Sample title block sheets
the slique theme demo subreddit
2015.08.26 08:48 TreeTwo the slique theme demo subreddit
2015.03.17 18:01 jbwncster Tephra RPG Games
This is where a few of us Redditors play Tephra. It's a weekly posting of our game or games.
2015.10.07 05:17 TreeTwo Redmat
2024.06.02 10:05 Novrain7 EDM/Memphis rap song from youtube album from 2022
Found a song during the fall of 2022 that I listened the crap out of but lost the youtube link. The track was the first song in an album that sampled from both Dorian Concept - Hide and some Memphis Rap song that sounds kinda like this vocal from Gimisum Family. I would describe the song as being pretty fast in tempo. If it helps the album art looked like pixel art of some hooded figure with some animated graffiti text for the title, though I have no clue if the video itself is even on youtube anymore
submitted by Novrain7 to NameThatSong [link] [comments]
2024.06.02 09:55 AdInteresting2401 Sick through meditation? - German media
For some, intensive meditation can cause mental suffering. The predominantly positive image of meditation makes it difficult for those affected to be heard in the event of side effects, as SWR research shows.
By Linda Huber, SWR
Millions of people in Germany meditate regularly. The offerings range from apps and online courses to meditation in studios and multi-day retreats. According to a Statista Consumer Survey, almost one in four people between the ages of 18 and 64 have a meditation app on their cell phone. A Buddhist tradition has long since become a mass phenomenon and the market for mindfulness is booming, with meditation often being praised as a cure for stress and mental health problems. However, recent scientific studies show that intensive meditation can also trigger serious psychological side effects. This side effect is often ignored or trivialized, as research by the investigative format Vollbild revealed.
One in ten meditators suffers from side effects
In a ten-year long-term study, US psychologist Willoughby Britton from Brown University was able to prove that around one in ten meditators develop side effects that severely restrict them in their everyday life. According to Britton, anxiety, traumatic flashbacks and hypersensitivity are the most common side effects of meditation. German studies also point to undesirable side effects of meditation: a study by a working group at Charité Berlin found that a total of 22 percent of 1,397 meditating test subjects had undesirable effects. Of these, around nine percent were classified as mild and temporary, while 13 percent had moderate to extreme adverse effects that required treatment, were permanent or even required hospitalization.
Negative effects often underestimated
Research on meditation over the past 20 years has mostly shown positive effects such as the reduction of stress or depression. Psychologist Britton criticizes the research on contemplative practices and points out that the negative effects of meditation are often underestimated.
In Germany, the first contact point for victims of meditation side effects has been open for two years at the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Hygiene in Freiburg. Psychologists Ulrich Ott and Liane Hofmann set up the contact point. They report that the consultation hours are already very popular and that the level of suffering of many of those affected is high. The psychologists suspect a high number of unreported cases and assume that there is a great need for counseling in Germany.
Panic attacks, hospitalization, suicide after meditation
Fullscreen has spoken to several people who have developed severe psychological problems after intensive meditation and had to be treated in a clinic. A 26-year-old student from Wiesbaden describes how he developed panic attacks after intensive meditation with an app and had to be treated in a clinic. A 28-year-old doctoral student from Düsseldorf reports that she developed delusions after an intensive retreat and had to be hospitalized, while a particularly drastic case from Canada shows extreme consequences: A young woman left a ten-day meditation retreat early and took her own life. Her mother reports that her daughter already felt unwell during the retreat. When asked, the meditation center explained that it was deeply saddened by the tragic incident. Teachers are trained to recognize signs of mental imbalance, and students are not asked to continue meditating if they are in distress.
Responsibility seen in meditators
The predominantly positive image of meditation often means that those affected have difficulty being heard and understood when side effects occur, and that providers often see meditators as being responsible.
US researcher Britton also observes this: "Blaming the victim is probably the most common reaction. It comes in many different varieties." It is often said that the person has already brought the problems with them. The retreat or the provider are therefore not responsible. Or the person has meditated incorrectly. "The normal meditation teacher wants to be helpful, and then to hear that you have caused harm is a very difficult kind of feedback," says Britton.
The psychologists Ott and Hofmann criticize the fact that meditation providers often deny responsibility for possible side effects: "It is of course also the responsibility of the providers to check in advance whether the people are mentally healthy, whether they are stable and not to deny all responsibility with such a disclaimer," says Ott. However, the offers often state: "Participation at your own risk. This clearly places the responsibility on the participants," says Ott.
No mandatory training, no monitoring
How little attention is paid to risks is also shown by an undercover investigation: in a self-experiment, Vollbild asked around 20 meditation providers for a course and stated that the supposed interested party had mental health problems. Only a few advised her to consult a doctor or therapist beforehand. The providers' websites did not provide any information on the risks and side effects of meditation in advance. In Germany, there is the Association of Mindfulness Teachers with eight training institutes and around 1,000 mindfulness teachers. According to full-screen research, undesirable side effects of meditation are an issue in training here. However, the training is voluntary. Anyone who wants to can offer meditation. There are no controls. This is another reason why many meditation teachers are apparently overwhelmed by the psychological damage and side effects of meditation.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/swmeditation-risiken-nebenwirkungen-100.html
Comments to the video:
"The fact that meditation or Buddhist practice in general (not just sitting) has dark sides has always been described. In Buddhist sutras, entire texts are dedicated to the spiritual decline of some practitioners. In Zen, "meditation sickness" is a well-known term, as is "lung" in Tibetan Buddhism. Various studies prove that there are often psychological problems, especially during intensive meditation sessions. For example, one psychologist describes that deprivatized sitting without movement can stress the neurons to such an extent that psychosis-like states can be reached. If you need help or would like more information on the possible symptoms and side effects (based on scientific data), please visit Cheetah House, they can also help those affected. What Micki describes at the beginning is also something that I consider extremely dangerous, if any teacher says to you "you have to go through this", then you should distance yourself as quickly as possible. Meditation should never be associated with thoughts of self-optimization or the desire for eternal happiness, in Zen they say "Zen brings nothing", or you could say, seek neither happiness nor unhappiness, only in this way can an authentic path be realized, with in my opinion clearly more serenity. Unfortunately, it is not without reason that many practitioners have been saying for a long time that 80 percent of Buddhist offerings are not authentic. Just look at the charlatans who serve as role models these days: Hinnerk Polenski, Shi Heng Yi, Zensho W Kopp... All people who are self-proclaimed masters."
"Shi Heng Yi has never studied Shaolin Buddhism, but has a martial arts master title under an American, yet the Otterberg Temple claimed to teach people on official behalf of the Henan Mother Temple, the warning then came quickly, officially Shi Heng Yi has recently made the first pin in the Warrior Monk Duan Pin System, so he is at the level of a novice. Nevertheless, he sells books on Zen Buddhism and the like. (Shaolin is Chan, Japanese Zen) and also meditation courses with dubious people for thousands of euros, which of course has nothing to do with Zen or Shaolin. Then Hinnerk, could never prove his mastery, like many others of the controversial Oi Saidan lineage he was only in the monastery for a few weeks. Zensho W Kopp, claims to have received Zen mastery from a teacher, but as I said, this man is only a teacher and not a master and therefore cannot confer mastery, but has never claimed to do so. It is clear that this can only result in spiritual confusion, but people who have no prior knowledge of religious integrity find it difficult to differentiate. In the end, a spiritual ego is built. But that doesn't mean that the “authentic” path isn't full of stumbling blocks. Who wants to let go of their ego? For some it can actually brighten up life again, but I think it is much more difficult to find an authentic guru these days than the danger on the path itself. For Buddhist practice, at least in Zen, sitting meditation is not necessary.
“I do not wash my hands or shave my head, I do not read sutras or observe precepts, I do not burn incense, I do not do sitting meditation, I do not perform memorial ceremonies for a master or Buddha.”
Chin'g gak Kuksa Hyesim (1178-1234)
How about that? :)"
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
submitted by AdInteresting2401 to zenbuddhism [link] [comments]
By Linda Huber, SWR
Millions of people in Germany meditate regularly. The offerings range from apps and online courses to meditation in studios and multi-day retreats. According to a Statista Consumer Survey, almost one in four people between the ages of 18 and 64 have a meditation app on their cell phone. A Buddhist tradition has long since become a mass phenomenon and the market for mindfulness is booming, with meditation often being praised as a cure for stress and mental health problems. However, recent scientific studies show that intensive meditation can also trigger serious psychological side effects. This side effect is often ignored or trivialized, as research by the investigative format Vollbild revealed.
One in ten meditators suffers from side effects
In a ten-year long-term study, US psychologist Willoughby Britton from Brown University was able to prove that around one in ten meditators develop side effects that severely restrict them in their everyday life. According to Britton, anxiety, traumatic flashbacks and hypersensitivity are the most common side effects of meditation. German studies also point to undesirable side effects of meditation: a study by a working group at Charité Berlin found that a total of 22 percent of 1,397 meditating test subjects had undesirable effects. Of these, around nine percent were classified as mild and temporary, while 13 percent had moderate to extreme adverse effects that required treatment, were permanent or even required hospitalization.
Negative effects often underestimated
Research on meditation over the past 20 years has mostly shown positive effects such as the reduction of stress or depression. Psychologist Britton criticizes the research on contemplative practices and points out that the negative effects of meditation are often underestimated.
In Germany, the first contact point for victims of meditation side effects has been open for two years at the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Hygiene in Freiburg. Psychologists Ulrich Ott and Liane Hofmann set up the contact point. They report that the consultation hours are already very popular and that the level of suffering of many of those affected is high. The psychologists suspect a high number of unreported cases and assume that there is a great need for counseling in Germany.
Panic attacks, hospitalization, suicide after meditation
Fullscreen has spoken to several people who have developed severe psychological problems after intensive meditation and had to be treated in a clinic. A 26-year-old student from Wiesbaden describes how he developed panic attacks after intensive meditation with an app and had to be treated in a clinic. A 28-year-old doctoral student from Düsseldorf reports that she developed delusions after an intensive retreat and had to be hospitalized, while a particularly drastic case from Canada shows extreme consequences: A young woman left a ten-day meditation retreat early and took her own life. Her mother reports that her daughter already felt unwell during the retreat. When asked, the meditation center explained that it was deeply saddened by the tragic incident. Teachers are trained to recognize signs of mental imbalance, and students are not asked to continue meditating if they are in distress.
Responsibility seen in meditators
The predominantly positive image of meditation often means that those affected have difficulty being heard and understood when side effects occur, and that providers often see meditators as being responsible.
US researcher Britton also observes this: "Blaming the victim is probably the most common reaction. It comes in many different varieties." It is often said that the person has already brought the problems with them. The retreat or the provider are therefore not responsible. Or the person has meditated incorrectly. "The normal meditation teacher wants to be helpful, and then to hear that you have caused harm is a very difficult kind of feedback," says Britton.
The psychologists Ott and Hofmann criticize the fact that meditation providers often deny responsibility for possible side effects: "It is of course also the responsibility of the providers to check in advance whether the people are mentally healthy, whether they are stable and not to deny all responsibility with such a disclaimer," says Ott. However, the offers often state: "Participation at your own risk. This clearly places the responsibility on the participants," says Ott.
No mandatory training, no monitoring
How little attention is paid to risks is also shown by an undercover investigation: in a self-experiment, Vollbild asked around 20 meditation providers for a course and stated that the supposed interested party had mental health problems. Only a few advised her to consult a doctor or therapist beforehand. The providers' websites did not provide any information on the risks and side effects of meditation in advance. In Germany, there is the Association of Mindfulness Teachers with eight training institutes and around 1,000 mindfulness teachers. According to full-screen research, undesirable side effects of meditation are an issue in training here. However, the training is voluntary. Anyone who wants to can offer meditation. There are no controls. This is another reason why many meditation teachers are apparently overwhelmed by the psychological damage and side effects of meditation.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/swmeditation-risiken-nebenwirkungen-100.html
Comments to the video:
"The fact that meditation or Buddhist practice in general (not just sitting) has dark sides has always been described. In Buddhist sutras, entire texts are dedicated to the spiritual decline of some practitioners. In Zen, "meditation sickness" is a well-known term, as is "lung" in Tibetan Buddhism. Various studies prove that there are often psychological problems, especially during intensive meditation sessions. For example, one psychologist describes that deprivatized sitting without movement can stress the neurons to such an extent that psychosis-like states can be reached. If you need help or would like more information on the possible symptoms and side effects (based on scientific data), please visit Cheetah House, they can also help those affected. What Micki describes at the beginning is also something that I consider extremely dangerous, if any teacher says to you "you have to go through this", then you should distance yourself as quickly as possible. Meditation should never be associated with thoughts of self-optimization or the desire for eternal happiness, in Zen they say "Zen brings nothing", or you could say, seek neither happiness nor unhappiness, only in this way can an authentic path be realized, with in my opinion clearly more serenity. Unfortunately, it is not without reason that many practitioners have been saying for a long time that 80 percent of Buddhist offerings are not authentic. Just look at the charlatans who serve as role models these days: Hinnerk Polenski, Shi Heng Yi, Zensho W Kopp... All people who are self-proclaimed masters."
"Shi Heng Yi has never studied Shaolin Buddhism, but has a martial arts master title under an American, yet the Otterberg Temple claimed to teach people on official behalf of the Henan Mother Temple, the warning then came quickly, officially Shi Heng Yi has recently made the first pin in the Warrior Monk Duan Pin System, so he is at the level of a novice. Nevertheless, he sells books on Zen Buddhism and the like. (Shaolin is Chan, Japanese Zen) and also meditation courses with dubious people for thousands of euros, which of course has nothing to do with Zen or Shaolin. Then Hinnerk, could never prove his mastery, like many others of the controversial Oi Saidan lineage he was only in the monastery for a few weeks. Zensho W Kopp, claims to have received Zen mastery from a teacher, but as I said, this man is only a teacher and not a master and therefore cannot confer mastery, but has never claimed to do so. It is clear that this can only result in spiritual confusion, but people who have no prior knowledge of religious integrity find it difficult to differentiate. In the end, a spiritual ego is built. But that doesn't mean that the “authentic” path isn't full of stumbling blocks. Who wants to let go of their ego? For some it can actually brighten up life again, but I think it is much more difficult to find an authentic guru these days than the danger on the path itself. For Buddhist practice, at least in Zen, sitting meditation is not necessary.
“I do not wash my hands or shave my head, I do not read sutras or observe precepts, I do not burn incense, I do not do sitting meditation, I do not perform memorial ceremonies for a master or Buddha.”
Chin'g gak Kuksa Hyesim (1178-1234)
How about that? :)"
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
2024.06.02 09:52 Brief_Night_9239 A honest discourse about Twice music
I only follow Twice from More & More era so I missed the fantastic 2016-2019 reign when Twice swept Korea with 9 consecutive No.1 singles and 3 consecutive Daesang awards. But I was present when after two failed attempts (blocked by Taylor Swift and Morgan Wallen), Twice finally sat on top of Billboard 200 courtesy of With You-th album.The question is can Twice produces another No.1 single?
Promotion I know JYPE sucks at promotion. One month before the debut of new album - tracklist, album trailer, concept photo etc. Is there any other way to make it more exciting? Do Twice needs to go for more variety shows? Or promoting 1 week in America and the other in Korea wrong?
Production Do we need new producers and lyrics writers? Do Twice members get to be involved? Is the song committee picking the title track be changed?
Yes I enjoy Twice music, I wouldn't be here if that isn't the case. Any criticism is not directly at Twice but especially JYPE which lately is very bad at managing girl group. I know it will be hard to get No.1 as we lost out at digital points since we are adults no time to stream. But if we pique GP interest that would help a lot.
So, let us combine our thoughts to suggest ways to get Twice the No.1 single.
submitted by Brief_Night_9239 to twice [link] [comments]
Promotion I know JYPE sucks at promotion. One month before the debut of new album - tracklist, album trailer, concept photo etc. Is there any other way to make it more exciting? Do Twice needs to go for more variety shows? Or promoting 1 week in America and the other in Korea wrong?
Production Do we need new producers and lyrics writers? Do Twice members get to be involved? Is the song committee picking the title track be changed?
Yes I enjoy Twice music, I wouldn't be here if that isn't the case. Any criticism is not directly at Twice but especially JYPE which lately is very bad at managing girl group. I know it will be hard to get No.1 as we lost out at digital points since we are adults no time to stream. But if we pique GP interest that would help a lot.
So, let us combine our thoughts to suggest ways to get Twice the No.1 single.
2024.06.02 09:43 craftymonmon [Offer] Vellum Quotes [US to US]
Hello! I have some vellum quote sheets that I do not have a use for and I’m willing to send out to a select few. I’m thinking of sending it to 6 people. I will add some washi samples and a couple of stickers or ephemera so not send the sheets so lonely your way 😉. Comment below if interested.
submitted by craftymonmon to RandomActsofHappyMail [link] [comments]
2024.06.02 09:36 AlphaSparqy Is anyone else unable to place a foundation on Y=1 (the very bottom, right on the bedrock) since the May QOL update?
As the title says.
I had started building a batch of advanced smelters on Y=1 prior to the update. Afterwards, I'm no longer able to extend that same section of foundations. I also cannot place stone blocks on the bedrock.
I get an error referring to the 255 height limit.
Can anyone verify if this is just me ?
Thank you.
If it's from the patch, then I suspect when they fixed the height detection for the cargo ships and solar panels they might have possibly broken this.
submitted by AlphaSparqy to foundry_game [link] [comments]
I had started building a batch of advanced smelters on Y=1 prior to the update. Afterwards, I'm no longer able to extend that same section of foundations. I also cannot place stone blocks on the bedrock.
I get an error referring to the 255 height limit.
Can anyone verify if this is just me ?
Thank you.
If it's from the patch, then I suspect when they fixed the height detection for the cargo ships and solar panels they might have possibly broken this.
2024.06.02 09:33 spakkii First home buyer - low offer
Sorry if you are all getting sick of this question, but I'm really new to this and want to make sure I'm doing this right and would really appreciate any advice on this. So sorry for the essay:
The Property:
Reading other people's answers to similar questions on this forum has also made me uncertain as some say ‘go for it, there’s no such thing as rude, can’t hurt to try.’ but I saw a few comments that said ‘give a low enough offer, you’ll lose every chance of buying that property’ which again really concerned me.
I really want to get this property and for the right price. I also want to take advantage of the market being in my favour, but I’m worried about losing out on this property all together if I go in with an offer of $850k this week assuming / hoping they’ll counter / negotiate.
It’s all so extremely new to me and I don’t really have my parents etc to guide me, just what advice I’ve been gathering and what I’ve been reading up on.
Am I taking too much of a risk by offering $850k as my first offer? Thank you for reading this far!
submitted by spakkii to PersonalFinanceNZ [link] [comments]
The Property:
- It sits in a block of 9 or so units 45+ minutes away from the city centre with no traffic. Half of the units are just finishing up now, the other half will be done in 2 months.
- Freehold titles, no body corp
- Of the units, 2 are like 'penthouse' type versions with 4 bed, 3 bath etc (160sqm floor space, 160sqm land) and sold for $1.3m early in the process
- the remaining 7 units are 2.5 bedrooms, 2 bathroom, 1 garage (The total floor space is around 120sqm and 100sqsm of land). Of these units, only one went under contract in February. They originally listed this unit size at $1.2m Oct-Nov '23, but dropped to $1.05m, and dropped to about $980k in the last month
- I enquired at the beginning of May, I asked why they had dropped in price, and they said they needed one more place to sell now so they'd have financing to finish the rest of the builds.
- It doesn't seem like there is much interest, at least not at the one I'm looking at. There have been no open homes and they've not mentioned any interest. But I could totally be wrong.
- when I was chatting to them after the 2nd viewing to see what info I could get out of them, I asked how flexible they were with pricing. They obviously didn't give anything away and they asked me 'how much we talking' and I said 'as close to $900k', which they said 'naw too low'. but when I asked 'ok, how much' they said give us an offer and we'll go back and forth, which is fair.
- I checked sales data for the suburb and honestly can’t find units in the area that have sold, just houses which go for anything for $1.1m - $1.8m or higher.
- The CLOSEST property I could find in comparison was a unit of very similar size, built in 2002, but in a very attractive location right next to the beach and in the town centre with shops, and it also has body corp. It had a $850k CV and sold for $980k
- Single, no dependents so I’m doing it alone
- I love the suburb despite it being far away from the city centre. But I luckily WFH full time so I can work from anywhere.
- I have been given pre-approval from two banks for the full price of $980k. One for my current deposit of like 17.2% @ 7.24% 1 year fixed and another for if I have 20% deposit @ 6.12% 1 year fixed.
- I’d really love to get this place $850k - $900k, I’d be less happy but ok to get it at about $930k, and I’d not be thrilled to get it at $980K but I could.
- I've seen the property 3 times and I KNOW everyone says not to fall in love with a property, but I really have and I'd really like to get this property for the right price. This fits all my requirements and though it's a tiny bit smaller in the kitchen / living space, I love the rest.
- I’ve not seen a single other property I like in the last 5 months
Reading other people's answers to similar questions on this forum has also made me uncertain as some say ‘go for it, there’s no such thing as rude, can’t hurt to try.’ but I saw a few comments that said ‘give a low enough offer, you’ll lose every chance of buying that property’ which again really concerned me.
I really want to get this property and for the right price. I also want to take advantage of the market being in my favour, but I’m worried about losing out on this property all together if I go in with an offer of $850k this week assuming / hoping they’ll counter / negotiate.
It’s all so extremely new to me and I don’t really have my parents etc to guide me, just what advice I’ve been gathering and what I’ve been reading up on.
Am I taking too much of a risk by offering $850k as my first offer? Thank you for reading this far!
2024.06.02 09:31 cooper_tempest What is something you always wished was in Minecraft that still isn't?
I'm a little bored and I want to make a Minecraft mod, preferably for the latest version - though I'm not the best with ideas and/or brain storming. Therefore I would like you guys to respond to the title in the comments and I will try to make a mod with some of the comments as features. Keep in mind I've only ever made 1 mod for Minecraft, though I'm fairly experienced in general programming so nothing should be too difficult. Where I'd draw the line is something like custom biomes, custom advanced blocks, entire new systems, etc - anything that requires lots of Minecraft modding experience. For example, as a kid I always wondered why there weren't emerald tools / armor in the game which is something I'd be able to create. This is just for fun, not a massive project or anything. I hope I can get some responses from you guys.
submitted by cooper_tempest to feedthebeast [link] [comments]
2024.06.02 09:29 LossLucky4012 what do you think?
I've been working on this story for... 3 months? 4? who knows, with my ability to keep track of time I could have started this yesterday, anyway, this is a story that has sci-fi elements, and some fantasy, although the fantasy stuff is mainly dragons so lets say adventure for now, (cause I don't know shit about genres, I just wrote the story) , Keep in mind, this has been written in free time, of which I don't have a lot, so if you don't like the story it is probably my fault, here is a look at:
“Hello there, James, please forgive us for our caution, but with your kind we can never be too careful.” I can see the scientist, I read his name tag, Dr. Crane William, I roar out
“My kind!? Get me out of these chains!” I breathe fire, claw, kick and swing my tail, trying to free myself, until I see two other people watching, one with weird whiskers, a long tail and a smug look on his face, and the other with a similar appearance to me but her wings are her arms. The next few days go by, until the two finally decide to talk to me, and in those days, My face becomes a snout like a komodo dragon’s, the one with the whiskers opens his mouth first and I already hate him
“Would you look at that, he’s even uglier up close!” I glare at him with absolute hatred, that seems to anger him more,
“What are you mute or something? Speak before I tear you apart!” he takes one step closer and that's all I need, I Bite his shoulder and use his head to break the chains on my right arm, I continue to break the rest of them with ease, and tell whiskers
“You want to fight? Let’s fight!” I leap on top of him, clawing at his face, he tries to slash me with a blade on his tail but I grab it and stab the wall with it, until I feel a burning sensation in my veins, The girl had bitten me! She looks at me with sadness,
“Sorry about this,” I look at her and drift into unconsciousness, when I wake up next I’m in some kind of, medical wing, ha, wing, as I look around I feel that my mouth is bound shut, but other than that, I can move my body, I get up off the gurney and just when I think it looks nice, whiskers shows his face,
“Well thanks a lot freak, now I’m on probation with Dr. Crane.” I motion to my mouth and he seems to have enough brain cells to understand what I mean
“Ha! You got the boot, Lily had that on her when she wouldn’t stop biting staff, I’m Ryan Mist.” I just walk away and try getting this muzzle off, That's when Crane walks in,
“Well, I must say it has been a while since we’ve had to use the boot, Ryan, your behavior was unacceptable!” I can tell that Crane is annoyed, and right as he finishes his sentence, click, the boot falls off my face and clatters to the ground. I don’t bother trying to fight Ryan again, I’m just happy to be able to talk!
“Well that’s a lot better, now, talk, I want answers.” I growl, Crane and Ryan seem surprised that I got the boot off but they talk, turns out, I’m what’s called a dragonkin a Human who has dragon genes in their genome, Lily and Ryan are also dragonkin, although they can’t breath fire, Lily has fangs and a venomous bite, turns out she’s the girl that bit me, and Ryan just looks weird, apparently we are the only dragonkin who evaded the organization that Crane works for, Called ‘Kadmus,’ into adulthood, Lily being found at 22, ryan at 20, and me at 24, on top of that, we are the only dragonkin who have survived that long, it’s at that moment that I notice Lily looking at us from behind some glass, I decide that I’ve heard enough and open the door, and I leave the room.
As I leave the room I can tell that Lily was not expecting me from the look on her face, I start a conversation with her, trying desperately to be friendly and not notice all the scientists glancing at me nervously.
“Hey, Lily, Right?” I say in the friendliest tone I can, “I’m James.” Lily looks at me with a calculating look before answering
“Hello, yeah my name is Lily, Lily Megan.” she clearly is wary of me, but I can tell a few things about her, making herself look small, clearly smarter than she lets on, seems shy,
“How did you get it off?” Lily breaks into my train of thought with the question,
“What?” I ask her, confused,
“The Boot, how did you get it off?” She gestures to the room where Crane and Ryan were having an argument, but more specifically to The Boot, laying on the ground
“Oh that? I once took a lockpicking class when I was younger.” I explain
“Huh, you mind teaching me that sometime?” She catches me off guard with that one, I can tell that she is being genuine so I agree, And we begin working out what time works best.
“Sorry guys, Dillian, isn’t up for it.” Lily looks at me disappointed,
“Aw man, and we're even watching Dune!” I just look at her with a sad look, but Ryan manages to lift the mood a little bit,
“Last time we let Crane pick the movie!” Crane just glares at Ryan, I can tell he’s about to lecture him so I just start the movie, around one hour in, boom, everything is blurry, and there is dust swirling, everything hurts. I see Lily and Ryan helping evacuate the scientists, I don’t see Crane anywhere! But that's when I see it, Cranes lab coat, soaked red and underneath a piece of rubble, I try to run towards it, but I can't stay on my legs, I call out,
“CRANE!” My friends hear me, they rush towards me and they see the lab coat, Lily tears up, Ryan is too stunned to speak, then we hear it, we hear him. Dillian, he’s laughing, laughing at the lab coat, laughing at us, My head snaps toward him, I feel the rage burning, my wings flare out, fire rises in my throat, I grab Dillian by the collar, and I roar,
“Do you think this is funny?!” Dillian just keeps laughing, “Crane is deadI!” Dillian looks at me, and he finally stops laughing, he pushes me off and spikes erupt from his skin, his tail wraps around my throat, and he growls,
“Don’t touch me you cretin, my ancestors were nearly wiped out by yours, I’m just returning the favor.” I look at him confused, Ryan seems to have been just as confused as me because he asked,
“What do you mean? The Eastern long tails have never had an issue with the Flying flame drakes.” Dillian just flicked his wrist and one of the spines shot out and nearly sliced Ryan’s head off!
“Do not compare the Wyrms to those foolish sky beasts! They have ruled the land for centuries!” Dillian roars, at this point I finally manage to choke out,
“Wyrm? Like the dragon inside the mountain Wyrm?” I struggle against his tail, I finally get a claw hooked under it and pull, it takes all of my strength to get my head loose and retreat, and then I see Dillian fully for the first time, pale skin covered in red spines and a long tail that could probably crush a normal humans windpipe, if I wasn’t a dragonkin I’d be dead.
“So, you do have a brain. Indeed, my ancestors were the Wyrms, Masters of the land, and the only dragons to be nearly forgotten by time, if it weren’t for the colony under Australia, I would not be a dragonkin.” Dillian snorts, and after saying his piece he leaped up, dived down, and bore through the earth, I try to go after him, but Lily holds me back,
“James you're hurt, and you would not stand a chance against him in your current state!” I hate to admit it, but it’s true, I would not stand a chance against Dillian, oh man, my leg hurts, I look at my left leg and I see that it has a shard of metal sticking out of it, and then everything feels heavy, I hear Lily yell out my name, but she sounds so far away, I don’t try and fight it, I just let the darkness envelope me, at least in the dark I can’t hurt, when I wake up I’m in the medical wing ha, it’s still funny, I have a bandage around my leg and then it all rushes back to me, Crane’s lab coat, Dillian laughing, the rage, everything, replaying over and over in my mind, I immediately try and stand up and I find a lot of difficulty in that, but I manage to stumble off the bed, I avoid putting weight on my leg, and I use my wings when necessary,
‘Well it’s about time you woke up, and here I was thinking that we had wasted time and resources.” I spin around to see a lady in a suit and glasses looking at me with a look of disdain,
“Hello, I am Dr. Leanne Vern, but you can call me Leanne. I am your new head researcher, I hope you are ready for your next few tests, Dr. Crane wasted a lot of time ‘bonding’ with you.” It’s right as she finishes that sentence when I feel the urge to make it her last, I feel rage burning under my skin and I glare at her with every last ounce of anger possible,
“What.” Either she didn’t get the memo or she is just a jerk, because she did not care, but either way I continued,
“Do you think that now is a good time to either ridicule Crane, or tell me that you need to run tests on me? I am not your lab rat” I grab her collar “I am not something you just get to boss around, If you say something like that again I will send you straight to the underworld where you belong.” I shove her back and go look for Lily and Ryan, I find them in the cafeteria, I get some food and sit down across from them,
“Mind if I sit here?” It clearly lightened the mood, but not even Ryan found the humor to reply, but we started to talk turns out I had been knocked out for two weeks, when I asked about Dillian Ryan tensed up, he explained to me that Dillian goes by ‘Death Wyrm’ now, he’s spent the last two weeks tormenting the city, and eventually I brought up Leanne,
“That Dr. Leanne is a jerk though, when I got out of the medical wing she just introduced herself, told me that she would run some tests and insulted Crane.” Lily seemed to agree because she replied,
“Yeah the first day she got here she told me I was ugly, and had me escorted into the testing chamber and forced me to fly for as long as I could or else I would get shocked.” Upon hearing this I feel rage flare up inside me, I flare out my wings and fly straight towards Leanne's office,
“You threatened Lily with being shocked?! What is wrong with you?” Leanne just looked at me stone faced and told me,
“You dragonkin are nothing but freaks that look interesting, you should not be treated like humans, you are tools.” I just stand there, shocked until the dam just breaks, I roared, I grabbed her by the collar and I slash her face with a claw,
“Tools? TOOLS?! The only tool in here is you! First you insult Crane, someone who died only two weeks ago! Then I learned you threatened one of my friends with a shock if they stopped playing your sick little game!” I feel the fire rise in my throat, I open my mouth, but then I see the look in her eyes, fear, absolute, paralyzing fear, I hesitate, and think to myself, oh my god, what am I doing? I release Leanne and walk out of the room, as I’m leaving I hear Leanne bellow from behind me,
“Where do you think you’re going?” I glare back, I don’t need to answer her, but because I know she will hurt my friends if I don’t I tell her what I’m doing, I explain.
“I’m going after Dillian, don’t try to stop me.” I can tell that Leanne is angry, I can feel her eyes shooting daggers at me, she clearly disagrees with me,
“Oh no you don’t, listen to me you bloated gecko, we did not spend millions tracking you down for you to play superhero!” I just walk away from her and go to the cafeteria to tell Lily and Ryan, they of course freak out at me, saying that I should not go after Dillian, that he’d kill me, and that I should stay here, but I look at them with all of the emotion in the world, I tell them
“Look, I know that Dillian would probably kill me, but I at least might tire him out enough for the police or military to stop him, but it’s more than that, I can’t let him hurt innocent people.” Lily and Ryan look at me, Lily hugs me, and tells me,
“Don’t you dare die or I will kill you.” I look at her, And I say to Ryan,
“I hope she’s joking.” Ryan looks at me and punches my arm,
“You are a good friend man, I hope you live through this.” I look at Ryan and Lily, knowing that this might be the last time I see them, I hug them both, and I flare out my wings and I fly off.
I look at the message and wait for it to continue, until a small piece of paper slips out of the metal box that is the message, when I open it I find out that in the beginning of the dragons, there were supposedly four species, the Flying flame drakes, the Eastern long tails, the Wyverns, and the Wyrms, until the Wyrms struck out, they had felt as though due to there inability to fly, that the other dragons thought less of them, the dragons were forced to lock away the Wyrms deep beneath what would one day be called Australia, and then man arose, and along with them the first dragonkin, Tiamat, a Flying flame dragonkin, as my dad called him, but the humans lived in fear of the dragons, eventually driving them to the bleeding cut edge of extinction using their advancing technology, eventually humans all but forgot about dragons, reducing them to myth or fairy tales. That was more or less all that was written, I committed all of this knowledge to memory, and then I heard a loud boom and some maniacal Dr. Doom esc laughing, I peer out of the window to see Death Wyrm, tormenting people, I leap out of the window and into the air, getting a good angle before dive bombing Death Wyrm, breathing fire on him and slashing him with my claws,
“Hey Dillian, did you miss me?” I laugh, I tried to pull a Ryan and joke myself into feeling confident, and it kinda helped, Death Wyrm roars out in rage,
“Why didn’t you stay out of my way?” He whips his tail up, shooting spines out at me, although thanks to my practice I manage to dodge them, I decide to not make a joke and just stay quiet for now, I remember something a security guard once told me, if the enemy is in range so are you, don’t just talk, actually attack, I know that I am in range for a fireblast but Dillian doesn’t know that, I shout out,
“Those spines must really hurt, but not as much as my claws!” I suddenly make a sharp turn and get in close with my talons, I first duck beneath Death Wyrms hook, and slash at his stomach, I then dodge a spine shot, and quickly follow up and through with a tail whip, knocking him off balance, then quickly blast fire right at his feet, but I didn’t see that Death Wyrms tail had grabbed my leg before it had already thrown me two blocks away, I was getting up when I felt a Burning pain in my arm, when I looked to see, it was one of Death Wyrms spines, It had only penetrated the outermost muscle tissue, I would heal in a few weeks but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hades, I rip the spine out and breath fire on the wound in order to cauterize it, when I suddenly feel Death Wyrms tail around my throat, choking me, and I am all of a sudden pinned to a wall, with my mouth bound shut, great it’s the boot all over again, I see Death Wyrm, he’s grabbing the spine I ripped out, he walks towards me, and he gives me a small speech,
“You know James, if you weren’t so noble I’d actually have let you join me, I never wanted to kill you, but you leave me no choice.” He lifts the spike up, when all of a sudden he is blasted back seemingly by a freakishly strong gust of wind, wait, that's a thermal updraft, I turn to see the best sight I could have seen, Ryan and Lily! Ryan opens his mouth first and I couldn’t be more thankful for his humor,
“Nobody treats James like that but me!” He then flies into battle riding on a thermal, while Lily freed me, she slices through the binding on my mouth and I immediately ask,
“What are you guys doing here?” Lily opens her mouth to answer but Ryan cuts in with being thrown into a wall
“Me and Lily are saving you, idiot, speaking of which a little help here?” Me and Lilly help Ryan up and we all get ready for a fight, but before we can charge in, Lily hands me a headmic,
“Here put this on,” I do as she says and suddenly Leanne's voice buzzes in through the speaker,
“Well it’s about time,” I am just happy to have some help with knowing my surroundings,
“Whatever happened to ‘we didn’t spend millions tracking you for you to play superhero?’” If Leanne heard me she didn’t answer, I just started to run towards Death Wyrm, before I took off alongside Lily and Ryan, I felt a familiar rage build up in my veins, I allow the rage to drive me forward, I feel the heat, the fire, rushing to every vein in my body, building along with all of the rage in my life, I gather my thoughts, a raging body is good for combat but a raging mind is bad for victory, when this feeling washes over me, I finally feel calm, I feel at peace, I never want this feeling to end, I open my snout, and unleash a twisting, flowing, blooming tunnel of flames,wounding Death Wyrm and distracting him long enough for Ryan to swing in with a bladed tail to his back, followed by Lily, biting into Death wyrms tail, as Death Wyrm roars I dive in and I do something unexpected, I talk to him,
“Dillian, I thought of you as a little brother, but you killed someone I cared about, I am sorry but, we need to take you in.” Death Wyrm roars, he writhes, up until Lily’s venom takes hold and he falls to the ground, defeated, a news reporter had been, well reporting, nearby and walked up to me, and asked me for an interview,
“Under normal circumstances I would agree, but not right now.” I wave as I signal to Ryan, it takes an embarrassingly long time for him to get the hint that I want him to create a thermal under Death Wyrm in order to transport him, but he follows my lead, and before we know it, we are flying toward the Kadmus site, but as we fly, I yell behind me,
“Hey, go ahead, I’ll… I’ll catch up.” Lily looks at me while Ryan just zooms ahead, no questions asked,
“Okay what are you doing?” I just look at her, feeling conflicted about telling her about my dad, for all I know this could get me in trouble, or worse, I make a split second decision,
“I… I think I saw something.” surprisingly it works, I swoop back towards the city and back to my old apartment and I grab the message from my dad, his keycard and the papers, I then fly off with them clenched between my arms and my body, I then fly into the Kadmus site, and discreetly go to my room, in order to hide them, I then get out of the site, and fly back into it acting like nothing happened, and to my surprise, there was a celebration waiting for me, there was cake, and wine, and even a nice Irish whiskey, eventually I asked about Death Wyrm, and turns out he was placed in a secure facility, deep under the site, and that anyone with high enough clearance could go down there, I decide that that is probably for the best.
After the celebration, I go into my room, and pull out the message, I look over it, Dad was a big fan of puzzles, so maybe this message is a puzzle? After several minutes fiddling with it, the message began to whir, and it then showed a place for a fingerprint, gotcha, I placed my thumb on the finger print and it pricked me, like I was getting my blood drawn. After that a key fell out of the message box, and a keyhole on the side, I of course used the key, which then played a different message,
*1 WIP
submitted by LossLucky4012 to writingcritiques [link] [comments]
Dragons wing
I slowly drift from my sleep and think to myself, ow, why is everything warm? I check the thermostat and see that it is at a temperature as cool as Canada and when I turn back to go back to bed so that I can sleep in, I see that my stuff has been knocked over? Oh sorry, where are my manners? I'm James O’Maley, I put everything back into place, and lay down on my bed but nothing is comfortable! I just decide, you know what, whatever, I’m just gonna get ready for work, and with that i get dressed, everything feels harder to put on, but it really hits me when I go to brush my teeth, when I looked into the mirror, I saw that their were, wings on my back, and a tail, growing out my butt like a lizard, I obviously spend several minutes having an existential crisis about this shocking revelation, and I decide to look at what these wings can do, I open a window, crawl out, with some difficulty and some slamming the window on my tail. I go to the edge of the fire escape railing, hop on, and jump, and I flew, higher and higher, until i nearly flew into a mountain but that's when I suddenly breathed fire, from my mouth, and bore a hole straight through the cliffside, I could spend all day flying, breathing fire, and fiddling with my tail, but I began to feel as tired as if I’d just gotten back from lifting weights with tigers, I landed on a cliffside and fell asleep. When I woke up I wasn’t on the cliffside anymore, there were monitors and scientists all around me. I tried to show some sign that I was awake, but I was chained up! I spent several moments struggling to get free, I must be free, I am not something they can chain down! I struggle, I roar, I attempt to move my head enough to burn the surrounding area, but I can’t, until someone finally talks to me,“Hello there, James, please forgive us for our caution, but with your kind we can never be too careful.” I can see the scientist, I read his name tag, Dr. Crane William, I roar out
“My kind!? Get me out of these chains!” I breathe fire, claw, kick and swing my tail, trying to free myself, until I see two other people watching, one with weird whiskers, a long tail and a smug look on his face, and the other with a similar appearance to me but her wings are her arms. The next few days go by, until the two finally decide to talk to me, and in those days, My face becomes a snout like a komodo dragon’s, the one with the whiskers opens his mouth first and I already hate him
“Would you look at that, he’s even uglier up close!” I glare at him with absolute hatred, that seems to anger him more,
“What are you mute or something? Speak before I tear you apart!” he takes one step closer and that's all I need, I Bite his shoulder and use his head to break the chains on my right arm, I continue to break the rest of them with ease, and tell whiskers
“You want to fight? Let’s fight!” I leap on top of him, clawing at his face, he tries to slash me with a blade on his tail but I grab it and stab the wall with it, until I feel a burning sensation in my veins, The girl had bitten me! She looks at me with sadness,
“Sorry about this,” I look at her and drift into unconsciousness, when I wake up next I’m in some kind of, medical wing, ha, wing, as I look around I feel that my mouth is bound shut, but other than that, I can move my body, I get up off the gurney and just when I think it looks nice, whiskers shows his face,
“Well thanks a lot freak, now I’m on probation with Dr. Crane.” I motion to my mouth and he seems to have enough brain cells to understand what I mean
“Ha! You got the boot, Lily had that on her when she wouldn’t stop biting staff, I’m Ryan Mist.” I just walk away and try getting this muzzle off, That's when Crane walks in,
“Well, I must say it has been a while since we’ve had to use the boot, Ryan, your behavior was unacceptable!” I can tell that Crane is annoyed, and right as he finishes his sentence, click, the boot falls off my face and clatters to the ground. I don’t bother trying to fight Ryan again, I’m just happy to be able to talk!
“Well that’s a lot better, now, talk, I want answers.” I growl, Crane and Ryan seem surprised that I got the boot off but they talk, turns out, I’m what’s called a dragonkin a Human who has dragon genes in their genome, Lily and Ryan are also dragonkin, although they can’t breath fire, Lily has fangs and a venomous bite, turns out she’s the girl that bit me, and Ryan just looks weird, apparently we are the only dragonkin who evaded the organization that Crane works for, Called ‘Kadmus,’ into adulthood, Lily being found at 22, ryan at 20, and me at 24, on top of that, we are the only dragonkin who have survived that long, it’s at that moment that I notice Lily looking at us from behind some glass, I decide that I’ve heard enough and open the door, and I leave the room.
As I leave the room I can tell that Lily was not expecting me from the look on her face, I start a conversation with her, trying desperately to be friendly and not notice all the scientists glancing at me nervously.
“Hey, Lily, Right?” I say in the friendliest tone I can, “I’m James.” Lily looks at me with a calculating look before answering
“Hello, yeah my name is Lily, Lily Megan.” she clearly is wary of me, but I can tell a few things about her, making herself look small, clearly smarter than she lets on, seems shy,
“How did you get it off?” Lily breaks into my train of thought with the question,
“What?” I ask her, confused,
“The Boot, how did you get it off?” She gestures to the room where Crane and Ryan were having an argument, but more specifically to The Boot, laying on the ground
“Oh that? I once took a lockpicking class when I was younger.” I explain
“Huh, you mind teaching me that sometime?” She catches me off guard with that one, I can tell that she is being genuine so I agree, And we begin working out what time works best.
The next few weeks go by in a flash, but I’ll summarize it for you, I ended up getting my own room like Ryan and Lily, I start teaching Lily how to pick locks, and we end up having a few game nights where we played games like charades, poker, even monopoly, lets just say that we will never play monopoly again. However, the most important thing of all, we ended up finding another dragonkin! We aren’t sure what dragon ancestor he has, but we think he’s another eastern long tail, like Ryan, the new guy’s name is Dillian, He’s great, absolute goofball, he’s from Australia, and according to him, his family has never been anywhere but the land down under, weird, but the guy’s like a little brother to me, so it’s cool, and that catches you up. “Hey Dillian!” I lean my head into his room, “Wanna come hang out with the rest of us? It’s movie night!” Dillian just looks at me, unreadable,“Okay, your loss.” I try to hide how unnerving that look felt, but something doesn’t feel right. I go back to the lounge, where Ryan, Lily, and Crane are all waiting for me,
“Sorry guys, Dillian, isn’t up for it.” Lily looks at me disappointed,
“Aw man, and we're even watching Dune!” I just look at her with a sad look, but Ryan manages to lift the mood a little bit,
“Last time we let Crane pick the movie!” Crane just glares at Ryan, I can tell he’s about to lecture him so I just start the movie, around one hour in, boom, everything is blurry, and there is dust swirling, everything hurts. I see Lily and Ryan helping evacuate the scientists, I don’t see Crane anywhere! But that's when I see it, Cranes lab coat, soaked red and underneath a piece of rubble, I try to run towards it, but I can't stay on my legs, I call out,
“CRANE!” My friends hear me, they rush towards me and they see the lab coat, Lily tears up, Ryan is too stunned to speak, then we hear it, we hear him. Dillian, he’s laughing, laughing at the lab coat, laughing at us, My head snaps toward him, I feel the rage burning, my wings flare out, fire rises in my throat, I grab Dillian by the collar, and I roar,
“Do you think this is funny?!” Dillian just keeps laughing, “Crane is deadI!” Dillian looks at me, and he finally stops laughing, he pushes me off and spikes erupt from his skin, his tail wraps around my throat, and he growls,
“Don’t touch me you cretin, my ancestors were nearly wiped out by yours, I’m just returning the favor.” I look at him confused, Ryan seems to have been just as confused as me because he asked,
“What do you mean? The Eastern long tails have never had an issue with the Flying flame drakes.” Dillian just flicked his wrist and one of the spines shot out and nearly sliced Ryan’s head off!
“Do not compare the Wyrms to those foolish sky beasts! They have ruled the land for centuries!” Dillian roars, at this point I finally manage to choke out,
“Wyrm? Like the dragon inside the mountain Wyrm?” I struggle against his tail, I finally get a claw hooked under it and pull, it takes all of my strength to get my head loose and retreat, and then I see Dillian fully for the first time, pale skin covered in red spines and a long tail that could probably crush a normal humans windpipe, if I wasn’t a dragonkin I’d be dead.
“So, you do have a brain. Indeed, my ancestors were the Wyrms, Masters of the land, and the only dragons to be nearly forgotten by time, if it weren’t for the colony under Australia, I would not be a dragonkin.” Dillian snorts, and after saying his piece he leaped up, dived down, and bore through the earth, I try to go after him, but Lily holds me back,
“James you're hurt, and you would not stand a chance against him in your current state!” I hate to admit it, but it’s true, I would not stand a chance against Dillian, oh man, my leg hurts, I look at my left leg and I see that it has a shard of metal sticking out of it, and then everything feels heavy, I hear Lily yell out my name, but she sounds so far away, I don’t try and fight it, I just let the darkness envelope me, at least in the dark I can’t hurt, when I wake up I’m in the medical wing ha, it’s still funny, I have a bandage around my leg and then it all rushes back to me, Crane’s lab coat, Dillian laughing, the rage, everything, replaying over and over in my mind, I immediately try and stand up and I find a lot of difficulty in that, but I manage to stumble off the bed, I avoid putting weight on my leg, and I use my wings when necessary,
‘Well it’s about time you woke up, and here I was thinking that we had wasted time and resources.” I spin around to see a lady in a suit and glasses looking at me with a look of disdain,
“Hello, I am Dr. Leanne Vern, but you can call me Leanne. I am your new head researcher, I hope you are ready for your next few tests, Dr. Crane wasted a lot of time ‘bonding’ with you.” It’s right as she finishes that sentence when I feel the urge to make it her last, I feel rage burning under my skin and I glare at her with every last ounce of anger possible,
“What.” Either she didn’t get the memo or she is just a jerk, because she did not care, but either way I continued,
“Do you think that now is a good time to either ridicule Crane, or tell me that you need to run tests on me? I am not your lab rat” I grab her collar “I am not something you just get to boss around, If you say something like that again I will send you straight to the underworld where you belong.” I shove her back and go look for Lily and Ryan, I find them in the cafeteria, I get some food and sit down across from them,
“Mind if I sit here?” It clearly lightened the mood, but not even Ryan found the humor to reply, but we started to talk turns out I had been knocked out for two weeks, when I asked about Dillian Ryan tensed up, he explained to me that Dillian goes by ‘Death Wyrm’ now, he’s spent the last two weeks tormenting the city, and eventually I brought up Leanne,
“That Dr. Leanne is a jerk though, when I got out of the medical wing she just introduced herself, told me that she would run some tests and insulted Crane.” Lily seemed to agree because she replied,
“Yeah the first day she got here she told me I was ugly, and had me escorted into the testing chamber and forced me to fly for as long as I could or else I would get shocked.” Upon hearing this I feel rage flare up inside me, I flare out my wings and fly straight towards Leanne's office,
“You threatened Lily with being shocked?! What is wrong with you?” Leanne just looked at me stone faced and told me,
“You dragonkin are nothing but freaks that look interesting, you should not be treated like humans, you are tools.” I just stand there, shocked until the dam just breaks, I roared, I grabbed her by the collar and I slash her face with a claw,
“Tools? TOOLS?! The only tool in here is you! First you insult Crane, someone who died only two weeks ago! Then I learned you threatened one of my friends with a shock if they stopped playing your sick little game!” I feel the fire rise in my throat, I open my mouth, but then I see the look in her eyes, fear, absolute, paralyzing fear, I hesitate, and think to myself, oh my god, what am I doing? I release Leanne and walk out of the room, as I’m leaving I hear Leanne bellow from behind me,
“Where do you think you’re going?” I glare back, I don’t need to answer her, but because I know she will hurt my friends if I don’t I tell her what I’m doing, I explain.
“I’m going after Dillian, don’t try to stop me.” I can tell that Leanne is angry, I can feel her eyes shooting daggers at me, she clearly disagrees with me,
“Oh no you don’t, listen to me you bloated gecko, we did not spend millions tracking you down for you to play superhero!” I just walk away from her and go to the cafeteria to tell Lily and Ryan, they of course freak out at me, saying that I should not go after Dillian, that he’d kill me, and that I should stay here, but I look at them with all of the emotion in the world, I tell them
“Look, I know that Dillian would probably kill me, but I at least might tire him out enough for the police or military to stop him, but it’s more than that, I can’t let him hurt innocent people.” Lily and Ryan look at me, Lily hugs me, and tells me,
“Don’t you dare die or I will kill you.” I look at her, And I say to Ryan,
“I hope she’s joking.” Ryan looks at me and punches my arm,
“You are a good friend man, I hope you live through this.” I look at Ryan and Lily, knowing that this might be the last time I see them, I hug them both, and I flare out my wings and I fly off.
As I sped off towards Dillian, no, Death Wyrm, he stopped being Dillian when he killed Dr. Crane, one thought was going through my mind, am I going to survive this? It doesn’t really matter, as long as Death Wyrm gets what he deserves, when I arrive in the city I look around from above first, I decide to stop by my old apartment, I remember when My dad helped me find this place before he died, it has looked weird since I had my stuff moved into my room at the Kadmus site, I decide to sit down on the floor, when all of a sudden I hear a click and a secret safe opens from the wall. Inside I find a video message to me from my dad, along with an envelope, with the words for when I’m gone written on it, I look through the envelope and I find an old Kadmus keycard for my dad, so that's what his work was, I knew he was secretive but damn, A few other papers that talk about dragons, turns out, Kadmus had been looking into the dragons for years, although these papers are odd, as if my dad had prior knowledge of the dragons. The ball drops when I play the video message it says,>Hello, James, if you are watching this then I’m probably dead. In the envelope that you have found alongside this message, there is also my old keycard, it will give you full access to any Kadmus site. Along with my personal notes on the Flying flame drakes, the Eastern long tails, the Wyverns, and some vague knowledge of a supposed fourth dragon species, including some vague diet, and possible weaknesses, but if you’ve already read them, then that means you have seen that the Flying flame drake notes are more definitive, that’s because I am also a dragonkin, I only inherited physical strength from our ancestors, but I have a feeling you will have more characteristics, but I am saying this because you need to know the history behind our ancestors, and the rest.<
I look at the message and wait for it to continue, until a small piece of paper slips out of the metal box that is the message, when I open it I find out that in the beginning of the dragons, there were supposedly four species, the Flying flame drakes, the Eastern long tails, the Wyverns, and the Wyrms, until the Wyrms struck out, they had felt as though due to there inability to fly, that the other dragons thought less of them, the dragons were forced to lock away the Wyrms deep beneath what would one day be called Australia, and then man arose, and along with them the first dragonkin, Tiamat, a Flying flame dragonkin, as my dad called him, but the humans lived in fear of the dragons, eventually driving them to the bleeding cut edge of extinction using their advancing technology, eventually humans all but forgot about dragons, reducing them to myth or fairy tales. That was more or less all that was written, I committed all of this knowledge to memory, and then I heard a loud boom and some maniacal Dr. Doom esc laughing, I peer out of the window to see Death Wyrm, tormenting people, I leap out of the window and into the air, getting a good angle before dive bombing Death Wyrm, breathing fire on him and slashing him with my claws,
“Hey Dillian, did you miss me?” I laugh, I tried to pull a Ryan and joke myself into feeling confident, and it kinda helped, Death Wyrm roars out in rage,
“Why didn’t you stay out of my way?” He whips his tail up, shooting spines out at me, although thanks to my practice I manage to dodge them, I decide to not make a joke and just stay quiet for now, I remember something a security guard once told me, if the enemy is in range so are you, don’t just talk, actually attack, I know that I am in range for a fireblast but Dillian doesn’t know that, I shout out,
“Those spines must really hurt, but not as much as my claws!” I suddenly make a sharp turn and get in close with my talons, I first duck beneath Death Wyrms hook, and slash at his stomach, I then dodge a spine shot, and quickly follow up and through with a tail whip, knocking him off balance, then quickly blast fire right at his feet, but I didn’t see that Death Wyrms tail had grabbed my leg before it had already thrown me two blocks away, I was getting up when I felt a Burning pain in my arm, when I looked to see, it was one of Death Wyrms spines, It had only penetrated the outermost muscle tissue, I would heal in a few weeks but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hades, I rip the spine out and breath fire on the wound in order to cauterize it, when I suddenly feel Death Wyrms tail around my throat, choking me, and I am all of a sudden pinned to a wall, with my mouth bound shut, great it’s the boot all over again, I see Death Wyrm, he’s grabbing the spine I ripped out, he walks towards me, and he gives me a small speech,
“You know James, if you weren’t so noble I’d actually have let you join me, I never wanted to kill you, but you leave me no choice.” He lifts the spike up, when all of a sudden he is blasted back seemingly by a freakishly strong gust of wind, wait, that's a thermal updraft, I turn to see the best sight I could have seen, Ryan and Lily! Ryan opens his mouth first and I couldn’t be more thankful for his humor,
“Nobody treats James like that but me!” He then flies into battle riding on a thermal, while Lily freed me, she slices through the binding on my mouth and I immediately ask,
“What are you guys doing here?” Lily opens her mouth to answer but Ryan cuts in with being thrown into a wall
“Me and Lily are saving you, idiot, speaking of which a little help here?” Me and Lilly help Ryan up and we all get ready for a fight, but before we can charge in, Lily hands me a headmic,
“Here put this on,” I do as she says and suddenly Leanne's voice buzzes in through the speaker,
“Well it’s about time,” I am just happy to have some help with knowing my surroundings,
“Whatever happened to ‘we didn’t spend millions tracking you for you to play superhero?’” If Leanne heard me she didn’t answer, I just started to run towards Death Wyrm, before I took off alongside Lily and Ryan, I felt a familiar rage build up in my veins, I allow the rage to drive me forward, I feel the heat, the fire, rushing to every vein in my body, building along with all of the rage in my life, I gather my thoughts, a raging body is good for combat but a raging mind is bad for victory, when this feeling washes over me, I finally feel calm, I feel at peace, I never want this feeling to end, I open my snout, and unleash a twisting, flowing, blooming tunnel of flames,wounding Death Wyrm and distracting him long enough for Ryan to swing in with a bladed tail to his back, followed by Lily, biting into Death wyrms tail, as Death Wyrm roars I dive in and I do something unexpected, I talk to him,
“Dillian, I thought of you as a little brother, but you killed someone I cared about, I am sorry but, we need to take you in.” Death Wyrm roars, he writhes, up until Lily’s venom takes hold and he falls to the ground, defeated, a news reporter had been, well reporting, nearby and walked up to me, and asked me for an interview,
“Under normal circumstances I would agree, but not right now.” I wave as I signal to Ryan, it takes an embarrassingly long time for him to get the hint that I want him to create a thermal under Death Wyrm in order to transport him, but he follows my lead, and before we know it, we are flying toward the Kadmus site, but as we fly, I yell behind me,
“Hey, go ahead, I’ll… I’ll catch up.” Lily looks at me while Ryan just zooms ahead, no questions asked,
“Okay what are you doing?” I just look at her, feeling conflicted about telling her about my dad, for all I know this could get me in trouble, or worse, I make a split second decision,
“I… I think I saw something.” surprisingly it works, I swoop back towards the city and back to my old apartment and I grab the message from my dad, his keycard and the papers, I then fly off with them clenched between my arms and my body, I then fly into the Kadmus site, and discreetly go to my room, in order to hide them, I then get out of the site, and fly back into it acting like nothing happened, and to my surprise, there was a celebration waiting for me, there was cake, and wine, and even a nice Irish whiskey, eventually I asked about Death Wyrm, and turns out he was placed in a secure facility, deep under the site, and that anyone with high enough clearance could go down there, I decide that that is probably for the best.
After the celebration, I go into my room, and pull out the message, I look over it, Dad was a big fan of puzzles, so maybe this message is a puzzle? After several minutes fiddling with it, the message began to whir, and it then showed a place for a fingerprint, gotcha, I placed my thumb on the finger print and it pricked me, like I was getting my blood drawn. After that a key fell out of the message box, and a keyhole on the side, I of course used the key, which then played a different message,
Hello James, and I know it's you who will be watching this, at the time of making this message I am about to help you “find” an apartment, this is one that will only play for other people if you give them access and get a blood sample, the key you used is a one of a kind, and allows you full access to pre-recorded messages, and answers for certain questions, I hope that there will come a time when you don’t need it, but, knowing you, you will probably forget what the messages say within an hour, but anyway, I hope that this helps you greatly, here is a list of topics that the message box can give you data on.< The video then becomes like an interactable encyclopedia, where I can read the list at my own pace, I skim through it before my eyes lock on one entry, Dr. Crane Williams, I open the entry and i read about Crane, turns out, he was my fathers research partner and close friend, and the two of them met in college because they had managed to win a competition that landed them tuition for any college of their choosing, and they became friends after my dad stopped somebody from messing with Crane, there was a whole lot more there about Cranes upbringing, his family, his education, but I had to cut it short when Leanne entered my room, unannounced,
“What are you doing?” She glared, in her usual condescending tone, I am not in the mood for this “Jump off a cliff.” I growl, as I tuck the message away, but she sees it, and by the look on her face she could tell what I was looking at, “Let me guess, a message you don’t want anybody seeing?” I hate her but damn it she can connect the dots well, “Was it obvious?” I don’t bother denying it, she’ll just be a jerk about it, “No, I’m just used to being lied to, who's the message from?” Leanne nods at the message box,“It’s from my dad, he apparently worked at Kadmus and was friends with Crane.” The fact that my dad both worked ant Kadmus and was friends with crane seem to shock her, what’s really shocking though is what she asks next,
“Was your dad by chance Shane O’Maley?” I look at her, confused, “He was, why?” Leanne immediately seems to get shell shock, as she starts to geek out, “James your father was pretty much science royalty, I would have done anything to speak to him, oh my god I insulted the dead friend of Shane O’Maley, and of his son!” I feel angry that she brought that up again, but now feels like I can get something good out of this, “Ok I’ll make you a deal, if you only do tests with me and the other dragonkin willing to do so, and make sure not to do things like threatening to shock us if we don’t do what you want, I’ll tell you stories about my dad, deal?” It was almost impressive how quickly she answered,“Deal! Shock threats, exhaustion tests, and anything else like that is gone!” I am really happy that I can do stuff like that. That is the best ability ever.*1
*1 WIP
2024.06.02 09:13 pgeugene How to add more level to menu ?
Hi
My previous post was removed due to code formatting problem.
I hope previous person who helped me on my previous post to help me again.
Thank you for your help.
I am quite new to Ahk. Below is the script found in Reddit Although I am able to create multi level menu after read Ahk documentation sample https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/v1/lib/Menu.htm#Examples
However the method used in below script is totally different from Ahk official documentation sample.
I want to do 2 things 1) How to Add another level for Menu1 ? 2) How to link action to the menu items ?
submitted by pgeugene to AutoHotkey [link] [comments]
My previous post was removed due to code formatting problem.
I hope previous person who helped me on my previous post to help me again.
Thank you for your help.
I am quite new to Ahk. Below is the script found in Reddit Although I am able to create multi level menu after read Ahk documentation sample https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/v1/lib/Menu.htm#Examples
However the method used in below script is totally different from Ahk official documentation sample.
I want to do 2 things 1) How to Add another level for Menu1 ? 2) How to link action to the menu items ?
Menus :=
( LTrim Join Comments
{
"Menu1": {
"Title": "Notes",
"SubMenus": "New,Open...,Save,Save As...,,Page Setup...,Print...,,Exit",
"Icon":"",
"IconSize": ""
},
"Menu2": {
"Title": "Text Manipulation",
"SubMenus": "Undo,,Cut,Copy,Paste,Delete",
"Icon": A_WinDir . "\system32\notepad.exe",
"IconSize": "32"
},
"Menu3":{
"Title": "Format",
"SubMenus": "Font,Word Wrap",
"Icon":"",
"IconSize": ""
},
"Menu4":{
"Title": "View",
"SubMenus": "Zoom,StatusBar",
"Icon":"",
"IconSize": "32"
},
"Menu5":{
"Title": "Help",
"SubMenus": "",
"Icon":"C:\Windows\HelpPane.exe",
"IconSize": "32"
}
}
)
new ContextMenu(Menus)
ContextMenu.MenuShow()
Exit
MenuHandler(MenuTitle) {
MsgBox % "User Has Clicked Menu Item: " MenuTitle
}
Class ContextMenu
{
__New(Menus){
Static
this.Menus := Menus
This.CreateMenu()
}
CreateMenu() {
Static
; Use ObjBindMethod if the MenuHandler resides within the Class
BoundFunc := "MenuHandler" ; BoundFunc := ObjBindMethod(this,"MenuHandler")
For each, Item in this.Menus {
If (This.Menus[each]["SubMenus"] != "") {
Array := StrSplit(This.Menus[each]["SubMenus"] , ",")
Loop % Array.Length() {
Menu, % each, Add, % Array[A_Index], % BoundFunc
}
}
}
For each, Item in this.Menus {
If (This.Menus[each]["SubMenus"] != "")
Menu, % "ContextMenu", Add, % This.Menus[each]["Title"], % ":" . each
Else
Menu, % "ContextMenu", Add, % This.Menus[each]["Title"], % BoundFunc
}
For each, Item in this.Menus {
MenuName := this.Menus[each]["Title"]
IconPath := this.Menus[each]["Icon"]
IconSize := this.Menus[each]["IconSize"]
if (MenuName != "") and (IconPath != "")
This.AddIcon(MenuName,IconPath,IconSize)
}
}
AddIcon(MenuName,IconPath,IconSize){
Menu, % "ContextMenu", Icon, % MenuName, % IconPath,, % IconSize
}
MenuShow(){
Menu, ContextMenu, Show
}
}
2024.06.02 07:42 villainouscinema Silent Night (2023) via Villainous Cinema
a review by Evan Landon
submitted by villainouscinema to moviereviews [link] [comments]
There are a lot of ways to make a holiday movie: i.e., throw a paltry, mundanely realistic title at the beginning of a movie that barely scratches the surface of what a film should suppose to presuppose, then throw in tropes that mean absolutely nothing to the overall feeling of the film itself. It almost becomes a lampoon of the feature that could be seen through a bed sheet of irreverence that only a farcical feature could abide by in order to grant it a pass for its outlandishness, but only because it carries the title of the hallmark, but nothing of the theme.Is Silent Night such a movie? Well... That's iffy.
I think in its broadest respects, Silent Night harkens back to some of the greatest drive-in, b-movies of old that became instant classics amongst the truly devout. The Rutger Hauer classic Blind Fury comes instantly to mind in this fray, but that is not a holiday movie, even in the least bit. So... what exactly constitutes a “holiday movie”? Is it because it encapsulates what we all think of when it comes to the movie or series, or is it something deeper? Is it a monicker you throw on a movie that really has zero to little of what the movie is, or is it something that reminds you of themes that seem forgotten? Silent Night has a strange way of doing both. The things we consider so categorically of a myth or cultural consideration, what is it that goes beyond the haunting aspect of what we desire, regret, forget, or even bluster? Our eyes are constantly trained on what is and what could be, but not what IS. I think that could be the deepest cut of all; we care more about the image than the intricacy. What passes for something that “is, or could never be” is lackadaisically piled in with “thanks for consideration” or “best wishes”. Is that what we celebrate anything for? Is that what we believe? This movie posits a very simple question: “What would YOU do?” The premise that a benign, sullen man that becomes deaf after chasing down his children's killers and killing one of them becomes enraged enough to fight the very spirit of death to anything that could ever stop him. Left for dead, he makes a miraculous return to the land of the living. Thus, after training for 365 days, he comes back to take action against those very killers and exact revenge against his son's death, which does definitely happen. What's my opinion? Let's let action do the talking. We usually let exposition garner favorability when it comes to how we discern what is acceptable or unacceptable. What makes this movie awesome is this movie has ZERO dialogue! Thus, the name “Silent Night”. Duhr! That takes a lot of effort to pull off something so intriguing and John Woo definitely makes a great return by telling a cohesive and detailed story without any dialogue. Joel Kinneman also served a producer, so you can definitely feel the care and attention that went into this. All in all, I really enjoyed this movie and am looking forward to many more viewings for Christmases to come to find more things that I definitely missed in the theater.3.5 out of 5
2024.06.02 07:36 tieflingspellsword Newbie party, newbie DM, and poor planning, mean I'm left as the odd one out
(Likely throw-away account because I don't want to associate this with my main, but I'll keep an eye out for replies anyway.)
Heads up: This is already getting pretty long, and I'm just starting, so...
I'm not sure this is truly all that horrific, but it sucked in the moment, at least.
So; small bit of backstory: this was like... I want to say 3 years ago? just a year or two into the pandemic. A couple people I know had a friend that offered to DM for DnD for the first time; and none of us had played DnD before. One of the two was super excited about it, because she'd just recently (at the time) gotten into Critical Role. The other was also super excited, because he was just interested in the game in a general sense (they're currently playing semi-weekly with an online group, really glad this didn't ruin the game for them).
I didn't feel as enthused; I was going to give it a shot (I'd had a couple of interesting ideas before then, but I honestly think I'd have a better (though still not great) time as the DM), but I didn't see myself even finishing the campaign, at first.
Then I got into character creation, and my muse started bouncing off the walls with ideas.
I ended up going with a Tiefling fighter (I forget what his name was, but I'll call him... Kamdo), for the sake of ease of use, and learning the game, while also providing the DM with opportunities to have fun with character interactions.
Kamdo's backstory was pretty sparse, but I didn't want to overwhelm the DM, considering I was an aspiring author (and still am, truth be told), and even as little as I wrote (barely two paragraphs) was like... 3 times as much as every other player, and probably the total length of every other character on the board for our first party.
One of these people ended up playing a half-elf... Sorcerer, I think? I honestly don't remember much of that character. (her name was some poetic thing about song, so I'll call her Sonata)
The other ended up playing a... I think it was a human druid? he was a fairly forgettable character, beings as he hardly ever spoke up. (I think his name was Renald?)
The DM played a dwarven... Paladin? yeah, that sounds right. (I'll call her Barryl)
Now, at the time, I didn't know that DMPCs even had a name, let alone a reputation, so I didn't even have the context to think to protest. Though, even now, I don't think they can't be done well, just that this one didn't even come close (not that I'd know, mind).
Anyway, session 1 comes along, and our characters meet for the first time; barely any real roleplay- the thing I was most looking forward to, but that's forgivable, I figure; beings that our group was made up of a new DM, and all newbie party. 'It's probably not that strange', I figured (my hind brain is much more socially aware than my front brain).
Now; important note: I'm not very personable in... person (I probably could've worded that better, but it's not coming to me right now). I don't like talking, I don't like people, I have severe social anxiety (my hands shake while in front of a cashier), and I've met the DM all of like 4 times, each for maybe 3 minutes, up to this point.
It was never going to be easy for me to act like a personable character, so instead I leaned into my natural quietness. Kamdo was an orphan from a nondescript village nestled in the foothills of a mountain, and spent much of his life as a librarian to earn a living, while dealing with the racism of a small town (the only bit of anything weird I gave his backstory was that said town had zero information on magic, despite having a relatively large library).
Eventually, he gets sick of living there, and decides to train under the town guardsmen, before taking off into the wilds on his first adventure!
The first major obstacle out party faced was... a door. I wish I was kidding.
The first thing that happened was that someone tried to pick the door open. Then someone kicked it. Both failed, beings as the rolls were something like 7, 8, and 5, or something. On a D20. I did the natural thing, and just reached over to open the door (this is semi-important later). It doesn't budge.
I shrug, and, figuring that my character, being decked out head-to-toe in plate armor, two pole-arms, and a heavy shield, could break the thing down. Kamdo got a running start, just to be sure, and charged!
Nat 20.
Kamdo breaks down the door, full tilt, and runs face first into some nasty webbing. Well, Sonata irritatedly extracts Kamdo from the webbing, while Berryl and Renald clear out the rest of the room.
The entire campaign is to this roughly this tune.
So, at the end of this dungeon, there's a Drider encounter (I glanced at the stat sheet one time, and ever since, I've been wondering how the DM intended for us to win that encounter), which ends in the thing falling off the ceiling, and promptly taking half its health in damage. Kamdo ended up finishing it off with a pitying thrown dagger, which he had collected from an earlier room.
The entire thing was pretty comedic, and overall rather fun, but I was already beginning to see the cracks. I had a bad habit of 'making sure' the right dice were rolled for the right checks, and was well and truly bored during combat. I just... It had its moments, but I kept spacing out, waiting for my turn, resulting in Kamdo attacking an already downed opponent. It wasn't great.
But, I figured I'd stick it out for the long haul (at the time), for the sake of the other players.
Fast forward 2 fucking sessions of walking, and we're coming up on Baludur's Gate.
Now, quick thing (I'm sorry, this is how my brain works, bare with me please): the DM had been hyping up Baldur's Gate both in- and out- of game for a month by this point. She couldn't wait for us to get there.
But first, I got the sniffles, and self isolated, thereby missing a session, but trusted my mother to play my character adequately in the meantime.
When I came back, nobody bothered to fill me in, and I was dumped into the middle of a combat scenario, against a hoard of Evil Dudes. I didn't even know what species they were, nevermind why we were fighting them.
Just "So, roll initiative!" From the DM to start the session.
'Fuckin', okay then.' I figure to myself, saying nothing aloud.
I had no idea what was going on the entire session, but apparently, we won! (yay?)
So, after the combat encounter was over, I finally got some context, because people were talking to each other now. Apparently, the same Drider that I killed back in session 2? 3? was back at it, with a hoard of cultists to back it up.
Now I'm reall confused, because, well... Duh! WTF was even going on here? I distictly remember killing that thing, yet here we are, fighting its cultist minions! Just... whatever, I eventually let it go, because I was on the recieving end of some equally confused looks, like obviously the Drider that we had no business fighting was back, who else would it be?
Fuckin-
Whatever.
So, our little mottley crew runs into a couple NPCs who are leaving the city (it's a city right? I'm not misremembering that?). They tell us about how the guards put one of their friends in prison for no good reason, and there's a person in the wizard's guild that might be able to help us with Sonata's character quest!
'Cool!' I think! 'Some real nice Roleplay could come out of this; my character's looking to multiclass into wizard; it'll be a neat diversion, and I'll have some fun playing this character that I haven't had any real fun with yet!'
NOPE!
The other players decide that they're going to help break out these two random people's friend from prison!
Why, you may ask?!
...
...
...
So, we make it into the city, and the first thing the party does is, guess what?!
Break a convicted felon out of prison!
They didn't even wait to go shopping first!
Now; I'm absolutely flabbergasted by this point. Hopefully, understandably so.
So; the party breaks the convicted felon out of prison, and immediately makes for the docks; apparently one of the now3 4(! fucking) DMPCs 'has a friend'.
Deep breaths.
So, we go off into the waters, having spent all of 1 real-life hour in Baldur's Gate "The place where everything happens." - direct quote from the DM.
During this boat ride, one of the DMPCs gives old Kamdo (He's somehow the oldest character in the party at a whopping 32) a spell shield (mirror shield? it was a shield that had advantage blocks against magic). I look down at my level (5, I think?) fighter, and just kind of cringe, since my AC is like 24 already, and with this new shield it jumped to like 26. Kamdo is untouchable without an advantage roll.
So, naturally, we fight a goddamn Sea monster next (one more monster we really shouldn't have fought) but we pulled it off... somehow.
Now I was incredibly bored, and the DM seemed to pick up on that, having me try to train Renald. Kamdo did that, and 2 sessions later we finally made it back to land.
Directly into Sonata's character quest.
Guess what we fought while we were there?
A fucking level 15 Lich.
Said lich TPKs us. It hit Kamdo Through his magic advantage sheild, and one shot him.
That was the last straw for me. I had Sonata's player play Kamdo's arc to fruition, and left. (He ended up settling on an island in book heaven, with Sonata pining after him, for anyone interested.)
I haven't played DnD since.
Honestly, I kinda-sorta feel bad; because the campaign fizzled out not long after I left. I can't help but wonder what would've happened if I'd still stuck it out.
I sincerely hope you all had more fun reading this than I had experiencing it, because I just don't trust fast, and that means I don't have anyone I'd even be interested in playing with anymore.
submitted by tieflingspellsword to rpghorrorstories [link] [comments]
Heads up: This is already getting pretty long, and I'm just starting, so...
I'm not sure this is truly all that horrific, but it sucked in the moment, at least.
So; small bit of backstory: this was like... I want to say 3 years ago? just a year or two into the pandemic. A couple people I know had a friend that offered to DM for DnD for the first time; and none of us had played DnD before. One of the two was super excited about it, because she'd just recently (at the time) gotten into Critical Role. The other was also super excited, because he was just interested in the game in a general sense (they're currently playing semi-weekly with an online group, really glad this didn't ruin the game for them).
I didn't feel as enthused; I was going to give it a shot (I'd had a couple of interesting ideas before then, but I honestly think I'd have a better (though still not great) time as the DM), but I didn't see myself even finishing the campaign, at first.
Then I got into character creation, and my muse started bouncing off the walls with ideas.
I ended up going with a Tiefling fighter (I forget what his name was, but I'll call him... Kamdo), for the sake of ease of use, and learning the game, while also providing the DM with opportunities to have fun with character interactions.
Kamdo's backstory was pretty sparse, but I didn't want to overwhelm the DM, considering I was an aspiring author (and still am, truth be told), and even as little as I wrote (barely two paragraphs) was like... 3 times as much as every other player, and probably the total length of every other character on the board for our first party.
One of these people ended up playing a half-elf... Sorcerer, I think? I honestly don't remember much of that character. (her name was some poetic thing about song, so I'll call her Sonata)
The other ended up playing a... I think it was a human druid? he was a fairly forgettable character, beings as he hardly ever spoke up. (I think his name was Renald?)
The DM played a dwarven... Paladin? yeah, that sounds right. (I'll call her Barryl)
Now, at the time, I didn't know that DMPCs even had a name, let alone a reputation, so I didn't even have the context to think to protest. Though, even now, I don't think they can't be done well, just that this one didn't even come close (not that I'd know, mind).
Anyway, session 1 comes along, and our characters meet for the first time; barely any real roleplay- the thing I was most looking forward to, but that's forgivable, I figure; beings that our group was made up of a new DM, and all newbie party. 'It's probably not that strange', I figured (my hind brain is much more socially aware than my front brain).
Now; important note: I'm not very personable in... person (I probably could've worded that better, but it's not coming to me right now). I don't like talking, I don't like people, I have severe social anxiety (my hands shake while in front of a cashier), and I've met the DM all of like 4 times, each for maybe 3 minutes, up to this point.
It was never going to be easy for me to act like a personable character, so instead I leaned into my natural quietness. Kamdo was an orphan from a nondescript village nestled in the foothills of a mountain, and spent much of his life as a librarian to earn a living, while dealing with the racism of a small town (the only bit of anything weird I gave his backstory was that said town had zero information on magic, despite having a relatively large library).
Eventually, he gets sick of living there, and decides to train under the town guardsmen, before taking off into the wilds on his first adventure!
The first major obstacle out party faced was... a door. I wish I was kidding.
The first thing that happened was that someone tried to pick the door open. Then someone kicked it. Both failed, beings as the rolls were something like 7, 8, and 5, or something. On a D20. I did the natural thing, and just reached over to open the door (this is semi-important later). It doesn't budge.
I shrug, and, figuring that my character, being decked out head-to-toe in plate armor, two pole-arms, and a heavy shield, could break the thing down. Kamdo got a running start, just to be sure, and charged!
Nat 20.
Kamdo breaks down the door, full tilt, and runs face first into some nasty webbing. Well, Sonata irritatedly extracts Kamdo from the webbing, while Berryl and Renald clear out the rest of the room.
The entire campaign is to this roughly this tune.
So, at the end of this dungeon, there's a Drider encounter (I glanced at the stat sheet one time, and ever since, I've been wondering how the DM intended for us to win that encounter), which ends in the thing falling off the ceiling, and promptly taking half its health in damage. Kamdo ended up finishing it off with a pitying thrown dagger, which he had collected from an earlier room.
The entire thing was pretty comedic, and overall rather fun, but I was already beginning to see the cracks. I had a bad habit of 'making sure' the right dice were rolled for the right checks, and was well and truly bored during combat. I just... It had its moments, but I kept spacing out, waiting for my turn, resulting in Kamdo attacking an already downed opponent. It wasn't great.
But, I figured I'd stick it out for the long haul (at the time), for the sake of the other players.
Fast forward 2 fucking sessions of walking, and we're coming up on Baludur's Gate.
Now, quick thing (I'm sorry, this is how my brain works, bare with me please): the DM had been hyping up Baldur's Gate both in- and out- of game for a month by this point. She couldn't wait for us to get there.
But first, I got the sniffles, and self isolated, thereby missing a session, but trusted my mother to play my character adequately in the meantime.
When I came back, nobody bothered to fill me in, and I was dumped into the middle of a combat scenario, against a hoard of Evil Dudes. I didn't even know what species they were, nevermind why we were fighting them.
Just "So, roll initiative!" From the DM to start the session.
'Fuckin', okay then.' I figure to myself, saying nothing aloud.
I had no idea what was going on the entire session, but apparently, we won! (yay?)
So, after the combat encounter was over, I finally got some context, because people were talking to each other now. Apparently, the same Drider that I killed back in session 2? 3? was back at it, with a hoard of cultists to back it up.
Now I'm reall confused, because, well... Duh! WTF was even going on here? I distictly remember killing that thing, yet here we are, fighting its cultist minions! Just... whatever, I eventually let it go, because I was on the recieving end of some equally confused looks, like obviously the Drider that we had no business fighting was back, who else would it be?
Fuckin-
Whatever.
So, our little mottley crew runs into a couple NPCs who are leaving the city (it's a city right? I'm not misremembering that?). They tell us about how the guards put one of their friends in prison for no good reason, and there's a person in the wizard's guild that might be able to help us with Sonata's character quest!
'Cool!' I think! 'Some real nice Roleplay could come out of this; my character's looking to multiclass into wizard; it'll be a neat diversion, and I'll have some fun playing this character that I haven't had any real fun with yet!'
NOPE!
The other players decide that they're going to help break out these two random people's friend from prison!
Why, you may ask?!
...
...
...
So, we make it into the city, and the first thing the party does is, guess what?!
Break a convicted felon out of prison!
They didn't even wait to go shopping first!
Now; I'm absolutely flabbergasted by this point. Hopefully, understandably so.
So; the party breaks the convicted felon out of prison, and immediately makes for the docks; apparently one of the now
Deep breaths.
So, we go off into the waters, having spent all of 1 real-life hour in Baldur's Gate "The place where everything happens." - direct quote from the DM.
During this boat ride, one of the DMPCs gives old Kamdo (He's somehow the oldest character in the party at a whopping 32) a spell shield (mirror shield? it was a shield that had advantage blocks against magic). I look down at my level (5, I think?) fighter, and just kind of cringe, since my AC is like 24 already, and with this new shield it jumped to like 26. Kamdo is untouchable without an advantage roll.
So, naturally, we fight a goddamn Sea monster next (one more monster we really shouldn't have fought) but we pulled it off... somehow.
Now I was incredibly bored, and the DM seemed to pick up on that, having me try to train Renald. Kamdo did that, and 2 sessions later we finally made it back to land.
Directly into Sonata's character quest.
Guess what we fought while we were there?
A fucking level 15 Lich.
Said lich TPKs us. It hit Kamdo Through his magic advantage sheild, and one shot him.
That was the last straw for me. I had Sonata's player play Kamdo's arc to fruition, and left. (He ended up settling on an island in book heaven, with Sonata pining after him, for anyone interested.)
I haven't played DnD since.
Honestly, I kinda-sorta feel bad; because the campaign fizzled out not long after I left. I can't help but wonder what would've happened if I'd still stuck it out.
I sincerely hope you all had more fun reading this than I had experiencing it, because I just don't trust fast, and that means I don't have anyone I'd even be interested in playing with anymore.
2024.06.02 07:27 Cheetah_Man1 In the livestream, they showed the wrong number of AIM 120 AMRAAM missiles on the F-15C
 | They also showed the CORRECT number (6) of missiles on the F-16C. Here is proof:The F-15C should have more AIM 120 AMRAAM missiles than the F-16C, which it currently doesn’t, when viewing the livestream. According to the United States Air Force, the F-15 has “One internally mounted M-61A1 20-mm, six-barrel cannon with 940 rounds of ammunition” and can carry either “four AIM-9 Sidewinder and four AIM-120 AMRAAMs or eight AIM-120 AMRAAMs, carried externally.” ( https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104501/f-15-eagle/ 1 ), while the F-16 “can carry up to six air to air missiles” (https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104505/f-16-fighting-falcon/ ) submitted by Cheetah_Man1 to Warthunder [link] [comments] (The image is from https://tealgroup.com/images/TGCTOC/sample-wmcab2.pdf) |
2024.06.02 07:23 Familiar_Dance_7692 Brands for Awesome Weighted Blankets, Pillows, and Bed Sheets in Twin Cities?
As the title states, I intend to improve my sleep quality and am for recommendations for the best-weighted blankets, pillows and bed sheets in Pakistan.
The linen company seems to have some decent ones but I don't trust these guys, they seem to have tons of reviews on the website but the section is disabled on some products - which is extremely fishy. I went to Chen One but wasn't impressed.
Please recommend brands & give reviews on products you've been using.
submitted by Familiar_Dance_7692 to islamabad [link] [comments]
The linen company seems to have some decent ones but I don't trust these guys, they seem to have tons of reviews on the website but the section is disabled on some products - which is extremely fishy. I went to Chen One but wasn't impressed.
Please recommend brands & give reviews on products you've been using.
2024.06.02 07:18 Ok-Effect-5988 I just cancelled my wedding 5 weeks before the day
As the title says, really.
I’m posting this because I went searching for a post like this one a few weeks ago when I was feeling conflicted, so I thought, now that I’ve done it, I’ll put this here in case it’s helpful to anyone else going through the same thing.
I’m not sure if this is breaking any rules, please remove if so.
I was due to married in the first week of July. Everything was organised, RSVPs were confirmed, there were only a few invoices left, vast majority had already been paid. My ex-fiancé and I had no financial help so it was all our money, not parents. We had ~100 people coming.
I’ve been deeply unhappy and thinking about calling it off/ leaving my ex-fiancé for about 5 months. Every time we had a fight (very often) I would ask myself ‘why am I still in this?’. It stopped feeling right, my gut was telling me to leave.
But, I didn’t. I always backed off with thoughts like: It would be a spectacle, I’d be too mortified, people are coming from overseas, people have booked flights and accommodation, I can’t inconvenience everyone like that, we’ve spent over $30,000, I can’t just throw that money away.
One of the many reasons I was unhappy was my ex’s gambling problem (pokies/ slot machines). He’s made and broken promises many times, it’s getting worse not better. Last week, he lied to me about it for the first time (well, I think it was the first time, maybe it was just the first time I caught him). It was the straw that broke the camel’s back, I snapped, and I told him we’re done. He verbally abused me over text, made me the bad guy and himself the victim. He’s now blocked my phone number and social media accounts so I can’t contact him and he’s refusing me entry to our home to pack my things. All this has done is reinforced my faith in my decision.
To the point! I’ve just finished cancelling the venue and all our vendors, and telling my family and friends. And, I’m going to be ok. I got through it, people were kind and supportive, no one gave me a hard time, people reassured me I’m doing the right thing and I don’t need to feel embarrassed. (I still do, but it’s nice to hear.)
It felt insurmountable before I did it. I couldn’t possibly!
It wasn’t, I could, and I did.
I’ve got lots of healing and processing to do now, but I’m going to be ok and a lot happier than I would have been if I’d married him. I’m 36, and I accept that I likely won’t find someone else in time to have a family and all that jazz, but that’s better than being miserably married.
If this post helps someone in a similar situation, I’ll be very glad xx
submitted by Ok-Effect-5988 to weddingplanning [link] [comments]
I’m posting this because I went searching for a post like this one a few weeks ago when I was feeling conflicted, so I thought, now that I’ve done it, I’ll put this here in case it’s helpful to anyone else going through the same thing.
I’m not sure if this is breaking any rules, please remove if so.
I was due to married in the first week of July. Everything was organised, RSVPs were confirmed, there were only a few invoices left, vast majority had already been paid. My ex-fiancé and I had no financial help so it was all our money, not parents. We had ~100 people coming.
I’ve been deeply unhappy and thinking about calling it off/ leaving my ex-fiancé for about 5 months. Every time we had a fight (very often) I would ask myself ‘why am I still in this?’. It stopped feeling right, my gut was telling me to leave.
But, I didn’t. I always backed off with thoughts like: It would be a spectacle, I’d be too mortified, people are coming from overseas, people have booked flights and accommodation, I can’t inconvenience everyone like that, we’ve spent over $30,000, I can’t just throw that money away.
One of the many reasons I was unhappy was my ex’s gambling problem (pokies/ slot machines). He’s made and broken promises many times, it’s getting worse not better. Last week, he lied to me about it for the first time (well, I think it was the first time, maybe it was just the first time I caught him). It was the straw that broke the camel’s back, I snapped, and I told him we’re done. He verbally abused me over text, made me the bad guy and himself the victim. He’s now blocked my phone number and social media accounts so I can’t contact him and he’s refusing me entry to our home to pack my things. All this has done is reinforced my faith in my decision.
To the point! I’ve just finished cancelling the venue and all our vendors, and telling my family and friends. And, I’m going to be ok. I got through it, people were kind and supportive, no one gave me a hard time, people reassured me I’m doing the right thing and I don’t need to feel embarrassed. (I still do, but it’s nice to hear.)
It felt insurmountable before I did it. I couldn’t possibly!
It wasn’t, I could, and I did.
I’ve got lots of healing and processing to do now, but I’m going to be ok and a lot happier than I would have been if I’d married him. I’m 36, and I accept that I likely won’t find someone else in time to have a family and all that jazz, but that’s better than being miserably married.
If this post helps someone in a similar situation, I’ll be very glad xx
2024.06.02 07:17 channell309 My music, my influences, my feelings
Hi, my name is Jana, I am 21, I am a young musician from Paris. I am passionate about electro and black metal music. I listen to albums by Crystal Castles, Lifelover, Silencer or Psychonaut 4 on repeat.
In my first EP (The Seven Seals of God), I mix witch house and black metal. There are elements of found footage and others that I record in my daily life, that I sample in order to create new sound and visual associations.
My songs address the theme of the mysticism surrounding the occult but also speak of pain and loneliness. The first track of the EP, "Occult 2007", is the perfect song to enter my universe, with its sample of Hypocrisy. I wrote and produced this song, just after a breakup. It is this same feeling of freedom and loneliness that I feel when listening to it.
I create my songs when I go out at nightfall because the nighttime city is another city. "Bathory" (sampled from Monsoon) and "Stop Suffering" perfectly symbolize my desperate wandering, both in their titles and in their compositions.
I link my songs. Tell me how they make you feel when you first listen to them. For me, they make me feel like I'm going to die very soon. But almost peacefully. Not entirely peacefully, but with less fear than most.
Youtube Channel
Spotify
Instagram
Jana †.
submitted by channell309 to witch_house [link] [comments]
In my first EP (The Seven Seals of God), I mix witch house and black metal. There are elements of found footage and others that I record in my daily life, that I sample in order to create new sound and visual associations.
My songs address the theme of the mysticism surrounding the occult but also speak of pain and loneliness. The first track of the EP, "Occult 2007", is the perfect song to enter my universe, with its sample of Hypocrisy. I wrote and produced this song, just after a breakup. It is this same feeling of freedom and loneliness that I feel when listening to it.
I create my songs when I go out at nightfall because the nighttime city is another city. "Bathory" (sampled from Monsoon) and "Stop Suffering" perfectly symbolize my desperate wandering, both in their titles and in their compositions.
I link my songs. Tell me how they make you feel when you first listen to them. For me, they make me feel like I'm going to die very soon. But almost peacefully. Not entirely peacefully, but with less fear than most.
Youtube Channel
Spotify
Jana †.
2024.06.02 07:14 channell309 My music, my influences, my feelings
Hi, my name is Jana, I am 21, I am a young musician from Paris. I am passionate about electro and black metal music. I listen to albums by Crystal Castles, Lifelover, Silencer or Psychonaut 4 on repeat.
In my first EP (The Seven Seals of God), I mix witch house and black metal. There are elements of found footage and others that I record in my daily life, that I sample in order to create new sound and visual associations.
My songs address the theme of the mysticism surrounding the occult but also speak of pain and loneliness. The first track of the EP, "Occult 2007", is the perfect song to enter my universe, with its sample of Hypocrisy. I wrote and produced this song, just after a breakup. It is this same feeling of freedom and loneliness that I feel when listening to it.
I create my songs when I go out at nightfall because the nighttime city is another city. "Bathory" (sampled from Monsoon) and "Stop Suffering" perfectly symbolize my desperate wandering, both in their titles and in their compositions.
I link my songs. Tell me how they make you feel when you first listen to them. For me, they make me feel like I'm going to die very soon. But almost peacefully. Not entirely peacefully, but with less fear than most.
Youtube Channel
Spotify
Instagram
Jana †.
submitted by channell309 to dsbm [link] [comments]
In my first EP (The Seven Seals of God), I mix witch house and black metal. There are elements of found footage and others that I record in my daily life, that I sample in order to create new sound and visual associations.
My songs address the theme of the mysticism surrounding the occult but also speak of pain and loneliness. The first track of the EP, "Occult 2007", is the perfect song to enter my universe, with its sample of Hypocrisy. I wrote and produced this song, just after a breakup. It is this same feeling of freedom and loneliness that I feel when listening to it.
I create my songs when I go out at nightfall because the nighttime city is another city. "Bathory" (sampled from Monsoon) and "Stop Suffering" perfectly symbolize my desperate wandering, both in their titles and in their compositions.
I link my songs. Tell me how they make you feel when you first listen to them. For me, they make me feel like I'm going to die very soon. But almost peacefully. Not entirely peacefully, but with less fear than most.
Youtube Channel
Spotify
Jana †.
2024.06.02 07:06 channell309 My music, my influences, my feelings
Hi, my name is Jana, I am 21, I am a young musician from Paris. I am passionate about electro and black metal music. I listen to albums by Crystal Castles, Lifelover, Silencer or Psychonaut 4 on repeat.
In my first EP (The Seven Seals of God), I mix witch house and black metal. There are elements of found footage and others that I record in my daily life, that I sample in order to create new sound and visual associations.
My songs address the theme of the mysticism surrounding the occult but also speak of pain and loneliness. The first track of the EP, "Occult 2007", is the perfect song to enter my universe, with its sample of Hypocrisy. I wrote and produced this song, just after a breakup. It is this same feeling of freedom and loneliness that I feel when listening to it.
I create my songs when I go out at nightfall because the nighttime city is another city. "Bathory" (sampled from Monsoon) and "Stop Suffering" perfectly symbolize my desperate wandering, both in their titles and in their compositions.
I link my songs. Tell me how they make you feel when you first listen to them. For me, they make me feel like I'm going to die very soon. But almost peacefully. Not entirely peacefully, but with less fear than most.
Youtube Channel
Spotify
Instagram
submitted by channell309 to Janadsbm [link] [comments]
In my first EP (The Seven Seals of God), I mix witch house and black metal. There are elements of found footage and others that I record in my daily life, that I sample in order to create new sound and visual associations.
My songs address the theme of the mysticism surrounding the occult but also speak of pain and loneliness. The first track of the EP, "Occult 2007", is the perfect song to enter my universe, with its sample of Hypocrisy. I wrote and produced this song, just after a breakup. It is this same feeling of freedom and loneliness that I feel when listening to it.
I create my songs when I go out at nightfall because the nighttime city is another city. "Bathory" (sampled from Monsoon) and "Stop Suffering" perfectly symbolize my desperate wandering, both in their titles and in their compositions.
I link my songs. Tell me how they make you feel when you first listen to them. For me, they make me feel like I'm going to die very soon. But almost peacefully. Not entirely peacefully, but with less fear than most.
Youtube Channel
Spotify
2024.06.02 07:00 ReverseMod Daily Questions Megathread - June 02, 2024
Welcome to the Reverse: 1999 Daily Questions Megathread!
Please use this thread to ask any general inquiries about Reverse: 1999. Also, kindly search keywords under this thread as your questions may have already been answered by other Timekeepers.Community Guides
- General Community Guide (tierlists, teambuilding, puzzle solutions, etc.)
- Income/Saving Guide
- Prydwen (tierlists, guides, character info, etc.)
- 6-star Psychubes
- 5-star Psychubes
- Investment Priority
- Farming Stages
- Resonance Builds, Resonance Costs
- Material Crafting Requirements
Wiki Pages
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
Q1. Should I re-roll?
- This depends on how much time you have to dedicate to re-rolling. In general, all three of the beginner banner characters are great, and you have options of doing shortelonger re-rolls, as per this guide.
- Try to answer with proper letter casing - the answers are case-sensitive.
- The game resets at 10:00 UTC, please refer to this timer.
- Yes, pity should transfer over to the next banner of the same type.
- In general, teams consist of a single damage dealer that get supported by support-type characters, but there are many variations. We encourage you to take a look at some of the guides above!
- From the main screen/lobby, refer to the left icon below the Bank, go to Atlas, then go to the Story Review. This does not currently apply for event stories, unfortunately.
- This will depend on a character-by-character basis. In general, however, there should not be a large importance on getting duplicate copies of a character.
- Please refer to the investment guide listed above.
- Do not buy the 5-star psychubes, as we will eventually get enough 6-stars.
- Prioritization order:
- LF Polarization
- Englighten I
- Enlighten II
- Prioritization order:
- Monthy Brief Cacophony
- Crystal Casket
- Permanent Brief Cacophony (or Moment of Dissonance to craft Brief Cacophony if needed)
- Sonorous Knell
M1. Are macros and auto-clickers allowed?
- No. They are against the game's terms of service; any usage will risk the potential of being banned.
| Megathread Directory |
|---|
| Weekly Lounge Megathreads (for minor discussions, gacha pulls, etc.) |
| Weekly Friend Request Megathreads (for sharing friend IDs) |
| Technical Issues Megathread (for sharing any technical difficulties) |
| Previous Questions Megathreads (for any game-related questions) |
| Previous and Upcoming Subreddit Changes (rule updates, subreddit announcements) |
If you have any suggestions or would like to add anything to this post, please contact the moderation team!
2024.06.02 06:58 Wing_Dings17 Is it worth it to rebuy books on DND beyond just for character creation?
As the title says, I wanna make a warforged artificer character but I kinda wanna make character creation easier, have it on my tablet instead of paper, and so I can make changes to inventory and such easier. I do have the Eberron book and if I ever used it for my own DMing campaign then I'd use the physical book.
TL;DR Is it worth it to buy a digital version of the book I own just so I can have a digital character sheet that's easier to make?
submitted by Wing_Dings17 to DnD [link] [comments]
TL;DR Is it worth it to buy a digital version of the book I own just so I can have a digital character sheet that's easier to make?
2024.06.02 06:41 RHX_Thain I'm looking for examples of Human Face Generators in Unity. Bonus points for hand painted style but NOT anime or realism.
Title says is all.
Our team has a sprite based isometric 2D game we're making where characters are currently "pill people," similar to Rimworld or Prison Architect, but far more detailed, and animated using a custom solution that allows us to key frame in engine any new floating weapons or tools a character may want to use, similar to Rayman.
Some potential players blanch at the lack of arms and legs, suggesting they fall into an uncanny valley between too detailed and not enough. I said the exact same thing about Rimworld my first time playing and honestly 1500 hours later having made a massively successful mod for it -- I STILL don't like the pawns level of detail. :p I remember ignoring Rimworld because I thought it looked jank (so did many others.)
But what this style lacks in detail it makes up for in imagination and simplicity, adding a flabbergasting about of features without needing complex animations for absolutely every minute action a pawn might need to do. Blacksmiths and machinists and surgeries and harvesting -- it's all gestures. This opens wide modding potential and endless replaying potential.
That's my intent with our own system. Maintain the simplicity of animation and art any modder can learn and make new assets for without needing an advanced art degree, but still look good!
But again -- we've pivoted from isometric 2d to 3d already to solve sorting and lighting issues. We've also pivoted away from 2d creatures now to have more of a StarCraft or Hades approach using 3D rigged models with hand painted textures which move as if they are isometric sprites (massively easier to deal with than rendering sprite sheets like the inspirations.)
So it's a matter of time before we get asked by potential customers -- why not just have 3D characters too?
I don't want to make another face & outfit generator. That would honestly risk team burnout. Many of our solutions would survive the transition just fine. The game is highly modular. But it would suck to have to go back in and engineer a 3d solution all from scratch. Let alone wildly expensive to hire a contractor specifically for the task.
Mesh deformation and shaders are not part of our team's core talents. So I'd like to look further afield at solutions available for Unity right now, that will work out of the box, which we can then manually paint as artists filling it with new assets.
We can remake our existing modular outfits and repaint in 3D. It would take about a year to fully pivot, the two artists and I. But would be easier to maintain than our existing sprite system and create new art after that (in some ways easier, others harder.)
So -- what's out there?
What cool face generation systems exist that would work in a hand painted, low poly style?
I'm not into anime and realism wouldn't fit.
Lowpoly (tons of characters on screen -- up to 60 right now at 100fps) and hand painted.
Ideally on the asset store, but I'm happy to look at other people's custom solutions.
submitted by RHX_Thain to Unity3D [link] [comments]
Our team has a sprite based isometric 2D game we're making where characters are currently "pill people," similar to Rimworld or Prison Architect, but far more detailed, and animated using a custom solution that allows us to key frame in engine any new floating weapons or tools a character may want to use, similar to Rayman.
Some potential players blanch at the lack of arms and legs, suggesting they fall into an uncanny valley between too detailed and not enough. I said the exact same thing about Rimworld my first time playing and honestly 1500 hours later having made a massively successful mod for it -- I STILL don't like the pawns level of detail. :p I remember ignoring Rimworld because I thought it looked jank (so did many others.)
But what this style lacks in detail it makes up for in imagination and simplicity, adding a flabbergasting about of features without needing complex animations for absolutely every minute action a pawn might need to do. Blacksmiths and machinists and surgeries and harvesting -- it's all gestures. This opens wide modding potential and endless replaying potential.
That's my intent with our own system. Maintain the simplicity of animation and art any modder can learn and make new assets for without needing an advanced art degree, but still look good!
But again -- we've pivoted from isometric 2d to 3d already to solve sorting and lighting issues. We've also pivoted away from 2d creatures now to have more of a StarCraft or Hades approach using 3D rigged models with hand painted textures which move as if they are isometric sprites (massively easier to deal with than rendering sprite sheets like the inspirations.)
So it's a matter of time before we get asked by potential customers -- why not just have 3D characters too?
I don't want to make another face & outfit generator. That would honestly risk team burnout. Many of our solutions would survive the transition just fine. The game is highly modular. But it would suck to have to go back in and engineer a 3d solution all from scratch. Let alone wildly expensive to hire a contractor specifically for the task.
Mesh deformation and shaders are not part of our team's core talents. So I'd like to look further afield at solutions available for Unity right now, that will work out of the box, which we can then manually paint as artists filling it with new assets.
We can remake our existing modular outfits and repaint in 3D. It would take about a year to fully pivot, the two artists and I. But would be easier to maintain than our existing sprite system and create new art after that (in some ways easier, others harder.)
So -- what's out there?
What cool face generation systems exist that would work in a hand painted, low poly style?
I'm not into anime and realism wouldn't fit.
Lowpoly (tons of characters on screen -- up to 60 right now at 100fps) and hand painted.
Ideally on the asset store, but I'm happy to look at other people's custom solutions.
2024.06.02 06:10 omegacluster Album Anniversary List 2024-06-02
Today's anniversaries are:
1937
2009
2010
2012
2015
2019
submitted by omegacluster to ctebcm [link] [comments]
1937
2009
2010
2012
2015
- Codas - Currents (experimental, metal, drone, drone ambient, heavy, industrial, instrumental, mathcore, progressive metal, New York)
- Consider the Source - World War Trio (Parts Ⅱ & Ⅲ) (experimental, rock, world, instrumental, jazz, progressive, New York)
- Leprous - The Congregation (Rock, Hard Rock, Metal)
- Pyrrhon - Growth without End (extreme metal, metal, death metal, progressive death metal, progressive metal, technical death metal, New York)
- Sein zum Tode - Siamese Second Cousins Never Removed (metal, avant-garde metal, circus music, Columbia) Read our review.
- The ILY's - I've Always Been Good at True Love (Alternative, Rock, Indie Rock/Rock pop)
- Féroces - Juliette (rock, new wave, post-rock, Besançon) Read our review.
- Instar - Instar (metal, ambient, progressive, Austin)
- '68 - Two Parts Viper (hard rock, noise punk, punk, rock, blues rock, math rock, noise rock, post-hardcore, post-punk, Atlanta)
- A Trust Unclean - Parturition (death metal, djent, metal, progressive metal, technical metal, heavy metal, United Kingdom)
- Art Contest - Two Songs (rock, indie rock, math rock, noise, pop, probability & statistics, Georgia)
- Dark Matter Secret - Perfect World Creation (technical death metal, progressive metal, Nashville)
- Dougmore - Outerboros (folk, art folk, avant-folk, banjo, chamber folk, dreamfolk, indie, indie folk, lush, mythic, progressive bluegrass, psychedelic, psychedelic folk, singer-songwriter, storytelling, New York)
- Dystopian Future Movies - Time (alternative, garage rock, hard rock, post-rock, prog-rock, psychedelic rock, Nottingham)
- Eidola - To Speak, to Listen (experimental rock, groove rock, post-hardcore, progressive metal, Provo)
- Elder - Reflections of a Floating World (rock, armageddon shop, doom, heavy psychedelic rock, prog, progressive rock, stickman records, Berlin)
- Emperor of Mind - Resistance (atmospheric, experimental, metal, progressive metal, djent, mathcore, Salem)
- Fabian Almazan & Rhizome - Alcanza (jazz, chamber music, cuba, piano, New York)
- Gentiane Michaud-Gagnon Trio - Eternal Cycle (jazz, Montreal)
- Ghost - Everything We Touch Turns to Dust (ambient, denver, electronica, experimental, idm, electro, electro-acoustic, Oakland)
- Gravetemple - Áthatolhatatlan félelmek (Impassable Fears) (experimental, drone, experimental, free rock, metal, ritual, New York)
- Hands that Lift the Oceans - Impetus (black metal, experimental, metal, post black metal, Würzburg)
- Hot Flash Heat Wave - Soaked (dream pop, oakland, pop, rock, bedroom pop, dreampop, new wave, post-punk, psychedelic rock, San Francisco)
- Human - Fractured Lands (improvisation, improvised, jazz, new music, London)
- Inertia - The Process (alternative, metal, pop, rock, alternative rock, ambient, dark, darkpop, djent, post-hardcore, post-rock, radio rock, Apple Valley)
- Miss Cantaloupe - Miss Cantaloupe (alternative, avant rock, enchanting, ethereal, fairytale, psychadelic, Philadelphia)
- Mutoid Man - War Moans (rock, metal, punk, New York)
- Orchestre national de jazz de Montréal - Under the Influence Suite (Jazz)
- Sikth - The Future in Whose Eyes? (Metal)
- Thunkfish - Renegades (jazz, experimental, funk, fusion jazz, pthronk, rock, sample-based, Edinburgh)
- Time Lurker - Time Lurker (black metal, atmospheric black metal, metal, atmospheric, France)
- Völur - Ancestors (ambient folk, metal, doom metal, folk, Toronto)
2019
- Alex Fournier Sextet - Triio (jazz, canada, canadian jazz, creative music, free jazz, improv, jazz, new music, toronto, Toronto)
- Bitter Lake - New Branches on Old Trees (metal, avant-garde metal, black metal, jazzcore, post black metal, United Kingdom)
- The Pen Club - Data Retrieval (contemporary jazz, jazz, free jazz, Sydney) Read our review.
- Άντη Σκορδή (Andys Skordis) - In… Se… (gamelan opera) Read our review.
- Hex Wound - Averse to the Universe (blackened death metal)
- Pixel Archipelago - Intervallic Prism (experimental rock, microtonal)
- Clément Janinet - La Litanie des cimes (contemporary classical)
- Ivy to Fraudulent Game - 再生する (Saisei suru) (math rock)
- Skeletonized Quartet - Future Shock (avant-garde jazz)
- Black Particles - Loss Function (post-metal)
- Etno histeria World Orchestra - 2021 (folk)
- Neperia - Ptesmata (symphonic death metal)
- Nito - Awakening (post-rock)
- A Fool's Errand - The Art of Leaving Things Behind (post-rock)
- Adjy - June Songs, Volume 1 (progressive folk rock)
- Æffect - Theory of Mind (progressive death metal)
- After Ours - Music for Cats (nu jazz)
- Ash Trio - Ash (jazz fusion)
- Cloutchaser - Metallica (mathcore)
- David T Little - Black Lodge (contemporary opera)
- Depuis l'abîme - L'Incendie (post-hardcore)
- Einar Solberg - 16 (pop)
- Gorgeous - Sapsucker (avant-prog)
- Goyard Ibn Said & غيث (Ghais Guevara) - Goyard Comin': Exordium (experimental hip-hop)
- Hills like White Lions - Meander (progressive metal)
- Illegal Crowns - Unclosed (free improvisation)
- Jack Cooper - Arrival (contemporary classical)
- John Liberatore, played by Zohn Collective - Catch Somewhere (chamber music)
- Joshua Jaswon Octet - Polar Waters (modern jazz)
- Kid Millions & Sarah Bernstein - Forest Park Live (free improvisation)
- Knower - Knower Forever (pop)
- Koningsor - Death Process (mathcore)
- Lars Fredrik Frøislie - Fire fortellinger (progressive rock)
- Lausch - Love & Order (alternative rock)
- Linda May Han Oh - The Glass Hours (modern jazz)
- Mary Ancheta Quartet - Level Up (jazz fusion)
- McKinley Dixon - Beloved! Paradise! Jazz‽ (hip-hop)
- Moral Collapse - Divine Prosthetics (progressive death metal)
- Nōn serviam - Death Ataraxia (experimental black metal)
- OK Goodnight - The Fox & the Bird (progressive rock)
- Phonem - Geometriks (modern jazz)
- Pupil Slicer - Blossom (mathcore)
- Quiet Sonia - Quiet Sonia (slowcore)
- Risin Sabotage - Macabre (stoner rock)
- Sarah Pagé - Voda (ambient classical)
- Sébastien Parent - Projet Seb Parent (big band jazz)
- Signe Emmeluth's Onomatopoesia - Syntax (modern jazz)
- Solarium - Aube/Nocturne (jazz fusion)
- Sophie Ellis-Bextor - 花 (Hana) (pop)
- Surema - Surema (post-metal)
- Thantifaxath - Hive Mind Narcosis (avant-garde black metal)
- Travis Orbin - Travis Orbin (progressive metal)
- Unfurl - Ascension (blackened post-hardcore)
- Vacuous - Katabasis (death metal)
- Void of Nihility - Above the Stars of God (avant-garde black metal)
- Vulfmon - Vulfnik (funk)
- Yoni Mayraz - Dybbuk Tse! (nu jazz)
2024.06.02 06:04 Lopsided_Ad_926 What are girls wearing these days that smell like warm cozy dryer sheets?
 | There seems to be a popular scent lingering in the air these days that smells like a cozy warm dryer sheet such as Fleecy. It is NOT a soapy or overly clean scent (NOT Clean Reserve! I sampled that today), more like a warm cozy freshly dried sweater. Or perhaps when you walk by a laundromat or an apartment building and you smell that delicious dryer exhaust scent. Does anyone have any idea what this scent may be? I believe it’s a perfume because I get a whiff of the same exact scent on ladies maybe once a week and I doubt their dryer sheets are strong enough to project the scent that much. submitted by Lopsided_Ad_926 to Perfumes [link] [comments] Thanks in advance! |