Hello, I have gone through the 1601 themes on the UK region Xbox 360 store and made a list of every free theme.
As this is a very long post I have added square brackets around categories to allow users to filter out items they're not interested in.
The categories are: [movie] [product] [game] [car] [sport] [other] .
If this is still too long I have put \* symbols next to which themes I think are the best (in my opinion).
Themes
In order of release date (# represents item number)
Ghost in the Shell theme [movie] #22
Nike Zoom Theme Pack [product] #84 *
Fiat 500X Theme Pack [car] #96
Insurgent [movie] #99
Chappie Theme Pack [movie] #161
Woman In Black 2 Theme [movie] #173
Lego Ninjago Theme [movie/game] #174 *
Footlocker Nike Take Flight Theme [product] #175 *
The Other Side Honda Theme [car] #178
Halo Theme [game] #187 *
A Walk Among The Tombstones Theme [movie] #268
Puma Forever Faster Balotelli Theme [sport] #270
Puma Forever Faster Aguero Theme [sport] #271
Puma Forever Faster Usain Bolt Theme [sport] #272
Bing Theme [other] #374 *
Mutant Blobs Attack Graphic Theme [game] #380 *
Mutant Blobs Attack Growing Pains Theme [game] #381 *
Nike Last Game Iniesta Theme [sport] #385
Nike Last Game Neymar Theme [sport] #386
Nike Last Game Ronaldo Theme [sport] #387
IRN-BRU Theme [product] #401 *
Fable Anniversary Box Art Theme [game] #449 *
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa Theme [movie] #545
Turtle Beach PX22 Theme Pack [product] #634
Fast & Furious 6 Theme [movie] #698
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS 3D Theme [movie] #700
Three HTC One Theme [product] #726
Olympus Has Fallen Theme [movie] #727
OBLIVION Theme [movie] #728
Irn Bru Theme [product] #730 *
Fiat 500L Outdoor Theme [car] #731
Fiat 500L Techno Theme [car] #732
Clearasil Amelia Lily Theme [other] #735
Turtle Beach Seven Series Theme Pack [product] #736
A Good Day to Die Hard Theme [movie] #738
Hansel & Gretel Theme [movie] #739
Turtle Beach Theme Pack [product] #740
Jack Reacher Theme [movie] #741
Texas Chainsaw 3D Theme [movie] #742
GoPro HERO3 Theme [product] #745
O2 Windows Phone 8 #747
Acer Aspire S7 Ultrabook- Theme [product] #749
Lynx [product] #751
Find any film – Moments worth paying for Theme [other] #753
Motorola RAZRi Theme [product] #755
Turtle Beach Call of Duty Theme Pack [game/product] #756
The Rise of the Guardians Theme [movie] #758
Resident Evil Retribution Theme Pack [movie] #769 *
Honda Civic Theme [car] #782
Snow White And The Huntsman [movie] #787
Dictator UK Themepack [movie] #789
Pepsi Max Themes [product] #790
Find Any Film.com Theme [other] #797
Wrath of the Titans Theme [movie] #802
Nokia Lumia 800 Theme [product] #808
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol Theme [movie] #812
New Thinkers Index Body Smart Theme #815
New Thinkers Index Musical Theme #816
New Thinkers Index Natural Theme #817
New Thinkers Index Numbers Smart Theme #818
New Thinkers Index People Smart Theme #819
New Thinkers Index Self-Aware Theme #820
New Thinkers Index Visual Theme #821
New Thinkers Index Word Smart Theme #822
In Time Registration Theme [movie] #827
Immortals Theme Pack [movie] #829
Infinti Theme [car] #834
Virgin Gaming [product] #869
Kinect Premium Theme [game] #886 *
Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D [movie] #903
Lynx Wingman Theme [product] #904
Adidas F50 adiZero – Theme [product] #906
NIKE: Write The Future – Theme [product] #926
Worldwide Premiere Theme (COD BO1) [game] #929 *
Prince of Persia – Theme [movie] #930
Spartacus Theme [movie] #932
Samsung 3D LED TV Theme [product] #936
Clash of the Titans Theme [movie] #946
Edge Of Darkness – Theme [movie] #966
Avatar – Theme [movie] #981
Sherlock Holmes – Theme [movie] #983
Xtival 09- Premium Theme [game] #986 *
Bing – Theme [other] #988 *
GCHQ – Theme [other]#989
LG LED Theme [product] #991
Harry Brown Background Theme [movie] #992
Law Abiding Citizen [movie] #996
(9) Theme [movie] #1001 *
Pandorum Theme Pack [movie] #1016
Surrogates Theme Pack [movie] #1018
G.I. JOE – Theme [movie] #1037 *
Adidas F50i – Theme [product] #1043
Shockwaves Summer of Music – Theme #1052
Transformers – Theme [movie] #1060
The Hangover Theme [movie] #1066
1 vs 100 Theme [other] #1070
Coca Cola Happiness Factory Theme [product] #1090
adidas Originals – DMC Theme [product] #1099
adidas Originals – David Beckham Theme [sport/product] #1100
adidas Originals – Dynamo Theme [product] #1101
adidas Originals – Estelle Theme [product] #1102
adidas Originals – Ting Tings Theme [product] #1103
adidas Originals- Missy Theme [product] #1105
Watchmen Theme [movie] #1112
Underworld Theme [movie]#1123 *
Winter Holiday Theme [game]#1128 *
The Day the Earth Stood Still [movie]#1151
Champions of Gaming Theme [game]#1156
Max Payne Theme [movie]#1159
The House Bunny [movie]#1176
Death Race Theme [movie]#1183
Double D Dodgeball Theme [game]#1186 *
Too Human Theme Concept [game]#1192 *
Castle Crashers – Theme Pack 1 [game]#1195 *
Too Human Action Theme [game] #1214 *
Hellboy II Theme [movie] #1216 *
The X Files Theme [movie] #1223
Bungie Day ‘08 Theme! (Halo 3) [game] #1228
Wanted Theme [movie] #1236
The Incredible Hulk Theme [movie] #1237
Samsung Halo 3 – Theme [movie] #1263
Guiness World Records Gamer’s Edition Theme [product/game] #1271 *
Guiness Book Of World Records Theme [product/game] #1273 *
AVP-R Theme [movie] #1288
I Am Legend Theme [movie] #1296
Fahrenheit Theme [game] #1304 *
Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex Theme [game] #1305 *
Crimson Skies: Road to Revenge Theme [game] #1306 *
Fable Theme [game] #1307 *
Fuzion Frenzy Theme [game] #1308 *
Halo Theme [game] #1309 *
Psychonauts Theme [game] #1310 *
Dream Theatre Theme [other] #1311
Sex Pistols Theme [other] #1320 *
Xtival ‘07 Theme [other] #1321 *
Gears of war LIVE is 5IVE Theme [game] #1323 *
Ghost Recon 2 LIVE is 5IVE Theme [game] #1324
Halo 2 LIVE is 5IVE Theme [game] #1325 *
Mech Assault LIVE is 5IVE Theme [game] #1326 *
Return to Castle Wolfenstein LIVE is 5IVE Theme [game] #1328 *
Xbox LIVE is 5IVE Theme [game] #1329 *
Beowulf Theme [movie] #1330
E3 2007 Theme [other] #1417 *
Bungie Day 2007 Theme [game] #1420 *
Live Earth Theme [other] #1421
GTA IV Theme 1 [game] #1428 *
Ocean’s 13 Theme [movie] #1444
Eragon Movie Theme [movie] #1492
adidas +10 Theme [product] #1559
adidas Football Theme [product/sport] #1560
Team Geist Theme (adidas) [product] #1561
MI3 Promotional Theme [movie] #1563
Kameo Holiday Theme [game] #1584 *
Rare Theme [game] #1588 *
I may have missed some but with how slow and buggy the Xbox 360 store has been, I'm not pressing the 'A' button a thousand times.
This is part 2 of 4
I hope this helps.

Spoilers for Curse of Strahd ahead, so read at your own risk!
You know those stories you hear every once in a while? The ones that start out with “there’s no way in hell this will work” and it winds up working anyway? We just had one of those moments in an online Curse of Strahd Campaign that I absolutely had to share. So I hope you enjoy.
Our party for this tale is thusly:
Vincent: Human Blood-Hunter
Nox: Human Warlock
Eylsa: Tiefling Druid
Coyote: Pixie Barbarian
Amor: Tiefling Artificier
Rictavio: DMPC Cleric.
Our story begins in the flooded town of Berez, home to the hag Baba Lysaga. For the past few sessions, our party had been pretty decisive in their decision to “burn the witch” as it were, but opted to go for a diplomatic approach instead, mostly because we had no plan or strategy whatsoever.
After meeting and discussing some terms with the hag, it turned out she wanted the following from the party in exchange for a gemstone she’d taken from a winery. She wanted Vincent’s speed, Nox’s tongue, Eylsa’s courage, Coyote’s last breath, Amor’s Hope, and Rictavio’s heart (Methinks she had a thing for our cleric). In any case, we found those terms unacceptable and combat began with Amor shooting her in the face with a firebolt.
First thing I had Nox do was cast fly on himself and Eylsa so he could go up to the roof so he could Thunderwave it down for his next turn. Meanwhile Coyote got right up in her face to attack and Amor popped a flaming sphere right behind her inside the hut. Meanwhile, Eylsa turned into a Huge Polar Bear and followed Nox up to the roof. After some brief talking, we had a small plan; Nox would Thunderwave the roof on his next turn, then move out of the way so Eylsa could dive-bomb the house.
And then the house’s roots started attacking us…
Nox failed his con-save and dropped 5 feet onto the roof due to loosing concentration. And with a passed acrobatics check, Eylsa managed to land on her polar bear tip-toes to avoid crushing the warlock. Figuring that he was likely going to die on his next turn, Nox went right ahead and cast that Thunderwave on the roof to try and get a hole made so Eylsa would at least have an opening.
It didn’t even make a dent.
And the tree roots were still attacking.
Luckily, Rictavio was able to keep us alive with some clutch Mass Healing Words. Meanwhile, Baba Lysaga had cast Cloudkill on the party, resulting in them all running into the hut for shelter. With the Hag still inside.
It paid off in the end as they managed to get a lot of good hits on her while Nox and Eylsa tried to take out the roof, causing her to misty step onto her skull and fly up into the air for that flying advantage.
With that, it’s Eylsa’s turn. And she proceeds tell us that there were two ideas warring for dominance inside her mind; one that played on the safe side of things and could probably reduce the amount of damage taken, one that was incredibly dumb.
Proving once and for all that we are terrible, terrible influences, we all tell her to go with the dumb idea.
Now, Eylsa had never dropped her Wildshape, meaning that while she was on the roof, she was still a huge polar bear. And now, the hag is eye level with her, some feet away from the edge.
With that information, Eylsa decides to throw herself off the roof and onto the flying Baba Lysaga… While still being a huge polar bear. Her plan was to belly-flop the hag to death.
There was some discussion about the rules of fall damage and how it would carry when there’s something huge literally pile-driving you into the ground beneath you. In the end, DM ruled that Eylsa would take the fall damage while Baba Lysaga would take the same damage, times nine.
So with that, Eylsa successfully jumps, soaring through the air right on top of Baba Lysaga and rolls the necessary 3d6. The final result was an 11 fall damage to the Polar Bear…
…And 99 damage to the hag…
…
Just let that image sink in for a bit, a huge polar bear taking a flying leap off the roof of a burning hut, splattering the hag to smithereens upon impact…
…
Once we were done cheering that the plan had actually worked, and laughing our asses off because the plan had actually worked, the house went catatonic and the party was free to loot the place to our hearts content with the hag-jelly still staining the lawn.
So the next time you get an idea that you think can’t possibly work out, go for it. If nothing else, you might get a few laughs and a dead hag out of the deal!

As if in a foggy blur, I remember hearing about Udio a few weeks ago, a competitor to Suno. I wasn't all that familiar with Suno, but I had heard the song "I ONLY ATE THREE CHEESEBURGERS" which had me perplexed ---- ------ no ffffkfin way that an AI could have written a song this good!
Well, the part I was not familiar with was that you can use HUMAN-WRITTEN lyrics to fill out your composition, and that if the human-generated lyrics are witty and clever then the audio engine will sing them and add common pop-song chord changes like dancing around the Circle Of Fifths, and flittering between vi, IV and ii before jumping to V then back to I.
Anyway, started playing with Udio. FANTASTIC!!! I made a musical with 100 songs in it. Absolutely nobody cared except my mom, and Q8Q from Australia.
And as if in another foggy blur, suddenly this Udio that I was BETA-TESTING became SUBSCRIPTION ONLY and you had to pay for credits. And Inpainting only works if you attach your Credit Card information.
Well if you ask me, that jump to monetization happened WAY TOO FAST. And now around these parts, all the posts are people bemoaning that they blew through 250 credits trying to make a song, fighting with Moderation Errors all the way ((if you don't like the word TWATTED, just TELL me that you don't! Don't just throw up an utterly useless "MODERATION ERROR screen!!)), and end up having spent five bucks to make something unsatisfying.
 
Anyway, feel free to discuss this. Did the jump to monetization happen too soon?
==== ===

Every area has at least something interesting in their distant history. Whether it’s a myth, an infamous establishment, or a local sports team, there is something that an area is known for on a micro or macro level.
My area, which I will only describe as near the border of Otsego County, New York, really only has one thing that it at least USED to be known for. From the early Seventies to just before the new millennium, there was an amusement park that was the rare source of many childrens’ entertainment before video games and the internet became really widespread. It wasn’t big by any means, I don’t even think it has a Wikipedia page. But for many, it was 85 acres of heaven.
I was born in ‘96, so I never actually got to go to the park, but speaking to the adults in my life, I always had a very romanticized view of it growing up. It contained two roller coasters, about 18 state fair-tier rides, an amphitheater, some decent dining choices, and the ride that made this park worth it. A water-dark ride called “Journey Through Legend”.
Journey Through Legend is a funny name for reasons I’ll make clear now. It opened in the late Eighties. You would hop into boats and be brought through four large rooms that represented four different “legends”. The first being ghosts, the second being Bigfoot, the third being zombies, and the final being mermaids/sirens. None of these legends had anything to do with our area, so I have no idea why they were selected, but everyone I have spoken with have talked very highly about this ride for varying reasons.
Now, since the park closed in ‘99 due to poor attendance, most of the park was dismantled and sold off to other parks, with the land being repurposed. However, for reasons beyond the mid-level government officials I was able to gain audience with could tell me, Journey Through Legend, and some of the surrounding land, still stands.
Surrounded by a twelve foot fence topped with barbed wire, this dark ride that meant so much to nearly everyone in my life has just sat there, untouched, for 25 years.
Recently, I’ve gotten into an urban exploration kick due to YouTube’s algorithm, and it inspired me to break the law to tour the only interesting abandoned structure for hundreds of miles. So, over the course of the last week, I obtained two fifteen foot ladders, a cheap rug, and some basic hiking gear. Then, at 7PM on Friday, I threw everything in my truck, and was off.
The site is about a 40 minute drive from my house, sitting in some newly-sprouted woods behind the industrial park that replaced the amusement park. About halfway there, I had my first antagonistic thought. Why on earth did the ride still exist? Everything else got completely dismantled, why would a single ride be left, and PROTECTED for that matter!? But I shrugged the nagging notion off, and continued on.
The dark overtook me as I started down the gravel access road that led to the fence. So you can imagine my surprise as I noticed dancing technicolor lights rise above the trees as I got closer to the site. My jaw literally dropped when I got to the outskirts of the fence. The ride’s front facade, which was a closed golden storybook, poked above the fence, and was LIT UP. I was so caught up in the moment that as I set up the first ladder, I didn’t think to take pictures!!
I walked up the ladder with the rug, placed the rug on the barbed wire, then went down and lugged the second ladder up, throwing it over. I then literally prayed to not get injured before I dropped from the top of the fence. After landing unharmed, I rose, and almost felt like I was having an out of body experience.
The entire ride was lit up. Every single bulb out front was working. The title of the “book” (and the ride) jumped out to me in rainbow lettering. I set up the second ladder before slowly approaching the ride. As I walked through the path toward the ride, which now had been mostly reclaimed by nature, I felt entranced. I wasn’t literally placed in a trance by the ride, I was simply overtaken by the unreality of what was standing before me.
I suppose this was why I wasn’t more shocked by the fact that the ride wasn’t just lit up, but was MOVING! WORKING! I could hear the water rushing! The gears turning! If I craned my neck enough, I would have seen the boats cycling through! After walking through the queue area, I imagined a smiling ticket taker welcoming me on the loading ramp, asking if I was ready to have fun.
It was when I reached the loading ramp where I first realized that this fantasy wasn’t “perfect”. The sound system was working, and while the backtrack of the ride had been described as “lightly ominous”, this horrid ‘whooshing’ noise was pouring out of the speakers. It sounded like listening to a tornado through the front screen door of a midwestern home.
Despite this, when a boat halted in front of me, I tossed my backpack in, and got in the front seat. Why was I doing this? Why was this ride fully operational? WHO was operating the fucking thing!? These were questions that meant nothing to me as the boat moved forward toward a rotting wooden door with the words “welcome” painted onto it. The “spell” was broken as I passed through the doors, and the ear splitting noise from the speakers were replaced by the pre-recorded sounds of the first room.
The “ghost” room was the least remarkable for reasons you’ll soon understand. It certainly was cool though. The surrounding set was of a normal all-American home that was besieged by a poltergeist. Lights flickered on and off, household items flew across the room, and disembodied children’s laughter filled the room before we reached the bend for the second half of the scene. After the bend, you were met with the ride’s first animatronic. I imagine it was once shocking to see at such a small park, but it was now less than remarkable. It was mostly damp and torn white cloth reaching up to an admittedly creepy pale face of a dead man howling at me. The “eerie” ambient music was replaced with a scream as the animatronic was hurled a bit too close to the boat by what I could only picture as a rusty mechanical arm.
Once the animatronic was slowly and awkwardly hauled back onto the side, the boat moved forward toward another door. This door was painted like the tree-line of some woods, with glowing animal eyes filling the gaps between the shrubbery and trees. However, both the boat and the background music halted just before I reached the door. My heart jumped when the sound of a soft-but-sad woman’s voice filled the building through the PA-system.
“Have you wondered yet why you’re here? Have you questioned the actions that led you here? If you haven’t yet, you really should. Not that it matters anymore, though.”
Then, as if it never happened, the music returned, this time a royalty-free “sounds of the woods” track, and the boat began moving again.
The next section had the stages on both sides filled with faux vegetation you’d find in any random American forest. Upon first entering the room, you’re greeted by the ride’s only “normal” animatronic, a stereotypical “hiker”. With labored, jerky movements, he turned his head to look at me. His face was shockingly well-sculpted. His sad bespectacled eyes paired well with his expression of complete dread. As if he knew the fate that would befall him within this scenario.
It wasn’t until I moved past the hiker that I really noticed the SMELL. Stagnant water EVERYWHERE. It invaded my nose, tickled my throat, and filled my lungs. I did my best to keep myself from vomiting by focusing on the scene around me. The fake plants were falling apart, and the branches of the trees hung lower than they should. Then, the music was replaced by a sharp howl as we reached an animatronic of a “wolf” on my left side. I put that in quotes because the animatronic was in ROUGH shape. The fake fur had fallen off in multiple places, the jaw had likely broken, because it hung open with reckless abandon, and its yellowing eyes seemed to bug out of its head. The ride stopped beside the wolf, and its unending stare was getting to me, so I looked to the other side, and I noticed something.
At the very back of this stage, I could see something pacing back and forth. It was hunched over, covered in intact hair, and was just aimlessly pacing. I knew that it couldn’t be an animatronic, because it was moving far too fluidly, something that couldn’t have been done with this ride’s budget. I didn’t get a good look because like I said, it was at the very back, concealed by the rotting trees. Plus, the ride started moving again just before my eyes could see any distinguished features.
Eventually, we got to the Bigfoot animatronic, which was pretty shoddily done. It was only at all unnerving because like the wolf, its damp fur was hanging off it like the skin of a burn victim.
Again, the ride moved toward a third door. This door was painted with the faces of green brain-hungry zombies. But before the boat’s bow reached the doors to force them open, the ride was once again halted, and the same haunting female voice filled the building.
“To be forgotten is a terrible thing. But to be ostracized is even worse. Caged like an animal, fed scraps from the population, I don’t want to live like this anymore. I want to die. Why are you here? Why won’t you just let me die?”
This was all said with a sadness that one can only know if they’ve hit rock bottom. These words threatened to split my soul in half as the boat pushed forward.
The PA system was now spitting out the sounds of anguished screams mixed with the grunting of B-movie actors playing the living dead. However, the next room was the most visually impressive.
The scene was truly apocalyptic, both sides were filled with the death of an idyllic suburb. The sameface houses were filled with controlled flames. On the front lawns, behind picket fences, mangled human animatronics were being set upon by grotesque zombies. I didn’t say “zombie animatronics” because honestly, they didn’t very much look like animatronics at all. If they were, they belonged on a Disney World ride, because their movements appeared slightly too fluid, similar to the hulking furry figure from the prior scene. They groaned in delight as they tore apart the helpless robots that sat before them. The only thing that marked them as animatronics was the fact that like the others, they were rotting. But this time, I couldn’t tell if it was the doing of the humid atrocity that was the stagnant water beneath the boat or if this was done purposefully.
Then, halfway through the scene, everything stopped. Literally everything. The boat, the animatronics, the music, and unfortunately, even the lights. The moment I was plunged into darkness, I felt a fear that had never been matched before (and would never be matched again if the next scene hadn’t happened). By the one minute mark, I didn’t know what to do. I was about to grab my phone from my pocket, to force myself back into reality by calling the authorities, when I heard something. Movement. Not mechanical movement, no, movement that only flesh and blood creatures could make. They were moving with a human’s gait. Then, the woman again made her presence known through the building’s speakers. Her sadness now evaporated and replaced with a seething anger.
“I hate you. I hate you all. You created me, you sustain me, and have left me to rot. You were unfairly chosen for this, but I have nothing but hard feelings. The only regret I have is that I cannot force this fate on every man, woman, and child that walk this earth.”
Then, everything sprang to life again, and I truly wish it hadn’t. With the lights on, I saw that every zombie was now standing at the edge of both stages. They were all lined up, glaring down at me. The stench of stagnant water was now replaced with the stench of human decomposition. I felt like at any moment, they were going to jump down and tear me limb from limb. Then, in perfect unison, they all opened their jaws that strongly resembled the one that the wolf animatronic had, and emitted an angry, pained screech. I answered back with a scream of complete terror. Then, once again, darkness.
This darkness lasted only a few seconds. Then, once the ride roared back to life, everything was as it was when I first entered the room. The zombies were back in their original positions.
My sobs overpowered the undead groaning as the boat moved toward the doors adorning an absolute ripoff of Disney’s Ariel. To my complete delight though, the boat moved through the doors without issue.
The final scene had to be the most expensive. Ethereal fantasy sounds backtracked pretty impressive visuals. Instead of stages, large pools sat beside me. On the left, the only above-water feature was an animatronic mermaid sunbathing on a large rock. On the right, a pirate ship with some animatronic pirates waving down to a mermaid that sat barely above water, waving back.
Despite this scene having the MOST water, the smell of gross stagnant water was completely absent. Instead, it felt like I now sat in the middle of a genuine sea with all the correct smells. For the first ten or so seconds, I had this unfounded feeling of calmness, like I was about to get out of this nightmare unscathed. But then, about halfway through, everything went wrong.
My boat halted, and I was once again forced to listen to who I now assumed was the operator of the ride, or perhaps was the voice of the ride itself.
“Goodbye, dear sacrifice. You only have the others to blame. It’s easier to just accept this ending. All myths, all stories, all legends have one, and this is yours.”
Then, both mermaid animatronics submerged themselves. The one to my right lowered her hand and slowly crept beneath the water. While the one on the rock simply pushed herself downward and slid underneath the surface. While they of course moved unlike any normal animatronic, they were nowhere near as fluid as the zombies, they very much moved robotically.
My stomach dropped as I pulled my phone out with the intention of calling 911. Zero service. As if I had been teleported to the middle of the ocean.
I knew I was being hunted, I just couldn’t fucking see where they had gone. Then, to my left, I saw a figure slowly rising to the surface, so I picked up my backpack and moved to the right of the boat.
Big mistake.
A hand clamped around my right wrist. The feeling of which I can barely describe to you. Silicone, the skin of a recently deceased human, whatever scurries in the depths of the underworld, that was what was gripping my wrist.
I swung my head around and saw a rotting animatronic arm holding me. The faux-skin was patchy, but I didn’t see a robot’s exoskeleton beneath it, I saw what I can only describe as a nebulous darkness beneath the silicone outer shell.
I stood and yanked my arm free from its grip far too hard, because a moment later, my world was turned upside down as I tumbled out of the boat.
I didn’t want to open my eyes, I wanted everything to just be over, I didn’t want to have to face what I was going to have to, but if I wanted to survive, if I wanted to go back home, I had to open them.
Both mermaids now floated in front of me in the murky water. Their imitation faces were wrenched into sadistic grins. I then looked up and saw the boat’s track only a few feet above me. I also stupidly looked down and saw the unending sea below me. I tried spasming upward, but the mermaids were too quick. Though like I said, they moved robotically, their movements were enough to out-swim me.
My hands were nearly at the metal tracks when I felt my ankles yanked downwards. I looked down and nearly vomited when I saw that the faces of the mermaids had been replaced with those of bloated corpses. Hungry bloated corpses.
I’m not a great swimmer, but I’m a human, and we have a will to live that cannot be matched by any supernatural force. I began thrashing. Moving as if I was stuck between two enclosing walls and I needed to push them away to avoid being squished. Though I felt one of my ankles slice open against one of their grips, I broke free.
With darkness inching at the edge of my vision, I reached the track, and yanked myself up and over it.
I don’t know how I didn’t fall through the tracks because my ass didn’t look down once as I sprinted across it. The woman’s voice filled the building, she was frustrated, screaming at me to stop.
The mermaids were still grabbing at me, but I was moving forward. I’m a human, and I was moving forward.
I pushed myself through the wooden doors with a faded “Thanks For Coming!” painted on them.
The next five or so minutes were a blur. I only really regained what you could call full “consciousness” as I placed my keys into my truck’s ignition.
I burned my sopping wet stinking clothes last night. I left everything there, so maybe I’ll get a visit from the cops soon, but I don’t think I will.
It’s strange. I have no use for legends anymore, yet here I am writing one. But that doesn’t matter, because I survived. I’m a human, I survived, and I will never ride a dark ride again in my life.

Here's Snoodles' True Deranged form!
A far cry from the shape-shifting original form, Snoodles' True Deranged form is far bigger and far more frightening. His mouth is now permanently hinged open (since previously he couldnt open it or close it because it's a skull and he has no muscles to move it obvs), and his previously empty eye sockets have human eyes in them that gaze endlessly forward.
This form appears as a last desperate attempt to convince and esstenially guilt trip and gaslight his victims from being sane again, like he'll accuse them of being weak and cowardly etc. design wise, he'll be based off
Design wise, he's based off of Smile Dog and Long Horse, and the eyes are based off The Face in FNATI.

You messaged me asking what it would take to be in my next story. I let you know I would need to see a face and dick pic to decide. You were hesitant to send a face pic but did not waste time sending a dick pic.
My mouth watered instantly. You must have the prettiest dick I had ever seen. It was long and veiny. Your pink head was perfectly curved, and your slit glistened with precum. I couldn't tell but it must have been at least 8 inches or more and I wanted to find out. I couldn’t stop looking at it. It stood at attention, swollen and full, firm with excitement and calling my lips.
I don’t usually meet someone without seeing them first and I couldn’t convince you to send me a face pic. Would I break my own rules for your girthy cock?
You convince me to meet you at a bar. You let me know If you weren’t what I expected, I could leave. If anything I would get a free drink. I hated myself for caving in but I want your dick!
On a cloudy evening I followed your instructions. You wanted me to wear black, with my hair slicked back, ready for fun. I was to meet you at 8. Once I arrived at the destination, I would travel up to the 5th floor. I was to sit at the bar opposite of the pool side and look out for you. I would know it’s you because you would wear brown shoes, navy blue slacks, a light blue button down, with no tie. You told me to make sure I looked for your rolled up sleeves and tattoos on your left arm.
I followed your instructions. Once I found my spot I ordered a drink. From where I was sitting I had a clear shot to the entrance. The bartender hands me my vodka water and I take my first sip.
It wasn’t long after I took my first sip when I saw you walk in. You walked in with a smile which was incredible. A contrast from the gloomy evening. You were taller than I expected. You had perfectly combed dirty blonde hair. Your eyes were piercing blue. Tattoos traveled down your left arm. I knew it was you.
My glare must have caught your attention. You looked over where I was sitting when our eyes locked. I politely smile and continue enjoying my drink. I did not know what you had planned.
You come over to introduce yourself. “Am I what you expected?” You ask. Confidence in a man is sexy, and you were definitely confident. “Maybe.” I responded. I was in a trance. Not only did you look great but you smelled incredible.
You order a drink and sit next to me. There was no small talk. You were easy to talk to. I laughed at your jokes and I flirtatiously rubbed your leg. I notice there was a crease in your pants and realize it’s your hard on. Although we were outside I felt warm. I became flustered looking at your cocks outline. I wanted to find out what it tastes like. I want to unzip your pants, unwrap your cock, and indulge in every inch. I wanted to suck up every last drop like I was dying of thirst.
You must have seen my want for your dick. You asked to pay our tab. Then you whispered in my ear “do you trust me?” This turns me on. I bit my bottom lip and signal yes with my head. “Then follow me.”
We get on the elevator and quietly go down. Dirty thoughts raced in my head. I want to work on your dick hard, taking it deeper and deeper while gently rubbing your balls. The doors to the elevator open. I froze for a moment when you turned and told me, “come on.” I followed you.
We walked out of the building into a fresh summer night. You take a right and walk towards a dark and less busy side of downtown. Not much was being said. It seems like you know where you’re going. I started wondering why you’d ask if I trusted you when you took a sharp turn into a dark alley. I stopped. I didn’t know you and you wouldn’t send a pic, what if this was a set up. That’s when I hear you shout out “are you coming?”
I turned the corner and not far from the street you had your slacks pulled down and your cock in your hand. I could not believe how comfortable you were to be naked so close to the public. My worry had quickly diminished when I saw how big your cock was. I looked back to see if anyone was coming, and it was clear. I slowly positioned myself to drain your balls.
I placed my right hand under your impressive dick. It was a monster cock!!! I thought 9 inches for sure. I licked my lips admiring it. It was no longer a picture but now in my face. Then with no warning, my mouth descends down your shaft. You lean back towards the wall and gasp.
I pull your drenched dick out. I began to circulate my tongue around the rim of your head. I want to deep throat you. I prepare by relaxing my throat muscles before sliding your dick down. I drag your cock along the roof of my mouth on its way to my throat. Your head stops, it is pressed against my tonsils. Your cock is so massive I need a little help to get it down my throat. You push forward, and it pops past my gag reflex. “Mmm…” I hear you moan. While my eyes release some tears.
You slowly thrust into me. Every time your head pops past my tonsils. You can’t believe I can take all your cock. No one has ever been able to do so.
There is saliva everywhere. My mouth is producing so much saliva from wanting your cock so bad. It’s all over your cock, balls and my face. It’s so slippery your cock goes in and out easily. My lips make slurping sounds from pressing up against your veiny member. You love this and let me know.
While my mouth works on your cock, my right hand rubs under your balls. You must have liked the pressure, because you spread your legs open and squat down a bit, holding yourself against the wall to make room. My fingers are now traveling down and pressing up against your hole. Your cock gets harder. You don’t stop me.
Unexpectedly, I moved my face down and went under your balls and between your legs. My tongue is in search of your hole. At first it encounters your hairy ass but eventually it meets your hole. “Oh fuck you” you exclaimed and squad even further down. I can’t believe you're holding this squad this long but it makes sense because you’re fit. In this position I take the opportunity and go in deep with my tongue. That’s when I feel your right hand push my head closer to your ass.
I can hear my saliva clashing with your hand while you stroke your cock. Your right hand never loosens the grip of my head. That’s when I hear you warn me “oh fuck! Oh fuck!!!” You began to unleash string on string of hot cum. You get it everywhere. I quickly moved my head towards your dick and tried to suck up the remaining of your cum but it’s too late. You have completely emptied your balls.
You pick up your underwear before collapsing on the floor. “I’ve never felt that before” panting and reaching for air. “How do you do that?” You ask. I smile and offer you a hand to help you up. “So I take it, you liked it?”

I think I hit a new low in my ventures with Weed, yesterday night I took a deep hit of a kart at a movie theater. The kart is 80 percent pure thc sativa hybrid. Feeling the tightness in my throat from the weed I held in my cough to Try not to attract attention.
I could feel my muscles relax for a second then suddenly the sounds of the movie expanded and kept growing, I could suddenly feel the sound coming out of the speakers this feeling as very intense almost like that’s all I could hear, my awareness shifted to everything everywhere at once, time slowed way down, my body felt incredibly light like if I was floating I started to loose sense of reality and who I was or where I was. At this point I stare at my girlfriend and just get up and leave my chair, walking out of the theater seemed like an eternity, I could barely feel myself walking or even if I was walking properly at all. As I open the last door I manage to get out. All I was focused on was walking to my car. At this point my heart rate was at an all time high about 200 bpm it felt like. I reach the door to my car and get in. Everything was so intense my thoughts were loud sounds were extremely loud and would acoustically reverb ever so slightly. I tried calming myself down but it just got worse, My heart rate just kept beating fast I thought and felt like I was going to die there was a moment were I thought I died it felt so fake and real at the same time. I ended up praying at this point and finally started to calm down I rolled down the windows but then suddenly my mouth felt extremely dry and thirsty like I’ve never experienced before it was such an intense thirst. So I look down and grab my coffee and drink that which helped for a bit but it just got worse after that. I started feeling nauseous after that so I texted my girlfriend to come back to the car which she did eventually and started to comfort me. At this point the intensity was past its peak but it’s been staying almost constant and with no intention of slowing down. So I drink water and lay down. Closing my eyes would make me nauseous so I ended up vomating extremely bad several times out the door. Almost chocked on my own vomit it was disgusting, this did help me sober up and the high at this point was wearing off but the physical and physiological effects were still there.
This was by far the most intense high I’ve ever experienced and it’s a nightmare I honestly in that moment wish I was dead because I think dying feels better than whatever the fuck that was. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy never.
If anyone now’s why and how this is caused and if it is dp/dr then please feel free and comment thanks!

Hey everyone!
Just wondering how you decide on the balloon size? Currently I am ordering 30ml foley 16f caths, but i only fill them up to about 15ml. But i don't understand why there are different size balloons on them? Should i try and stay small 5ml? Or just do what ever i want? I don't see what the difference of putting a 30ml in there.
I also had a bit of an accident about a week ago i used Xylocaine a lidocane pain reliever when i insert my caths it just makes the first little while pain free and don't feel anything while I'm getting used to it in there. It only lasts about an hour so its pretty good. But last night i struggled to get the catheter into my bladder the measurement said it was in there length wise so i filled the balloon with about 3ml and it felt different and painful but i injected about 10ml and the pain got a little worse, a little urine did come out so i thought i was fine but i tried to relax and after a while the pain was too much it was like bladder spasms, i tried pushing and pulling the catheter but with no luck, so after about 3 hrs or so i did a quick removal and put it back in, and went in perfect the second time. So my guess is that it did not enter my bladder and i injected the balloon while it was in my urethra and that's pretty much what it felt like i did. And when i pulled on the cath i could see it was about 20mm shorter than it should have been. But now it makes me think if i can do it again it would be interesting to see if i could get the balloon to expand my prostrate area, so it would cause me to loose more control when the catheter is out? But i dont think it works that way, id either upset my prostrate or cause something to break.
Its been a few days now and I've noticed i cant hold it very long now compared to what i used to be able to. It does hurt when i pee, but not like a UTI more like muscle pain trying to start or stop it. But I've put myself on some antibiotics and it seems to be getting alot better. Putting a catheter in now makes it feel alot better and is very relaxing for it.
Why is it so hard to buy 3way caths :( None of my suppliers sell them :(
Last question i promise, Like many people here have the same problem from what i have seen is that after wearing a catheter for about 24hrs i seem to get frustrated because its not painful its just not comfortable and you want relese from it and think its just easier to pull it out and get some releif. But i have noticed if i manage to go to bed at night i can wake up feeling better and happy to leave it in their longer. But most days i get to the night time part and just want to pull it out. Does masterbating causes this discomfort i wonder. I also wonder if it has anything to do with the urethral wall drying up that causes that discomfort. How do you re lubricate? Ony have to remove and relubricate and insert and see how it feels again? Or expose as much as the cather you can and lube up as much as you can and work its way down further? I notice it does dry up alot when you take a hot shower. Any tips for keeping it in longer, or is it mind over matter?
Thanks everyone
Stay safe everyone, not like dumb me.

Alright! Look, listen…this here story is somethin’ I’m not too keen on sharin’, mainly because I ain’t got too much to say about it all but, also, because it’s more a flashback of something from my ravaged brain. Due to it being from my ravaged brain, I ain’t to certain it’s a real memory or something implanted to make me a more sympathetic type person. Either way, if you ask me to explain who I am, it might start like this: A long, long time ago…
18 years ago…
The icy clash of shattered glass mixed with the shrill scream of twisting metal as the crushing weight of the cylinder bared down on the old car. First, its hood crunched down to pop the headlights, and to make the fenders press and slice into the tires, tires already flattened by time and now made completely useless. Then the windshield crackled and the cabin crumpled. One rear tire still inflated suddenly deflated as the load of weight popped the sidewall to release a long, loud hiss. The rest of the car’s windows were missing already and, as the conveyor fed the last of the junkheap in the crusher, Alex looked on in satisfaction.
“Didn’t think we’d get that pile finished before sundown!” Alex said as he reached up to pull off his hat and wipe sweat from his brow. As he let his foot off from one actuator on the ground and, also, he let go of a large handle that sprung back into place. As he did so, the large crusher came to a slow grinding stop. When the glass settled and all was quiet, he pulled off his gloves and breathed a sigh of relief.
“You want me to get the truck?” Little Alex, his young daughter asked, her high voice came from behind to surprise her father.
He turned around with a jump. “What in the?!” He was startled, not just by his little girl, but by the fact that she was in the wrecking yard at all. “Who let you back you here?” he looked around before looking to his girl. “You know you’re not supposed be back here, LA.”
The little long-haired brunette did not shy away as she used her thumb to point over her shoulder, back at the door. “Mom said I’m big enough to be back here,” she smirked.
“Listen…” he knelt down to her, eye to eye and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. “Where the truck is at…” he nodded in that direction, over her shoulder, but was careful to keep eye contact. “And…out around the side-yard with Butch and Cassidy…yes…you’re big enough to be back there. But, look,” he pointed to a sign that said ‘Hardhat Area.’ “Signs like that are important and you need to pay attention to things like them.” He stood and took off his hard hat and looked at it as he continued. “LA, when your mom or I say the phrase ‘back there…’ well, it’s what we say when we go behind the office…it makes things easy for the customers to understand. But, you’re old enough to know the difference now, so, let me show you something.” He took the hardhat and placed it on little Alex’s little head. “First thing’s first: you’re gonna’ need one of these.”
“Are we going to get the truck?”
“Not just yet. You need to learn about the signs of danger back here.”
Only a few minutes had passed before the two found themselves standing at the back door entrance to the office. LA could hear her mom faintly talking with a customer up front, and started to reach for the doorknob, but Alex spoke up to say, “Hey, take a look at this.” LA stopped and turned to look. There, covered in years of grime and smudged with all manner of grease and oil, an assortment of signs had been nailed to the wall, adjacent to the threshold. “Have you ever noticed these before?” he looked to LA as she scanned the signs and slowly nodded. “Have you figured out what they mean?” Again, he watched her slowly nod. “Okay…” he raised his head in curiosity and pointed to a Hardhat sign, one that resembled what he had pointed out earlier near the crusher. It did not have any of the wording, it only had a little black figure of a man with a bright yellow hardhat, all surrounded by a thick bright-red circle. It did not click with LA, and Alex could see that. “Here, let me give you a hint.” He reached out and took the hardhat from her head and put in on his own, making sure to take a step sideways, just right enough to be in the same view of the sign so that LA could visually compare them.
She gasped with realization and a smile. “You need a hard hat!”
“That’s right!” Alex said excitedly as he bent down, grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her up into his arms. Even being nine, LA felt as light as a leaf in Alex’s muscled arms and, with one arm, he held her close as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He was about to point to the sign about needing to wear gloves in the back but, just then, he caught the scent of something unwelcome and, with his free hand he pointed to another sign. “What’s this one mean?” He asked as he scanned the area.
LA looked at it with concentration on her face.
The sign had what she knew to be a cigarette on it with a huge red circle that crossed through the cigarette. She crooked her head in slight recognition and pointed at it, “I’ve seen that at the diner, but…”
Alex found what he was looking for, and, with a smile and raised brow, he nodded. “That’s right. Do you know what it means though?” Trying not to break LA’s focus, Alex wiggled off the glove of his free hand and began snapping his fingers towards Jim, a man standing towards the back of the room.
As Jim looked up, a cigarette dangling from his lips, Alex’s face became stern as he discreetly motioned about the cigarette.
LA thought about it and, finally, shook her head to make her pony tail lightly whip and tickle against Alex’s neck, bringing his attention back. “What’s it means, dad?”
“It means No Smoking,” he said just loud enough for Jim to hear, looking at him one more time. “Cigarettes are bad for many reasons but, back here, they can set things on fire.” He watched as Jim, dejected, snuffed out the little fire-starter. He looked back to LA, then, the sign and pointed out a couple more items. “There’s lots of things back here that can hurt you. Corrosive stuff. Electrical things…you remember what happened in Robocop 2, when Murphy grabbed that electrical box?”
LA’s eyes went wide. “His name was Alex, too!”
Alex let loose a roaring laugh. “Yes! But you’re missing my point…remember how he got fried?”
LA nodded with her eyes growing even wider.
“Well…I don’t want THIS Alex fried!” He bopped her on the nose with his index finger. “You understand?”
With a giggle and a smile, LA gave a short little nod.
Hoping she understood, Alex turned to make sure Jim had really put his cig out but found no sign of the man. He set LA down, turned and opened the door and, in an instant, he saw the orange flick of firelight flash up. Not wanting to hurt LA, but it was all he could think to do in such a short time, he kicked her in the butt to send her sailing up the hall.
LA tumbled to the floor as thunder and orange light slammed the door closed behind her, throwing off the Employees Only sign that skipped across the floor to a stop at LA’s feet.
Present day…
When I woke up, the Crossout was well underway but enough about me, that’s a story for another time…right now, we need to get to the real story of things.
It all started when…

What's up folks?
Does anyone feel like sharing their post-op strength training routine? I've been medically cleared and while I've been committed to walking, I really need to do something to mitigate the loss of lean muscle mass after surgery.
Does anyone have a weekly routine they'd mind sharing? I'm down for resistance band training as well as free weights.
I could probably come up with one - but I'm just generally worn out from work after surgery that it'd be really helpful if someone could just point me at a routine and tell me to do it (while adjusting the weight as needed.)
Worse comes to worst, I'll go digging and try to pull up my old strength-training regiment from high school when I played football.
Thanks in advance.

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Let me know how ChatGPT did and what you would change.

1. United States - The Enclave

Characteristics: The Enclave is a remnant of the pre-war United States government, highly advanced technologically, with a focus on reclaiming their perceived rightful dominance and restoring their version of America.
Analogy: The United States is a global superpower with advanced technology, military might, and a strong sense of national identity. It sees itself as a leader in international affairs, similar to how the Enclave views itself as the rightful rulers of the post-apocalyptic world.

2. China - The Institute

Characteristics: The Institute is highly secretive, technologically advanced, and influential in ways that are not always visible. They operate from the shadows and have a significant impact on the world around them.
Analogy: China, with its advanced technological sector, expansive surveillance, and strategic influence, mirrors the Institute’s operations. China's growing global influence and technological advancements align with the Institute's secretive and powerful nature.

3. Russia - Caesar's Legion

Characteristics: Caesar's Legion is a militaristic and autocratic faction that controls vast territories with an iron fist. It values strength, discipline, and order, often at the cost of individual freedoms.
Analogy: Russia, with its strong central leadership, significant military presence, and emphasis on order and stability, can be seen as analogous to Caesar's Legion. The focus on power and control, sometimes at the expense of democratic freedoms, aligns well with the Legion's values.

4. Germany - The Brotherhood of Steel

Characteristics: The Brotherhood of Steel is dedicated to preserving technology and knowledge, often with a disciplined and militaristic approach. They see themselves as protectors of humanity's technological heritage.
Analogy: Germany, known for its technological advancements, engineering prowess, and disciplined society, parallels the Brotherhood of Steel. The emphasis on technology, preservation of knowledge, and structured society make this a fitting analogy.

5. United Kingdom - The Minutemen

Characteristics: The Minutemen are a faction dedicated to protecting the common people and restoring order through community and cooperation. They are often seen as the defenders of the common good.
Analogy: The United Kingdom, with its long history of democracy, community values, and emphasis on the rule of law, can be likened to the Minutemen. The UK's role in fostering international cooperation and maintaining stability reflects the Minutemen's mission.

6. France - New California Republic (NCR)

Characteristics: The NCR is a democratic republic that seeks to restore civilization and expand its influence through governance and infrastructure development. They value democracy, law, and order.
Analogy: France, as a strong proponent of democracy and a country with a history of revolutionary change, aligns well with the NCR. France's efforts in international diplomacy and its role in the European Union reflect the NCR’s mission to restore and expand civilization.

7. Japan - Diamond City

Characteristics: Diamond City is a bustling, advanced settlement built within Fenway Park, showcasing innovation, resilience, and a blend of tradition and modernity. It thrives on commerce and community spirit.
Analogy: Japan, with its mix of traditional culture and cutting-edge technology, parallels Diamond City. Japan's economic resilience, innovative spirit, and cultural richness make this a fitting comparison.

8. India - The Railroad

Characteristics: The Railroad is a secretive organization dedicated to freeing and protecting synths (synthetic humans). They operate underground and focus on humanitarian efforts.
Analogy: India, with its vast population, diverse culture, and focus on human rights and social justice, can be likened to the Railroad. India’s efforts in protecting vulnerable populations and advocating for human rights resonate with the Railroad's mission.

9. Brazil - New Reno

Characteristics: New Reno is a city of vice and excess, thriving on gambling, drugs, and crime but also known for its vibrant, dynamic culture and adaptability in the harsh post-apocalyptic world.
Analogy: Brazil, known for its vibrant culture, diverse society, and challenges with crime and corruption, parallels New Reno. The energy, resilience, and adaptability of Brazilian society reflect New Reno’s dynamic nature.

10. Canada - Rivet City

Characteristics: Rivet City is a large, self-sustaining settlement on an aircraft carrier, known for its emphasis on community, education, and technological preservation.
Analogy: Canada, with its focus on community values, education, and technological advancement, aligns well with Rivet City. Canada’s emphasis on social welfare, environmental preservation, and multiculturalism mirrors Rivet City’s ethos.
These analogies highlight the diverse characteristics and roles of each country on the global stage, drawing parallels with the various factions within the Fallout universe.

At the very beginning of my Freshman year, my mother and grandpa passed away. [sorry for the dramatic cold open!] I was struggling a lot that first semester, and while I was getting through the classes, I wasn't doing great at them. Not as great as I know I could.
By second semester, I ended up transferring into online classes, where I basically gave up, and dropped all of them. After that, I applied to a tiny private College-Prep liberal arts school and that's where I'm at now. It's nice, they lean heavily into having everyone do focused college-like Humanities classes and Arts. The summer before I started attending, my father also passed away. I hadn't been living with him, my parents were divorced and he wasn't in a position to take me in, but that still sucked.
Now obviously, having an entire semester of Fs on my transcript is problematic. Another issue is the fact that the school I currently go to doesn't actually do GPAs. All our grades are basically written as narrative evaluations, and since very few schools do that, it's hard to find resources outside of the web of my own school. If a College were to request a GPA, our school would be able to provide one, but that's basically a matter of the Principal reading through my evaluations, and determining roughly what they would be roughly equivalent to if I was at the nearby public school.
All of my evaluations have been absolutely solid, I'm fairly certain I would have straight As. In addition, while attending I did take a virtual French II class over the summer, Japanese 101 and Biology 101 at nearby Colleges; I have an A in all of them. I'm sure if I requested a GPA for my regular classes, I would have mostly As. I have taken Calculus I [AB], but I'm awaiting my AP score. Calculus AB/BC are the only AP classes my school offers. For what it's worth, I got a 1350 on my PSAT 11.
My goal is to go into Math. I plan to take Calculus II/BC and Engineering next year, and also Linear Algebra in the fall off-campus [which I will likely be eligible for, just need my AP score]. When it comes to colleges, I really don't know what is reasonable for me to even shoot for.
I'm in a weird nebulous position where I was supposed to graduate next year, but failed so I'm behind a year, but also have enough credits to graduate next year anyways as a Junior, if I wanted to. I've thought about it, but I don't know if that's what I should do.
I have had conversations with my principal, and I think they recommend I take the extra year simply to offset the Fs from those online classes from before I transferred. My principal jokes that now is pretty much the only time in my life where it will be beneficial to be an orphan, and I think that's probably kinda true. I had to pick myself up and take initiative for a lot of the things I'm doing, and I have constantly excelled since moving schools. I have been living semi-independently, juggling between houses [I haven't lived with my legal guardians in ~2 years, but they're still present]
When my principal was in High School, he attended Telluride for the summer, and now has the opportunity to 'nominate' students for it, and he plans to do so for me in the Fall. I'm thinking of doing that, it sounds great.
This Spring I applied for PROMYS, and although I think I did well on the application, I unfortunately, got rejected. Of course, I knew that was a reach program so I didn't expect much, but now my summer's free! There's always next time.
I also thought about simply applying to a few absurd reach schools in my Junior year (Hail Mary), since technically I could be eligible, and if I end up getting rejected from them, then I would still be fine. I could just go ahead and do my Senior year, after having gained experience with the College admissions process.
I'm also somewhat aware of QuestBridge, and that could be a good option if I went that route this Fall; if I'm eligible for the match, apply for what looks good, and if I match, then free money! If not, then try again next year with a stronger background. From my understanding, finalists for that tend to be high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds. I'm certain I fall under that umbrella. Only one of my parents graduated High School and went to College, however, given that my mom's culinary degree probably hasn't impacted my life much in about 3 years, I've been told there may be room to argue I'm a "first gen" -- No idea if that's true.
All of this is to say, I don't really know what I should do. I hope I described my situation well enough for you to get a gist of my predicament, if anyone has advice, I would appreciate it. Although I feel like I'm in a very unique situation, I'm sure there's someone else who's been in a similarly-shaped boat on here.
In the meantime, I need some rest. I have to move out soon, I'll be taking French again online this summer, and I'll be starting two independent studies in Game Design and Novel Writing; I would like to get a job with my city's public library soon, because I've been an intern for my school's library this year and that seems like a nice transition. Probably try and take the SAT in August... also need to learn how to drive.... well, I have a busy summer.

Question is as raised in the title bar.
Why I am raising this question is this - in my many conversations and exchanges with Calvinists, they can be a pretty slippery lot in discussions.
And that's because I suspect there is a cognitive dissonance inherent within Calvinist/Reformed theology, which many of its adherents are not willing to recognise.
Cases in point of this slipperiness (and cognitive dissonance) -

1. In discussions on predestination and free-will, many Calvinists/Reformed folks will yo-yo between these positions as illustrated - "God actually does not predestine anyone for condemnation, but He actually does because He has no way, but it is human responsibility, but God is still the one who determines who gets condemned for eternity, but I am not a believer in double predestination, but God still does choose whom He wants to save and by virtue of that, if you are not chosen, He has chosen you for condemnation, because being chosen is the only way to be saved, but oh yes, double predestination is heresy."
2. Cessationism - "Oh, I don't believe that God still speaks actively through His Holy Spirit and heals today, but I have friends who have been healed through prayer, but I believe its wrong to teach that healing is normative for today, but it does not mean I believe the Holy Spirit is not at work healing people". I mean, if you believe that supernatural works of the Holy Spirit are not normative today, why do you often have to caveat something that "I know people who have experienced healings etc through prayer"? Funny thing is, many Reformed Cessationists, including hard core MacArthurists, always insert this caveat, if you get what I mean.

The above points 1) and 2) show the mishmash of contradictions that often emerge, w/o fail in conversations with them.
This makes it very difficult to sustain an effective convo with Calvinists to try to pin down theologically problematic areas or issues in Calvinist/Reformed doctrine. As such, how do you or have you successfully navigate this slipperiness?
Also, am I right to say that these "cognitive dissonances" happen is because deep down, most Calvinists (except for folks like John Piper who would preach double predestination with a smile on his face) know that if their theological positions are taken to its logical conclusion, it deeply imputes on the character of God in a manner that cannot be defended/sustained even using sound exegesis, or at the very least, there is still a witness of the Holy Spirit that is gently calling into qs their positions through prompts of the conscience?
Help me try to understand what goes on the thought process of Calvinists, when confronted with these issues, too. Thanks!

Round 3 baby.
You know the drill this is all my opinion.(and if you don’t know the drill see the previous lists below)
First review list: https://www.reddit.com/NatureofPredators/comments/1cuzffm/spoiler_free_reviews_of_side_stories_from_a/
Second review list: https://www.reddit.com/NatureofPredators/comments/1cuzffm/spoiler_free_reviews_of_side_stories_from_a/
Venlil foster program
-All the characters are great
-Aliens actually try to understand human habits even ones they think are dangerous
-Love to get a more ‘on the ground’ perspective on venlil prime
-Partially ruined by certain pieces of character development being undone in sequel but not as bad as HE
9/10 woulda been 10/10 were it not for its god awful sequel
Nature of omnivores
-Very fun setting
-Gives a better idea of how Cilanys broadcast impacted the entire galaxy
-Characters are generally pretty reasonable and likeable
8/10 Fun story all around and archeology is cool so bonus point for that
Arxur mini series
-Kaisals appearance in the main story was big pay off for this one in particular
-Nice to get an Arxur perspective before Chief Chad Isif came along
-Characters generally make smart decisions and the action is rock solid
10/10 Would be 8/10 but Kaisals appearance in the main story WITH HIS DEVELOPMENT LARGELY INTACT really elevates this as part of the NOP mythos
Zurulians miniseries
-All the characters are great
-Did a great job showing what happened when emergency order 56 was violated
-This is Lars first appearance shame he never got into the main story
-Romantic side plot is actually decent
-I’m pretty sure the Zurulian couple appears in the main story(I forget)
9/10 Don’t got much more to say on this one other than IT GOOD
Captain Coth chapter
-The first Arxur perspective, really gives an insight into how non-defective Arxur view humans that would be greatly expanded on Kaisals story
8/10 that’s all I can say, it’s a good one shot that gave us insight into the Arxur perspective so it could be expanded on.
Tyler chapter
-Fun wholesome moments with Tyler and Nulia
-Greatly aided in characterizing Tyler
7/10 Short but sweet
Cheln chapter
-Proves anyone who says Cheln has had largely negative interactions with humans wrong
-Does a great job of showing what happened in between first contact and the setting up of the original exchange program with the venlil
-Even compared to the one shots that would come out after it, it’s writing is very simplistic(which isn’t totally a bad thing)
8/10 This chapter didn’t need to exist but it enriches the setting just a tiny bit more by doing so and it was the first bonus chapter meaning the others wouldn’t exist without it

“True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Bio
Name: Taylor Bennett Armstrong	Date of Birth: 04/03/2024
Age: 15 years old	Gender: Demiboy (he/his, they/them)
Sexual Orientation: Pansexual	Nationality: Canadian
Ethnicity: Irish-Jewish	Languages: English, French, Japanese
Hometown: Toronto, Canada	Demigod Conundrums: ADHD

Family:

Name Relation Age Occupation Relationship ------------
Benjamin Armstrong Father 42 years old Artist Taylor shares a special bond with his father, Benjamin Armstrong. Despite being a single parent for much of Taylor's life, Benjamin always made sure to provide a loving and nurturing environment for his son. He recognized Taylor's unique talents from a young age and encouraged him to explore his creativity without limitations. Benjamin's own passion for art and innovation served as an inspiration for Taylor, shaping his worldview and igniting his love for invention. Benjamin supports Taylor's dreams and ambitions wholeheartedly, even if he doesn't always understand the mechanics behind his son's creations.
Eliza Armstrong Stepmother 43 years old Graphic Designer She brings a different perspective to Taylor's life. As a graphic designer, she values precision and order, which sometimes clashes with Taylor's more spontaneous and chaotic approach to creativity. However, despite their differences, Eliza cares deeply for Taylor and wants what's best for him. She worries about Taylor's safety and well-being, especially when his inventions go awry and cause unintended chaos. She often finds herself playing the role of the voice of reason, urging Taylor to think things through more carefully before diving headfirst into his next project. Despite their occasional disagreements, Eliza recognizes Taylor's potential and admires his boundless imagination and ingenuity.
Rachel Armstrong Half-sister 10 years old Student Rachel Armstrong, Taylor's half-sister, adores her older brother and looks up to him with wide-eyed admiration. From a young age, she was fascinated by Taylor's inventions and artistic talents, often trailing after him like a curious puppy, eager to learn and explore alongside him. Taylor sees Rachel as the most precious angel in the world and is very protective of her. He takes great joy in teaching her how to sketch, build, and code, fostering her own love for art and invention. Rachel, in turn, idolizes her big brother and cherishes their time together.

Appearance

Faceclaim: this Picrew Voiceclaim Walter from Spies in Disguise

Features	Description
Height	5’8 feet
Weight	157 lbs
Hair	Ginger
Eyes	Blue
Skin	Tan
Build	Lean, slim
Scent	Ink, paint, oil
Attire	Gamer Aesthetic

Overview: Ginger Hair: One of Taylor's most noticeable features is his vibrant ginger hair, which seems to have a life of its own. His locks cascade in untamed waves around his head, framing his face in a fiery halo. Despite occasional attempts to tame it, Taylor's hair always manages to retain its wild, rebellious spirit, reflecting his own untamed nature. Taylor's eyes are a mesmerizing shade of blue. They sparkle with curiosity and intelligence, constantly darting from one point of interest to the next. Across Taylor's nose and cheeks are scattered a constellation of freckles, like tiny stars dotting the canvas of his face. Despite his intelligence beyond his years, Taylor's face retains a youthful charm and innocence. His features are soft and rounded, with a hint of boyish mischief lurking behind his bright smile. There is a sense of wonder and curiosity in his expression, as if he is forever on the brink of discovering something new and exciting. Taylor's fashion sense is a reflection of his personality, blending comfort with a hint of geeky flair. He favors graphic t-shirts adorned with characters from his favorite video games, showcasing his love for gaming and pop culture. His hoodies are oversized and well-worn, providing both warmth and a sense of familiarity. Taylor's cargo pants are practical and utilitarian, offering plenty of pockets to store his tools and gadgets for tinkering. His sneakers are his constant companions, scuffed and worn from countless adventures and late-night gaming marathons.

Personality

“Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.” Dorothy Parker
Quality Traits Positive Optimistic, Creative, Kind-hearted, Spontaneous, Resilient Neutral Naive, Chaotic, Impulsive, Eccentric, Idealistic Negative Gullible, Overbearing, Impatient, Inattentive, Stubborn
Overview: Taylor radiates an infectious positivity that lights up any room he enters. He greets each day with boundless enthusiasm, seeing every challenge as an opportunity for adventure and growth. His optimism is unwavering, even in the face of adversity, and he has a knack for finding the silver lining in the darkest of situations. Taylor's sunny disposition makes him a joy to be around, and his genuine smile can brighten even the gloomiest of days. Taylor marches to the beat of his own drum, embracing his individuality with gusto. He has never been one to conform to societal norms or expectations, preferring to chart his own course through life. Taylor's free-spirited nature is reflected in everything he does, from his spontaneous inventions to his unconventional approach to problem-solving. He thrives on the freedom to express himself creatively, unbound by rules or conventions. Taylor's energy is boundless, and he approaches everything he does with an infectious sense of excitement and wonder. He is easily captivated by new ideas and experiences, often bouncing from one project to the next with the fervor of a child in a candy store. Taylor's excitable nature fuels his insatiable curiosity, driving him to constantly seek out new challenges and adventures. Despite his youthful exuberance, Taylor possesses a keen intellect far beyond his years. He is a natural problem-solver, able to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions to even the most daunting of challenges. Taylor's mind is a whirlwind of ideas and possibilities, constantly buzzing with new inventions and artistic endeavors. His creativity knows no bounds, and he revels in the thrill of bringing his imagination to life. Taylor's intelligence and creativity have instilled in him a healthy dose of confidence, bordering on cockiness at times. He knows his worth and isn't afraid to show it, often speaking his mind with a brashness that can catch others off guard. However, Taylor's confidence is tempered by his humility and genuine humility. He is quick to acknowledge his mistakes and learn from them, never allowing his ego to overshadow his humanity. At the core of Taylor's personality is a deep well of kindness and empathy for others. He genuinely cares about the people around him and goes out of his way to help those in need. Taylor's compassion knows no bounds, and he often puts the needs of others before his own. He is quick to offer a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on, and his unwavering support has endeared him to many. Beneath Taylor's cheerful exterior lies a vulnerability that he often tries to conceal. He is sensitive to the opinions of others and fears being rejected or misunderstood. Taylor's insecurities stem from a desire to be accepted and valued for who he truly is, flaws and all. Despite his outward confidence, he struggles with feelings of loneliness and self-doubt, yearning for genuine connections and validation. Taylor's drive for excellence can sometimes border on perfectionism, leading him to be overly critical of himself and his work. He sets high standards for himself and is often disappointed when he falls short of his own expectations. However, Taylor's perfectionism is tempered by his resilience and determination to persevere in the face of failure. He sees each setback as an opportunity to learn and grow, refusing to let obstacles dampen his spirit. Taylor has a gift for communication, able to express his thoughts and feelings with clarity and sincerity. He is a natural storyteller, captivating audiences with his animated anecdotes and infectious enthusiasm. Taylor's ability to connect with others on a deep emotional level makes him a trusted confidant and valued friend. He listens intently to others, offering words of encouragement and wisdom when needed. Taylor approaches life with a sense of adventure, always eager to explore new horizons and push the boundaries of what is possible. He thrives on the thrill of discovery, relishing in the excitement of unknown possibilities. Taylor's insatiable curiosity drives him to seek out new experiences and embrace the unknown with open arms. Whether embarking on a daring quest or simply trying out a new recipe, he approaches each adventure with the same sense of wonder and excitement. Taylor has a playful sense of humor that often borders on mischievousness. He loves to joke and laugh, finding joy in the absurdities of life. Taylor's playful nature brings levity to even the most serious of situations, helping to ease tension and lift spirits. He delights in pulling harmless pranks and sharing witty banter with friends, always with a twinkle in his eye and a grin on his face. Taylor is incredibly adaptable, able to thrive in any environment or situation. He approaches change with a sense of curiosity and excitement, eager to embrace new challenges and opportunities. Taylor's ability to adapt to different circumstances has served him well throughout his life, allowing him to navigate the complexities of both the mortal world and the realm of the gods with ease.
Preferences
Favourite... Item Food Macaroni and cheese, mango milkshake Colour Electric Blue Season Summer Weather Sunny, warm, clear skies Music Pop, rock, orchestral, jazz, celtic Animals Bunnies and Cats Book/Movie Genre Fantasy, Sci-fi, Romance, Slice-of-life, Adventure, Action Media Avatar: The Last Airbender, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Kingdom Hearts, Legend of Zelda, Genshin Impact, Honkai Impact 3rd, Honkai: Star Rail, Pokémon, a scary amount of anime, etc…
Hobbies:

• Drawing
• Painting
• Crafting
• Sewing
• Video Games
• Cosplay

Demigod Info

Powers

Name	Type	Description
Psychometry	Domain	The ability to glean information from a particular object relevant to the parent's domain, especially its material make-up and method of creation. (Crafts, Mechanics and Art)
Enhanced Skill Proficiency	Domain	A trait where one is naturally adept in the skills lorded over by their parent. (Crafts, Mechanics and Art)
Summon Tool	Domain	The ability to summon any small tool. (Once every 5 minutes or per turn.) (Duct Tape or Superglue)
Machine Communication	Minor	A trait where one is able to understand and communicate with automatons and machinery (includes code).
Electrical Resistance	Minor	A trait where one is able to resist electricity to a such degree that they are able to withstand badly interacting with small appliances.
Machine Manipulation (Technokinesis)	Minor	The ability to directly control mechanisms, machines and automatons.
Basic Enchantment	Major	The ability to imbue weapons, crafts, machinery and automatons with magical properties (modmail for specific enchantments). Options: Weapon Transformation—into a mundane item; Monster Hunting Proficiency for a) Fleshy Monsters—Sharpness, b) Armored Monsters—Bludgeoning, c) Ghosty Monsters—Absorption

Weapon of Choice: Bastard Sword
Fatal Flaw: Naivety Taylor's fatal flaw lies in his inherent naivety, stemming from his trusting and optimistic nature. Despite his intelligence and creativity, Taylor often lacks the worldly wisdom and discernment needed to navigate the complexities of the world around him. His naivety makes him vulnerable to manipulation and deception, as he struggles to see the darker intentions lurking behind the smiles of others.

Items and Equipment

Name	Age	Description
Sketchbook	7 years old	Taylor always carries a sketchbook with him, filled with doodles, sketches, and designs inspired by his vivid imagination.
Art Supplies	3 years old	As someone who enjoys art, Taylor keeps a collection of art supplies like pencils, markers, and colored pencils, allowing him to bring his creative visions to life wherever he goes.
Tool Kit	5 years old	As a budding inventor and tinkerer, Taylor carries a compact tool kit with him at all times. It contains essential tools like screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches, and a mini soldering iron, allowing him to repair gadgets, fix mechanical issues, and work on DIY projects on the fly.
Nintendo Switch	2 years old	Taylor never leaves home without Nintendo Switch. He keeps a selection of his favorite games in his backpack, ready to play whenever he has a spare moment to indulge in his love of gaming.
Music Player	3 years old	Music is a constant source of inspiration and motivation for Taylor, so he always carries a portable music player loaded with his favorite tunes.
Cat Headphones	1 year old	High-quality headphones that allow him to escape into his own world of music whenever he needs a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. They are cat-themed for no reason other than Taylor felt like it.

Trivia

• Zodiac Sign: Pisces
• MBTI: ESTP-T (The Entrepreneur)
• Enneagram: Type 7 (The Enthusiast)
• Love Languages: Words of Affirmation (receive); Acts of service (give)
• Quirk: Doodling on almost every surface he sees when bored.
• Fears: Hurting People, Big Animals

Backstory

“There is no innovation and creativity without failure.” ***Brené Brown*
Taylor Bennett Armstrong was born into a creatively vibrant family. His father, Benjamin Armstrong, was a dedicated artist who often spent hours in his studio, painting and sculpting. Benjamin's work was deeply inspired by classical art, and his studio was filled with references to mythological themes and ancient techniques. This environment planted the seeds of creativity in Taylor from a very young age.
Taylor’s biological mother was Techne, the goddess of art, craft, and invention, but he had no knowledge of her divine heritage. His mother left shortly after his birth, leaving Benjamin to raise Taylor on his own. Despite the absence of his mother, Taylor's early childhood was filled with love and encouragement from his father.
When Taylor was five, Benjamin met Eliza, a talented graphic designer, at an art exhibit. They quickly bonded over their shared love for art and soon married. Eliza embraced Taylor as her own, though she struggled to understand his unique, often chaotic way of thinking and creating.
Even as a young child, Taylor showed remarkable intelligence and creativity. By the age of six, he was building simple machines and drawing intricate designs. His father was both amazed and slightly concerned when Taylor began to take apart household appliances to understand how they worked. While Benjamin encouraged his son's curiosity, Eliza worried about the constant mess and occasional accidents that resulted from Taylor's experiments.
Taylor’s half-sister, Rachel, was born when he was five. She looked up to her big brother with admiration, often following him around and watching as he created his various inventions. Despite the occasional mishap, Taylor and Rachel shared a close bond, with Taylor frequently making small toys and gadgets to entertain her.
School was both a blessing and a curse for Taylor. His intelligence allowed him to excel academically, but his unique way of thinking and his constant tinkering often got him into trouble. Teachers labeled him a "problem child" due to his inability to sit still and follow conventional methods. Taylor's inventions occasionally caused disruptions, further cementing his reputation.
Socially, Taylor found it hard to connect with his peers. His enthusiasm and intelligence often intimidated other children, and he was frequently taken advantage of by classmates who used him to boost their own grades. These experiences left Taylor feeling lonely and self-conscious about his naivety, although he never let it dampen his cheerful spirit.
Taylor's life took a dramatic turn when he was 15 years old. One day, while working on a particularly ambitious project in his makeshift workshop, he was visited by Oleander, a satyr sent by Camp Half-Blood. Oleander had been observing Taylor for some time, noting his extraordinary abilities and his connection to the divine.
Oleander revealed to Taylor the truth about his mother, Techne, and his demigod heritage. At first, Taylor was skeptical, thinking it was some sort of elaborate joke or fantasy. However, Oleander's ability to demonstrate his satyr powers and his deep knowledge of Taylor's unexplained talents eventually convinced him.
Explaining the situation to his family was a challenge. Benjamin, who had always suspected that there was something special about Taylor, took the news in stride. Eliza, though worried and confused, ultimately supported the decision, understanding that Camp Half-Blood could provide Taylor with the guidance he needed. Rachel was both excited and scared for her brother, worried about the dangers he might face and she would miss him.
Thankfully, despite the huge distance he and Oleander had to travel from Toronto to Long Island went calmly, for the most part, with not many delays or monsters attacking them.
Well, at least until they reached New York. After that, the whole “calm journey” was out the window. It almost seemed like all the monsters decided to wait until they were close to their destination to suddenly appear one after the other. First they had to somehow avoid a cyclops. Then they were attacked by dracanaea. And finally, they were chased by harpies until they crossed the border of Camp Half-Blood.
By some miracle, they were still alive.
What a way to be introduced to demigod life.

Present Day

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun” Mary Lou Cook
Taylor's arrival at Campbell Half-Blood was… something, alright.
You know, being chased by monsters from New York to Long Island, passing out in between attacks and then waking up in the Medic Cabin feeling like you've been hit by a truck and maimed by a cat at the same time was, in short, not fun. It also didn't help the fact that he had to stay in bed to get treated for what, hours. Which, for someone like Taylor, was absolute torture. Good for him then that demigods, apparently, had magic healing and he didn't have to stay for days instead. At least Oleander was around to explain every detail about the world he's been thrust into now that he was out of danger. And as a plus, he was also claimed, so yay! He had no clue who Techne was, but he was sure he would learn soon enough.
So, what does Taylor do after getting patched up? Does he wait and rest for a bit just to make sure everything is okay with him? Does he stop for a moment to process everything that has happened to him in the last 24 hours?
No! Of course not! This is Taylor, after all. Him staying put for more than 10 minutes would be a miracle already.
Instead, he just went off on his own to see what this Camp Half-Blood was all about. He just had to get to his cabin first, which would be relatively easy with Oleander's instructions, and then he could explore this place to his heart's content!
Hopefully, Camp Half-Blood would be ready for the chaotic force Taylor would prove to be.
[OOC: Hello, everyone! Say hello to my new character, Taylor! Feel free to interact with him literally anywhere at Camp, he's probably going to be there at some point anyway lmao. Thanks for reading;)]

My grandparents (especially my grandmother) are so mentally challenged (including my mother) to the point where I don’t and can’t establish a connection how it is i even come from these people. For example today an argument happened between my grandmother and I. I have been dealing with a chronic medical condition called tmjd and I’m miserable every single day of my life. Today moments ago we tried to have a conversation about it that ended in disgrace as it normally does because my grandmother has such a significant lack of comprehension it’s almost unrealistic. We try to talk and it starts out by her asking me if I’m ok. I go on in an aggressive way to tell her no. I can’t even bare the idea of talking to her anymore because she disgusts me to the point of disbelief which is the reason I aggressively tell her no. Mainly because our conversation end up no where and what she says makes no sense at all sometimes. At this point after 6 whole years of dealing with this condition and wanting to die because of it she still has the audacity to say why. I don’t even know if it’s audacity at this point or if it’s just such complete ignorance. How after 6 full years of conversation after conversation, doctors after doctors. Getting injection therapies and so forth can she be so belligerent to keep asking me why. Same thing with my mother . My grandmother is 75 now but she has been like this her whole entire life. So it’s nothing new what so ever. I got this condition when I was 22 and haven’t been the same since. I used to be a regular gym goer. I was into powerlifting and believe me I was a strongman not just your average powerlifter. I had super human strength. Could have made worlds strongest man competition easily. I was healthy as an ox. I just don’t understand at this point how they can’t tell a difference. I mean my physical appearance is even dramatically different. So back to that. So I began by asking her how she can’t tell a difference in my physical appearance and condition. She says you look like you lost weight. I’m thinking ok but I’ve obviously lost muscle I have bags under my eyes I sit in the house all day and don’t move from my bed and all you have to say is I lost weight? Then I say I used to bench press so and so weight. I say what’s that mean to you that I can’t do that anymore. She says “it means you look good” …….WTF? I’m thinking to myself like this lady has absolutely lost her fucking mind what does that even mean. How does that mean that and how does she even think that it means that. It sounded like gibberish just came out her mouth. I feel like I’m talking to a bunch of two year olds all the time. Over the course of my entire life she has always said nonsense similar to this but in other ways with other conversations. My mother as well. I just feel completely lost at this point they have made me absolutely hate them. I hate them so much that if I wasn’t in this state of condition I’d pack my things up and leave and never look back and change my contact information and all. They are all so mentally challenged that I have no idea how they made it in life. It’s absolutely astounding. My grandmother has never had a job in her life. My grandfather owns a bar and my mother runs it. But for Christ sake I just don’t know what to do anymore I’m in misery every single day of my life and I want to die. My family does not by any means make my life any easier and they help me in no way other than giving me a place to live. They don’t even know where to begin to help me even if they wanted to. I just feel like every time I talk to any of them our conversation feel child like. It’s like I’m the adult and they are the children. I just want to hold and intellectual conversation with my family but I know they are not capable of it and it’s saddening. But mainly frustrating to the point where I want to hit them. It’s not even about trying to have an intelligent conversation (because they aren’t capable) but it’s about even having a regular one which is difficult to them. It always ends up in an argument where they are saying things from emotion and not actually logical in anyway and so then it’s turns into this victim mentality situation and it’s just an absolute fucking mess. Or someone says something that’s utterly gibberish. It’s pointless to talk to them anymore and I have nobody I can speak with about it. It’s so awkward just being around these guys and not talking to them through the entire day. There’s times where my grandmother will constantly insist on talking to me me but I straight up totally ignore her. And she won’t understand that that’s what I’m doing and she’ll hold an entire conversation basically by her self but she’ll imagine she’s talking with me. I mean it’s absolutely crazy what I go through with these guys. If I want to ignore my mother she’ll turn hostile. But if I know it’s one of those days for her that’s she’s going to say some dumb ass shit I have two choices which is engage in conversation with her whether I like it or not and it still turns into an argument or ignore her which will turn into an argument. It’s a lose situation with her all the time. She’s also an alcoholic and won’t admit it. I just wish I had some help in my life but there isn’t any. I have hundreds of videos of these guys acting belligerent and senile. I just know if I ever get better I’ll always have these to reflect on and remember as to why I went my separate way and decided to never talk to any of them again. Any suggestions other than move out. Talk to a therapist or go for a walk. I also have about 8 disc herniations from a car accident. So makes it even more difficult to get out. I don’t have a job because I’m so disabled from having a constant head and the car accident. I just don’t know anymore. Trust me if I had the option to move out I would have a long time ago. I hate them so much. I mean I genuinely from the bottom of my soul hate them. Very badly hate them. I wake up in disgust. I look at them with disgust. Everything disgust me about them. And they don’t get that. They don’t even act accordingly to other emotions to towards them. If I knew someone hated me as much as I hate them I’d never try to establish a connection with them just based off of that. But they act as if they never get into an argument with each other one moment and then the other are screaming their heads off at each other. My mother does 90% of the screaming. She’s screams like a maniac. I understand everyone has yelled before in their life but when it comes to my mom she’s screaming on a regular basis. It’s made me absolutely despise her. I won’t miss a single one of them when they die. They have no respect for me or understanding that I’m going through what I’m going through. I can’t express how much I hate them. My stomach feels uneasy when I look at any of them let alone want to talk to them. My mother nonchalantly goes on with her life right after an argument and then will talk to you moments later as if it didn’t even happen. My grandmother does the same. I just want to feel better so I can move on in my life. I forget to mention my dad has never been in the picture. But from my understanding after talking to him a few times I understand exactly why he’s not apart of my life. I mean we talk over the phone. But I understand why the relationship between him and my mother never lasted. Just by what he tells me about my mom, I can relate the same experiences. Makes total sense and I swear to God, I do not blame the man.

Contest Rules For Best Song Of The Month • Updated May 19th, 2024

Click here to see summary of changes.

Best Song Of The Month Contest

Music Or Lose It hosts a monthly Best Song Of The Month contest at this musicorloseittv subreddit community. There is no cash or monetary value prize at this time. This contest is simply just for fun. Winners earn the enjoyment of being voted the best. Winners may cite the win in their biographies and social media posts.
The moderator (mod) is available to help music creators with the entry process, eligibility requirements, and deadlines. Music creators are allowed to contact the mod to ask questions about the contest anytime and mod will reply as soon as possible.
Definitions
Music creator: refers to a solo creator, band, group, choir, orchestra, or duo.
Brand identity: refers to how a creator presents themselves as an entertainer making music for the general public. For example, Simon & Garfunkel as a duo is one brand identity. Paul Simon solo is another brand identity.

Process & Deadlines

🟡 Round 1
1) Discovery ◦ Each month, moderator keeps track of songs shared at this musicorloseittv community.
2) Notifying Music Creators ◦ When a likely eligible song is seen, the u/musicorloseittv profile or u/themusicfanman profile will notify the music creator of likely eligibility within the qualifying song’s post. The reply will indicate, “⏳ This song appears eligible for the Best Song Of The Month contest. Please provide the following information…” If the song is confirmed to be eligible by a mod, the mod will make a reply “🟨 This is confirmation notifying you that this song is eligible and in consideration for the Best Song Of The Month contest…” within the qualifying song’s post.
3) Determining Contestants ◦ The Music Fan man will evaluate all eligible songs by the month’s eligibility deadline. He will then at his discretion choose up to 5 songs to compete.
3) Finalists Post ◦ At this musicorloseittv community, the musicorloseittv profile will announce the top finalists (up to 5) in a post tiled “Contest: Best Song Of The Month Finalists (Insert Month & Year).” This announcement will be done in a post made 4 days before the final day of the month. The post will be made sometime in the morning. The songs will be listed within the post in a manner most representative of music diversity as determined by the musicorloseittv profile mod. All songs available on YouTube will be included in a playlist titled “Best Song Of The Month Contestants • (Insert Month & Year)” hosted by the musicorloseittv channel on YouTube. Songs not available on YouTube will be excluded from the playlist. The playlist will be mentioned in this post. The available playlist will help voters get familiar with the songs.
The u/musicorloseittv profile or u/themusicfanman profile will notify the music creators of qualifying for the contest in their post of the song. The reply will indicate, “✅ Congratulations. Your song qualifies for the Best Song Of The Month contest…”
4) Voting ◦ The “Contest: Best Song Of The Month Finalists (Insert Month & Year)” post will specify a duration of 3 consecutive dates during which music fans can vote for only 1 of the top finalists. Voting occurs by the voters making a reply to the post in the following manner: “🗳️ I vote for….” Failing to vote in this manner will result in vote not being counted. To best ensure vote accuracy, voters must not use the “🗳️” emoji anywhere else in the post’s comments section. Music creators may vote for another music creator yet may not vote for themselves. For music creators, it’s “word of honor” voting. The top vote earning song within these three days will become the winner.
‣ Community moderator profiles musicorloseittv and onesongoftheday will abstain from voting. Also, themusicfanman and any special judge involved will also abstain from voting - unless they’re needed to serve as a tie breaker, in the event of a tie preventing a clear winner. If themusicfanman and any special judge involved are needed as a tie breaker, they must come to a consensus to achieve tie breaking. If no special judge is involved, then themusicfanman alone will serve as the tie breaker.
🟢 Winner Declaration!
Declaration Post ◦ At this musicorloseittv community, on the final day of the month, the musicorloseittv profile will announce the winner in a post tiled “Congratulations! 🎉 Best Song Of The Month Winner (Insert Month & Year)” in a post dedicated to celebrating the song. Using the sticky-post feature, the post will be prominently displayed the home page of the musicorloseittv subreddit community for ≈ 24 hours.
Achievement ◦ The contest winner may promote their song as:
My song “Song Title” won:
🏅Best Song Of The Month By Community Vote
(Insert Month & Year)
At The Music Or Lose It Community
The winner may promote themselves and the song as the winner at venues like X/Twitter, Facebook, Threads, or their YouTube channel’s Community feed. The winner may also cite the win in their biographies online including their personal website.
🏆 Song Of The Year
A similar Song Of The Year vote will occur in December. It will be similarly organized and scheduled to conclude on the final day of the year. To determine a Song Of The Year by the end of the year, December’s monthly contest will only be ≈ 2 weeks. Why? Because we need time to conclude The Song Of The Year vote by the end of the year. Additionally, this is a busy time of year for many people. What’s more, non-Christmas music released in December is typically overshadowed by Christmas music. It seems to be a bad idea to release new-original music in late December. See opinion commentary: The Best And Worst Months To Release Music.
Achievement ◦ The contest winner may promote their song as:
🏆 Best Song Of The Year By Community Vote
(Insert Year)
At The Music Or Lose It Community
The winner may promote themselves and the song as the winner at venues like X/Twitter, Facebook, Threads, or their YouTube channel’s Community feed. The winner may also cite the win in their biographies online including their personal website.

Eligibility

Here are the rules for the Best Song Of The Month contest organized by Music Or Lose It just for fun. The eligibility rules are intended to make this contest as fair as possible to the music creator participants.
**👤 Personal: **
Requirements:
✔️ Must be an actual human.
✔️ Must be 17 years of age or older.
✔️ Must be a music creator abiding by the rules of this musicorloseittv subreddit community.
✔️ Must be a music creator posting using either your personal profile or your brand profile as a music entertainer.
Ineligible:
🚫 Profiles run by publicists, music labels, or channels hosting performers.
🚫 People posing as other humans using imitation avatar type creations by artificial intelligence (AI).
**🗿 Music creator’s stature status: **
Eligible:
✔️ Unsigned amateur or unsigned professional yet lesser known.
✔️ Lesser known music creators who have not yet achieved two different songs with over 500,000 views/listens and are signed to deals with small to medium-sized record companies or seeming one-song-per-time type distributors.
✔️ Lesser known music creators who have not yet achieved two different songs with over 500,000 views/listens and are signed to deals with to a major label.
**📅 Release date: **
Eligible:
✔️ Your song must be published and accessible to the masses anytime between November 15^th of the prior year and 5 days before the final day of the current month.
**💽 Songwriting, singing, & recording: **
Requirements:
✔️ You must be the copyright owner of the song (lyrics and sound recording) or authorized/licensed to perform the song by the copyright owner as the first original performer.
✔️ An exception is made if your song is an authorized/licensed remix or includes authorized/licensed interpolation or sampling content by the copyright owner in collaboration with any other amateur music creator(s) or unsigned professional yet lesser known music creator(s). The aforementioned release date also applies to any remix, interpolation, or sampling content.
✔️ Collaborations within the aforementioned rules are allowed so long as the song is entered into the contest by the lead. Lead refers to the first person named in the collaboration.
Ineligible:
🚫 Copyright/trademark violations.
🚫 Songs written by artificial intelligence (AI).
🚫 Songs primarily generated artificial intelligence (AI).
🚫 Cover, parody, nor artificial intelligence (AI) imitation.
🚫 Songs likely to be very divisive for political or religious/anti-religious reasons.
🚫 Collaborations within deceased music creators akin to “Unforgettable” by Natalie Cole featuring Nat "King" Cole.
🚫 Interpolations, remixes, or samplings of a song by a creator signed to a record company of any size or signed to a one-song-per-time type distributor.
🚫 Song with hard cussing. No variations of F word, S word, C word, D word, N word (er or a), ahole word(s), or sexually vulgar words.
🚫 Extremely sexual, gang promoting, violent, or especially scary/gory/maleficent/evil aesthetic content.
🚫 Songs primarily about brands. For example: “I Love Driving Such-And-Such Brand Name Trucks.”
**👂 Recording quality: **
Allowed:
✔️ Professional quality recordings (live or studio).
✔️ Amateur quality (including songs record in a bedroom, car, outdoors, etc…) yet reasonably pleasant sounding.
✔️ Demos are welcome.
Ineligible:
🚫 Live records with too much interfering audience noise.
🚫 Recordings with excessively poor sound quality (abrasive on the ears, difficult to hear).
**📏 Song length: **
Requirement:
✔️ Minimum of 01:15 minutes up to 10:00 minutes.
**💻 Distribution venues: **
Requirements:
✔️ A song published and accessible to the general public masses at a well-known music website such as YouTube, SoundCloud, or Bandcamp.
✔️ A song uploaded to a channel hosting live performances is allowed so long as the song is entered into the contest directly by the creator and so long as the creator confirms permission by the channel. Confirmation can be done in either your original upload URL link source or at this community within your posts’ body-text section or a reply to the post.
✔️ The song’s upload date must be visible at the distribution venue website.
⚠️ If you enter this contest with a Spotify or TikTok URL link, ensure you’ve provided a link for the entire song (not a teasesampler) in a manner that does not require login; ensure the publish date is visible; and be weary of looping flashing visuals necessitating a “⚠️Possible Seizure Trigger Risk Warning.” Failing to do this will result in ineligibility.
Ineligible:
🚫 Login required to access the song.
🚫 Payment required to access the song.
🚫 Uploads of songs directly to Reddit.
🚫 Links not fully available to the public such as an “unlisted” YouTube video.
**🖼️ Song’s artwork: **
Definition: artwork refers to the image/drawing/photo/visuals accompanying your individual song at a music distribution venue such as YouTube, SoundCloud, or Bandcamp. It is sometimes referred to as “cover art.”
Requirements:
✔️ You must be the original creator of the song’s accompanying artwork.
✔️ Alternatively, you must be the copyright owner of the artwork if you paid to have it made. Otherwise you must be authorized/licensed to publish the artwork as part of the presentation of your song.
✔️ Artwork primarily generated by artificial intelligence (AI) is allowed so long as you are authorized/licensed by the AI source to publish the artwork as part of your song’s public presentation. However this is advised against because public sentiment may be hostile towards AI generated content.
✔️ If your song’s artwork uses aspects of copyrighted, creative commons, or “free” material content, you must confirm you’ve got authorization/licensing to use the content as part of your song’s public presentation. Confirmation can be done in either your original upload URL link source or at this community within your posts’ body-text section or a reply to the post.
✔️ Your own logo that you own the copyright to may be displayed in the song’s accompanying artwork (including on a person wearing a hat or T-shirt).
Ineligible:
🚫 Copyright/trademark violations.
🚫 Parody notably displayed in the artwork.
🚫 Visible logos of any brand other than your own logo as a music entertainer.
🚫 Extremely sexual, gang promoting, violent, or especially scary/gory/maleficent/evil aesthetic content.
**🎥 Song’s music video (optional): **
Including a link to a music video is optional.
Requirements:
✔️ You must be the original creator of the song’s music video visuals including: animation; moving graphics; prominently featured still artwork or photos.
✔️ Alternatively, you must be the copyright owner of all the video’s visuals if you paid to have them made. Otherwise you must be authorized/licensed to publish all the video’s visuals as part of the presentation of your song’s accompanying music video.
✔️ Visuals (including: animation; moving graphics; prominently featured still artwork or photos) primarily generated by artificial intelligence (AI) are allowed so long as you are authorized/licensed by the AI source to publish the artwork as part of your song’s public presentation. However this is advised against because public sentiment may be hostile towards AI generated content.
✔️ If your song’s accompanying music video uses aspects of copyrighted, creative commons or “free” material, you must confirm you’ve got authorization/licensing to use the copyrighted material as part of your song’s public presentation within the accompanying music video. Confirmation can be done in either your original upload URL link source or at this community within your posts’ body-text section or a reply to the post.
✔️ Your own logo that you own the copyright to may be displayed in the video (including on a person wearing a hat or T-shirt).
✔️ Allowed music videos include “Official Music Video,” “Live Performance,” “Dance Video Version,” “Animated Video,” or “Lyrics Video.”
✔️ If you opt for an “Animated Video” or a “Lyrics Video,” you must be authorized/licensed to publish all the video’s visuals as part of the presentation of your song’s accompanying music video. If you hire an animator or use AI or an app/software designed to create music video lyrics, you must be authorized/licensed by the animator or AI source or app/software creator to publish the animation and/or lyrics as part of the presentation of your song’s accompanying music video.
✔️ If you opt for a “Dance Video Version,” the dancing and/or choreography must be originally created for your song’s accompanying music video. If you hire a choreographer and/or dancers or collaborate for free or for barter, you must be authorized/licensed by the choreographer and/or dancers to publish the video’s dancing/choreography visuals as part of the presentation of your song’s accompanying music video.
✔️ “Official Audio” type music videos are allowed so long as an accompanying still image complies with the aforementioned “Song’s artwork” rules. Alternatively, if the “Official Audio” music videos has moving visuals, it must comply with these above-mentioned “Song’s music video” rules.
✔️ “Live Performance” music videos may be made from your home/cafield (pretty much anywhere decent and reasonable) or from one of your well-recorded performances from a show. Be sure to avoid copyright and trademark violations in the video.
⚠️ Brief uses of music distribution venue logos at the end or start of a music video may be allowed at mod’s discretion, when the intent is to inform the viewer of venue availability of the song. This is however discouraged unless the distribution venue, at their website, specifies this is allowed. Music videos that display any trademark logos (other than the music creator’s own copyrighted logo) entirely throughout are ineligible.
Ineligible:
🚫 Copyright/trademark violations.
🚫 Notable use of virtual reality program recordings.
🚫 Notable use of filters from apps/websites similar to Snapchat.
🚫 Parody of intellectual property characters prominently displayed in the video.
🚫 Notably visible logos of any brand other than your own logo as a music entertainer.
🚫 Notable display of brand products with visible logos including but not limited to toys, stuffed animals, autos, hats, T-Shirts.
🚫 Extremely sexual, gang promoting, violent, or especially scary/gory/maleficent/evil aesthetic content.
🚫 Limitations on involving minors (under 18 yo): no minors doing dangerous stunts; no depictions of minors participating in drugs/drinking/smoking or very sexual behavior (including sexual dancing); do not prominently feature children that are not your own in the video (exception may be made if a relative only allows you to involve their children).
⚖️ Quantities:
Requirements:
✔️ One song per music creator’s brand identity.
✔️ If a music creator uploads more than one of their brands’ potentially eligible songs, the music creator must inform mod which song they prefer to be included in the contest.
✔️ A music creator may win this Song Of The Month contest up to three consecutive times. If this happens, thereafter the creator must abstain from the contest for the next month and then may return to the contest after that 1-month eligibility hiatus.
Ineligible:
🚫 Every collaboration will not automatically be considered a new brand. For example, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss collaborating one time should not be considered a brand. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss making an entire album together should be considered a brand. Music creators attempting to enter multiple songs under multiple brand names will be scrutinized. If there is no social media presence for any additional brands, their songs will likely be rejected as “also eligible” by mods. If this happens, the music creator will have to enter only 1 song.
**🖱️ Accounts you may post from: **
Requirements:
✔️ Your post must be made directly from either your personal Reddit account profile or your brand’s Reddit account profile.
✔️ If you have a medical condition necessitating aid, on your behalf, you may appoint a publicist, manager, caretaker, helper, spouse, partner, friend, guardian, or family member to post from either your personal Reddit account profile or your brand’s Reddit account profile.
✔️ If your song is from a band, group, choir, orchestra, or duo brand, the post must be made directly from either from one of the members’ personal Reddit account profiles or from your brand’s Reddit account profile.
✔️ If your song is collaboration, the post must be made directly from either the lead’s personal Reddit account profile or from the lead’s brand Reddit account profile.
✔️ If you want another song to be a part of the contest from another brand identity you are involved with, the song must be posted by a Reddit account profile for that separate brand – or one of the brand collaborators’ personal Reddit account profile.
👩🏾‍🏫 Presentation at this musicorloseittv community:
Requirements:
✔️ You must post a link to the song at this musicorloseittv community by tapping “+” on smartphone or clicking “+Create a post” on desktop/laptop. You must select the “My Song” flair.
✔️ Your post must be done by the “Title & Link Share Only method.”
✔️ The song’s URL you provide must be of the standalone song upload - not part of a playlist URL link.
✔️ You may post an audio only upload URL link (such as an individual song published at SoundCloud or Bandcamp). Alternatively, you may post a music video link from a venue like YouTube.
✔️ You may include a smartlink for the individual song (not album or playlist) within your posts’ body-text section or a reply to the post.
✔️ You may title the post whatever you want within the community’s rules and the contest’s rules. Remember: no vague titles; limit post title emojis to no more than 2 (if you decide to use them); and don’t request feedback.
✔️ Your post title may be done in the style of “Entertainer - Song Tile” (or something similar). Alternatively, the post title may be more elaborate. For example: “This Is My Latest Song. It’s About A Wonderful Time I Fell In Love.”
✔️ In your posts’ body-text section or in a reply comment, optionally you may share details about the song that you feel the audience would enjoy knowing.
**📝 Needed information: **
Requirements:
✔️ Within either your posts’ body-text section or within a reply comment at your post, provide the following information – as is:
❇️ Contest entry for your consideration:
• Entertainer's Name - Song Title:
• Published on: [Insert date & year. Refers to date published at your URL link source]
• Genre:
• I am an independent creator unsigned I am signed to [insert label name]
• Interpolations/remixes/samplings disclosure: N/A this song contains authorized/licensed interpolations/remixes/samplings [specify] of another song released since 11/15 of the prior year in collaboration with other unsigned music creator(s)[specify]. The link to the original song is [insert URL link – publish date from URL link source must be visible].
• Al disclosure: N/A. A portion of this [song/artwork/music video] is created by Al. Explanation: [specify if this applies to song/artwork/music video].
• Copyright disclosure for song: I confirm I’m the copyright owner of all the contents of this song (lyrics and recording) as it is presented including the artwork [(if applicable) and music video]
Copyrighted content I am authorized/licensed to use commercially in the promotion of my song include: [insert details]
• [optional/voluntary] Confirmation of substantial human involvement: A real human substantially arranged/compose this music. [Note: This type disclosure is strongly encouraged by creators who use instrument sounds and beats from apps/software in substation of instruments played live at the time of recording. This is especially encouraged for music creators who do not show their face and/or don’t show themselves creating the music in a music video or behind the scenes video. For music fans opposed to music primarily created by AI, this type of disclosure can be helpful and assuring.]
• Lyrics: [insert URL link or embed URL link into “Lyrics” text] [note if the lyrics are available at the upload source] [only if you're the copyright owner of the lyrics, you may entirely include them] [type “vocalized” or “instrumental” if applicable]
Ineligible:
🚫 Uploads of songs to Reddit.
🚫 No engagement pleas disguised as feedback requests in post titles nor in your posts’ body-text section. No feedback requests.
**👨🏼‍⚖️ Copyright/trademark compliance: **
‣ Important note: Aforementioned rules already state you either must be the copyright owner of the content you enter for this contest or you must be authorized/licensed to commercially use the content by the copyright owner. Aforementioned rules already state you must disclose use of copyrighted, creative commons, or “free” material. Mods reserve the right to ask for additional proof for confirmation. Suspected violations will be removed at mod’s discretion. You are strongly encouraged to upload your best, newest, utmost original content.
‣ Resources:
U.S. Copyright Office, Copyright in General https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html
What Musicians Should Know about Copyright by U.S. Copyright Office https://www.copyright.gov/engage/musicians
U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index by U.S. Copyright Office https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use
**🤝 Mutual Support **
Requirements:
✔️ You must be active in the musicorloseittv community regarding mutual support and engagement with other posts. You must post a comment reply to at least two other posts of any kind at the musicorloseittv community before the final day of the month. Failing to do so will result in disqualification.
Ineligible:
🚫 Posting then ghosting the community.
**😎👍 Encouraging fans to vote: **
Ineligible:
🚫 You are not allowed to ask for votes in anywhere in the musicorloseittv community’s comments section.
🚫 Music creators may not offer anything to anyone whatsoever in exchange for voting for them.
Allowed:
✔️ If you see a music fan has voted for you, you may thank them in a reply comment.
✔️ You may make social media posts at venues like X/Twitter, Facebook, Threads or your YouTube channel’s Community feed to encourage your fans to join this musicorloseittv subreddit community and vote for your song.
Example post:
My song “Song Title” is a finalist for Best Song Of The Month at the musicorloseittv community at Reddit. At [insert URL link] please vote for me and my song. Thank you.
**📜 Rules adherence: **
‣ Important note: If you are new to the musicorloseittv community as either a music fan voting or music creator entering the contest, latitude may be given as you get familiar here. It’s up to mod’s discretion.
‣ Important note: This contest is just for fun. Likewise playing boardgames or cards with friends is also just for fun yet people expect rules to be followed.
**🕊️ Truthfulness: **
Requirements:
✔️ Contestants and voters are expected to behave honorably and ethically.
Ineligible:
🚫 If anyone is ever discovered cheating or being dishonest akin to author James Frey or music entertainers Milli Vanilli, they will be disqualified and also likely be banned from this community.
Additional Info
If you do not want to be in the contest yet want to continue sharing your songs in this community, it is totally ok. Please inform the moderator. A “Message the mods” option is at the homepage.
In circumstances where uncertainty arises due to an unforeseen issue not addressed here in this outline of rules, moderators reserve the right to approve or disapprove eligibility. Moderators reserve the right to disqualify any song for any reason. Unfortunately, not every contest can perfectly satisfy all participant hopefuls.
Just do your best, don’t take it too seriously, and have fun.
Thank you.
END

This is a bit of a longer post so stay with me here. This is really only a chunk of my overarching belief on how pretty much all things metaphysical work, including reincarnation, gods/angels/ghosts/all spirits, manifestation, witchcraft, and so on. But I'm sharing the part of the theory that specifically relates to Astral Projection for this sub. I have been sitting on this for a couple of years now without telling anyone, but I started writing it for my Book of Shadows (I am a witch), and I wanted to hear your guys' thoughts. I'm not claiming to have come up with these theories AT ALL but I think it's an interesting topic.
Regardless of religious beliefs, or whether God has what we would call “sentience”, there is no undeniability that God must be math itself. Now, I am not referring to deities (which many witches including myself work with, and I will delve into what these deities are and where they come from a different time), but GOD. We constantly refer to God as “omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.” That’s what math is! Math dictates the laws of the universe; it exists in every atom and is the precursor to knowledge itself. Astrophysics is ultimately math– it is truly the LAWS of the Universe (and likely beyond). 1+1 will always equal 2, a complicated calculus equation will always have the same answer. No matter how a species were to write or perceive math, the math itself will always stay the same. Consider the famous Golden Record, aboard Voyager 1 and 2, a disk plated in gold that is traveling through space as I write this, and as you read this. Along with other information about humans and Earth, it contains a translation guide of our numerical system which can then be interpreted by any intelligent life who comes across the disk. By understanding our numerical system, they can then read the information in the disk, including coordinates to planet Earth. Math is the only language that all sentient beings can understand. And yet, Math will never be truly understandable to any being, at least in this plane of existence. What else could we call such a thing but God? A math equation could hypothetically be written for all conceivable and non-conceivable things, from the curve of your eyelashes to a wormhole. Math is perfect, always chaotic but never without structure. Now, I don’t want to offend any religious people; in theory, your God could still be real, but the physical manifestation of any all-powerful God that COULD exist is Math. Again, I’m not referring to deities that are not believed to be all-powerful (for example, the Greek pantheon: Greek gods are NOT all-powerful, all-knowing, or always good), I believe these deities are something different entirely which I will explain another time.
Let's tie this notion to the idea of the fourth dimension (and higher dimensions). The easiest way I can explain this theory is by comparing our relationship with time to the relationship between a 2-dimensional being and the 3rd dimension. So, we are 3-dimensional beings. We have height, width, and depth, as do all things in this plane of existence. But we can only exist at one point in time. This “point” is only hypothetical, though– we measure time through manmade inventions such as clocks or calendars. But time does not physically exist, even though it dictates all things in our lives. Time causes the birth and eventual death of all life. It moves along a linear line, meaning to us, all things happen in chronological order. The Big Bang happened first, then the creation of planets, solar systems, water, life, and so on. The birth of your grandmother happened before yours. Now think of how a 2-dimensional being would perceive the 3rd dimension, and it will be quite similar. A 2-dimensional being only has height and width, but not depth. It is probably aware of depth, but can never see depth, or feel depth. It, and everything else in that dimension, can only exist at one point of depth, which would move forward in a linear fashion, and no being in that dimension could ever go back to a previous depth, or see the “future depth”. But of course, to us, this is inconceivable to understand, because we live in a dimension where an infinite amount of depths coexist all at once. You may see where this is going. Perhaps someone would like to ask a fourth-dimensional being, “What is it like being a time-traveler? Can you change the past/future?” But how would you respond if someone asked you: “What is it like being a depth-traveler? Can you change previous depths/future depths?” This question doesn’t really make sense because not only do we move depth-wise (on the Z-plane if we are thinking in terms of a x-y graph) when we walk, drive, even breathe, but all of our organs and cells and atoms have a depth, which change without us thinking about it. This is probably very similar to how a fourth-dimensional being would view time. The Big Bang did not happen first, nor last. It is always happening, as are the births of all who came before you, as are the deaths of all who come after you. Just because we view time linearly doesn’t mean it IS linear. Our brains were not built to wrap our heads around this, but all things that could ever possibly have happened, or could ever possibly happen in the future, are currently happening. This ties to a philosophy that has existed for thousands of years and shows up in witchcraft often: the idea of Oneness. That one is all, all is one, that all things are connected, As above, so below… The microcosm is the macrocosm, the macrocosm is the microcosm. This completely throws the conversation of free will, and the butterfly effect, out the window. “Do we truly get to choose our actions, or is everything predetermined, due to God or timelessness, or whatever we want to call it?” We wonder, “if I had chosen XYZ differently… if I had chosen to buy a different drink on February 18th, 2016, would my life be completely different now?” But all these questions have no real weight when time is NOT chronological. You can’t choose or NOT choose anything, because all things, all results, all causes, simultaneously exist. I like to believe that all things exist as one big jumbled math equation. This equation is constantly changing due to every individual and even non-sentient object in the universe. All things affect this equation, and yet it is always dictated by the same mathematical principles. Again, I do not think the human brain can truly comprehend this, but this means “free will” and “predestination” co-exist, if we MUST think in those terms (but I have already said I think those terms are 3-dimensional bologney). You can already guess that this, of course, means the multiverse exists.
Your soul is essentially a concentration of this mathematical life force that exists in all atoms and therefore all things– this is not unique to my theory. You have probably already heard the phrase “You are a small piece of the universe experiencing itself.” Again, this is how you are connected to all things, and how you exist aside from your physical body. This aligns with the commonly accepted concept that when you astral project, you are shifting your consciousness to a different plane of existence. But what if we bring this idea of timelessness and the multiverse theory into the conversation? If all I have said is true, there is an infinite amount of alternate universes. Let's say you had an OBE where you went to Mars. But there’s an alternate universe where you really did go to Mars in the future, and if all possible futures are simultaneously happening, and you are connected to all of these events due to this “big jumbled math equation”... that is how you can experience going to Mars, or going in the past to see your mother as a child, or to see a concert from 5 years ago. You have your “home” universe, and your “home” body, and your “home” time, but our souls are 4-dimensional beings that transcend the 3rd dimension and can become one with God. This would also make sense with the idea of “raising/lowering your vibrations”, since vibrations are waves which are just mathematical equations (think y=sinx or y=cosx). You are mathematically aligning yourself with the part of the “universal math equation” that is also on that vibration, resulting in common experiences such as AP, manifestation, encounters with good and bad spirits, chakra balances/imbalances, and so on, because as with the laws of physics, math demands balance/symmetry (like when you probably heard in algebra: “what you do on one side of the equal sign, you must do on the other side).
Hopefully this is digestible enough. And if anyone is curious, I have never done drugs before lol

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Mike marveled at the beauty of the inner city. He was familiar with Kael architecture and had even seen some up close at the university, but it was far grander here than on Earth, and it was far grander in person than in the videos and pictures he'd seen. The buildings were a hybrid of Gothic and expressionist architecture built with classical aesthetics.
Mosaics, statues, and murals were everywhere, but despite the grand buildings and beautiful decorations, Mike couldn’t keep his eyes off the ground. Even the streets are beautiful.
The ground he and Dreki walked was like a freshly cooled lava flow paved by slates of colored glass that softly glowed in the dimming light of the evening sun.
As they walked, Mike was woken from his trance by the scent of meat cooking.
Dreki smiled and said, “Smells good. You hungry?”
Mike nodded.
Dreki grinned and led Mike around the corner to a food cart. Mike salivated as the flames licked and sputtered at fat dripping from hunks of what looked like octopus turning on spits. The aroma of meat and spices was intoxicating. Dreki ordered them octopus skewers. As he handed Mike his skewer, Dreki said, “You’re never going to be able to eat earth octopus again.”
Mike chuckled. “I’ve never had it in the first place; I grew up in the mountains thousands of miles from the ocean.”
Dreki looked incredulous. “Did you not have rivers?”
Mike shrugged his shoulders, “Not with octopi.”
Dreki raised his free hand in exasperation. “Whatever. Either way, you’ll be disappointed by the rubbery trash humans call an octopus after eating this.”
Mike took a bite of the meat and groaned in pleasure. It tasted like a beefier version of bacon. Mike wolfed down his skewer in the blink of an eye and exclaimed, “That was fucking good!”
Dreki gave him a “Mhhhmh” with his still mouth full.
Dreki finished his food and led Mike off the main road onto a footpath flanked by wispy trees with dark blue leaves.
Eventually, the pair entered the back garden of a building that looked like a melted cathedral. Dreki led him through an open gate into a well-lit waiting room and held out his arm. “Hand me your bag; I’ll take it to your room. I’ll come get you after.”
Mike slipped his bag from his shoulders and handed it to Dreki. As the herculean Kael was leaving, he turned and said, “Try not to scream when they brand you; it’s an ill omen.”
Mike drummed his fingers on the armrests of the chair in the sea foam green waiting room, which was decorated with pictures of duels and exotic plants in white and blue ceramic pots. He was pretty sure that more than one of the photographs was of Dreki’s father.
Mike was anxious. Getting branded would suck, and getting an AR implant would involve someone sticking a drill through his skull. And without his gargantuan minder, Mike felt almost naked. He knew that he would probably be fine, but this was the home of the enemy. Without any weapons, he stood little chance against any Kael worth their salt in a fight.
Mike chided himself for the thought. Why does everything have to revolve around violence? Is there no world where you can just get along with them?
Mike frowned. No. I hate them. Despite his barely contained rage, Mike felt nauseous as blood-soaked memories bombarded his mind.
He doubted that he could kill again, even if it meant dying.
Dreki’s not so bad; maybe out here, more of them are like him than Ocidea.
Mike’s melancholy was interrupted when the tall door at the far end of the room opened. A short, for a Kaelman, nurse wearing pea green scrubs walked out, locked eyes with him, and shouted, “Mike Anderson!”
Mike followed the short Kael nurse into a cream-colored operating room. In the center an instrument table hovered next to an operating table. Besides the operating table stood a middle-aged Kael with tusks intricately inlaid with silver in triangular patterns. His white lab coat had Chief Surgeon Athocill emblazoned over the right breast pocket.
The Chief Surgeon stared off into space, engrossed in AR. The nurse who brought him in pointed to the operating table. Mike sat down.
A slender Kaelwoman in scrubs and a lab coat identifying her as the assistant surgeon walked in and started arranging the tools.
She glanced at Mike and said, “Take off your shirt.”
Mike pulled the black T-shirt he was wearing over his head and set it on the table next to him.
Without looking away from his work, the Chief Surgeon tossed Mike a leather strap and said, “Brand him.”
The short nurse pulled a heat stamp from its case and rolled the numbers to their correct positions. Mike put the leather strap in his mouth and grabbed onto the table.
Dreki’s warning rang through his head*.*
The Nurse carefully placed the print plate just below Mike’s collarbone and pushed it down. The heat stamp's coils flashed white. Mike bit down on the leather strap as hard as he could, and his knuckles popped as he gripped the edges of the operating table as hard as he could. Tendrils of smoke billowed off Mike’s chest as his flesh was seared, and the acrid smell of burnt hair and torched flesh wafted through the room.
Mike stifled a groan as the nurse peeled the superheated steel off his chest. The Nurse set the smoking stamp back in its case to cool and picked up a small jar of viscous blue fluid and a brush. The nurse opened the jar, dipped the brush in the blue goop, and painted it over Mike’s still-smoking burn. Mike jolted at the freezing touch of the brush. His ribs and abdomen rose and fell rapidly as he took short, shallow breaths as the freezing cold shocked his nervous system.
The nurse put the brush away and closed the jar. “Done”
Mike let the leather strap drop from his mouth and put on a straight face as he externally disguised the pain. Showing weakness was not an option, even if every fiber of his being commanded him to scream.
The assistant took hold of Mike’s arm and spoke. “Make a fist and squeeze.”
Mike did as she asked. It was a good distraction from the pain. His knuckles turned white, and the veins in his forearm bulged after a few seconds of pressure.
“You’ll feel a tiny pinch.”
The assistant jabbed the needle into the crook of his arm.
Mike’s head immediately felt heavy, and his whole body tingled. He tried to stay upright, to no avail. His vision grayed out as his head plopped onto the table with a thud.
The surgeon looked to his assistant and asked, “Is he out?”
“Yes.” She answered.
“Let us begin.”
The assistant used a small metal tool to pull Mike's right eyelid open. The chief surgeon plunged a gold needle into the depths of Mike’s right eye.
The surgeon carefully pulled the needle from the human’s eye and set the syringe back down on the floating instrument table.
“Targeting chip in place. Next stage.”
The nurse began rummaging around a drawer in the back of the room, and the chief surgeon plucked a gleaming silver drill from the instrument table.
The drill in the surgeon's hand whirred as he plunged it into Mike’s skull. After just a few seconds, the drill bored through Mike's skull. The surgeon pulled the drill out of the human's head and angled the bit down into a small metal dish that was in the extended arms of the assistant. The chief surgeon hit a button on the drill with his thumb.
A bloody, dime-sized piece of Mike’s skull dropped to the bottom of the metal dish with a clang.
He set the drill back down on the instrument table and held out his hand. “Drone.”
The nurse put an insect-like metal contraption that resembled a whip scorpion in the surgeon’s hand. The chief surgeon's eyes glazed as he entered his AR and took control of the drone. It popped out of his hand and burrowed itself into the hole in Mike's skull.
Inside his AR, he brought the drone to the occipital lobe of Mike’s brain.
“Deploying lattice.”
The arachnid-like drone injected small metal spikes with spools of minuscule wire attached—anchor points—into Mike’s brain. After just a minute's work, the surgeon had crafted a web of wires across Mike's brain. He brought the drone back to the center of Mike’s brain and planted one final anchor spike. A reel inside one of the claw-like appendages at the front of the drone spun, cinching the lattice of wires down to the last anchor point. The surgeon brought the drone around again, ensuring that the web of copper was completely taught against the human’s brain. He brought the drone back out and smiled ever so slightly as the blood and cerebrospinal fluid-soaked drone hopped back into his gloved hand.
Chief Surgeon Athocill smiled and jovially said, “Patch him up.” He was pleased with his performance today. This was the first human to get an advanced AR package, and the procedure went flawlessly. The assistant grabbed a quarter-sized piece of flesh-colored putty and carefully placed the small piece of skull onto it. She placed the putty over the hole in Mike’s head, and it took to life, bonding the fragment of bone back into place and sealing the surface wound.
The surgeon removed his gloves and began typing on a holoprojection. “All systems are operational. I’m linking him to the military network now.”
The assistant pulled the instrument table to her side and plucked a syringe filled with neon green fluid. She said, “I’m waking him up now,” as she plunged the needle into Mike’s arm.
Mike’s eyes flew open, and he grit his teeth against the pain. Tears seeped from his stinging and blood-filling right eye. Every heartbeat brought a jolt of crippling pain to his head. And worst of all was the searing pain from the brand on his chest and the aching cold that barely disguised it. Mike sat up with a grunt. Pain shot through his chest when he brought his hand to his head and felt the hardened disc of putty on his temple.
The surgeon addressed Mike with a soothing tone. “On the count of three, I’m going to activate your AR. It will feel like your head is on fire for a few seconds, but it will only last a few seconds. One… Two… Three!”
Mike nearly collapsed with the pain, but he managed to limit his response to a grunt. Light flashed before his eyes, and Kaelic text appeared in the center of his vision. The doctor asked, “What do you see.”
Mike answered, “AR active. And below that, it says setup wizard.” Despite his best efforts, pain was evident in his voice.
“Ok, Mike, I want you to think, ‘open setup wizard.’”
Mike blinked a few times. “Nothing happened.”
The surgeon said, “Think it in Kaelic.”
Mike’s brow furrowed in concentration. He was fluent in Kaelic, but not to the point where he could think in the language at will.
“Ok, I got it. It says setting menu at the top, and there are a ton of things here. Do you want me to read them off?”
“No. Can you scroll down?”
“Yes.”
“Good. You should be able to get the hang of this pretty quickly; it's very intuitive. You’ll see that there are a few HUD profiles that you can pick from. I’d recommend you start from profile two and then customize it as you see fit.”
Mike nodded as he selected profile two.
“OK, now think clear.”
Mike did as the surgeon asked. His vision was now cleared.
The surgeon smiled. “Feel free to fiddle with the settings, just think clear if it gets cluttered, and reset if you make a dog’s breakfast of it. You’ll have a headache for the next few days, and you may start having more vivid dreams, but other than that, you’ll barely notice the change. Just take it easy for the next few days, and don’t itch at your brand or your eye.”

I'll draw your ponies ( as humans or just as their pony forms ) for free. I'm bored and want some practice - drop em below or message me if you're shy. :3