Idk if it's just me but I kinda wanted a love triangle kinda thing with the ghost jude and cardan. I liked their banter in the beginning in the wicked king and thought it'd be interesting if they'd just be flirting with each other from time, it wouldn't get physical or anything and then we get jealous cardan. Then scratch the whole ghost and Taryn being together as it would be too wierd.
I got spoiled those two started dating but it was obvious they would be an item in queen of nothing, I haven't finished the duology so no spoilers, but Taryn doesn't deserve him. He's too cool for her lol.

Hi there! I am desperately searching for more long term partners to roleplay with this summer. I have a few plot bunnies and pairings/moods already listed below, but if you have an idea send it my way! I’m down for almost anything.
*Me: * - 25+ F - 10+ years of roleplaying under my belt. - Looking for M/F and F// (M// is okay and appreciated for side characters and NPCs, though!) - I can write as little as a couple of paragraphs and as much as multiple pages depending on the situation. I will likely match your pace. - Third person past or present tense. - Active daily unless traveling. - Discord RP only please. - I usually main female and nonbinary characters, but I do like to play males as side characters and doubles. - OOC chatter. I like to plot a lot in OOC, share Pinterest boards and playlists, gush about our OCs and occasionally chat about life. - Plot comes first, but I definitely prefer to have some romance involved. Bonus points if there is slow burn/mutual pining/enemies to lovers/bad people making each other better (…or worse). All those fun tropes.
*You: * - 20+ - Interested in atmospheric, lore heavy world building. - Also down for a good laugh. I love the gritty stuff just as much as I love a good beach episode. - Semi-Lit to Literate. 2+ paragraphs, decent grammar, and give me something to respond to each post, not just responding to my character’s actions. - Willing to play side characters and NPCs - Can post every 1-3 days. Once a week if we are writing advanced lit. (If you can post multiple times a day on some days I will love you forever, but I know everyone has a life). - If you need to ditch for life/boredom/ other reasons that’s okay. Just let me know so I’m not waiting for a response. - The same goes for hiatus. If you need to take a break it’s cool, but if you wanna stay friends even better. I still love to talk, even if we’re not actively roleplaying on a daily basis.
craving* Bold = my character
Plot Bunnies: - The Hero You Created: A supervillain’s apprentice fakes her own death and moves to a city halfway across the world to become a hero. Years later, the Villain shows up in her new city and recognizes his former assistant in her new role.** - Gods and monsters: A world where gods make champions out of people, giving them powers and making them fight for influence. Gods open up dungeons (pockets in time-space) as arenas where champions compete in challenges based on the gods’ natures. My character is a champion who is trying to get stronger so she can ascend to the god realm and get revenge on a god that killed her sister. Your character is literally anyone you want. Demigods/other champions/anti-champions/cult leaders. Come build this world with me. ******** if you do this plot with me I will do anything you ask. Forever. - Ghost Adventures: A skeptic who is a ghost hunter by trade moves into a house and meets an actual bona-fide ghost. They must work together to set the ghost free. Alternatively, there is no mystery and they just go around solving other peoples’ mysteries. Or both. - Soulmates: A princess of dubious heritage forms a connection with an assassin who is targeting her. She finds them awfully familiar and for some reason they can’t find it in them to end her. - The King’s Maker: A faerie prince tricks a talented changeling into pretending to be a prophet for him. They go on a journey across Faerie to overthrow his father, the Faerie king. Along the way, they build a cult following. (Can be well-known faerie lore, but I have some Balkan inspired lore for this if you are interested) - Train: A human and some sort of supernatural train conductor (vampire, werewolf, fae, let your imagination run wild) investigate a string of attacks along a continental train route. They pretend to be a young, newly married couple to draw out the culprit, who is believed to be targeting young newly wedded women.
Pairings and word bank: - Witch x Demon - Witch x Witch Hunter* (message about plot for this) - Offering x Demon/God/Dragon/etc. - Reincarnated x Tyrant/Duke of the north/whoever (Bonus points if we can do doubles and play a “best friends/sisters/etc” get reincarnated together plot)* - Hero x Villain - Vampires - Various regional gothics - Mythology - Fake dating - Arranged marriage/contracts - Dragons - Cults - Cryptids - 70’s/80’s/90’s aesthetic - Retro-futurism - Solarpunk
This is getting long, so shoot me a DM if you don’t see a plot or pairing that you’re interested in playing and we can chat about it.

is this good or nah??

Project Africa, Meet: Project Eurasia
… Don’t settle for one continent, when you can run the length of two… or even The Three Americas.
What’s up, you extraordinary freaks of nature:
I hear Reddit is the place to make things happen.. A small task is afoot
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ultra marathoners: will no one best the King, Russ?
Or is he a generational talent?

• Russ Cook opens the international “eye” of human capability?✔️
• Runs all of Africa like a Tuesday fkn morning?✔️

This remarkable achievement left the world stunned and at least one person motivated to find those who are dedicated to match or exceed this accomplishment:
Shock the world: surmount these odds and rewrite the rulebook. I seek to ignite this pioneering spirit once more, to help contenders achieve the unthinkable…
I offer new stakes:
Shanghai to Lisbon (Yes, it is possible)

• 20-23 countries, 16,000km

Similar objective; entirely different story.

• Indeed it is the same distance to run the width from Asia to Europe.
• Yes, I understand it’s not ‘furthest east’, if it were, you’d probably die— I’m up for it— However, nobody has done our proposed distance yet.. Let's start there.
• Geographically speaking point to point is only 8,191km, almost exactly Africa’s 8,061km
• And wouldn’t you fkn know it, Shanghai is 861.2377km (535 miles) DUE south of Cabo’s true east along the latitudinal line, as in exactly in line with Shanghai as its furthest east point! These numbers are starting to come together..
• Europe’s entirety will be crossed.. Cabo Da Roca was made to look like a finish line anyway..

I certainly acknowledge that this mission has the potential to become a groundbreaking documentary. I am very excited to watch as it unfolds its powerful message to the world.
Diluted by our own self-imposed limits, we humans are a remarkably capable species.. We’ve been doing this for hundreds of years.
Though I consider myself to be in phenomenal condition & an extreme limit pusher— I’m in no way capable like Russ and these others to endure that run— however, that’s not why I am compelled to write my first post in 29(M) years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Russ & co. have set the bar high for the rest of the under-funded and highly “un”qualified lunatics.
They’ve shown there’s always room to redefine what’s “possible”..
At this moment I am seeking to assemble a capable and committed team to donate 8 or more months of their lives towards the task at hand. ⏳ that’s all— what else have we to do anyway?? Maintain the image we’ve spent our whole lives masquerading?
Or must we prefer to wait in line through Americas underfunded and overcrowded/ever-expansing parking lot system, inching our way towards the “American Dream” and ultimately that final day...
Which was the dream again?
Take your life back.
We intend to honor the world through impossible stories, still remaining to be experienced & uncovered: showcasing the grit, resilience, and sheer audacity of those who dare to undertake this relentless pursuit of the extraordinary—a journey that will leave us all forever changed.
Separate yourself from the crowd.
I believe us to be underestimating our opportunities and the great potential of this story: The Life changing ones, forget the instant global recognition coming on day one..
Here’s an opportunity to embrace and spread cultures,
The potential to make a difference in your life and that of others,
To transcend border.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As executive producer and logistics manager: I volunteer my leadership services and resourceful intuition/travel instinct, including the assistance of planning and organizing this expedition and routes associated. I will help assure the success, safety and effectiveness of the expedition.
Passionately-skilled as an adventurist, photojournalist & travel videographer, they tell me I have “it”. The goal isn’t monetary compensation, but instead— a global impact. The type of shit you’d do for free
Though Russ’ crew were not “professionals” by the Hollywood definition of the word, you’ll soon remember the power of a great story and a lens!
Furthermore, I’d have no hesitations documenting this expedition: offering a pivotal perspective behind the camera as well as a pen. Similarly, I’ve no objections to acting as director in such cases. I’d just prefer to focus more on the logistical side: I will recruit people better than me.
Show me the runner and I will do all I can to help turn this into reality. I’ve no choice now..
I live for the journey and its story, You can send us in a Toyota Corolla, I will accompany the runner on a bike, I don’t give a single fuck. This has to get done.
What I have:

• All the above necessary qualifications
• Like you, A life worth living.
• Mavic 3 pro Drone (yessir!)
• Newest iPhone & iPad Pro
• Go pro
• Potential funding opportunities

What we need:

• Like-minded people equally as daring and motivated
• A confident runner that is experienced and knowledgeable
• A Vehicle (inconspicuous please)
• Additional talented film crew

After sleeping on Russ, sponsors are ready & eager to jump on that next opportunity. Show the commitment. Fortunately, in this limelight we’re gifted with little resistance attaining their attention. The market is proven and it is susceptible to our impression.
Redbull, I don’t even like your shitty drinks— but isn’t this like exactly the opportunities you search for? You basically sell “ideas” in a liquid form.
Go pro? Where did you go?
A team makes all the difference, which is why I stress to possess the same desire, commitment and determination towards this goal- just as the “goal achiever” would.
It’s a story waiting to be told.
I will promptly, and without hesitation, quit TFOO my job and drop it all to buy a flight to Shanghai when a determined team is assembled for this. I swear on ALL mothers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Proceeding forth:
Charitable causes provide the leverage. It seems to be the best course of action. (Y’all don’t understand how fuckin’ strong my wife is)
*It includes dangers beyond our preconception— tis not a death wish, but a once in a lifetime experience.
*Don't expect a cute vacation or comfort. A price to pay in order to break records and achieve the unthinkable. I for one do not wish to limit our possibilities on our search for the “impossible”.
*Burn the boats at shore, we’ve no choice but to succeed. 80% of the journey is adapting in the field, the other 20% is simply getting yourself there.
Eurasia carves its own path.
-Offering unique perspectives in new environments, with new culture, and new hurdles to overcome.
People love watching others achieve these goals; they feel they are right alongside you, similarly achieving theirs. After all, it is you who is in their pockets.

• “Day one of….” -Shut up, I am already completely invested.

Through this triumph, we garner worldly attention, shedding the illusion of “borders”, connected— all cheering one person: united as one team. Isn’t a “movement” simply when a goal is achieved simultaneously by the whole?
What is evident is that the opportunity of its expanse hasn’t been fully explored, recognized and realized.
(Thanks for paving the way, Russ!)
You see, Eurasia is primed to happen.. The hints began to amass since Russ’ completion of the goal just nearly a month ago.. One might infer it’s on its way to be somewhat of a trend, but at the very least: a statement.
Must we sit out again? Project Earth is upon us:
*Alexander_campbell- currently walking the world now.
*Liamtheimpaler- biking from Alaska to Argentina.
*France: entirety biked.
*Germany: In the midst of being run.
*Lambros running Australia.
*Several are traveling the width of the US; one biking Alaska to Chile, others running barefoot?
*Katherine Lowrie ran the totality of South America. Over 17,000km with her husband.
***Countless in Asia.. but no runners..
(Edit): the list keeps expanding..
Perhaps this is an opportunity to compete for the finish line involving two or more teams? Fuck it, bring in the sport of competition for the great world race.
Dream big.
This your call to action
Understand the TREMENDOUS amount of work put into planning and ensuring the arrival of the goal— the athlete will also have to be physically prepared as well as mentally. But when the right pieces of the puzzle are brought together, we could do this ASAP.
May this message not fall on deaf ears — Our dreams remain as dreams until first action is taken. There’s no limit to our possibilities as a species. Let’s step into that world.
because i think that’s the whole point of this..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In this thread… offer your schemes, comments or productive critique:
If you aspire for something extraordinary and think you’re up for this task, come forth and tell us why you make a good fit. Hell, if you would even like to help fund or sponsor, I won’t stop you. Make your voice known.
Project_Eurasia is on Instagram, you can tell me I’m delusional there.
Let’s make it happen.
No "influencers".
No sellouts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This message unto the realm of universal possibility. Awaiting to unfold and materialize as it will
and all it takes is a single moment to change everything.
. . . -Andy

I know it can be cheated by using the sacrifice spell caster trap card and Zarc synchro universe
But then it just sits there being a 4000 beatstick
Also supreme king gate magician is weird to me it says “you can special summon this card by sending fusion,synchro,xyz,pendulum to the graveyard “ okay cool but it only sends Starving fusion dragon the normal one
Even if i have odd eyes dragon,supreme xyz rebellion dragon ,supreme synchro dragon,supreme starving fusion dragon

While I am disregarding the bugs, overall I think the art direction and gameplay of the new map to be interesting and engaging. I enjoyed playing both top and bottom of the map as killer (I've been working a lot recently so haven't got too much playtime on it as both sides yet).
Despite what others say, I enjoy the idea of portals (despite them allowing a survivor to narrowly escape my lunge/attack occasionally) because you can learn where they lead and how to continue a chase through them which is interesting and fun (also mind games where some survivors tried to hide just beside after portaling and I caught them).
I do not find the map to be confusing on top or bottom, and enjoy the labyrinth like look and feel of the bottom level, which even as killer is my favorite side of the map. It doesn't seem hard to defend both simultaneously most of the time by utilizing portals (swf not withstanding). Despite this labyrinth-esque layout I also learned rather easily where paths lead and how to take shortcuts to suprise survivors who thought they escaped me. Likewise, the tower in the middle was fun as the stairs allowed me to get ahead of survivors who committed to going down during chase.
I am not sure about axing the top and expanding the bottom portion, specifically because I don't necessarily enjoy all of the indoor maps (some are fine others are not), but that is arguable for any map style tbh. If this where to occur, I'd argue to keep the tower and the immediate section around it, with maybe one generator up there and an exit gate (so one can be underground to help seperate them as people have an issue with their placement so far). If done right it could be agreeable because I really like the labyrinth-esque feel to it and the aesthetic is just super cool.
Unfortunately I have only played against one Vecna so far because of time constraints, but it was a good match on Dead Dog Saloon until they randomly DCed (we were at maybe 3 guns left and they just DCed despite not doing bad as the new killer in a SoloQ lobby).
Overall I like this new chapter as a whole, with my biggest complaint being the overall uninteresting skins for the survivor(s). Not that I'd be buying them anyways tbf, my purchases are limited to DLC chapters atm.
Just wanted to see how everyone else felt because there always so much hate and toxicity in this community (especially recent posts), and I feel like it's partly because people complain when they don't win instead of trying to enjoy themselves and enjoy the game which CAN be done without winning. You guys should really be appreciative this chapter wasn't a repeat of some of the past chapters (we all know what I mean).

TL;DR : 23(M) in bay area trying to figure out how to position myself for the future in order to survive the shit show without too many scars and be able to be apart of the rebuilding process in an impactful way. What skills/direction do people think are good bets for myself and people my age or anyone reading/interacting with this?
Gonna share my Situation for background as well as perspective on areas that I see decline in across the board. Feel free to build off anything you resonate with or disagree with.

Housing Market/Migration:

Housing market is obviously fucked right for various reasons economically. The new houses that are being built are all of terrible quality by companies such as DR Horton in order to maximize profits which lead to inefficiency when it comes to home value retention and resell ability if they are able to sell at all. The new construction are like I said all shitty but are also being built in general in really shitty areas that don't have high qualities of life or massive weather problems among other cultural, energy, water, immigration or political issues(ie. Texas, Florida, Arizona, etc.) Not saying that other places in the country (New York & California) are perfect or even close to it, but people moving like they are moving to these places is like putting a band aid over the wound(the economy) instead getting to the root of the problem and currently we can see the result of this in said areas. Rising Unaffordability, crime, insurance rates, property taxes(Daddy government always gets his), and general gimmicky shit. Now those same people are moving back to California or New York if they can afford it or most of the time north to the rust belt to do the same thing with probably the same outcome. Interest rates won't come down for probably another 15 years and even if they do everything will be bought up by institutions.
Boomers are locked into houses with low rates and massively high equity but instead of passing that on to the next generation they choose to lord it over everyone and tell people to not buy coffee because that's obviously gonna make the difference in terms of being able to afford a downpayment. Telling everyone to work harder when they have literally have had it the easiest of any generation in human history without showing any gratitude or recognition of that fact.

The Dollar:

Its been talked about on here non-stop but national debt is absurd and currently unrepayable unless..... we just print more. Which is what the government does. I don't know if this is fueled by private banks( Look up private banks effects on history specifically during world wars; here is a solid video). But lowering the value of tomorrows dollar to pay off todays debt seems to be the government's only plan in terms of paying things off. This strategy is the only reason the media is able to manufacture delusion in the populous that stocks are high and real estate won't crash. What's really going on is the the prices are staying the same relatively or slightly increasing but that is because the value of the dollar is going down not because the value of the asset is going up. This is a overall assessment, obviously things fluctuate more when you zoom in and look at the fundamentals of individual assets but you get the general point.
Myself personally I am a little neutral in terms of if or if not the dollar will remain the world reserve currency for the next 150 years. My gut would say that it won't but that being said things don't really look too much better anywhere else in the world. People talk about BRIC but but they all have worse problems than the US. India is a shithole with poor infrastructure hence so many Indians moving the America specifically the bay area but also they consistently get outsourced by Americans once companies realize they need an ounce of quality in their service or product. The high quality ones leave and the low quality ones stay. Both China and Russia while boasting huge amounts of natural resources and reasonable militaries have dire demographic problems and have been lying about their numbers for years. Europe doesn't look any better either. Realistically I know it sucks in America but it kinda is better than anywhere else. What makes me hesitate is the cycles of history that Ray Dalio talks about where the world reserve currency is kind of destined to change every X amount of years. Have heard some interesting contrasting theories on this specifically the Dollar milkshake theory which I suggest checking out.

Job Market:

Job Market is ridiculous especially for younger people my age. Even my colleagues who went to an alright university are having a hard time getting and keeping a job due to the market. There are tons of ghost jobs that don't actually exist and are only posted in order to make it seem like the company is currently profitable. Just to get a job you not only need to apply to probably around a thousand jobs with a 3% response rate but also you need to be messaging recruiters and people who work at the company in order to get a referral. Even if you were able to get a job, most people I know are searching for another job whether it be part time or full time because they are afraid of being laid off.
Things also don't seem to be getting easier. The pandemic was extremely profitable for everyone but ever since then it has been harder and harder with no real let up or cooling off. I don't see how this can continue without turning to resentment or potentially complete stagnation since young people really don't have any reason to work. They are unable to find someone to have a family with in a healthy way. Unable to afford a house. Can't keep a job to no fault of their own. And can't afford to have kids.

Design/Consumerism:

Design and Consumerism are in my opinion evidence of a decaying society currently. There is very little differentiation in design from cars to houses to public or government buildings to art and even products at retail stores. Everything is designed with speed and Price in mind which spirals consumerism further downward(look up refinement culture on google). This promotes things like fast fashion and previously mentioned single use products which make corporations a large amount of money but isn't sustainable for the environment or for individual people's wallets.
Also the general lack of beautiful design in people's lives makes our lives even more dull than they currently are. Living or working in a McMansion that looks like the inside of a Chick-fil-a is fun for the first five days until its not and then you are back to keeping up with the Jones' in order to fit in: falling back into consumerist culture. I think debt and peoples personal finances are being stretched which makes this problem slightly disappear more and hurt the corporations' pockets but it doesn't solve the problem just reveals the cancer underneath.

Crime:

Crime obviously is increasingly on the rise and not just with violent crimes. Shoplifting as you know is a huge issue as well as personal stealing to such a prevalence that the sentences on those crimes are being reduced because prisons and jails are being maxed out completely. This doesn't seem to be slowing down and is even shifting to different parts of the country due to internal migration previously talked about above in the housing portion due to unaffordability, interest rates, debt, and population increase(by migration or birth).
Another huge issue is homelessness and specifically illegal immigration which I think partly is done by the Democratic party currently in order to bolster their election chances with November coming not realizing that they are turning away their existing demographics. Another feature of homelessness specifically but also crime and illegal immigration is it inadvertently destroys third spaces which are currently and rightly so being talked about a lot. I will go into this more on the next section.

Day to Day Physical and Mental health:

Being able to socialize and hang out with people casually and at no to low cost is becoming increasingly impossible. Being out in public now costs money and that cost is rising day by day exacerbating isolation especially among young people who don't have that much money do begin with. This is a huge reason why I think young people are still willing to go to college the way they still are. even if they go into debt they want access to these third spaces to improve their social, physical and mental Health. I KNOW, myself included, that young people are desperate for third spaces and community even though many are addicted to their phones, don't have good social skills or it costs a significant amount of money to engage in it which is unfortunate and leads to people kind of giving up or at least having a general feeling of hopelessness. The predatory nature of social media companies and targeted advertisers don't help this issue at all either leading to worse mental health as well as more consumerism. Mental health as we all know is a huge issue especially with younger people and even though we have more resources/understanding about it which I am proud of my generation(and others) for being interested and interacting with, dealing with the issue becomes more and more difficult based on our decaying environment day by day.
In terms of physical health again, I am proud of my generation(and others) for caring more about the products that they are putting into their body. Seeds oils, red dye, processed food, micro-plastics, animal and plant products raised in the right way, etc. However the way the food industry is currently set up, being able to have access to clean healthy food is a lot of times unaffordable to most people or the food itself is up for speculation by the media because why would industries do studies on products of hygenic methods that can't make money? Again this seems to be an issue that there is awareness and information on but day by day it seems to be harder and harder to give your body what it needs to feel good based on the current decaying environment.
I'm also going to add a spiritual section here because I feel it needs to be added. We need to hold religious organizations more accountable. I am seeing more and more people being turned away from ideologies that are legitimately beneficial to their lives because of poor leadership, predatory behavior, and fraudulent/scam activities. This may be a result of a society being submerged in decadence but it is really disheartening seeing people being moved away from spirituality because it has been weaponised for the personal gain of those at the top. Feel that needed to be added since it is something I want to engage with more meaningfully in the future.

Dating/Families:

This is my opinion will be the breaking point for most people. I think if people were really honest with themselves family would be something that you don't fuck with; future or current. Dating currently is really tough for everyone regardless of what is between your legs. Animosity between genders has been manufactured and in general people have tendencies within this context to be more competitive rather than cooperative which should clearly be indicative that things aren't or are going to work out. The destruction of third spaces, addiction to phones, predatory corporations profiting of loneliness(regardless of sex), inability to buy a house, inability to afford kids, etc have really made people sit back and wonder is any of it really worth it. Should I just indulge in primal desires since my self actualization needs seem so unattainable @ Maslow.
I said it before but this will be the breaking point in my opinion. If people don't feel like no matter how hard they work, they won't be able to get what they want in terms of normal human desires and needs; Then they will fight and rebel for it which is where I think we are headed, especially concerning young dudes.

Personal Response:

Grew up in Middle class home in San Jose and had a pretty normal childhood. Don't remember anything too ridiculous around 2008 but we were also renting as well. Things however really ramped up when I got into college specifically during the Pandemic. I spiraled downward and had severe mental and physical issues that resulted in me hitting rock bottom(don't want to play oppression olympics here). Now I'm currently heavily considering going back to finish my degree in Philosophy just to have it. Afterwards looking at sales, one of the trades, or any other opportunity that presents itself in order to get by while things get adjusted.
I feel we are headed towards extremely turbulent times within the next 4 years. With the boomers dying and leaving the workforce to the rising animosity and resentment that younger people feel with the system regardless of your political ideology it seems we are moving towards some kind of global or civil war. We already see China preparing to invade Taiwan, Russia looking to move further west for expansion and I think similar conflict will happen in the United States. The United States and its dollar are weakening by the day which is why you see the dollar being removed from countries trading oil and why there have been more international conflicts like Armenia, Israel, and Ukraine with more to come.
We are due for a war , turbulent time period, rebalancing, whatever you want to call it but its coming(@ Ray dalio cycles of history)probably this November if I had to guess. I feel like I am gifted to be able to see this stuff and put it into words as many of you guys reading this also probably are but I am feeling lost currently and don't want to lose hope. I know that this is an opportunity for me to go through a hard time and become stronger because of it and hopefully become a responsible and respectable steward for the future when the rebuilding happens assuming I survive without too many scars. But what do I do now? How should I act? Should I go back to college and continue to try and go the old path with the clarity of what I think will happen waiting for my moment to adapt? Or should I be proactive and try something new in order to put myself in a more advantageous position when things inevitably get turned upside down? Combination of both?
My current focus is on my body & mind in terms of food, drink, substances, exercise phone use, media, information, agendas, and mental frameworks since that is all I can realistically invest into currently. I'm naturally an over thinker and a pessimist but think it is important to take the white pill on this one and look to the future with hope in terms of seeing opportunity in the decay of the current flawed system we are in regardless of the fact that I feel as though myself and people around my age currently have it pretty tough right now across the board. I'm emphasizing this because I feel as though this reddit(especially the posts) sometimes just reports the pain and fear instead of trying brainstorm the best ways to adapt and handle what we currently face. I want to have a wife, kids, and a family and feel it is my responsibility to make the best of what I have and be positive in order to get what I want in this life.
Would love to hear from you if you are in a similar situation or a different one. What are your thoughts, feelings, plans, and mentality heading into the future? Are we cooked? Or just waiting for our turn.

I've got a table full of brand new players, and they are mostly playing characters that I generated for them at level 1 (I used fastcharacter). One player was given a fighter with the two weapon fighting style, which he loved and has really made the dual wielding a part of his character concept. They've just reached level 3 and he really wants to go eldritch knight, which is cool but looking at it I can already see where he's going to run into issues with the rules as written for EK and two weapon fighting (blade cantrips are unusable, spells can't be cast without war caster, war magic will straight up make his off hand attack unusable). He's pretty excited and I don't want to tell him its a bad idea, but I'm also a little worried about just letting him run headlong into it and eventually getting frustrated once he's in deep about how clunky it looks like it'll quickly become. So, I've been thinking of hombrewing it and using great weapon master as my guideline for it. My proposed homebrew is adding the following to the dual wielder feat:
"You can take a -5 to both attacks to make an offhand attack an extra attack rather than a bonus action attack. If you do so, you cannot make an off hand attack with your bonus action."
Does this seem reasonably balanced or would it totally break things? My thought is that a EK with GWM would basically get this benefit along with easier spellcasting. The addition is meant to do a couple of things: free up bonus action for spells (at a cost), allow off hand attacks with blade cantrips (at a cost), and generally make the offhand attack more feasible. Flavor wise it makes sense to me, take your bonus action and fight carefully or don't and kind of swing wildly. The second attack even with a longsword works out to 8-10 damage, similar to the GWM bonus but more swingy. Splitting the -5 penalty across two attacks makes a different sort of risk calulation but not strictly better I don't think when you consider bonuses like bardic inspiration. I might remove the +1AC benefit of the dual wielder feat to account for this buff, but since the damage output is still lower than GWM I might consider keeping it. Any thoughts on the balance or clunkiness of this? I mostly just want to reconsider dual wielding to make it on par with a 2 handed weapon so he can live his flavor dream. He will still have to figure out a solution for casting spells with hands full like taking war caster or getting a war mage ruby. Also, like I said the player is new and doesn't seem too interested in min/maxing so I'm not too worried about some crazy munchkin combo this might unleash, more about just generally how much this buff would unbalance the table in normal use.

I find I agree with most of the crew's takes, at least with movies I've seen (being a little 'Jay-y' in that I haven't seen many classics), but there are some that they generally praise that I feel have issues that they don't bring up or aren't aware of, so I thought I might as well post them here to organize my thoughts, and see what others have to say.
The Thing
I really like this movie, but I feel it's harmed by the alien's powers, as presented, being too powerful, that it should have easily been able to infect everyone very quickly in dog form without ever being suspected. Maybe it's explained better or retconned in secondary media, but from what I gather having seen only the movie, the creature has at least human-level intelligence to be able to perfectly mimic a person, can modify its form and create appendages at will, and only needs to get a single cell into an animal body to assimilate it. When it is first brought in as a dog, it is given free reign of the facility. It should have had plenty of opportunities to spread its cells all over everyone. Even if saliva from licking (as a dog would do) isn't good enough, it could use it's demonstrated ability to generate a small needle appendage to prick everyone, or even a light nip wouldn't be seen as hostility from a dog.
The Matrix
It's not a plot hole, but I've always been really disappointed by this movie, as it has a cool premise, but I feel it says much less than everyone thinks it does. I love the concept of machines overthrowing humans, but instead of killing them, put them in a virtual world where they can still live out real-enough, fulfilling lives out of some strange sense of love or respect for their creators. Unfortunately, that's not what the movie is, despite some secondary media (comics, anime, etc.) pushing in that direction with added context of the machines' PoV. The first movie taken on its own (as most people ignore the other instalments anyway), the machines are black-and-white evil, who hate the humans and only keep them around for power, despite the presented system being among the worst ways to generate electricity imaginable.
SOMA
At the risk of inciting the Long Man's wrath, I felt that Soma fell short of what it could have been. Still, I would absolutely recommend anyone with any interest in sci-fi or existential horror to play it, as it does quite well in its exploration of what it means to be human. My first major issue is that the player character is as dense as tungsten, refusing to pick up on what he is seeing and being told. I get that this can be explained by the "flat" nature of his existence, and I suppose it adds tragedy to the situation, but it's still frustrating. Second, even if getting on the Ark worked like Simon expected, it still has horrifying implications that are never brought up; they are essentially trapping themselves in a cage that is doomed to fail sooner or later, when the earth is not dead, and in fact life under the ocean is shown to be thriving. No consideration is given to the thought that maybe, as the last human consciousnesses left, and now with effectively immortal bodies, there might be some desire or responsibility to fix the surface, shepherd ocean life, or at least deal with the WAU if it was left alive. Space is a notoriously unforgiving environment for electronics, and the Ark honestly would be safer on Earth, where Catherine and the Simons could protect and maintain it, and so it could actually be useful if they ever want to bring the inhabitants back out, instead of dooming them to oblivion in the depths of space. The final "exam" is meant to highlight the themes of existentialism, but I couldn't really get into it because of these loose ends. Still a good game, and certainly a horror game.

Age of Legends
Prologue(Death and birth of a dragon)

Rand was happy, there wasn’t much else he could say about how he felt right there at that specific moment. Lying there in bed wearing nothing but his small cloths and a silk shirt half buttoned. Beside him sleeping so peacefully was one of his beautiful wives, Elmindreada, though she hated that name and preferred Min. Thinking back on many long years of peace and growth, yes he was fated to break the world, and he had. Though the prophecies never mentioned the creation and growth he would also leave behind. The creation of the black tower and the worldwide acceptance of male Aes Sedai, his crown and epitome of success the cleansing of saiadin. That and the discovery of ancient knowledge to confirm anyone should be able to learn to touch at least a small part of the true source, at least most people could. Those two things alone would have vast and far-reaching consequences for the good. The covers beside him shifted as his wife turned over in her sleep showing him her short curly hair. Thoughts drifting again to convincing the Aeil and Tu’athan(the tinkers he thought fondly still) to make peace, them taking it a step further and settling in the two rivers. The tinkers, the wondering people and followers of the way of the leaf, coming to terms with the Aiel spear wielders and settling in one place, that one place being his boyhood homeland. Perrin was there, as well as all the Emond fielders, what’s more they set him up like some king and started calling the place Manetheren.
Mat even came back and settled down to retire with the remainder of his family after his wife the empress died. Rand frowned because that wasn’t a happy memory, her battle with some kind of internal growth that even the best healers couldn’t fix, it was slow and painful. She was tough and knew enough to put things in order so there wouldn’t be any war for succession, but after her death and with no children not adopted, Mat just had no pull to stay. He came back and Perrin gave him an estate where he spent the rest of his days carousing in taverns even if no one would play dice with him again. The rest of his days were not much however, less than two years after his wife Mattrim died of a heart attack. The same strange fox head medallion he wore around his neck that had saved him so many times from enemy power wielders, due to its powers of absorbing any of the one power used against the wearer, was strangely the main cause of his death as there had been an Aes Sedai capable of healing close by. Rand wondered what ever became of that medallion. Trying to shift his thoughts back to happier things he thought of Elayne another of his wives and queen of the region this new “kingdom” was growing. Or at least she was. Having not one but two kingdoms to run was taxing her, especially when one played that awful game of houses so much, as if it were breathing. She actually willingly gave that area to Perrin, that and more besides. “Having friends at your back, especially friends who know they owe you can only help.”, he remembered her saying when he asked her.
He laughed remembering how her cute golden-haired little face grew so stern while she rounded on him for not caring about his friends and shouldn’t they also get something for all the help they provided at the last battle. Of course, it also had nothing to do with being such close friends with Perrin’s wife Fail. Manetheren though, when asked Perrin just shrugged his huge shoulders saying one name is as good as any, and it was the one that everyone agreed on.
Min groaned softly beside him still wrapped in the silken bedding spread. His laugh seemed to have disturbed her, he quickly stifled it and glared at the lavish bedroom they slept in as if that were the fault for his mirth. Lying on top of the silken covers because he never quite got used to sleeping on feather mattresses. It really was a lavish bedroom, filled with rugs and wall coverings, paintings, not one but two large dressers with mirrors, a matching and equally large wardrobe, currently opened showing two other mirrors on the inside of the doors, smaller than the dresser mirrors, and a neat array of blouses and trousers with floral embroidery(Min’s things). Otherwise, there was also a washstand with another small mirror, a desk and one chair slightly askew and away from the desk. On the desk are several stacks of books, and an open notebook with a nearby quill and ink pot. There was a lone unlit lamp also on the desk gilded in gold, as well as several gold gilded wall lamps also unlit around the room.
Sighing softly as Min settled back to comfortable sleep, he stared back up at the bland whitewashed ceiling above him and thought about the schools he had patroned. So many new ideas and inventions were springing up and with traveling prevalent they all spread to the world almost as fast as the ideas can be thought up. This would hopefully lead to a golden age for the world, and his schools were even branching off on their own into new learning institutes. These alone seemed to keep the peace between all the nations. Rand couldn’t tell if he was trying to be modest or humble. Yes he patroned and started the first few schools, but it was not all him coming up with any of the ideas and inventions, many of which had become marvels in and of themselves. Transportation, communication, education These would be left behind and he would be known for that as well as the other.
Breaking the world to make it whole, and his victory with that world’s armies at the last battle. He fought the dark one while the armies of all the nations fought the shadowspawn and darkfriends and dreadlords. Despite everything against him, including it seemed sometimes even the creator, he not only won the battle, but he survived it, he survived it and had a nice long life. The world was at peace, headed to a golden age which he would get credit for, and so Rand was happy. His eyes closed and his thoughts grew that sort of muffled feeling they get just as they start turning into dreams.
PAIN! Rand knew pain, he was no stranger to hurts, especially from a half healed old wound in his side, but that was not the same thing right now. For some reason panic started rising up in him, this was something new, this was something worse. A sharp pain again, in his chest, his body wildly spasmed up kicking his sleeping wife awake.
“Ow you bloody tall buffoon, if you think you can kick me out of bed you have another thing …” Min trailed off as another spasm of pain racked through Rand. Her face contorting with fear as she watched him clutching his chest nearly double over with the pain spasm. He tried to tell her he would be alright, but all that came out was a groaning grunt. He tried lifting his hand to show her it would be alright, but he couldn’t get it to move. Suddenly a hand hit him in his face, it was his hand. He couldn’t feel his hand or his arm. Fear started creeping in as another spasm of pain caused him to let out another groan and clutch at his chest with this hand he couldn’t feel.
“Creator shine his light on me, of course you would choose to die when you’re with me.” Min started shouting hysterically. “For the love of light you bloody wool head, you hang on until I can get Aviendha to come heal you, she’s not far, just hold on damn you.”
Rand vaguely had an impression of Min running towards and out the door. Another spasm of pain, except somehow this was less. He knew it should hurt just as much, but it didn’t. He must have found the void so it wouldn’t hurt as much, that was it. Rand thought about his third and final wife Aviendha, how she would likely come in to find him as healthy as a bull and upset his stomachache disturbed her wise one’s practice. Stomachache? Wasn’t it his chest that was hurting him? Another very small spasm, yes its his chest, but he was also feeling decidedly nauseous too, and that was the greatest issue right? Sleep was all he needed, he would sleep, and everything would be fine in the morning, tomorrow he had to get up early to sheer the sheep.
The void completely surrounds and envelops Rand. As he fades away he hears a sinister voice in his head, “YOU WON THIS ROUND DRAGON REBORN BUT WE WILL COME FACE TO FACE AGAIN” The dark one, what, again? No, the dark one is dead, am I dead, wake up you light blinded fool. There was nothing but the void, not even the light of saiadin could be seen. Rand listened as hard as he could, he thought he heard something, something almost familiar. There it was again, soft but rhythmic, sounding not exactly far, but muffled as if listening through water. Thump Thump and it hit him, that’s the sound of a heartbeat, but who’s heartbeat his? Sleep, that’s what he needed, a really good nights sleep and he would feel better in the morning. Rand drifted off into a dreamless sleep listening to the heartbeat, Thump Thump.
Thus did the dragon reborn die after seeing the end of one age turned into the beginning of another. The people of the land wept at his passing, they swore they would remember him forever and always. Time however is not a kind mistress, when an age is gone it starts to fade from existence, times deeds even people change in the telling’s of the years and centuries. Eventually when the wheel goes round and gives birth to the age again all details have been forgotten, muffled, or contorted.

Mariann Jo’sheen Sedai was old. She had a proper last name once if she could just remember. It had been so long ago since she had last thought of it, a life in the white tower could do that, and Sedai was as good a last name as could be for formality. Just saying Mariann was old was an understatement though, being a woman with a stronger channeling ability, and having sworn on all 8 Life Oath Rods, a prerequisite to becoming Amyrlin of the tower, that she even has any grey hair showing means she must be well past 800 years old, and to show the amount of age she did it must be closer to past 900 years. She was still sharp in mind mostly, at least anything from the last 100 years or so she could recall as sharp as if it happened yesterday. Had it really been longer than a hundred years since she last though of her family name, having long lasted past the last of her lineage, her family long gone or married into others.
She thought even harder surly she had been at her last relative’s funeral, when was it, it was a great aunt she remembered, and the surname was …, she thought really hard. She was in the Amyrlin’s bedchamber reserved for the current leader of the white tower. That said like most of the past Amyrlins before her she kept the bedroom nice and simple. The single window held a cooling fan with right below it a heater coil. The other wall held a closed door which led into her bathroom, the next wall holding another door leading out of the bedchamber into the office of her role. The last wall held the only other furniture besides the plain brown four poster bed she was laying on. A white nightstand with built in mirror and matching white clothed chair. The bathroom was large and would hold her wardrobe of clothes along with the indoor plumbing necessities.
Mariann thought back to each of the eight oaths she took on the life rods, trying to remember which one she had last taken when she attended her aunt’s funeral. Small cylindrical devices no longer than her arm, when you take an oath on one your life actually increases by a standard lifetime or roughly 100 years depending on the person, those stronger in the one power given slightly more. Really giving any oath at all would do for the increasing your life, the only requirement being you channel Saiadar while making your oath and someone else that can also channel does so to activate it. However each specific Ajah required you to take a specific oath, and the eighth oath rod was solely for those like her who have taken the Amyrlin seat after having have pledged on the other seven, again a specific oath.
“I will say no word that is untrue”. Eight oath rods, and eight times this is spoken to ensure you do not offer a false oath, as if anyone would think of lying so many truth seekers everywhere.
“I will faithfully serve as Amyrlin to all of my children for the rest of my days”. The Amyrlin seat was a lifelong position and would not open again until her death. Serve all her children, it was said that the ancient honorific Amyrlin meant something like mother to all, it means that she was a servant to everyone in the world, matter it not she was the leader of the white tower. That first part about serving faithfully as Amyrlin could leave some wiggle room depending on how one viewed the title of Amyrlin, the last however left no wiggle room for anything.
“I will treat everyone with fairness and justice as is prescribed by the dai’shan aiel of the grey tower and the Aes Sedai code of ethics”. Those were binding stronger than time itself. The grey tower first because only the dai’shan aiel more than anyone can decide what is fair and right, they were and are the original truth seekers among so much more. You would also have as much power to reach the moon as you would to get the Aes Sedai code of ethics changed. First it would take a proposal from either of the leaders from the white or black tower. Either the Amyrlin of the white tower or the Pope of the black tower has to make a suggested change, which then needs to go through each Ajah/Faction and receive 90% approval, then it gets sent to the other tower to make its way up through the chains until it finally ends with the other towers leader. If it passes all of that it gets sent to the grey tower for approval again 90% before finally appearing before the first servant leader of the grey tower for final approval, and at any stage it can be stopped if it doesn’t pass.
That wasn’t it though, no she was not Amyrlin at her aunt’s funeral. Before then was the Blue ajah, which was closer. But still too recent, what level was she? The sleeping shift she wore was one of the new fads called a one piece. It was literally one garment that covered both legs and torso. It had several convenient buttons for keeping it on or taking it off. It was grey cotton all one solid color, and it was bunching up at the knees. Mariann distractedly Jerked it back into position. Her thoughts drifted too far back to when she had her very first foretelling which was that she would one day become Amyrlin seat. She was a young girl of only 16 years, and she knew without a doubt. It came in bursts though and it was not something she could control.
This vision came on stronger than any she had ever encountered before. So strong it jerked her body stiff as a board and slammed her down thankfully into the bed she was already laying on. An Evil shadow of a man, a giant taller than mountains, and blacker than the darkest shadows on a moonless night, peering down at the world smiling, that smile turning your blood to jelly and freezing you in place with its ill intent. A great serpentine beast came flying from the other side of the world, Long and scales glimmering like diamonds with talons made of pure gold but sharper than the sharpest knife, fire trailing from its partially open moth off its gleaming sharp teeth. It was equally large as the malevolent shadow man and flew on giant tornado causing wings straight at the other. They fought a great battle against each other, but in doing so caused so many deaths as swaths of their destruction ravaged the world. A flash of light and Mariann was staring at the grey tower as if just a few hundred yards away. She started walking towards it only to watch in horror and bewilderment as the tower before her cracked and collapsed as if a mirror or glass shattered. Another flash of light and she saw a baby boy, but he aged so fast right before her eyes until he died as an old man. She couldn’t remember much, but she knew deep down that he was in some way related to the other visions and this man, for it was definitely a man, was likely the cause of them.
Opening her eyes to stare at the brown four poster cloth above her and remembering every detail about her vision she distractedly spoke to herself . “Goshin is my sur name and I last heard it at Aunt Maragel Goshin’s funeral while I was at the green level”. She shook her head, that wasn’t important anymore if it ever really was. She quickly sat up in her woolen one piece swinging her feet over the side of the bed and hurried to her nightstand. Sitting in the chair she reached in one drawer to get paper and another to get an ink pointer. Channeling a single small strand of fire into a swinging glass bulb above her bed brought light into the room. She hastily started scribbling down every detail from her vision, she was grateful she always kept ink and paper nearby to do so.

Mr. Telamon was a nervous wreck while sitting in the hospital waiting room. He somehow knew, sensed something was wrong with his wife’s delivery. Dai’shan aiel were everywhere; as were nurses, patients or close kin waiting, Every once in a while a doctor’s assistant would come out and call a name ushering someone to see a doctor. Really bad cases would be taken in through a separate entrance known only to the healers. It didn’t matter, and he got confirmation as those doors opened up and not the assistant, but the doctor who had taken his wife looked around the room first at the dai’shan, then at him. A group of three of the white clad figures started moving towards him even before the doctor did. They felt his grief or rather the grief he was going to feel, even before he himself felt it. That and they knew it would take three of them to calm him down. Tears were streaming from his eyes before the doctor even started speaking.
“There was a complication during the pregnancy, your son is ok, your wife however did not make it, I’m so sorry. She did manage to tell us a name before she passed. Lews, Lews Therin after her father. Is that what you would like on the birth certificate?”
Baby Lews’s father numbly nodded, and the doctor walked away as uncontrollable sobs started emanating from the man. The three dai’shan aiel circled around him arm in arm and started singing a song of comfort and peace and mourning.
***
Rand Al’thor was asleep soundly when something woke him up, but he couldn’t tell what or where, or even anything for that matter. It was like the void, nothingness, but a sound, not a feeling, a heartbeat. The heartbeat was much faster than it was and suddenly something pushed him hard in the head. Go away he thought I’m trying to sleep. However the push came back stronger than before, this time managing to flip him upside down, upside down?, he could tell direction in this floating nothingness. Really awake now Rand tried to remember, remember?, remember what? Again the push and he was being squeezed to death and suddenly he remembered something about the dark one. A voice, a word, a sentence, the dark one wanted him dead. Was this the dark one trying to kill him, again push, again very tight squeeze, this time a light as if from a tunnel. It wasn’t the only light though, Rand went to the real void, and he saw it, Saiadin. He reached out with all his might to grab it and it came like a flood. He couldn’t control it, he had no strength, and his memory was foggy, he just expelled it to get out the other light and away from the pushing and death squeeze.
As Saiadin left him so did more and more memories, he tried to shout that he killed the dark one, sealed the bore so it could never be open. All that came out of his mouth was a scream. No blood and fire no I did this already, I won, I’m done. And with that last thought Rand Al’thor fell deep deep asleep into the furthest recesses of the brain. Lews took a deep breath and let out another scream wanting his mother or anyone to come pick him up and sooth his little soul.

The dragon is born!

Chapter 1
16 years later
The wheel of time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the fifth age by some and the first by others. An age yet to come, an age long past, a dark icy wind arose from about as far north as you can get. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the wheel of time. But it was a beginning.
A steam vent in an icy mountain let out a puff of sulfur like particles riding the wind. High and fast the dark tainted wind rode across the Nym fields, high enough to escape the notice of the Nym, ever vigilant in their desire to protect the world. Over the borderlands of mankind, given graciously by the Nym when mankind needs more space to grow. Still high in the sky the dark wind blew through wild wilderness where only the Nym, the Ogier, the dai’shan aiel, and the Aes Sedai were allowed to travel if at some risk. The wind started descending as it traveled into the warmer southern air. Up ahead in the distance was a magnificently large tower made of stone black like obsidian, but much stronger. Along the northern wall of this Black tower were several windows, most open hoping to catch some of the cool breeze which it did nicely.
It was into one of these windows the dark wind blew, a classroom, though filled only with boys. The tainted breeze flew around several students, all dressed in black school uniforms and sitting at wooden desks on little rickety stool like chairs with just the barest of backrest. The flow of air flew so close to the face of one student he gave a start, finally going up the next nearby student’s nose just as he took in a deep breath.
Lews gave such a start at the intrusion, and he stood up sneezing loudly, the rancid smell still strong in his nose. Taller than most of his peers he certainly stood over everyone’s head while they were all sitting down.
“What are you doing, you look like a dork, hurry and sit down before anyone notices.” His best friend [Ishamael]() tried to warn him. However, it was already too late for that, most of the class was now looking at him which made him self conscious even if the women all said he looked like a dream. Worse, the teacher at the front of the class in a very similar black colored uniform was looking at him expectedly.
“Yes Lews, do you think you know the answer?” To Lews’s horror he realized he had been spending most of the class in a daydream about being the most powerful weaver ever. It was important that distinction, woman channel men weave. Saiadar and Saiadin, two halves of the same whole, both apart of the one power the true source. Everyone could learn to use it, or at least almost everyone. The dai’shan don’t channel or weave for all the power of their songs, not one of them it’s a law to join among other things. Other people might be so weak in the power it should be they don’t have it at all, there are objects which can amplify or temporarily give someone use of the one power, those with so little power that resort to using these transcognative devices were often socially outcast. Transmogs they were called when someone was being nice.
That didn’t help him now, he was in history class, and definitely not studying Transmogs. Lews desperately wracked his brain trying to remember what they were discussing. The teacher’s slight smile was starting to droop to a slight frown. Nym’s that was what they were discussing, what about Nym’s? Desperately looking around for some hope, he finally remembered. It was a question about the first Nym, what was his name?
“Goak him jim knee?” Lews answered with a rightfully apologetic look on his face. Sighing the teacher said “close, Oakhimgimee. At least he was close!” The teacher got progressively louder while giving the rest of the class an evil eye. The laughter that had started quickly quieted. Just at that particular moment a loud bell decided to ring calling an end to that class period.
As the other students started standing up, talking, and starting to head for the door, the teacher weaved a small weave that produced a louder voice reminding the class they had the test coming up at the end of the week.
Lews slowly grabbed his bag and followed the steady stream of students leaving the class.

Age of Legends
Prologue(Death and birth of a dragon)

Rand was happy, there wasn’t much else he could say about how he felt right there at that specific moment. Lying there in bed wearing nothing but his small cloths and a silk shirt half buttoned. Beside him sleeping so peacefully was one of his beautiful wives, Elmindreada, though she hated that name and preferred Min. Thinking back on many long years of peace and growth, yes he was fated to break the world, and he had. Though the prophecies never mentioned the creation and growth he would also leave behind. The creation of the black tower and the worldwide acceptance of male Aes Sedai, his crown and epitome of success the cleansing of saiadin. That and the discovery of ancient knowledge to confirm anyone should be able to learn to touch at least a small part of the true source, at least most people could. Those two things alone would have vast and far-reaching consequences for the good. The covers beside him shifted as his wife turned over in her sleep showing him her short curly hair. Thoughts drifting again to convincing the Aeil and Tu’athan(the tinkers he thought fondly still) to make peace, them taking it a step further and settling in the two rivers. The tinkers, the wondering people and followers of the way of the leaf, coming to terms with the Aiel spear wielders and settling in one place, that one place being his boyhood homeland. Perrin was there, as well as all the Emond fielders, what’s more they set him up like some king and started calling the place Manetheren.
Mat even came back and settled down to retire with the remainder of his family after his wife the empress died. Rand frowned because that wasn’t a happy memory, her battle with some kind of internal growth that even the best healers couldn’t fix, it was slow and painful. She was tough and knew enough to put things in order so there wouldn’t be any war for succession, but after her death and with no children not adopted, Mat just had no pull to stay. He came back and Perrin gave him an estate where he spent the rest of his days carousing in taverns even if no one would play dice with him again. The rest of his days were not much however, less than two years after his wife Mattrim died of a heart attack. The same strange fox head medallion he wore around his neck that had saved him so many times from enemy power wielders, due to its powers of absorbing any of the one power used against the wearer, was strangely the main cause of his death as there had been an Aes Sedai capable of healing close by. Rand wondered what ever became of that medallion. Trying to shift his thoughts back to happier things he thought of Elayne another of his wives and queen of the region this new “kingdom” was growing. Or at least she was. Having not one but two kingdoms to run was taxing her, especially when one played that awful game of houses so much, as if it were breathing. She actually willingly gave that area to Perrin, that and more besides. “Having friends at your back, especially friends who know they owe you can only help.”, he remembered her saying when he asked her.
He laughed remembering how her cute golden-haired little face grew so stern while she rounded on him for not caring about his friends and shouldn’t they also get something for all the help they provided at the last battle. Of course, it also had nothing to do with being such close friends with Perrin’s wife Fail. Manetheren though, when asked Perrin just shrugged his huge shoulders saying one name is as good as any, and it was the one that everyone agreed on.
Min groaned softly beside him still wrapped in the silken bedding spread. His laugh seemed to have disturbed her, he quickly stifled it and glared at the lavish bedroom they slept in as if that were the fault for his mirth. Lying on top of the silken covers because he never quite got used to sleeping on feather mattresses. It really was a lavish bedroom, filled with rugs and wall coverings, paintings, not one but two large dressers with mirrors, a matching and equally large wardrobe, currently opened showing two other mirrors on the inside of the doors, smaller than the dresser mirrors, and a neat array of blouses and trousers with floral embroidery(Min’s things). Otherwise, there was also a washstand with another small mirror, a desk and one chair slightly askew and away from the desk. On the desk are several stacks of books, and an open notebook with a nearby quill and ink pot. There was a lone unlit lamp also on the desk gilded in gold, as well as several gold gilded wall lamps also unlit around the room.
Sighing softly as Min settled back to comfortable sleep, he stared back up at the bland whitewashed ceiling above him and thought about the schools he had patroned. So many new ideas and inventions were springing up and with traveling prevalent they all spread to the world almost as fast as the ideas can be thought up. This would hopefully lead to a golden age for the world, and his schools were even branching off on their own into new learning institutes. These alone seemed to keep the peace between all the nations. Rand couldn’t tell if he was trying to be modest or humble. Yes he patroned and started the first few schools, but it was not all him coming up with any of the ideas and inventions, many of which had become marvels in and of themselves. Transportation, communication, education These would be left behind and he would be known for that as well as the other.
Breaking the world to make it whole, and his victory with that world’s armies at the last battle. He fought the dark one while the armies of all the nations fought the shadowspawn and darkfriends and dreadlords. Despite everything against him, including it seemed sometimes even the creator, he not only won the battle, but he survived it, he survived it and had a nice long life. The world was at peace, headed to a golden age which he would get credit for, and so Rand was happy. His eyes closed and his thoughts grew that sort of muffled feeling they get just as they start turning into dreams.
PAIN! Rand knew pain, he was no stranger to hurts, especially from a half healed old wound in his side, but that was not the same thing right now. For some reason panic started rising up in him, this was something new, this was something worse. A sharp pain again, in his chest, his body wildly spasmed up kicking his sleeping wife awake.
“Ow you bloody tall buffoon, if you think you can kick me out of bed you have another thing …” Min trailed off as another spasm of pain racked through Rand. Her face contorting with fear as she watched him clutching his chest nearly double over with the pain spasm. He tried to tell her he would be alright, but all that came out was a groaning grunt. He tried lifting his hand to show her it would be alright, but he couldn’t get it to move. Suddenly a hand hit him in his face, it was his hand. He couldn’t feel his hand or his arm. Fear started creeping in as another spasm of pain caused him to let out another groan and clutch at his chest with this hand he couldn’t feel.
“Creator shine his light on me, of course you would choose to die when you’re with me.” Min started shouting hysterically. “For the love of light you bloody wool head, you hang on until I can get Aviendha to come heal you, she’s not far, just hold on damn you.”
Rand vaguely had an impression of Min running towards and out the door. Another spasm of pain, except somehow this was less. He knew it should hurt just as much, but it didn’t. He must have found the void so it wouldn’t hurt as much, that was it. Rand thought about his third and final wife Aviendha, how she would likely come in to find him as healthy as a bull and upset his stomachache disturbed her wise one’s practice. Stomachache? Wasn’t it his chest that was hurting him? Another very small spasm, yes its his chest, but he was also feeling decidedly nauseous too, and that was the greatest issue right? Sleep was all he needed, he would sleep, and everything would be fine in the morning, tomorrow he had to get up early to sheer the sheep.
The void completely surrounds and envelops Rand. As he fades away he hears a sinister voice in his head, “YOU WON THIS ROUND DRAGON REBORN BUT WE WILL COME FACE TO FACE AGAIN” The dark one, what, again? No, the dark one is dead, am I dead, wake up you light blinded fool. There was nothing but the void, not even the light of saiadin could be seen. Rand listened as hard as he could, he thought he heard something, something almost familiar. There it was again, soft but rhythmic, sounding not exactly far, but muffled as if listening through water. Thump Thump and it hit him, that’s the sound of a heartbeat, but who’s heartbeat his? Sleep, that’s what he needed, a really good nights sleep and he would feel better in the morning. Rand drifted off into a dreamless sleep listening to the heartbeat, Thump Thump.
Thus did the dragon reborn die after seeing the end of one age turned into the beginning of another. The people of the land wept at his passing, they swore they would remember him forever and always. Time however is not a kind mistress, when an age is gone it starts to fade from existence, times deeds even people change in the telling’s of the years and centuries. Eventually when the wheel goes round and gives birth to the age again all details have been forgotten, muffled, or contorted.

Mariann Jo’sheen Sedai was old. She had a proper last name once if she could just remember. It had been so long ago since she had last thought of it, a life in the white tower could do that, and Sedai was as good a last name as could be for formality. Just saying Mariann was old was an understatement though, being a woman with a stronger channeling ability, and having sworn on all 8 Life Oath Rods, a prerequisite to becoming Amyrlin of the tower, that she even has any grey hair showing means she must be well past 800 years old, and to show the amount of age she did it must be closer to past 900 years. She was still sharp in mind mostly, at least anything from the last 100 years or so she could recall as sharp as if it happened yesterday. Had it really been longer than a hundred years since she last though of her family name, having long lasted past the last of her lineage, her family long gone or married into others.
She thought even harder surly she had been at her last relative’s funeral, when was it, it was a great aunt she remembered, and the surname was …, she thought really hard. She was in the Amyrlin’s bedchamber reserved for the current leader of the white tower. That said like most of the past Amyrlins before her she kept the bedroom nice and simple. The single window held a cooling fan with right below it a heater coil. The other wall held a closed door which led into her bathroom, the next wall holding another door leading out of the bedchamber into the office of her role. The last wall held the only other furniture besides the plain brown four poster bed she was laying on. A white nightstand with built in mirror and matching white clothed chair. The bathroom was large and would hold her wardrobe of clothes along with the indoor plumbing necessities.
Mariann thought back to each of the eight oaths she took on the life rods, trying to remember which one she had last taken when she attended her aunt’s funeral. Small cylindrical devices no longer than her arm, when you take an oath on one your life actually increases by a standard lifetime or roughly 100 years depending on the person, those stronger in the one power given slightly more. Really giving any oath at all would do for the increasing your life, the only requirement being you channel Saiadar while making your oath and someone else that can also channel does so to activate it. However each specific Ajah required you to take a specific oath, and the eighth oath rod was solely for those like her who have taken the Amyrlin seat after having have pledged on the other seven, again a specific oath.
“I will say no word that is untrue”. Eight oath rods, and eight times this is spoken to ensure you do not offer a false oath, as if anyone would think of lying so many truth seekers everywhere.
“I will faithfully serve as Amyrlin to all of my children for the rest of my days”. The Amyrlin seat was a lifelong position and would not open again until her death. Serve all her children, it was said that the ancient honorific Amyrlin meant something like mother to all, it means that she was a servant to everyone in the world, matter it not she was the leader of the white tower. That first part about serving faithfully as Amyrlin could leave some wiggle room depending on how one viewed the title of Amyrlin, the last however left no wiggle room for anything.
“I will treat everyone with fairness and justice as is prescribed by the dai’shan aiel of the grey tower and the Aes Sedai code of ethics”. Those were binding stronger than time itself. The grey tower first because only the dai’shan aiel more than anyone can decide what is fair and right, they were and are the original truth seekers among so much more. You would also have as much power to reach the moon as you would to get the Aes Sedai code of ethics changed. First it would take a proposal from either of the leaders from the white or black tower. Either the Amyrlin of the white tower or the Pope of the black tower has to make a suggested change, which then needs to go through each Ajah/Faction and receive 90% approval, then it gets sent to the other tower to make its way up through the chains until it finally ends with the other towers leader. If it passes all of that it gets sent to the grey tower for approval again 90% before finally appearing before the first servant leader of the grey tower for final approval, and at any stage it can be stopped if it doesn’t pass.
That wasn’t it though, no she was not Amyrlin at her aunt’s funeral. Before then was the Blue ajah, which was closer. But still too recent, what level was she? The sleeping shift she wore was one of the new fads called a one piece. It was literally one garment that covered both legs and torso. It had several convenient buttons for keeping it on or taking it off. It was grey cotton all one solid color, and it was bunching up at the knees. Mariann distractedly Jerked it back into position. Her thoughts drifted too far back to when she had her very first foretelling which was that she would one day become Amyrlin seat. She was a young girl of only 16 years, and she knew without a doubt. It came in bursts though and it was not something she could control.
This vision came on stronger than any she had ever encountered before. So strong it jerked her body stiff as a board and slammed her down thankfully into the bed she was already laying on. An Evil shadow of a man, a giant taller than mountains, and blacker than the darkest shadows on a moonless night, peering down at the world smiling, that smile turning your blood to jelly and freezing you in place with its ill intent. A great serpentine beast came flying from the other side of the world, Long and scales glimmering like diamonds with talons made of pure gold but sharper than the sharpest knife, fire trailing from its partially open moth off its gleaming sharp teeth. It was equally large as the malevolent shadow man and flew on giant tornado causing wings straight at the other. They fought a great battle against each other, but in doing so caused so many deaths as swaths of their destruction ravaged the world. A flash of light and Mariann was staring at the grey tower as if just a few hundred yards away. She started walking towards it only to watch in horror and bewilderment as the tower before her cracked and collapsed as if a mirror or glass shattered. Another flash of light and she saw a baby boy, but he aged so fast right before her eyes until he died as an old man. She couldn’t remember much, but she knew deep down that he was in some way related to the other visions and this man, for it was definitely a man, was likely the cause of them.
Opening her eyes to stare at the brown four poster cloth above her and remembering every detail about her vision she distractedly spoke to herself . “Goshin is my sur name and I last heard it at Aunt Maragel Goshin’s funeral while I was at the green level”. She shook her head, that wasn’t important anymore if it ever really was. She quickly sat up in her woolen one piece swinging her feet over the side of the bed and hurried to her nightstand. Sitting in the chair she reached in one drawer to get paper and another to get an ink pointer. Channeling a single small strand of fire into a swinging glass bulb above her bed brought light into the room. She hastily started scribbling down every detail from her vision, she was grateful she always kept ink and paper nearby to do so.

Mr. Telamon was a nervous wreck while sitting in the hospital waiting room. He somehow knew, sensed something was wrong with his wife’s delivery. Dai’shan aiel were everywhere; as were nurses, patients or close kin waiting, Every once in a while a doctor’s assistant would come out and call a name ushering someone to see a doctor. Really bad cases would be taken in through a separate entrance known only to the healers. It didn’t matter, and he got confirmation as those doors opened up and not the assistant, but the doctor who had taken his wife looked around the room first at the dai’shan, then at him. A group of three of the white clad figures started moving towards him even before the doctor did. They felt his grief or rather the grief he was going to feel, even before he himself felt it. That and they knew it would take three of them to calm him down. Tears were streaming from his eyes before the doctor even started speaking.
“There was a complication during the pregnancy, your son is ok, your wife however did not make it, I’m so sorry. She did manage to tell us a name before she passed. Lews, Lews Therin after her father. Is that what you would like on the birth certificate?”
Baby Lews’s father numbly nodded, and the doctor walked away as uncontrollable sobs started emanating from the man. The three dai’shan aiel circled around him arm in arm and started singing a song of comfort and peace and mourning.
***
Rand Al’thor was asleep soundly when something woke him up, but he couldn’t tell what or where, or even anything for that matter. It was like the void, nothingness, but a sound, not a feeling, a heartbeat. The heartbeat was much faster than it was and suddenly something pushed him hard in the head. Go away he thought I’m trying to sleep. However the push came back stronger than before, this time managing to flip him upside down, upside down?, he could tell direction in this floating nothingness. Really awake now Rand tried to remember, remember?, remember what? Again the push and he was being squeezed to death and suddenly he remembered something about the dark one. A voice, a word, a sentence, the dark one wanted him dead. Was this the dark one trying to kill him, again push, again very tight squeeze, this time a light as if from a tunnel. It wasn’t the only light though, Rand went to the real void, and he saw it, Saiadin. He reached out with all his might to grab it and it came like a flood. He couldn’t control it, he had no strength, and his memory was foggy, he just expelled it to get out the other light and away from the pushing and death squeeze.
As Saiadin left him so did more and more memories, he tried to shout that he killed the dark one, sealed the bore so it could never be open. All that came out of his mouth was a scream. No blood and fire no I did this already, I won, I’m done. And with that last thought Rand Al’thor fell deep deep asleep into the furthest recesses of the brain. Lews took a deep breath and let out another scream wanting his mother or anyone to come pick him up and sooth his little soul.

The dragon is born!

Chapter 1
16 years later
The wheel of time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the fifth age by some and the first by others. An age yet to come, an age long past, a dark icy wind arose from about as far north as you can get. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the wheel of time. But it was a beginning.
A steam vent in an icy mountain let out a puff of sulfur like particles riding the wind. High and fast the dark tainted wind rode across the Nym fields, high enough to escape the notice of the Nym, ever vigilant in their desire to protect the world. Over the borderlands of mankind, given graciously by the Nym when mankind needs more space to grow. Still high in the sky the dark wind blew through wild wilderness where only the Nym, the Ogier, the dai’shan aiel, and the Aes Sedai were allowed to travel if at some risk. The wind started descending as it traveled into the warmer southern air. Up ahead in the distance was a magnificently large tower made of stone black like obsidian, but much stronger. Along the northern wall of this Black tower were several windows, most open hoping to catch some of the cool breeze which it did nicely.
It was into one of these windows the dark wind blew, a classroom, though filled only with boys. The tainted breeze flew around several students, all dressed in black school uniforms and sitting at wooden desks on little rickety stool like chairs with just the barest of backrest. The flow of air flew so close to the face of one student he gave a start, finally going up the next nearby student’s nose just as he took in a deep breath.
Lews gave such a start at the intrusion, and he stood up sneezing loudly, the rancid smell still strong in his nose. Taller than most of his peers he certainly stood over everyone’s head while they were all sitting down.
“What are you doing, you look like a dork, hurry and sit down before anyone notices.” His best friend [Ishamael]() tried to warn him. However, it was already too late for that, most of the class was now looking at him which made him self conscious even if the women all said he looked like a dream. Worse, the teacher at the front of the class in a very similar black colored uniform was looking at him expectedly.
“Yes Lews, do you think you know the answer?” To Lews’s horror he realized he had been spending most of the class in a daydream about being the most powerful weaver ever. It was important that distinction, woman channel men weave. Saiadar and Saiadin, two halves of the same whole, both apart of the one power the true source. Everyone could learn to use it, or at least almost everyone. The dai’shan don’t channel or weave for all the power of their songs, not one of them it’s a law to join among other things. Other people might be so weak in the power it should be they don’t have it at all, there are objects which can amplify or temporarily give someone use of the one power, those with so little power that resort to using these transcognative devices were often socially outcast. Transmogs they were called when someone was being nice.
That didn’t help him now, he was in history class, and definitely not studying Transmogs. Lews desperately wracked his brain trying to remember what they were discussing. The teacher’s slight smile was starting to droop to a slight frown. Nym’s that was what they were discussing, what about Nym’s? Desperately looking around for some hope, he finally remembered. It was a question about the first Nym, what was his name?
“Goak him jim knee?” Lews answered with a rightfully apologetic look on his face. Sighing the teacher said “close, Oakhimgimee. At least he was close!” The teacher got progressively louder while giving the rest of the class an evil eye. The laughter that had started quickly quieted. Just at that particular moment a loud bell decided to ring calling an end to that class period.
As the other students started standing up, talking, and starting to head for the door, the teacher weaved a small weave that produced a louder voice reminding the class they had the test coming up at the end of the week.
Lews slowly grabbed his bag and followed the steady stream of students leaving the class.

we need a option to save voices so when we make new songs we can select a old voice and the ai should try to recreate it like a remix but more versatile and just focused on the vocals , and i think it would be cool if we had the option to just generate a acapella that lines up with a instrumental of are choice and if the first thing i mentioned worked with this acapella generator it would be even better . i feel like it could work better than the audio upload feature we have right now . as it would be focusing purely on the acapella

Introduction

Given the nature of RH Novels, there are a lot of LIs, and as someone who has read many RH books in the last few years, I have seen a lot of unique LIs but also noticed that most MMCs follow a few tropes.
So, I have decided to make a series of posts highlighting some of my favorite tropes and iconic (or my favorite) LIs that fit them, with this being the first one.
(This will have direct book quotes and a lot of spoilers. Proceed with caution)

Who is The Unhinged Psychopath?

The Unhinged Psychopath is one of the most popular tropes in RH books. Usually found in Dark Romance and Urban Fantasy, the Unhinged Psychopath is probably the easiest trope to distinguish. They are usually impulsive men, who have little to no morals and a penchant for discarding people's lives with no remorse.
Do you remember reding a book, where there is that one character that is always playing with a knife? Or maybe you remember reading a character's POV that had the weirdest train of thought? Or, you were reading an Urban Fantasy book that happens in an academy, and suddenly a character is described as wearing clothes that could be taken from Hot Topic. Perhaps, there is a character that gives a very cheery monologue, clashing with the unhinged content of said monologue.
Well, there is a big chance that this LI is the Unhinged Psychopath. While not all of the MMCs in this category have all of these traits, they are very common. They are also going to be usually feared oand treated cautiously by the other MMCs, with some even warning the FMC about the unstableness of The Unhinged Psychopath.
Since this is my list, my requisite to put a MMC in here was that he had to, at least once, make me have this reaction.

The Spotlight

Damien from Fate Hollow Academy

^{Pain fueled my magic, and I got pleasure out of seeing others suffer.
But for the first time in the twenty-six years I’d been alive, pain made my skin crawl. Maybe it was because I hadn’t inflicted it. Knowing how to create pleasure from pain was something I was good at. Maybe I could teach her to do the same. She needed to learn that pain can empower.
I stalked through the shadows and into room one-zero-three. Something about that wolf named Grayson caused my little bird pain, and I wanted to paint the walls red with his blood. I’d cut off his dick and present it to her on a fucking platter.}

(Damien's POV - Term 1)
Probably one of the most iconic Unhinged LI's in RH novels. Damien is a Pain/Shadow Demon, that needs to cause others pain to get his powers recharged. He also has a traumatic past, that made him hate and distrust humans. Those two things make for a very disturbed individual, who throughout the whole series is a lunatic.
From maiming people left and right, to his Hot Topic sense of style, Damien has become a very popular character, that has probably inspired more than a few RH LI's in the past years, something that earns him the spot on this list.
Highlight

^{He reached into his pocket and grabbed something before holding his hand up with something inside it. I opened my palm under his hand and he dropped a bone.
To be exact, he dropped Grayson’s pinky bone.
My mouth dropped, and I blinked once, twice, and a third time before shutting it. “You took his pinky bone and gave it to me?”
“I made him suck it clean,” he told me, his eyes twinkling. “Turn it over.”
I gripped it in between my thumb and index finger and flipped it over to reveal a white wolf with its head cut off carved into it.}

(Wren's POV - Term 1)
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Arion from All The Pretty Monsters

^{My eyes dart to the top of the stairs when a familiar, shirtless man dressed only in a pair of sweatpants that barely hang on his hips starts dancing his way down them, licking blood off his fingertips as his head tips back. He dances up two steps, and then he dances back down the rest of the way, his eyes closed as he moves toward us with the beat of the music.
His eyes open and hone in on mine, sending a trickle of painful awareness and dread coursing throughout me, just as the song changes. A wicked smile curves his lips as he keeps dancing his way down them, hips moving in a salsa rhythm in beat with the music.}

(Violet's POV - Gypsy Blood)
Arion is a vampire that has no soul and was kept in a coffin underground for more than a century. So, to no one's surprise, he is not the most well-adjusted man in the world.
He gains a spot in here because first, I love his official entrance/meeting with the FMC. In this household, we love a camp king. And, secondly, his whole history of absolute devotion to his ex-girlfriend (and then the FMC) and friends is just insane. The more the story went on, and the more Arion kept talking, the more I became absolutely flabbergasted by this character (still love him).

^{Damien and I both swing our gazes to the beta I have penciled to the wall now that he’s released the illusion. And by penciled to the wall, I mean I’ve stabbed two-hundred-and-forty-three slightly long pencils into key places on his body to pin him there. He’s on his tiptoes, and if he steps down, they’ll all snap and we’ll have to start all over again.
“They still need a few more inches of length for this process to be less tedious. It wouldn’t hurt them to be a little stronger, too. Still superior craftsman ship, though,” I say as I lift up the pencils that haven’t spilled off the desk.}

(Arion's POV - Gypsy Freak)
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Savage from Her Vicious Beasts

^{“Hold my chicken.”
“Rooster,” Xander corrects, accepting the black bird.
I scowl at my pack-brother because he can take his private school education and shove it up his big dragon ass.
“His name is Eugene,” I snap. Patting said chicken on his red head-frills, I turn back to the trembling cashier of the Opal Feather. The sight of us always makes these humans piss their pants. A dragon, a wolf and a shark walk into a luxury store and, well…they all know what comes next, I suppose.
Or it could be the blood still on my teeth and the bare skin of my torso. On a hunt, I only stop for lunch, you see. Lunch being the two birdie security guards now lying on the shop floor behind me.}

(Savage's POV - Her Feral Beasts)
While this series has only two books and a prequel out as of now, Savage has already been solidified as one of the most unhinged LIs that I have ever read about. As, a mostly feral, wolf shifter who is also part of a gang, Savage is an impulsive man, that lacks morals and common sense, making for some hilarious scenes, despite how disturbing his actions can be.
He get's progressively unhinged (and weird) as the story goes along, and I doubt that will change in the future books.
Highlight

^{I position the final explosive at the base of the anima dorm and beckon to my little leopard friend to follow me as I move back. I can’t very well make sweet love to my beautiful regina if I’m blown to pieces now, can I?
...
The Forklift Brothers spent a little time distracting the guards with a student who “managed” to get his entire arm stuck down a toilet. Bob’s your uncle and now I’m ready to go.
“Ready, spotties?” I ask the gathered felines. “On my count⁠—”
One of the kits whose name I don’t care to know gives me a panicked look under his comb over. “But, Mr Fengari, there are girls in there.”
“Yes,” I say, not so patiently. “But the prettiest one is far beneath the building. This is the way I get to her.”
Pickle, one of the nerdy leopards who made the bomb, clears his throat. “Sir,” he says nervously behind his protective goggles. “Should we, er… give them a chance to get out?”
“Who?” I frown disapprovingly at him.
“Um… the other animas?”
“Oh,” I say slowly. I forgot about other people for the moment. Correction. Didn’t care about them for the moment. “Hear ye, hear ye!” I broadcast into the minds of all the animas in the old building. “Get out of the anima dorm in one minute because I’m about to blast it up to the Wild Mother herself!”}

(Savage's POV - Her Rabid Beasts)
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Caspian from Myths and Monsters
Now, Caspian is not as well known as the other MMCs on this list, but, to me, this would not be a complete list without his inclusion. I did ponder if I should add him here, or on a future list of the more calculist psychopaths, but this man goes off the rails during the actual book events, so he stays here.
Now, why is here in this list, you ask? Well... Is he an obsessive monster? Yes. Does he turn into a rockstar, and as soon as the FMC is interested in him, discards his band and goes camping across the US with her? Also yes. Commits mass murder in the name of the FMC? Check. Tries to BITE OFF one of the other MMC's arms? Actually yes.
Highlight

^{Flip— Caspian tackled me to the ground, slashing his claws at my face. I bit into the cigarette as I threw my arms up, trying to protect my head from his attack. I felt a sharp pain in my arm and yelped.
He fucking bit me! I grunted and rolled. He fell into the dirt beside me but kept trying to claw and bite me like a damn cat. I looked no better, batting at his hands and face like I was trying to play-fight a kitten.}

(Mothman's POV - Run & Hide)
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Enzo from Kept

“Fucking skank,” Eddy spits out, even as he trembles. “Talking to the cops.”
“Oh,” I breathe in delight, wiggling the blade a little until his chin is tilted high in the air as he works to avoid it. “I’m not a cop, Eddy boy.”
I feel the jolt as he jerks against the needle I slide into the soft flesh of his stomach, a high-pitched grunt leaving his throat.
“Who the hell are you, then?” I love this part. Leaning in, I press my lips right against his ear.
“I’m Batman. Welcome to Gotham City, bitch.”

(Enzo's POV - Kept)
While making the list, I knew that I needed some representation from a Contemporary book, but I couldn't choose _who_. And then I remember the Batman scene, and that was it. I know that me putting this man instead of a more popular MMC will be controversial, but his POV, or even his other scenes were just...He is just so fucking weird. I can't even choose which moments to highlight.

^{"She’s ours, and I’m taking her. Pull your head out of your ass, Ryder. She was fucking made for us, and I’m not letting her go. I don’t give a flying fuck what you and Maverick have to say about it.”}

^{He shoves past me towards the door.
“Or her, come to think of it. None of you get a fucking say in this. Pick her or don’t, but I’ve made my choice. She’s not going anywhere.”}
(Ryder's POV - Kept)
Enzo is a psychopath that redirects his murderous intent to only evil people, such as pedophiles, rapists, men that are violent to their partners, and other scum of the earth. He still has a few screws loose, and it's consistently unhinged throughout the book. He doesn't mask it, it's not a slow burn. From his first scene, you know that you will be on a wild ride during his POVs.
Highlight

^{“Nobody else touches what’s ours.” He says “I will kill them, prey. I will kill them slowly, and then I’ll fuck you on top of their corpse. Tell me you understand.”}

(Zella's POV - Kept)
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Lorcan from The Fifth Nicnevin

^{“You’re my redcap.”}

^{He beams, showcasing a mouth full of sharp teeth. With one hand, he pulls off his cable-knit hat—which is as blood red as his species suggests—and waves it in front of him with a flourishing bow.
“Lorcan, or Lore, if you prefer. Not Daddy, though, I’m not into that.”}
(Rhoswyn's POV - Beyond the Faerie Gate)
Lore is an underfae, more specifically, a redcap, a fae species that need their hats to be bathed in blood regularly or they will die, they are known for being ruthless and violent. And, Lore is one of the most famous ones, being thousands of years old and an ex-assassin of the Autumn Court.
Everyone is wary of this man, for good reason, and his thought process is absolutely hilarious sometimes. My favorite scenes involving him are when we are reading from any of the other MMC's POVs since they are always just weirded out and flabbergasted by Lore.

^{Lorcan, on the other hand, doesn’t. “Are you really surprised that she’s special?” He blinks into a different chair. “She’s perfect.”
I wish I was a psychopath. I imagine that life without giving a fuck would be simple.
“The nobles are going to freak,” Jaro shudders. “Regular fae necromancers are treated with suspicion, and their power is limited to whatever they’re born with. Hers…”
“She could raise an army of the dead using her connection to the Goddess,” I confirm.
“Pretty Rose has thorns.” Lorcan looks almost… aroused by the idea.
His pupils are blown wide, and on his head, his knit cap springs upward into a stovepipe hat in a disturbing display that makes me grimace.
To a redcap, I suppose learning your mate has the capacity for untapped slaughter and bloodshed would be a turn on. But the visual was just unnecessary.}

(Drystan's POV - Beyond the Faerie Gate)

Honorable Mentions

Vincent from Saint View Psychos - Vincent fans, I'm so sorry... I love him so much, but he is only 50% psycho.
Everyone from Darkmore Penitentiary - I really wanted to put someone from this series, but I couldn't choose which of the MMCs was more unhinged, so, unfortunately, they were all relegated to the Honorable Mentions. Suffering from sucess, I suppose.
Jude from Dance Butterfly, Dance - He is very kooky, but he never fully reaches the full potential of his unhingeness.
West from Four Horseman - Unhinged man, but all of the MMCs are a little psychotic on this series, so oh well.
Boogeyman from Her Feral Beasts - If the next book was out, I'm sure that I would put him on the actual list, since even Savage thinks he is insane.
Oscar from Ironside Acadamy - While he is unhinged, compared to the other people on this list he is very nice, a golden boy, truly. Still putting him in here because he's absolutely hilarious.
Annex by The Blackened Blade - His outfits were so Hot Topic coded. Does the author think that those are cool? Even Damien dresses better than that. Overall, very unhinged, but there is only one book out as of now.
Ryder from Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac - Before the riot starts, this man will appear on another list of mine. Despite him being a lunatic, I decided that he fitted my other Spotlight more.
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So, what do you think of this trope? And do you have any other Unhinged Psychopaths to add to the list?

If a Christian tries to make me feel stupid for not believing, I direct them to this letter written by Dan Barker:
http://www.freethoughtpedia.com/wiki/Dear_believer
Dear Believer,
You asked me to consider Christianity as the answer for my life. I have done that. I consider it untrue, repugnant, and harmful.
You expect me to believe Jesus was born of a virgin impregnated by a ghost? Do you believe all the crazy tales of ancient religions? Julius Caesar was reportedly born of a virgin; Roman historian Seutonius said Augustus bodily rose to heaven when he died; and Buddha was supposedly born speaking. You don’t believe all that, do you? Why do you expect me to swallow the fables of Christianity?
I find it incredible that you ask me to believe that the earth was created in six literal days; women come from a man’s rib; a snake, a donkey, and a burning bush spoke human language; the entire world was flooded, covering the mountains to drown evil; all animal species, millions of them, rode on one boat; language variations stem from the tower of Babel; Moses had a magic wand; the Nile turned to blood; a stick turned into a snake; witches, wizards, and sorcerers really exist; food rained from the sky for 40 years; people were cured by the sight of a brass serpent; the sun stood still to help Joshua win a battle, and it went backward for King Hezekiah; men survived unaided in a fiery furnace; a detached hand floated in the air and wrote on a wall; men followed a star which directed them to a particular house; Jesus walked on water unaided; fish and bread magically multiplied to feed the hungry; water instantly turned into wine; mental illness is caused by demons; a “devil” with wings exists who causes evil; people were healed by stepping into a pool agitated by angels; disembodied voiced spoke from the sky; Jesus vanished and later materialized from thin air; people were healed by Peter’s shadow; angels broke people out of jail; a fiery lake of eternal torment awaits unbelievers under the earth … while there is life-after-death in a city which is 1,500 miles cubed, with mansions and food, for Christians only.
If you believe these stories, then you are the one with the problem, not me. These myths violate natural law, contradict science, and fail to correspond with reality or logic. If you can’t see that, then you can’t separate truth from fantasy. It doesn’t matter how many people accept delusions inflicted by “holy” men; a widely held lie is still a lie. If you are so gullible, then you are like the child who believes the older brother who says there is a monster in the hallway. But there is nothing to be afraid of; go turn on the light and look for yourself.
If Christianity were simply untrue I would not be too concerned. Santa is untrue, but it is a harmless myth which people outgrow. But Christianity, besides being false, is also abhorrent. It amazes me that you claim to love the god of the bible, a hateful, arrogant, sexist, cruel being who can’t tolerate criticism. I would not want to live in the same neighborhood with such a creature!
The biblical god is a macho male warrior. Though he said “Thou shalt not kill,” he ordered death for all opposition, wholesale drowning and mass exterminations; punishes offspring to the fourth generation (Ex. 20:5); ordered pregnant women and children to be ripped up (Hos. 13:16); demands animal and human blood to appease his angry vanity; is partial to one race of people; judges women to be inferior to men; is a sadist who created a hell to torture unbelievers; created evil (Is. 45:7); discriminated against the handicapped (Lev. 21:18-23); ordered virgins to be kept as spoils of war (Num. 31:15-18, Deut. 21:11-14); spread dung on people’s faces (Mal. 2:3); sent bears to devour 42 children who teased a prophet (II Kings 2:23-24); punishes people with snakes, dogs, dragons, drunkenness, swords, arrows, axes, fire, famine, and infanticide; and said fathers should eat their sons (Ez. 5:10). Is that nice? Would you want to live next door to such a person?
And Jesus is a chip off the old block. He said, “I and my father are one,” and he upheld “every jot and tittle” of the Old Testament law. Mt. 5:18 He preached the same old judgment: vengeance and death, wrath and distress, hell and torture for all nonconformists. He believed in demons, angels and spirits. He never denounced the subjugation of slaves or women. Women were excluded as disciples and as guests at his heavenly table. Except for hell he introduced nothing new to ethics or philosophy. He was disrespectful of his mother and brothers; he said we should hate our parents and desert our families. Mt. 10:35-36, Lk. 14:26 (So much for “Christian family life.”) He denounced anger, but was often angry himself. Mt. 5:22, Mk. 3:5 He called people “fools” (Mt. 23:17,19), “serpents,” and “white sepulchers,” though he warned that such language puts you in danger of hellfire. Mt. 5:22 He said “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Mt. 10:34 (So much for “Peace on Earth.”) He irrationally cursed and withered a fig tree for being barren out of season. Mt. 21:19 He mandated burning unbelievers. Jn. 15:6 (The Church has complied with relish.) He stole a horse. Lk. 19:30-33 He told people to cut off hands, feet, eyes and sexual organs. Mt. 5:29-30, 19:12 You want me to accept Jesus, but I think I’ll pick my own friend, thank you.
One of Jesus’s many contradictions was saying good works should be seen, and not seen. Mt. 5:16, 6:1-4 One of his mistakes was saying that the mustard plant has the smallest seed. Mt. 13:31-32 The writers of Matthew and Luke could not even get his genealogy straight, contradicting the Old Testament, and giving Jesus two discrepant lines through Joseph, his non-father!
I also find Christianity to be morally repugnant. The concepts of original sin, depravity, substitutionary forgiveness, intolerance, eternal punishment, and humble worship are all beneath the dignity of intelligent human beings and conflict with the values of kindness and reason. They are barbaric ideas for primitive cultures cowering in fear and ignorance.
Finally, Christianity is harmful. More people have been killed in the name of a god than for any other reason. The Church has a shameful, bloody history of Crusades, Inquisitions, witch-burnings, heresy trials, American colonial intolerance, disrespect of indigenous traditions (such as American Indians), support of slavery, and oppression of women. Modern “fruits” of religion include the Jonestown massacre, the callous fraud of “faith healers,” recent wars and ethnic cleansing, and fighting in Northern Ireland. Religion also poses a danger to mental health, damaging self-respect, personal responsibility, and clarity of thought.
Do you see why I do not respect the biblical message? It is an insulting bag of nonsense. You have every right to torment yourself with such insanity — but leave me out of it. I have better things to do with my life.

I've got a table full of brand new players, and they are mostly playing characters that I generated for them at level 1 (I used fastcharacter). One player was given a fighter with the two weapon fighting style, which he loved and has really made the dual wielding a part of his character concept. They've just reached level 3 and he really wants to go eldritch knight, which is cool but looking at it I can already see where he's going to run into issues with the rules as written for EK and two weapon fighting (blade cantrips are unusable, spells can't be cast without war caster, war magic will straight up make his off hand attack unusable). He's pretty excited and I don't want to tell him its a bad idea, but I'm also a little worried about just letting him run headlong into it and eventually getting frustrated once he's in deep about how clunky it looks like it'll quickly become. So, I've been thinking of hombrewing it and using great weapon master as my guideline for it. My proposed homebrew is adding the following to the dual wielder feat:
"You can take a -5 to both attacks to make an offhand attack an extra attack rather than a bonus action attack. If you do so, you cannot make an off hand attack with your bonus action."
Does this seem reasonably balanced or would it totally break things? My thought is that a EK with GWM would basically get this benefit along with easier spellcasting. The addition is meant to do a couple of things: free up bonus action for spells (at a cost), allow off hand attacks with blade cantrips (at a cost), and generally make the offhand attack more feasible. Flavor wise it makes sense to me, take your bonus action and fight carefully or don't and kind of swing wildly. The second attack even with a longsword works out to 8-10 damage, similar to the GWM bonus but more swingy. Splitting the -5 penalty across two attacks makes a different sort of risk calulation but not strictly better I don't think when you consider bonuses like bardic inspiration. I might remove the +1AC benefit of the dual wielder feat to account for this buff, but since the damage output is still lower than GWM I might consider keeping it. Any thoughts on the balance or clunkiness of this? I mostly just want to reconsider dual wielding to make it on par with a 2 handed weapon so he can live his flavor dream. He will still have to figure out a solution for casting spells with hands full like taking war caster or getting a war mage ruby. Also, like I said the player is new and doesn't seem too interested in min/maxing so I'm not too worried about some crazy munchkin combo this might unleash, more about just generally how much this buff would unbalance the table in normal use.