question is, how do these steps help in adding the user to our snippets? How exactly does the data flow here?
Apologies for making this too long.
Also, thank you for taking your time out for reading this.
P.S. I have another question after looking at code written by others, what does serializer.save(data=data) or serializer.create(data=data) mean?
Code below:
from views.py:
class SnippetList(generics.ListCreateAPIView): queryset = Snippet.objects.all() serializer_class = SnippetSerializer permission_classes = [permissions.IsAuthenticatedOrReadOnly] def perform_create(self, serializer): serializer.save(owner= self.request.user)serializers.py:
class SnippetSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer): owner = serializers.ReadOnlyField(source="owner.username") class Meta: model = Snippet fields = ["id", "title" , "code", "linenos", "language", "style", "owner"] class UserSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer): snippets = serializers.PrimaryKeyRelatedField(many=True, queryset=Snippet.objects.all()) class Meta: model = User fields = ["id", "username", "snippets"]models.py:
class Snippet(models.Model): created = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True) title = models.CharField(max_length=100, blank=True, default='') code = models.TextField() linenos = models.BooleanField(default=False) language = models.CharField(choices=LANGUAGE_CHOICES, default="python", max_length=100) style = models.CharField(choices=STYLE_CHOICES, default="friendly", max_length=100) owner = models.ForeignKey("auth.User", related_name="snippets", on_delete=models.CASCADE) highlighted = models.TextField() class Meta: ordering = ['created'] def save(self,*args, **kwargs): """ Use the "pygments" library to create a highlighted HTML representation of the code snippet. """ lexer = get_lexer_by_name(self.language) linenos = "table" if self.linenos else False options = {"title": self.title} if self.title else{} formatter = HtmlFormatter(style=self.style, linenos=linenos, full=True ,**options) self.highlighted = highlight(self.code, lexer, formatter) super().save(*args, **kwargs) 2024.05.18 20:51 RealTalkGabe ERR SSL ERROR PROTOCOL MACBOOK AIR HELP
 | For some reason I've been unable to use chrome when I'm using certain links for my school (these are links that worked fine for a year up till last month) ... I've cleared my cache, uninstalled and reinstalled, cleared my history , tried incognito mode ... Yet nothing seems to work. I also want to add that these sites work fine on my iPad and phone, just aren't opening on my MacBook. submitted by RealTalkGabe to chrome [link] [comments] It also persists even when I'm on any other wifi, so I've had to revert back to using Safari as my main browser due to this issue. Safari doesn't give me any issues which is why I've been using it for a month now. I would like to get back to using chrome though. Apple continues to tell me this is a chrome issue and they can't help "it's out of their field". Has this ever happened to you ? |
2024.05.18 20:44 CoderGirlUnicorn How do I assign numerical weights to answer choices in this survey program?
Hey everyone!
I have this program that I've done that gives the user a survey and saves their answers to different files for different political parties. The program is supposed to learn by using the previous answers from previous surveys to calculate the probability of the party the user belongs to before the user finishes the survey. I've got it working right now, but I have a sticky situation where some beliefs overlap between a couple of different parties. For example, Socialists and Democrats both believe in Climate Change. But there are also stark differences on some issues, for example Libertarians don't believe in paying taxes at all, and Republicans believe in lower taxes. I would like to improve my program by assigning numerical weights to the answer choices so that way the program can factor that into the probability calculations and make better guesses faster. Like in the Libertarian-Republican tax example, the Libertarian no tax answer would have a different weight that would tell the program that the user is more likely to be a Libertarian. I want the program to be able to figure out and adjust the weights for itself.
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Map probabilityManagerMap = new HashMap<>();
probabilityManagerMap.put(PoliticalParty.REPUBLICAN, new ProbabilityManager(PoliticalParty.REPUBLICAN, 0.25));
probabilityManagerMap.put(PoliticalParty.DEMOCRAT, new ProbabilityManager(PoliticalParty.DEMOCRAT, 0.25));
probabilityManagerMap.put(PoliticalParty.SOCIALIST, new ProbabilityManager(PoliticalParty.SOCIALIST, 0.25));
probabilityManagerMap.put(PoliticalParty.LIBERTARIAN, new ProbabilityManager(PoliticalParty.LIBERTARIAN, 0.25));
Map answerNumbers = new HashMap<>();
answerNumbers.put("a", 1);
answerNumbers.put("b", 2);
answerNumbers.put("c", 3);
Survey survey = new Survey();
SurveyUserInput userInputCheck = new SurveyUserInput(answerNumbers);
String userInput = "";
Map answerIndices = new HashMap<>();
ProbabilityCalculator cal = new ProbabilityCalculator(probabilityManagerMap);
int answerNumber = 0;
String user = "";
Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
SurveyManager.printProb(probabilityManagerMap);
SurveyManager surv = new SurveyManager();
for(int i = 0; i
System.out.println(surv.printGuess(probabilityManagerMap));
SurveyComponent c = survey.getQuestion(i);
answerNumber = userInputCheck.performSurvey(i, c);
answerIndices.put(i, answerNumber);
cal.recalculate(i, answerNumber);
}
PoliticalParty party = userInputCheck.askParty();
probabilityManagerMap.get(party).saveAnswerIndices(answerIndices);
}
}
public class SurveyUserInput {
Map mapKey;
public SurveyUserInput(Map mapKey) {
this.mapKey = mapKey;
}
Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
Survey survey = new Survey();
public int performSurvey(int questionNumber, SurveyComponent com) {
String user = "";
int a;
System.out.println(com.question);
for(String answer : com.getAnswers()) {
System.out.println(answer);
}
do {
user = scanner.next().toLowerCase();
} while(!user.equals("a") && !user.equals("b") && !user.equals("c"));
a = mapKey.get(user);
return a;
}
public PoliticalParty askParty() {
String userInput = "";
System.out.println("What party? \nA) Republican \nB) Democrat \nC)Libertarian \nD) Socialist");
do {
userInput = scanner.next().toLowerCase();
} while(!userInput.equals("a") && !userInput.equals("b") && !userInput.equals("c") && !userInput.equals("d"));
int index = userInput.codePointAt(0) - 'a';
return PoliticalParty.values()[index];
}
}
public class SurveyFileIO {
public static void writeToFile(String fileName, Map answerList) {
try {
File file = new File(fileName + ".txt");
if(!file.exists()) {
file.createNewFile();
}
BufferedWriter fileWriter = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter(file));
for(Map.Entry answer : answerList.entrySet()) {
int key = answer.getKey();
int value = answer.getValue();
fileWriter.append(key + "=" + value);
fileWriter.newLine();
}
fileWriter.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public static Map readFromFile(String fileName) {
Map fileContents = new HashMap<>();
try {
File file = new File(fileName + ".txt");
if(file.exists()) {
BufferedReader fileReader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(fileName + ".txt"));
String line;
while((line = fileReader.readLine()) != null) {
String[] parts = line.split("=") ;
if(parts.length == 2) {
int key = Integer.parseInt(parts[0]);
int value = Integer.parseInt(parts[1]);
fileContents.put(key, value);
}
}
fileReader.close();
} else {
fileContents.put(0, 0);
}
} catch(IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
return fileContents;
}
}
public class SurveyComponent {
String question;
String[] answers;
SurveyComponent(String question, String...answers) {
this.question = question;
this.answers = answers;
}
public String[] getAnswers() {
return answers;
}
}
public class Survey {
SurveyComponent[] surveyComponentArray;
public Survey() {
surveyComponentArray = new SurveyComponent[10];
surveyComponentArray[0] = new SurveyComponent("How do you feel about the issue of guns?",
"A) I believe in the 2nd Amendment completely.", "B) I believe in gun control",
"C) I don't care");
"C) I don't even believe in foregin aid.");
//etc. for all questions and answers.
}
public SurveyComponent getQuestion(int index) {
return surveyComponentArray[index];
}
}
public class SurveyManager {
public PoliticalParty printGuess(Map proMap) {
double maxProb = Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY;
PoliticalParty most = null;
for(Map.Entry entry : proMap.entrySet()) {
ProbabilityManager pro = entry.getValue();
double partyProbability = pro.getProbability();
if(partyProbability > maxProb) {
maxProb = partyProbability;
most = entry.getKey();
}
}
return most;
}
public static void printProb(Map proMap) {
for(PoliticalParty party : PoliticalParty.values()) {
System.out.println(party.name() + new DecimalFormat("0.00").format(proMap.get(party).getProbability()*100));
}
}
}
public class ProbabilityManager {
public PoliticalParty party;
private double partyProbability;
private String fileName;
private Map previousSurveyData;
public ProbabilityManager(PoliticalParty party, double partyProbability) {
this.party = party;
this.partyProbability = partyProbability;
this.fileName = party.name().toLowerCase();
previousSurveyData=SurveyFileIO.readFromFile(
fileName);
}
public void setProbability(double partyProbability) {
this.partyProbability = partyProbability;
}
public double getProbability() {
return partyProbability;
}
public double calculateProbOfAnswerGivenParty(int questionNumber, int answerNumber) {
int counter = 0;
if((previousSurveyData.containsKey(questionNumber)) && previousSurveyData.get(questionNumber) == answerNumber) {
counter++;
} else {
return (double)counter;
}
return (double)counter / previousSurveyData.size();
}
public void saveAnswerIndices(Map answerIndices) {
for(Map.Entry entry : answerIndices.entrySet()) {
int key = entry.getKey();
int value = entry.getValue();
this.previousSurveyData.put(key, value);
}
SurveyFileIO.writeToFile(fileName, previousSurveyData);
}
}
public class ProbabilityCalculator {
private final Map partyMap;
public ProbabilityCalculator(Map partyMap) {
this.partyMap = partyMap;
}
public void recalculate(int questionNumber, int answerNumber) {
double totalProb = 0;
Map probOfAnswerGivenParty = new HashMap<>();
for(PoliticalParty party : PoliticalParty.values()) {
ProbabilityManager probManager = partyMap.get(party);
if(probManager != null) {
double probOfAnsGivenP = probManager.calculateProbOfAnswerGivenParty(questionNumber, answerNumber);
totalProb += probManager.getProbability() * probOfAnsGivenP;
probOfAnswerGivenParty.put(party, probOfAnsGivenP);
} else {
System.out.println("no");
}
}
for(PoliticalParty party : PoliticalParty.values()) {
ProbabilityManager probManager = partyMap.get(party);
double probOfPartyGivenANS = probManager.getProbability() * probOfAnswerGivenParty.get(party) / totalProb;
probManager.setProbability(probOfPartyGivenANS);
}
}
}
public enum PoliticalParty {
REPUBLICAN,
DEMOCRAT,
LIBERTARIAN,
SOCIALIST
}
I was thinking about trying to set the weights up in the ProbabilityManager class. The thing I'm having the most trouble with is how to set up the weights for what I'm calling the "deciding answers". That is, the answers that ONLY a Libertarian or ONLY a Socialist would choose, like my tax example. I would really appreciate some help. Thanks! :)
submitted by CoderGirlUnicorn to javahelp [link] [comments]
I have this program that I've done that gives the user a survey and saves their answers to different files for different political parties. The program is supposed to learn by using the previous answers from previous surveys to calculate the probability of the party the user belongs to before the user finishes the survey. I've got it working right now, but I have a sticky situation where some beliefs overlap between a couple of different parties. For example, Socialists and Democrats both believe in Climate Change. But there are also stark differences on some issues, for example Libertarians don't believe in paying taxes at all, and Republicans believe in lower taxes. I would like to improve my program by assigning numerical weights to the answer choices so that way the program can factor that into the probability calculations and make better guesses faster. Like in the Libertarian-Republican tax example, the Libertarian no tax answer would have a different weight that would tell the program that the user is more likely to be a Libertarian. I want the program to be able to figure out and adjust the weights for itself.
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Map
probabilityManagerMap.put(PoliticalParty.REPUBLICAN, new ProbabilityManager(PoliticalParty.REPUBLICAN, 0.25));
probabilityManagerMap.put(PoliticalParty.DEMOCRAT, new ProbabilityManager(PoliticalParty.DEMOCRAT, 0.25));
probabilityManagerMap.put(PoliticalParty.SOCIALIST, new ProbabilityManager(PoliticalParty.SOCIALIST, 0.25));
probabilityManagerMap.put(PoliticalParty.LIBERTARIAN, new ProbabilityManager(PoliticalParty.LIBERTARIAN, 0.25));
Map
answerNumbers.put("a", 1);
answerNumbers.put("b", 2);
answerNumbers.put("c", 3);
Survey survey = new Survey();
SurveyUserInput userInputCheck = new SurveyUserInput(answerNumbers);
String userInput = "";
Map
ProbabilityCalculator cal = new ProbabilityCalculator(probabilityManagerMap);
int answerNumber = 0;
String user = "";
Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
SurveyManager.printProb(probabilityManagerMap);
SurveyManager surv = new SurveyManager();
for(int i = 0; i
System.out.println(surv.printGuess(probabilityManagerMap));
SurveyComponent c = survey.getQuestion(i);
answerNumber = userInputCheck.performSurvey(i, c);
answerIndices.put(i, answerNumber);
cal.recalculate(i, answerNumber);
}
PoliticalParty party = userInputCheck.askParty();
probabilityManagerMap.get(party).saveAnswerIndices(answerIndices);
}
}
public class SurveyUserInput {
Map
public SurveyUserInput(Map
this.mapKey = mapKey;
}
Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
Survey survey = new Survey();
public int performSurvey(int questionNumber, SurveyComponent com) {
String user = "";
int a;
System.out.println(com.question);
for(String answer : com.getAnswers()) {
System.out.println(answer);
}
do {
user = scanner.next().toLowerCase();
} while(!user.equals("a") && !user.equals("b") && !user.equals("c"));
a = mapKey.get(user);
return a;
}
public PoliticalParty askParty() {
String userInput = "";
System.out.println("What party? \nA) Republican \nB) Democrat \nC)Libertarian \nD) Socialist");
do {
userInput = scanner.next().toLowerCase();
} while(!userInput.equals("a") && !userInput.equals("b") && !userInput.equals("c") && !userInput.equals("d"));
int index = userInput.codePointAt(0) - 'a';
return PoliticalParty.values()[index];
}
}
public class SurveyFileIO {
public static void writeToFile(String fileName, Map
try {
File file = new File(fileName + ".txt");
if(!file.exists()) {
file.createNewFile();
}
BufferedWriter fileWriter = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter(file));
for(Map.Entry
int key = answer.getKey();
int value = answer.getValue();
fileWriter.append(key + "=" + value);
fileWriter.newLine();
}
fileWriter.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public static Map
Map
try {
File file = new File(fileName + ".txt");
if(file.exists()) {
BufferedReader fileReader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(fileName + ".txt"));
String line;
while((line = fileReader.readLine()) != null) {
String[] parts = line.split("=") ;
if(parts.length == 2) {
int key = Integer.parseInt(parts[0]);
int value = Integer.parseInt(parts[1]);
fileContents.put(key, value);
}
}
fileReader.close();
} else {
fileContents.put(0, 0);
}
} catch(IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
return fileContents;
}
}
public class SurveyComponent {
String question;
String[] answers;
SurveyComponent(String question, String...answers) {
this.question = question;
this.answers = answers;
}
public String[] getAnswers() {
return answers;
}
}
public class Survey {
SurveyComponent[] surveyComponentArray;
public Survey() {
surveyComponentArray = new SurveyComponent[10];
surveyComponentArray[0] = new SurveyComponent("How do you feel about the issue of guns?",
"A) I believe in the 2nd Amendment completely.", "B) I believe in gun control",
"C) I don't care");
`surveyComponentArray[1] = new SurveyComponent("How do you feel about the USA's involvement in with other nations?",` "A) I believe we should focus on America.", "B) I believe we need to be involved.", "C) I don't even believe in foregin aid.");
//etc. for all questions and answers.
}
public SurveyComponent getQuestion(int index) {
return surveyComponentArray[index];
}
}
public class SurveyManager {
public PoliticalParty printGuess(Map
double maxProb = Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY;
PoliticalParty most = null;
for(Map.Entry
ProbabilityManager pro = entry.getValue();
double partyProbability = pro.getProbability();
if(partyProbability > maxProb) {
maxProb = partyProbability;
most = entry.getKey();
}
}
return most;
}
public static void printProb(Map
for(PoliticalParty party : PoliticalParty.values()) {
System.out.println(party.name() + new DecimalFormat("0.00").format(proMap.get(party).getProbability()*100));
}
}
}
public class ProbabilityManager {
public PoliticalParty party;
private double partyProbability;
private String fileName;
private Map
public ProbabilityManager(PoliticalParty party, double partyProbability) {
this.party = party;
this.partyProbability = partyProbability;
this.fileName = party.name().toLowerCase();
previousSurveyData=SurveyFileIO.readFromFile(
fileName);
}
public void setProbability(double partyProbability) {
this.partyProbability = partyProbability;
}
public double getProbability() {
return partyProbability;
}
public double calculateProbOfAnswerGivenParty(int questionNumber, int answerNumber) {
int counter = 0;
if((previousSurveyData.containsKey(questionNumber)) && previousSurveyData.get(questionNumber) == answerNumber) {
counter++;
} else {
return (double)counter;
}
return (double)counter / previousSurveyData.size();
}
public void saveAnswerIndices(Map
for(Map.Entry
int key = entry.getKey();
int value = entry.getValue();
this.previousSurveyData.put(key, value);
}
SurveyFileIO.writeToFile(fileName, previousSurveyData);
}
}
public class ProbabilityCalculator {
private final Map
public ProbabilityCalculator(Map
this.partyMap = partyMap;
}
public void recalculate(int questionNumber, int answerNumber) {
double totalProb = 0;
Map
for(PoliticalParty party : PoliticalParty.values()) {
ProbabilityManager probManager = partyMap.get(party);
if(probManager != null) {
double probOfAnsGivenP = probManager.calculateProbOfAnswerGivenParty(questionNumber, answerNumber);
totalProb += probManager.getProbability() * probOfAnsGivenP;
probOfAnswerGivenParty.put(party, probOfAnsGivenP);
} else {
System.out.println("no");
}
}
for(PoliticalParty party : PoliticalParty.values()) {
ProbabilityManager probManager = partyMap.get(party);
double probOfPartyGivenANS = probManager.getProbability() * probOfAnswerGivenParty.get(party) / totalProb;
probManager.setProbability(probOfPartyGivenANS);
}
}
}
public enum PoliticalParty {
REPUBLICAN,
DEMOCRAT,
LIBERTARIAN,
SOCIALIST
}
I was thinking about trying to set the weights up in the ProbabilityManager class. The thing I'm having the most trouble with is how to set up the weights for what I'm calling the "deciding answers". That is, the answers that ONLY a Libertarian or ONLY a Socialist would choose, like my tax example. I would really appreciate some help. Thanks! :)
2024.05.18 20:41 Saas-builder I shared my SaaS on Reddit, and got 80k views and 10 Free Trials, (Story and numbers)
Last night before I went to sleep I spent 5 hours researching which AI Chatbot is the best to determine the impact of my SaaS chatplayground.ai
The idea of driving growth with data came from some random guy I emailed who said he makes 60k a month with saas by stealing the codebase from others, since he doesn't know how to code and he is just a killer designer and marketer. He didn't tell me anything else about himself other then that he is young and spends all his money on blow and woman.
Either way his advice was solid, so I did the research and found that my SaaS I built is actually provides alot of value because you can achieve better AI answers 73% of the time when you use multiple chatbots at once.
I posted my research on reddit chatgpt page before I slept. When I woke up I found the post had 80k views and drove 300 visitors to my website.
From these 300 visitors, 66 people signed up, 29 people opened stripe link to start trial, 10 people started their trial, 2 of them on the yearly plan. So far 2 people have cancelled which leaves me with 8 customers from a reddit post that got 80k views.
It's my first time doing well on reddit, so I'm not sure if these results are good or bad. I'd love to here from more builders about their results on reddit.
submitted by Saas-builder to SaaS [link] [comments]
The idea of driving growth with data came from some random guy I emailed who said he makes 60k a month with saas by stealing the codebase from others, since he doesn't know how to code and he is just a killer designer and marketer. He didn't tell me anything else about himself other then that he is young and spends all his money on blow and woman.
Either way his advice was solid, so I did the research and found that my SaaS I built is actually provides alot of value because you can achieve better AI answers 73% of the time when you use multiple chatbots at once.
I posted my research on reddit chatgpt page before I slept. When I woke up I found the post had 80k views and drove 300 visitors to my website.
From these 300 visitors, 66 people signed up, 29 people opened stripe link to start trial, 10 people started their trial, 2 of them on the yearly plan. So far 2 people have cancelled which leaves me with 8 customers from a reddit post that got 80k views.
It's my first time doing well on reddit, so I'm not sure if these results are good or bad. I'd love to here from more builders about their results on reddit.