It wasn't easy getting my friends to move to Guilded two years ago when I did. They still complain to me about the voice quality regularly and I've defended it at least once every week since. Now I feel like I have egg on my face. I don't even want to do this sign-in process, there's no way I can (or will try to) convince everyone I brought over to do it too. We are young adults, we do not have Roblox accounts and we don't want to have them or even be associated with it. I can't risk my reputation defending a product I no longer believe in. What am I supposed to say to them? "Sign up for this cringey kids game so we can keep using the half-baked service I begged you to use. I know the quality is worse and you have to use a third-party sign-in but at least it's not Discord"? I don't think I even believe that now. My justification for using Guilded over Discord was always that Guilded respected it's users more than Discord and was less restrictive in every aspect but not anymore.
Guilded, please, look at what just happened to Sony when they did this same thing with Helldivers 2 and PSN accounts. It's the same concept and the same customer demographics. It doesn't end well for anyone including you.

Royal Destiny United (MR3+ Moon clan, 900+ members):

We are a large crossplay Warframe clan that leans towards casual and newer players, but veterans are very welcome!

What We Can Offer You

• An active, international clan with mostly PC players and a decorated dojo for you to explore
• We also have 100% completed Research and Labs (including Ignis Wraith!)

The Royal Destiny Discord

• Our joint alliance Discord contains over 4000 members from all over the globe.
• Many channels for both voice chat and text conversations covering all sorts of topics and focuses. Memes, events, squadding, other games.
• Multiple bots for all sorts of purposes, such as music, minigames, assigning roles, creating temporary voice channels, pinging alerts, and much, much more.
• They can also keep you up to date on ingame invasions and alerts

How to Join

Just follow the steps below to apply for an invite to the PC clan.

1. Join our Discord through this link
2. Use the "/apply" command for the bot named Kon, either in a DM with the bot, or in any channel on the server 2b. If you are joining a friend already in the clan, make sure to include their ingame name
3. Wait for someone to DM you after you apply, this can take up to 24 hours

If you are already in a clan we cannot send you any invites, so please leave your old clan when applying.
Note: Before joining, ensure you have messages from server members enabled so the bot can PM you, as well as "Show Embeds"

What is happing with Playstation on PC atm is kinda scary, I have played this game for 10 years, started on PS3 then PS5. Now my main platformm is PC.
Recently, PlayStation; has implemented a policy requiring a PSN; Account; for PC; games. Despite having a PSN Account for 15 years, I am unable to use their games as I am blocked; due to being in a region; where PSN; is not available. Additionally, using a VPN; is not a solution, as a purchase method from the corresponding country is required even if you get your hands on it its against their TOS.
I have put thousands for dollars towards Destiny Franchise.
Really hope Destiny 2 or 3 if it ever happens & Maraton don't follow this practice.
This is just some wild behavior from Sony Higher Ups.

I recently played my first game with the Soulforged Warpack, and decided to do a small write up. My list can be found in the comments.
This is not a battle report, just some things i noticed. Note i was not playing against a meta list, but still against death guard, whom i’ve never beaten.
•Land Raider is a terrifying prospect in this detatchment. I spent my turn 1 CP (i got first turn) to make it a daemon vehicle, and parked it on the center objective. The amount of firepower it took to kill the damn thing was disgusting, and it murked most of my opponents big stuff. (long table edge deployment made it easy to push it into the middle turn 1)
•Invoking your contract is generally worth it. You do have to be careful, but for the most part the benefits far outweigh the costs.
•Vashtorr is good, as a powerful objective monkey, but he is not at all required. Still fun and good rules (although i never got to try his hazardous because my opponent never shot him)
•CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE. This is how this (imo) detatchment wins the game. Castle a bunch of shit in the middle, make it impossible for your opponent to take, and then slowly send things to one of the other NML objectives. On turn 2, I had 2 warpsmiths, a hellbrute, Cypher, a LR, 10 rubrics (inside the LR), and a FF all basking in bonuses and whatnot. Got close? Overwatch with rubrics. Trying to threaten me in long range? Cypher makes the vehicle shoot back. Scary shit.
•Cypher is goated for 90pts and, i think, is a must in this detatchment.
•2 FFs are a good idea, i don’t have a second one (yet, im getting one) but it’s a good idea.
•for the love of the dark gods run 3 warpsmith. for the love of vashtorr give your middle one (the one that’s gonna castle) tempting addendum
•don’t make your rhino a daemon engine, waste of a cp. (i did that)
•you’ll notice in my list i ran a winged daemon prince, either pick vashtorr or a winged daemon prince, don’t do both.
•the big cultists blob is funny but not practical in this specific detatchments Now that same blob in deceptors…
•I didn’t end up using a ton of stratagems, the daemon one is good, so is the +1 ap but the move through walls one isn’t that good if you’re running a more shooty castle list like i have
That’s i! if you have any other questions let me know and i’ll answer them. Other comments and ideas ofc welcome!

So I was roughly following the levelling guides for what I hear is can be a bit of a doldrum phase (12-15). I have done the Gianthold ones that can be done with a hireling. (Tried Crucible and it clearly needs a group, though it's technically possible w a hireling the maze is a nightmare.) I get bored re-running quests and have hardly done any more than once. No attention span for farming, and I seem to have levelled fine with no reps at hard.
(I decided I would wait til the next sale before buying Ravenloft, which I know is recommended for 12-15, as I've spent my allotted cash on new packs and content since re-starting the game a few weeks ago.)
Anyway: I idly click on the adventure compendium, and see that the access quests for Eveningstar are lvl 16... and free. (I had not fully taken in that this is a portal to FR, or read about the Underdark quests.)
Did first three last night with a hireling (I am a 13 Pal, not particularly optimised, but I think it's working well. Bsword and 2HF feats, and decent selection of gear. I stop in to auction and do gear Tetris every few levels.)
Anyway just want to say that these are really beautiful quests. So atmospheric, and is it my imagination or is the artwork a cut above? Wall textures look painted a lot of the time, like an illustration from the module covers.
I also got that feeling from White Plume Mountain, which had such a single malt original AD&D feel about it... but this was even better. Combat really nicely balanced, lots of whacking, no tedious puzzles and the final bit with the you-know-what and the appearance from you-know-who was fantastic.
I'm just posting cause it was a real thrill - I know sometimes quests can become rote / over familiar, but for anyone who has not tried them, these are really worth taking your time over, to smell the dark elf-flavor roses.
Bonus for me was that I received the Templar's Retribution Sword at the end on first attempt, no re-roll - the gods were smiling, tho I have to wait 3 levels to use the blessed thing.
(I acquired and did TOEE and got the old nostalgia vibe - but in reality TOEE as a pack suffers from the same thing the original modules did: it's big, sprawling and repetitive. Some moments of magic eg the water node swimming stuff... but the fun in the original modules was the contrast between Hommlet and Nulb, which is not really a part of the DDO version. And had a lot to do with the PnP group dynamic. I don't think I will repeat that chain until my next character / life. Missed KOTB but will do it at epic when I get there...)
Anyway just thought I would idly post some positivity on a Saturday afternoon...

So I recently played and finished Robocop: Rogue City for the first time. After spending several days on it and thinking about my experience in hindsight, here's my verdict.....I really like it! Despite that I've only been into the Robocop franchise for about a week now, I'm already very impressed by how this game maintains the spirit of the first movie while delivering a satisfying gameplay loop to make me want to replay it.
First thing to talk about is the most important aspect, the gameplay. I gotta give all my props to Teyon because this feels like the definitive way of how a Robocop video game should play. The game is a first person shooter, but incorporates elements like Robocop's fist and his HUD/visors which I think really help make the experience more engaging. You also get to use the environment during gun fights like throwing explosive barrels or even using wall panels to ricochet your bullets off towards enemies to give you more creativity during gameplay. Something else that makes the game feel like a Robocop experience is whenever you are in a conversation with someone, the camera angle changes so you can see Robocop from a third person perspective when he's talking. I've yet to get all the upgrades, but I got a feeling the gameplay may be more fun with them unlocked.
Next up is the graphics and presentation. For a game made by a double A studio, it actually looks pretty damn good in my opinion. The environments and the visual effects look well designed, especially when I'm exploring the Downtown open world area. Seeing all the puddles on the ground reflecting light gives a lot of detail to the game, even if there's no ray tracing so you can see Robocop's reflection. Now the facial animations can be a little weak, but that's to be expected with this game's budget and it doesn't ruin the experience in any way.
But what really makes this game feel like a love letter to the franchise is how it handles the characters. We don't just see environments ripped out of the movies, all the characters like Anna Lewis, Sergeant Reeds and the Old Man are written very faithfully and makes the game feel like a proper sequel to Robocop 2. We also get new characters introduced in this game and each of them fleshes out the world in their own unique way. The two best examples I have are Pickles, a former addict who's trying to do something good and Ulysseus Washington, a rookie cop who wants to work hard so he can honor his family's generation of police officers.
Another thing that gives more depth to the game is the choice system of what kind of Robocop you want to be. It gives a lot of variety like making you choose whether to uphold the law or server the public trust, which does affect how the story goes and the development of characters around you. This can give the game a lot of replayability so you can make different choices and see how your experience is different each time you play.
As for the plot, I need to analyze it a bit more in case there's any plot holes or inconsistencies I overlooked. But it still has a lot I really like, especially the plotline of Robocop experiencing glitches that forces him to have psychological hallucinations that he needs to overcome, which makes for some of the darkest moments in the Robocop franchise imo. Hopefully if I find the number of plot issues to be minimal, I may like this game's story more than the original Robocop movie, which will be a massive hot take of mine.
Something else I like is that the game acknowledges the events of Robocop 2 and incorporates them into the narrative. They could've just ignored the second movie and only pay homage to the first one, but the fact that they didn't despite how flawed it is really shows how the developers aren't close minded to taking inspiration from things that didn't resonate that well with a lot of people. and it makes me appreciate Robocop 2 a little more.
Now there are some negatives I have. The main ones are sometimes during cutscenes, the character's voices are sound effects becomes delayed and fall behind the character's lip movements and the visual effects on screen, but was fixed when I reloaded the game and hopefully won't happen in my second playthrough. The other is I think the game's save system is kinda flawed. What I mean is when I want to change costumes, I have to exit my game, change in the main menu and then have to reload a conversation with an NPC that I already had. Wish there was a way to change costumes in game.
The save system can also be a pain during moments where if you die, you have to regain some tough progress. Like during the final boss, I died once when it was almost over and had to start the fight all over which frustrated me since I rather it spawned me about halfway through the fight or something more reasonable.
Other than that, this is a very solid game and one of the best things in the Robocop universe. It's not anything groundbreaking for video games, but it doesn't need to be since it has so much care for the IP compared to so much other modern media nowadays. I give Robocop: Rogue City somewhere between an 8 and a 9/10!
This concludes my beginner's marathon of Robocop as I'm not watching Robocop 3 or the 2014 remake. Feel free to leave your thoughts and any criticism you have in the comments!

TLDR: It's just a game, we can all calm down and touch some grass.
I'm level 66, got over 150 hours in, and it's pretty even between bots and bugs. Played the new dark liquid mission 3 times and it is wild the way people are acting. Most missions see a revolving door of people joining and leaving. No one is on voice chat (not that uncommon), unless they turn it on to SCREAM at the game before rage quitting. Had a teammate run into the edge of my blitzer fore and catch a bolt. Knocked him down but he survived. Responded by killing me, and refusing to call me back.
No one wants to work together, or use any semble of strategy. Any attempt to coordinate is ignored or undermined. Never encourage this kind of nonsense before. Absolutely wild. I think the dark liquid is twisting our minds

1. The Simulation (formerly Fable Studio) launched Showrunner, a platform for users to create TV shows with AI, dubbing it the 'Netflix of AI'. With just a 10-15 word prompt, users can generate scenes and episodes of 2-16 minutes, complete with AI dialogue, voices, editing, shot types, characters, and story development. Fable released a research paper last year on their SHOW-1 model and AI Showrunner Agents that can write, produce, direct, cast, edit, voice and animate episodes of AI TV [Details].
2. Mistral AI introduced Codestral, a 22B open-weight generative AI model explicitly designed for code generation tasks. With its larger context window of 32k, Codestral outperforms CodeLlama 70B, Llama 3 70B and DeepSeek Coder 33B. Codestral is licensed under the new Mistral AI Non-Production License. It is accessible through Le Chat, La Plateforme and is integrated into LlamaIndex and LangChain [Details Hugging Face].
3. Cartesia introduced Sonic, a low-latency voice model that generates lifelike speech. The co-founders of Cartesia had created the state space model architecture. Sonic creates high quality lifelike speech for any voice with a model latency of 135ms—the fastest for a model of this class. Details on the new architecture will be released in a separate report. Sonic is released with a web playground and a low latency API [Details].
4. AI4Finance Foundation released FinRobot, a novel open-source AI agent platform supporting multiple financially specialized AI agents, each powered by LLM [Details].
5. IEIT-Yuan released Yuan2.0-M32, a Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) language model with 32 experts, of which 2 are active. Yuan 2.0-M32 is trained from scratch with 2000B token and has surpassed Llama3-70B on the MATH and ARC-Challenge benchmark [Details].
6. llama3v: a new SOTA vision model that is powered by Llama3 8B and siglip-so400m and trained with under $500. It outperforms LLaVA, the current open-source SOTA vision language model. llama3v features comparable vision abilities of models close to 100x larger in size like GPT4v, Gemini Ultra, and Claude Opus [Details Hugging Face].
7. LLM360 released K2, a fully-reproducible 65 billion parameters large language model outperforming Llama 2 70B using 35% less compute. K2 is fully transparent - LLM360 open-sourced all artifacts, including code, data, model checkpoints, intermediate results, and more [Details].
8. Perplexity AI released a new tool Perplexity Pages, enabling users to create comprehensive, visually appealing content on any topic. Users can type in a topic and receive a structured draft instantly. Perplexity Pages offers the flexibility to create a page as a separate entity, similar to writing a document with full internet access, or you can continue asking questions on Perplexity and convert them into the Page format with a one-click convert button [Details].
9. Open-Sora is now on V1.1.0. This open-source project aims to reproduce Sora OpenAI’s text-to-video (T2V) model Sora. v1.1.0 significantly enhances video generation quality and text control capabilities [Details].
10. Multimodal Art Projection (M-A-P) Research released MAP-Neo, a bilingual language model with 7B parameters trained from scratch on 4.5T tokens. MAP-Neo is the first fully open-sourced bilingual LLM with comparable performance compared to existing state-of-the-art LLMs [Details].
11. All ChatGPT Free users can now use browse, vision, data analysis, file uploads, and GPTs, earlier available to only pro subscribers [Details].
12. Higgsfield introduced NOVA-1 text to video model that provides marketers with precise control. Companies can train a custom version of the NOVA-1 model using their product and brand assets [Details].
13. ByteDance introduced INSTADRAG, a rapid approach enabling high quality drag-based image editing in ∼ 1 second. Code will be released in 2-4 weeks [Details].
14. Suno announced v3.5, which is now available to all users. It lets you make 4 minute songs, provides full song in a single generation and featres improved song structure and vocal flow. Make a song from any sound feature coming soon [Details].
15. 6079 announced AI Prize Fight, a first-of-its-kind street fighting esports competition where teams will go head-to-head training AI agents for the championship belt. Registration will begin the week of June 3rd [Details].
16. Scale released the SEAL Leaderboards, which rank frontier LLMs using curated private datasets that can’t be gamed. The initial domains covered include Coding, Instruction Following, Math and Multilinguality [Details].
17. Researchers released AutoCoder, a code LLM that outperforms GPT-4 Turbo and GPT-4o on the HumanEval benchmark. It’s code interpreter can install external packages instead of limiting to built-in packages tasks. The base model is deepseeker-coder [Details].
18. Microsoft launched Copilot for Telegram - a personal generative AI assistant powered by GPT model and Bing Search, available within Telegram [Details].
19. LMSYS Chatbot Arena Leaderboard update: Gemini 1.5 Pro/Advanced at #2, closing in on GPT-4o. Gemini 1.5 Flash at #9, outperforming Llama-3-70b and nearly reaching GPT-4-0125 [Link].
20. Udio introduced Udio-130, a new music generation model capable of two-minute generations and new features [Details].
21. Tools are now available in HuggingChat. Tools open up a wide range of new possibilities, allowing the model to determine when a tool is needed, which tool to use, and what arguments to pass (via function calling) [Details].
22. SambaNova's Samba-1 Turbo has set a new record for large language model inference performance in recent benchmarking by Artificial Analysis. Samba-1 Turbo runs Llama 3 8B at 1000 tokens per second (t/s) on just 16 chips, and can concurrently host up to 1000 Llama3 checkpoints on a single 16-socket SN40L node. This is the fastest speed for serving Llama 3, while maintaining full precision at a lower cost [Details].
23. GitHub announced the 2024 cohort for its GitHub Accelerator program, featuring 11 open-source AI projects [Details].
24. Opera browser has integrated Google’s Gemini AI models into its existing Aria AI extension. Aria, released last year, acts like an AI assistant to answer user queries, write code, and perform other tasks [Details].
25. Tool use, which enables Claude to interact with external tools and APIs, is now generally available across the entire Claude 3 model family on the Anthropic Messages API, Amazon Bedrock, and Google Cloud's Vertex AI [Details].
26. Google adds new built-in AI-powered features to Chromebook [Details].
27. Gemini is now available in Chrome DevTools to help devs understand errors and warnings better with AI [Details].

Source: AI Brews - Links removed from this post due to auto-delete, but they are present in the newsletter. it's free to join, sent only once a week with bite-sized news, learning resources and selected tools. Thanks!

There is this girl who initially rejected me but I continue to hang out with. We were friends before and at the beginning, I didn't really think pass friendship. After several months, we became very close friends and, unfortunately, I developed very strong feelings for her. She rejected me saying that she wasn't looking/ready for a relationship, has A LOT going on in her life, and she was going through some mental issues (mental issues and the amount of stuff going on her life are true), yada yada. Honestly I forgot most of the speech because I zoned out, which allowed me to have the courage to ask her out in the first place.
She has only had bad boyfriends and generally not so great relationship with men (stalking, aggressive guys, crazy ex who doesnt leave her alone, etc) and has her guard up. Once in a while, she would say something immature about guys (typically younger guys). She's an incredibly reserved and shy person (high functioning but very anxious person). Also, she prefers to be surrounded with girls.
Now, before and after the rejection, we only hangout one-on-one. We're both in a close knit friend group at work, yet we only ever hangout alone together - I never bother to suggest to bring other people. Despite her social anxiety, she was/is willing to go to places like a crowded mall with me (multiple times). She confides to me (sometimes cries) and has opened up about a lot of stuff. In public (or rather, when we are around people we know) she's reserved and I'm treated like a regular friend (in my point of view), but when we're alone, her personality shifts to a bubbly and energetic girl. Once in a while, we would talk on the phone for up to an hour. Despite the rejection, I continued the friendship and have genuinely tried to be a real friend. I would give her advice, we would disagree with stuff, gotten angry and voiced my opinion with some of her decisions, be an active listener (she has told me I'm easy to talk to and that I'm a great listener) and whatever. I try to not act like a simp. Keyword is try, I'm not sure if I do come off as a simp. Also, excluding saying it outright, I make it clear as day that I have feelings for her (before and after rejection)
Outside her best (male) friend (for now, she says she doesn't have feelings and is uncomfortable with people who try to ship them together throughout middle and high school), often she would say that she's most comfortable with me and that I'm the second most important person in her life right now. I would like to say I am secured enough that she has a male best friend who she considers family, but there are fleeting moments where I have doubts and felt jealous. I myself have a female best friend whom I absolutely love (platonically) so I understand.
Now, this is where I get confused. I understand if some of what I typed may come off as creepy. I would gradually increase how I touch her. At first it was just playful games that involved the hands (thumb wars, arm wrestling, slaps). I progressively moved to different parts of her body (face, thighs, feet, abs, arms, hips, playing with her hair). She's very into fitness, so we would occasionally squeeze or feel each other's muscles for comparison. Like I would touch and squeeze her thighs and I have progressively gotten higher and higher until it's literally right below her butt cheeks. (I once removed grass and dirt off her butt by doing the normal slapping them off because we did sit ups on grass but I wouldn't count that) She's well aware of inappropriate touching because she has told me in private that someone we knew touched her and she felt uncomfortable. Yet, she continues to hangs out with me and whatever I typed above. In public, we would do things arm wrestle or do whatever playful game. We've held hands before. For example, we were sitting across from each other on a table and we held hands for over an hour while talking about whatever. And then, while still sitting across from each other, I switched it up by having her legs rest on my lap. And as the conversation continued, I would be rubbing her legs. There are more examples of moments like these, privately or in public. There's a couple other minor stuff I do like texting her good luck on upcoming stuff, calling once in a while for a wellness check, go to her work desk to chat (I get called out on it often) and etc. Does this girl not have boundaries? Does she know what she is doing with me? Is she aware?
Of the very few people who are aware of this situation, I'm told we appear to be a couple. People who aren't aware (strangers or colleagues) would ask me if we were dating - a couple guys have said that she looks at me differently, whatever that means. I would tell even fewer people of the stuff we or I have done (like those typed above) and they tell me that we do a lot of couple stuff. I haven't dated in a long time so I am very confused. Are the stuff that we do together stuff that friends do nowadays?
I forgot to add, and have no idea where to place this, but she's an incredibly busy person. I don't want to add the details but I am not exaggerating that she is busy. She has absolutely no life and people are aware of it. Early in our friendship, we were able to schedule hangouts twice a month, but since then it became less frequent. This year we only hung out twice (both times, we were out for most of the day). She was away for work trips for most of the year so far. I called or texted her during those times. However, once a week, we hangout for an hour after work. So I appreciate the time she makes for me especially how valuable/precious it is.
I was planning to ask her out on a date again at some point within the year (it would be over a year since the first attempt) because she would be finishing up a good chunk of the goals she has set for herself and apparently I've been a major positive contributor for her mental health, so she's getting better mentally. I never have believed in the friendzone before. If a girl explicitly says no, we're better off as friends, or whatever that makes it clear that nothing is going to happen then I backed off. But how this person rejected me were stuff I know were true at that moment in time. I've seen her ghost guys, told me how she rejected guys, and another person in our friend group told me she rejected him (asked to hangout one on one, but she told him that it would be best to bring the rest of the group), so she's perfectly capable to reject someone and be clear about it. I plan to be respectfully persistent until I am told otherwise.
Like the title says, how deep in the friendzone am I?

coming back after years to this game, opened the discord channel to see what's going but there are only voice channels left?

I'm a femboy, what does this mean? I'm a boy, that like feminine things so much that I wear them. I like looking and feeling girly. My voice does not sound like a girls, and I am tall. I'm not on hormones. I am a feminine boy. Just wanted to clear the up first.
Anyway trying to look for people that wanna actually talk and get to know each other. I don't care about distance though closer is easier obviously. Further away? Well for better or worse I like living in the U.S at least.
Lets see what else bothers people. I don't drink, do drugs, or smoke. I actively hate all those things and do not want to be around them or talk about them if at all possible.
Oh also prefer feminine people, don't care if someone is trans/girl/guy/non-binary/etc. I just like feminine stuff, I like to be able to enjoy feminine stuff with a partner.
Hmmm, I'm also not religious but a bit spiritual in my own way. May as well tack that on at the end of the deal breaker stuff right haha.
With that all out of the way—
Hoping I can find folk I can chat with. If I can make friends, great, if I can find people to date super.
SO
I like playing games on PC, usually an easy icebreaker to talk over a game. I also enjoy texting, a writer so it's nice to me to be able to text someone throughout the day casually.
If you wanna know more feel free to send a message, ask questions. I got plenty of interests and I am sure you do as well.
I try and respond when I can, I know people work and have lives so take your time. I just ask for a little consideration.
Thanks for reading
-Krissie

~~~~~~~
Hello! This is my Ficnapping of Curing Malpractice by u/Cummy_wummys, which can be found Here!
Writing my own take on their novel about Novel was quite the novel experience. Hope you enjoy!
Also I'm going to collapse into bed the second I upload this, so apologies if I don't respond to any comments for several hours.
~~~~~~~
Memory Transcription Subject: Novel, Eager Kolshian Scientist
Date {standardized human time}: October 20th, 2136

Maybe I shouldn’t have stayed up that late into my rest claw. Sometimes I just can’t help it, I get so absorbed in one little avenue of research that the claw begins to slip past. I check the time a while later and, what do you know, the heat death of the universe is drawing just that little bit closer. Was it a bad idea to waste so much time learning about the history of Human clothing? Probably. Was it ever so slightly traumatizing, especially the earlier history? You bet it was. Will I probably do something similar in the near future? Absolutely.
I won’t let my moderately sleep-deprived state stand in the way though, for I have been invited to partake in a Human tradition this paw. It is an honour, one that I must take seriously, and approach with reverence. It is a sign that the Humans have come to trust me, welcoming me into their herd. Of course, I already had my own herd with Ada, Sindre and Hailey, and I’d had pleasant interactions with others such as Bella and Max, but I mean the Humans as a whole! To be fair, it’s probably been apparent that the Humans have been warming up to me for some time… if their insistence of suffocating me with photos of their children was anything to go by.
I shiver at the thought. Never again.
I push that train of thought aside as I approach the security checkpoint to the refugee centre, finding Ledo in his usual place. The Jaur security guard is half slumped over in his chair, absentmindedly scrolling through something on his holopad. I give him a friendly sway of my tail as I approach the checkpoint, and he barely seems to muster up the energy to turn an ear my way.
“Good paw, Ledo. Are you alright?”
He places his holopad down and rubs one of his eyes with a paw.
“Just running on empty over here. My break paws can’t come fast enough.”
I sign my sympathy as I grab my visitor’s badge.
“You’re doing a great job, top notch security officer, really. You’ve earned your rest, and then some.”
He covers his mouth with a paw as he yawns.
“Thanks… enjoy the whole predator watching thing, or whatever it is you do in that place.”
“Thank you! Enjoy your shift… as much as you can.”
With a slightly awkward chuckle, I waste no time in heading into the refugee centre. Just to be safe though… I push open the doors and quickly dash to the side, expecting something to come flying at me like what usually happens. This time though, my precautions seem unnecessary. The lobby is empty, devoid of the children and adults that typically mingle around in it at this time. As I take a few tentative, confused steps inside as the doors close behind me, I realize the reason why. Ada said that the activity I’d been invited to partake in took place outside, in the small courtyard I’d heard mentioned here and there around the centre. Everyone must simply already be outside. Following that notion, I pick up my pace as I walk through the hallways, finding the back door that leads to the courtyard soon enough.
My presumption had been right, as when I go outside I’m greeted with the sound of Human laughter, specifically the moderately pitched squeals and giggles of Human children. The courtyard wasn’t all that large, but by no means cramped, with many children and adult Humans alike enjoying the fresh Venlilian air. Scanning the area, I quickly locate Ada, who is currently engaged in quite an odd-looking activity with Sindre. They are standing on opposite sides of what appears to be a bedsheet suspended between two poles, ties at its four corners so that it's stretched almost flat. They are both holding objects that seem vaguely familiar to me, and which I soon recognize as ‘rackets’, which I’d come across before when researching Human activities on the internet.
“Sindre! Ada!”
They turn to look at me as I rush over to them, faces soon breaking out into wide smiles. Sindre walks towards the bed sheet, bending over to pick up a small yellow ball laying in the grass, while Ada walks over to meet me.
“Heya Nov’, glad you decided to join us today.”
“Well, I couldn’t deny an invitation to be involved in a Human tradition!”
She smirks at my response.
“Tradition? Yeah sure, guess tennis counts as one.”
Information acquired: A name for this event.
“Tennis… It sounds fascinating!”
By now, Sindre has walked over to join us. He lightly taps the racket and yellow ball together, which upon closer inspection seems to be strangely fuzz, with a white line running around it in a wavy pattern.
“You made it just as we were about to start another rally. I’m not the best at tennis, so it’d probably be best for Ada to show you the ropes.”
As he says this, Sindre offers the racket out to me. My eyes go wide and my tail flicks with excitement at the gesture, and I securely wrap two of my tentacles around the handle, making sure that it won’t slip from my grip.
“Ooooo! What do I do with this?”
Ada steps away, back towards the suspended bed sheet.
“You go stand where Sindre just was, I’ll walk you through it. Oh, and don’t mind the bed sheet. We don’t exactly have a proper net.”
I rush over to stand in the spot assigned to me, while Ada mirrors my position on her side of the bed sheet. Sindre tosses the yellow ball her way, and to my surprise she easily catches it with one hand. Well, that was certainly a lucky catch, and an accurate throw from Sindre. Before I can dwell on it though, Ada calls out again.
“Lets just start with the basics. In tennis, you use the rackets to hit the ball when it comes to your side of the court, er- bed sheet. You want to hit it so that it flies over the net and lands on my side, where I’ll try and hit it back to you, repeating until one of us either misses the ball or hits it into the net. If that happens, your opponent gets a point.”
I try and emulate the Human ‘nodding’ expression while listening to Ada. That sounds like an interesting activity… there is just one problem.
“Um, alright. How exactly are we supposed to hit the ball?”
“Just make sure to angle the racket so that the ball shoots back to my side, alright? Since you’re new to this, I’ll go easy on you and just start simple.”
That… didn’t really answer my question. I’m unsure how I’m expected to reliably position my racket to make contact with the yellow ball. Even so, I won’t question the Human. I’ve been invited to partake in this ‘tennis’, so I will accept the opportunity with gusto. Ada shifts her stance slightly, before lightly tossing the ball into the air. As it comes back down, she lifts the racket to meet it, and the ball is sent up and forwards. Alright, here goes nothing.
I lift the racket up into the air and rush towards the bed sheet. As the ball sails over the makeshift barrier, it hits the plastic edge of my racket and falls back down onto Ada’s side. I hear a snicker coming from Sindre, and I lower the racket again as Ada retrieves the ball, my tail wagging.
“Did I do that right?”
Before Ada can respond, Sindre buts in.
“If it worked against Ada, it must be a viable strategy.”
The German briefly glared at him before clearing her throat.
“Well Nov’, running at the net with your racket above your head isn’t going to work in a proper game. You need to figure out where the ball is heading, move there, and then hit it with the racket with the right amount power at the right angle to send it back.”
Oh, sure, might I extinguish the sun while I’m at it? Cure every disease along the way? Of course, I don’t voice these thoughts out loud. Instead, I simply give Ada another nod. She repeats her previous ritual of tossing the ball up into the air before bringing the racket up to meet it. This time, the ball doesn’t come straight on, but veers off to the right. I take a couple hurried steps that way and hold out the racket in the hopes that I judged the ball’s movement correctly. To no one’s surprise, I did not, and the ball thuds into the grass.
“No worries Nov’, let’s try again.”
After I haphazardly throw the ball back to her (and she effortlessly catches it with one hand), Ada hits the ball my way again. This time, the ball veered slightly to the left. A mirror of what happened last time, the ball misses my racket by a considerable margin. In my periphery, I vaguely register Sindre wearing a face of mild concern, though my focus is too homed in on not letting my frustration show to dwell on it. I’m making a fool of myself in front of the Humans.
“Sorry, I’ll hit it next time.”
The next time comes, and I unfortunately can’t stay true to my word. A similar thing happens again and again. Sometimes I just try to shove the racket below where I think the ball will go, other times I try waving it around madly in the hopes that it’ll make contact. It never does.
“One more time! I swear I’ll get it!”
They invited me to take part in this. The least I can do is not be a complete failure. Ada stops tossing to me, concern etched into her features.
“Are you alright Nov’? We don’t have to do this if you can’t-”
“No no, I can. It’s just- I’m a novice. You can’t expect me to just know how to calculate projectile motion in my head… I just need practice.”
Ada’s face morphs into one of confusion.
“Projectile motion… Novel, it’s not that complicated.”
I gawk at the Human incredulously. Before I can formulate a response though, a sigh coming from my left draws my attention back to Sindre. He’s rubbing his forehead with his hand, and sighs in realization.
“Eye placement. Depth perception.”
Ada’s eyes go wide at that, and a hand comes up to cover her mouth.
“Oh crap… Sorry Nov’, I didn’t really uh- consider that…”
I look back over to her, my brain still trying to piece together what Sindre meant. I recall how easily the Humans tossed and caught the ball with stunning accuracy, and how Ada seemed to be able have complete control over the ball with her racket while I struggled to even make contact…
Depth perception…
That… makes sense.
I can’t help but gurgle a little in laughter. So predatory eyes were useful for things outside of hunting… like tennis! I need to jot that down, and make sure to investigate that a little more later on.
“Hey Novel, you ok there?”
I’m snapped out of my thoughts by Sindre’s voice. I give him a friendly tail wag and walk over to him.
“Of course, I’m fine. I’m sorry that I’m incapable of taking part in this.”
I offer the racket back to him, which he takes with a little hesitation when he sees the mucus covering the handle. Ada walks over to the two of us, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment.
“Sorry for all that Novel, we should’ve chosen something else to show you.”
I quickly turn to her and wave my tentacles in a placating manor.
“No, don’t be sorry! I’m honored that you wished to share the wonders of tennis with me. You two go ahead and enjoy it, I’ll just sit off to the side and make notes on the uses of binocular vision outside of hunting.”
I feel myself deflate slightly. I had been excited to play a part in a Human tradition, but it seems that I just… can’t. Not on my own volition, at least. Perhaps the Humans can sense my disappointment, because Sindre and Ada share a glance before the former speaks up.
“Nov’, you don’t have to-”
I interrupt him by wrapping a tenacle around both their backs and lightly nudging them towards their respective sides of the bed sheet.
“I insist! Don’t worry about me, I’m a graceful loser.”

Memory Transcription Subject: Novel, Sore Loser
Date {standardized human time}: October 21st, 2136

The Venlil I pass on the street are giving me odd looks, all the while I hold my head up high with pride as many of them turn around to do a second take of what I am wheeling behind me. It may be a teensy, tiny bit more complicated than some of the other things I’d previously brought with me to the shelter, but that was only because I had put my tentacles to good use. The splinters I had gotten in the process were testament to that. Should I have focused on getting a little more sleep during my rest claw? Maybe. Is this thing being held together by nothing but hope and super glue? Only the very best. Would the absolute joy that it’ll put on the Humans’ faces be worth it? You bet it will be!
As I wheel my creation past the security checkpoint, I find Ledo staring at his holopad with his head resting on his paws, eyelids drooping. When he spots me approaching, his ears perk up slightly, only for him to raise his head upon seeing my creation. He puts down his holopad and sits up in his chair, trying to get a better view of it.
“Hello Ledo! How are you? Have you gotten some rest?”
For a moment he doesn't respond, only for him to shake his head and rub his eyes.
“Novel, do I even want to know what that thing is?”
“It’s what will allow me to stand on par with the Humans and engage with them on an even playing field. I spent some of my last rest claw building it.”
Ledo looks back over to me.
“And uh, how much is ‘some’, exactly?”
I wave a tentacle dismissively.
“Irrelevant detail. Trust me, it’ll all be worth it. When I leave the shelter later this paw, I’ll tell you all about it.”
Ledo leans back in his chair with a sigh.
“Well, at least it’d be something other than binging movies. You’re a bit of a weirdo, have I told you that yet?”
“Why thank you! Have a nice shift.”
I bid farewell to the Jaur and my final approach to my destiny begins. Victory is so close I can almost taste it.
The lobby is empty again this paw, so I head right on through while towing my creation behind me. I pass a couple Humans along the way, who I give friendly greetings to as they marvel at my ingenious solution to the problem that had plagued me last paw. Since I’ve arrived a little later this paw (courtesy of a productive rest claw), I waste to time in heading directly to the back of the centre and out onto the grassy courtyard that had been the location of last paw’s utter failure. I will not allow that to happen again!
“Ah, welcome to the courtyard Nov-… Uh, what’s that you got behind you?”
Max’s friendly tone gives way to curiosity, and I feel the pride already beginning to swell just a little more. He was just in the middle of a round of the dreaded ‘tennis’ with Ada, who is on the opposite side of the makeshift net, which she leans over once she spots me.
“Novel… why do you have a catapult?”
It seems that my wonderful creation is also garnering interest from many of the children as well, who briefly stop their various running games to watch me. I finish wheeling the mini catapult into place and take out a tennis ball from my bag (turns out I had already purchased one, thanks past me!) while I finally answer Ada.
“So that I may properly partake in your Human traditions, of course! How can I study them if I can’t even participate? This little thing will allow me to successfully serve a ball to you in just a moment, no depth perception required! Watch and see.”
I place the tennis ball into the cup and begin cranking the lever to wind up the device. Max starts looking a little nervous as I do so.
“Um, Nov’? Are you sure that thing is going to work? Is it even safe?”
The homemade gears turn with a slight clacking sound, which tells me that it’s working just as expected… though Max does make me wonder briefly if I should’ve done a test run of this first… oh well, too late for that.
“Don’t worry, I know precisely what I’m do-”
I’m cut off by the rather disconcerting sound of splintering wood. I only have enough time to faintly register that the sound came from my creation, and that said realization is very bad. A resounding SNAP and the disappearance of the tennis ball at approximately Mach 5 tells me that I did not know the tensile strength of Venlilian wood as well as I thought. The rest of the world has gone silent, and I slowly turn my gaze in the direction the ball had preemptively flown, finding Max standing as still as a statue with the tennis ball resting on the ground in front of him. The silence is broken as the Human lets out a whining sound higher pitched than even the smallest of Dossur can produce, before falling to his knees and grasping his groin in obvious agony.
Some of the slightly older kids cringe in sympathy.
Ada tries not to laugh.
Max steadily raises his hand, pointing a shaky digit at me. His voice comes out squeaky, and pained.
“K-kids… avenge me…”
The children’s eyes lock onto me. I learn what true fear feels like.
All at once, the children let out their war cries, and began rushing over to me. I let out a shriek of my own as I turn back towards the refugee centre and start running like my life depends on it because it probably does! I don’t dare look back at the pack of predators pursuing me, I simply run through the back doors of the centre and sprint down the corridor as fast as I physically can. Even so, I know for a fact that it is not fast enough. I’ve studied Humans enough to know that they are built for chasing prey. Right now, that prey is me!
I try to lose the children by utilizing the building’s layout as best I can. I turn past several corners without slowing down, run up the stairs and even hide behind a pot plant at one point, startling an adult Human as I do so, who quickly rushes back inside their room. I make a mental note to apologize to them later, and file it right under ‘RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! GO GO GO!’
I hear it, the sound of light but determined footsteps plonking their way up the stairs. They’ve found me. This pot plant isn’t going to help me at all! I abandon my frankly pathetic hiding spot and dash further down the hallway, determining that my best shot at survival will be to get back to the main lobby and run out through the front do-
A dead end.
No…
Oh no…
The sound of footsteps grows closer. Just a single pair, but that is more than enough to seal my fate. I push myself against the wall, terror coursing through my mind. This was supposed to be a showcase of how much I respected Humans, I didn’t mean to injure one! Is this really it? Is this really how it all ends? Sought out and killed to avenge the fallen? I-I never got to publish my completed study on Human traditions… or binocular vision… or diets or facial express- a whole lot of things actually!
The footsteps pause, and the sound of giggling breaks me out of my mental spiral. There, standing before me, grinning ear to ear, is a familiar Human child.
“Found you!”
“D-David?”
Still grinning, the young boy reaches out a hand towards me. I push myself as far against the wall as I can go.
“W-wait, David! I-I-I thought we got along well! We watched that horrible movie together, remember? We can read that book about cattle again if you want! Or-or anything you want, really! P-please, don’t d-do this!”
I close my eyes tightly, and prepare myself for the end…
…
A hand lightly taps one of my tentacles, then retracts.
“Tag! You’re it.”
I crack open an eye.
“Wh-what?”
David is already running away from me, giggling again. As he reaches the stairs, he calls out as loud as he can, voice carrying further into the refugee centre.
“Guys! I got her! Novel’s it now!”
…
…
What?

(Cong Rats u/Xerxes250! You've been FICNAPPED, EKEKEKEK! Thanks to u/Espazilious, u/CaptainMatthew1, and u/T00Dense for supporting me in Group 3 of the Ficnapping!
That's right, I've Ficnapped Hazardous Recovery, a very well-written fic. I'd recommend it to those looking for a more... tech-inspired fic.
So, enjoy the dumb stuff.)
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Memory Transcription Subject: Kimmich, currently dying inside
Date [standardized human time]: October 25, 2136
If I had been made aware that one of the first days we were on Earth was going to be spent sitting in a predator's house, looking at sheets of paper, and listening to said predator prattle on about silly plastic shapes with numbers on them I'd have refused the trip as a whole. The whole concept seemed like a massive waste of time, not only for us but for him too. Unfortunately, I was trapped here by the whims of Vemnka and Sevkan, and they never let up a chance to see new human past times.
Andre, for his part, had been slow with us, letting us ease into the new living situation with relative laxity on where we were allowed to go. We'd already watched a few movies, played a few "video games", and even listened to some of his music. It was... enjoyable. Even with the obvious attempts to cover up a whole heap of predatory behaviors, Andre had managed to get us feeling somewhat welcome.
Until he had us sit at his kitchen table and write out the Venlilian numerical system, to which he responded with a chuckle, "Looks like Skaven Scratch." He did not elaborate. At first, I thought the exercise was going to be a simple lesson on how to read human numbers. But no, it was far worse. Instead, Andre went to his workshop, scanned all the numbers, and began printing a bunch of geometric prisms with the numbers on them. Vemnka was the first to ask about their purpose as she picked up a dodecahedron, each side holding a numeral.
"Well, I figured we'd play a game, and these," he held up a worn version of the same shape Vemnka was holding, this one with human numbers on it, "are how we play."
Not even a minute later we were watching as he 'rolled' the 'dice' across a little pad on the table. "So, basically, these dice, the 'd6's will help us make our characters. I use the '4d6 minus the lowest rolled' method for stats, but there are other ways to do it."
Sevkan picked up a triangular prism and poked his paw pad with it. "And what about the rest of them," he asked as he tossed the plastic shape onto the pad.
"The one you just rolled is a 'd4', it's a damage dice. Same with the d6, 'd8', 'd10', and 'd12'. This," he held up a dice with ten sides, but with two separate numbers on each face, "is a percentile dice. Helps when I need to see what outcome happens when a random encounter starts, though we'll not be using it because we're doing a oneshot." He flicked it up with a click and caught it. Next, he picked up the same dodecahedron as before and rolled it. "Ouph, nat 1, less than ideal when starting a game."
"What does that mean," I asked, looking down at the twenty-sided dice; the side displaying '1' was facing up.
"A nat 1 is the worst roll on a 'd20'. It's a critical failure, which means if you roll a nat 1, something bad happens." He rolled it again as he talked, "The d20 is the most used dice because it's the 'check dice', you use it to figure out how well you did on an action. For instance," he reached across the table for a sheet of paper. Looking it over, I could see it was a 'character sheet', as Andre called them. "This is the strength stat," He pointed at a block on the left side of the paper, "It shows how strong your character is. If I were to roll this d20 and get a 13, but your strength stat is a 14, plus whatever save modifier you have, then I'd fail the check and either nothing would happen, or you'd get a reaction to my failure." He shifted his weight as he reached for the ground. With a plap, Andre brought up a hardbacked book. My translator had a bit of difficulty translating the text due to the font, but in the end, it spat out 'D&D Player's Handbook'. A small script of subtext under the cover art, which I ignored due to its content, read 'Everything a player needs to create heroic characters for the world's greatest roleplaying game.'
"A roleplaying game," Vamnka asked before Sevkan or I could formulate the words.
"Yep! A TTRPG, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D. I played this once or twice before my accident with the reactor room, but I think I still remember enough to DM for it."
This time Sevkan asked the question, "TTRPG and DM?"
"Tabletop roleplaying game, and Dungeon Master. I run the game, so I'm the dungeon master." He laid out three sets of three pieces of paper at each seat. It had the same words and markings as the one before him. "So, as I said, we're doing a one-shot because I can't be bothered with doing a whole ass campaign. Plus you won't be here forever and we have work to do at some point."
"I'll be making your characters with input from each of you. We're doing basic fifth edition rules because the newer editions, sixth up to ninth, all suck." He grabbed four of the d6 and held them aloft, looking at Sevkan, then Vemnka, and finally landing his gaze on me. I felt my fur rise but paid it no mind as he looked down at the dice before him. "Vemnka, you're going first." He picked up and tossed the dice to Vemnka who scrambled to grab all four before they had a chance to fall off the table.
"So, I just... toss them?" The quizzical flap of her left ear was met by a curt nod from Andre. "Alright," she said as her paw flicked the dice across the table. One landed on 1, another on 2, another on 3, and the final one on 6. "Twelve in total," she announced.
"Good, now remove the lowest number rolled and mark it down somewhere on the back of your sheet."
After five more rolls, Vemnka's stats totaled 11 in strength, 15 in intelligence, another 15 in constitution, 16 in wisdom, 16 in charisma, and 13 in dexterity.
Next was my turn. I rolled a 13, which I put into dexterity, a 14 in constitution, a 15 in charisma, a 16 in strength, another 16 in wisdom, and a 12 in intelligence.
Finally, Sevkan rolled a 12, which was placed in dexterity, a 13 in charisma, a 16 in constitution, a 10 in both wisdom and intelligence and, as Andre put it, the ever elusive 18 was put in strength.
With all that tedious, boring, unimportant, and downright torturous work out of the way, now was the time to get into character creation. Andre gave us the book to look over and told us to ask any questions we wanted if we needed to. I pulled up my pad's visual translator and began skimming the text.
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Memory Transcription Subject: Vemnka, having the time of her life!
The book wasn't big, not by a long shot. I'd read books three to four times as long in [a day] or two. What the book contained, however, was an entirely different story. It wasn't just a rulebook, or handbook, as the cover suggested, it was a way to shape the wild imagination, to tame the itch to create.
And by the stars am I creating!
Andre told us we'd start by choosing class, race, and background. Of course, we had no idea what that meant, so he took us through it one at a time at a leisurely pace. He flipped through the book's pages before landing near the beginning, showcasing a stout-looking human with the undertext 'Dwarf' printed to the left.
After running through all of the vaguely human-like races to pick and a few classes that would shape our table-side adventure, I'd chosen to be a gnome cleric, which was a humorous choice. Andre said I'd primarily be healing, helping my team by keeping them in battle. I didn't mind the idea of being a sideliner, as long as I could help.
Dad had chosen to be a human 'paladin'. Andre explained that the term equated pretty easily to a form of holy guardian, in the form of a mortal, who the god of their faith gifted to defend those around them. Dad thought is was a pretty cool idea, especially the idea of "burning heretics away with holy fire," as Andre put it. It took him a bit longer to choose his race because he kept returning to the page with the almost-Arxur-looking Dragonborn. Still, after some coaxing, he finally let up on whatever was going on in his head and chose the easiest option, and the one Andre had recommended.
Finally, Sevkan had looked a bit farther into the game itself, finding a non-classified databook called "Player's Companion". Andre described it as a supplemental read, adding a bit more variety to the already large amount of options presented in the Player's Handbook. Sevkan took one look at it and immediately chose the Aarakocra, causing Andre to flinch. He said it'd be fine because the Aarakocra looked nothing like Krakotl, but Sevkan still apologized as best he could. He chose the fighter class, which was about as self-explanatory as possible.
Next was backgrounds, I chose to be an acolyte. It made sense in my head that a religious healer would have a background in religion. Dad leaned toward Folk Hero as his background, an option that both he and Andrew agreed would suit his character. Sev chose to be a hermit, which caught me and dad off guard after Andre gave us a rough rundown of what it was. An isolationist fighter, the sort of stuff that got you locked away.
"Alright," Andre said, leaning forward, looking between each of us again. I noticed Dad's fur rise a bit less than last time. Progress is progress. "We've got a Gnome Cleric, a Human Paladin, and an Aarakocra Fighter. Pretty good party dynamics for your first time even hearing about DnD. Now, for the most part, we've done everything we need to do together. From here you would have normally gone through stats and equipment, but I don't want to, and this is a oneshot so those aren't that important. Vem, on that last sheet, please mark down 'Spare the Dying', 'Sacred Flame', and 'Guidance'. Kimmich, on your last sheet, mark down 'Lay on Hands', 'Divine Smite', and 'Divine Sense'. Sev... you can just throw that sheet away. You won't be moving past where you are now."
Sevkan looked down at the sheet with a hint of sadness. To be fair to him, 'Spare the Dying' and 'Divine Smite' sounded cool, but before I could ask what they meant, Dad beat me to it. "What are these for? What do you mean?"
Andre rolled a D20 absent-mindedly, "Spare the Dying is a Cleric Cantrip that stabilizes a person who's taken fatal damage and is rolling death saves. Divine Smite is that whole 'BURN IN HOLY FIRE' thing I was talking about. Depending on how you flavor it, it's you wrapping your weapon in divine fire and burning away at your enemy's soul."
Despite his previous misgivings, ones which were practically plastered over his fur, Dad seemed honestly interested in the concept behind the Divine Smite. "And I just get to use it? Any time I want?"
"Well, not really." Andre pointed a finger toward me. "She has three cantrips which can be used at any time, you only have two. Divine Smite is an actual spell, as in its magic that requires you to utilize a spell slot. Lay on Hands is a contrip that can heal and Divine Sense allows you to detect certain types of creatures based on their alignment. Good and Evil in particular."
Sev spoke up, displaying confusion with his ears. "So why don't I get any spells or cantrips?" There was a degree of disappointment in his voice.
Andre leaned back with a chuckle, flexing his dexterous prosthetics as he clutched the d20 he'd been rolling. "Because, as a fighter, you probably have the most useful ability of them all. It's called 'Second Wind' and its essentially Lay on Hands but only you gain from it. It's an ability you can only use once per short rest, which we won't be needing to get into, which heals you for 1d10 plus your level, which all of you will be set at level 2.
"Again, we won't need much of the stuff in the books because this is A. Your first time and I want it to be fun, and B. A oneshot where nothing matters and we're here to have a good time. So, real quick," Andre grabbed a d8s and a d10 and began rolling them. "Vem," the d8 clacked across the table, landing on a 4, "you've got 15 health total. Because you're a light class, always expect to be on the lower side of health. Kimmich, you've got," he rolled the d10, it landed on an 8, "20 health, not a bad roll. And finally Sevkan," the d10 rolled across the table once more, the 5 side facing up. "18 health. Not too bad either, given your ability to heal yourself."
"How did you get those numbers," I asked, looking across the table at each of our sheets.
"While you all were reading, I put your modifiers where they belong, and changed what needed to be changed with your stats." Andre leaned over and pointed at Dad's sheet, "I increased each of your scores by one because you're human." He moved to mine, "I increased your intelligence by two." Then he moved to Sevkan's "And I increased your dexterity by 2 and wisdom by one. I made a slight mistake when asking you guys to roll, as usually, you'd choose race and class before putting your stat rolls anywhere, but you all seem to have put them in pretty good spots."
The three of us gave Andre amused looks, to which he raised an eyebrow. "Humans get an additional point in everything?" Sev asked with a small whistling laugh.
"Oh, uh. Yeah, now that there are actual other intelligent races in the galaxy that doesn't look too good does it?"
"It's fine," I said. It was plenty understandable, thinking you're the best at everything you do when there's no one to compare to. "So are we going to start?"
"Yep! Just one more thing. Weapons and armor are important to this, even if you don't have to use them all the time." Andre flipped to a page with a list of item names which I couldn't make ears or tails of. I recognized 'sword', 'bow', and 'spear' as ancient primitive weapons, but other than that everything else escaped me.
"I'm noting a lot of confusion. Anything you need to know?" Andre looked at us expectantly.
"What's a 'maul'," came Sevkan's response.
"Oh, that's a term for a large, two-handed warhammer. Usually, it's depicted as spiked on both ends. Imagine a very large, very crude sledgehammer with spikey bits."
"And a 'glaive'?" Dad asked next.
"I assume you know what a sword is?" We flicked our ears in affirmation. "Well, it's essentially a curved sword attached to a pole. It's made to look a specific way, if it wasn't then it'd probably just be called a Dao. Or maybe the Dao would be called a glaive. Maybe Glaive is just a type of polearm. I have no idea. Anyway, to speed this up, I'll be choosing the weapons and armor you can have for you, and don't worry, I'll use your attitudes as a reference for what you get. For you, Vemnka, I think the mace and shield combo will do nicely with the scale mail. Kimmich, you'd work well with two long swords to accompany your chainmail armor. And finally, Sevkan, a halberd with your chainmail will work fine. Sound good to everyone?"
I was a little disappointed at the stolen opportunity to continue building my character, I'd yet to come up with a name or backstory, as I was sure was the norm, but with the idea of starting taking center stage, I couldn't help but wag my tail.
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Memory Transcription Subject: Sevkan, going down the rabbit hole
Andre put a thin plastic sheet over most of the table, took out a bundle of markers, and began drawing, much to our collective surprise.
The sheet was was smooth and cool to the touch, though not through any internal system, probably just from the back of the garage where Andre had found it. It had a grid printed over it, which Andre seemed to be using as a guide as he drew a boxy shape, marking certain areas with certain colors. There must have been a system he was following, one that none of us Venlil in the room had managed to pick up on, and we didn't want to interrupt Andre as we worked in case we caused him to mess up.
I looked over my character sheet, made mostly by Andre with small additions I felt like I needed to add. I still felt a little bad for not realizing how raw the image of a Krakotl must have been to Andre as I chose the Aarakocra, but he'd brushed it off swiftly and curtly, clearly not wanting to continue the line of thought. Still, I should've chosen a different race. The goliath looked cool and probably would have been a better fighter than a bird with hollow bones, but I also didn't want to drag the others much longer, so I kept silent.
At long last Andre stood at his full height and analyzed his work. "There we go. The battle map is set up, now for the tokens." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out three little white objects. I immediately recognized them as chess pieces. A rook, a knight, and a bishop were placed on the table, along with a dozen white pawns, some of which came from a different chess set, and four black pawns as well as a black king. The black pawns were marked with the colors, yellow, beige, green, and white. We quietly agreed which pieces we would be. Dad would be the knight, I would be the rook, and Vemnka would be the bishop.
Andre sat down and we began. "Alright, I've decided to pull the classic 'wake up in a tavern' DnD start because it's funny and I also didn't exactly plan this. So here we go. Please leave your questions for after I'm done talking."
"You wake up, each of you, around a wooden table in a comfortable tavern with candles above you and empty tankards before you. You look at each other and recognize if only barely, the friends you made last night through a bout of drinking and dancing. You feel the roaring of a hangover in your head as you each groan and attempt to lift your heads."
Andre pointed at the chess pieces, which must have represented our characters. "Please roll constitution to see if the hangover affects you in any major way. It's a d20 plus the number below the stat itself."
We looked at each other with slight confusion. Not at the command to roll, nor for its circumstance, but for the setting. Is this a human board game? I mean, I guess I expected something more akin to chess. but this is nothing like it. It's so... alien.
Dad rolled his d20 first; it landed on a 16, "An 18?"
"Yep, Kimmich, your character brushes off the hangover with ease. You still feel a buzzing in your head, but other than that, you're fit as a fiddle." Oh, I get it now. How interesting. I could see Dad and Vemnka twitch their ears in understanding as I rolled my d20.
It landed on 8. "Plus two, so an 11."
"Sevkan, your head hurts like hell but you're still able to function to a normal degree. If it weren't for your fellow drunkards you're sure you'd have to stumble around by your lonesome for a while."
Vemnka let out a laugh as she rolled her dice. While she had been aiming for the center of the table, the dice had other plans and shot off to the right, flying off the table and rolling under a stool in the kitchen. "Oops! I'll get it," she said, jumping out of her seat and lifting the stool. "It landed on 19," she beeped excitedly.
"Nope," Andre said, much to our surprise. "Rule two of dice: if it goes off the table, its results are null. I didn't make that rule, but I still follow it. Roll again."
Vemnka's ears drooped a bit, but she set herself and climbed back into her seat to roll again. This time the dice did as it was meant to and rolled across the table without falling off. It landed on... "A nat 20!"
"No shit?" Andre lept out of his chair to peer across the table toward the dice. "Well, I'll be damned, a 19 and a 20 in succession. Well, I guess you're just better than those other two. Your character's hangover is completely gone, you felt it for all but a second as you raise your head to see your Aarakocra companion still struggling with his."
"Is there anything I can do to help him?" She asked. Andre's lip curled upward slightly.
"Now you're getting it. It's a role-playing game. You have your roles, the ones you set up for yourself, and now you get to play them. And yes, there is something you can do to help. Roll me a medicine check. I'll add your modifier myself." The sound of a die rattling across the table ended with... "Another Nat 20?!"
We jumped at Andre's incredulous shout as he glared at the die before him. He seemed more angry at the dice than at Vemnka so I assumed we were probably not in trouble. How can we be? We didn't do anything that would make him angry. Why's he yelling?
"Sorry, but the chance of rolling two nat 20s in a row, while not astronomical, is pretty fucking low. Something like a one in four hundred chance, maybe more," Andre said, sitting back down and sighing deeply. "It's fine, just funny is all. Usually, RNJesus is on the DM's side, not the party's. Kinda nice to see a change of pace."
"RNJesus," we asked collectively.
"Don't worry about it, let's continue. Vemnka, you put your hand on Sevkan's shoulder and do some voodoo magic bullshit and pray to your god to heal his aching body. Miraculously, it works and Sevkan sits upright feeling light as a feather. The Aarakocra's headache is now on par with Kimmich's."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that, now let's get on with it. As Sevkan gets up and shakes off the remaining ebbing in his head, you all notice five less-than-reputable figures sitting in a booth at the far end of the tavern. Each wears a hood or cowl accompanied by a cloak, which hides their race and weapons from you, however, you can tell that one of them is considerably larger than the others. If you had to, you'd place it at about 226 cm (7'5") while those around it are around the average human height of 180 cm (6'0"). Roll me perception too."
We looked at each other at the description but shrugged it off as we rolled. I rolled a 7, Dad rolled a 19, and Vemnka rolled a 17.
"Both of you," he said, pointing at Vemnka and Dad with one hand, "See that they are pointing in your direction while the big one holds a piece of paper in his hand. It shows artistic renditions of the three of you, along with a long string of words you can't make out from your current distance. Kimmich, you hear them talking about a bounty and that you are the specified targets. Now it's time for you to react, how do you want to move forward?"
"Well," Vemnka said nervously. I could see her tail flick in my direction, looking for guidance, but I had none. "I suppose I'll confront them? I'm not sure what a bounty is exactly..."
"Really?"
We looked at Andre and the obviousness of the situation. If we didn't know what a word was, we knew it must have been predatory. "Right, sorry. Bounties are orders given to hired people to hunt people. For one reason or another, if someone wants someone dead then they'll place a bounty on their head. I'm not sure if it was ever actually a thing, but bounty hunters were popular during the Wild West days of the US. They usually brought criminals in for trial though, and usually didn't kill them."
"Okay, but why do they want us dead," Dad asked, his ears falling back slightly.
"That's the neat part, you have no idea," Andre said as he leaned forward and moved the green-tipped black pawn a space on the map. "Vemnka, as you get up, you notice that one of the figures is moving towards the door with slight urgency. Before you can make a move, however, the large figure stands up and doffs his cloak, revealing the tattooed grey skin of a Goliath wielding a greatsword in the executioner's style. He shouts over the tavern for everyone other than your group to leave immediately as things are about to get bloody. His three other goons, the one moving toward the door exempt, move in unison towards you. Roll initiative. It's a d20, same as all the others."
I looked toward my sister to see her tail freaking out, her bishop is the closest to the enemy party, meaning she was more likely to be targeted first. I had to protect her, not only because of our sibling relationship but also because she could heal us if we got hurt. The three of us rolled as one, I got a 10, Dad a 14, and Vemnka got a 4. Andre himself rolled a few dice before moving the chess pieces into place and writing down something on a sheet of paper. "Alright, perfect. Initiative rolled, time to start combat. First up, yellow pawn."
He moved the pawn toward Vemnka's bishop, immediately putting her in danger. "One of the vagabonds rushes you, Vemnka, and you see the flash of Tabaxi claws as they raise their hand to strike at you." Andre's dice rolled, clattering to a halt inside the pad on his end, obscuring the results. "Does a 14 hit?"
"How do I check that," she asked, her tail going even crazier. Though, I couldn't tell if it was excitement or panic.
"AC," Andre responded flatly, "Armor Class."
"Right, yep." She looked down at her paper and flicked he ears 'no' then shook her head.
"The Tabaxi's claws swipe right above your head and miss by a hair. You can even feel the air move past you as you flinch backward. Next, the Goliath moves toward you, hefting his greatsword. Kimmich, if looks could kill, you'd be halfway to Valhalla by now. He glares at you with a mighty fire in his eyes. It's hard to tell, but you think he might have it out for you. He takes a swing with his sword and..." Andre rolled and looked back up at the table, his eyes focusing rather intensely on the black king representing the Goliath. "Meh, Nat 1. He swings and you dodge, causing his swing to miss wildly and land on the Tabaxi nearby. She takes," he rolls, "A sizable chunk of damage as blood flows from her lower abdomen."
"Wouldn't she be writhing in pain right now," Dad asked, pointing to the yellow-topped pawn.
"In real life? Yes. Here? I control the game, and while she is certainly hurt, she still has enough will to fight. Money is a powerful incentive for some people, especially bandits and vagabonds. Next, Sevkan, you notice the flash of steel as a dehooded human rushes you with a shortsword in hand. He has a keen eye and sharp nose, but your reflexes are faster as you dodge his swipe. He stumbles a bit, but recovers before you have a chance to harm him." Andre looks at Dad, who doesn't even seem to register the human's gaze as he looks over his sheet. "Kimmich, it's your turn. You can attack, retreat, use a spell-"
"Divine smite the Goliath, I'll use Divine Smite on the Goliath."
Andre lets out a chuckling laugh, "Now we're talkin'. Let's do this. Roll for attack."
Dad rolled, and I watched as the dice skipped across the table and finally landed on 11. "Plus five, so 16."
"Very good, that is a successful hit. Please roll both damage and the Divine Smite's 2d8."
Dad rolled his d8 three separate times, coalescing in a massive 18 damage, a 7, an 8, and a 3. "18 damage total against the Goliath."
Andre did a weird whistle as he marked down the information on what I could only assume was the stat sheet for the enemies. "18 against big guy. Sevkan, your turn. D-"
"Actually," Dad interrupted, "it says here that I have an extra action and a bonus action."
"Oh."
"So I'm going to attack him again."
"Okay."
Dad rolled another d8 which landed 6 side up. "Another six damage and I end my turn."
"Thank you, finally. Sevkan, go, please. Attack or... Well, all you can do is attack." Andre leaned back in his chair, stare planted squarely on me. I looked down at my sheet for any actions I had. I had a normal and bonus action, and that was it. I looked at the section marked features and traits and noticed that I could do three actions with action surge. "Alright, I'll attack three times. Twice with my halberd using action surge and once with that dagger, you forgot to give everyone that we all had the option to take." I glared right back at him.
"Yes, I didn't give you all the tools you could have had because it would have just wasted more time. But fine, if you want to use it, fine. It's a d6 slashing damage."
I rolled the 2d10 for damage. One landed on 8 while the other landed on 9. My d6 lands true on a 4. "21 damage to the beige-tipped pawn. That's the human, right?"
"Yep," Andre nodded as he wrote down the damage. "You take two swipes at the human with your halberd, both connect with both his arms and torso, slowing him considerably. It's only when he remains standing that you pull your dagger from its sheath and plunge it into his chest. You miss his heart by millimeters, but it does the job as he collapses in a pool of blood. Congrats, first knockout of the game."
I shudder at Andre's description of my character, who might as well be interchangeable with a Krakotl, killing a man. A human, for that matter. I look over to see Dad glaring daggers at Andre and Vemnka staring at me worriedly. I wave her off with my tail and focus back on Andre.
"Retribution is in store for you, though, as an Elf leaps over a table with two daggers drawn, ready to avenge her slain comrade. She..." Andre rolls and whoops as he punches a fist into the air. "She comes down with blinding speed and rakes her metal blades across your chest," He rolls again and lets out a slightly disappointed 'oh' before continuing. "You take a total of 8 damage from the Elf's daggers."
Andre, once again, leans forward, this time to remove the beige-tipped pawn from the table and replace it with a red cross, as well as move the green tipped toward where all the white pawns were. I assumed the gap in the markings must have been a door, as Andre had moved all the white pawns out of it when combat started. The green pawn must be escaping or blocking ours. Either way, we have to deal with the three remaining in front of us before we can handle that one.
"I see gears turning, always a good sign, but let's continue. Vemnka your combat turn. Make it count. You can use your bonus action to heal or attack with your mace, it doesn't matter as long as you do a different action when using it."
Vemnka looks over at me, then to the board with a contemplative look. "I'd like to use my first action to bless the two of them, then I'd like to use my bonus action to bonk the -what did you call it?"
"A Tabaxi."
"Yeah, that, I want to bonk that." Her tail swayed with contentment as she rolled her damage dice. It rolled into the batch of white pawns before landing on 6.
"Ouph, 'fraid that's not gonna be enough to hit anyone, but, Kimmich, Sevkan, both of you can now roll a d4 to accompany your attack roll." He flicked his d4 into the air but somehow missed it as it fell. It clattered onto the table and got flung into the living room as Andre tried to grab it. "Fuck, alright, hold on. Damned carpet's gonna be the death of me."
He went looking for the die, leaving us Venlil staring at the table before us.
"So what do you think," I asked abruptly.
"I don't know," Dad responded, his tone careful but gruff. "It's very clearly predatory. I mean, we wake up in a tavern after a night of drinking so hard our heads feel like they're about to explode and once the hangover clears we've got a band of roughnecks out for blood from the get-go." He squinted at the chess pieces representing our characters, they were all next to each other. "And I can't even really argue that we should stop because I'm fine with what's being depicted. Even if his description of you... knocking out that human was a bit over the top, I think that's the point."
"I agree," Vemnka spoke up, "The whole game is very fantastical, not meant to be compared to real life. I mean, sure, the concept of bounty hunters is a real thing, but I don't think there are humans as tall as that Goliath walking around. Or whatever a Tabaxi is."
"Fantastical and weird. If those don't describe humanity, I don't know what does," I said with a bemused flick of my tail.
"How about tired of hearing you talk about me behind my back," Andre's voice shouted from behind the couch, where he was scrounging for the lost die. Finally, he seemed to have found it, poking his head out from the backrest and looking over at us. "I'm joking of course, I don't mind at all. Unless you're insulting my taste in music, then we'll have a problem."
"I-I mean it's just-"
"Not for everyone, yadda yadda yadda. Anyway," Andre stood up, holding the d4 in his hand. "Lets continue. Tabaxi time." He took his seat and leaned forward to adjust the white pawns before rolling the hit dice. "Bruh. Another Nat 1. And here I was imagining the Goliath and Tabaxi to be the leaders of the group. Whatever. The Tabaxi attempts another swipe at you, or so it appears because she ends up cat-scratching the arm of the Goliath next to her. That's five damage, and it moves to the Goliath who is slightly pissed at everyone except for the Elf, who's, y'know, actually put in some work. The Goliath makes a wide swing, hoping to cut you all down in one fell swoop." He rolls the d20 three more times, once with a 'whoop' of success, another with a 'aww' of failure, and a final with a 'oh come the fuck on.' I could only assume it was a horrible failure. Andre's sigh fills the room. "Alright, Kimmich, you take 18 damage, he crit succeeded. Sevkan, you take no damage, and instead duck low as the swipe passes over you. Vemnka, you feel the blade move over you, but it does not connect due to your short stature. No, instead, he once again hits the fucking Tabaxi with his swing because he crit failed. Again. And because the human is no longer available to fight, it's now your turn Kimmich."
"I would like to smite again."
"Oh fuck, right you get two 1st level spell slots." Andre almost sounded annoyed when it was brought up, but relented nonetheless. "Take the hit dice."
Dad rolled, and it landed on 14. He rolled the d4 for the blessing Vemnka gave us. It landed on a 3. "Plus the five-"
"Yeah, yeah, it hits. Roll me damage."
"I'm sensing some hostilities from you," Dad said smugly.
"I'm starting to understand why my DMs hated being DMs, that's all. Please, fuck up that Goliath." And so he did, rolling a 15 in total. "You swing one of your longswords upward and cleave the Goliath's jaw in two, but he does not die. A mere flesh wound such as that would do little to dampen the giant-kin's will. No, what killed him was the bright light that engulfed his head after the strike landed. His face was the first to go as he tried to breathe through the holy flames surrounding him. His screams ended abruptly as his larynx melted away, leaving only writhing agony. He died a pitiable death in all fairness, as any sinner does. The second knockout of the game goes to Kimmich. Yay."
Again, the feeling of discomfort appeared as Andre described in unnecessary detail the visual of... someone burning alive. Oh stars, he planned that out, didn't he?
"Let's move on. Sev, your turn. First, lemme see you all roll perception again."
I rolled a 10 while both Dad and Vemnka rolled 16s. Adding modifiers made their 16s into 19s. "Alright. Again, Vemnka and Kimmich only, you see the figure who'd been moving toward the door at the beginning of the fight, now make a break for it as the Goliath collapses into a burnt-out husk. His hood is removed by the movement revealing it to be a green-scaled Dragonborn." Andre moves the Dragonborn's piece next to the door and through it, stopping it just within our sightlines. "He has a chance to escape, will you let him?" He looked at us expectantly.
I turned to Dad to see him eyeing the piece like a fresh firefruit. "Dad, no. If he leaves then that leaves the Elf and the Tub- Taba- Tabasi, whatever it's called. We can end this soon." Vemnka put her tail on his shoulder in an attempt to get his attention. He flinches at the touch and lowers his raised fur.
"Yes, yeah. Let him go," he says hoarsely.
"Alright, letting the Dragonborn go. Now it's Sev's turn. Go ahead and do something about his pesky elf." Andre moves the Elf's pawn a bit to put it back on the right square.
I shrug, attempting to fight off the conflicting feelings. On one paw, it's a game and no one is going to get hurt by me doing these things. But on the other, if I do this willingly does that make me any better than someone who would kill in real life?
Andre's voice snapped me out of my stupor. "Don't overthink it. It's a game, and this situation is self-defence. Kimmich is the only person here who's killed someone so far. The human will probably live in prison and the Dragonborn might find new meaning in life. It's not like any of this properly reflects the real world anyway. Just focus on the game, nothing more, nothing less."
I shook my body to rid myself of those thoughts and rolled my d20 and d4 from the blessing. "18 to hit."
"And hit it does. Halberd is a go!"
With another roll, it lands on a zero. "Got a 0?"
"Oh, yeah, the model I imposed the numbers on only uses one character for each side, but that's a 10. Good roll. Elf takes 10 damage and doesn't like you right now. I'm super tired of talking, so I'll just roll the hit dice. She attacks you for 19. Your AC is 19. Meets it beats it, that's a hit. Rolling damage, she lands a solid blow of 9 damage for her twin daggers. Now both you and Kimmich should have 3 health. Vem, your turn."
"Hit the tab?"
"Hit the tab."
"Hitting tab." Vemnka rolled her d20 and it landed on a 19. "19 plus whatever, I already know it hits."
"That it does," Andre responded. With a flick of his wrist, he knocks over the Tabaxi's pawn and places a cross where it was, he does the same with the Goliath's king. "Wait, why did you do that? I hadn't rolled damage."
"The Tabaxi had one health, there's no feasible way you do zero damage when rolling a dice with no zero on it. Anyway, let's wrap this up, it feels like we've been at this forever. Kimmich, your turn."
Dad sighed a deep whistling sigh. "I'll just roll to attack the Elf." He rolled his two dice, one landed on a 12 and the other landed on a 7, plus the 5 to his hits. "17 and 12. Rolling damage for that 17."
"Roll for both, the Elf's AC isn't that high."
"Really," I asked, bewildered.
"Really. The Goliath had the most AC at 16, but meets it beats it and Kimmich met it in the first round." The clack of dice interrupted him as Dad rolled his two damage die. Andre leaned forward to announce the numbers. "A total of 13. Congratulations, the three of you have just won a skewed encounter of DnD."
"Skewed encounter?"
"The Goliath had 40 health while everyone other than the Tabaxi had 20. The Tabaxi had 17. The Goliath had an AC of 16 while the rest had between 12 and 14. At least one of you should have died. I was betting on Kimmich because I had the Goliath go after him, but the nat 1s kinda stopped that from happening." Andre shook his prosthetic hands and brought them up to his chin. "Anyway, I'm dead tired. Never want to do that again, ever."
"I can't say I'm in the same cruiser as you, I found it quite fun, even with the gruesome descriptions," I said, probably unconvincingly. I did have fun, but it was a lot to take in all at once.
"I had fun too. Just, if we do do this again, try to tone back the predatory stuff. The fighting was fine, but the description was a bit... spot on I think." Vemnka's tail curled a bit as she probably imagined the images Andre described in her head.
Dad only gave a small 'hmph' as he scooted off his chair and went toward our rooms.
"Well," Andre started, "that's about what I expected from a bunch of scared space sheep."
I let out a whistle as Vemnka gently lowered herself to the ground, marched up to Andre, and bopped him on the thigh with all her might.
===================END=TRANSCRIPTION===================

Hey everyone,
I'm on the lookout for a talented developer who can create high-quality mods for Minecraft. This project will be well-paid, and I'm excited to see what amazing mods can be brought to life!
📋 Requirements:

• Develop a high-quality mod for Minecraft.
• The mod should use the player's microphone to execute commands in the game, similar to the Simple Voice Chat mod.
• The commands should either use items or make the player move, at your discretion.

If you're interested and think you have the skills to make this happen, please drop me a message or comment below. Let's make something awesome together!

Hey everyone,
I'm on the lookout for a talented developer who can create high-quality mods for Minecraft. This project will be well-paid, and I'm excited to see what amazing mods can be brought to life!
📋 Requirements:

• Develop a high-quality mod for Minecraft.
• The mod should use the player's microphone to execute commands in the game, similar to the Simple Voice Chat mod.
• The commands should either use items or make the player move, at your discretion.

If you're interested and think you have the skills to make this happen, please drop me a message or comment below. Let's make something awesome together!

Welcome to TechCraftInc Server!
We are a brand-new server established in 2024. Our goal is to build a community of mature players of all skill levels and play styles, to have fun and create a fun world to be apart of.

Features

• Location: UK-based.
  
• Performance: Intel Core i9 11900K, 6GB RAM, NVME drive.
  
• Mod Loader: Fabric. 1.20.4
  
• Restarts: Twice daily at 6am and 6pm GMT+1.
  
• Backups: Daily.
  

Gameplay

• Vanilla Mechanics – Staying as true to the vanilla game.
  
• Sleeping: 25% of players needed to skip night.
  
• Mob Griefing: Creepers and Ghasts don’t destroy blocks. Withers do.
  
• Boundaries: Overworld: 10,000x10,000, Nether: 1,250x1,250, End: 8,000x8,000. Builds outside 3,000x3,000 will be trimmed.
  
• Simple Voice Chat
  
• Discord Integration
  
• Diamond Economy
  

DataPacks:

• AFK Display
  
• Anti Enderman Grief
  
• Double Shulker Shells
  
• Durability Ping
  
• More Mob Heads
  
• Silence Mobs
  
• Wandering Trades
  

Community

• World Spawn: x: 12788, y: 93, z: 1268
  
• Shopping District: x: 12079, z: 1500
  
• Grief Protection: Use /ledger inspect.
  
• Live Map http://map.techcraftserver.uk:21250
  
• Ticket System
  
• Organised Dragon Fight with more events to come.
  
• Suggestions
  

Rules

• Duping: Prohibited, except for TNT.
  
• Farms: Must have an off switch.
  

Join Us
We're preparing for an exciting launch with prelaunch testing complete! We look forward to seeing you in our Discord for updates. Discord: https://discord.gg/hbcE7CcqTB

TechCraftInc Server

Occasionally I'll see a post here and there about how they finished one or both of these two shows, and don't know what to watch next (if you've seen one of these but not the other, I would strongly recommend watching both, but I'm sure most of you have).
Most of the time, I will see recommendations for more modern Disney cartoon shows that released afterwards, which is fair since many of the same people who worked on those shows had previously worked on Gravity Falls and Star Vs The Forces Of Evil, however I feel that many of them honestly don't have the same edge or depth that both of them appealed to me personally.
I would like to discuss some recommendations I have that I feel better suit that.
• Glitch Techs (BEST RECOMMENDATION)
This show stars an arguably more queerplatonic relationship between a female lead (Miko Kubota) and male lead (Hector "High Five" Nieves). A common critique I hear from some people against Star Vs The Forces Of Evil is that the show's main characters had a forced, unrealistic relationship. I don't necessarily agree or disagree with that sentiment, but it's a common criticism against the show.
Glitch Techs' Miko Kubota is not romantically interested in High Five at all, but is affectionately close towards him, as they develop an extremely close friendship. She may canonically have ADHD as well (something I have seen fans kin both Star and Mabel with), and her voice is a lot similar to Star's as well.
The show revolves around the two high school gamers hunting "glitches", which are errors from video games that have entered the real world and are causing havoc. The two must track these glitches down, fight them, collect them, and report them to their somewhat suspicious job, Hinobi Tech, a video game and technology empire. They also have to make sure civilians have their memories wiped after encountering these glitches (think men in black).
Unfortunately, the series never received a proper series finale, and instead ended on a cliffhanger. Production on a third season had been written, and storyboarded, and was far into production, but was never picked up by Netflix for unknown reasons.
The creators state that giving the show as much attention as possible on Netflix would be viable currently. It is allegedly coming to Paramount+ as well.
• Adventure Time
This show is 100% up the alley. It's weird, wild, and combines both sci-fi and fantasy elements... yet it's also dark, edgey, and eventually dives into more serious issues such as relationships, sexuality, bigotry, death, loneliness, etc. as it goes on. The series is surprisingly poetic, and is quite possibly one of the greatest and most influential animated shows of its era.
• Infinity Train
If you're wanting another show that's a little dark as well, I would recommend this series too. The first season is a very great opening. It is about a girl who discovers a train that she can't seem to get out of. Every room inside seems to be some kind of bizarre surreal universe and/or puzzle. From talking cats and dogs to robots and clones. Meanwhile she is also struggling to comprehend her parent's divorce.
• Rick and Morty (Amazing but least recommended)
The show's comedy is very similar to Gravity Falls regarding its surrealism and silliness, however CONTENT WARNING, this is an adult show, and it is also VERY dark, gorey, sexual, cynical, and intentionally uncomfortable (it is not afraid to jump into fringe and horrendous topics either). The show has a common theme of trauma (you have been warned).
To give a very brief summary of the show... It involves a crazy, lonely, nihilistic old man taking his teen grandson on trauma-inducing adventures throughout the multiverse.
I mention this show here because of much of its sci-fi elements and psychological depth reminded me of the second season of Star Vs The Forces of Evil, and Gravity Falls as a whole, only as a dark animated adult sitcoms (Don't worry, this is not a Family Guy equivalent. The show can be quite depressing and genuine). The series also heavily involves portal travel.
• Something else I like to consider: I personally like watching Wander Over Yonder and Phineas and Ferb alongside Gravity Falls and Star Vs The Forces Of Evil, as they all aired together. Those first two are not as similar to the others, but gives a nice blend of variety, and sort of gives insight as to what Disney Channel/Disney XD was like as the time.

Welcome to TechCraftInc Server!
We are a brand-new server established in 2024. Our goal is to build a community of mature players of all skill levels and play styles, to have fun and create a fun world to be apart of.

Features

• Location: UK-based.
  
• Performance: Intel Core i9 11900K, 6GB RAM, NVME drive.
  
• Mod Loader: Fabric. 1.20.4
  
• Restarts: Twice daily at 6am and 6pm GMT+1.
  
• Backups: Daily.
  

Gameplay

• Vanilla Mechanics – Staying as true to the vanilla game.
  
• Sleeping: 25% of players needed to skip night.
  
• Mob Griefing: Creepers and Ghasts don’t destroy blocks. Withers do.
  
• Boundaries: Overworld: 10,000x10,000, Nether: 1,250x1,250, End: 8,000x8,000. Builds outside 3,000x3,000 will be trimmed.
  
• Simple Voice Chat
  
• Discord Integration
  
• Diamond Economy
  

DataPacks:

• AFK Display
  
• Anti Enderman Grief
  
• Double Shulker Shells
  
• Durability Ping
  
• More Mob Heads
  
• Silence Mobs
  
• Wandering Trades
  

Community

• World Spawn: x: 12788, y: 93, z: 1268
  
• Shopping District: x: 12079, z: 1500
  
• Grief Protection: Use /ledger inspect.
  
• Ticket System
  
• Organised Dragon Fight with more events to come.
  
• Suggestions
  

Rules

• Duping: Prohibited, except for TNT.
  
• Farms: Must have an off switch.
  

Join Us
We're preparing for an exciting launch with prelaunch testing complete! We look forward to seeing you in our Discord for updates.
Discord; DM

TechCraftInc Server

Like the title says, I am on day 11. I tested myself again and came back positive again. So 4 more days at least of isolation!
One thing I haven't mentioned previously is that my voice has become very hoarse. I have been worried that I might lose it completely. I woke up this morning and I tried to talk, and all I could do is a quiet whisper! I have never lost my voice before and it is very scary! I started to panic a little bit but I soon calmed down!
I hope that it will come back, but worried it might not. Has anyone lost their voice before, and if so did it come back the same?

Welcome to TechCraftInc Server!
We are a brand-new server established in 2024. Our goal is to build a community of mature players of all skill levels and play styles, to have fun and create a fun world to be apart of.

Features

• Location: UK-based.
  
• Performance: Intel Core i9 11900K, 6GB RAM, NVME drive.
  
• Mod Loader: Fabric. 1.20.4
  
• Restarts: Twice daily at 6am and 6pm GMT+1.
  
• Backups: Daily.
  

Gameplay

• Vanilla Mechanics – Staying as true to the vanilla game.
  
• Sleeping: 25% of players needed to skip night.
  
• Mob Griefing: Creepers and Ghasts don’t destroy blocks. Withers do.
  
• Boundaries: Overworld: 10,000x10,000, Nether: 1,250x1,250, End: 8,000x8,000. Builds outside 3,000x3,000 will be trimmed.
  
• Simple Voice Chat
  
• Discord Integration
  
• Diamond Economy
  

DataPacks:

• AFK Display
  
• Anti Enderman Grief
  
• Double Shulker Shells
  
• Durability Ping
  
• More Mob Heads
  
• Silence Mobs
  
• Wandering Trades
  

Community

• World Spawn: x: 12788, y: 93, z: 1268
  
• Shopping District: x: 12079, z: 1500
  
• Grief Protection: Use /ledger inspect.
  
• Live Map http://map.techcraftserver.uk:21250
  
• Ticket System
  
• Organised Dragon Fight with more events to come.
  
• Suggestions
  

Rules

• Duping: Prohibited, except for TNT.
  
• Farms: Must have an off switch.
  

Join Us
We're preparing for an exciting launch with prelaunch testing complete! We look forward to seeing you in our Discord for updates. Discord: https://discord.gg/hbcE7CcqTB

See you soon!
TechCraftInc Server