Short u vowel sound
Acid House
2011.11.13 23:22 acidbass303 Acid House
ACID HOUSE! The house that acid built. Echoes from the past, present and future
2008.10.11 13:10 /r/emo
The largest online community for all things regarding emo music.
2015.12.11 09:51 Big_Yazza Pokemon Terra Nullius
2024.05.29 00:41 Low-Entropy Techno History: Was 'Mescalinum United - We Have Arrived' really the first Hardcore track? Let us take a look!
First, let us make something clear. This is a very subjective look; other people may have different opinions, and we don't claim to own the one and only truth here. Now that this has been said, let us go on.
Lately, there have been challenges to the claim that 'We Have Arrived' by Mescalinum United is 'really' the first Hardcore track ever. People point to other earlier tracks that already have quite distorted bass drums or otherwise heavy sounds.
Are these challenges legit? Perhaps 'We Have Arrived' is not the first Hardcore track at all?
Let us take a look at this. First, the dry facts. 'We Have Arrived' has a distorted, 'Gabber' type bass drum, howling synths/sirens, overly distorted percussion, frantic sounds, and noises. It's undoubtedly a Hardcore track. But was it the first one?
I would say: yes. For the following reason:
People point to other tracks that were earlier and already had 'heavy' sounds in one way or another. But I think this is missing the point by far because people focus too much on what are more or less just 'production' details.
Yes, there were tracks with heavy bass drums before 'We Have Arrived.' Also, shortly afterwards, there were tracks with truly distorted 909s and such. But I think 'We Have Arrived' stood out, literally for years after its release.
Let us look at two aspects of this: First, what was later called 'Techno' was referred to as 'House' in the Netherlands. It was to the point that 'Gabberhouse' became established as a term similar to Hardcore Techno. I believe this goes beyond semantics. Techno, as a whole, evolved from House, and the Gabberhouse sound was still tied to the House sound. What was House? It was a genre that evolved from Disco in the 80s (or late 70s). It represented people coming together in a venue or club, getting drunk or high, dancing, enjoying life, having fun, and celebrating with positive moods and vibes. It was a lot like Disco, but more intense. The early Gabberhouse tracks followed in that direction. They were fun party music for a real intense celebration, just more extreme than the usual House fare.
A lot of early 'hard' tracks were actually kind of novelty tracks, even somewhat silly and cheesy at times. This doesn't diminish their value because they were intended as party music and worked in that way.
No disrespect meant at all (because I love the following track), but I would say that even 'Alles naar de klote' was still such an 'extreme party' track. It certainly isn't a dark, somber, or introspective track, right?
On the other hand, 'We Have Arrived' was different. It had a distinct attitude. In my opinion, this new attitude, mood, feel, philosophy, and ideology marked the true advent of Hardcore Techno. Describing precisely what was expressed by this attitude, concept, or theme is hard, maybe even impossible. But it was undoubtedly a very dark thing. A dark mood. Brutal. Nihilistic. Without mercy. Without remorse. Rebellious.
And that was something truly new, something no other Techno, House, or EBM track had at that time. Early Gabberhouse had that sense of 'Hey, we are here to celebrate and have a good time, and now we take it to the extreme.' There was nothing like that in Mescalinum United's track. 'We Have Arrived' doesn't evoke a sense of 'good vibration' and a happy celebration. It's a sonic attack that kicks you directly in the teeth—and in your mind.
When other early Gabber producers were interviewed, they said: 'we're doing music because we want to have a party, we want to have fun'. When Marc Acardipane was interviewed he said (paraphrased): 'we're doing music to prepare people for the coming times, because times will get tough'.
Certainly, dark dance or rhythmic music existed before in genres such as EBM, Industrial, and No Wave. However, it was not Hardcore.
Now, some may argue that this is an interesting interpretation and analysis (or perhaps an uninteresting one), but also a bit of nit-picking and overthinking. "It's akin to the topic of discussing which member of the Beatles had which role in a particular song. While it may captivate music historians and trainspotters, the average person listening to a Beatles song on the radio couldn't care less."
However, I don't view it that way. It's not purely a matter of theoretical value. I believe 'We Have Arrived' had tangible, practical consequences and results for the ongoing development of Hardcore.
This 'dark, nihilist, remorseless' attitude, or rather, this 'Hardcore' attitude, fundamentally transformed the emerging scene and continues to shape it to this day.
Because after the initial wave of Gabberhouse tracks, we started to see the emergence of darker and more somber Hardcore tracks (beyond PCP and its associated labels). Hardcore and Gabber, as a whole, took a darker turn. While some parts of the scene in the mid-90s veered toward what some might call 'commercial radio bullshit,' with its overly happy and cheesy sounds, twisted and disturbing genres like Speedcore, Acidcore, Industrial Hardcore, Doomcore, or even Breakcore emerged. In my opinion, these genres were spawned from the seed planted by Mescalinum United's track, albeit with many steps in between. Yet, they are still connected to this very root.
Without 'We Have Arrived,' we might have a world with Gabberhouse but without Hardcore Techno. This pivotal development, along with the subsequent branching out into various styles and subgenres (such as Doomcore, Slowcore, etc.), continues to evolve and will persist into the future.
'We Have Arrived' was the first bona fide Hardcore Techno track, period. Its significance goes beyond just its drums, noise, or distortion. Most importantly, it defined the attitude and state of mind that we now associate with 'Hardcore Techno.'
submitted by Low-Entropy to ravetechno [link] [comments]
Lately, there have been challenges to the claim that 'We Have Arrived' by Mescalinum United is 'really' the first Hardcore track ever. People point to other earlier tracks that already have quite distorted bass drums or otherwise heavy sounds.
Are these challenges legit? Perhaps 'We Have Arrived' is not the first Hardcore track at all?
Let us take a look at this. First, the dry facts. 'We Have Arrived' has a distorted, 'Gabber' type bass drum, howling synths/sirens, overly distorted percussion, frantic sounds, and noises. It's undoubtedly a Hardcore track. But was it the first one?
I would say: yes. For the following reason:
People point to other tracks that were earlier and already had 'heavy' sounds in one way or another. But I think this is missing the point by far because people focus too much on what are more or less just 'production' details.
Yes, there were tracks with heavy bass drums before 'We Have Arrived.' Also, shortly afterwards, there were tracks with truly distorted 909s and such. But I think 'We Have Arrived' stood out, literally for years after its release.
Let us look at two aspects of this: First, what was later called 'Techno' was referred to as 'House' in the Netherlands. It was to the point that 'Gabberhouse' became established as a term similar to Hardcore Techno. I believe this goes beyond semantics. Techno, as a whole, evolved from House, and the Gabberhouse sound was still tied to the House sound. What was House? It was a genre that evolved from Disco in the 80s (or late 70s). It represented people coming together in a venue or club, getting drunk or high, dancing, enjoying life, having fun, and celebrating with positive moods and vibes. It was a lot like Disco, but more intense. The early Gabberhouse tracks followed in that direction. They were fun party music for a real intense celebration, just more extreme than the usual House fare.
A lot of early 'hard' tracks were actually kind of novelty tracks, even somewhat silly and cheesy at times. This doesn't diminish their value because they were intended as party music and worked in that way.
No disrespect meant at all (because I love the following track), but I would say that even 'Alles naar de klote' was still such an 'extreme party' track. It certainly isn't a dark, somber, or introspective track, right?
On the other hand, 'We Have Arrived' was different. It had a distinct attitude. In my opinion, this new attitude, mood, feel, philosophy, and ideology marked the true advent of Hardcore Techno. Describing precisely what was expressed by this attitude, concept, or theme is hard, maybe even impossible. But it was undoubtedly a very dark thing. A dark mood. Brutal. Nihilistic. Without mercy. Without remorse. Rebellious.
And that was something truly new, something no other Techno, House, or EBM track had at that time. Early Gabberhouse had that sense of 'Hey, we are here to celebrate and have a good time, and now we take it to the extreme.' There was nothing like that in Mescalinum United's track. 'We Have Arrived' doesn't evoke a sense of 'good vibration' and a happy celebration. It's a sonic attack that kicks you directly in the teeth—and in your mind.
When other early Gabber producers were interviewed, they said: 'we're doing music because we want to have a party, we want to have fun'. When Marc Acardipane was interviewed he said (paraphrased): 'we're doing music to prepare people for the coming times, because times will get tough'.
Certainly, dark dance or rhythmic music existed before in genres such as EBM, Industrial, and No Wave. However, it was not Hardcore.
Now, some may argue that this is an interesting interpretation and analysis (or perhaps an uninteresting one), but also a bit of nit-picking and overthinking. "It's akin to the topic of discussing which member of the Beatles had which role in a particular song. While it may captivate music historians and trainspotters, the average person listening to a Beatles song on the radio couldn't care less."
However, I don't view it that way. It's not purely a matter of theoretical value. I believe 'We Have Arrived' had tangible, practical consequences and results for the ongoing development of Hardcore.
This 'dark, nihilist, remorseless' attitude, or rather, this 'Hardcore' attitude, fundamentally transformed the emerging scene and continues to shape it to this day.
Because after the initial wave of Gabberhouse tracks, we started to see the emergence of darker and more somber Hardcore tracks (beyond PCP and its associated labels). Hardcore and Gabber, as a whole, took a darker turn. While some parts of the scene in the mid-90s veered toward what some might call 'commercial radio bullshit,' with its overly happy and cheesy sounds, twisted and disturbing genres like Speedcore, Acidcore, Industrial Hardcore, Doomcore, or even Breakcore emerged. In my opinion, these genres were spawned from the seed planted by Mescalinum United's track, albeit with many steps in between. Yet, they are still connected to this very root.
Without 'We Have Arrived,' we might have a world with Gabberhouse but without Hardcore Techno. This pivotal development, along with the subsequent branching out into various styles and subgenres (such as Doomcore, Slowcore, etc.), continues to evolve and will persist into the future.
'We Have Arrived' was the first bona fide Hardcore Techno track, period. Its significance goes beyond just its drums, noise, or distortion. Most importantly, it defined the attitude and state of mind that we now associate with 'Hardcore Techno.'
2024.05.29 00:41 throwaway353534563 Overwhelmed by the evil of this world.
After settling down in my seat wondering what today's subject would be in class, we were told that it was going to be about WWII. After several hours of the teacher discussing the reasons for why WWII happened.
We finally moved on to what happened during the war itself.
We were shown black and white photographs of naked and malnourished corpses stacked on top of each other, resembling the shape of a pyramid.
A lump formed in my throat.
Isaiah 5:20: ''Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!''
It was a rainy day in a wet grass field, filled with corpses, devoid of any vibrant colour, as the drone dropped a tear gas canister into a foxhole, a Ukrainian soldier looking identical to my father jumped out in panic, only to be met by a grenade exploding underneath his feet, the same drone recording and dropping the tear gas canister in the first place.
Shortly afterwards the only colour standing out in the footage is the arterial blood spraying out from the severed limbs as the dying soldier is seen yelping, screaming, and grunting in pain for several minutes.
As the footage makes a sudden cut forward in time, you see the closeup of the Ukrainian soldier now motionless, bleak as the rest of the corpses in the grass field.
My lips were trembling.
Matthew 5:9: ''Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God''
My friends and I greet each other as we take the midnight bus. We trespass to the backside of the abortion clinic, where the dead remains of the aborted babies are stuffed into ziploc bags, thrown and abandoned in the dirty dumpsters, illuminated by the flickering street poles.
In the ziploc bags are often the mutilated legs, arms, and torsos of the deceased baby.
But on this day I am greeted by the decapitated head of the baby giving me a slight smirk. My friends and I hastily try to provide a proper burial for each dead baby as rain is pouring down on us.
I wept.
Luke 1:41: ''As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
I wrote this on a whim while in tears.
submitted by throwaway353534563 to TrueChristian [link] [comments]
We finally moved on to what happened during the war itself.
We were shown black and white photographs of naked and malnourished corpses stacked on top of each other, resembling the shape of a pyramid.
A lump formed in my throat.
Isaiah 5:20: ''Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!''
It was a rainy day in a wet grass field, filled with corpses, devoid of any vibrant colour, as the drone dropped a tear gas canister into a foxhole, a Ukrainian soldier looking identical to my father jumped out in panic, only to be met by a grenade exploding underneath his feet, the same drone recording and dropping the tear gas canister in the first place.
Shortly afterwards the only colour standing out in the footage is the arterial blood spraying out from the severed limbs as the dying soldier is seen yelping, screaming, and grunting in pain for several minutes.
As the footage makes a sudden cut forward in time, you see the closeup of the Ukrainian soldier now motionless, bleak as the rest of the corpses in the grass field.
My lips were trembling.
Matthew 5:9: ''Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God''
My friends and I greet each other as we take the midnight bus. We trespass to the backside of the abortion clinic, where the dead remains of the aborted babies are stuffed into ziploc bags, thrown and abandoned in the dirty dumpsters, illuminated by the flickering street poles.
In the ziploc bags are often the mutilated legs, arms, and torsos of the deceased baby.
But on this day I am greeted by the decapitated head of the baby giving me a slight smirk. My friends and I hastily try to provide a proper burial for each dead baby as rain is pouring down on us.
I wept.
Luke 1:41: ''As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
I wrote this on a whim while in tears.
2024.05.29 00:40 Low-Entropy Techno History: Was 'Mescalinum United - We Have Arrived' really the first Hardcore track? Let us take a look!
First, let us make something clear. This is a very subjective look; other people may have different opinions, and we don't claim to own the one and only truth here. Now that this has been said, let us go on.
Lately, there have been challenges to the claim that 'We Have Arrived' by Mescalinum United is 'really' the first Hardcore track ever. People point to other earlier tracks that already have quite distorted bass drums or otherwise heavy sounds.
Are these challenges legit? Perhaps 'We Have Arrived' is not the first Hardcore track at all?
Let us take a look at this. First, the dry facts. 'We Have Arrived' has a distorted, 'Gabber' type bass drum, howling synths/sirens, overly distorted percussion, frantic sounds, and noises. It's undoubtedly a Hardcore track. But was it the first one?
I would say: yes. For the following reason:
People point to other tracks that were earlier and already had 'heavy' sounds in one way or another. But I think this is missing the point by far because people focus too much on what are more or less just 'production' details.
Yes, there were tracks with heavy bass drums before 'We Have Arrived.' Also, shortly afterwards, there were tracks with truly distorted 909s and such. But I think 'We Have Arrived' stood out, literally for years after its release.
Let us look at two aspects of this: First, what was later called 'Techno' was referred to as 'House' in the Netherlands. It was to the point that 'Gabberhouse' became established as a term similar to Hardcore Techno. I believe this goes beyond semantics. Techno, as a whole, evolved from House, and the Gabberhouse sound was still tied to the House sound. What was House? It was a genre that evolved from Disco in the 80s (or late 70s). It represented people coming together in a venue or club, getting drunk or high, dancing, enjoying life, having fun, and celebrating with positive moods and vibes. It was a lot like Disco, but more intense. The early Gabberhouse tracks followed in that direction. They were fun party music for a real intense celebration, just more extreme than the usual House fare.
A lot of early 'hard' tracks were actually kind of novelty tracks, even somewhat silly and cheesy at times. This doesn't diminish their value because they were intended as party music and worked in that way.
No disrespect meant at all (because I love the following track), but I would say that even 'Alles naar de klote' was still such an 'extreme party' track. It certainly isn't a dark, somber, or introspective track, right?
On the other hand, 'We Have Arrived' was different. It had a distinct attitude. In my opinion, this new attitude, mood, feel, philosophy, and ideology marked the true advent of Hardcore Techno. Describing precisely what was expressed by this attitude, concept, or theme is hard, maybe even impossible. But it was undoubtedly a very dark thing. A dark mood. Brutal. Nihilistic. Without mercy. Without remorse. Rebellious.
And that was something truly new, something no other Techno, House, or EBM track had at that time. Early Gabberhouse had that sense of 'Hey, we are here to celebrate and have a good time, and now we take it to the extreme.' There was nothing like that in Mescalinum United's track. 'We Have Arrived' doesn't evoke a sense of 'good vibration' and a happy celebration. It's a sonic attack that kicks you directly in the teeth—and in your mind.
When other early Gabber producers were interviewed, they said: 'we're doing music because we want to have a party, we want to have fun'. When Marc Acardipane was interviewed he said (paraphrased): 'we're doing music to prepare people for the coming times, because times will get tough'.
Certainly, dark dance or rhythmic music existed before in genres such as EBM, Industrial, and No Wave. However, it was not Hardcore.
Now, some may argue that this is an interesting interpretation and analysis (or perhaps an uninteresting one), but also a bit of nit-picking and overthinking. "It's akin to the topic of discussing which member of the Beatles had which role in a particular song. While it may captivate music historians and trainspotters, the average person listening to a Beatles song on the radio couldn't care less."
However, I don't view it that way. It's not purely a matter of theoretical value. I believe 'We Have Arrived' had tangible, practical consequences and results for the ongoing development of Hardcore.
This 'dark, nihilist, remorseless' attitude, or rather, this 'Hardcore' attitude, fundamentally transformed the emerging scene and continues to shape it to this day.
Because after the initial wave of Gabberhouse tracks, we started to see the emergence of darker and more somber Hardcore tracks (beyond PCP and its associated labels). Hardcore and Gabber, as a whole, took a darker turn. While some parts of the scene in the mid-90s veered toward what some might call 'commercial radio bullshit,' with its overly happy and cheesy sounds, twisted and disturbing genres like Speedcore, Acidcore, Industrial Hardcore, Doomcore, or even Breakcore emerged. In my opinion, these genres were spawned from the seed planted by Mescalinum United's track, albeit with many steps in between. Yet, they are still connected to this very root.
Without 'We Have Arrived,' we might have a world with Gabberhouse but without Hardcore Techno. This pivotal development, along with the subsequent branching out into various styles and subgenres (such as Doomcore, Slowcore, etc.), continues to evolve and will persist into the future.
'We Have Arrived' was the first bona fide Hardcore Techno track, period. Its significance goes beyond just its drums, noise, or distortion. Most importantly, it defined the attitude and state of mind that we now associate with 'Hardcore Techno.'
submitted by Low-Entropy to aves [link] [comments]
Lately, there have been challenges to the claim that 'We Have Arrived' by Mescalinum United is 'really' the first Hardcore track ever. People point to other earlier tracks that already have quite distorted bass drums or otherwise heavy sounds.
Are these challenges legit? Perhaps 'We Have Arrived' is not the first Hardcore track at all?
Let us take a look at this. First, the dry facts. 'We Have Arrived' has a distorted, 'Gabber' type bass drum, howling synths/sirens, overly distorted percussion, frantic sounds, and noises. It's undoubtedly a Hardcore track. But was it the first one?
I would say: yes. For the following reason:
People point to other tracks that were earlier and already had 'heavy' sounds in one way or another. But I think this is missing the point by far because people focus too much on what are more or less just 'production' details.
Yes, there were tracks with heavy bass drums before 'We Have Arrived.' Also, shortly afterwards, there were tracks with truly distorted 909s and such. But I think 'We Have Arrived' stood out, literally for years after its release.
Let us look at two aspects of this: First, what was later called 'Techno' was referred to as 'House' in the Netherlands. It was to the point that 'Gabberhouse' became established as a term similar to Hardcore Techno. I believe this goes beyond semantics. Techno, as a whole, evolved from House, and the Gabberhouse sound was still tied to the House sound. What was House? It was a genre that evolved from Disco in the 80s (or late 70s). It represented people coming together in a venue or club, getting drunk or high, dancing, enjoying life, having fun, and celebrating with positive moods and vibes. It was a lot like Disco, but more intense. The early Gabberhouse tracks followed in that direction. They were fun party music for a real intense celebration, just more extreme than the usual House fare.
A lot of early 'hard' tracks were actually kind of novelty tracks, even somewhat silly and cheesy at times. This doesn't diminish their value because they were intended as party music and worked in that way.
No disrespect meant at all (because I love the following track), but I would say that even 'Alles naar de klote' was still such an 'extreme party' track. It certainly isn't a dark, somber, or introspective track, right?
On the other hand, 'We Have Arrived' was different. It had a distinct attitude. In my opinion, this new attitude, mood, feel, philosophy, and ideology marked the true advent of Hardcore Techno. Describing precisely what was expressed by this attitude, concept, or theme is hard, maybe even impossible. But it was undoubtedly a very dark thing. A dark mood. Brutal. Nihilistic. Without mercy. Without remorse. Rebellious.
And that was something truly new, something no other Techno, House, or EBM track had at that time. Early Gabberhouse had that sense of 'Hey, we are here to celebrate and have a good time, and now we take it to the extreme.' There was nothing like that in Mescalinum United's track. 'We Have Arrived' doesn't evoke a sense of 'good vibration' and a happy celebration. It's a sonic attack that kicks you directly in the teeth—and in your mind.
When other early Gabber producers were interviewed, they said: 'we're doing music because we want to have a party, we want to have fun'. When Marc Acardipane was interviewed he said (paraphrased): 'we're doing music to prepare people for the coming times, because times will get tough'.
Certainly, dark dance or rhythmic music existed before in genres such as EBM, Industrial, and No Wave. However, it was not Hardcore.
Now, some may argue that this is an interesting interpretation and analysis (or perhaps an uninteresting one), but also a bit of nit-picking and overthinking. "It's akin to the topic of discussing which member of the Beatles had which role in a particular song. While it may captivate music historians and trainspotters, the average person listening to a Beatles song on the radio couldn't care less."
However, I don't view it that way. It's not purely a matter of theoretical value. I believe 'We Have Arrived' had tangible, practical consequences and results for the ongoing development of Hardcore.
This 'dark, nihilist, remorseless' attitude, or rather, this 'Hardcore' attitude, fundamentally transformed the emerging scene and continues to shape it to this day.
Because after the initial wave of Gabberhouse tracks, we started to see the emergence of darker and more somber Hardcore tracks (beyond PCP and its associated labels). Hardcore and Gabber, as a whole, took a darker turn. While some parts of the scene in the mid-90s veered toward what some might call 'commercial radio bullshit,' with its overly happy and cheesy sounds, twisted and disturbing genres like Speedcore, Acidcore, Industrial Hardcore, Doomcore, or even Breakcore emerged. In my opinion, these genres were spawned from the seed planted by Mescalinum United's track, albeit with many steps in between. Yet, they are still connected to this very root.
Without 'We Have Arrived,' we might have a world with Gabberhouse but without Hardcore Techno. This pivotal development, along with the subsequent branching out into various styles and subgenres (such as Doomcore, Slowcore, etc.), continues to evolve and will persist into the future.
'We Have Arrived' was the first bona fide Hardcore Techno track, period. Its significance goes beyond just its drums, noise, or distortion. Most importantly, it defined the attitude and state of mind that we now associate with 'Hardcore Techno.'
2024.05.29 00:40 KaosTheBard Battlemage Ryze rework
The things I want to keep/value:
Only basic abilities Remove his e, w, and r and replace them with their own versions of spell flux. Each one will give an effect upon ryze hitting that target with a q. Eq will grant a stacking move speed boost (small and lasts for maybe 7-10 seconds refreshing), wq will slow the enemy champion for maybe 2-3 seconds and maybe 30-40% slow? Rq will heal ryze for some amount scaling with ap. None of these should be particularly strong effects and the cooldowns should probably be roughly 1.5-2 seconds late game. Additionally, you can now move while casting any of the fluxes, and the actuall flux stack will stay there for a little longer.
Empowered Spells The interesting part comes when you stack spellfluxes. Any flux followed by an e will empower the next q to hit that target to give ryze a big burst of decaying movespeed (think phaserush), followed by a w will root the target (again you have to land the q to get the effect), and followed by an r will grant a shield.
Waveclear - little weaker hopefully If you stack all three on the same target, the final flux will spread in a large area (do it on a cannon and it will always hit the entire wave and a little beyond) dealing a big burst of damage and giving a somewhat stronger version of the buff that the last spell flux would have given you (w mega slows for same duration, e gives multiple e stacks, and r gives a very decent heal). Presumably you only use the w version if you are trying to engage for your team, albeit very slowly or maybe catch someone standing too close to the wave.
Playstyle When fighting long engagements like vs tanks, ryze will have some sustain and ramping movespeed allowing him to kite out tankier targets like juggernauts. Vs squishy long range mages ewRQ will give him some sustain in lane and allow him to not be stuck clearing waves under tower (eventually anyways), while he still has eWQ to all in them. And finally eRQ for short trades vs more bursty matchups. With no r he does have less incentive to roam, but his skirmishing power should be much better.
Potential Combos Full damage trade: qEQRQWQ (little ms/damage, little heal, slow and walk away) Short trade vs maybe ranged: qeRQWQ (shield plus they get slowed and you walk away) Short trade vs run you down/melee: qWQrEQ (slow, then run away)
The idea is that with these changes we can buff ryze's numbers a bunch and give him interesting combo paths and choices while not losing the battlemage focused identity (many of the rune focused reworks while cool turn him into a sort of artillery mage).
Let me know what y'all think! I love this champion thematically and I love battlemages and I also understand that he's in a good place right now, but he's not the most interesting (or stable for that matter).
submitted by KaosTheBard to RyzeMains [link] [comments]
- midrange
- high damage
- survivable
- kiting focus
- skill expression
- machine gun
- combos
- waveclear
- point and click root
- ult (sorry u/QEEQWEQ)
Only basic abilities Remove his e, w, and r and replace them with their own versions of spell flux. Each one will give an effect upon ryze hitting that target with a q. Eq will grant a stacking move speed boost (small and lasts for maybe 7-10 seconds refreshing), wq will slow the enemy champion for maybe 2-3 seconds and maybe 30-40% slow? Rq will heal ryze for some amount scaling with ap. None of these should be particularly strong effects and the cooldowns should probably be roughly 1.5-2 seconds late game. Additionally, you can now move while casting any of the fluxes, and the actuall flux stack will stay there for a little longer.
Empowered Spells The interesting part comes when you stack spellfluxes. Any flux followed by an e will empower the next q to hit that target to give ryze a big burst of decaying movespeed (think phaserush), followed by a w will root the target (again you have to land the q to get the effect), and followed by an r will grant a shield.
Waveclear - little weaker hopefully If you stack all three on the same target, the final flux will spread in a large area (do it on a cannon and it will always hit the entire wave and a little beyond) dealing a big burst of damage and giving a somewhat stronger version of the buff that the last spell flux would have given you (w mega slows for same duration, e gives multiple e stacks, and r gives a very decent heal). Presumably you only use the w version if you are trying to engage for your team, albeit very slowly or maybe catch someone standing too close to the wave.
Playstyle When fighting long engagements like vs tanks, ryze will have some sustain and ramping movespeed allowing him to kite out tankier targets like juggernauts. Vs squishy long range mages ewRQ will give him some sustain in lane and allow him to not be stuck clearing waves under tower (eventually anyways), while he still has eWQ to all in them. And finally eRQ for short trades vs more bursty matchups. With no r he does have less incentive to roam, but his skirmishing power should be much better.
Potential Combos Full damage trade: qEQRQWQ (little ms/damage, little heal, slow and walk away) Short trade vs maybe ranged: qeRQWQ (shield plus they get slowed and you walk away) Short trade vs run you down/melee: qWQrEQ (slow, then run away)
The idea is that with these changes we can buff ryze's numbers a bunch and give him interesting combo paths and choices while not losing the battlemage focused identity (many of the rune focused reworks while cool turn him into a sort of artillery mage).
Let me know what y'all think! I love this champion thematically and I love battlemages and I also understand that he's in a good place right now, but he's not the most interesting (or stable for that matter).
2024.05.29 00:40 FredJamYT Watch 5 Min of TikToks and Help with My Bachelor’s Thesis! (18-30 Years, Europe)
Hey everyone,
Are you 18-30 years old and from Europe? Watch a 5-minute compilation of TikToks/Shorts and answer a few questions. 🎓
The survey examines how humans react to different types of content on short video platforms.
Important: The survey is in English. Headphones or sound recommended.
Here is the link to the survey: https://utwentebs.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_50zHb8ztGrmlfwi
Thank you! ♥️
submitted by FredJamYT to Students_AcademicHelp [link] [comments]
Are you 18-30 years old and from Europe? Watch a 5-minute compilation of TikToks/Shorts and answer a few questions. 🎓
The survey examines how humans react to different types of content on short video platforms.
Important: The survey is in English. Headphones or sound recommended.
Here is the link to the survey: https://utwentebs.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_50zHb8ztGrmlfwi
Thank you! ♥️
2024.05.29 00:40 wokeupintheinbetween Other artists’ features on her songs
obligatory not a swiftie, my 3 sisters are all obsessed with her so i end up knowing a lot of the lore and hearing a LOT of her music. but make no mistake i am a lowkey hater
has anyone else noticed that 9/10 whenever she has another artist on a song, they either just get backing vocals (Lana & Post Malone) or they’re more present but like…underutilized? (Patrick Stump & Florence)
like with Lana, i didn’t even know she was on the song the first time i heard it, she was barely even there. and idk all the details but apparently the fans kinda bullied taylor into releasing another version with her? but it’s like….why wouldn’t you just put that version on the album originally 🥴
with Florence and Patrick, i felt like the production/sound quality of their voice just sounded off. i’m a huge FOB fan, love Patrick’s voice, but he sounded quieter than her and almost autotuned?? it didn’t fit with the song at all. same with Florence! my sister had me listen to florida on ttpd because she knows i love Florence and the Machine and it was just….so bad. she has a powerhouse voice but it didn’t match the vibe of the song and didn’t mesh with taylor’s voice because they’re so different vocally.
in conclusion i think tay tay purposely gives these artists the short end of the stick because ofc she’s the only one who’s allowed to shine 😋✌️
submitted by wokeupintheinbetween to travisandtaylor [link] [comments]
has anyone else noticed that 9/10 whenever she has another artist on a song, they either just get backing vocals (Lana & Post Malone) or they’re more present but like…underutilized? (Patrick Stump & Florence)
like with Lana, i didn’t even know she was on the song the first time i heard it, she was barely even there. and idk all the details but apparently the fans kinda bullied taylor into releasing another version with her? but it’s like….why wouldn’t you just put that version on the album originally 🥴
with Florence and Patrick, i felt like the production/sound quality of their voice just sounded off. i’m a huge FOB fan, love Patrick’s voice, but he sounded quieter than her and almost autotuned?? it didn’t fit with the song at all. same with Florence! my sister had me listen to florida on ttpd because she knows i love Florence and the Machine and it was just….so bad. she has a powerhouse voice but it didn’t match the vibe of the song and didn’t mesh with taylor’s voice because they’re so different vocally.
in conclusion i think tay tay purposely gives these artists the short end of the stick because ofc she’s the only one who’s allowed to shine 😋✌️
2024.05.29 00:38 Low-Entropy Techno History: Was 'Mescalinum United - We Have Arrived' really the first Hardcore track? Let us take a look!
First, let us make something clear. This is a very subjective look; other people may have different opinions, and we don't claim to own the one and only truth here. Now that this has been said, let us go on.
Lately, there have been challenges to the claim that 'We Have Arrived' by Mescalinum United is 'really' the first Hardcore track ever. People point to other earlier tracks that already have quite distorted bass drums or otherwise heavy sounds.
Are these challenges legit? Perhaps 'We Have Arrived' is not the first Hardcore track at all?
Let us take a look at this. First, the dry facts. 'We Have Arrived' has a distorted, 'Gabber' type bass drum, howling synths/sirens, overly distorted percussion, frantic sounds, and noises. It's undoubtedly a Hardcore track. But was it the first one?
I would say: yes. For the following reason:
People point to other tracks that were earlier and already had 'heavy' sounds in one way or another. But I think this is missing the point by far because people focus too much on what are more or less just 'production' details.
Yes, there were tracks with heavy bass drums before 'We Have Arrived.' Also, shortly afterwards, there were tracks with truly distorted 909s and such. But I think 'We Have Arrived' stood out, literally for years after its release.
Let us look at two aspects of this: First, what was later called 'Techno' was referred to as 'House' in the Netherlands. It was to the point that 'Gabberhouse' became established as a term similar to Hardcore Techno. I believe this goes beyond semantics. Techno, as a whole, evolved from House, and the Gabberhouse sound was still tied to the House sound. What was House? It was a genre that evolved from Disco in the 80s (or late 70s). It represented people coming together in a venue or club, getting drunk or high, dancing, enjoying life, having fun, and celebrating with positive moods and vibes. It was a lot like Disco, but more intense. The early Gabberhouse tracks followed in that direction. They were fun party music for a real intense celebration, just more extreme than the usual House fare.
A lot of early 'hard' tracks were actually kind of novelty tracks, even somewhat silly and cheesy at times. This doesn't diminish their value because they were intended as party music and worked in that way.
No disrespect meant at all (because I love the following track), but I would say that even 'Alles naar de klote' was still such an 'extreme party' track. It certainly isn't a dark, somber, or introspective track, right?
On the other hand, 'We Have Arrived' was different. It had a distinct attitude. In my opinion, this new attitude, mood, feel, philosophy, and ideology marked the true advent of Hardcore Techno. Describing precisely what was expressed by this attitude, concept, or theme is hard, maybe even impossible. But it was undoubtedly a very dark thing. A dark mood. Brutal. Nihilistic. Without mercy. Without remorse. Rebellious.
And that was something truly new, something no other Techno, House, or EBM track had at that time. Early Gabberhouse had that sense of 'Hey, we are here to celebrate and have a good time, and now we take it to the extreme.' There was nothing like that in Mescalinum United's track. 'We Have Arrived' doesn't evoke a sense of 'good vibration' and a happy celebration. It's a sonic attack that kicks you directly in the teeth—and in your mind.
When other early Gabber producers were interviewed, they said: 'we're doing music because we want to have a party, we want to have fun'. When Marc Acardipane was interviewed he said (paraphrased): 'we're doing music to prepare people for the coming times, because times will get tough'.
Certainly, dark dance or rhythmic music existed before in genres such as EBM, Industrial, and No Wave. However, it was not Hardcore.
Now, some may argue that this is an interesting interpretation and analysis (or perhaps an uninteresting one), but also a bit of nit-picking and overthinking. "It's akin to the topic of discussing which member of the Beatles had which role in a particular song. While it may captivate music historians and trainspotters, the average person listening to a Beatles song on the radio couldn't care less."
However, I don't view it that way. It's not purely a matter of theoretical value. I believe 'We Have Arrived' had tangible, practical consequences and results for the ongoing development of Hardcore.
This 'dark, nihilist, remorseless' attitude, or rather, this 'Hardcore' attitude, fundamentally transformed the emerging scene and continues to shape it to this day.
Because after the initial wave of Gabberhouse tracks, we started to see the emergence of darker and more somber Hardcore tracks (beyond PCP and its associated labels). Hardcore and Gabber, as a whole, took a darker turn. While some parts of the scene in the mid-90s veered toward what some might call 'commercial radio bullshit,' with its overly happy and cheesy sounds, twisted and disturbing genres like Speedcore, Acidcore, Industrial Hardcore, Doomcore, or even Breakcore emerged. In my opinion, these genres were spawned from the seed planted by Mescalinum United's track, albeit with many steps in between. Yet, they are still connected to this very root.
Without 'We Have Arrived,' we might have a world with Gabberhouse but without Hardcore Techno. This pivotal development, along with the subsequent branching out into various styles and subgenres (such as Doomcore, Slowcore, etc.), continues to evolve and will persist into the future.
'We Have Arrived' was the first bona fide Hardcore Techno track, period. Its significance goes beyond just its drums, noise, or distortion. Most importantly, it defined the attitude and state of mind that we now associate with 'Hardcore Techno.'
submitted by Low-Entropy to Techno [link] [comments]
Lately, there have been challenges to the claim that 'We Have Arrived' by Mescalinum United is 'really' the first Hardcore track ever. People point to other earlier tracks that already have quite distorted bass drums or otherwise heavy sounds.
Are these challenges legit? Perhaps 'We Have Arrived' is not the first Hardcore track at all?
Let us take a look at this. First, the dry facts. 'We Have Arrived' has a distorted, 'Gabber' type bass drum, howling synths/sirens, overly distorted percussion, frantic sounds, and noises. It's undoubtedly a Hardcore track. But was it the first one?
I would say: yes. For the following reason:
People point to other tracks that were earlier and already had 'heavy' sounds in one way or another. But I think this is missing the point by far because people focus too much on what are more or less just 'production' details.
Yes, there were tracks with heavy bass drums before 'We Have Arrived.' Also, shortly afterwards, there were tracks with truly distorted 909s and such. But I think 'We Have Arrived' stood out, literally for years after its release.
Let us look at two aspects of this: First, what was later called 'Techno' was referred to as 'House' in the Netherlands. It was to the point that 'Gabberhouse' became established as a term similar to Hardcore Techno. I believe this goes beyond semantics. Techno, as a whole, evolved from House, and the Gabberhouse sound was still tied to the House sound. What was House? It was a genre that evolved from Disco in the 80s (or late 70s). It represented people coming together in a venue or club, getting drunk or high, dancing, enjoying life, having fun, and celebrating with positive moods and vibes. It was a lot like Disco, but more intense. The early Gabberhouse tracks followed in that direction. They were fun party music for a real intense celebration, just more extreme than the usual House fare.
A lot of early 'hard' tracks were actually kind of novelty tracks, even somewhat silly and cheesy at times. This doesn't diminish their value because they were intended as party music and worked in that way.
No disrespect meant at all (because I love the following track), but I would say that even 'Alles naar de klote' was still such an 'extreme party' track. It certainly isn't a dark, somber, or introspective track, right?
On the other hand, 'We Have Arrived' was different. It had a distinct attitude. In my opinion, this new attitude, mood, feel, philosophy, and ideology marked the true advent of Hardcore Techno. Describing precisely what was expressed by this attitude, concept, or theme is hard, maybe even impossible. But it was undoubtedly a very dark thing. A dark mood. Brutal. Nihilistic. Without mercy. Without remorse. Rebellious.
And that was something truly new, something no other Techno, House, or EBM track had at that time. Early Gabberhouse had that sense of 'Hey, we are here to celebrate and have a good time, and now we take it to the extreme.' There was nothing like that in Mescalinum United's track. 'We Have Arrived' doesn't evoke a sense of 'good vibration' and a happy celebration. It's a sonic attack that kicks you directly in the teeth—and in your mind.
When other early Gabber producers were interviewed, they said: 'we're doing music because we want to have a party, we want to have fun'. When Marc Acardipane was interviewed he said (paraphrased): 'we're doing music to prepare people for the coming times, because times will get tough'.
Certainly, dark dance or rhythmic music existed before in genres such as EBM, Industrial, and No Wave. However, it was not Hardcore.
Now, some may argue that this is an interesting interpretation and analysis (or perhaps an uninteresting one), but also a bit of nit-picking and overthinking. "It's akin to the topic of discussing which member of the Beatles had which role in a particular song. While it may captivate music historians and trainspotters, the average person listening to a Beatles song on the radio couldn't care less."
However, I don't view it that way. It's not purely a matter of theoretical value. I believe 'We Have Arrived' had tangible, practical consequences and results for the ongoing development of Hardcore.
This 'dark, nihilist, remorseless' attitude, or rather, this 'Hardcore' attitude, fundamentally transformed the emerging scene and continues to shape it to this day.
Because after the initial wave of Gabberhouse tracks, we started to see the emergence of darker and more somber Hardcore tracks (beyond PCP and its associated labels). Hardcore and Gabber, as a whole, took a darker turn. While some parts of the scene in the mid-90s veered toward what some might call 'commercial radio bullshit,' with its overly happy and cheesy sounds, twisted and disturbing genres like Speedcore, Acidcore, Industrial Hardcore, Doomcore, or even Breakcore emerged. In my opinion, these genres were spawned from the seed planted by Mescalinum United's track, albeit with many steps in between. Yet, they are still connected to this very root.
Without 'We Have Arrived,' we might have a world with Gabberhouse but without Hardcore Techno. This pivotal development, along with the subsequent branching out into various styles and subgenres (such as Doomcore, Slowcore, etc.), continues to evolve and will persist into the future.
'We Have Arrived' was the first bona fide Hardcore Techno track, period. Its significance goes beyond just its drums, noise, or distortion. Most importantly, it defined the attitude and state of mind that we now associate with 'Hardcore Techno.'
2024.05.29 00:38 Green_Cheese5762 What do the captions on each Aaravos poster mean?
So far we have: Moon: “The moon shimmers as the stars align” Sky: “At the eye of the storm, a limitless sky overlooks us in profound silence” Sun: “But after all, wasn’t the sun the first to betray the stars?” Earth: “Earth is our seed, planted in the cosmos”
Each quote is connecting an arcanum to the star arcanum. Maybe it’s information Callum learns as he tries to understand the star arcanum (my theory is that he can’t use the Novablade without that understanding). I can see these quotes coming from a book, or possibly something the Skywing elves tell him.
Or they’re quotes from various characters that hint at plot points this season. The earth one sounds like something the mushroom mage might tell Zubeia after she asks how he healed her, Karim or the Aaravos-possessed sunfire elf could say the sun quote, The Merciful One says the sky quote (when/if we get an extended conversation with them and Aaravos as they talk about the universe) and moon sounds like it could come out of a story Rayla and Callum find in a book, or if Claudia visits Elarion she might find it etched into the ruins somewhere.
What do u think?
submitted by Green_Cheese5762 to TheDragonPrince [link] [comments]
Each quote is connecting an arcanum to the star arcanum. Maybe it’s information Callum learns as he tries to understand the star arcanum (my theory is that he can’t use the Novablade without that understanding). I can see these quotes coming from a book, or possibly something the Skywing elves tell him.
Or they’re quotes from various characters that hint at plot points this season. The earth one sounds like something the mushroom mage might tell Zubeia after she asks how he healed her, Karim or the Aaravos-possessed sunfire elf could say the sun quote, The Merciful One says the sky quote (when/if we get an extended conversation with them and Aaravos as they talk about the universe) and moon sounds like it could come out of a story Rayla and Callum find in a book, or if Claudia visits Elarion she might find it etched into the ruins somewhere.
What do u think?
2024.05.29 00:38 GeorgeOrwell_Gurl UPDATE 3 -- Am I the jerk for resenting my dad because of his new family and for seeing my stepfather as a better dad than him?
Hi everyone. It's been about nine days since my last update. I just wanna say, thank you all for your support and advice. There were a lot of people asking similar questions, and it was all a bit overwhelming so I didn't respond to any of them directly, but I will answer those questions here before I get on to the actual reason for this update. So, a lot of you were saying that I should talk to a school counselor or something. The thing is that I do virtual homeschool, and my mom works from home a lot, so I'm honestly just a bit too scared to try that. Plus, even if I did talk to my counselor without my mom being around to hear, I really don't trust any adults to keep these kinds of things to themselves. I know that sounds a bit dumb and paranoid, but it's really just how my brain thinks. A lot of you also said that I should bring up the therapy thing with my mom again, but I know for a fact that won't work. My mom really doesn't believe in therapy and believes that praying to God or having her preach about the bible to me will solve everything. As for my stepdad, I love the guy like a real father, and I see him as my true dad even if he doesn't want to adopt me, but he really is no help with the therapy issue either because he always just agrees with whatever my mom says to avoid arguments. But I'm doing fine right now though, and I honestly think things are going to start getting better. And I think this because I'm pretty sure my mom is finally gonna file for sole custody and court-ordered child support. One thing I guess I should've made clear is that my parents sorted out their custody and child-support agreement amongst themselves when they divorced. The agreement is that I spend weekends with my dad, and he pays my mom $100 per week. I'm pretty sure my dad only stuck to that agreement to keep himself looking good until he could finish his U.S. legalization process, since he used to be an immigrant from Canada. Once he was legalized, he stopped paying child support and began spoiling his new fam. Anyway, I went to my dad's house last weekend. This time, my mom didn't force me, and I actually decided I wanted to go because I wanted to give my dad one last chance. He picked me up from my mom's house, and we didn't get down the street before we were fighting. I was excitedly telling him about a business idea I had where I can make book-boxes and sell books with DIY necklaces and hand-painted bookmarks that match book covers, and he was telling me my idea was stupid and unprofitable and a waste of money and time. It was an hour-long drive to his house, and he was getting political or angry over every little thing I said. When I told him I was thinking about applying to colleges like Harvard or University of Chicago in the future, he began to yell about all the "dangerous Cuban and Mexican immigrants" in Chicago and began saying that Harvard is a waste of time since it's just as good as any other college, but "rich people go there, which is why it's so famous". I wound up yelling at him that he can't act so high and mighty over non-white immigrants because he was also an immigrant not too long ago. Also, I never understand why it is my dad is always so racist about Hispanic people when my mom and his current wife are both Latinas. He went on one rant after another, and I was so sick of it that instead of staying quiet like always, I actually argued back. Because of that, my dad spent the whole weekend complaining about my bad attitude. I told my mom about all of this. I think the final nail in the coffin that finally pushed her to want sole custody was when I told her about a rant my dad went on about "the difference between men and women". I wound up memorizing and writing down everything he said and texted it to my mom. I asked her not to talk to him about it, but she was pissed at him. Here are some of the things he said: "99% of women want to latch onto rich men", "Nearly all women are greedy and unloyal", "Men don't like successful and independent women because they're prideful and bossy", "It's more important for a wife to respect her husband than it is for him to respect her", "It is wrong for wives to make more than their husbands", and so much more. And then he smiled and said, "But you're the exception, pretty girl." There was so much more that happened just last weekend, like him saying some of my guy friends don't count as real men since some of them are gay, and trying to tell me my summer volunteering opportunity in DR is a bad idea since "the people there are different", even though my mom's side of the family comes from there. I won't list every annoying thing he did, and I'm finally done. This was his last chance, and he blew it. I just want to say I'm pretty sure my mom is not sending me over anymore. She spent all morning looking for my birth certificate because she's wondering if she needs it for court. She wants to get me full time, and have my dad pay child support. At the moment, he owes a lot of child support, and having him contribute financially would help me so much with preparing for college. Also, I did not mention the names of my books in the other posts. I didn't share them because I didn't want a bunch of internet strangers seeing my social media tags at the back of the book, but I will share the titles with anyone who DMs me. I will probably make another update if anything else happens. Hopefully, my next update will be after we've gone to court.
submitted by GeorgeOrwell_Gurl to AmITheJerk [link] [comments]
2024.05.29 00:37 KK6321 [Thank You] May Mail
u/Electronic_Pie5061 - thank you for the postcard!
u/SweetyDarlingLuLu - thank you so much for the pretty card and celebrating my 1,000 flair goal!
u/hoolu123 - Thank you for the postcard! I love the fun stickers!
u/DaenerysWon - thank you for the postcard! I'm so glad you enjoyed the Star Trek stickers!
u/AddisonEllison - thank you for the postcard! I hope you're doing well.
u/StillSheryl - thank you for the beautiful botanical garden postcard! It sounds like you had an amazing trip!
u/Tinawebmom - thank you for the card and goodies! I hope you're doing well!
u/TyedyeAmish - thank you for the bagpipe postcard!
submitted by KK6321 to RandomActsofCards [link] [comments]
u/SweetyDarlingLuLu - thank you so much for the pretty card and celebrating my 1,000 flair goal!
u/hoolu123 - Thank you for the postcard! I love the fun stickers!
u/DaenerysWon - thank you for the postcard! I'm so glad you enjoyed the Star Trek stickers!
u/AddisonEllison - thank you for the postcard! I hope you're doing well.
u/StillSheryl - thank you for the beautiful botanical garden postcard! It sounds like you had an amazing trip!
u/Tinawebmom - thank you for the card and goodies! I hope you're doing well!
u/TyedyeAmish - thank you for the bagpipe postcard!
2024.05.29 00:36 Klukas1129 I passed the series 7 first try today - ask any questions
I used STC USA and also bought the Kaplan Q Bank as the study material.
Same day study:
1) I watched each chapters video STC 2) I read the chapter STC 3) I did the chapter quiz STC 4) reviewed wrong answers STC
In the majority of chapters and especially the larger and harder chapters I would add in a lot more questions from Kaplan Q Bank as their own quizzes, sometimes doing an extra 50-100 questions.
I did the 20 chapters over 5 weeks taking off Saturday and Sunday’s for rest.
The week before the exam I crammed and devoted 8 hours a day to studying. Usually a 1/2 to 1 exam a day and viewing the explanations of the answers after each question and reading the wrong answer explanations.
I would take a 15 minute break after every 1-2 hours of studying or if I felt foggy or glossed over. I would take a 1 hour lunch break and a 1 hour break for dinner and watch some TV or YouTube that had nothing to do with the test.
Then I would go back to the chapters and review certain pieces of material.
The two days before the exam I started watching the Capadvantagetutoring short videos on chapters I was struggling with.
The day and night before the exam I watched the Capadvantagetutoring CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS video twice and read the full chapter in the STC USA manual. I did no tests the day before the exam and only read and brushed up on material I wasn’t as good in and shown as part of the “your scores” section on the STC portal.
I stopped all studying at 5pm the night before, went to bed early and got 8+ hours of sleep.
The morning of I got up at 7am for a 9am exam time and had a shower and a good breakfast arrived at the exam center a little before 8:30am to the test center after a 45 minute drive.
I got to the exam center a few minutes early and briefly looked at a few formulas for the exam, EPS, Acid Test Ratio, Current Ratio, Current Yield etc. the first question on the exam actually asked about the formulas I reviewed, I got lucky.
The process at Prometric took around 45 minutes for me to even get into the exam room at the computer. The process was awful!! Some people were freaking out and getting mad in the waiting room. I tried to remain calm and focus on the fact that the exam doesn’t start until I am at the computer.
Overall I found the actually exam easier than the STC USA exams and a lot easier than the Kaplan Series Q Bank questions (those questions are over the top tricky, but make u think more and really comprehend the material more).
I finished the exam in around 2 hours give or take.
ONE OTHER THING: (take it how you want) I did visualization for the 4 weeks leading up to the test on a daily basis picturing myself sitting in the exam center at the computer and seeing the PASS word come up on the screen. I felt an overwhelming peace while at the exam center like I have been there a million times before. I feel visualization relaxes the mind and helps with focus.
Notes: I did not use the headphones they offer to cancel out the noise. I have used them before and I’ve found that it makes for something a little uncomfortable and out of place if you didn’t study with them on at home.
I will help in any way that I can. Ask away. I still have actual test questions on my mind. May be gone in a few days lol.
submitted by Klukas1129 to Series7exam [link] [comments]
Same day study:
1) I watched each chapters video STC 2) I read the chapter STC 3) I did the chapter quiz STC 4) reviewed wrong answers STC
In the majority of chapters and especially the larger and harder chapters I would add in a lot more questions from Kaplan Q Bank as their own quizzes, sometimes doing an extra 50-100 questions.
I did the 20 chapters over 5 weeks taking off Saturday and Sunday’s for rest.
The week before the exam I crammed and devoted 8 hours a day to studying. Usually a 1/2 to 1 exam a day and viewing the explanations of the answers after each question and reading the wrong answer explanations.
I would take a 15 minute break after every 1-2 hours of studying or if I felt foggy or glossed over. I would take a 1 hour lunch break and a 1 hour break for dinner and watch some TV or YouTube that had nothing to do with the test.
Then I would go back to the chapters and review certain pieces of material.
The two days before the exam I started watching the Capadvantagetutoring short videos on chapters I was struggling with.
The day and night before the exam I watched the Capadvantagetutoring CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS video twice and read the full chapter in the STC USA manual. I did no tests the day before the exam and only read and brushed up on material I wasn’t as good in and shown as part of the “your scores” section on the STC portal.
I stopped all studying at 5pm the night before, went to bed early and got 8+ hours of sleep.
The morning of I got up at 7am for a 9am exam time and had a shower and a good breakfast arrived at the exam center a little before 8:30am to the test center after a 45 minute drive.
I got to the exam center a few minutes early and briefly looked at a few formulas for the exam, EPS, Acid Test Ratio, Current Ratio, Current Yield etc. the first question on the exam actually asked about the formulas I reviewed, I got lucky.
The process at Prometric took around 45 minutes for me to even get into the exam room at the computer. The process was awful!! Some people were freaking out and getting mad in the waiting room. I tried to remain calm and focus on the fact that the exam doesn’t start until I am at the computer.
Overall I found the actually exam easier than the STC USA exams and a lot easier than the Kaplan Series Q Bank questions (those questions are over the top tricky, but make u think more and really comprehend the material more).
I finished the exam in around 2 hours give or take.
ONE OTHER THING: (take it how you want) I did visualization for the 4 weeks leading up to the test on a daily basis picturing myself sitting in the exam center at the computer and seeing the PASS word come up on the screen. I felt an overwhelming peace while at the exam center like I have been there a million times before. I feel visualization relaxes the mind and helps with focus.
Notes: I did not use the headphones they offer to cancel out the noise. I have used them before and I’ve found that it makes for something a little uncomfortable and out of place if you didn’t study with them on at home.
I will help in any way that I can. Ask away. I still have actual test questions on my mind. May be gone in a few days lol.
2024.05.29 00:35 Business-Break-8668 TRADE NOW + 200 IDs
IHave AFRO:
submitted by Business-Break-8668 to AfroHouseUnreleased [link] [comments]
- Daughter of the Sun (Ankhoï Remix)
- Angéle - Taxi (Ankhoï Remix)
- Ankhoï - Sandiya
- Ankhoï - Clound
- Ankhoï - No sleep
- Ankhoï - Corazon
- Ankhoï - After All Night Shift
- Ankhoï - Another Hallelujah (Mont Rouge Private Edit)
- Vitoto & NiteFreak - XXXXXXX
- Tato - Merah
- Tato - Juremas Flower
- Alegria - ARYMÉ & OSFUR ( Chris IDH Remix )
- Bruno Mars - Grenade (ChrisIDH rmx)
- Chris IDH - 7 nation
- Victor Alc - Essamina
- Victor Alc - I Know You Know
- Victor Alc - Hangin Tree
- Victor Alc - Alma
- Victor Alc - Sudamérica
- Victor Alc - Boreal
- Victor Alc, Murilo Tronco - Forma De Querer
- Kawz, Mehen - I Feel It [Tortuga]
- Sparrow & Barbossa, PJ Sin Suela - Si Te Vas (Original Mix)
- Coolio - Gangsta Paradise (Moojo Edit)
- Carlita, Mojoo - Havana
- Outkast - Ms. Jackson (Moojo Remix)
- Coco, Joezi, Pape Diouf - 7 Seconds (Moojo Remix)
- Michael Jackson - Billy Late Jean ( Moojo Edit )
- Moojo - Lisboa
- Moojo, Demeya - Hot N fun
- Moojo - Atitude
- Moojo ft Gabsy - Ze Roberto
- Moojo - I Whant Your Soul
- Moojo - GTA
- Moojo - Meditation
- Moojo, Carlita ft. Gabsy - Macaron
- Moojo - Giant Ft. Awen
- Cairo - Here We Are (Moojo Remix)
- Moojo - Oui
- Hall & Oats - Maneater (Moojo Edit)
- Rihana - Stay (Moojo Remix)
- Moojo ft Starving yet Full - Limitless Vocal Version
- Moojo,Da Capo - What U Desaire (Vocal Mix)
- Post Malone - I Fall Apart (Moojo Remix)
- Drake - A KEEPER (Moojo Remix)
- &friends, Joseph (CH) - Jackie Brown
- &friends, Lily’s Mandre - Blending Love
- Akon - Smack That (&Friends Edit)
- Jack Ü Ft. Justin Bieber - Where Are Ü Now (&Friends Remix)
- &Friends - Oya Jo
- Abdel Kader - Monte Rougue
- Love Me Back (Raffa Guido Remix)
- Davido - FEEL (Raffa Guido Remix)
- Raffa Guido - Preguntas
- Valeron, Payment & Klaudia Touch Me (Sam (GR) Children Touch)
- Marten Lou - Better Days
- Mont Rouge - Belsunce
- Vxision - Love Preparetions (Slow Down Edit)
- Classy 101 (Vxision, Maz Remix)
- Empire Of The Sun- Walking On A Dream Vxision Remix)
- Jovem Dionisio - Pontos de Exclamação (VXSION Remix)
- Rui Da Silva - Touch Me (Peace Control Remix)
- Drake - Sticky (Peace Control Remix)
- Look Around You - Ain't Nobody (Alex Wann Edit)
- ROUTE 94, Jesse Glynne - My Love (Alex Wann Remix)
- Craig David - 7 Days (Alex Wann X Sparrow & Barbossa Remix)
- FCLT - Fell It’s You (Alex Wann remix)
- Zhu - Faded (Alex Wann Remix)
- Alright - Red Carpet (Kashovski & Abel Ray Remix)
- Malive, Luiza Gogoia, Morgado - Quintal
- Sérgio Mendes - Mas Que Nada (Ahmed Spins Edit)
- ANOTR, Abel Balder - Vertigo (Carlita Remix)
- Kura - Sentir Saudade (Guapo, Antdot Remix)
- Drake - Finesse (Antdot Remix)
- Key Notez - Your Love Ain't The Same ( Maz Remix )
- Maz - Ndaciii
- Maz, Antdot - Emorio
- Peaty - 6pm In Casablanca
- Peaty - KILOSA (Afro Melodic Mix)
- MoBlack, Benja, Franc Fala - Yamore
- Black Cofee, David Guetta - Drive (Da Capo Remix)
- Empire Of The Sun- Walking On A Dream (Da Capo Remix)
- Michael Jackson - Billy Jean (Da Capo Remix)
- Coco, Joezi, Pape Diouf - 7 Seconds (Da Capo Remix)
- CamelPhat - Home (Samm (BE) & Ajna (BE) Remix)
- Super Flu - Lovesong
- Super Flu - Believe
- Super Flu feat. Malive - Loira
- David Mackay, Dela Sur - Carnaval Breve
- Dj Yellow, Flowers And Sea Creatures - No One Gets Left Behind (BLOND.ISH Beirut Edit)
- The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition (DSF, Chris IDH & Dino MFU Remix)
- Kid Cudi - Day 'n' Nite (Kiko Franco Remix)
- Tyla - Water (Kiko Franco Remix)
- Moo J - Collateral Damage
- RY X - Howling (Legare Remix)
- Marten Lou - Radiohead 40
- Notredame - Frankenstein
- Notredame - Think about
- Jamek Ortega - Voices
- Kimotion, Quentro & Tuna - Yame (Becane Remix)
- Lazare - I Don’t Control
- Downstream - Makèz, Life On Planets (Lazare Remix)
- Bun Xapa - Paris
- Darren - Flauta (dan Edit)
- Sounds Of RItuals, Darmon - Seva (Rolling In The Deep)
- Moderat, Keinemusik - More Love (Kalidon Mykonos Mashup)
- &ME, Time - Not Alone (Dorian Craft Edit)
- Luchii - Vertebrea (SOMMA Remix)
- Roy Rosenfeld & Sébastien Léger - ID {Played by Keinemusik} (16khz)
- Anyma - Pictures Of You (FromParis Remix)
- Shimza & Caiiro - Nyali
- Fatboy Slim - Right Here, Right Now (Soubeiran Remix)
- Kanye West, Ty Dolla ign - Paid (Imad Remix)
- Estelle - American Boy (Betical remix)
- Salif Keita - Madan (Marco Generani Remix)
- Babyboy AV - Confession (ALX YAV Remix)
- Moeaike Ft. Ed Begley- What Is Control
- Hakim - Ah Ya Albi (Ajna & Samm Edit)
- Ajna - Move
- Sparrow & Barbossa - Miracle (Voice Mix)
- Fortress - Diplo ( Rampa Remix )
- Uncle Waffles - Tanzânia (Rampa Remix)
- Toto - Africa (Rampa Edit)
- Together - Janet Jackson (Rampa Remix)
- Zouk Machine - Maldon (Rampa Edit)
- France Gall - Ella, elle l'a (Rampa Remix)
- Busta, Rampa, Black Coffeee - Mamakusa
- Rampa - Cezaralina
- Drake & Rampa - Virgil Forever (Instrumental)
- Go Low L.A.X (Rampa Edit)
- &Me, Rampa - Tong 4 (Original Mix)
- Travis Scott - Butterfly (&Me Remix)
- Feel - ABRA (&ME & Sasha Tigresa Edit)
- Ilanga - Masšh (&Me Edit)
- Lakou Mizik, Joseph Ray - Samba Yo Pan Pale (&Me Remix)
- Da Africa Deep - Humans (&ME edit)
- CUT It Off (&Me)
- Dirty Chanel’s- Slaves (&Me Remix)
- Joris Voorn - Homeland feat. Matthew Dear (&Me Remix) {Jinadu Vocal Edit}
- Simian Mobile Disco - Caught In A Wave (&ME Remix)
- Adam Port, Massi, Ninae - All I Got
- Adam Port, Chris IDH & Adassiya - By Myself
- Keinemusik - Out Of Touch
- Drake - Confusion ( Keinemusik Remix )
- Drake - A Keeper (Keinemusik Remix)
- The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition ( Keinemusik Remix )
- Keinemusik - Salalina ( Darmon Edit)
- Keinemusik - Muye (Enoo Napa Remix)
- Michael Jackson - Thriller (Black Coffee Remix)
- Trikk - Untitled
- Amnesia Scanner - CAT (Dixon & Trikk Rework)
- Eagles & Butterflies - ITALO
- Tal Fussman - North
- Tal Fussaman - Sam Shure - Inferno
- Tal Fussaman - Childrem Of 95 (V3 Instrumental)
- OPUS III - It's A Fine Day (Aera's Finite Edit)
- Amê - Mifune (Dixon Acustic Edit)
- Jimi Jules - Palpitations
- Jimi Jules - Run (FT Remix)
- Schneider TM, Kptmichigan - The Light 3000 (Aera Private Edit)
- AIKON, Sobek - Burning Hats (Dixon Edit)
- Kavinsky - Nightcall (Dixon's Private Edit)
- Maind Against - Love Seeking
- Maind Against - Hydra
- Chis Bake - Ride (Mind Against Remix)
- Mathame - There Is The Light
- Mathame - Brothers
- Ae:ther, Mind Against - Black Museum
- Ae:ther, Marino Canal - White Atlas V2
- Artbat - Dark Knight
- Yet More - Don't Let Go
- Dan Croll - From Nowhere (Âme Remix)
- MGMT - Eletric Feel (Ivory’s Eletric Reshape)
- Amber Run - I Found (Ivory's Re-Found Edit)
- Billie Eilish - Everything I Wanted (Ivory Head Underwater Remix)
- Christopher Cross - Ride Like The Wind (Ivory’s On The Run Edit)
- Ivory (IT), Tal Fussman - Labyrinth
- Ivory - Identity
- Ivory - Lovers Hymn
- Ivory - Mirrors
- Ivory - Eye Blink
- Ivory - Jewel
- Ivory - Acid Rain
- Ivory - Conquest Of Space
- Ivory - Upon A Time
- Fideles - Lost In Town
- Hard To Tell - No Matter
- Hard To Tell - Stranger
- Aera - Pullunder
- Aera - Puzzle Emotivo
- Echonomist - Overseas
- Echonomist - Ikaros
- Echonomist - Lullaby
- Lil Yachty - I've officially lost vision (Tim Engelhardt Edit)
- Kevin di Serna - Amapola (Toto Chiavetta Remix)
- Adam Ten - Kepler
- Adam Ten - Deep Love
- Adam Ten - Carovana
- Adam Tem -3 Days (16khz)
- Quentin Harris - Warning (Adam Ten & Mita Gami Re-Edit)
- Classix - All By My Self (Mita Gami Edit)
- Moby - In This World (Mita Gami Edit)
- Mita Gami - Danger
- Pink Floyd - Confortably Numb (Mita Gami Sunrise Edit)
- Solique - Heat Of The Moment
- Solique - Mood In The Jungle
- Ego Maria - T Mapper Native
- Ego Maria, Toto Chiavetta - Cells Under Attack
- Colle - Thoughts (Original Mix)
- Colle - Something to Believe (Original Mix)
- Santiago Garcia - You In The Sky (Original M
- Toto Chiavetta - Acqua (Original Mix)
- Jenia Tarsol & Jinga - Takadoom (Argy Edit)
- RÜFÜS DU SOL - New Sky (Colyn Sunrise Remix)
- Skepta - Bullet from a Gun (Colyn Private Edit)
- London Grammar - Hey Now (Fox Omar Remix)
- Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence (Will Clark Remix)
- London Grammar - Hey Now (Cristoph Private Mix)
- Opus III- Fine Night (Cristoph's Private Edit)
- Nelly Furtado - Say it Right (Adana Twins Remix)
- RY X & Frank Wiedemann - Howling (Tinlicker Prague Edit)
- The XX - Fiction (Eagles & Butterflies Remix)
- Massive Attack - Teardrop (Antony Toga Remix)
- Cassius - The Sound Of Violence (Antony Toga Background DiscoVox Version)
- Sting - Desert Rose (SOEL Remix)
- Starsailor - Four to the floor (Mångata Projekt Rework)
- Sin Cos Tan - Destroyer (Adriatique Remix)
- Anna Caragnano - Parola (Erly Tepshi Edit)
- Yotam Avni - Island Hopper (Franky & Sandrino Remix)
- Rebuke - Along Came Polly (Konstantin Sibold, Zac, Carmee Remix)
- Armin Van Buuren - Yet Another Day (8Kays Remix)
- The Beatles - Because (Bedouin Edit)
- Pablo Fierro - Kababo (Unreleased Version)
2024.05.29 00:35 defaultgameer1 Another week, another milestone!
Hello Chroniclers!
Doesn't sound to bad does it?
Well like it says on the tin, it's another week, and another milestone hit for our little slice of the Imperium! We now have 7.1k new members of the Administratum and you have all been hard at work chronicling the adventures, romances, memes and seriously dark future of our Femarchs!
Only real thing to add, it's free range on the Mechnicus and Xenos stories her in the AU. I mean if GW isn't going to give the people anything worth writing home about, we might as well right?
Also link to a post from our mod u/TheDarvel with a link to the discord, for those who would like to join! We are growing there too, with 900 + members as of this post.
https://www.reddit.com/PrimarchGFs/comments/1d2s6xnew_link_to_the_discord/
I have been enjoying reading everyone's work so far, and am looking forward to reading more and more!
submitted by defaultgameer1 to PrimarchGFs [link] [comments]
Doesn't sound to bad does it?
Well like it says on the tin, it's another week, and another milestone hit for our little slice of the Imperium! We now have 7.1k new members of the Administratum and you have all been hard at work chronicling the adventures, romances, memes and seriously dark future of our Femarchs!
Only real thing to add, it's free range on the Mechnicus and Xenos stories her in the AU. I mean if GW isn't going to give the people anything worth writing home about, we might as well right?
Also link to a post from our mod u/TheDarvel with a link to the discord, for those who would like to join! We are growing there too, with 900 + members as of this post.
https://www.reddit.com/PrimarchGFs/comments/1d2s6xnew_link_to_the_discord/
I have been enjoying reading everyone's work so far, and am looking forward to reading more and more!
2024.05.29 00:32 _Arky If a cis woman's voice sounds deep but still sounds clearly female, does that mean her larynx is deep or that her vocal cords are short and thin?
I've been wondering this recently and could not find a definite answer on google so im asking here in hopes someone knows the answer, from what i understand, the two things that determine our voice is how deep our larynx is, and how long and how thick our vocal cords are, so im wondering, for cis women who are born with a deep voice, are they born with short vocal cords but a longer larynx, or vice versa to sound deep but still sound female?
submitted by _Arky to transvoice [link] [comments]
2024.05.29 00:32 CantStopWlnning The wutang album having code relating to GME may be the biggest nothing burger, the biggest grift, or the biggest piece of hype in the whole saga
TL;DR: yep, there are mentions of GME, Gamestop Class A shares, using Plaid to authenticate with brokerage accounts to verify that GME shares are held, and it's all to do with the WuTang album. BUT be very very careful where you put your phone number and who you allow to connect to your brokerage.
The WuTang tinfoil has always been one of my favorites. It's not only just really funny, but I've been a WuTang fan for at least a decade and getting anything relating to their giga-secret, DOJ, pharmabro, pleasrWhatever album just tickles me. I want to believe. I, like you, probably saw a few posts floating around about thealbum.com having mentions of GME and class A ordinary Gamestop shares yadda yadda. I figured I would dive deeper to see if there's anything my software engineer eyes could find that may be useful.
Yes, there really is a bunch of code relating to Gamestop, GME, even the Gamestop wallet. This is so-called "minified" code, meaning that most of the code has been replaced with a single letter to make the size of the code itself smaller, and also to obfuscate it a bit. Instead of things in the original code like getSecurities, this and any reference to it may just be replaced with a. This makes it hard to know exactly what's going on with the code itself, but things that aren't code like just simple strings of text can't be minified, so those still come through. We can read the code around these strings to get a bit of an idea what may be going on, but otherwise the code will mostly be nonsense. How to see for yourself:
YOU ARE ON THE LIST FOR REAL NOW.
Seemingly, nothing else changes. You're just "on the list", but for real...? This is where things get sketchy, or maybe just disappointing. Below again is my own speculation, along with some educated guesses.
I've looked at this and two other files, to briefly share what I found there:
They may use Plaid to see if you have shares of GME, then laugh at you getting all hyped up about it. PleasrDAO has never been clear or really all that forthcoming with any information. They've strung us along a few different times and all we can really do is forget about it. I don't have any problem with PleasrDAO necessarily, we're smoking our own crayons out of tinfoil pipes and taking it out on them when they don't confirm everything we say. I mostly don't really have an opinion of them.
I don't know who even owns this website. Pleasr does have the URL in their twitter bio, and I imagine that they would put out some kind of cease and desist if they didn't own it, but idk wtf this website really is, so I remain skeptical. Given what we've found on it though, I imagine that Gamestop would also put out a cease and desist if they had all of this in the code of their website and it actually had nothing to do with GME. To me it's very serious to make claims about someone's held securities, if it were actually a nothing burger or malicious, I don't think that Gamestop's legal/PR team would let that shit fly. But what do I know.
But now the hype... This is kind of fucking awesome. There's a disclaimer on the website: "In ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONTRACT SET FORTH BY THE WU-TANG CLAN, THE ALBUM WILL BE RELEASED ON OCTOBER 8, 2103." 79 years from now or so... But, do we get rights to some portion of the album? Perhaps every 7 shares gets 1 dividend representing partial ownership of the album? That sounds really valuable to me. Also inherently non-fungible, but why not wrap it up in a non-fungible token (NFTs for the regards out there) and just double down on that. If you're short my stock, just try to counterfeit the NFT and the portion of the ultra-secret WuTang album that it represents and pay that out to me. They've been playing musical shares, and the music would stop. You may not even necessarily be able to do anything with that NFT for the next 80 years, but why not hold on to it?
Anyway that's enough for me, I'll edit and add more below if I come across anything noteworthy but this is the full rundown of what I've seen so far.
submitted by CantStopWlnning to Superstonk [link] [comments]
Yes, there really is a bunch of code relating to Gamestop, GME, even the Gamestop wallet. This is so-called "minified" code, meaning that most of the code has been replaced with a single letter to make the size of the code itself smaller, and also to obfuscate it a bit. Instead of things in the original code like getSecurities, this and any reference to it may just be replaced with a. This makes it hard to know exactly what's going on with the code itself, but things that aren't code like just simple strings of text can't be minified, so those still come through. We can read the code around these strings to get a bit of an idea what may be going on, but otherwise the code will mostly be nonsense. How to see for yourself:
- Go to thealbum.com (I'm not going to hyperlink to it because I don't know what the rules around that are)
- Inspect the page - ctrl+shift+i or right click and click "inspect element"
- Go to the Sources tab, expand the following: thealbum.com, _next/static, chunks, app and finally click on the JavaScript file starting with 652-9d73... This is a chunk of the bundle which makes up the website overall. What exactly that means isn't necessarily important, but this is just part of the code that makes the website and interacts with the server of whoever owns this website (see below for what I mean by "whoever owns it")
- The file isn't that long and you can basically ignore all of the code, so just read anything that stands out to you. You can ctrl+f for whatever you want as well, like GME or Gamestop etc.
- You "Enter The Chamber", ie give your phone number on this website 🚨🚨THIS SHOULD BE A RED FLAG. I DO NOT RECOMMEND DOING THIS, IT'S JUST WHAT'S THERE. WAIT FOR INFORMATION FROM GAMESTOP ITSELF BEFORE FUCKING WITH THIS WEBSITE 🚨🚨
- The website tells you that you're on the "list" and you will be contacted in 80 years or so
- Pure speculation starts here. At some point in the future, they'll open up some way to authenticate with Plaid so you can connect presumably a brokerage account or bank account etc.
- Plaid loads up the information for the connected account. This gives them the ability to check the connected account using Plaid's API (/api/plaid/holdings endpoint in the code, I assume that this returns holdings for the account).
- Then, it looks through all of the holdings, looking for a ticker symbol which matches "GME". Specifically GME, nothing else.
- Once it sees that you have GME holdings, it adds some text:
YOU ARE ON THE LIST FOR REAL NOW.
Seemingly, nothing else changes. You're just "on the list", but for real...? This is where things get sketchy, or maybe just disappointing. Below again is my own speculation, along with some educated guesses.
I've looked at this and two other files, to briefly share what I found there:
- File starting 2e10a2... has mentions of using a website called "walletconnect", I assume this is some API for connecting to ethereum wallets
- File starting 3ab959... has mentions of basically every browser extension ethereum wallet I can think of, including the Gamestop wallet
They may use Plaid to see if you have shares of GME, then laugh at you getting all hyped up about it. PleasrDAO has never been clear or really all that forthcoming with any information. They've strung us along a few different times and all we can really do is forget about it. I don't have any problem with PleasrDAO necessarily, we're smoking our own crayons out of tinfoil pipes and taking it out on them when they don't confirm everything we say. I mostly don't really have an opinion of them.
I don't know who even owns this website. Pleasr does have the URL in their twitter bio, and I imagine that they would put out some kind of cease and desist if they didn't own it, but idk wtf this website really is, so I remain skeptical. Given what we've found on it though, I imagine that Gamestop would also put out a cease and desist if they had all of this in the code of their website and it actually had nothing to do with GME. To me it's very serious to make claims about someone's held securities, if it were actually a nothing burger or malicious, I don't think that Gamestop's legal/PR team would let that shit fly. But what do I know.
But now the hype... This is kind of fucking awesome. There's a disclaimer on the website: "In ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONTRACT SET FORTH BY THE WU-TANG CLAN, THE ALBUM WILL BE RELEASED ON OCTOBER 8, 2103." 79 years from now or so... But, do we get rights to some portion of the album? Perhaps every 7 shares gets 1 dividend representing partial ownership of the album? That sounds really valuable to me. Also inherently non-fungible, but why not wrap it up in a non-fungible token (NFTs for the regards out there) and just double down on that. If you're short my stock, just try to counterfeit the NFT and the portion of the ultra-secret WuTang album that it represents and pay that out to me. They've been playing musical shares, and the music would stop. You may not even necessarily be able to do anything with that NFT for the next 80 years, but why not hold on to it?
Anyway that's enough for me, I'll edit and add more below if I come across anything noteworthy but this is the full rundown of what I've seen so far.
2024.05.29 00:32 DukeOfDerpington Duality of Prey-Chapter 12
Huge shout out to u/ryguy637 & u/-Eterox for helping with Brainstorming and Co-Writing this.
As always, all credits for the original Nature of Predators and it's content goes to Space Paladin15, thank him for allowing artist and writers to use his original work of art for their own uses.
Gaian Ref Sheet-Here, Done by the artist u/Roddcherry
As well as a *Huge* thank you for Julian Sky's for filling in for being an editor again for this chapter! This chapter will be pulling away from the subject memory transcription, instead exploring one of the new regions within the Venian Commonwealth. The "Dark Corner"
[FIRST] [PREV] [NEXT]
"This program is a special update to the Thafki Advocacy’s situation on their new home world, Ayzife. Originally we here at WTWN had done a piece a couple of years back towards the last days of the War, and now we wanted to send one of our reporters to find out- has anything changed? With that, we'll let Rux Limpbut take it away for this one. And please do be aware, user discretion is advised.”
The date of my arrival to Ayzife, the new Thafki homeworld, had arrived. It was a part formally called by our government the “New Re-Seeding Sector”, but It had gained a painful nickname as quickly as it was given its government one. “The Dark Corner”.
A group of Thafki, listless and confused, is shown, as a small group of Gaians seem to herd them back into a recently finished project. A Gaian man is showing us around, telling us of the hardships, his face has been blurred for their safety.
“What am I to do?” The thick Mountaineer accent rang out from the man’s scarred face. He was one of the first officers that had come across the cattle ranches and the true extent of the horror that laid within them. “The adults can't speak, they can't learn. The children are really the only hope…” his accented voice trails off as he checked within some of the residences, some of the seemingly adult Thafki, stunted and confused, are being hand fed. They do not respond to any orders, at least not to ones in any other language except that of the prey killers, or that of our Horned and able bodied Sister species.
The children are crowded around their parents, speaking in a mix of Thafki and a Piggish- like squealing imitation of Arxur. One approaches me and the cameraman, asking us a question.
“Savageness?” They eek out. Compared to the parents, the children seem blissfully unaware to what they or what their loved ones went through, their eyes shining brightly, even if they're glazed over in a mountain of unrealized horror. Our guide calls over a shabbily dressed Thafki, in an overly large uniform. Hand-me-downs from our sister species. It has been hemmed to solgalik and back, but it was still painfully apparent that it barely fit comfortably.
The Thafki, as I was to learn later, “Guzifi” or police, takes the child away and back into the building we peered into. Our cameraman zooms into the back of their necks, a painfully visible barcode and scratched in number can be seen. I stand aghast, before our guide comes back to us, his eyes sullen and shrunken into his head, hammered with fatigue.
“As I was saying…*most* of them can't do anything. But the ones like Curzix there-” he gestures to the man, who is now knelt down, stroking the child's hair, a faint giggle echoing in the sparse abode “-He escaped early into his stint, it hardened him. He was one of the first to sign up once we finished the terraforming process at the beginning of this year.”
We are hurried on, “Curzix” soon rejoins us as we continue to inspect and report. Only months ago this entire section we were in was a barren wasteland, only recently finished terraforming. Now? It's crammed with tightly knit buildings, services, and other amenities. But it's not enough. “Reservists” from our Sister species, as they called them, are the majority of people dealing with the Thafki here, only a handful of Guzifi are to be seen amongst the crowds and herd of broken.
Soon we find ourselves in a “rehabilitation” facility, so to speak, the local baker is the first to greet us, head to toe in traditional thafkian garb, and a small basket of baked goods they had made earlier this morning. She gestures for us to take some, which me and the cameraman do.
“And this-” the Provincial-Governor who had been tailing with us begins, before the Thafki finishes for him
“I'm Zaifi.” She sticks her hand out, and I do the same in kind. I quickly noted that she seemed to be the only light in this icker of dark, bitter sadness that assuaged us. She turns around and begins to wander through the halls as we begin to trail behind her, questions outpouring.
“Are you one of the Free Thafkis that came here?” I ask, she nods in response while clearing her throat..
“Yes. I might be one of the few to even go so far as to say my life's been better since I came here.” She responds. I nod along, taking her words in as I take a bite of the customary “Cionn” bread.
It's one of the signs of the Thafki Advocacy's-now Thafki Republic-Efforts to Re-Seeding their culture and themselves. I'm later told it's an offshoot of a more savory dinner bread, softer and less sweet called Uniffin'Dath, although I'm also told that that type of bread is used in conjunction with Striou (not Strayu) soup.
While I do so, however, I take glances behind me and to the sides of me. Behind me, the Gaian Sector-Governor, Halim and the Thafki Republic’s first Councilor, Ralikenn are having a heated discussion. Something our camera notices as he increases the sensitivity on the recording equipment.
“...I can't believe you all….a junta that…” are the words picked up from Ralikenn, as Halim begins to frown heavily, and begins to speak back.
“... Can't you… supplies arrived…” The discussion continues as Zaifi grabs my attention, the cameraman I'm with peering into the doors we pass by.
The camera pans to Thafki children, in various states of appearance, are sat down in school desks. At the front of their rooms either a Gaian or Thafki teacher can be seen, teaching anything from their language, their dress code, etiquette and more. Soon the camera pans back to Rux and Zaifi.
“So while I serve the food here, I also try and show them the history of us and our resilient culture through it. The background of it, how it came to be and how it weaves with us.” Zaifi continues as we walk down the hallway, she veers off into one of the rooms, and hesitantly I follow.
The inside was quite well worn for how new the building was, already indentations, marks, and other scratches and scuffs could be seen. Signs of hard work and labor, something that is unsurprising considering Zaifi and her duties. As she begins to work, it's time for me to ask her about her thoughts on the situation.
“Compared to the last couple of decades, where do you think your species is at now? I mean, a lot has changed. From being a species with the large portion of your population being cattle to now having a government and world handed to you, it's got to be a bit jarring?”
Zaifi nods, the trademark pearls on a brooch around her neck click and clack gently together, the synthetic pearls a sign of what the Advocacy group had been able to hold on to throughout the centuries.
“Well-” she starts off, as she begins to knead a greenish-blue dough on the distinctly brown work surface, the faint smell of Saltwine being smelt from where I was standing. “I wish we got a welcome, as good as the Paltans and the Gaians gave us. I mean, they split half and half on things here and there around the village!”
The camera pans around the room, bits and baubles of Zaifi’s own life being dotted around it. A bottle or two of sea wine, a basket of synthetic pearls, hints of oceanic theming bedazzle the room.
Zaifi begins to portion out the Bread-a serving of Cionn. A serving of the more savory Uniffin'Dath. Both are seasoned with a spice that is only rarely mentioned in some cookbooks, “Izuzdath.” The process is lively, a stark contrast to last year's report at a holding world as they finished terraforming here.
If you were to have told me that a Thafki would be smiling while knee deep in this grime that is misery, I would've called you a liar. But apparently…
“So how long have you been around here? Or rather should I say, with the herd?” I ask. It causes Zaifi to stop and look at the basket of pearls. Each of them are inscribed with a loved or close one that died, and the date on which they did so. Many of them aren't her relatives, rather they are the few Thafki she has bonded with while staying here.
“Physically? Only…a year or two. But mentally-” The dull sound of the bread being put upon a pre-oiled stone, an smoothed coral stone no less, echoed softly while the grinding of such a stone sliding into one of the waiting ovens as it did so was a stark contrast. The clasp of the oven door closing caused her to turn back to us. She sighs as she pats down her apron.
“Centuries. I guess we grew accustomed to being the odd ones out. Now that my herd- my people, have a place to call their own…” She is sullen for a moment, before her eyes meet the window, overlooking a courtyard. The smile reappears just as quickly as it disappeared.
“Ya know. I'll take this for now, the funniest thing ya know-” she gestures to me to come over and look. The courtyard has a simple watery filled pit. A “pool” as our sister species had dubbed it, seemed to be the eye and star of this little facility, at least for the attendee's. A whole gaggle of Thafki children, in a wardrobe of mismatched, shabby clothing suited for the water could be seen as they ran about it. What I could only assume was their teacher watched over them.
“Your saplings are quite the good match. Even they seem to want to bring the water to themselves sometimes.” She says to herself now in a far more reassured tone. As I begin to smile myself, just a little, a tap is felt on my shoulder. It's Curzix, the Guzifi that has been assigned to us.
The camera now zooms out from the pool and the other recreational activities happening in the center of the U-shaped facility, and turns around quickly, now focusing on Rux and Curzix.
“We'll we're ready to go when you are, you all wanted to get the full experience yeah?” Curzix stuffs his paws into the oversized and hemmed coats pockets, the armband with the symbol of Guzifi. He meanders off as we begin to follow him, I say my goodbyes to Zaifi, and she returns them in kind as we are led back out of the hallway.
We start off now checking the facility in depth, taken into one classroom in particular. It is here that our cameraman points out something peculiar. The extreme range of coloring in the Thafki children here. Looking past numerous ranch markings, numbering, and a word inscribed on the arm of each in the Ruinous Lizards language, the Thafki children are striking.
The camera makes cuts to each of the Thafki children in the room. The variety of blues is numerous. Some are in a vibrant luscious blue, other ones have a dull, greyer one. And yet these are the least eye-catching ones. Some have sporadic spots. Some have a sickly greenish blue hue. And yet some are completely devoid of their regular blue, replaced with a dull brown. The camera now returns to overlooking the entirety of the room from the doorway.
As I entered the room the teacher, who had requested that their face be blurred, comes to me and shakes my hand. They gesture to the Thafki pupils, who are in varied state of affairs. Some of them are paying attention, while others are far more focused on their desks or some portion of the wall.
“You came in at a good time, we're trying to teach them Thafki. It's been a bit of a struggle, but we've been making some slow and small progress.” the teacher comes alongside one of the brightly colored pupils, resting their hand gently on their shoulder. The child flinches for a bit, expecting something as they tense up, before they relax.
“Are they a handful?” I ask to the teacher as they themselves point onto a piece of paper in front of the pup, pointing something out
“From time to time. But whenever the horned fellows come along they calm down quite a bit.” the Thafki’s eyes dart occasionally from the paper on the desk to the doorway behind us, looking back shows the Sector-Governor that has been with us this entire time.
The last time we had visited a rehabilitation center-albeit it was just after the war had wrapped up-the facility was in a far more ramshackle situation compared to now, but while the situation is improving, there's still more to do.
With our little visit to the center done our entourage made our way outside. As we did so a rumbler, an armored vehicle used by our other half, came rolling by. A gaggle of Thafki on it, a Gaian within the group giving us a glance as they went by.
It's here where the uncomfortable nature and scandalous portion of the Re-Seeding comes in. The Laborer gangs, seen as a solution to perceived laziness on Ayzife from some of the Ex-Cattle. The concept is basic and rudimentary both in premise and execution, anything simple is offered up to the gangs first, before giving up to the more general labor sections assigned to the planet.
We keep trudging along, the plethora of buildings being assembled or constructed is numerous along the trail we're taking. Along our way, Ralikenn begins to talk about how far they've come in such a short time span. He gestures to the buildings before he begins to speak.
“All of this-” Our cameraman moves and angles his camera to the row of unfinished buildings, in various states of construction. “In just about a year, it's nearly unbelievable to be honest. I had, tearfully, resigned myself to a forgone conclusion to our species. But now?-” They begin to tear up clearly overwhelmed at this point, they attempt to speak but all that happens is their mouth staying agape for mere moments, before closing and just shaking their head.
And yet there's still more to see. More to do and more to make right. I only hope we can do it in time, as a herd.
submitted by DukeOfDerpington to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
As always, all credits for the original Nature of Predators and it's content goes to Space Paladin15, thank him for allowing artist and writers to use his original work of art for their own uses.
Gaian Ref Sheet-Here, Done by the artist u/Roddcherry
As well as a *Huge* thank you for Julian Sky's for filling in for being an editor again for this chapter! This chapter will be pulling away from the subject memory transcription, instead exploring one of the new regions within the Venian Commonwealth. The "Dark Corner"
The date of my arrival to Ayzife, the new Thafki homeworld, had arrived. It was a part formally called by our government the “New Re-Seeding Sector”, but It had gained a painful nickname as quickly as it was given its government one. “The Dark Corner”.
A group of Thafki, listless and confused, is shown, as a small group of Gaians seem to herd them back into a recently finished project. A Gaian man is showing us around, telling us of the hardships, his face has been blurred for their safety.
“What am I to do?” The thick Mountaineer accent rang out from the man’s scarred face. He was one of the first officers that had come across the cattle ranches and the true extent of the horror that laid within them. “The adults can't speak, they can't learn. The children are really the only hope…” his accented voice trails off as he checked within some of the residences, some of the seemingly adult Thafki, stunted and confused, are being hand fed. They do not respond to any orders, at least not to ones in any other language except that of the prey killers, or that of our Horned and able bodied Sister species.
The children are crowded around their parents, speaking in a mix of Thafki and a Piggish- like squealing imitation of Arxur. One approaches me and the cameraman, asking us a question.
“Savageness?” They eek out. Compared to the parents, the children seem blissfully unaware to what they or what their loved ones went through, their eyes shining brightly, even if they're glazed over in a mountain of unrealized horror. Our guide calls over a shabbily dressed Thafki, in an overly large uniform. Hand-me-downs from our sister species. It has been hemmed to solgalik and back, but it was still painfully apparent that it barely fit comfortably.
The Thafki, as I was to learn later, “Guzifi” or police, takes the child away and back into the building we peered into. Our cameraman zooms into the back of their necks, a painfully visible barcode and scratched in number can be seen. I stand aghast, before our guide comes back to us, his eyes sullen and shrunken into his head, hammered with fatigue.
“As I was saying…*most* of them can't do anything. But the ones like Curzix there-” he gestures to the man, who is now knelt down, stroking the child's hair, a faint giggle echoing in the sparse abode “-He escaped early into his stint, it hardened him. He was one of the first to sign up once we finished the terraforming process at the beginning of this year.”
We are hurried on, “Curzix” soon rejoins us as we continue to inspect and report. Only months ago this entire section we were in was a barren wasteland, only recently finished terraforming. Now? It's crammed with tightly knit buildings, services, and other amenities. But it's not enough. “Reservists” from our Sister species, as they called them, are the majority of people dealing with the Thafki here, only a handful of Guzifi are to be seen amongst the crowds and herd of broken.
Soon we find ourselves in a “rehabilitation” facility, so to speak, the local baker is the first to greet us, head to toe in traditional thafkian garb, and a small basket of baked goods they had made earlier this morning. She gestures for us to take some, which me and the cameraman do.
“And this-” the Provincial-Governor who had been tailing with us begins, before the Thafki finishes for him
“I'm Zaifi.” She sticks her hand out, and I do the same in kind. I quickly noted that she seemed to be the only light in this icker of dark, bitter sadness that assuaged us. She turns around and begins to wander through the halls as we begin to trail behind her, questions outpouring.
“Are you one of the Free Thafkis that came here?” I ask, she nods in response while clearing her throat..
“Yes. I might be one of the few to even go so far as to say my life's been better since I came here.” She responds. I nod along, taking her words in as I take a bite of the customary “Cionn” bread.
It's one of the signs of the Thafki Advocacy's-now Thafki Republic-Efforts to Re-Seeding their culture and themselves. I'm later told it's an offshoot of a more savory dinner bread, softer and less sweet called Uniffin'Dath, although I'm also told that that type of bread is used in conjunction with Striou (not Strayu) soup.
While I do so, however, I take glances behind me and to the sides of me. Behind me, the Gaian Sector-Governor, Halim and the Thafki Republic’s first Councilor, Ralikenn are having a heated discussion. Something our camera notices as he increases the sensitivity on the recording equipment.
“...I can't believe you all….a junta that…” are the words picked up from Ralikenn, as Halim begins to frown heavily, and begins to speak back.
“... Can't you… supplies arrived…” The discussion continues as Zaifi grabs my attention, the cameraman I'm with peering into the doors we pass by.
The camera pans to Thafki children, in various states of appearance, are sat down in school desks. At the front of their rooms either a Gaian or Thafki teacher can be seen, teaching anything from their language, their dress code, etiquette and more. Soon the camera pans back to Rux and Zaifi.
“So while I serve the food here, I also try and show them the history of us and our resilient culture through it. The background of it, how it came to be and how it weaves with us.” Zaifi continues as we walk down the hallway, she veers off into one of the rooms, and hesitantly I follow.
The inside was quite well worn for how new the building was, already indentations, marks, and other scratches and scuffs could be seen. Signs of hard work and labor, something that is unsurprising considering Zaifi and her duties. As she begins to work, it's time for me to ask her about her thoughts on the situation.
“Compared to the last couple of decades, where do you think your species is at now? I mean, a lot has changed. From being a species with the large portion of your population being cattle to now having a government and world handed to you, it's got to be a bit jarring?”
Zaifi nods, the trademark pearls on a brooch around her neck click and clack gently together, the synthetic pearls a sign of what the Advocacy group had been able to hold on to throughout the centuries.
“Well-” she starts off, as she begins to knead a greenish-blue dough on the distinctly brown work surface, the faint smell of Saltwine being smelt from where I was standing. “I wish we got a welcome, as good as the Paltans and the Gaians gave us. I mean, they split half and half on things here and there around the village!”
The camera pans around the room, bits and baubles of Zaifi’s own life being dotted around it. A bottle or two of sea wine, a basket of synthetic pearls, hints of oceanic theming bedazzle the room.
Zaifi begins to portion out the Bread-a serving of Cionn. A serving of the more savory Uniffin'Dath. Both are seasoned with a spice that is only rarely mentioned in some cookbooks, “Izuzdath.” The process is lively, a stark contrast to last year's report at a holding world as they finished terraforming here.
If you were to have told me that a Thafki would be smiling while knee deep in this grime that is misery, I would've called you a liar. But apparently…
“So how long have you been around here? Or rather should I say, with the herd?” I ask. It causes Zaifi to stop and look at the basket of pearls. Each of them are inscribed with a loved or close one that died, and the date on which they did so. Many of them aren't her relatives, rather they are the few Thafki she has bonded with while staying here.
“Physically? Only…a year or two. But mentally-” The dull sound of the bread being put upon a pre-oiled stone, an smoothed coral stone no less, echoed softly while the grinding of such a stone sliding into one of the waiting ovens as it did so was a stark contrast. The clasp of the oven door closing caused her to turn back to us. She sighs as she pats down her apron.
“Centuries. I guess we grew accustomed to being the odd ones out. Now that my herd- my people, have a place to call their own…” She is sullen for a moment, before her eyes meet the window, overlooking a courtyard. The smile reappears just as quickly as it disappeared.
“Ya know. I'll take this for now, the funniest thing ya know-” she gestures to me to come over and look. The courtyard has a simple watery filled pit. A “pool” as our sister species had dubbed it, seemed to be the eye and star of this little facility, at least for the attendee's. A whole gaggle of Thafki children, in a wardrobe of mismatched, shabby clothing suited for the water could be seen as they ran about it. What I could only assume was their teacher watched over them.
“Your saplings are quite the good match. Even they seem to want to bring the water to themselves sometimes.” She says to herself now in a far more reassured tone. As I begin to smile myself, just a little, a tap is felt on my shoulder. It's Curzix, the Guzifi that has been assigned to us.
The camera now zooms out from the pool and the other recreational activities happening in the center of the U-shaped facility, and turns around quickly, now focusing on Rux and Curzix.
“We'll we're ready to go when you are, you all wanted to get the full experience yeah?” Curzix stuffs his paws into the oversized and hemmed coats pockets, the armband with the symbol of Guzifi. He meanders off as we begin to follow him, I say my goodbyes to Zaifi, and she returns them in kind as we are led back out of the hallway.
We start off now checking the facility in depth, taken into one classroom in particular. It is here that our cameraman points out something peculiar. The extreme range of coloring in the Thafki children here. Looking past numerous ranch markings, numbering, and a word inscribed on the arm of each in the Ruinous Lizards language, the Thafki children are striking.
The camera makes cuts to each of the Thafki children in the room. The variety of blues is numerous. Some are in a vibrant luscious blue, other ones have a dull, greyer one. And yet these are the least eye-catching ones. Some have sporadic spots. Some have a sickly greenish blue hue. And yet some are completely devoid of their regular blue, replaced with a dull brown. The camera now returns to overlooking the entirety of the room from the doorway.
As I entered the room the teacher, who had requested that their face be blurred, comes to me and shakes my hand. They gesture to the Thafki pupils, who are in varied state of affairs. Some of them are paying attention, while others are far more focused on their desks or some portion of the wall.
“You came in at a good time, we're trying to teach them Thafki. It's been a bit of a struggle, but we've been making some slow and small progress.” the teacher comes alongside one of the brightly colored pupils, resting their hand gently on their shoulder. The child flinches for a bit, expecting something as they tense up, before they relax.
“Are they a handful?” I ask to the teacher as they themselves point onto a piece of paper in front of the pup, pointing something out
“From time to time. But whenever the horned fellows come along they calm down quite a bit.” the Thafki’s eyes dart occasionally from the paper on the desk to the doorway behind us, looking back shows the Sector-Governor that has been with us this entire time.
The last time we had visited a rehabilitation center-albeit it was just after the war had wrapped up-the facility was in a far more ramshackle situation compared to now, but while the situation is improving, there's still more to do.
With our little visit to the center done our entourage made our way outside. As we did so a rumbler, an armored vehicle used by our other half, came rolling by. A gaggle of Thafki on it, a Gaian within the group giving us a glance as they went by.
It's here where the uncomfortable nature and scandalous portion of the Re-Seeding comes in. The Laborer gangs, seen as a solution to perceived laziness on Ayzife from some of the Ex-Cattle. The concept is basic and rudimentary both in premise and execution, anything simple is offered up to the gangs first, before giving up to the more general labor sections assigned to the planet.
We keep trudging along, the plethora of buildings being assembled or constructed is numerous along the trail we're taking. Along our way, Ralikenn begins to talk about how far they've come in such a short time span. He gestures to the buildings before he begins to speak.
“All of this-” Our cameraman moves and angles his camera to the row of unfinished buildings, in various states of construction. “In just about a year, it's nearly unbelievable to be honest. I had, tearfully, resigned myself to a forgone conclusion to our species. But now?-” They begin to tear up clearly overwhelmed at this point, they attempt to speak but all that happens is their mouth staying agape for mere moments, before closing and just shaking their head.
And yet there's still more to see. More to do and more to make right. I only hope we can do it in time, as a herd.
2024.05.29 00:30 Saint-Andros Out of Our Elements A NoP FanFic 20
 | First Previous Next submitted by Saint-Andros to NatureofPredators [link] [comments] --- Set in the universe created by u/SpacePaladin15 MASSIVE THANK YOU, LIKE SERIOUSLY HUGE THANKS to u/weithbec (this chapter would not be nearly as good if not for your help) and additional thanks to u/Liberty-Prime76 for further proofing on top of Weith's monumental efforts As always, some appreciation to u/brotanics, u/LeWombat545, and u/JimDandy117 for the art they have done for this little story of mine. It means the world to me to see my characters brought to life. Links to their work at the bottom of the chapter. --- Memory transcription subject: Tevri, Venlil Romanticist Date [standardized human time]: August 17, 2137 In my hands I held the broken halves of what used to be the makeshift chair that Omo had sat me in. The Krakotl lay motionless on the floor, a large violet gash now visible on the back of his head. There was now a small indentation in the wall, just a few feet away from Jack. The gun Omo had held tumbled to the ground during the scuffle. Smoke still trailed from its barrel, and my sensitive ears rang in the moments following its deafening boom. The broken bits of chair slipped from my hands and clattered to the ground as I fell to the floor. Both hands rose to my mouth as my eyes watered and my ears fell flat against the back of my head. What have I done? There was no chance I was going to just stand there and watch as Jack was executed, but the weight of what I just did was made no lighter by knowing I saved him. This kid very well could have been any of my friends from back on Skalga if not for fate having other plans. Could I even pretend I was still an empathetic person after clubbing a child over the head? They were right, weren’t they? I’ve been a monster this whole time. All it took was the perfect moment for me to snap. “Tevri?” The voice snapped me back to my senses as I turned and saw Jack looking back at me. Shit! I scrambled over, kneeling down beside him. At first I reached out with a paw, but as he winced and hissed while shifting around, I pulled it back. “A-are, you alright?” He asked. “Wha—am I alright?” I bleated out. “You’re the one with a hole in you!” His eyes broke from mine and went back down to his abdomen where crimson blood stained his clothes. Despite the circumstances, he offered a weak laugh. “Ah. Yeah. I am, aren’t I?” “W-we need to call for medical assistance!” “Oh, don’t worry about that. I already called the first responders. They should be here soon. You still didn’t answer my question though. Are you alright?” “I…” Was I? Being knocked unconscious, then being drugged and dragged through the woods to a shack and being held hostage by a former exterminator probably doesn’t constitute “being okay.” “I don’t know.” “Well, do you think you’re alright enough to tie up that kid’s hands behind his back? You got him pretty good but I’d rather not take chances.” I looked over to where Omo lay and saw that he was still motionless. “O-okay, but you may need to guide me.” And guide me he did as I took the binds that once held me and wrapped them around the Krakotl’s arms, pinning them behind his back. I followed Jack’s advice, who did all that he could considering his current state. I took advantage of this moment to distract myself from my thoughts by being busy with my paws, but a distraction only lasts so long, and after a few minutes Omo was properly tied up. I’d occasionally glance towards Jack as he offered instructions, watching as his skin grew more and more pale with every passing moment. Even with the distraction of tying up Omo’s hands, the guilt of knowing there was nothing I could do to help tugged at my heart. After finishing up, I gingerly picked up the firearm and knife that had fallen aside and brought them to him, handing both over. Jack pressed a button on the gun’s side and something slid out of the weapon. He tossed this aside before pulling back the sliding top of it and pulling out a bullet that he also tossed into the dirt. Satisfied, he lay the weapon down beside him. “There,” he said with a sigh. “S-so what now?” “We wait I guess,” he said, looking at me. He tried to slide closer, but as he did, he groaned and pressed a hand to his side, closing his eyes. I let out a quiet whine and my ears fell back against my head, my tail wrapping itself around his leg. “I-it’s going to be alright. I promise.” Despite the obvious pain that wracked his body, a smile touched the corners of his mouth. “You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.” “D-don’t talk like that. Y-you’re going to be fine.” “I think we’re well past that point.” As he said this, he lifted his hand from the spreading stain at his waist and reached out for me. I took his hand in my paw and offered a supportive squeeze. The hand I took hold of was coated in his own blood. It stained my paws as I laced my fingers between his, doing my best to not wretch at the sensation. I don’t think I could say I had ever seen so much blood in my life. The fight to maintain composure was a struggle that I was only just coming out on top of. “J-just stay with me. Okay?” He took a deep breath and squeezed back. “I’m trying my best here. Though I’ve not exactly got a good track record of keeping my word, do I?” “What? What are you talking about?” “C’mon Tev, you don’t gotta mince words just cause I’m dyin’ here. I fucked up bad, and you got hurt.” “It’s okay. W-we can worry about that w-when we’re out of here.” Jack sank further down the wall behind him, slouching and hanging his head. “I dunno. Not so sure they’ll be able to put me back together after this.” “You’re going to be okay. You said it yourself. People are coming to help. We just need to wait a little longer. Just keep on talking to me. You can do that, right?” He gave a slow nod. “I’ll try my best, but it’s hard. Everything’s a little… foggy. Don’t know how much blood I’ve lost. Probably too much though.” Panic gripped my heart. No, no, no! This can’t be happening. Stars above. Please… I can’t lose someone else. Not again. “You have to hold on. I need you.” Jack gave a weak chuckle. “Naw. I don’t think you ever needed me. If anything, you’d be better off without me here to scare you half to death. Hell, if it hadn’t been for me neither of us’d be here in the first place.” The translator was still doing its job, but I could hear his voice had grown weaker. Each word was a struggle. “You made a mistake. Just another to add to the pile. What matters is that you’re sorry. We’ll sort this all out once we know you’re safe, but for now, just focus on staying with me.” Jack’s face twisted, his eyebrows furrowing and his face softening. “H-how? How can you still believe in me? You trusted me to protect you and I failed.” I shook my head. “There aren’t enough seconds in the day to count how many times I’ve failed the people I love.” Gently, I bumped my head up against his shoulder and wrapped my claws around his arm. “But it took me meeting you to realize that we’re more than just our failures.” “I… glad I was able to help.” The strength of his hand held in mine waned, and I squeezed it tighter to make up for the loss. “We’re going to make it through this together. We have to.” “We’ll see.” We continued to wait like this, each minute dragging on for a small eternity. I didn’t want to sap his strength, so I elected to remain silent. In this silence, the distraction from my thoughts melted away, leaving me exposed. I shot a glance to where Omo still lay. His body rose and fell as he breathed, so there was that at least, but otherwise he was out cold. Look at what you’ve done. How would your family feel about this? How would your friends feel? A number of his feathers lay strewn about in a pile around him from the force of the impact. I—I did it to protect him. I had to. There was no other choice! There’s always a choice. I couldn’t just let him die! You may be right, but what does it say that your first thought was resorting to violence? Maybe your parents were right. Maybe something is wrong with you. No. I will not allow myself to regret this. There was no other choice in the heat of the moment. I did what I did, but it’s done now. All that matters is that Jack makes it out to get the help he needs. As I stamped out the fire among my thoughts, Jack broke the silence as he softly spoke up.“So. If we do manage to make it out of here, what happens to us?” I hummed in contemplation. “I don’t know. Do… Do you still think this could work?” “I’ll leave that up to you. Lord knows whether I deserve to have someone like you in my life after the shit I’ve pulled.” My ears fell flat against the back of my head. As much as I may have wanted to deny it, he hurt me. He knew the weakness of my flighty instincts and took advantage of them to scare me off in his anger. Sure, he was sorry, but could sorry even heal these wounds? The safety I felt in his presence was wounded by what he had done. Maybe given time, that wound could heal, but would a relationship like ours even have the chance to do so? Time. Yeah. That’s what we need. “I think we need to give it some time.” Jack grunted. “A shame it doesn’t seem like we’ve got much left. Or rather, doesn’t seem like I’ve got much left. If it wasn’t already obvious, I’m not doing too hot.” “Don’t talk like that,” I pleaded. “I’m sorry it had to go this way,” he muttered. “M-maybe if we’d taken us a bit slower this wouldn’t’ve hurt so much. It was stupid of me. I’ve barely known you all of a week and I’ve fallen head over heels only to throw it all away.” I squeezed his arm tight. “Please,” I mewled. “Even if what we’ve found here doesn’t last past this week, I still want you in my life. Can you hold on just a little longer for me?” Tears began to well up in the man’s eyes as a smile crept across his face. “I’ll try my best. How about for now though, I hold on to you?” He took both arms and held them outward. Considering the stress, the terror, the fear, and the pain that had plagued me today, the opportunity of an embrace was too much to pass up. “I think I’d like that.” I came in closer, and Jack pulled his hand from his abdomen to wrap it around me, pulling me closer. I let go of his other arm, and he repeated the motion with his other hand, pulling me up against his body with both arms in a tight hug as I lay sprawled across his chest. My face settled right beneath Jack’s. His deep blue eyes stared directly into mine as we sat there together. He ran a hand across the back of my head, parsing the wool on my crown. His breath tickled my face, causing a bloom of orange to spread across it. Though perhaps fractured and damaged like both of our bodies right now, the sense of safety I felt before when with him began to grow once more within me. “This is nice,” I whispered. “Yeah…” he leaned in closer to my face, red rushing to his cheeks as he did so. “I uh, I’ve been meaning to do this for a little while now. Figure it’d be best to do it while I still can.” “Wha—” Jack leaned in and interrupted me as his lips met my snout, pressing against my mouth and into it. The warmth of his body against me and his breath mixed with mine, stirring up an intoxicating cocktail of conflicting sensations. I had heard of and even seen humans kissing before, but I always found it odd — until now that is. A display such as this, to join your mouth against someone else's, would have once been deemed outright predatory and discouraged by exterminator guidelines. Then again, I never did care too much for such rules. We both held out for as long as we could until I needed to breathe, then after a quick gasp, I dove back in again. The warmth shared between us was greater than the light of the sun, and so I closed my eyes, allowing myself to bask in its radiance. For this moment, I allowed my worries to melt away as I melted in his arms and we gave ourselves to each other. All good things must come to an end though, and with no small amount of hesitance, I pulled myself away. I breathed heavily through my mouth, catching my breath to chase away what I now realized was a sense of lightheadedness — one which was most likely brought on by said lack of breathing. “Wow, that was… wow.” There was no response, only the quick, shallow rise and fall of his chest as I took note of a gentle buzzing that I hadn’t noticed before. Both ears perked upright of their own volition and turned to face the door of the hovel. I could tell that even Jack had heard it as he shifted where he sat and lifted his head to look outside. “Is that…” As I trailed off, Jack offered an answer, his voice more quiet than the last time he spoke. “Yeah. I think that’s them. Shouldn’t be long before they show up.” The man offered another weak squeeze that made me realize just how cold he’d grown. Most of the warmth shared between us was my own, but there was only so much it could do to help. The hope that sprouted in my heart was just as quickly stamped out the moment he spoke. “I-I’m getting real sleepy here sheep. J-just… just stay safe for me, okay?” “What? No! No, no, no! Hey! Stay with me!” I began to try and rock him back and forth to keep him awake, but he didn’t seem to respond. “They—they’re going to be here soon,” I stammered. “Everything will be alright.” As he closed his eyes, he whispered one last time. “No… everything… is.” The tears flowed freely now as I continued in vain to try and keep him awake. “Jack? Stay with me!” I bumped my head against his, shook his shoulders, pinched his arm, and even resorted to pounding against his chest to try and wake him. “Please, I—I can’t lose someone else. Not like this… not like this…” The sound of the humming had only grown louder during my desperate attempts to bring him back. After nothing I could do stirred him, I curled up against his chest and waited, placing my head beneath his to offer it support rather than allow it to loll forward. With my ears pressed against his chest, I could hear the faint thump-thump of his heartbeat. I didn’t know how fast a human’s heart was supposed to beat, but if that of a Venlil’s was in any way comparable, it was far too slow for comfort. His arms no longer wrapped around me, instead lying limp at his side. My tail twined around his leg, and I hugged my chest with both arms, one eye pressed against his chest while the other was stuck on the door leading outside. The hum had grown to a roar, but soon enough, its growth halted. The thumping in my chest raced as though it were trying to make up for Jack’s own fading heart, or catch up to the constant, rhythmic thrumming. Without warning, the door burst open and I squealed as blinding lights illuminated the room. I raised both paws to cover my face, but the damage was already done. Everything became a blurry haze. The room was filled with shouting that shot back and forth between different voices. They were gruff and gravelly as their growled words played themselves back through my translator. Before my vision properly returned, I heard a voice break through the crowd of others. “Ma’am? Ma’am, are you okay?” A hand grabbed my shoulder and gently shook it. I looked up to a figure in a helmet and mask, but I didn’t have the energy to work up a response. Instead, I shifted gently where I lay. “I need to move you if you’ll let me.” Again, I didn’t budge. Hands scooped me up, with only a slight amount of resistance on my part as I wriggled in an attempt to return to where I lay. I wanted to stay with him, but a human’s strength was something I couldn’t dare hope to surpass — why even bother? The blurriness faded just enough to allow me a view of what I was leaving behind. Human-shaped figures in dark clothing surrounded Jack, leaning over him to readjust his body. I caught mention of “blood loss,” and “shock” before being whisked outside where the voices died down and the source of the humming became apparent. Through the darkness of night, lights illuminated the two helicopters hovering in the air. Their blades cut through the air, blowing the bows of the trees below and sending ripples through the grass. Ropes hung from each helicopter, and from one of them, three more of these similarly dressed humans slid down them to join their compatriots. The human that carried me set me down outside on the ground, where I wrapped both arms around my legs and set my head on my knees. I tried to muster up the energy to do something, anything, but it just wasn’t there. I flinched as two hands grasped my shoulders, but when turning around, I relaxed. A reflective blanket had been wrapped around me by the same human that had carried me out. Their mask and helmet had since been removed to reveal their piercing green eyes, dark skin, and short curly hair. I wasn’t exactly used to such a sight — their sight — I would have practically wilted under them a week ago. They walked around, crouching down to an eye level in front of me. “Are you hurt Ma’am?” If their voice was anything to go by, they seemed to be a woman, though it was difficult to say for sure beneath the bulky layers of armor they wore. I blinked once, then snapped back to focus. “Is he going to be okay?” She shrugged. “I’m not sure.” The answer wasn’t exactly a comforting one, but after giving it, she placed a hand on my shoulders and locked eyes with me. “But I can tell you this. Our paramedics will do everything they can to make sure he will be.” Though it was no guarantee, these words did offer some small amount of comfort. Almost a year ago now, some unlikely friends offered comfort in a similar — if not quite so dire — situation. It was only right that I respond now just as I did then. I threw both arms forward, wrapping them around the neck of this woman in as tight a hug as I was able to offer. “Thank you.” “Oh. Uh… sure. Glad I could help.” She wrapped her arms around me in turn, scrunching up the blanket she had just offered me. He’ll make it. He has to. --- Cover Image Tevri in a sweater - By u/Brotanics Tevri - By u/Brotanics A Depiction of Jack's Dream - By u/LeWombat545 Tevri (Discord Nitro Exchange Commision >:D ) - By u/JimDandy117 Lil' Goob Tevri - By u/JimDandy117 --- First Previous Next |
2024.05.29 00:28 sweetsassybytch69 39/f Looking for Close Friendship
39/f from NC in the U.S. looking for close friends. I’m lonely and could use more companionship. I want someone, who can carry on convos and won’t disappear after only a day or two. Please only message me if you’re serious. Also, I’m physically disabled, and it does affect my appearance. So, the person needs to be okay with that. If you’re a gamer, too, that’s even better. I like platformers, RPGs, action and adventure, simulators, beat ‘em ups, etc. Currently, I own a Nintendo Switch, gaming laptop, and a PS4. Hoping to eventually get a Steam Deck and a PS5. I just want someone to talk to a lot, game with, and potentially watch things together online, etc. As far as what I like to watch, I like comedy, true crime, drama, maybe a little romance, and a little horror. Also, I want to mention that I’d rather the person not be too far away. I don’t really want a big time difference to complicate things (like over 3-4 hour difference). I’m in the eastern time zone. If everything sounds good, send me a DM. Hope to hear from you! 🙂
submitted by sweetsassybytch69 to MakeNewFriendsHere [link] [comments]
2024.05.29 00:26 Obsequium_Minaris Ballistic Coefficient - Chapter 15
First / Previous / Royal Road / Patreon (Read 12 Chapters Ahead)
When the sun had finally fully set, Pale put her plan into motion. She took one last glance out at the checkpoint ahead of them, then turned to Kayla.
"Lie down on the ground and cover your ears."
"What?" Kayla asked. "What does that mean? What are you planning to do?"
"You'll see. Just do it."
Kayla pursed her lips, but didn't argue, instead following Pale's directions to the letter. Once she was situated, Pale turned her attention back to the checkpoint. She'd done some thinking about this, and ultimately decided that the most efficient and least destructive way to get through would be to sacrifice a pod. This was a bit of a problem, as she only had a few pods to begin with, but it was better than using heavy ordinance in order to punch a hole clean through.
"You ready?" Pale asked.
"What?" Kayla said, looking to her in confusion with her hands still clamped over her ears. "What'd you just say?"
Pale took that as her cue to act. She snapped her fingers, and a few seconds later, a flaming piece of metal came hurtling down from the sky, embedding itself directly in the center of the berserkers' checkpoint. From inside, she heard panicked shouts escape from the occupants, as well as a few pained moans; clearly, the impact had incapacitated a few of them.
Then the pod exploded.
The log walls to the checkpoint buckled under the shockwave, rolling across the ground before coming to a rest a short ways away. Through the ringing in her ears, Pale heard the men from inside the fort screaming in terror and agony. Several spells were being launched blindly in the night, their casters unable to hit anything thanks to being disoriented from the blast and blinded from the resulting cloud of smoke and dust.
Pale grabbed Kayla and thrust her to her feet, then charged in towards the camp, shotgun in hand. The smoke had begun to clear just as she got there, revealing the full extent of the destruction. Mutilated bodies lay littered across the field, scattered around a large crater dug deeply into the center of the area. From the looks of things, most of the bandits had been killed outright by either the impact of the pod or the explosion, and the few survivors had been completely deafened by it and were riddled with injuries. Many of them looked like they could barely stand, and several were only being kept alive thanks to that same red magical aura from earlier.
Pale didn't waste any time. She shouldered her weapon, then took aim at the nearest bandit and fired, reducing his head to little more than a fine pink mist. Pumping her shotgun, she transitioned to her next target, putting him down just as easily. Next to her, Kayla opened up with some of her lightning, sending streaks of it arcing through the night and towards the nearest survivor.
That seemed to be too much for the few who were still left. Rather than stand and fight, they turned and tried to run away, sprinting off into the night. Kayla immediately stopped engaging; Pale, meanwhile, took aim and continued to fire until her weapon ran dry, riddling each fleeing man with a shell full of buckshot straight to the back.
And just like that, it was over. A heavy silence fell over the camp, the only noise that interrupted it being the nearby waves lapping at the shore. Pale began to thumb loose shells into her weapon, then motioned for Kayla to follow after her.
"Come on," she urged. "I think I see some boats over on the shoreline."
Kayla tore her gaze away from the carnage around them, looking back to her. Pale half-expected her to say something about how she'd just shot fleeing men, but Kayla stayed silent, instead simply nodding, stone-faced. Together, they made their way over to the shore, and sure enough, there were several boats lined up on the sand.
"Do you know how to work one of these things?" Kayla asked. "I've never been on one before…"
"We'll figure it out," Pale said. "Take that small one, it looks like it has room for three people."
Kayla looked at her, surprised. "Only three? What about the others?"
"If there are any others, they'll have to fend for themselves."
"We can't just leave freed slaves there!"
"And we won't," Pale assured her. "Slavery is a taboo even among my creators, and they made sure to pass their hatred of it on to me as well, but our first priority is getting your father back safely. Once we've done that, we can start going back for others. And as much as a large boat would help us with that right now, it's simply not feasible with just the two of us here to operate it. Understand?"
Reluctantly, Kayla nodded. "...I suppose so. Alright, let's go get him."
–
As it turned out, the northern isles weren't too far from their current location – as dawn broke, Pale realized they were actually visible in the distance through the steady morning mist that had descended upon their boat.
Unfortunately, the boat they'd commandeered was little more than a small sailboat with some oars attached in case the wind was unfavorable, which it had been since they'd first stepped into the water. For the past few hours, her and Kayla had been forced to row, even through the night. Only now, as the sun began to rise, did the wind shift and start to blow from behind them, allowing them both to rest for a time.
It was still going despite that, however. Logic dictated that they ought to have taken turns sleeping or otherwise resting up during this time, but somehow, Pale couldn't bring herself to do it, and neither could Kayla.
"Nervous?" Kayla asked.
Pale shrugged. "Eager, more like. This entire quest has taken the better part of a week, by my estimation. In that time, I have killed several people, nearly been killed myself multiple times, and have apparently been inducted into someone's family, whatever that means. Frankly, I am ready for this to be over so I can resume finding a way back to my home system."
Kayla hesitated for a moment. "About that… what made you think I was able to assist in the first place? I-I mean… not that I'm ungrateful for your help or anything, quite the opposite, but… I'm so… normal. I don't know anything about space travel, and hells, I barely know anything about the world outside my small little village. And yet, you seemed to think I was capable of helping you when we first met. Why was that?"
Pale shrugged. "I ascertained that this was uncharted territory for anyone from my system pretty much the moment I arrived here. From that point on, I knew I was going to need someone who could not only lead me around, but that I could learn the language from and trust to watch my back. Serendipity did the rest."
"Ah… what does that-"
"It means you were in the right place at the right time for both of us," Pale specified. "You need help, I needed help, and now we're helping each other."
"And… you don't regret doing this?"
Pale shook her head. "I have no reason to regret anything so far. This quest has only taken about a week, which is nothing for me in the grand scheme of things. Plus, you have been very reliable so far, particularly in combat. You have kept your cool in a way that suggests some kind of training."
"Oh… um, I'm not really trained." Kayla brought a hand up to rub at the back of her head. "I-I mean… I'm my father's apprentice, of course, but I don't have any kind of combat training. All the offensive spells I know, I only know because he insisted that a young woman like me should know how to defend herself if she's going to be heading off on her own."
That got Pale's attention. She sat up a bit straighter in the boat, focusing on Kayla. "You were planning to go your own way?"
"Mhm," Kayla confirmed with a nod. "There's a very prestigious magic academy down south, I was hoping to take their entrance exam sometime soon, before… well, all this happened. I don't really know what I would do after that – being a fire mage restricts me in a lot of ways; I'd basically be forced into a combat role for something, whether that was as a professional soldier or as a bodyguard or something along those lines – but all I know is I really want to study magic more in-depth. My father is an excellent teacher, but he doesn't have the same resources the Luminarium does."
"There's something I've been wondering," Pale admitted. "No offense, but you're… meek, to say the least. You don't like to fight or hurt people, and yet you use fire magic. Why is that? Did something make you pick it in particular?"
"Pick?" Kayla asked, tilting her head. "I didn't pick my affinity. Very few people can. Really, your affinity is determined when you unlock your sjel – and before you ask, generally speaking, that happens when you come of age, which for most people is around fifteen years old, maybe a bit younger or older depending on who they are. To put it briefly, when your sjel is unlocked, an Archmage – basically a very accomplished caster who has dedicated their life to the study of magic – can serve as a witness, and somehow determine the type of magic you will have an affinity with. Generally, it's not something you choose; the vast majority of people just are naturally more tuned to one type of magic. Nobody knows why, but that's just how it's always been. Occasionally, you get someone who has multiple affinities, but that kind of thing is very rare. Come to think of it, it really only ever happens with the royal families…"
Pale scowled at the implications of that, but said nothing. Instead, she watched as Kayla shook her head.
"Anyway, that was my plan for after we rescue my father," she said. "What about you? How were you hoping to get back to your people?"
"Truthfully, I do not know," Pale replied. "The technology of this world is far too primitive to be of any help to me. I was hoping a magical solution existed somehow, but if not, then I will have to take matters into my own hands, and essentially kickstart my own industrial revolution."
Kayla gave her a panicked expression, but Pale held up a hand, calming her.
"It's different than an actual, violent revolution," she assured Kayla. "Ideally, there would be no bloodshed involved."
"Ideally…? What would you be doing?"
"Using the knowledge gifted to me by my creators to rapidly improve the technology of this world to the point where it would actually be useful to me," Pale specified. "I would go more into detail, but that would likely be premature. All you need to know at this point is that, should no other solution present itself, I will begin pushing the technology of this world forward at an incredibly rapid pace."
"How rapid?"
Pale thought for a moment. "By my estimations? Basic space flight within twenty-five years, off-world colonies and terraforming within forty, faster-than-light travel within fifty."
Kayla began to sputter. "Y-you…! Are you serious?!"
"Deathly so, yes. I know exactly what is needed in order to get there, the problem is obtaining and refining the materials for it all. But give me time, and I can have you all looking at colonizing other planets within four decades." Pale suddenly peered behind Kayla, a deep scowl crossing her face. "But this conversation will have to wait, I'm afraid."
Kayla went deathly white. Slowly, she turned to look behind herself, and began to tremble when she saw land fast approaching.
"We're here," was all Pale had to say.
Special thanks to my good friend and co-writer, Ickbard for the help with writing this story.
submitted by Obsequium_Minaris to HFY [link] [comments]
When the sun had finally fully set, Pale put her plan into motion. She took one last glance out at the checkpoint ahead of them, then turned to Kayla.
"Lie down on the ground and cover your ears."
"What?" Kayla asked. "What does that mean? What are you planning to do?"
"You'll see. Just do it."
Kayla pursed her lips, but didn't argue, instead following Pale's directions to the letter. Once she was situated, Pale turned her attention back to the checkpoint. She'd done some thinking about this, and ultimately decided that the most efficient and least destructive way to get through would be to sacrifice a pod. This was a bit of a problem, as she only had a few pods to begin with, but it was better than using heavy ordinance in order to punch a hole clean through.
"You ready?" Pale asked.
"What?" Kayla said, looking to her in confusion with her hands still clamped over her ears. "What'd you just say?"
Pale took that as her cue to act. She snapped her fingers, and a few seconds later, a flaming piece of metal came hurtling down from the sky, embedding itself directly in the center of the berserkers' checkpoint. From inside, she heard panicked shouts escape from the occupants, as well as a few pained moans; clearly, the impact had incapacitated a few of them.
Then the pod exploded.
The log walls to the checkpoint buckled under the shockwave, rolling across the ground before coming to a rest a short ways away. Through the ringing in her ears, Pale heard the men from inside the fort screaming in terror and agony. Several spells were being launched blindly in the night, their casters unable to hit anything thanks to being disoriented from the blast and blinded from the resulting cloud of smoke and dust.
Pale grabbed Kayla and thrust her to her feet, then charged in towards the camp, shotgun in hand. The smoke had begun to clear just as she got there, revealing the full extent of the destruction. Mutilated bodies lay littered across the field, scattered around a large crater dug deeply into the center of the area. From the looks of things, most of the bandits had been killed outright by either the impact of the pod or the explosion, and the few survivors had been completely deafened by it and were riddled with injuries. Many of them looked like they could barely stand, and several were only being kept alive thanks to that same red magical aura from earlier.
Pale didn't waste any time. She shouldered her weapon, then took aim at the nearest bandit and fired, reducing his head to little more than a fine pink mist. Pumping her shotgun, she transitioned to her next target, putting him down just as easily. Next to her, Kayla opened up with some of her lightning, sending streaks of it arcing through the night and towards the nearest survivor.
That seemed to be too much for the few who were still left. Rather than stand and fight, they turned and tried to run away, sprinting off into the night. Kayla immediately stopped engaging; Pale, meanwhile, took aim and continued to fire until her weapon ran dry, riddling each fleeing man with a shell full of buckshot straight to the back.
And just like that, it was over. A heavy silence fell over the camp, the only noise that interrupted it being the nearby waves lapping at the shore. Pale began to thumb loose shells into her weapon, then motioned for Kayla to follow after her.
"Come on," she urged. "I think I see some boats over on the shoreline."
Kayla tore her gaze away from the carnage around them, looking back to her. Pale half-expected her to say something about how she'd just shot fleeing men, but Kayla stayed silent, instead simply nodding, stone-faced. Together, they made their way over to the shore, and sure enough, there were several boats lined up on the sand.
"Do you know how to work one of these things?" Kayla asked. "I've never been on one before…"
"We'll figure it out," Pale said. "Take that small one, it looks like it has room for three people."
Kayla looked at her, surprised. "Only three? What about the others?"
"If there are any others, they'll have to fend for themselves."
"We can't just leave freed slaves there!"
"And we won't," Pale assured her. "Slavery is a taboo even among my creators, and they made sure to pass their hatred of it on to me as well, but our first priority is getting your father back safely. Once we've done that, we can start going back for others. And as much as a large boat would help us with that right now, it's simply not feasible with just the two of us here to operate it. Understand?"
Reluctantly, Kayla nodded. "...I suppose so. Alright, let's go get him."
–
As it turned out, the northern isles weren't too far from their current location – as dawn broke, Pale realized they were actually visible in the distance through the steady morning mist that had descended upon their boat.
Unfortunately, the boat they'd commandeered was little more than a small sailboat with some oars attached in case the wind was unfavorable, which it had been since they'd first stepped into the water. For the past few hours, her and Kayla had been forced to row, even through the night. Only now, as the sun began to rise, did the wind shift and start to blow from behind them, allowing them both to rest for a time.
It was still going despite that, however. Logic dictated that they ought to have taken turns sleeping or otherwise resting up during this time, but somehow, Pale couldn't bring herself to do it, and neither could Kayla.
"Nervous?" Kayla asked.
Pale shrugged. "Eager, more like. This entire quest has taken the better part of a week, by my estimation. In that time, I have killed several people, nearly been killed myself multiple times, and have apparently been inducted into someone's family, whatever that means. Frankly, I am ready for this to be over so I can resume finding a way back to my home system."
Kayla hesitated for a moment. "About that… what made you think I was able to assist in the first place? I-I mean… not that I'm ungrateful for your help or anything, quite the opposite, but… I'm so… normal. I don't know anything about space travel, and hells, I barely know anything about the world outside my small little village. And yet, you seemed to think I was capable of helping you when we first met. Why was that?"
Pale shrugged. "I ascertained that this was uncharted territory for anyone from my system pretty much the moment I arrived here. From that point on, I knew I was going to need someone who could not only lead me around, but that I could learn the language from and trust to watch my back. Serendipity did the rest."
"Ah… what does that-"
"It means you were in the right place at the right time for both of us," Pale specified. "You need help, I needed help, and now we're helping each other."
"And… you don't regret doing this?"
Pale shook her head. "I have no reason to regret anything so far. This quest has only taken about a week, which is nothing for me in the grand scheme of things. Plus, you have been very reliable so far, particularly in combat. You have kept your cool in a way that suggests some kind of training."
"Oh… um, I'm not really trained." Kayla brought a hand up to rub at the back of her head. "I-I mean… I'm my father's apprentice, of course, but I don't have any kind of combat training. All the offensive spells I know, I only know because he insisted that a young woman like me should know how to defend herself if she's going to be heading off on her own."
That got Pale's attention. She sat up a bit straighter in the boat, focusing on Kayla. "You were planning to go your own way?"
"Mhm," Kayla confirmed with a nod. "There's a very prestigious magic academy down south, I was hoping to take their entrance exam sometime soon, before… well, all this happened. I don't really know what I would do after that – being a fire mage restricts me in a lot of ways; I'd basically be forced into a combat role for something, whether that was as a professional soldier or as a bodyguard or something along those lines – but all I know is I really want to study magic more in-depth. My father is an excellent teacher, but he doesn't have the same resources the Luminarium does."
"There's something I've been wondering," Pale admitted. "No offense, but you're… meek, to say the least. You don't like to fight or hurt people, and yet you use fire magic. Why is that? Did something make you pick it in particular?"
"Pick?" Kayla asked, tilting her head. "I didn't pick my affinity. Very few people can. Really, your affinity is determined when you unlock your sjel – and before you ask, generally speaking, that happens when you come of age, which for most people is around fifteen years old, maybe a bit younger or older depending on who they are. To put it briefly, when your sjel is unlocked, an Archmage – basically a very accomplished caster who has dedicated their life to the study of magic – can serve as a witness, and somehow determine the type of magic you will have an affinity with. Generally, it's not something you choose; the vast majority of people just are naturally more tuned to one type of magic. Nobody knows why, but that's just how it's always been. Occasionally, you get someone who has multiple affinities, but that kind of thing is very rare. Come to think of it, it really only ever happens with the royal families…"
Pale scowled at the implications of that, but said nothing. Instead, she watched as Kayla shook her head.
"Anyway, that was my plan for after we rescue my father," she said. "What about you? How were you hoping to get back to your people?"
"Truthfully, I do not know," Pale replied. "The technology of this world is far too primitive to be of any help to me. I was hoping a magical solution existed somehow, but if not, then I will have to take matters into my own hands, and essentially kickstart my own industrial revolution."
Kayla gave her a panicked expression, but Pale held up a hand, calming her.
"It's different than an actual, violent revolution," she assured Kayla. "Ideally, there would be no bloodshed involved."
"Ideally…? What would you be doing?"
"Using the knowledge gifted to me by my creators to rapidly improve the technology of this world to the point where it would actually be useful to me," Pale specified. "I would go more into detail, but that would likely be premature. All you need to know at this point is that, should no other solution present itself, I will begin pushing the technology of this world forward at an incredibly rapid pace."
"How rapid?"
Pale thought for a moment. "By my estimations? Basic space flight within twenty-five years, off-world colonies and terraforming within forty, faster-than-light travel within fifty."
Kayla began to sputter. "Y-you…! Are you serious?!"
"Deathly so, yes. I know exactly what is needed in order to get there, the problem is obtaining and refining the materials for it all. But give me time, and I can have you all looking at colonizing other planets within four decades." Pale suddenly peered behind Kayla, a deep scowl crossing her face. "But this conversation will have to wait, I'm afraid."
Kayla went deathly white. Slowly, she turned to look behind herself, and began to tremble when she saw land fast approaching.
"We're here," was all Pale had to say.
Special thanks to my good friend and co-writer, Ickbard for the help with writing this story.
2024.05.29 00:26 bHpdz5Ex5dYD2kc7i Air Force interview, tips wanted!
I will be interviewing with my country’s Air Force shortly. I’ve already passed several aptitude tests, so this time I will only be speaking with a pilot and a psychologist about how suitable I am for the program.
My questions for anyone with non U.S. specific experience:
What are some good personality traits to highlight?
What would be considered relevant experience for the military?
Are there any topics I should stay away from?
Any and all advice is appreciated, thanks in advance lads.
submitted by bHpdz5Ex5dYD2kc7i to aviation [link] [comments]
My questions for anyone with non U.S. specific experience:
What are some good personality traits to highlight?
What would be considered relevant experience for the military?
Are there any topics I should stay away from?
Any and all advice is appreciated, thanks in advance lads.
2024.05.29 00:24 Euphoric-Lynx7667 Hey I copy and pasted this same message help
Hey sorry if I’m posting in the wrong place my phone won’t let me choose a space to post it just hoping anyone with advice sees this so to get started I’m 16 make with excrutiating ptsd and dissotiation to the point where it’s at multiple points me into phycosis that thank God I was able to get out of without medical attention I’ve almost overdosed probably 15 times I went to a 3 programs escaped one and was on the run for a month before somehow being able to come home after calling my mom on a stolen phone I’ve been around actual killers for years people who don’t give a single shit about a human life and would end someone just for their convenience and pride I went to juvy before for a month wasn’t bad tbh but due to my perspective then it was horrible I got out thank God and was able to for the most part change my life around slowly quitting the huge list of drugs I was using I’m really big into woodworking now about a year and a half later I can make beautiful things when I put my mind to it which just makes me more mad when I realize how I’m not doing much with it right now and I mean the past couple weeks because I recently pretty much became an alcoholic I grew up in an amazing family my brother is an alcoholic but my sisters all 5 of them are doing great one in the navy and btw I’m Christian to the death Jesus is the only reason I’ve been able to come out of the absolute hell whole of my phycotic drug fueled mind I take adderall 25mg which I’m addicted to severely somehow even though it’s a low dose and btw I’ve taken up to 200mg in a day in my any drug goes days but somehow my broken mind can get basically the same high every day not in a bad way I mean it’s pleasant and helps me to stay sober from everything but porn which holy shit is a whole nother story my addiction with it I need help holy shit I jus zoned tf out but yeah I’m at this point mentally self reliant but I’m rapidly degrading from the alcoholism and porn which I try not to watch but fall into watching it about once every 5 days and I’m so serious I’m pretty sure as in Ive been and am completely convinced is caused by the porn because I have to fight the urge to kill myself every time I give into it reminding myself my family loves me every time but that fight I put up fades each time I give in and I have to drink to battle the suicidal thoughts I have for days after I can’t take it I need help I believe I can do it I’m just stuck right now and need help I know I can do it to the depth of my soul I’m the biggest fighter I’ve seen in my life mentally speaking I’m partially crazy but you’ll never ketch me saying something that sounds crazy but yeah Idek what I’m asking for advice or a second hand summary just please understand if you can imma pose more context if you want message me if u want it I got pages on pages I need help bro I know it doesn’t sound much like urgency if it does thanks for listening but I need help I’ve been screaming silently for years please just tell me something I need to know help me to come back
submitted by Euphoric-Lynx7667 to ChristianMentalHelp [link] [comments]
2024.05.29 00:22 Emotional-Art226 Songs that sound like u r underwater
 | Idk if u have heard it but that tiktok sound where it’s like slay slayyyyy and fades into the song. I think it’s on Spotify as dancin is what to do(sped up) I’ll attach the link. But I’m looking for a song that sounds like the start of that song- the second slay/fade but where it kinda sounds like your head is underwater in the bath. I hope yk what I mean lol submitted by Emotional-Art226 to SongsThatFeelLikeThis [link] [comments] |