Hello, I am a first time keeper and plan on doing a test game with a few friends. In the meantime i have been brain storming a homebrew campaign based in WW1 on the Western inspired by Amnesia: The bunker. I have made 6 classes based on types of troops during ww1 and am unsure of how to make fair stat bonuses and negatives as i dont have much experiences with the game yet. i want the classes to fit a specific playstyle and want to make them all feel uniqe from each other, any suggestions are welcome as this is very much a work in progress project
Below i have the classes that ive made (sorry for the horrendous paragraphs ive copied this from my google doc)
Classes available for this campaign:
Raider- A lowly Trench raider they thrive in tight spaces and close encounters.
Quick on their feet, and tougher than nails their ability to think quickly through
An ever adapting battlefield is how they survive the most hopeless of battles.
Through all they have to do, seeing their comrades fall, having to dispatch the
enemy within arms reach, and the very real chance of losing their lives in a filthy
trench they fail to keep their heads on straight, they tend to be Hotheads and
very blunt with their words.

• Starts with a choice of a trench shotgun or Mp18 Smg
• Starts with a trench mace
• Starts with a metal chestplate
• Starts with 2 grenades

Infantryman- Standard soldier for the time, their time working in the trenches have
made them very efficient at planning and setting up defenses. Their ability
to stay sane whilst being bombarded by shellfire is unmatched and often
very reliable to keep morale high through cracking jokes, They take pride
in their hard work and dedication for their cause.

• Starts with a Lee enfield
• Starts with a trench periscope and folding shovel
• Starts with a 1 frag grenade and 1 gas grenade

Officer- Natural born leaders, to serve their countries they have risen to the top.
Great strategic minds and bring morale to their troops. Their ability to
think of solutions to complex solutions and pre plan is unmatched by anyone
in the foxhole.

• Starts a Pedersen device pistol caliber semi rifle
• Starts with a Webley Mk IV revolver
• Starts with Trench whistle (i want this to buff allies with drawbacks, something like buffs movement speed while lowering sanity)
• Starts with Saber
• Starts with Scr-54 portable radio

Medic- Very devoted to keeping their allies alive. The Medic is the greatest support
any soldier can wish to be on the field with them. Very caring and easy to
get along with they keep their heads on straight in the worst of conditions
Though they can keep themselves calm during troubling times they've seen
the worst of it especially whilst treating the wounded, they find it hard to sleep
at night. Even with the horrors they've witnessed they still keep a brave face.

• Starts with a standard issued medical kit
• Starts with a Colt m1911
• Starts with a multi purpose knife
• Starts with 2 smoke grenades

Marksman- The classic eagle eyed sniper. Very perceptive to their surrounding and great
at gathering information for their troops. Their ability to shoot accurately is unmatched. Marksman a great at hiding and can easily set up ambushes for the enemy but seem. struggle in close quarters making them stress any tight battles.

• Starts with SMLE Mk4 with scope
• Starts with binoculars
• Starts with 2 tripwire mines
• Starts with a Scr-54 Radio

Heavy- The standout heavy gunner. Very strong from moving their equipment and countless
rounds of ammunition. Their fortitude is unique, they are used to the sound of constant
gunfire and have come to terms with being shot at while suppressing their opposition
making them one of the bravest soldiers on the field. Though they may be strong they
still must carry some of the heaviest equipment around making them more ideal for
hunkering down and controlling an area instead of running and gunning.

• Starts with Lewis gun
• Starts with deployable crate of ammo
• Starts with a mallet
• Starts with chest plate and experimental facial armor

I really appreciate any advice you guys can give me. I really want to make this something very special for my group

trigger warning: mention of abuse
I NEED to make some money somehow this summer. My parents are super abusive and it's only getting worse. It's exam season (I've got my a-level biology paper tomorrow). They keep threatening to "stop my education" with everything I do and my face is literally swollen from all the hitting earlier. I got some money from school recently for getting high grades in my GCSEs but my dad has kept it away. I don't know where it is. Anyway, my parents will be away for pilgrimage this summer for about a month so I was thinking of tutoring younger students online. I really thought I could work on growing my non-profit this summer but it doesn't seem possible anymore. Just wanted to put this out there.
I really need advice on what I can do (anything, any alternatives...)
For context, I can't do any in-person jobs as I'll travel to my home country (while my parents are away)

For context, I had mild peripheral neuropathic symptoms where my hands feet have tingling sensation. I got these while doing Wimhof's breath work. This is more noticeable if I skip a meal or try to do intermittent fasting these days. But that is all.
Yesterday I had a chance to try Apollo neuro wearable device in a hope to stimulate my Vegal nerve. Within a few seconds of putting it on my wrist I felt tingling sensation in my wrist and face( which is not a common neuropathic area for me). Then I tried switching to my sternum and I got tingling sensation around that area and my foot. The symptoms evolved and now I am experiencing itchy feelings in my scalp, face, eye lid. My left toe has went a little numb. -I didn't put it for long that 2 minutes on my body. But I don't know how that gave all this itchiness, pain and numbness.
Qn: - has anybody experienced this before with these devices and did these symptoms go away? -what should I do to recover from this and prevent further damage( apart from distancing myself from using the device)?

Hi all,
I use Vroid in Unreal Engine and it works great for the most part. I have a huge problem with recording the face performance of a Vroid character though.
I managed to connect a Vroid to LiveLink but the face animation works only in game mode, or simulate mode and not in editor. I also can't record the face animation to the take recorder to later animate the body separately from the lips/eyes etc.
Do anyone here have a solution for that?
I'm trying to make my own short anime story but it's hard when I can't record the lips/face animations to be opened in Level Sequence later on.
I will be grateful for any help I can get.

For context, I had mild peripheral neuropathic symptoms where my hands feet have tingling sensation. I got these while doing Wimhof's breath work. This is more noticeable if I skip a meal or try to do intermittent fasting these days. But that is all.
Yesterday I had a chance to try Apollo neuro wearable device in a hope to stimulate my Vegal nerve. Within a few seconds of putting it on my wrist I felt tingling sensation in my wrist and face( which is not a common neuropathic area for me). Then I tried switching to my sternum and I got tingling sensation around that area and my foot. The symptoms evolved and now I am experiencing itchy feelings in my scalp, face, eye lid. My left toe has went a little numb. -I didn't put it for long that 2 minutes on my body. But I don't know how that gave all this itchiness, pain and numbness.
Qn: - has anybody experienced this before with these devices and did these symptoms go away? -what should I do to recover from this and prevent further damage( apart from distancing myself from using the device)?

I'LL TRY TO KEEP THIS SHORT BUT I NEED SOME GUIDANCE. FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS I'VE BEEN DEALING WITH A SLOW INTERMEDIATE BUT PROGRESSIVE ISSUE THAT I COULD NOT POINT A FINGER ON. IT ALL STARTED WHEN I WAS ABOUT 20 years old.
I noticed weakness and fatigue that was unlike anything ive ever noticed.
My gait seemed to change a bit. I felt tingling in my face and my entire right shoulder front and back would burn for days with no let up. My R shoulder seemed to not even be in its correct position. I would constantly try to put in place but it just never seemed to get better. My hips would feel dull as would my right leg. As if the muscles were just kind of there. I felt my jaw and it seemed to be out of place and droopy.
This was the intial complaints inwrote down all that time ago.
Fast forward to 2024
All of those initial symptoms are still here. The symptoms i described would ignite last for a few months and i would have recovery. Sometimes years of little to know signs. But they would always come back. For 20 yrs this has occured. Ive been diagnosed by my neurologist with dystonia/cervical stenosis. He put me on gabapentin and ive been in therapy. But the symptoms never were really helped. Maybeited slightly but always there seapecially as of.late.
There are times(more often than not lately) with overwhelming frustration and depression. Not understanding the condition i was in or why these strange symptoms were present caused major problems with everday normal life. I have thought and thought about this situation. Am i crazy are these symtpoms in my head no body understands me etc... The last 20 years has been a daily struggle.
My prognosis now is seemingly starting to progress.
The last 2 years ive noticed signifigant changes in my posture. I almaot dont know how to stand. my back muscles seem to be frozen. My spine now hunches me forward. At the same time when i stand my pelvis seems to arch back as well as my back. My right shoulder blade is excessively winged now and my left scapula is starting to do the same. I now have mild pectus excavatum. Thats progressed fast over the last 5 years.
My face looks droopy. My right eye wont close. I could go on and on
The thing that struck me is when i was researching this disease. It seemed like i was checking every box on the symptom list.
Never having been able to figure this out i pray this is the right step
What if i can put a name to this torment.
TLDR:
SYMPTOMS IVER THE LAST 20 YEARS MIMICK THE SYMPTOMS OF FSHD. I HAVE NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND STILL DONT. EVEN MY NEUROLOGIST HASNT MADE THIS AN OPINION. I JUST FOUND OUT ABOUT IT BY RESEARCH. PLEASE HELP ME FIGURE OUT HOW TO PROPERLY DIAGNOSE THIS. WHERE DO I GO AND WHO DO I TALK TO ABOUT THIS.
THANK YOU

I'm British 34F, 156cm and maintain around 16% body fat. Eat a high protein and fibre diet, avoid eating UPF. No other medical conditions, never been to hospital before and usually slather white tiger balm or patches on my forehead for headaches.
I moved from Japan to SE Asia temporarily for work. After being here for 2.5 months I was getting the worst headaches of my life when my wisdom teeth started coming through. The headaches were concentrated above my left eye and blurred my vision in my left eye.
I went to a dentist within an English speaking hospital who said my wisdom teeth were fine but they recommended I went to the onsite pharmacy due to the headaches. They gave me 8/500mg co-codamol (effervescent tablets) and wrote 'Max 3 per day' on the packet in English.
I took 1 a day for the first 4 days, none of the 5th and 6th days and then took 1 a day for the following 4 days. 8 within 10 days.
The morning after I took the last tablet I woke up with jaundice - eye whites, face, chest, abdomen and arms. I also had diarrhoea, sore throat, lots of spots on my lower face, a different type of headache that felt more like swelling on the top of my head, feeling dizzy whenever I sat up/down and very fatigued.
I went to a different hospital and paid for a blood, kidney and liver test and was told it came back on the high side of normal. They said the dose I took wasn't consistent with my symptoms and I may be sensitive to paracetamol and may have Gilbert's syndrome. They said to come back if the jaundice worsened or I started feeling pain in my abdomen - thankfully neither happened.
It's now 8 days since I took the last tablet and I still have a hint of jaundice, it has gone down though and my skin is usually very cool toned. I still feel extremely tired, I usually exercise most days (rowing and weights) but at the moment my thighs and calfs feel exhausted after walking up 3 flights of stairs.
Do I need to do anything else/seek more medical attention? Will this damage my liver in the longterm? I'm here for another 6 weeks. Excuse the throwaway, a bit too personal for my main.

I have an underbite and narrow palate as well as recessed mandible (and probably slightly protruding maxilla which makes my lips look ducky from a side profile) as well as protruding ears.
And I believe I have short face syndrome too (if anybody can confirm I'll be glad).
I already have DJS with sliding Genioplasty and maybe rhino in the future (depending on where my nose sits after DJS). Otoplasty for my ears is on the list too.
What else can be done? Will DJS + Genio + Oto alone solve my short/thin face syndrome?
My eyes are really big and protruding too. Will blepharoplasty help? Or can I expect significant changes due to DJS?

A few months ago, my life changed completely. I (M15) years old, and before the accident, I was just a normal kid. At least, that’s what everyone tells me.
I don’t remember any of it.
I was walking home from school, not paying attention to anything around me. I didn’t see the car coming. One moment, I was crossing the street, and the next thing I knew, I was lying on the cold pavement, everything around me in chaos.
When I woke up in the hospital, I was in so much pain and totally confused. My head felt like it was going to explode, and I had no idea where I was or what had happened.
The doctors said I had a severe concussion and amnesia. They explained that I couldn’t remember anything from before the accident—no childhood memories, no friends, no family. My mind was completely blank, wiped clean by the trauma.
My parents were the first faces I saw when I woke up. They looked relieved but also terrified. My mom tried to be strong, but I could see the tears in her eyes. My dad, usually so tough, couldn’t hide how scared he was. They kept asking me questions, hoping something would spark a memory, but it was useless. I didn’t recognize them, didn’t remember anything about our life together. I didn’t even know my own name.
The doctors said my memory might come back with time, but there were no guarantees. In the meantime, I had to rely on what my family told me about my past. They showed me pictures, told me stories, but it all felt like it belonged to someone else.
The hardest part has been trying to reconnect with my family. My parents are doing their best to help me, but it’s clear they’re struggling too. My mom tries to fill in the gaps, telling me about the things I used to love, the friends I had, the dreams I chased. My dad is more reserved, like he doesn’t know how to handle the stranger that his son has become.
My little sister, Emma, is only 10. She looks at me with a mix of hope and sadness, asking when I’ll remember her, when things will go back to normal. I wish I had an answer for her. I wish I could remember the bond we supposedly shared.
I feel terrible that I can't remember anything. My parents have been amazing, but I can see the hurt in their eyes. My mom is constantly on the verge of tears, and my dad looks like he’s carrying the weight of the world. Emma is trying so hard to help, but every time she asks me if I remember something, it just breaks my heart to say no.
I started seeing a therapist, trying to piece together my life before the accident. It’s frustrating and terrifying, like chasing shadows that always slip away. The therapist says it’s important to create new memories, to focus on the present and not get lost in what I can’t remember. But how can I do that when I feel like half a person, a ghost haunting my own life?
School is a nightmare. Everyone looks at me differently now, whispering behind my back. I’m the kid who lost his memory, the one who can’t even remember his best friends. They try to be nice, but it just makes me feel worse. I don’t know who to trust, who to turn to.
Every day is a struggle. The pain, the fear, the isolation—they’re eating me alive. And watching my family suffer because of it is almost worse than the physical pain. I see the strain in my parents' eyes, the tension in their voices. I know they’re scared of losing me, even though I’m right here.
So, Reddit, AITA for feeling bad that I can’t remember anything? Am I wrong for feeling guilty that my family is hurting because of me? I just needed to get this out and see if someone else understands.

For context, I had mild peripheral neuropathic symptoms where my hands feet have tingling sensation. I got these while doing Wimhof's breath work. This is more noticeable if I skip a meal or try to do intermittent fasting these days. But that is all.
Yesterday I had a chance to try Apollo neuro wearable device in a hope to stimulate my Vegal nerve. Within a few seconds of putting it on my wrist I felt tingling sensation in my wrist and face( which is not a common neuropathic area for me). Then I tried switching to my sternum and I got tingling sensation around that area and my foot. The symptoms evolved and now I am experiencing itchy feelings in my scalp, face, eye lid. My left toe has went a little numb. -I didn't put it for long that 2 minutes on my body. But I don't know how that gave all this itchiness, pain and numbness.
Qn: - has anybody experienced this before with these devices and did these symptoms go away? -what should I do to recover from this and prevent further damage( apart from distancing myself from using the device)?

I'm so tired, all I can do is lay on my back and just stare into nothing, closing my eyes opening my eyes, it doesn't matter, I just lay there as almost all of my senses get cancelled, feeling nothing from the outside world, somewhy i start feeling my heart beats, at every limb, at every finger, at my face, I feel it pushing blood into my vessels, and pulling it out of my veins... It's painful... It's annoying, I want it to stop... I feel like reaching into my chest and pulling my heart out of it... As I pull it it takes with it every vessel, every vain, every artery out of my body, as a sensation of emptiness slowly seeks into my limbs while my vessels are being pulled out of my body like hair from dough

For context, I had mild peripheral neuropathic symptoms where my hands feet have tingling sensation. I got these while doing Wimhof's breath work. This is more noticeable if I skip a meal or try to do intermittent fasting these days. But that is all.
Yesterday I had a chance to try Apollo neuro wearable device in a hope to stimulate my Vegal nerve. Within a few seconds of putting it on my wrist I felt tingling sensation in my wrist and face( which is not a common neuropathic area for me). Then I tried switching to my sternum and I got tingling sensation around that area and my foot. The symptoms evolved and now I am experiencing itchy feelings in my scalp, face, eye lid. My left toe has went a little numb. -I didn't put it for long that 2 minutes on my body. But I don't know how that gave all this itchiness, pain and numbness.
Qn: - has anybody experienced this before with these devices and did these symptoms go away? -what should I do to recover from this and prevent further damage( apart from distancing myself from using the device)?

The Death of the Witness by Joel Lane
Published and excerpted from The Earth Wire (1994) by Joel Lane

Around five in the morning, Sarah gave up trying to sleep. Thin sunlight reached through the bars across the window frame. She dressed and went out onto the balcony, which overlooked most of the estate. It was still chilly; the sun hadn't yet heated the dark pebble-dashed walls. There was a strange smell in the air, something like petrol or turpentine or white spirit. Sarah breathed in deeply. From the city centre, she could hear the vague hissing and scraping sounds of traffic. Nobody was visible in the courtyard, or anywhere on the grid of little roads that divided up the estate. When she looked down from the balcony, the side of the building tilted forward like a giant ship. With an effort, Sarah kept her feet and stepped back into the doorway. The sunlight flashed in her eyes like a camera; when she looked away, focusing on a place where she didn't normally look, she noticed the couple.
They were beyond the reinforced glass partition at the end of the walkway. They could have got there by climbing through the staircase window. Sarah walked up to the glass; they didn't seem to notice her. They were standing together, looking out into the tide of early morning light that glistened on their faces. A boy and a girl, no older than fourteen; both wearing T-shirts and ripped jeans. They were shivering. The boy was holding a Pyrex dish. Even from a distance, in the open air, Sarah could smell what they were smearing from it onto their hands, and onto each other's faces. Her vision blurred again, then came back into focus – as if she were watching two swimmers repeatedly break the surface of the water.
They were looking at her. Their eyes ate the sunlight. The girl reached up and peeled a scrap of pearl from the sky; she touched it onto the boy's face. They were painting each other with light. Sarah felt tears heating her eyes – prisms that broke and drained her, as though pain were only colours. The girl waved at her through the grid of wires in the glass. Still waving, she stepped to the edge of the parapet where there was no railing – and then crouched, tipping herself forward like a diver. Sarah didn't hear the sound the girl made when she hit the ground, seven floors below. She couldn't hear the traffic any more.
A few minutes later, the boy came out through the security door. He stumbled across the courtyard to the corner where the body lay, and knelt beside it for a while. Then he went back into the tower block, struggling with his key. An ambulance came silently a few minutes later. Two ment put the girl's body onto a stretcher and covered it. Standing on the balcony, Sarah watched until it was all over. The boy go into the back of the ambulance with the others. The engine started up, and the ambulance drove away. There was no siren. The iris-shaped smear of blood on the concrete paving grew darker as the sun climbed up the sky.

Hello everyone
I messed up and started taking FF again after I had quit for the first time. I originally started taking FF soon after I quit drinking as a means to replace that social lubrication function of alcohol, so of course it snowballed from there. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and very quickly fell into drinking 3-5 a day for a few months until I got a litany of health issues and an insane amount of credit card debt. I ended up quitting because it was destroying my relationships (moody, acting insane), my eyes looked so sunken in, my skin looked awful, and I was getting near constant UTIs and horrible urinary retention which I attributed to the kratom. It nearly destroyed my relationship in another way because my boyfriend had his own stint with kratom before I knew him and warned me about it, so something I felt like I had a handle on soon got out of control and I was hiding it from him and so reasonably he was very upset with me. I fucked around and found out. He forgave me, and I spent a week being dope sick and feeling like death and afterwards I never felt better.
Fast forward to now...
I was going through a major episode and felt like my relationship was over and I decided fuck it, I'd rather drink one of these guys instead of having a drink. I just wanted to feel better and I felt so so guilty about it. Obviously I couldn't have just one, it's so habitual, and I'm back in the thick of it. I haven't had the pee problems this time, but I have been hanging out at a kava bar almost every day and got a bad bout of kava dermopathy (crocodile skin) and have had to slow down on that but obviously can't stop FF cold turkey and still be able to go to work, do daily tasks, etc. I need 3-4 days blocked off in order to overcome this and away from my boyfriend to be able to handle the withdrawals on my own without raising any red flags. I feel so guilty.
I mention the dermopathy because my newest condition that I suspect is related to these little shits is styes, which I suspect is kava related this time rather than kratom related based on the limited research I've done. Something about the kavalactones. I've never had a stye in my life, and now all of the sudden after my dermopathy had begun to clear up, I got like 5 styes stacked on top of each other on my left eyelid. My boyfriend popped them despite my pleas to let them be and sort themselves out but I am glad he did, because the relief was unimaginable. My eyelashes were getting caught in it too, making me wonder if it was even an ingrown eyelash, but I dunno anymore... because just as I thought this awful week and a half of having a painful, swollen eyelid was over, I began to get them in my other eye, and another one is cropping up on my under eye of the original eyelid. I feel so depressed and ugly and frustrated and in pain.
I really suspect that it's these fucking FFs, but wondering about y'all's experience and if this has happened to anyone else. Thanks for letting me vent. I know what to do, I just have to find the right timing. Looking for support and others' experiences. Thank you <3

I'm using nasal pillows with the P10 I believe.
I'm 5-6 years in and it's been great. However the past 4-5 months, I notice as I am falling asleep I'll get a little air bubble in my mouth.
I can just push it out easily, but will get another.
I'd been really good about keeping my mouth closed and if it does open I hear and feel it. But that's when I've been awake. I think if it'd happen while sleeping I'd hear it because it's pretty loud.
Im at 0.3-0.5 most nights. High for me is 1.1.
In my early days I did have a cloth sort of hat with a chin strap. I'm going to start using that again and see if it remedies.
I did do tape for the second half of the night, and got the little bubble a few times falling asleep again.
[Some additional context: I'd had a tremendous amount of mouth dryness all day. I considered an open mouth at night caused it—but tried stopping Famotidine that helped with acid reflux and eczema, gargling with a non alcohol mouth rinse, as well as stopping singing (and not yelling or screaming to warm up.) And my mouth dryness is a lot less, and no soreness in my throat. I also laid off meat in general and found my acid reflux and my eczema are almost in remission.]
I don't plan on using a face mask, but just wondering how that bubble now is coming up in my mouth. I have significantly relaxed my jaw over time, so I assume something like my tongue position is now letting air in since I relaxed so much more.
Anyway, I'm wondering 'why' this happens, what from a simply physical pov (like something my tongue may be doing) and have remedies of tape and the hat/strap thing—but if others have more ideas.
Besides that, I'm really jamming on sleep this past year. I fall asleep within a minute or two, and usually just get up once per night, hitting 8 hours almost exactly.

So today I went for a haircut at a new salon. Pls read the whole thing before judging me.
Full disclosure : I have had a few bad/creepy incidents with men growing up (getting chased by a man at 16, getting my hips grabbed by a stranger as a child) which make me uncomfortable of touch in general, but more so against the touch of a man. I don't even like other women hugging me.
The barber guy was very polite, courteous etc. but , While cutting the sides of my hair , which barely goes past my jaw, his hand holding the scissor came way below and rested on my chest for a split second( above my boobs , more on the pecs area before the boobs begin, but below my collar bone)
Usually I am extremely aware of people touching me anywhere and immediately flinch away if am uncomfortable, but his hand was gone before I could even move away from it. I was expecting something might happen and I was ready to move away, but idk if I had a freeze response or if his touch was so brief I couldn't move before he did.
The first thought in my head " it's ok it's ok, he didn't exactly rest his hand on your boobs, his hands were closed around the scissor, don't over react", don't cause a scene".
Like at one point he tried to remove a piece of hair from my lips and I stopped her him and did it myself. I also prefer to brush the cut hair away from my neck and chest by myself too, so I had asked for the brush too, which he let me. He was extremely polite and courteous otherwise.
I just keep thinking of how will I ever be able to function as a normal adult in the world if I can't even aget a haircut without getting a small panick attack. I can't even handle the thought of a marrying a man , even though I am attracted to them.
I put on an extremely calm face and didn't react there, till I came home and I cried over this.
I have heard soooo many bad stories of Indian men (and just men) being so creepy , that I feel I have lost all my trust in them, even If my brain says it's irrational. I have developed a sort of paranoia of it.
I keep thing "what if the touch was intentional ? What if he enjoyed it ?" "Am I over reacting like a crazy bi*ch ?'"
How do I go back to normal settings and actually be able to tell a an intentional creepy touch apart from a accidental one ?

The atmosphere in the arena was electric, with anticipation crackling in the air like electricity. Spectators filled every seat, their eyes trained eagerly on the ring, awaiting the clash of titans about to unfold. The announcer's voice boomed over the speakers, commanding attention.
"Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves for a battle of epic proportions! In the blue corner, hailing from the land of the rising sun, standing at an impressive 6 feet 2 inches tall, we have Jin 'The Funeral Dove' Kazuya!"
Jin stepped into the ring, his presence commanding respect despite his slender frame. His black hair fell messily around his pale face, his eyes gleaming with determination as he prepared to face his opponent.
"And in the red corner, representing the pride of England, towering at an astonishing 210 centimeters and weighing in at a mighty 153 kilograms, we have Aaron!"
The crowd erupted into cheers as Aaron made his entrance, his imposing stature casting a shadow over the ring. His cold demeanor belied the raw power that emanated from every muscle in his body, his reputation as a heavyweight boxer preceding him like a thunderclap.
As the bell rang, signaling the start of the match, the two fighters wasted no time in sizing each other up. Jin moved with the grace of a dancer, his agile footwork keeping him just out of Aaron's reach. He launched a flurry of kicks, each one aimed with deadly accuracy, but Aaron remained unfazed, his focus unwavering.
With a grunt of exertion, Aaron closed the distance between them, unleashing a barrage of thunderous punches aimed at Jin's midsection. But Jin was no easy target, his evasive maneuvers and quick reflexes allowing him to dodge and weave through Aaron's onslaught with ease.
The crowd watched in awe as the two fighters exchanged blows, each one a testament to their skill and determination. Jin danced around Aaron, his kicks coming at lightning speed from all angles, while Aaron pressed forward relentlessly, his punches like battering rams.
As the match wore on, the tension in the arena reached a fever pitch. Jin's agility and precision kept him one step ahead of Aaron's brute strength, but the Englishman refused to relent, his punches growing more ferocious with each passing moment.
In a sudden burst of speed, Jin launched himself into the air, his leg extending in a powerful kick aimed directly at Aaron's head. The crowd held its breath as the kick connected with a resounding crack, sending shockwaves rippling through the arena.
But Aaron was made of sterner stuff, his iron will and determination keeping him on his feet despite the force of Jin's blow. With a roar of defiance, he retaliated with a devastating punch aimed at Jin's chest, but the Japanese fighter was already one step ahead.
With lightning-fast reflexes, Jin twisted his body to the side, narrowly avoiding the full force of Aaron's blow. In one fluid motion, he lashed out with another kick, this time aimed at Aaron's legs, seeking to weaken his opponent's stance.
The crowd watched in rapt silence as the two fighters continued to trade blows, each one a testament to their skill and determination. But in the end, it was Jin who emerged victorious, his agility and precision proving to be the deciding factors in the match.
As Aaron staggered backwards, his strength finally failing him, the crowd erupted into cheers and applause, their admiration for both fighters evident in the thunderous applause that filled the arena. Despite the outcome, both men had given their all in the pursuit of victory, and their bravery and skill would be remembered long after the final bell had rung.

Me and my wife are both in our mid 30's and have been married 4 years with 2 children under the ages of 7. I love my family but my wife's drinking and narcissistic behavior has driven me to my breaking point. A few weeks ago she went to run some errands and came back like 5 hours later completely drunk and her car was wrecked. Now, this is the 3rd time this same thing has happened. Except on this day we had a school function to attend and our kids were being dropped off with grandparents to be watched for the night. When I told her she was to drunk to drive the kids to where they needed to go, she went ballistic. The typical screaming, throwing stuff, and literally pulling her hair out, so as I usually do when this happens, I start to record for my own safety. She saw I had been recording and at that moment she attacked me. She was genuinely trying to hurt me, I could see the hatred in her eyes. (This is the 4th physical assault Ive dealt with by now with her). Mind you, the children are watching her do all of this and they are screaming at me to stop defending myself but I can't just leave because I'm afraid she might try to drive them drunk as she had already put them in the car once and I had to remove them. The whole time she's screaming this is what your daddy does to US because he doesn't care about US and all sorts of other absolutely ridiculous, shameful things that are just lies to manipulate the children into thinking somehow daddy is the bad guy. I finally get the kids to where they need to go and I go to my office to gather my thoughts. During that time she called my phone 140 times just to yell at me and then hang up. At about 10 pm she says she's leaving to stay at her dad's so I come home. I'm asleep when she comes back in the middle of the night. So she wakes me up slamming doors and screaming profanities at 4 a.m. and begins the ordeal once again. I have video evidence of everything that happened, including video evidence from 2 other events where I was assaulted in front of the kids. I have been contemplating leaving for a little while now but I hate the thought of losing my family because I know how hard that can be on kids and I also don't want to miss those special moments.. but I can't keep letting them go though this at the same time. I've tried to talk on my wife about counseling, she is vehemently against that because she is diagnosed bipolar but refuses to take medication because she can't drink if she's on her meds.. She has also told me multiple times that she would kill herself if we broke up and it sort of make me feels like a captive in this relationship. Anytime I bring up the fact that I'm incredibly unhappy and want talk about our most recent incident, she just says, I don't want a fight, I just want a good night. But these conversations that aren't taking place aren't allowing me personally to move on or feel better about the future. She would typically be drinking about 2 bottles of Jameson a week and since the last fight she hasn't brought any home, although I know she's stopped at the bar. But the issue now is that she's treating me with such disdain and disrespect simply because I have told her and tried to show how mean she gets when she's drunk. Like I took something away from her and now she passive aggressively takes it out on me at any point. I never thought I'd be here asking reddit for advice but here I am. What kind of lawyer do I need to show these videos to? How do I make the breakaway when our lives are intricately linked? I am afraid of what would happen if I told her face to face that I want a divorce. I make good money and I pay almost all of the bills, I pay rent, I pay for groceries and any fun stuff we do on the weekends or vacation and she keeps one of my credit cards to use and i just pay it off every month. If I leave she can't afford to live on her own so it's not like I can just find a different apartment and move all the utilities and just tell her good luck. I don't know, it's all a whirlwind and any help would be greatly appreciated!

https://facts.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/15-facts-about-fats-waller-1689249690.jpg
This is a subreddit primarily focused on modern pop music, but for his 120th birthday I want to take a moment to remember one of the most iconic pop acts in American history:

Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller

A jazz pianist, a singer, and a prolific songwriter famous for his ability to jump onstage and "lift up the band," Fats Waller was a regular fixture of the nightlife scene in New York (an important figure of the legendary Harlem Renaissance) and toured his act all around the country in addition to working as a recording artist in the budding record industry.
In a way, he was one of America's first pop stars- a musical prodigy who dropped out of high school, broke into the music industry when he was a teen, sold tons of records, and developed a huge onstage persona and lived a hard partying lifestyle. We've heard that story a million times, but Fats did it first.
An often repeated story about him recounts a shocking incident where gangster Al Capone kidnapped him off the street to force him to play at a birthday party, because everybody wanted to party with Fats Waller! A less repeated story is this one I found in an NPR article that describes him selling eight of his original songs in exchange for eight hamburgers, which he then consumed in a single sitting.
So certainly, a larger than life figure.

The Records

His legacy as a founding figure of America's pop scene extends to a place you might not expect: back in 1926, he signed a recording contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company, one of the earliest manufacturers and distributors of phonographs and records, which would be bought out by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1929. Then in 1968, the company would be renamed... RCA Records!
RCA is still a powerful record label today and it's partially thanks to Fats, who was a big moneymaker for them in the early days of the record industry when they were literally selling records.
Over the course of his twenty five year career, he copyrighted around five hundred recordings- supposedly, the label would send him into a recording booth with bunches of sheet music bought from Tin Pan Alley composers and he would rearrange them on the spot to give them that special Fats Waller touch!
But he's best remembered for his skills as a pianist and, most importantly, his songwriting skills. I want to take a moment to highlight that because I firmly believe he's one of the greatest songwriters in history- many of his hits have been accepted as standards and are still in rotation with jazz singers today.

The Music

You might have heard his song "Ain't Misbehavin'," which became something of his signature song after he performed it in the landmark film Stormy Weather (1943), and it's the perfect encapsulation of his style. A clever piano line, a catchy melody, a touch of humor, and a lot of heart. It's just timeless music.

I know for certain / The one I love
I'm through with flirtin' / It's just you I'm thinkin' of
Ain't misbehavin' / Saving my love for you (for you)
(And you) (And you)

There's a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor to the song that's signature Fats- in addition to the lyrics he wrote, he was known to improv and throw new jokes in on the fly during live performances.
We're lucky enough to have footage of him performing "Your Feets Too Big" (another one of his signature numbers where he chastises a woman for, you guessed it, her foot size) and you can just see the charisma oozing off of him as he banters with the band and makes eyes at the camera. All while playing the piano too!
And he was no innocent either, often lacing his songs with innuendo that will shatter any illusions you have about old music being overly conservative. Take, for example, Hattie Noel's recording of "Find Out What They Like," which begins with a disclaimer that the song is "strictly about home cooking" before she sings this:

Find out what he likes / And how he likes it
Go on and give it to him just that way
Give it to him when he wants it / And any time he wants it
And don't you have a single word to say!

He was often performing in nightclubs and bars, which meant he knew how to get the crowd going- "The Joint Is Jumpin'" is the quintessential 1920s party anthem, with the title referring to a secret code phrase that bootleggers would use during the prohibition era to let people know that a party had illegal alcohol. The jaunty music he wrote did a lot to get people on the dance floors as well!
But though he's associated with lively entertainment, there was some grit beneath all that as well. Despite his success, Waller was still a black man living in early 20th century America, and he channelled that into legendary "Black and Blue" (a hit for Louis Armstrong) which is considered by some to be one of the first jazz protest songs:

I'm white inside, but that don't help my case / 'Cause I can't hide what is in my face
How would it end? Ain't got a friend / My only sin is in my skin
What did I do to be so black and blue?

Whatever the occasion, Fats had a song for it.

The End

But like a lot of great artists, Fats had his troubles. He was known for his hard partying lifestyle and frequent money problems that pushed him to be constantly working, and he would tragically pass away in 1943 from pneumonia while on tour.
The man was only 39 years old at the time, but as of today his legacy officially stretches 120 years! So spin a record today for Fats Waller, and get the joint jumpin' in his memory.
If you'd like to hear more of his music, I'd strongly recommend setting aside ninety minutes to watch the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin' because it's an incredible piece of theatre that showcases his music spectacularly. Diana Ross & The Supremes did an adorable tribute to him on The Ed Sullivan Show that's worth a watch too.
Any other Fats Waller fans in the sub? What are some of your favorite recordings of his songs?

Hello everybody! It's Strysker! What a day it is! I'm glad I have adrenaline in me, because I managed to track down those insipid keys! And I unlocked more locked rooms! That gave me a ton of amazing stuff! Now, I have 3 dozen revolver bullets, a Revolver, 2 Autoinjectors, a few Repair Sprays, and Disposable Stun Rods!
Now, any entity will die in my path! AHAHAHAHA!
ahem
I got a revolver, and I'm going to kill some android waifus with it!
I did have to use some revolver bullets to clear the enemies from my path. What a shame. I also did have to use the Repair Patches after I carelessly wandered into the paths of those disfigured EULRs and STRCs. I think? I need help identify these androids. Maybe, I have to read more to memorize them....
I wonder if she's alive... poor dominant android waifu....
Nevertheless, with my quest finished, I decided it was time to descend further into the pits of hell...
CIGARETTE WIFE
Anyways, that's it for today! I'm glad I'm finished with this level! Tomorrow, I shall begin the second part of this wonderful game! It was so worth it to buy this game! I'm loving this story! I'm loving this game!
I also changed my laptop and smartphone wallpaper into Elster's eye and face respectively I hope this isn't a bad sign I hope this doesn't mean I'm mentally deteriorating into the Signalis brainrot please help me I love this game so much!
CHAPTER 2: LIMINALITAT

Link for all the chapters available here: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road
“That’s strange,” Exar said a minute later, “I’m not picking up any of the satellite constellations. If it was just one of them knocked out, I’d put it down to a scheduled maintenance. But all of em? Fishy, that’s what it is.”
“I don’t understand,” Rene’s spirits plummeted at the news. He should have known it wouldn’t be so easy.
“Me neither, chief. But take it easy!” Exar assured him, “There’s an easy fix for that. Just hike me up someplace with better reception. Any place where we can get above all these damn trees is good.”
“I’m afraid that’s not exactly an option, noble Exar.”
Rene briefly summarized the situation, filling in the details whenever Exar interrupted him with a question, which was not often.
“Got it,” Exar said after listening attentively, “In short, you’ve got a tribe of devolved humanoids on your tail, also infected by the same parasitoids as our young miss over here. Comms are down, and our closest exfil point is at least thirty-nine klicks due southeast, where our friends, ‘the Fleet’, will be waiting for you.”
“How did you measure the distance so precisely?” Rene asked.
“The T.O.R.U. you were piloting is currently in power cycling mode, but it’s still sending out its mayday message for the repair crews. Judging by the fact that it ejected us via safety pod, the unit must’ve suffered potentially catastrophic damage to its subsystems. Not to worry, though. My inbuilt Geiger counter just gave the all-clear, so there was no meltdown in the reactor core.”
“The most pressing issue is that you have less than 72 hours’ worth of fungicidal doses left, and nothing with which to defend yourself but the monomachete from your kit. In addition, this young lady—”
“Zildiz,” Rene supplied him.
“My bad—Zildiz. I like it, very exotic. Zildiz belongs to a culture which behaves aggressively towards Exodus Industries development projects here on the ground. That everything?” Exar briskly concluded.
Rene nodded. Exar then immediately began outlining a plan of action. Their first priority was to gain altitude and establish communication with ‘Exodus Industries’, an entity which Rene assumed was the ancestor-gods’ equivalent to Fleet Command.
Exar would then signal for help using the spinning bowl (which it referred to as an ‘allcomm antenna’) and an interstellar shuttle would be sent to transport them to the one of the moons.
The moons! Rene was giddy at the prospect of becoming the first man to have returned to mankind’s celestial origin. He tried not to get his hopes too high, however, knowing life’s avowed fondness for ruining every dream a man ever had.
Failing that, Exar would use the high vantage point to triangulate their position using nearby geographic landmarks. Once they had their bearings, it would be a simple matter of hiking over to the nearest hardened base and knocking on the airlock doors.
“I must say, you’re taking all this bad news remarkably in stride, wise Exar,” he told the beeping sphere.
“Oh, puh-leeze! This ain’t my first rodeo, pardner. We E.X.A.R. units have dealt with far worse in our time.”
“Really? Worse than Arachnea?”
“Oh, is that what the kids are calling this place these days? Sure is catchier than 65 Syngman Bb, lemme tell ya. But yeah, this here is nuthin.”
Exar chuckled, a child amused by the backwardness of his senile grandparents.
“Alien plague strains from the thawed-out heart of an asteroid. Cosmophage armadas unleashed by rogue A.I. Not to mention all those privateer raids on the fringes of Pact space. We’ve dealt with them all, helped people survive through the worst the galaxy can throw at them. And with 95% success rate, too, if I may add,” Exar said somewhat immodestly, “Anywho, that’s enough of me jawing. Let’s go mobile, chief.”
“What, right now?”
“The mist’s our best shot, bo-sing. Natural concealment. No telling how long it’ll last.”
Before they left, Rene had Exar explain the functions of all the tools in the kit. The sphere confirmed what Rene had suspected: the slate fed on the radiance of the suns. Exar called it a ‘solar cell panel’. In turn, the pronged cords attached to the solar cell could transfer energy to artefact he wanted to use.
He connected the panel to the mysterious gauntlet with the underslung pipe, which Exar informed him was a ‘laser designator’, a tool meant for guiding in airdropped supplies or flying machines.
“It also doubles as a heat source. Just up the wattage on that sucker with the slide wheel on the edge of the hand. See it?”
Rene put on the gauntlet and activated it by means of a green switch under the thumb. A tight needle of red light shone from the tube, and Rene understood that it was basically like the electrochemical torches that miners used. When he adjusted the slide wheel the needle of light narrowed and grew brighter. Where it touched the granite walls of the burrow there, sour-smelling wisps of smoke rose.
Hot enough to scorch stone? He would have to be careful where he pointed this.
“Go easy on it, though,” Exar advised him, “That kinda power output will drain the juice in a jiffy.”
“The juice?” Rene repeated stupidly.
Exar made it clear to him that the artefacts could store ‘the juice’ from the panel. Moreover, the panel could be mounted on the front or the back of the jumpsuit by means of the same backpack rigging that held the breathing apparatus, allowing the user to collect the juice and charge up to two devices (Exar included) even while on the move. Even the bulky survival kit could be could be fastened to his loadout with a set of clasps at the bottom of the pack which Rene hadn’t noticed.
“As for me, I can hitch a ride on your backpack as well,” Exar told him brightly. And indeed, there was a spherical indentation above the breathing apparatus where Exar could fasten himself in with his stubby spike legs.
Rene whistled appreciatively at the compact nature of the jumpsuit’s design; the entire survival kit was so cleverly put together, a testament to the ancestor-gods’ practical mindset.
He secured his gear, choosing to split the juices between Exar and the gauntlet, and got ready to leave. Rene crouched at the hatch of the burrow like a man in a trench waiting for the shrill whistle that would propel him up and over into the desolate no-man’s land.
Then he noticed Zildiz still huddled in place, not even daring to look at him or the talking sphere. Rene had originally been grateful that Exar’s appearance had shut her up, but this state of catatonic shock of hers worried him.
“Coming?” he asked her.
“I’m not going anywhere with that…that thing!” she stated categorically.
“Was it something I said?” Exar sounded hurt.
“The simulacrum said it would cut me out of my exomorph. That would kill me, Fleet-man.”
“Madame, I got no intention of hurting you!” Exar protested, “But the fact is, you’re sick. The parasite’s attached to so many of the organs in your body, that I fear that it’s totally coopted their functions. Our people have the technology to reverse all that.”
“I will not heed the promises of a slaved intelligence!” she snapped.
Their argument was interrupted by a chorus of hair-raising screams from the jungle beyond. Even in those guttural, inhuman voices there was no mistaking the notes of grief and rage.
“They’ve found Kryptus,” Rene surmised, “Just like you said they would.”
“I take it the natives are restless,” Exar tittered nervously, “Tailo, methinks we gotta go.”
Rene saw Zildiz hesitate, weighing the balance of her fears and forming an internal consensus. He made a move to tip the scales in his favor, and spoke to her from the heart:
“Zildiz. I swear to you that as long as it is within my power to protect you, I will not allow you to come to harm. You are a prisoner of penultimate importance to the Fleet. I’d sooner die than fail in my mission to get you back to civilization. If you doubt my intentions, consider the fact that nobody in their right minds would’ve tried so hard to keep you alive, not unless they have very good reasons to do so.”
“I am not like the Leapers or your people, the Gallivants. I am a soldier of the Fleet, and my priority is the continuation of my species—our species,” he added firmly, “Now, I can’t begin to imagine what horrors and depravities your kind have suffered these past few centuries, or what the Vitalus has taught you to believe. But in my mind, we are all one people under the same god. If that god is the Vitalus, then it is clear that he hates us. Why else would he, in all his supposed omnipotence, condemn us to live in this unending state of warfare and ignorance? Why does he forbid the full use of the human intellect, the sole source of our comfort and security in an uncaring universe? Why must he despise us so?”
“I don’t know the answers to those questions. But I do know this: I do not hate you, Zildiz of the Gallivants. In fact, I would very much like to help you. Will you let me do that?”
Rene stood up and lifted the hatch, turning to offer her a hand.
“Besides! If you come with me, we can go ask the gods in person.”
This is certainly new, Zildiz thought, unsure of what to make of Rene’s offer. His suggestion of a pan-kindred alliance bound together by their shared ancestry was ridiculous, of course. She knew enough of the mathematical models and the general principles of nature to know that such an undertaking was doomed by definition. And yet here was an opportunity unlike any other.
Rene meant to take her to one of the last remaining holdfasts of the Betrayers. Who would have thought that those ancient demons were still clinging on to life, lurking in some nameless abyss, waiting for their chance to wreak one final act of vengeance upon an unsuspecting Arachnea.
And here she was, uniquely placed to destroy them all in one fell stroke. Once she was nestled in that abode of evil, a single transmission from her magnetosynaptic organ to the Vitalus was all it would take to bring Its righteous fury down upon them.
The rewards would be immense. At the very least they would make her a Matriarch. Her gilt helix would live on forever in the generations to come, her legacy enshrined in the undying architecture of the genome. Her children would never go hungry or cold for the rest of their lives. She and her brood could have their pick of exomorph grafts.
Infrared eyes for night stalking, hypo thorax stabilizer tendons for prolonged flight, extra waste ducts, subdermal heat signature regulators, biochemical afterburners to add thrust, not to mention a whole slew of offensive weaponry—nothing would be off the table!
All she had to do was take Rene’s hand.
She did. The Fleet-man lifted her up out of the burrow, trying not to look too surprised at her acceptance.
A very naïve race, she decided. He caught her calculating gaze and must have mistaken it for the beginnings of friendship, for he said:
“Glad to have you aboard, Zildiz. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”
Link for all the chapters available here: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road