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The New Classics: Memorable music from 1990-2010

2019.03.15 20:19 dontgive_afuck The New Classics: Memorable music from 1990-2010

Great job, Spez.

2024.05.19 17:48 KpopRates The "Late Gen 2" Girl Groups Rate - The Finalized Songlist!

Hello everyone! All the votes from the feedback survey have been tallied, and after some really tough decisions, we have arrived at the finalized song list for the rate!
Here is the final songlist for the main rate (the songs that have been added after the songlist feedback survey are in bold):

T-ARA (6 songs):

Bo Peep Bo Peep
Like The First Time
Roly Poly
Sexy Love
Number Nine
Sugar Free

f(x) (7 songs):

Nu ABO
Hot Summer
Electric Shock
Rum Pum Pum Pum
Airplane
Red Light
4 Walls

Secret (3 songs):

Madonna
Poison
I'm In Love

Rainbow (1 song):

SISTAR (7 songs):

Ma Boy
Alone
Give It To Me
Touch My Body
I Swear
Shake It
I Like That

missA (4 songs):

Bad Girl Good Girl
Touch
Hush
Only You

Girl's Day (6 songs):

Twinkle Twinkle
Don't Forget Me
Expect
Female President
Something
I'll Be Yours

9Muses (4 songs):

Ticket
Dolls
Wild
Hurt Locker

DalShabet (2 songs):

B.B.B
Someone Like U

Apink (8 songs):

NoNoNo
Mr. Chu
Luv
Remember
I'm So Sick
Eung Eung
Dumhdurum
Dilemma

Stellar (2 songs):

Vibrato
Sting
And here is our bonus rate:
T-ARA - Lovey Dovey
f(x) - Rude Love
Secret - Love Is Move
miss A - Love Song
Girl's Day - Thirsty
9Muses - News

Total Song Count: 50 main rate songs (& 6 bonus songs)

Explanations for song changes/inclusions/exclusions:

The rankings-within-a-group,❤️s/👍s, and Top 7s were all converted into points and tallied up to create overall point scores for every song in the survey.
The Top 16 songs with the highest point scores were all put into the rate, as well as Dilemma and Love Is Move.
For T-ARA, because Love Dovey, Like The First Time, and Sexy Love all received a ton of votes, I decided to give T-ARA another spot so that all three of these songs could make it. I decided to make Lovey Dovey the bonus as it's the only song of the 3 to be previously rated on popheads, and so I think making Sexy Love and Like The First Time the two main rate songs will provide more new/unique data.
For f(x), I have decided to keep Nu ABO and Hot Summer (which received very high scores) and to cut Pinnochio (Danger). It received notably less points in the voting compared to Nu ABO and Hot Summer, and I felt like we already had the essential f(x) songs in the rate, so this way we could make more room for songs from other groups [also, since f(x) doesn't have that many singles to begin with, we're still rating ~75% of f(x)'s entire singles discography, so we're not really excluding many of them to begin with]
Secret received by far the most amount of votes in the "Which group do you want to see get more songs?" question, and Madonna, I'm In Love and Poison all received high point totals, so I have decided to increase allocations from 1 song to 3 main rate songs, plus Love Is Move as a bonus song ~~as basically my payola pick~~.
For SISTAR, only Shake It performed well in scoring/voting and the other three songs performed poorly, so I have decided to only put Shake It in the rate and I have cut SISTAR's bonus spot, since people don't seem to feel strongly about the other SISTAR songs.
For miss A, Touch performed very well in scoring/voting, but the other two songs performed poorly, so I only put Touch into the rate and have also cut a miss A spot to give spots to songs from other groups [Also, miss A had only eight singles, which I learned just earlier today, so allocating only 4 main spots for miss A feels more proportionate/right]
For Girl's Day, I'll Be Yours performed very well in the voting. On the other hand, Twinkle Twinkle and Don't Forget Me were actually the 15th and 16th highest scoring songs, respectively, meaning they were on the very borderline of being included in the main rate (and there is a big gap between 14th and 15th/16th), so they were the group I spent the most amount of time deliberating on. In the end, while I personally don't feel too strongly about either song, I decided to be nice and increase the size of the rate by allocating both of them into the rate, since it'll be very unlikely we get a chance to rate either song in the future. ~~Also, you could say this is to avenge the fact that no Girl's Day songs were put onto popheads's K-Pop Gen 2 Girl Groups Rate~~
For 9Muses, since Ticket and News both did fairly well in voting, I decided to give 9Muses another spot and put Ticket into the main rate and News into bonus.
For Apink, the majority said they wanted less Apink songs in the rate, so I have listened! I have cut an Apink spot from the main rate, as well as cutting Apink's bonus spot (since all the Apink songs except Dilemma did very poorly in scoring/voting). Dilemma was by far the #1 pick for the Apink song, and thinking long-term, this way I can (hopefully) make more space for other songs in the 2022 in K-Pop rate (whenever we get around to that).
I did want to include more of the B-sides in the rate (as I think they'd be interesting wildcards), but all of the B-sides had the lowest scores/votes, so I had to scrap all of the B-sides in the voting section.
For the songs in the voting section that didn't make it in, the reasoning behind excluding them is primarily "they didn't receive enough points/votes in the survey". If you have any inquiries on any specific songs, though, feel free to comment down below!

The rate is planned to start on Tuesday, May 21st. We will be taking the weekend to prepare for it, but in the meantime, we are going to share the playlists for the rate in case any of y'all want to start on it early:

Spotify playlist
Youtube playlist (Audio Version)

That's all for now! Feel free to comment your thoughts on the songlist below, and if you have any questions/inquiries, feel free to ask!

submitted by KpopRates to kpoprates [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:45 raquel18ls The Starset lore part IV: A Brief History of the Future

Hi, guys! I'm back. I've just finished reading Starset's new novel, A Brief History of the Future, and i really needed to share it.
Some of you may know me from my previous posts on the Starset lore:

In "The Starset lore Part I: Transmissions", I covered the events told in The Prox Transmissions (Starset's first novel) and linked them to the album Transmissions.
In "The Starset lore Part II: DivisionsThe Starset lore Part II: Divisions", I tried to gather the information we had on the new storyline, mainly based on Divisions content (Horizons hadn't released yet by then) and I shared my speculations about its meaning.

Now that I've read this book, I want to sum up what we have now. Keep in mind that, for obvious reasons, this post is all spoiler content. If you plan to read the book(s) I encourage you to do so, because I'm unveiling some of the main "plot-twists" in the second book. I won't be writing a literal summary of the book's plot (I will focus on the content more than in the "drama" -in fact, I will start at the end), but key elements of it will appear. Also, I'm taking for granted you are already familiar with the contents in The Prox Transmissions -if not, I recommend you reading my post or just dropping this post altogether and go read the book!
If you have already read the books, don't plan to read them or don't care about the spoilers, stay with me along this long post because you will discover much about Divisions, Horizons... and what's coming next!!
Let's go then!
In a unknown year the novel starts in a world dominated by a state called the New East. it's not explicit in the book, but we have reasons to identify the New East with China: it is a current superpower and the powerful people in control have Chinese names. This state is governed by a Governing Committee, composed by Ministers that stay in charge for 5 years, with an exception: the Minister of Security, also known as MinSec. He is the head of the New East's secret police and he is to remain in charge for life.
Prior to 2024, Aston Wise (remember he was one of the protagonists of the previous novel!) is locked up by the US Government. They force him to create the BMI and its Architecture. In 2024, as I have said, the New East manages to obtain it and the big war starts. This part of the story is also explained deeper in a video (called "Initial Debriefing", available in Starset's YouTube channel since September 9th, 2021), with some minor incongruencies:

In the year 2010, the US Defense Advance Research Projects Agency -or DARPA- began work on a neural link system known as the "Brain Machine Interface" developed under the highest levels of secrecy. This technology was to be used in covert espionage campaigns with the goal of giving the US a major advantage in the ever-growing cyber warfare battlefield. The intention was to use the "BMI" on unsuspecting foreign agents, giving US Intelligence a remote line into their minds. Launched in 2020 to great success, the BMI provided a window into the intentions and secrets of numerous potential adversaries. Then, in 2021, a botched operation allowed this technology to fall into the hands of an undisclosed state who would then use it agains the US itself for over a decade. This state -which came to be known as the New East- used this technology to syphon intellectual property and assert control over the US, allowing it to rise swiftly as a global superpower. In the early 2030s, the crippled US launched an attack to the New East. This was quickly thwarted. However, as the New East was fully aware and prepared, in the end, the US and its allies capitulated and became known simply as the New West. Citizens of the New West, now mostly impoverished laborers, were offered BMI implantation -sold on the wonders of its amazing benefits. Eventually though, all were made to comply. Only then did the true goals of the New East become apparent.

The New West is a de facto and de iure protectorate. The New West has its own local police -that dealt with murder and robbery-, but the military and, most important, the Civil Authorities (CA), are controlled by MinSec -focused on thought crime.
Soon after the end of the war, some people were drafted for the reclamation in Virginia by the New East army. This was a forced-labor suicide mission because it was a fallout zone. The goal was the recovery of documents from the US, such as blueprints for advanced weapons and intel. Those who survived, developed NeuroTIDS (neural tissue interface degeneration syndrome) because of the radiation.
Once in control of the US (now New West), the New East implanted into all citizens the BMI. Now, people deal with three layers of reality: unaltered reality (UR), augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Considering the BMI, there are three states:

BMI glowing white (normal state: people are in UR with elements of AR).
BMI glowing blue (also called frosting: people are in VR having some pleasant experience, while looking absent and apathetic in the outside). See an example of person frosting in the Diving Bell music video.
BMI glowing red (also called supplication).

(There also exists the Everything Machine in this storyline. Indeed, people ate only printed food, as real food as reserved for the New East).
On top of this, there’s an intelligent algorythm or artificial intelligence in the Architecture, called the Overseer. It is capable of detecting thought crimes by accessing a person's sensory input and also altering their perceptions (for example, blurring texts from banned books). When a thought crime is detected, CAs intervene and turn the perpetrator into a supplicant. Supplicants are stuck in VR prisons while their bodies wander in the streets or are collected and put into "corrals". See an example of a supplication facility in Where the Skies Ends music video.
The protectorate of the New East upon the New West is mantained thanks to the Quantum Comunicator, which keeps both connected and also connected to the Architecture
On the other hand, there's a rebel network still in function. They manage to meet and develop their plans by modding their BMIs, so that they become undetectable under the eyes of the Overseer. Their plan is to trap the MinSec and use their credentials to get access to the Architecture and destroy it from the inside.
(In Manifest music video you can see examples of people frosting, people supplicated, the modding minor surgery, the rebels, the CAs using their "freezing" weapons and supplicating civilians and a bigwig from the New East, maybe the MinSec himself).
Also, it is said that the New East didn't manage to conquer all the Old West (US) territories. There's rumours about the socalled Western Territories, free land where some former rebels already live, though its real existence it's in never confirmed in book. In The Breach music video we can see how a family leaving in the New West takes the opportunity of escaping into the Western Territories during some sort of shutdown.
The New West capital is established in Philadelphia, where the events in A Brief History of the Future are set. Here's the Quantum Communication Center and the New West Center for Advanced Innovation (CAI), where the most brilliant programming students are sent to develop their skills and work for the New West/East. One of this students is one of the protagonists of this book, Thomas Bell (again, someone whose name we are already familiar...), who quickly proves to be the best one and gets to be chosen as the Director's assistant. Eventually we get to discover the Director is Aston Wise and later on we find out he is the Architect himself.
A feature or app of the BMI that will reveal crucial to the plot is the Shadowcast: one can frost but, instead of being conscious in a VR, "enters" inside a celebrity's mind for an hour and experiences all they are experiencing live (the user is passive and can only perceive, but not intervene or influence the shadowcast celebrity into doing anything). You can see an example of this in Symbiotic music video, where the user is finally able to successfully Occupy the body of the celebrity. In the book, when this happens, the person occupied has their BMI turned purple.
In the book, Occupation will be a tool used by Bell and Wise, but also by the government, in an attempt of using the supplicated bodies to their own purposes. The original project launched by the New East and commissioned to the Director of the CAI (Aston Wise), was called by Wise himself 'Project X'. New East wanted to present it to the citizens as a way of emancipating from work: while working, you can let yourself be occupied by the Overseer, who wil perform your job while you can be having fun in VR. In Icarus music video you can see an ad made by the New East to promote the "benefits" of this technology (called Werk here); the other ads are based on previous BMI technology (AR, VR and Shadowcast). (Fun fact: have you noticed that the actor in 3:12 is the same from the Ricochet music video?).
As I said in the beginning, it is not my goal to sum up the book's plot and even though I have already spoiled you much info and some plot-twists, I'm not telling you here how the story of the protagonists develops and how it ends. However, I can't refrain from telling you this: the last page of the book has a QR that redirects to a video that has me really excited.
In the video, we see a man. He tells us it is 2048. In spring 2026, the New East took over the US. But... guess who's back! Oh, yes, the Order! Or rather they were there all along. In fact, the man who's talking to us is Stephen Browning! On July 4th of 2026, after the New East invasion, the Order tried to launch a spacerocket to get to "a lonely planet" (Prox!), but it was intercepted by the New East and then the army destroyed their base, so they lost all hope in a future on another planet. However, they managed to hide a "time mechanism" (I guess the same they had in The Prox Transmissions) and, finally, sent a message to 2024, warning us about this future that awaits us. Then he sais:

Dear Order friends, the time has finally arrived. We're headed to space. We're going go Prox.

This announcement matches Starset's video from six months ago ("It begins. And it ends. Now."), where we see images of astronauts and spacerockets, evoking space travel. Wow! Did you miss that "space-y" aesthetic, plots and sound from Transmissions and Vessels? Because it sounds like we're getting them back! Note that at the end of this video, the three dots of the BMI are occupied by three symbols:

The bottom one is the symbol of the Order, appears at the beginning of each chapter in The Prox Transmissions.
The middle one is the symbol of Divisions album, I'd say it's a symbol of the rebels.
The top one is... unknown? It is quite similar to me to the symbol in Faultline, but I guess it represents the "following chapter"? Who knows.

It also matches the music video for Starset's last single, Brave New Word! And there's more news: the end of the video linked in A Brief History Of the Future ends with a "to be continued in Spring 2025".
So... Again, there are some questions left unanswered (and I love that!): How are both books linked? Are they the same Aston Wise and Thomas Bell, but in an alternative timeline? From where will the story continue? (The Order in 2048 colonising Prox?). I'm soooo excited to learn what's coming next and to listen Starset's next album (I love Brave New World).
Let me know about your impressions, opinions, theories... feel free to add any info I could have missed, to correct any piece I could be mistaken about, etc. Thank you so much for your attention (I literally created this account only to write these Starset lore posts I feel very invested to and English isn't even my first or second language), I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful!!

submitted by raquel18ls to Starset [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:44 Maleficent_Meat_368 21f unsure of career path. What should I do with my business degree?

So to start, my job is dead end and became the most miserable place I could ever imagine. I have worked my way up from this job since I was 16 in high school to now a 21 year old graduating next year. I work 40+ hours a week and do college classes online.
I’m graduating at a super low pace because I work while completing classes (9 credits a semester). My major is business and I currently work as a restaurant manager. My GM quit a few weeks ago and I’m left for the role, which I don’t want (for many, many, many reasons I won’t get into). I want to quit my job and find internships / expand my degree while working to make money and pay my bills. However I’m struggling to find good paying jobs (I currently make $20+ an hour with ZERO benefits). Also the fact that I’ve worked at this job for so long and only compared school to my current position, I know nothing else. I grew to hate and move on from the restaurant industry because I just feel much more worthy than that environment. I want internships and entry-level positions but it’s so difficult with little to no relevant experience, also living in the middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania. All jobs I find online are based in Philly, Harrisburg, or somewhere hours away from my schooling. (I enrolled in local CC). For someone who wants to be free and have opportunity, I seemed to get comfortable at home. I live independently with my significant other and we both have similar paths in the same direction so I include him in my life plans because we both want the same things (he just graduated with the same degree I’m currently going for and he’s an entrepreneur with pending patents on a product he created - so I’m not worried about him) me on the other hand, I’m unsure of what I should be doing and how I should be networking? This is long and wordy but I truly feel a bit at a loss. I’m just so miserable being in my comfort zone and I don’t know where to jump? This sounds so typical for a college student to rant about, but thanks for reading!

submitted by Maleficent_Meat_368 to careerguidance [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:43 FlareTheDemon AITAH in the relationship with my ex?

I am F16, my ex is M18. loved my ex. I want to get that out of the way. He wasn't conventionally attractive, but I thought he looked nice and was a wonderful person. He was autistic and had adhd, which made some stuff challenging, but I loved him and was willing to deal with it, since I myself had BPD and he was willing to deal with it (or so he said). Do note this relationship was long distance.
I knew him for four years before we dated. We didn't talk much for a year or so, before dating. I had gotten out of a relationship, a little after we had reconnected. I didn't want to date again for at least a year, but he was kind to me and we talked quite often. I started to fall for him, but he told me he was aromantic so I never pursued.
We jokingly would flirt though, and spend a lot of time talking together. One day he told me he might be demiromantic, not aromantic, because he felt something for me. I talked more with him after that, about relationship type things. Eventually I confessed, and then a while later, he confessed back to me. When we started dating, we agreed on certain things. He didn't know if he loved me romantically, but he was happy to engage in romantic behaviors and he felt some type of love for me. I was okay with this. I made him aware of what my BPD looked like, he said he was okay with that too.
For the beginning of the relationship, the first few months, it was lovely and we enjoyed each other's company (at least I thought we did). Rough patches were smoothed over pretty easily. Eventually, behaviors I have from BPD, specifically being easily triggered to react emotionally, became more prevalent. There was a point where he wanted to break up with me, then after a conversation, decided to let me try and resolve the behavior. I did try, I tried very hard.
I think I probably should have let it go, though. After this event, he began to tell his friends and family about all our dramas. Probably a red flag, since I only spoke to one person (my best friend) and never painted him negatively, though his family hates me now so he must have. We met a month after this, and it was the best five days I ever had. I felt loved, we got along well (I thought, Ill touch on this later). A month later, he begins online college. Okay, cool. Great. I was happy for him.
He told me it wouldn't affect our relationship, and at first it didn't, but eventually he stopped doing it in a timely manner and would fail to achieve commitments he had said he would do. Every day I would ask if we planned to call, I would've been fine with a yes or no. He always said yes, but often wouldn't keep the commitment. At first I handled it just fine, but eventually it became upsetting.
I'm a busy person, and I'm not free during my day until evening. He's free most of his days, almost constantly. I would do my best to be available at our designated time, and would feel hurt (and eventually react as such) when he wouldn't. Especially when he started to put off his schoolwork to hang out with his friends, often after having said we would talk later that day too. I brought this up to him, I want to say. I told him if he wanted time to himself, he could tell me how long he wanted and I would give it to him. He never did tell me, but he often would tell me that when I was awake he never felt free. He would stay up very late because that was the only time he felt free. He said he was always worried I would need him, so I guess there was a red flag in that too.
Touching back on the meeting him in person thing. He has a large family, and his family has a small farm with livestock dogs on it. His younger siblings were very interested in me, since I was a new person, and they wanted to hang out with me. I also love dogs, and have always wanted one, so I spent some time with the dogs out on the farm. I would invite him to play with his siblings with me, or go see the dog. I slept six hours a night for those five days, and would be with him for 16-17 hours a day. We would go out places and talk, and I would spend maybe two or three of those hours at the most around his siblings/the dog.
Later on, after we went on our break (I'll talk about this too, later) he said to me that he felt I wanted to make an impression on his siblings more than I did with him, and that we were at different points in our lives because I still wanted to have fun and play around (I want to reiterate that his siblings would seek me out). He told me he wanted us to have spent more time just laying around and cuddling, rather than going out to so many places, but never said this to me while we were together in person. I invited his oldest sister to come with us to a place (before asking him), though I told her I would need him to agree before we finalized anything, and then asked him after. He didn't like that.
Now, before I get into the last section of this, I want to establish that he was very kind to me (usually). We bought each other gifts, spent time together, made plans, and all of that stuff. He made me happy, I thought I made him happy too.
In our relationship, we both failed to communicate, and I would fail to discuss things calmly, letting my emotions get the best of me. I wouldn't leave him alone very often, wouldn't let him do stuff away from me very often. I loved being around him, but he wanted time apart and I tended not to give that to him. I should have. This was his first relationship that he wanted to last, but his second relationship in total. I've had many more before this, but this was the only one I really felt commitment to. We talked about marrying, about buying a house, about pets and family. I feel as if we did everything right, or at least he did. I was the emotional one, who wanted too much. I know it was mainly my fault.
When we went on break, it was because I couldn't take it anymore and lost my cool. He'd promised we could talk that night, I was extremely vulnerable emotionally because of something with my family. He failed to finish his work on time, told me he needed another two hours. I snapped. I went down the list of "everything I hate about you (him)". I told him most of the stuff I'm saying here, and some others.

I hate how you never take my advice
I hate how you ask me to help you stay on track but never listen to me
I hate how you get upset with me easily, but never do with any of your friends Etc.

We talked after that, he acted pretty normal. The next day he dropped that on me, despite saying the night before that he wanted to be there for us to both improve.
I started therapy after that, I started trying to find ways to work around all my issues while he continued his typical daily routine. I didn't mind. He initiated flirting with me, and other stuff, that I reciprocated and went along with because I loved him and I still love him even now, and it was all my fault even if I know it wasn't all my fault it feels like it was all my fault. He said he never wants to speak to me again, blocked me, all of it.
During our break, I tried confronting our problems and finding solutions. He dropped several bombs on me, that make me feel rather insecure even now about whether he ever liked me for me or just because of other physical (you know what I mean) attributes, bring that that was all he would really comment on positively.
He told me he never loved me, and never likes me.
Now, what led to the final actual break up, was that I have been planning with another friend to move to Salt Lake City for actual years. He wanted to be part of it, and so did another friend. My household situation isn't great, won't go into too many details but I have been having stress reactions since many years ago, that have been getting steadily worse. I wanted to move out at 18, I'm almost 17. I've been kind of panicking about all of this, and yesterday I snapped (sort of). The conversation with him went sort of like this:

I tell him he and the other two won't enjoy the talk we'll have Monday
He asks why
I said "you guys probably just wont"
He tells me I'm being defeatist
I tell him I'm not, then give more details on the conversation. He and the other two are 18, 18, and 20. Two of them come from well-off families. I felt frustrated that neither of them, especially him, work yet or have been trying to even get their driver's license. I intend to skip two years of high-school to take my GED and start working because I don't have another choice. They have choices, and I don't. I wanted to get this point across.

I go on further to say he and the other person's view of maturity is narrow-minded and flawed. A while later he tells me he no longer wants to be involved with me or anything to do with me, after talking to other people and getting their opinions.
Tl;Dr, had a relationship with someone I really liked, I feel like I'm to blame for the collapse of it. He had autism/adhd, I had BPD, we went on break so I could try to fix my problems (he said he would too but it didn't really feel much like he was), and then broke up because I confronted him (albeit poorly) about how I felt he and another person treated the future they wanted to be involved in. There were a lot of things that hurt me really badly in the relationship, but I think I hurt him worse. AITAH?

submitted by FlareTheDemon to AITAH [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:42 WorldGoneAway Weekend at Harvey's

(TL;DR - I run a module written by a DM from another group, it goes off the rails, I allow it, we have fun, and the other DM completely loses their shit on me when they hear about it a few years later.)
This one is hopefully going to be fun, the original event happened a number of years ago, and the end of the event is fairly recent, so a lot of the earlier details are a little bit fuzzy but I can definitely relate the story.
Back in my game store days, I was the DM of one of two consistent Dungeons & Dragons groups at my LGS. The other DM and I really weren't friends, and I can't say we even actually liked each other, but we had a mutual respect and we had a few common players in our respective games.
One day the other DM approached me with a folder of papers. He said he had written a module that he was thinking of publishing and he wanted to have other DMs run the game with a few different groups at the same time so that he can have usable feedback. I told him I would read it and then I would try running it with my group.
It wasn't bad. Not exactly the best writing, there were some small spelling and grammar mistakes, but not anything incomprehensible. The plot basically involves a corrupt treasurer of a merchant guild blackmailing the player characters into doing a long series of side quests because he could very easily frame them for an event they witness.
The thing about this was that the writer spent a considerable amount of effort in writing contingencies so that the villain in the story could not be killed too early because it would ultimately result in the players getting framed for the event anyway. Kind of heavy-handed railroading, but I would give it a shot.
The corrupt merchant guild treasurer was Harvey. He was a smarthy middle-aged half-elf with what was described as a "manipulative personality"; None of that is actually relevant to the story.
My players decided that instead of trying to investigate the potential murder of another merchant guild office holder, they were going to try to loot Harvey's office before meeting him.
While the players are looting, Harvey walks back into his office after paying for the hit on the other office holder, one of the party members panics and wins the initiative before Harvey can even speak. Two natural 20s later, Harvey is dead.
Well shit.
The thing is, the way the module was written, every opportunity the players would have to kill him early, there would be witnesses and contingencies. This particular event did not, and wasn't exactly planned for in the original writing. When the players characters search him, and find out who he is, the players collectively panic and try to find a way to get out of the situation without having the whole town after them.
So after about 30 minutes of in and out of character discussion among the players, they eventually came to an agreement...
They were going to try to keep up a charade where everybody in town thought Harvey was still alive and that they were his best friends looking out for him enough for the events of the story to resolve themselves.
"Hold on, you guys are going to actually try to do a Weekend at Bernie's on this?"
"Well, what other options do we have? We are in big trouble otherwise! "
Every single time something like this happens, I am famous for saying four very specific words…
"Okay, roll for it."
Potentially 15 sessions worth of dark political conspiracy then proceeded to turn into 22 sessions of black comedy gold.
Finally at the end, one of the other merchant guild office holders storms into Harvey's office while the players characters are in the next room trying to explain to a town guard that the reason Harvey is slumped in his chair is because he's drunk. In full view of the party and the guard through an open dividing wall, the other merchant proceeds to start stabbing Harvey multiple times. The other merchant guild member is promptly arrested for Harvey's murder, and the players are praised for being true friends to Harvey and the town, and are invited to his funeral.
The hilarious thing is that this end result was in fact one of the possible endings that the original author had written into the module (merchant guild member murders Harvey and frees the PCs of the blackmail). My players just had a really messed up way of getting there though.
I went back to the other DM, handed him back the folder, told him that the players loved it, we took a few liberties, but they ended up getting what he called "Ending C" in the DM notes. He asked me for constructive criticism, and I gave him the pretty basic stuff but also mentioned a couple extra contingencies to try to keep the plot from being too inflexible.
We didn't talk about this for a few years, then I bumped into his game group when I came back in to browse the scene at my LGS a couple of weeks ago. DM greeted me and explained that the group was playing the revised version of his module for the fourth time with different characters, trying to get each of the different endings. While we were talking I ended up letting it slip just how off the rails that module got when I ran it.
I didn't think it was a big deal, But that DM proceeded to get fairly angry and offended. He asked me specifically what happened and I explained that they rather accidentally killed Harvey at the very beginning of the module and pretended he was still alive for 22 sessions just so that they would not get arrested. Two of the players at the table started to laugh hysterically, one of the players looked genuinely horrified and the DM got pissed and raised his voice.
"YOU ACTUALLY LET THEM DO THAT!? THAT'S NOT HOW THE TONE OF THE STORY IS SUPPOSED TO GO!"
I tried telling him it wasn't a big deal, told him it was just a game and that the players had a blast, but he wasn't having any of it. He told me if I was going to "defile" his writing, I should at least keep the tone consistent with the original work and tell him when it happens. I apologized, but he demanded that I leave the room. I just turned and left.
Over the ensuing week I heard from a couple of different people that this guy was cursing my name left and right and how in someway I betrayed his trust by letting the game get that way. Worst yet he somehow found my number so that he could bombard me with angry text messages about the subject. Tried to text him an apology and an explanation, but I'm pretty sure he blocked me. Haven't talked to him since.
I understand that it was his brainbaby of sorts, but I can't help but feel like this is a complete overreaction. Not to mention he clearly had it edited such that he was happy enough to run it four times and was satisfied with it. I wouldn't personally hold this kind of thing against anybody that did this very thing with one of my games. What do you guys think?

submitted by WorldGoneAway to rpghorrorstories [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:41 Ok_Marzipan_4766 Question about building Michigan Sloyd spoon mule

For anyone who has built the michigan sloyd spoon mule--what are the dimensions/angles on the legs? I'm going off the free PDF and that's the one part I'm worried I'll mess up. I'd love to buy the plans, but I just paid my tuition haha so things are pretty tight. I'm trying to make it work with what I have for wood and tools. Do you think that as long as the legs are even, it'll work out? Do the angles matter that much? Thanks!

submitted by Ok_Marzipan_4766 to Spooncarving [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:40 Ambitious-Yoghurt226 WIBTAH if I (27f)told my sister (33F) she is being selfish and ridiculously careless.

I (27f) hit a breaking point. My siblings and I are all pretty spaced out and have obviously hit different stages in life and sometimes cannot relate to one another. My (33f) sister has 3 kids 10f, 9f, and 2m and is married. My sister always dreamt of graduating college and being whatever she wanted idk what her scholar dreams were. She never really worked she didn’t get her first job until she was in college and even then has always been a careless spender. I however, started my first job at 16. I worked hard, school was never what I dreamt of which my parents hated because I have always received great academic scores, AP student whatever. My sister for whatever circumstances, did get her AA but flunked out of her BA because kids life idk.. she just recently went back to school and had finished her first semester. We have all been very proud and supportive. BUT she’s been talking about a program that will begin in August and it’s out of the country for a month. She has beeeegggged everyone to make it happen for her. She’s asked for money and now wants my mom and I to watch her two eldest daughters as she plans to take off with just her baby boy. I am proud of her for going back to school and accomplishing her dream of getting a higher degree but wtf??? To abandon your kids and not just that dump them on others?!? Don’t get me wrong I love my nieces but I work a full time job at a corporation, I am extremely busy I don’t have kids but have 2 big dogs and I am also married. My husband also works long shifts not to mention my mother!!! She is putting my little sister through college and has my brother 14m so it’s not like she has free time to spare! Idk am I not understanding because I never had these dreams or am I valid for thinking this? I think I’m more old school. Like you are married with kids, go to school without having to do a program abroad. You’re not 18 or 20 by yourself. You have responsibilities and can’t be expecting others to just do that for you? Someone guide me before I open my mouth

submitted by Ambitious-Yoghurt226 to FamilyIssues [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:38 Informal-Figure-125 2 year post op reherniated

Hello long post I'm sorry!

 I am 30f I had hurt by back lifting at work in October 2020 and was bed ridden. fast forward January 2022 I had a Microdiscectomy that changed my life it took me from constant pain to practically pain free a complete change of life. After surgery i was given 2 months worth of heavy restrictions and 6 month plan to get me mobile I did have a standing 25 lbs lift restriction. May 9th I coughed in bed on my side and felt something pop. I didn't get out of bed until morning when I collapsed. My left leg which has already significant nerve damage and numbness in my toes was completely numb from knee down when I tried to stand the worst pain of my life started in my back and shot down the back of my leg. I had my mom to take me to the hospital. Took a few hours The hospital called in the people for mri because I couldn't sit or lay I could only stand hunched over the bed. Turns out I reherniated not sure how big they said but it was significant and they were worried about the nerve. My last surgeon couldn't come to the hospital I was at and the ER Dr didn't think it best to transfer me out. So I had their neurosurgeon do the emergency Microdisc they said I would need.

This is why I am making the post. This surgery was supposed to be routine but instead of taking 2 hours it took 5. Which happens surgery isnt exact. Dr explained to my husband I was in so much pain because the disc had herniated around the nerve pulling it into my spine the surgery took so long because this wasnt seen in the MRI. I woke up in pain only really being able to stand for relief again. My nurses told me to plan on being in hospital 3 days after surgery because I have a huge flight of basement steps to get home. Iwas sent home the next day the 10th When I seen and asked my surgeon about the surgery he sort of shrugged and casually said I may need fusion surgery. He said the nerve was really deep and permanently damaged (again) When pressed by my husband about preventing fusion DR said that there is nothing we (him the dr or I) could do that it's a disease of the disc and that it's not preventable. He gave me no restrictions not when I asked what I should be doing what the plan for mobility was he said "whatever feels right to lift 5 pounds before 10 Limit my BLT." He also said I could go back to work right away because I work from home. The strangest part is he told me no Tylenol no ibuprofen to take 4 vicodin a day for 14 days. He will see me in a month. This doesn't seem right to me my last surgeon gave me 3 days of some kind of pain med and I remember taking Tylenol and a muscle relaxer. I don't take pain medication after a family member became dependent after a leg surgery and it tossed up his life. My real question is Has anyone had success with this type of "do whatever" treatment plan? Or is the surgeon expecting me to know to follow the recovery plan from last time?

submitted by Informal-Figure-125 to Microdiscectomy [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:37 Frogdude13 Code 3BPN62R --> $5 TOTAL for 1st month of unlimited. (no fees)

Use my friend code, 3BPN62R, at checkout and get a $20 discount on your first month of service.
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submitted by Frogdude13 to VisibleWirelessPromos [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:36 mehaveniceones Minecraft server - which provider plan do I select

I was searching for the cheapest options for servers. I want to play on 1.12.2 forge with about 25-30 mods totaling 90-110mb. I will have usually 6-14 players. what I found to be cheapest are PloxHost and Sparked. Which should I use?
The parameters of the PlaxHost diamond plan are:
RAM - 6GB DDR3
Disk - Unlimited Storage
Unlimited Slots
Unmetered Bandwidth
Free Website Hosting
Dual Intel Xeon E5-2690 Series (or better)
DDR4 ECCSSD Storage
Nightly Backup
$9
The parameters of the Sparked plan are:
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
DDR4 @ 2666 MHz RAM
RAID 1 NVMe SSD
1 Gbit Multi-blend
4 GB RAM
Unlimited Slots
100GB NVMe Storage
Up to 120 Gbps DDoS Protection
5 MySQL Databases
• 3 backup slots
$9

submitted by mehaveniceones to Minecraft [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:36 KingJames0613 Warrants/Units could allow shareholders to take huge profits without selling a single share.

Warrants are equity derivatives/contracts that give an investor the opportunity to buy shares at a specified price, usually valid for several years and able to be exercised anytime before the expiration date. However, owning a warrant does not mean you are obligated to buy them.
Units are similar to warrants. Units can be a bit more complex and can come in several forms, but they usually give rights to convert to shares at a future date (delayed dilution). Units can sometimes include shares and warrants in them. Warrants/Units can be traded, just like options and futures. Warrants/Units can be issued with or attached to bonds, common stock, and preferred stock. Theoretically, GameStop could issue warrants/units directly to shareholders as a dividend, likely 1:1 relative to shares owned.
With a 1:1 conversion ratio, much like a regular cash dividend, stock price would appreciate fairly proportionately, relative to the pricing of the warrants/units. There would be no initial dilution, as the dilution would only occur upon exercise. In the larger picture, it wouldn't matter because. This would be the doom-loop, infinite money glitch. And you would never have to sell a single share, just the warrants/units.
This would be brilliant in a few ways:

By issuing warrants/units directly to shareholders, as a dividend, this puts the ball in the shareholders' court. Power to the Players. The company would be absolved from any regulatory/legal scrutiny related to manipulating the price. Warrant/Unit market pricing would be dictated by the shareholders. You sell them for what you think they're worth. Or, you just hodl them and punish shorts harder. It's up to you.
Nobody would have to sell shares, you would just sell your warrants/units to cash out a big payday. Even RC, the Board of Directors, long pensions/funds could capitalize big by selling warrants/units, without selling a single share. Yes, this would dilute the float, relative to the amount of underlying shares exercised, but it allows the company to reward shareholders, retain shareholder equity positions, and raise a massive amount of capital in the process.
DRS is still the way. However, for those of us with lots of equity tied up in retirement plans, warrants/units would give you the same ability to cash out as DRS shares without having to sell anything. Now, I wouldn't be surprised to see some fuckery in the pricing and selling of warrants/units through a broker, especially when trying to set a limit price.
Bonds, common stock and/or preferred stock could also be tied in with the warrants/units. This opens the door to making shareholders also stakeholders. This also makes it so that underwater shorts have to negotiate directly with shareholders, rather than begging the company for an out.
By utilizing the shelf offering, the company can do any of these things in small increments, multiple times over. By utilizing a 1:1 ratio, stock price and warrant/unit price would move pretty much in tandem. If they offered a higher conversion ratio, say 4:1 (warrants/units to buy 4 shares for every 1 share owned), the underlying GME share price would trade proportionately lower than the warrant/unit market price. In this scenario, price appreciation on warrants/units would drag GME share price up with it. However, if they opted for a slow bleed, lower conversion ratio, say 1:10 (warrants/units to buy 1 share for every 10 owned), the underlying GME share price would trade proportionately higher than the warrant/unit market price. In this scenario, price appreciation on warrants/units would push GME share price higher. Additionally, this scenario provides a rinse and repeat aspect.

Regardless of what the company chooses to do, and I'm not pretending to know, this shelf registration provides several avenues to reward shareholders, while also strengthening the company's balance sheet, without anyone having to sell a single share. If they were to do a lower conversion ratio, this could be done multiple times. Yes, there would be dilution at the time of exercise, but your equity could remain intact (if you so choose). If you trust your RCEO like I do, you can see that the long game here is a solid balance sheet, nearly completed turnaround, and a severely undervalued company that is sitting on the doorstep of S&P inclusion. This shelf registration can allow the company to raise capital, while also letting shareholders capture a huge payday, without having to give up your equity.

submitted by KingJames0613 to Superstonk [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:33 InotiaKing Who Knew Statues Could Be Such Divas? (Act I)

https://preview.redd.it/1oqpqpbe8e1d1.png?width=1914&format=png&auto=webp&s=e6dd9d42e82c0db0924cf6d712f582db77d8ba97
What's up guys! It's your friendly Genshin overthinker Inotia King. As always before we begin I just want to make sure new readers have checked out my first topic which is the basis for all my theories. So if you haven't checked that out yet please click here.
The new story's come and gone now and it seems to just be a reinforcement for what we've seen previously. We did already know that Remus tried to pull a Deshret but now we're seeing how far people go to achieve this flawed idea. Both Remus and Deshret before him realized just a little too late that preserved eternity was never going to work and dissolving everybody's consciousnesses into a collective goo was a bad idea. The Golden Slumber didn't save anybody and neither would melting people into Ichor, shoving their bodies into statues and then shoving them into a magical musical score. Ei lucked out in this sense. She had Yae pulling out all the stops to prevent it, using the Traveler to push Ei into place for Makoto to finally show her what she'd learned herself.
So while it isn't groundbreaking to know that Boethius was wrong just like Rene would also be wrong centuries later I think this quest series gave us a few more details and showcased more of the research the miHoYo devs do for these regions. Therefore just like I did last year with Farakhkert I want to discuss a few of them.
https://preview.redd.it/3et7oxo79e1d1.png?width=494&format=png&auto=webp&s=044bdf3b50882942127e2457a31d3298f8edc333
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We've actually known about this city (town?) for a long time. I think it's actually the first Fontaine city we learn about, all the way back when Inazuma first released. I don't think anybody really thought too much about it either but now it's name really makes sense. Petrichor is made from the two Greek words petr and ichor so in terms of Genshin it's very on the nose. Remus literally turned his people into ichor by dissolving their Oceanid bodies with the Primordial Sea and then shoving the resulting goo into statues, the petr or stone. In real life petrichor is just the smell of rainwater on dirt and the word ichor is actually what the Greeks called the blood of gods. From a Genshin perspective it was in a way what Remus intended the Ichor to be, a way for humanity to break free from fate which they believed was the power the gods had over them.
But what is actually new is where Petrichor is. Previously we didn't even know that Fontaine was on an artificially raised platform so there was no reason to believe Petrichor would fall into some weirdly separated space yet still be called part of the region. Our oldest information about it was just that it's waters were very pure and it was beautiful. Yeah that's pretty much all of Fontaine though. In fact we knew so little about Petrichor back then that even by v4.3 Xavier, who is a local never talked about how it wasn't actually located on the Fontaine plateau but rather some separated area where even the drown-proof aspect of Fontaine's waters didn't reach. So what is this area of Fontaine called? Nostoi which is Greek for "return." In our world it was part of the story about the Trojan War, preceding Homer's the Odyssey and acts like a prologue for that part of the story, the return of the Greek heroes besides Odysseus back from the war. (There's an "Ajax" who dies in this story though he's not the same Ajax that Childe is based on.)
Side Note: This timeline placement might also be important but that's a topic for another day.
There's actually a French connection to Petrichor too probably to justify it's inclusion in a French region lol. If you talk to Xavier's childhood friend (and girl next door) Goldoni, her possessing Remurian tells you about Petrocorii a territory of Remuria that fell to barbarians. In our world the petrocorii were Gauls that opposed the Roman Republic during Caesar's time. Unlike petr-ichor, petro-corii is Gallic for four (petro) armies (corios) with corii acting as a common suffix for their tribes.
Actually this connection to Gauls keeps going. In the same dialogue that Goldoni tells us about Petrocorii she name drops Lucius Septimius Sebelius which is a reference to Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus. (Sebelius is likely just an intentional bastardization of Severus but Sebelius is a real surname too.) Severus is notable for being the founder of the last Roman Dynasty before the Crisis of the Third Century, when Rome was temporarily defeated by the Gallic Empire. I actually brought up this part of Roman history in another topic about something that should have been totally unrelated lol. It was about how religion was historically tied to currency on our side of the world.
Side Note: Goldoni herself may be a reference to the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni. I bring this up because it's a common theme when it comes to Remuria but that's also a topic for another day.
Finally when possessed Goldoni calls Xavier, Xaverius. This is a reference to Franciscus Xaverius or Saint Francis Xavier, the first missionary that went to Japan before it went into Sakoku. The name Xavier is interesting by itself though. It actually predates most of these references because it's a Latinized version of the Paleo-European (Basque) surname Echevarria meaning new house. The Basques are the last surviving ethnic group native to Europe (current Europeans are all some form of Indo-European, including the Celts, Romans, Germanics) and their modern populations are located in Spain and France, influencing both nations over time. Who knew our engineefilmmaker would be such an interesting reference to his hometown which also is a preceding ancient culture that heavily influenced the modern French-inspired one?
Side Note 1: After completing the Remuria World Quest it's discovered that Petrichor is stagnating. The elderly are increasingly closed off and the young find the town boring and are starting to leave. This might be a reference to the Vatican which has the world's oldest median age. As the headquarters of Catholicism it's also very traditional and young people have been leaving it too, though part of the reason is disillusionment of religion over the many scandals plaguing the church. (That said the young Petrichorians might wanna stick around. If Mecantre and Babisse are brainstorming what I think they are then Petrichor might become really interesting one day.)
Side Note 2: Geographically Petrichor would more likely be based on Corsica but there is no shortage of self-importance as a stereotype of the Corsicans. No young people are going to ditch that town anytime soon. It was the birthplace of Napoleon after all. However that could actually be the link to Petrichor, to the pre-World Quest version where everybody is a proud Remurian. According to a friend I have who is part French, as arrogant as the rest of the world see the French, the French see the Corsicans. And certainly that was the vibe we got upon speaking to all of the Remurians.
https://preview.redd.it/1jm7n40dee1d1.png?width=494&format=png&auto=webp&s=3747aeab86048a6a0dbc56f2f210c44a40d40f9b
https://preview.redd.it/25piz3xdee1d1.png?width=1758&format=png&auto=webp&s=146010da267fa6b19482b04f3d7d8a709cedacdf
Yes the previous section was just the name of the region and all the stuff we can gather from just that. That's how miHoYo's devs do things haha
Now for a speed round. Hortus is the Proto-Indo-European for garden while euergetis is Greek for a worker who does good work. Together it probably means Garden of the Good Worker. However Euergetis can also be a title applied to good leaders specifically female leaders of the Hellenistic world. (Euergetes is the masculine form) Cleopatra III was also called Cleopatra Euergetis for example. The "garden" can only be reached by doing the World Quest so it's likely this garden honors Sybilla who does have the merits to justify the title.
With Caesareum Palace I'm pretty sure miHoYo was going for the specific Caesareum of Alexandria so they mean a temple but that's not was Caesareum actually means. It just means Julius Caesar who of course doesn't exist in Genshin. (although going off of Rene's Root Cycle stuff he's supposed to show up sooner or later lol)
Collegium Phonascorum is probably the easiest to match with the theme. It's just a group of music teachers. Since the whole thing was getting people ready for the Grand Symphony it makes sense to have some teachers teaching the music stuff. That said it's not actually a group at all. It's the name of a place and that makes sense with its real name 谐律院 or Courtyard of Harmony. Actually 谐律 is really fitting. The term does mean harmony but in both the sense of being united in peace and in terms of musical harmony, being in tune with each other. It's a very nice allusion to what the Grand Symphony was meant to do.
That said Phobos is such a red flag lol! Phobos aka phobia is the God of Fear. (alongside brother Deimos) No wonder this genius plan failed.
https://preview.redd.it/k2lmfvgafe1d1.png?width=1364&format=png&auto=webp&s=bd55e79583981fdd6931c63f78390870e79fedf2
Wasn't Fortuna the man's boat? Can't have a physical device double as an abstract concept my friends. That said if Fortuna actually means fate then it fits even better with the Stella Fortuna thing Ashikai came up with before, but she'd have to forego the connection with sun gods.
Sebastos is the Greek version of Augustus. But I don't think Sebastos Remus is correct syntax. If this was Latin then honorifics come after the name so Remus Augustus. It would be just like the Guuji Yae issue. In English the localization team went with Guuji Yae but Raiden Shogun. Raiden Shogun is correct but because of that the correct syntax would be Yae Guuji, surnames followed by titles. In Greek we have Oedipus Rex or Oedipus Tyrannus so the titles do come after the name and therefore it should be Remus Sebastos. But I read somewhere that modern Greek puts the titles first like keerie Remus would be Mr. Remus and not Remus keerie. If there are Greeks reading this please advise thanks!
Osse the cat first named himself Ouranides of Ouranopolis. Ouranides is just the name for the first generation of Titans because they were the children of Ouranos. I'm not sure what that was trying to reference for the game. Ouranos would be Saturn so he's one of the Classical Planets that have come up before. It is interesting to note that the children of the sea, the Oceanides were the second generation of Titans. Maybe Osse was trying to suggest that Remurians were the first generation of Fontainians while the ones we know of today (the former Oceanid humans) are the second?
Anyway Ouranopolis is a real place or it was. It's just south of Macedonia. Today there's a small town there called Ouranopoli with a very lovely beach. Pretty sure that's not what Remus was going for when he called it the city of the future.
And of course we learn that our keerie Ouranides is really Cassiodor based on Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus who was born in Scylletium. Probably just a cute reference. Scylla himself is a reference to a monster from the Odyssey sometimes described like a hydra. (S)he was the lesser of two evils because the seemingly weaker Charybdis sucked up water and anything that happens to be floating on it. We have a reference to Charybdis too all the way back in the Narzissenkreuz World Quest when we go to Fort Charybdis Ruins.
Anyway Cassiodorus was a contemporary of Boethius and actually replaced him as magister officiorum when he was accused and executed for conspiracy against Rome. Gee if only Remus had let Romulus run things huh? The Romurian Empire would've seen Boe-boe coming a mile away. That said his charges were trumped up. Real life Boethius was a good guy. He was trying to reunite the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. (albeit it probably wasn't going to happen since the "Western Roman Empire" we're talking about is Germanic Rome and even today we have trouble accepting that Rome.) Cassiodorus himself lasted much longer probably because he was stationed in the Eastern Roman Empire and became more focused on education than politics. Finally, he would retire to Castellum not a golden castellum but a monastery where he continued supporting education.
Before we dive into the Faded Castle part there are NPCs that are also significant. First you have Contarini Tiepolo a cop whose name is actually made up of two surnames from important Venetian families. She interpreted some of her lingering memories from being possessed as the Liliacruces Ordo. This is another fiction actually. The Liliacruces Ordo is based on the Narzissenkreuz Ordo and was popularized in Fontaine's mystery novels that Paimon likes so much.
Her father Tiepolo is the Doge. It's not bit currency but Italian for the Latin Dux or leader. It was a title used in the Republic of Venice and he's actually based on the first Duke of the city-state, Jacopo Tiepolo. Duke is also a form of Dux.
https://preview.redd.it/wmrqpr1rge1d1.png?width=494&format=png&auto=webp&s=c698b4b939e1f17e689557259a88af8e50722dc7
https://preview.redd.it/utbsvbprge1d1.png?width=1912&format=png&auto=webp&s=875aac379c99d89c07c190a0e2e0a22786fc1168
We already knew Cassiodor was a Harmost but now these Remurians are calling him Dominus. Harmost is Greek, specifically Spartan for a military leader. As it relates to what Remus did during his conquests the Spartans used the Harmosts to undermine Athens push for democracy with the Delian League. Similarly Dominus is a title used by Roman Emperors only after the Crisis of the Third Century when it started declining and becoming more authoritarian. Dominus actually translates to head or master like that of a household. For instance Roman slaves addressed their masters as Dominus.
And it's the household thing that plays out in the next term: Domus Aurea or the Golden House. (A dominus is the head of the domus.) It's cute to think this is some kind of link between Remuria and Liyue. Ashikai would love this kind of detail for her God King theory. But I don't think it's what it is. The Golden House in Liyue is literally just the Golden House 黄金屋 whereas Domus Aurea was 黄金的大宫. 大宫 is much more glamorous than 屋. For example the White House is 白宫 and 故宫 is the Imperial Palace. The real Domus Aurea relates more to that latter example. It was Nero's second home after he supposedly burned down Rome in 64AD just to have it built. Sounds about right with who we're dealing with in Genshin's version.
Side Note: Actually could that be why there's a Caesareum Palace? I mean Caesar did burn down Alexandria. And then after he died Cleopatra built the Caesareum to commemorate him. So it could relate to Nero and then our Remus. What do you guys think?
To get to Domus Aurea we're told we need to breach the Initium Iani. Initium means entrance and in the original Chinese it's door which actually works really amusingly with Iani or the Roman god Ianus because he's the God of Doors. Well pretty much all definitions for initium parallel what Ianus was so we could translate Initium Iani as the Doorway of the God of Doorways, Entrance of the God of Entrances, Transition of the God of Transitions, etc. The point was that Ianus represented a change in something like when you change rooms by going through a door, the changes in season every year or changing of the guard between historical periods. It's like the miHoYo devs just wanted to throw in a cute easter egg only nerds would get, the doorway to end all doorways lol
Side Note: Also because their names are so close to each other apparently Janus (alt spelling for Ianus) got mistaken for Juno (Iuno is the more accurate spelling*) sometimes confusing which god represented which month. It's funny because I had previously brought up Juno (and the Golden House actually) in that totally unrelated topic about the Gauls and the history of currency. Again this is all probably just coincidental. I just found it funny.
\or* Yuno for us anime fans. Rome's version was probably more stable though. Then again she is based on Hera so....
https://preview.redd.it/fu82a3crie1d1.png?width=494&format=png&auto=webp&s=447a161bd6c1adea6908d93765ac861528fa6373
And that was all the references I found interesting from the new quest. It's really long so I think I'll leave it at that and save the lore deep dive for next time.

submitted by InotiaKing to GenshinLorepact [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:33 InotiaKing Who Knew Statues Could Be Such Divas? (Act I)

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What's up guys! It's your friendly Hoyoverse overthinker Inotia King. As always before we begin I just want to make sure new readers have checked out my older topics which my newer theories are built upon. So for the Genshin ones you can click here. And for the Honkai related ones you can click here.
The new story's come and gone now and it seems to just be a reinforcement for what we've seen previously. We did already know that Remus tried to pull a Deshret but now we're seeing how far people go to achieve this flawed idea. Both Remus and Deshret before him realized just a little too late that preserved eternity was never going to work and dissolving everybody's consciousnesses into a collective goo was a bad idea. The Golden Slumber didn't save anybody and neither would melting people into Ichor, shoving their bodies into statues and then shoving them into a magical musical score. Ei lucked out in this sense. She had Yae pulling out all the stops to prevent it, using the Traveler to push Ei into place for Makoto to finally show her what she'd learned herself.
So while it isn't groundbreaking to know that Boethius was wrong just like Rene would also be wrong centuries later I think this quest series gave us a few more details and showcased more of the research the miHoYo devs do for these regions. Therefore just like I did last year with Farakhkert I want to discuss a few of them.
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We've actually known about this city (town?) for a long time. I think it's actually the first Fontaine city we learn about, all the way back when Inazuma first released. I don't think anybody really thought too much about it either but now it's name really makes sense. Petrichor is made from the two Greek words petr and ichor so in terms of Genshin it's very on the nose. Remus literally turned his people into ichor by dissolving their Oceanid bodies with the Primordial Sea and then shoving the resulting goo into statues, the petr or stone. In real life petrichor is just the smell of rainwater on dirt and the word ichor is actually what the Greeks called the blood of gods. From a Genshin perspective it was in a way what Remus intended the Ichor to be, a way for humanity to break free from fate which they believed was the power the gods had over them.
But what is actually new is where Petrichor is. Previously we didn't even know that Fontaine was on an artificially raised platform so there was no reason to believe Petrichor would fall into some weirdly separated space yet still be called part of the region. Our oldest information about it was just that it's waters were very pure and it was beautiful. Yeah that's pretty much all of Fontaine though. In fact we knew so little about Petrichor back then that even by v4.3 Xavier, who is a local never talked about how it wasn't actually located on the Fontaine plateau but rather some separated area where even the drown-proof aspect of Fontaine's waters didn't reach. So what is this area of Fontaine called? Nostoi which is Greek for "return." In our world it was part of the story about the Trojan War, preceding Homer's the Odyssey and acts like a prologue for that part of the story, the return of the Greek heroes besides Odysseus back from the war. (There's an "Ajax" who dies in this story though he's not the same Ajax that Childe is based on.)
Side Note: This timeline placement might also be important but that's a topic for another day.
There's actually a French connection to Petrichor too probably to justify it's inclusion in a French region lol. If you talk to Xavier's childhood friend (and girl next door) Goldoni, her possessing Remurian tells you about Petrocorii a territory of Remuria that fell to barbarians. In our world the petrocorii were Gauls that opposed the Roman Republic during Caesar's time. Unlike petr-ichor, petro-corii is Gallic for four (petro) armies (corios) with corii acting as a common suffix for their tribes.
Actually this connection to Gauls keeps going. In the same dialogue that Goldoni tells us about Petrocorii she name drops Lucius Septimius Sebelius which is a reference to Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus. (Sebelius is likely just an intentional bastardization of Severus but Sebelius is a real surname too.) Severus is notable for being the founder of the last Roman Dynasty before the Crisis of the Third Century, when Rome was temporarily defeated by the Gallic Empire. I actually brought up this part of Roman history in another topic about something that should have been totally unrelated lol. It was about how religion was historically tied to currency on our side of the world.
Side Note: Goldoni herself may be a reference to the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni. I bring this up because it's a common theme when it comes to Remuria but that's also a topic for another day.
Finally when possessed Goldoni calls Xavier, Xaverius. This is a reference to Franciscus Xaverius or Saint Francis Xavier, the first missionary that went to Japan before it went into Sakoku. The name Xavier is interesting by itself though. It actually predates most of these references because it's a Latinized version of the Paleo-European (Basque) surname Echevarria meaning new house. The Basques are the last surviving ethnic group native to Europe (current Europeans are all some form of Indo-European, including the Celts, Romans, Germanics) and their modern populations are located in Spain and France, influencing both nations over time. Who knew our engineefilmmaker would be such an interesting reference to his hometown which also is a preceding ancient culture that heavily influenced the modern French-inspired one?
Side Note 1: After completing the Remuria World Quest it's discovered that Petrichor is stagnating. The elderly are increasingly closed off and the young find the town boring and are starting to leave. This might be a reference to the Vatican which has the world's oldest median age. As the headquarters of Catholicism it's also very traditional and young people have been leaving it too, though part of the reason is disillusionment of religion over the many scandals plaguing the church. (That said the young Petrichorians might wanna stick around. If Mecantre and Babisse are brainstorming what I think they are then Petrichor might become really interesting one day.)
Side Note 2: Geographically Petrichor would more likely be based on Corsica but there is no shortage of self-importance as a stereotype of the Corsicans. No young people are going to ditch that town anytime soon. It was the birthplace of Napoleon after all. However that could actually be the link to Petrichor, to the pre-World Quest version where everybody is a proud Remurian. According to a friend I have who is part French, as arrogant as the rest of the world see the French, the French see the Corsicans. And certainly that was the vibe we got upon speaking to all of the Remurians.
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Yes the previous section was just the name of the region and all the stuff we can gather from just that. That's how miHoYo's devs do things haha
Now for a speed round. Hortus is the Proto-Indo-European for garden while euergetis is Greek for a worker who does good work. Together it probably means Garden of the Good Worker. However Euergetis can also be a title applied to good leaders specifically female leaders of the Hellenistic world. (Euergetes is the masculine form) Cleopatra III was also called Cleopatra Euergetis for example. The "garden" can only be reached by doing the World Quest so it's likely this garden honors Sybilla who does have the merits to justify the title.
With Caesareum Palace I'm pretty sure miHoYo was going for the specific Caesareum of Alexandria so they mean a temple but that's not was Caesareum actually means. It just means Julius Caesar who of course doesn't exist in Genshin. (although going off of Rene's Root Cycle stuff he's supposed to show up sooner or later lol)
Collegium Phonascorum is probably the easiest to match with the theme. It's just a group of music teachers. Since the whole thing was getting people ready for the Grand Symphony it makes sense to have some teachers teaching the music stuff. That said it's not actually a group at all. It's the name of a place and that makes sense with its real name 谐律院 or Courtyard of Harmony. Actually 谐律 is really fitting. The term does mean harmony but in both the sense of being united in peace and in terms of musical harmony, being in tune with each other. It's a very nice allusion to what the Grand Symphony was meant to do.
That said Phobos is such a red flag lol! Phobos aka phobia is the God of Fear. (alongside brother Deimos) No wonder this genius plan failed.
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Wasn't Fortuna the man's boat? Can't have a physical device double as an abstract concept my friends. That said if Fortuna actually means fate then it fits even better with the Stella Fortuna thing Ashikai came up with before, but she'd have to forego the connection with sun gods.
Sebastos is the Greek version of Augustus. But I don't think Sebastos Remus is correct syntax. If this was Latin then honorifics come after the name so Remus Augustus. It would be just like the Guuji Yae issue. In English the localization team went with Guuji Yae but Raiden Shogun. Raiden Shogun is correct but because of that the correct syntax would be Yae Guuji, surnames followed by titles. In Greek we have Oedipus Rex or Oedipus Tyrannus so the titles do come after the name and therefore it should be Remus Sebastos. But I read somewhere that modern Greek puts the titles first like keerie Remus would be Mr. Remus and not Remus keerie. If there are Greeks reading this please advise thanks!
Osse the cat first named himself Ouranides of Ouranopolis. Ouranides is just the name for the first generation of Titans because they were the children of Ouranos. I'm not sure what that was trying to reference for the game. Ouranos would be Saturn so he's one of the Classical Planets that have come up before. It is interesting to note that the children of the sea, the Oceanides were the second generation of Titans. Maybe Osse was trying to suggest that Remurians were the first generation of Fontainians while the ones we know of today (the former Oceanid humans) are the second?
Anyway Ouranopolis is a real place or it was. It's just south of Macedonia. Today there's a small town there called Ouranopoli with a very lovely beach. Pretty sure that's not what Remus was going for when he called it the city of the future.
And of course we learn that our keerie Ouranides is really Cassiodor based on Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus who was born in Scylletium. Probably just a cute reference. Scylla himself is a reference to a monster from the Odyssey sometimes described like a hydra. (S)he was the lesser of two evils because the seemingly weaker Charybdis sucked up water and anything that happens to be floating on it. We have a reference to Charybdis too all the way back in the Narzissenkreuz World Quest when we go to Fort Charybdis Ruins.
Anyway Cassiodorus was a contemporary of Boethius and actually replaced him as magister officiorum when he was accused and executed for conspiracy against Rome. Gee if only Remus had let Romulus run things huh? The Romurian Empire would've seen Boe-boe coming a mile away. That said his charges were trumped up. Real life Boethius was a good guy. He was trying to reunite the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. (albeit it probably wasn't going to happen since the "Western Roman Empire" we're talking about is Germanic Rome and even today we have trouble accepting that Rome.) Cassiodorus himself lasted much longer probably because he was stationed in the Eastern Roman Empire and became more focused on education than politics. Finally, he would retire to Castellum not a golden castellum but a monastery where he continued supporting education.
Before we dive into the Faded Castle part there are NPCs that are also significant. First you have Contarini Tiepolo a cop whose name is actually made up of two surnames from important Venetian families. She interpreted some of her lingering memories from being possessed as the Liliacruces Ordo. This is another fiction actually. The Liliacruces Ordo is based on the Narzissenkreuz Ordo and was popularized in Fontaine's mystery novels that Paimon likes so much.
Her father Tiepolo is the Doge. It's not bit currency but Italian for the Latin Dux or leader. It was a title used in the Republic of Venice and he's actually based on the first Duke of the city-state, Jacopo Tiepolo. Duke is also a form of Dux.
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Once we dive down it turns out that the little harp thing we grabbed was part of a series that tells Remuria's history in the Ancient Autoharmonic Music Box.
The first piece of this melody is the Locus Amoenus or lovely place in Latin. The rest though are actually part of the Sequentia section of Mozart's Requiem which is of course a musical piece to honor the dead and also how we stop the Phobos. Sequentia is followed by the sinners being saved and brought to salvation in Offertorium, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei. (Agnus Dei is an allusion to Jesus and there's another really obvious one in this quest too.) Mozart actually didn't complete his Requiem and died while only completing the introduction. Joseph von Eybler is the one that actually finished the Sequentia parts and then a guy by the name of Franz Xaver Süssmayr finished the salvation portions. Franz Xaver. Hmmmm. Yes Franz is Germanic for Franciscus or Francis and Xaver is the Germanic for Xavier. Cute that one of our first Fontainian NPCs and also a native to Petrichor has such a large role in its history, at least in real world references.
Before heading into the painting portal thing to get to memory world Remuria we can find a few choice books in this castle. I'll get more into them later but for now there was one term that's interesting. Cunicoricus is the predecessor to Erinnyes of Aremorica. In real life he's Welsh and the adoptive father of King Arthur in local legends. Last week I brought up Clervie and Crucabena who are also Welsh (and Irish) characters and King Arthur has been referenced a few times now with relation to Khaenri'ah.
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We already knew Cassiodor was a Harmost but now these Remurians are calling him Dominus. Harmost is Greek, specifically Spartan for a military leader. As it relates to what Remus did during his conquests the Spartans used the Harmosts to undermine Athens push for democracy with the Delian League. Similarly Dominus is a title used by Roman Emperors only after the Crisis of the Third Century when it started declining and becoming more authoritarian. Dominus actually translates to head or master like that of a household. For instance Roman slaves addressed their masters as Dominus.
And it's the household thing that plays out in the next term: Domus Aurea or the Golden House. (A dominus is the head of the domus.) It's cute to think this is some kind of link between Remuria and Liyue. Ashikai would love this kind of detail for her God King theory. But I don't think it's what it is. The Golden House in Liyue is literally just the Golden House 黄金屋 whereas Domus Aurea was 黄金的大宫. 大宫 is much more glamorous than 屋. For example the White House is 白宫 and 故宫 is the Imperial Palace. The real Domus Aurea relates more to that latter example. It was Nero's second home after he supposedly burned down Rome in 64AD just to have it built. Sounds about right with who we're dealing with in Genshin's version.
Side Note: Actually could that be why there's a Caesareum Palace? I mean Caesar did burn down Alexandria. And then after he died Cleopatra built the Caesareum to commemorate him. So it could relate to Nero and then our Remus. What do you guys think?
To get to Domus Aurea we're told we need to breach the Initium Iani. Initium means entrance and in the original Chinese it's door which actually works really amusingly with Iani or the Roman god Ianus because he's the God of Doors. Well pretty much all definitions for initium parallel what Ianus was so we could translate Initium Iani as the Doorway of the God of Doorways, Entrance of the God of Entrances, Transition of the God of Transitions, etc. The point was that Ianus represented a change in something like when you change rooms by going through a door, the changes in season every year or changing of the guard between historical periods. It's like the miHoYo devs just wanted to throw in a cute easter egg only nerds would get, the doorway to end all doorways lol
Side Note: Also because their names are so close to each other apparently Janus (alt spelling for Ianus) got mistaken for Juno (Iuno is the more accurate spelling*) sometimes confusing which god represented which month. It's funny because I had previously brought up Juno (and the Golden House actually) in that totally unrelated topic about the Gauls and the history of currency. Again this is all probably just coincidental. I just found it funny.
\or* Yuno for us anime fans. Rome's version was probably more stable though. Then again she is based on Hera so....
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And that was all the references I found interesting from the new quest. It's really long so I think I'll leave it at that and save the lore deep dive for next time.

submitted by InotiaKing to GenshinImpactLore [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:33 Sadetha Testing Setup Questions

I will be starting my degree in analytics soon and was hoping I could get some questions answered on the testing process as my enrollment counselor was unable answer my questions. My current set up is a dual screen desktop which is in my open concept office that attaches to the rest of my apartment with no doors. Alternatively, I have a MacBook as well which I could use for testing in my bedroom should doors be needed.
My questions are: - In the Computer Science and/or analytics program, do you need dual monitors for testing or is it fairly simple to just use one? - In your experience do the testing staff allow for open concept floor plans during testing assuming no one else is home? - Do I need to lock up my dog or do they allow them to free roam during the testing? - How long does testing typically take? In my prior school, I was allowed two hours for testing but typically only took one hour. Is it pretty normal to finish before the time allotment or do you typically find yourself crunched for time? - Do any of the exams contain short answer prompts or is that only on the project based courses? - Are you allowed restroom breaks during testing? If yes, does that take away from your total time? - Are you allowed to drink water during testing? - Is there anything you wish you would have known about the testing process prior to your first exam?
Thanks in advance for all the help!

submitted by Sadetha to WGU [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:32 No_World_3352 My theory for the recent chapter

I'm guessing most of you have read the new chapter, I guess it was kinda boring and underwhelming, but I def think that it could be bigger than we think it is.
At the end of the chapter, it is revealed that Aihara is planning to buy Akamine Academy. This theory came to mind when I saw Mei's reaction to Yuzu discovering the papers, she didn't seem nervous or at least a little cautious about it, she was pretty direct about it. This is my theory:
First, Yuzu is going to (probably) try and stop this from happening since she learned more about Arata and sees he's a nice guy. I think she's going to try and go to grandfather and ask this deal to stop. Second, I think this is where the plot twist is going to happen, I think grandfather is going to reveal that it is Mei herself who is in charge of this operation and proposed the idea. Think about it: She went to Akamine Academy with Yuzu to see other Academy's in the area, she was the one who got in contact with Arata, she was the one who became business partners with Arata. I believe Mei is doing this to prove to the board that she is a good candidate for chairwoman of the academy, and wants to propose a change they can agree with. Just like the Sayaka incident, Mei took responsibility for it. She is showing that same responsibility by handling this all by herself. This chapter takes over the span of 5 days, if it is believed Mei was working on her proposition when Yuzu left to go study, then she definitely could get in contact with the board and propose this in that time span.
Now this is the part where I'm confused, we probably know that Arata probably doesn't know this purchase is happening and we don't know if Mei is going to tell him or not. But the fact that they're business partners and one of them hasn't even heard the proposition is kinda weird. This is the part where I'm making a wild guess, Mei is jealous of Arata. I'm going to say this now, Arata is one of the most CONFUSING characters in this series, I don't know if he likes Yuzu, I don't know if he's gay, there is barely anything revealed on his feelings besides his role in Akamine, but still he just came into the series so I'm gonna diss on him too much. Mei has known Arata and Yuzu for a while and they both have pretty similar attitudes. (I think) Mei is trying to get Yuzu and Arata as distant as possible because she just doesn't trust him with Yuzu. But still this part is a pure guess because of how calm Mei is with revealing the purchase to Yuzu.
Knowing how this series has gone in the past, Yuzu is prob going to save Akamine Academy from being bought and make Mei trust Arata more. But when Yuzu does save Akamine, I think Arata is going to confess his feeling for her, in which Yuzu is going to deny and reveal she's engaged to Mei. Since Arata isn't in the wedding invitation, I think he starts to hate Yuzu since she lied to him saying "I mostly get in her way" even though she saved Akamine. But since Arata was introduced after Citrus, that could be wrong
The last 2 parts is where I'm very unsure, but yea that's my theory, feel free to comment or make your own theories. :)

submitted by No_World_3352 to CitrusManga [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:31 LufroLufringo Should I write this "fanfic"/remake of Mistborn?

You see, I recently wrote this little "fanfic" because of the comments, and some people loved the ideas I had.
It's about Vin and Elend's relationship, and since I never completely liked it, I started to write a little about how I would have liked it to develop, what surprised me is that several people liked what I wrote , and some others left me with some equally good ideas.
So, I was thinking: "What if I make a fanfic with these ideas, keeping the rest of the story and only changing the romance?"
It seems like a good idea to me, although I'm writing a novel right now, I think I could find time to write this
Below is a summary of what I plan to do, feel free to comment any changes you would like to make or advice:
I would start with Elend's povs from the beginning, to increase the reader's empathy apart from "what a shame! He wants to be the best for the people, but they won't let him."
Then at the dances he would be instead of reading alone, trying to contradict his father Straff, and that's when Vin sees him, being different, not by words, but by actions.
(Maybe keep the scene where they meet on the balcony, but it doesn't go much further than that.)
Elend would also see Vin, but from afar, seeing her as she is different from all the nobles. I guess because she seems attentive from time to time and Elend starts investigating, maybe eventually finding that she's a mistborn.
Then, almost at the end, Straff or some InquisitoObligor put him in jail for revealing himself all the time, but right there the rebellion against Lord Ruler occurs
Later, Vin is put in the dungeons with Elend as well, and there for the first time they talk "You're the mistborn undercover!" and "You're the noble who yells at his father!"
Vin would then TRY to trust Elend by handing over power to her when she defeats Lord Ruler, but tells her "If you fuck up, I'll kill you"
Thus, in WoA, If we kept Zane, it would be justified for Vin to be attracted to him, and Elend would realize that (because in the books he doesn't realize that someone wants to take his girl away from him until Zane is dead)
Elend would also have internal doubts, "Did I meet the real Vin? Or did I just know their Valette façade? Am I seeing the real one?" Elend would then try to get to know her better, showing her his insecurities and being really Honest.
Maybe inviting her on dates and doing normal things that Vin has never done before, as well as a scene where they are having dinner at a place in Luthadel and Vin is so tense that she can barely eat, and Elend tries to support her (not so much as "fix her"). so that she makes her own decision, not forcing her like Zane would do. Then Vin would realize who she should love.
In HoA, I would make Elend and Vin dance, and there Elend proposes to her, promising to marry her when it's all over (Because they didn't get married in the previous movie). Elend would say nervously, "um... I wanted to ask you if... You'd like to repeat this dance when it's all over... But at an even more special time. At our wedding" Boom! And he pulls out the ring, proposing in front of everyone.
Obviously it's the last time they see each other, and that's how we make it more tragic.
Perhaps the icing on the cake would be for Sazed, now Harmony, to marry them on the cognitive plane and then put a ring on their dead bodies, to represent that they are together in the afterlife.
Like I said, if you feel like you don't like something, feel free to help me with script holes

submitted by LufroLufringo to Cosmere [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:30 NWASicarius Cosmic Insight is a lot stronger than what most might realize

Let me preface this post by stating I am making this on my phone, so my formatting will probably be hideous. I am sorry. I appreciate any of you who still choose to read through my post and add your own thoughts on the topic. Now, let's get started on why I made this post.
You may often see inspiration tree recommended as either your primary or (more likely) your secondary tree. Oftentimes you will see 'cosmic insight' suggested. You may opt to change it, if you are unaware why it is so strong. You may leave it, but not understand why you take it. You might just autopilot and not really care. Regardless, if you are someone who likes the concept of strategizing in league, this post is for you.
Now, let's discuss what cosmic insight offers you:
18 summoner spell haste 10 item haste
These aren't exactly flashy, right? Especially when you compare them to other tree's third row/tier. Summoner spell haste is already great. It has good synergy with lucidity boots, too. I am not too concerned about explaining the value of it in this post. You can go to the league Fandom website and see how much it will lower your summoner spell CDs, and then you can draw your own conclusions from there. What I really wanted to have a discussion about is the second line (item haste). This works with actives and passives that have CDs (i.e. An active passive such as Zhonyas will have a lower CD if you take cosmic insight. A passive that has a CD such as Luden's companion will also have a lower CD if you take cosmic insight). OK, so you may be thinking 'so what?' Well, let's use the aforementioned Luden's companion as our primary example below.
Luden's companion has a baseline CD of 12 seconds. Every 12 seconds, you get your 6 charges. However, when you take cosmic insight, you lower that CD to just under 11 seconds (10.91 to be exact). It might not seem like much, but think about skirmishes. Think about extended teamfights. Think about the trades during standoffs around an important objective that spawns. Heck, think about it over the course of an entire game. It all adds up more than you might realize. Just like how the balance team will sometimes add or takeaway 5 AD from a champion, and then said champion's winrate will fluctuate X% as a result. Most might see that tiny change and think 'that doesn't do much', but they would mistaken. Obviously, depending on your build, cosmic insight's usefulness will fluctuate. If you are playing Malzahar, for example, then cosmic insight probably isn't worth it. You probably won't even have any items that can utilize it.
Finally, with all of this said, let me tell you which items (meaning if you build these items, you should heavily consider taking cosmic insight) gain a substantial amount of power with cosmic insight:
Any sheen item - especially Ezreal players that build one
Unending despair - ANY player building this seriously needs to take cosmic insight or just don't build this item.
Any tear item - regardless of your champ, if you build tear, take cosmic insight. You will get stacks so much faster, and your completed item passives will be up more frequently
AD junglers that plan to build a tiamat item or sundered sky
Bonus point: If you play ARAM, I'd take cosmic insight on any poke champ who builds even just one item that benefits from it
I could have spent hours on this post giving comparisons to other third line/tier options from the same [inspiration] tree as well as other trees, but there is no real definitive 'always take X rune' type thing. Sometimes you may take a different tree than inspiration purely because of the first or second line/tier rune that is offered there. My primary goals here were to shed light on the items that benefit a lot from cosmic insight and to hopefully have at least one person see this post and have their brain start churning. People need to realize runepage adjustments can sometimes be so clutch; especially in scenarios where your champ looks like it's going to have a hard time. The combination of adjusting your runes and items based on different scenarios can legit turn what would feel like unplayable matches into somewhat salvageable matchups. Even if all you gain overall is a slightly higher win percentage, that's better than having more losses, right?
Anyways, enough of my rambling. Sorry if my post was all over the place. Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments. Feel free to not comment at all. I just had an itch in my head that wouldn't go away until I shared this information. Happy gaming to you all!

submitted by NWASicarius to leagueoflegends [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:30 MASS-_- DM has a god complex

This is going to be short so lets run through some stuff Cast: DM(dmpc druid) , me(sorcerer) + other characters that are irrelevant to this story
Camping started abruptly after dm left a westmarch server due to "unfair use of server rules" we were on a oneshot that the dm ran, he asked us if we want to continue that one-shot on a different place, he made hos own westmarch where we continued it as a "Camping" so the dmpc that joined us from the start was a furbolg druid that was an exceptionally high level relative to out characters, there's been some fights that the dmpc simply decimated while our low leveled characters barley got a turn in combats (sometimes none if the dmpc was on top initiative), that was fine and i just went with it just to honor the "friendship" that i built with him the previous server, what cut it for me was that one time his dmpc got assassinated for some reason, and rose up as a goddess . . Well turns out she was one all along, what do you know now we have a god on the team, good luck being challenged by anyone
The assassins were dismissed, as in there is no trace of them nor plans that the dm set to add them to the plot, made me feel that he just made that up to make his dmpc a god, i asked him about that and presented my complaint about the situation, so the dm said "if you don't like how i run MY campaign, then just leave" iwas shocked that he wasn't planning to do anything and just put me in a you are free to leave situation and i did, i said "fine, i guess i will be pulling out of this campaign" that prompted others playing with us to do the same too, some of them had the same complaints but didn't want to confront or be rude about it, that sent said dm into a fit, calling us bad players and eventually kicked us all from the server we played in.
If i have anything to tell reddit about this is, if you feel like somthing is bad, be the one to speak up and save the other players the hassle

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2024.05.19 17:26 SmoothBarnacle4891 "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER" (2022) Commentary

During the height of my high regard for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), among the movies of which I had been a major fan were the Captain America releases. At least two of them. The third film in this mini franchise - 2016's "CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR" proved to be a major disappointment for me. However, when I heard that Disney and Marvel Films had plans to air a miniseries about the characters Sam Wilson aka the Falcon and James "Bucky" Barnes aka the Winter Soldier, I must admit that I felt a renewed interest in the franchise again.
When I said a renewal of the MCU franchise, I meant it. Aside from a few movies like "ANT-MAN", "BLACK PANTHER", "CAPTAIN MARVEL" and "ETERNALS"; the MCU had become a major disappointment for me ever since the release of 2015's "THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON". One might ask . . . what about the MCU television productions that aired on the Disney Plus streaming channel? Aside from one production that I somewhat liked and one that I loved, most of them have been disappointing to me. Unfortunately, I have to include this follow-up to the Captain America movies, "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER".
Set six months after 2019's "THE AVENGERS: ENDGAME", "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER" followed former war veteran/Avenger Sam Wilson, who has resumed working the for the U.S. government, while using his role as the Falcon. When the government recruits Sam to track down and deal with a group of enhanced anarchists known as "the Flag Smashers", former World War II veteran/HYDRA tool/Avenger James "Bucky" Buchannan aka the Winter Soldier decides to join Sam in his mission, due to his lingering guilt as a former HYDRA assassin and their shared experiences as Steve Rogers' close friends and battling Thanos and his army.
Since "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER" had aired on the DisneyPlus channel in six episodes, I had seriously considered ranking the episodes. But like Season three of the Marvel Netflix series, "DAREDEVIL", the more I watched "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLIDER", the more it disappointed me. Aside from complaints about its pacing, the limited series had received a great deal of praise from critics and fans alike. Because of this, I believe it was one of the most overrated productions in the MCU history. People had seemed so focused on little moments and scenes that very few had noticed how the series' narrative seemed to be all over the map. For example:
~\Sam Wilson~* - This limited series is supposed to be a follow up to the events of "ENDGAME" in which Sam had received the Captain America shield from an aging Steve Rogers, a sign for him to take up the latter's costumed role. Was this an attempt by Marvel Films/Disney to make Sam a more relevant character? If so, why? Why did a MCU character have to replace Steve as the new Captain America to be more relevant? Why not allow Sam to continue as the Falcon, only push his role to the forefront as one of the franchise's new leading characters? Some might accuse me of not wanting a black man as Captain America, a topic that was brought up in the series. Frankly, I never wanted another character - regardless of race, gender or ethnicity - to become the new Captain America. That includes Bucky Barnes. Allow Steve Rogers to fade into the background and let Sam (as the Falcon) shine as one of the franchise's new leads. However, the die has been cast. One can only sit back and see if moviegoers are willing to accept Sam as the new Captain America.
Perhaps the MCU had to make Sam the new Captain America in order to make him more relevant. Why would I say that? The showrunner for "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER", Malcolm Spellman, came dangerously close to shoving Sam into the role of the second lead or worst, a role he has been since his debut in 2014's "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" - a supporting character. During the series' first three or four episodes, someone other than Sam (either Bucky Barnes or Helmut Zemo - two white men) made decisions that allowed the plot to move forward, not Sam. He was simply regulated to being an observer or reactor. The series even managed to undermine Sam's decision not to support the Sokovia Accords in "CIVIL WAR". In thee 2016, Sam became the first Avenger to speak out against the Accords and declare his intentions not to sign it. Yet, according to Bucky in this series, Sam had merely followed Steve's example in rejecting the Accords. And Spellman did nothing to allow Sam to correct this misconception.
~\James "Bucky" Barnes~* - One of the few aspects of "CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR" I found enjoyable proved to be the interactions between Sam Wilson and Bucky Buchannan. Despite their lingering jealousy and competition over the role as "Steve Rogers' best friend", the pair's interactions proved to be very entertaining, thanks to the screen chemistry between Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan. Unfortunately, Mackie and Stan could not save "CIVIL WAR" for me. Nor could they save "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER", due to its problematic writing. A good deal of that writing surrounded Bucky's character. I have so many questions about his role in this series. For example:
-Why would any official of the Joint Counter Terrorist Center allow Bucky to visit and question Helmut Zemo, the man responsible for the U.N. conference bombing in Vienna, in "CIVIL WAR"? That made very little sense to me. Surely the JCTC authorities remembered how Zemo managed to brainwash Bucky into making his own prison break in "CIVIL WAR"? Also, Bucky was on parole for his activities as a brainwashed HYDRA assassin. Yet, the JCTC had allowed him to visit Zemo? Surely, the showrunner could have allowed Sam, who was serving the U.S. government again, to be the one to visit and question Zemo?
-How on earth did Bucky managed to evade being arrested and charged for helping Zemo escape from the JCTC? The U.S. and other governments should have been suspicious of Bucky after learning about his visit to Zemo.
-Bucky came off as an arrogant school jock, who thought he was entitled to get his way - especially in his interactions with Sam. I found it hilarious that many fans had criticized John Walker aka Captain America aka U.S. Agent for such toxic behavior. Yet, they had turned a blind eye to Bucky's own behavior. And so did the series - up until the last two episodes. Why did the showrunner allow Bucky to get away with this behavior toward Sam for so long without any complaints from the latter?
-I did not care how Bucky had bullied his way into Sam's mission without the latter's consent. What I found even more annoying was the U.S. government's decision to allow Bucky to join Sam's mission after that ludicrous "therapy session" they were forced to attend together.
~\Racism -~* A good number of MCU fans had complained about the inclusion of racism in "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER". I had no problems with this direction, considering the story was about Sam, an African-American man, becoming the new Captain America. However, I had a good deal of problems with how the production explored the topic of racism.
The story of Isaiah Bradley, Marvel's second Captain America, had originated in the comics. In the MCU, he was a Korea War veteran whom the United States Army used as one of several unwilling African-American test subjects for their version of the Super Soldier serum. I realize that both Marvel Comics and the MCU had attempted to use Bradley's experience as a metaphor for the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The problem is that I cannot see the U.S. government and the Army - both racist organizations in the early 1950s - be willing to risk the possibility of creating a non-white super soldier. Despite the recent desegregation of the Armed Forces in the late 1940s. And both the government and the Army had been more than willing to use white soldiers in other experiments.
After saving a group of black American super soldiers from a prison camp, Bradly was imprisoned by the U.S. government for thirty years. I saw nothing wrong with this twist in the character's narrative, until I remembered two things - Bradley had been able to free his fellow soldiers without anyone's help; and nearly sixty years later, Steve Rogers managed to break into the Raft and free those Avengers who had refused to sign the Sokovia Accord. Why was Bradley unable to free himself from prison? This is the man who had defeated the Winter Soldier by breaking the latter's metal arm. And he was not powerful enough to make a prison break, let alone evade capture?
I had assumed Sam's difficulty in becoming the new Captain America would stem from the government's reluctance to recruit a black man for the position. That would explain their decision to recruit the blond-haired John Walker instead. But the series never really made it clear whether political racism had played a role in Walker's recruitment. The series also had James "Rhodey" Rhodes had paid Sam a visit, emphasizing the importance of the new Captain America being black. As it turned out, Sam's own insecurities about becoming Captain America had more to do with him not initially assuming the role. There was also that interesting scene outside Bradley's Baltimore home where the police arrested Sam during verbal argument with Bucky. Although the cops backed away when they recognized Sam as an Avenger, they ended up arresting the parolee Bucky for missing his required therapy appointment. This scene was supposed to be a case of racial profiling. But . . . we might as well be honest. In the real world, the police would not have backed down from hassling Sam. What I found more disturbing was the production's handling of Bucky's arrest. Once the police discovers that Sam was an Avenger; they turned to arrest Bucky for failing to show up for his missing his therapy session. Not only did the police arrest Bucky with a more gentle behavior, they did so, accompanied by Henry Jackman's mournful score, something that did not accompany the moment of Sam being arrested. Were the audiences expected to notice the hypocrisy and racism in the police's handling of the two men? Expected to feel sympathy for Bucky? Or both?
The last episode featured a scene of two black kids playing with toy Captain America shields. Someone had commented that the shields (especially in the hands of non-white children) represented hope to the future of race relations in the United States. Why? How? This country had a biracial president for EIGHT YEARS. Yet, U.S. racial policies have remained problematic even to this day. I can say the same for other countries. The so-called symbolism of this scene only reminded me of how human beings put so much faith in imagery and symbolism. And this strikes me as a FALSE FAITH. Why was taking up the mantle of a costumed hero that had been previously occupied by a white man, the only way for Sam Wilson to become relevant within the MCU franchise? What was wrong with him being "the Falcon"? Sam becoming the next Captain America was not going to save the U.S. in regard to race relations - not in real life and not in the fictional world of the MCU. Looking back on the series, the series' only scenario that seemed to expose racism in a realistic manner, proved to be Sam's failure to acquire a bank loan for his family's fishing boat in Louisiana.
~\Sharon Carter~* - I am certain many MCU fans are aware of this. One of Marvel Comics' most iconic couples happened to be Steve Rogers aka Captain America and Sharon Carter aka Agent 13. She also happened to be the great-niece of Peggy Carter, Steve's love interest during World War II. Portrayed by Emily VanCamp, Sharon was first introduced as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" as a potential love interest for Steve. Despite Sharon's appearance in the following Captain America movie, "CIVIL WAR", their romance never really developed. Many blamed the lack of chemistry between VanCamp and Chris Evans. I never had a problem with their screen chemistry. I had a problem with the lack of relationship development between Sharon and Steve. And I blame Kevin Feige's decision to transform the third Captain America film into a third (and badly written) pseudo Avengers movie. The change in the film's narrative, along with Sharon's failure to appear in "THE AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR" and "ENDGAME", left no opportunity for Sharon and Steve to become the romantic pair they had been in the comics. Instead, Sharon became a fugitive from the U.S. government after helping Steve and Sam hunt down Bucky, moved to Madripoor, a city-state with no U.S. extradition and became an embittered criminal known as "the Power Broker".
After "CIVIL WAR", nearly five years had passed before Sharon appeared in another MCU production - namely this series. And what happened? The franchise, with Spellman, ended up completely destroying her character by transforming her into the villain known as Power Broker, the criminal leader of an Indonesian city-state called Madripoor. After helping Steve and Sam acquire their suits and equipment in order to go after Bucky in "CIVIL WAR", Sharon lost her job with the C.I.A. and became a fugitive. She eventually moved to Madripoor, a city-state with no U.S. extradition, to evade capture, survived Thanos' Snap and became an embittered criminal nicknamed "the Power Broker" in order to survive the new world.
What really pissed me off about Sharon's arc between "CIVIL WAR" and "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER" is that her development into a major villain all happened OFF SCREEN. Off screen. Apparently, screenwriters for "INFINITY WAR" had written a draft that included Sharon in the movie. But according to Christopher Markus, he and Stephen McFeeley could not imagine scenes featuring Steve and Sharon trying to make it work in an apartment, because the 2018 movie did not have time to focus on their personal life. Why did Marvel simply fail to allow Sharon to be part of Steve's vigilante team - like Sam and Natasha Romanoff? I mean . . . good fucking grief! And why did Malcolm Spellman believe the only way Sharon could be interesting was to become a villain in "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER"? This was his idea of improving Sharon's character?
~\Helmut Zemo aka Baron Zemo~* - Why did Malcolm Spellman, Kevin Feige and the MCU thought it necessary to bring back Helmut Zemo, the Sokovian-born villain from "CIVIL WAR"? What role did he play in "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER"? I realize that Bucky, of all people, visited the incarcerated Zemo to acquire information on who had created the super-soldier serum that empowered the Flag Smashers. But why did he believe Zemo could provide the answer? Because he thought HYDRA was involved? Bucky or Sam could have searched for information from sources other than Zemo, who had been incarcerated for . . . what? Eight years? Eight years. Zemo managed to become something of a crowd-pleaser, thanks to Daniel Brühl's performance. Otherwise, I found his presence in this series unnecessary.
~\The Big Bad~* - Why on earth did it take this series so long to finally reveal the main villain's identity? At first, the series hinted the Flag Smashers, led by Karli Morgenthau. However, the series tossed other potential candidates for the Big Bad before viewers - John Walker, Helmut Zemo and yes, Sharon Carter. But in the end, Morgenthau and her group proved to be the main villains.
The Flag Smashers were a group of empowered people who believed the world was a better place between Thanos' Snap and the Blip (resurrection of those who had died during the Snap), when Humans around the world managed to unite and form a borderless society, one in which people helped others without any thought to nationalism and bias. Thanks to the Avengers, the world resumed its conflicts between nationalities and other groups. In other words, the borders returned.
Frankly, I have nothing against this ideal. Only Ms. Morgenthau and her followers resorted to violence and terrorism to achieve their goals. Does this sound familiar? It should. The Flag Smashers proved to be another example of characters with a progressive goal, resorting to extremism and becoming villains. This seemed to be a growing trend within the franchise, which I believe began with Erik "Killmonger" Stevens aka Prince N'Jadaka in 2018's "BLACK PANTHER". Since then, the MCU has not looked back at its growing roster of progressive villains. Perhaps I should not have been surprised. The franchise's ambiguous portrayal of an unconstitutional document like the Sokovia Accords, should have been the wake-up call. It seemed as if Kevin Feige, Marvel Films and Disney Studios had finally exposed themselves for the faux progressives they pretend to be. Frankly, this form of villainy has become tiresome to me.
After writing this article, I had considered ranking the six episodes featured in "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER" anyway. But I decided against it. My dislike of the series made it impossible for me to even bother. Being a fan of the first two Captain America movies, I had truly hoped this series would redeem the franchise. Unfortunately, it proved to be just as disappointing as "CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR". Pity. Perhaps the fourth film, "CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD" will do the trick. I hope so.

submitted by SmoothBarnacle4891 to u/SmoothBarnacle4891 [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:26 alrebmik I have a free hate coupon code with purchase I don't need.

I have a free hat with $100 purchase coupons code from the Benchmade website I don't plan on using. First come first serve if anyone wants it.

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2024.05.19 17:25 Realistic-Plat Effective Meal Planning Tips for Weight Loss

Hello everyone! Meal planning has been a game-changer for me on my weight loss journey. Here are some tips that have helped me stay on track:

Plan Ahead: Spend some time each week planning your meals and snacks.
Prep in Batches: Cook large portions and divide them into individual servings.
Balance Your Plate: Include a mix of protein, healthy fats, and veggies.
Healthy Snacks: Keep healthy snacks on hand to avoid temptation. What are your go-to meal planning tips? I’d love to add some new strategies to my routine!"

Feel free to choose any of these ideas and customize them based on your personal experiences or preferences.

submitted by Realistic-Plat to u/Realistic-Plat [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 17:23 N_morgana My stbx husband got angry because I'm considering casual sex with someone I met on bumble

My (34f) stbx husband (39M) and I live in a very complicated situation. We've been in this process of divorce for already 2 years, but we still live together under the same roof. His income is significantly higher than mine (he's an anaesthesiologist) and he's not doing the effort to move out from the apartment and told me that it would make things easier for him if I supported him financially, while he is planning to travel in June on his own to Istanbul and recently bought himself a toothbrush of 300 usd. Unfortunately I'm still economically dependent on him, and just recently working on making my own income as a freelance web designer. During a discussion he got upset and angry when I told him that I wanted to stop having sex with him (because he keeps insisting and I have told him we should stop) and I met someone on bumble who I'm considering having casual sex with. He told me that I should love myself more and I'm just giving away my body to a stranger and treating myself like a whore and while he's working hard, I'm technically abusing him and talking to strangers/other guys and treat him like a money making machine because I'm "demanding" him to do some fixtures in the apartment that hasn't been finished for years, even if I wish to do this myself, he doesn't allow me to. For the record, he doesn't do any housechores at home, plays on his Playstation when he comes back from his work and he doesn't bother to cook, fold his laundry nor takes care of the dog he wanted so bad, it's me doing everything.. I have been dedicating my life taking care of our home, we have lamps hanging on cables for more than 11 years, and even if I want to change them for decorative lamps, I'm not allowed to do it myself. We have a kitchen that has been under construction since 2017, and I want to hire someone to finish it, but he doesn't agree with it and believes it's better that he does this job himself rather than a professional. We have a 5 year old daughter together and he is a good father, but there also has been issues in the past where he broke her toys during a discussion and he has hit me as well, but according to him, he did those things because I angered him during a discussion and said hurtful things, and it shouldn't matter much anymore since it happened a year ago. Our home is filled with his stuff, he also has an expensive hobby (DJ) and we live in a very small apartment. I just want a happy free life and a beautiful home and perhaps it was wrong of me to look for casual dates on bumble during this process as a way to distract myself from all the issues we have together while I'm still living under the same roof with him, but I feel that living with him has become unbearable, and I simply here to vent out.

submitted by N_morgana to Divorce [link] [comments]

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