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2015.12.30 18:37 PUSClFER People Fucking Dying
Videos and GIFs of people (figuratively) fucking dying.
2013.03.11 09:05 stories from the front desk of hotels/hostels/and others in the hospitality industry
A place where people from the hotel (mostly) industry can come and share the stories of the things our guests do and say that make customer service the hated job that it is. Non-hotel front desk stories welcome, so long as the tale involves a front desk. Retail employee? /talesfromretail
2024.05.20 02:52 sultrysoull What happens to CV points I earned for a booking that I’m going to cancel ?
I have made a hotel reservation via my SBI Vistara Prime card. I have already received its club Vistara points in my card rewards points for that booking that I paid through my card.
What happens to the earned CV points as I’m planning on cancelling the booking. Also it’s free cancellation till 10th June. And my card statement and points transfer date is 3rd of June
What’ll happen to the points that get transferred on 3rd June since I can cancel till 11th June.
Also if statement gets generated on 3rd and I cancel after that date. What’ll happen then ?
submitted by sultrysoull to CreditCardsIndia [link] [comments]
What happens to the earned CV points as I’m planning on cancelling the booking. Also it’s free cancellation till 10th June. And my card statement and points transfer date is 3rd of June
What’ll happen to the points that get transferred on 3rd June since I can cancel till 11th June.
Also if statement gets generated on 3rd and I cancel after that date. What’ll happen then ?
2024.05.20 02:41 budz2000 The Falkorian Wars of Amethyll (280BGE~244 BGE)
 | The Falkorian Wars of Amethyll (280 BGE-256 BGE) 1st Slide: Terys I Falkor during the Conquest of Amethyll (278 BGE) 2nd Slide: Terys I Falkor during the Varynian Uprising (260 BGE) 3rd Slide: Varyn I Falkor after the Wedding of the Winds, beginning the Varynian Uprising (260 BGE) 4th Slide: Varyn I Falkor during the Second Battle of the Teeth (257 BGE) 5th Slide: Lord Protector Luuri I Maliig during the Fall of Ostena (257 BGE) 6th Slide: The Twin Princes Coryn I and Dalairus I Falkor during the Battle of the Burning Valley (248 BGE) 7th Slide: Prince Coryn and Prince Dalairus during the Twin Prince Rebellion (247 BGE) 8th Slide: Dalairus I Falkor during the Night of the Frozen Ashes (246 BGE) 9th Slide: Varyn I Falkor at the Wedding of Bevelon (244 BGE) submitted by budz2000 to Bevelon [link] [comments] The Falkorian Wars began in the aftermath of the War of the Four Princes. Terys I fled Kalaryvia following the Fall of Pelarys and the death of the King, Koranys IV Kalarye, and his first action away from Kalaryvia was to conquer the ancestral home of the Falkor, one of three branches of the ancient Kalaryvian Bloodline. Terys took time, but in that time he became what he aspired to be: King. King Terys I Falkor first became King of the Teeth, then the MarshLands, then the SeaLands, before eventually conquering the Fork and the capital of Tabalar to make himself the King of Amethyll. In his time of conquest, Terys had 3 sons: Varyn I Falkor, heir of Amethyll, and the Twin Princes, Coryn I and Dalairus I. Peace would reign until eventually, Terys’ own restlessness and paranoia led to the Varynian Uprising. This would only be the beginning of the bloodshed and instability brought upon his conquered lands. Varyn I and the Twin Princes would form a blood-lusting rivalry that would last years and years, plunging Amethyll into dragonfyre and darkness. The Falkorian Wars would go on to shape the fate of Bevelon’s destiny for generations in the future, and in the present, turn the world around them to ashes in the name of honor, loyalty, and most of all..love and hate. |
2024.05.20 02:40 SpaceC0wb0y86 Looking for advice on how to capitalize on increased recent exposure and potentially take a next step
Forgive me if this question should be asked elsewhere but I could really use some advice.
I’ve been a journalist full time at the same company in Huntsville, Alabama for the last 3 years. I started out at my university newspaper in 2013 before graduating and moving to New Orleans where I wasn’t able to book work consistently enough to truly say, “I’ve been a journalist for the past decade.” There was a 1-2 year period where I thought I didn’t have what it took.
My current situation has been very satisfying from the beginning. My boss owns a magazine and a business journal focused on Huntsville and the surrounding area. Most of the assignments have been limited in the amount of exposure you could ever expect as with most other community based journalism but Huntsville is also home to NASA and Redstone Arsenal. It requires more effort a long with putting yourself out there much more consistently, but any determined journalist can find stories locally that will generate readers far beyond the city and state lines.
In August of 2023, I had an instance where my luck and determination peaked at the same time when I was able to track down the son of a former Chinese immigrant turned Huntsville scientist, Dr. Ning Li. She wasn’t famous, not even among most Huntsville residents, but in the early 2000’s she had a run of published papers that made her extremely well known in the science community and even resulted in publications like Wired running multi page spreads about her work on anti gravity technology. I’m going to be REALLY short here but she seemingly disappeared after leaving UAH to start her own company for her research in 2002. Records show initial funding from DoD but the paper trail ends there and she never had a public appearance again.
Eventually this “disappearance” was noticed and some reporters were asking about her publicly at the time, but no sure fire answers ever came. This, along with some public rumors of her defecting back to China with US secrets, eventually resulted in a large community of people who were still asking for answers 20 years later in the form of YouTube videos (Barely Sociable had a big one with 2+ million views) or various science / conspiracy based websites. It only grew as more people started making claims that a lot of the UAP reports being publicized described technology that seemed to resemble her initial theory that gained promise.
I was able to track down her adult son’s phone number. After a series of phone calls over the next month, I gained his trust and was invited to his home where he was able to give me all of the answers except ones about the success of her research on her top secret work funded by the DoD. He didn’t know if she was ever proven right or wrong because she worked at the Arsenal every day until the day she was struck by a car driven by a student on UAH campus. She suffered a TBI that immediately rendered her as if she had late stage Alzheimer’s. Never spoke again and he cared for her around the clock until she died 6 years later.
He was unable to learn anything further about her work, but he gave me a lot of information that wasn’t known at the time and I was able to fully disprove any rumor of her turning traitor to the US for a return to China.
I published the story and it did really well in mid-late 2023 amongst the crowd who already knew of her obviously and the regular Huntsville readers of ours found her life story very interesting. It was immediately the most successful story of my career as other reporters were making stories about the fact that I was able to solve her mystery. It died down like I figured until 4-6 weeks ago.
The UAP disclosure hype has resulted in more people talking about her than ever before. I’m hearing my name and seeing my picture on videos with over 1 million views for the first time ever.
I was very happy but didn’t think it changed much for me because it’s not like it could grow more realistically. Until Joe fucking Rogan reads pretty much the whole story and talks about it for 5-10 minutes on the podcast with largest following in the world.
My excitement turned to disbelief that day and it’s still crazy to think about sometimes. I never realistically thought I would write something that would generate traffic numbers around 5-6 million readers on a single story. That number is over course of 8 months which is very far removed getting those same numbers in the span of a week but the increase in exposure has been noticeable in my inbox ever since the Rogan podcast.
Noticeable enough that it feels like I’m very possibly having a moment before it’s just a moment before THE moment if that makes sense.
I haven’t had any career advancing job offers but there’s been some who have reached out in support to suggest various story topics that run parallel to that story as follow up ideas. Maybe I’m overestimating here but I feel like if I capitalize on my recent success correctly, I could see my career advance a step farther than I thought was possible for the year of 2024 when it started.
But…. I’m not at all sure how of the specific road map that could achieve such a thing. Yeah, I proved I can put together a story that results in traffic from both readers and “cultural trendsetters” but only once.
If anyone has ever been in a similar position, I would love some advice on the best way to turn this exposure into interest from publishers 1 step up the totem pole from where I am now. That also applies to people who haven’t been in this position, the more feedback I can get, the more prepared I feel I can be.
Sorry this post has been so long, it’s just been heavy on my mind for the last 1-2 weeks and I needed to hear from people who are both A: familiar with the industry and B: Not my boss.
submitted by SpaceC0wb0y86 to Journalism [link] [comments]
I’ve been a journalist full time at the same company in Huntsville, Alabama for the last 3 years. I started out at my university newspaper in 2013 before graduating and moving to New Orleans where I wasn’t able to book work consistently enough to truly say, “I’ve been a journalist for the past decade.” There was a 1-2 year period where I thought I didn’t have what it took.
My current situation has been very satisfying from the beginning. My boss owns a magazine and a business journal focused on Huntsville and the surrounding area. Most of the assignments have been limited in the amount of exposure you could ever expect as with most other community based journalism but Huntsville is also home to NASA and Redstone Arsenal. It requires more effort a long with putting yourself out there much more consistently, but any determined journalist can find stories locally that will generate readers far beyond the city and state lines.
In August of 2023, I had an instance where my luck and determination peaked at the same time when I was able to track down the son of a former Chinese immigrant turned Huntsville scientist, Dr. Ning Li. She wasn’t famous, not even among most Huntsville residents, but in the early 2000’s she had a run of published papers that made her extremely well known in the science community and even resulted in publications like Wired running multi page spreads about her work on anti gravity technology. I’m going to be REALLY short here but she seemingly disappeared after leaving UAH to start her own company for her research in 2002. Records show initial funding from DoD but the paper trail ends there and she never had a public appearance again.
Eventually this “disappearance” was noticed and some reporters were asking about her publicly at the time, but no sure fire answers ever came. This, along with some public rumors of her defecting back to China with US secrets, eventually resulted in a large community of people who were still asking for answers 20 years later in the form of YouTube videos (Barely Sociable had a big one with 2+ million views) or various science / conspiracy based websites. It only grew as more people started making claims that a lot of the UAP reports being publicized described technology that seemed to resemble her initial theory that gained promise.
I was able to track down her adult son’s phone number. After a series of phone calls over the next month, I gained his trust and was invited to his home where he was able to give me all of the answers except ones about the success of her research on her top secret work funded by the DoD. He didn’t know if she was ever proven right or wrong because she worked at the Arsenal every day until the day she was struck by a car driven by a student on UAH campus. She suffered a TBI that immediately rendered her as if she had late stage Alzheimer’s. Never spoke again and he cared for her around the clock until she died 6 years later.
He was unable to learn anything further about her work, but he gave me a lot of information that wasn’t known at the time and I was able to fully disprove any rumor of her turning traitor to the US for a return to China.
I published the story and it did really well in mid-late 2023 amongst the crowd who already knew of her obviously and the regular Huntsville readers of ours found her life story very interesting. It was immediately the most successful story of my career as other reporters were making stories about the fact that I was able to solve her mystery. It died down like I figured until 4-6 weeks ago.
The UAP disclosure hype has resulted in more people talking about her than ever before. I’m hearing my name and seeing my picture on videos with over 1 million views for the first time ever.
I was very happy but didn’t think it changed much for me because it’s not like it could grow more realistically. Until Joe fucking Rogan reads pretty much the whole story and talks about it for 5-10 minutes on the podcast with largest following in the world.
My excitement turned to disbelief that day and it’s still crazy to think about sometimes. I never realistically thought I would write something that would generate traffic numbers around 5-6 million readers on a single story. That number is over course of 8 months which is very far removed getting those same numbers in the span of a week but the increase in exposure has been noticeable in my inbox ever since the Rogan podcast.
Noticeable enough that it feels like I’m very possibly having a moment before it’s just a moment before THE moment if that makes sense.
I haven’t had any career advancing job offers but there’s been some who have reached out in support to suggest various story topics that run parallel to that story as follow up ideas. Maybe I’m overestimating here but I feel like if I capitalize on my recent success correctly, I could see my career advance a step farther than I thought was possible for the year of 2024 when it started.
But…. I’m not at all sure how of the specific road map that could achieve such a thing. Yeah, I proved I can put together a story that results in traffic from both readers and “cultural trendsetters” but only once.
If anyone has ever been in a similar position, I would love some advice on the best way to turn this exposure into interest from publishers 1 step up the totem pole from where I am now. That also applies to people who haven’t been in this position, the more feedback I can get, the more prepared I feel I can be.
Sorry this post has been so long, it’s just been heavy on my mind for the last 1-2 weeks and I needed to hear from people who are both A: familiar with the industry and B: Not my boss.
2024.05.20 02:34 Mysterious_Radish386 SCJ Melbourne (my experience)
Chapter 1: Meeting C and F
About a year ago on May 2023, I was walking home from a long day at uni and just got done a long programming class. On my way back to the station I was approached by 2 girls. 1 chinese girl we’ll call C, and 1 girl from argentina we’ll call F.Now they wanted to ask questions for their survey, I was happy to answer because I don’t mind helping others out. They eventually talked about my background and religion and we eventually exchanged phone numbers because I thought they were pretty friendly.
I talked to C a lot, I mean a lot. She wanted me to go out with her, I denied a hundred times because I find the city mentally exhausting. I eventually agreed and we went out and ate food. At the time I thought she was extremely friendly. I don’t remember between this time period and when we first done bible study. So i’ll get onto that.
Chapter 2: Meeting S and J
Me and C went out to QV and she was telling me she was meeting her colleague/mentor I didn’t think much of it at the time. We eventually started doing bible study because I was curious about Christianity, my family are heavy Christians so I thought why not learn about it?We only done 1 bible study per week because I didn’t wanna sacrifice other parts of my life (my actual friends, gym, family, alone time and yes I like to be alone at times). S tried to convince me to start going 2 times a week but I keep declining, I eventually agreed. My mental health at this point was starting to go downhill a tiny bit.
After a few weeks I think, I went out with C to an event that I didn’t really wanna go to, I wake up late so this gave her a massive inconvenience for C (good thing I did that), and we only attended the event at I think it was called ibis hotel.
There I met J, he seemed a bit off to me but nonetheless I greeted him. I didn’t like the vibe this guy gave me. He said him and C known each other from high school.
C told me that S will teach J bible study, keep in mind that our studies are 2 times a week and it’s been like that for 3-4 weeks? S taught J in 1 week and I was very suspicious. I kept that in mind just incase, which actually helped.
Chapter 3: Manipulation
S would convince me to go 3 times a week now and i’m aware that she’s trying to manipulate me now, I could tell and see right through. I kept on declining because I thought what else is she hiding? What if she starts making me go 4 times a week?When I got home, I gave it some thought, I eventually decided to do 3 times a week, I was extremely skeptical and curious at the same time. Next lesson I said I will go 3 times a week. At around this timeline at October 2023, my mental health wasn’t doing so great. I had to take an 1hr 2min train ride from my area to CBD and back. I told my family that I was doing extra stuff for my uni. They didn’t bat an eye.
Chapter 4: Wonder
This place S told us to go to was hosted at 52 Albert Street, South Melbourne and we had to go there 3 times a week. You could go any day of the week besides Sunday and you could either attend 10:30am - 12:30pm classes or 6:30pm or 8:30pm, being a late sleeper I chose the evenings.When I first went there S introduced me to her colleague Z. Now Z seemed like a very positive and caring individual. But I didn’t really see it like that tbh. She seemed like someone that manipulated people. And I was spot on. I had to go out with Z once but her vibe was off to me. Keep in mind we haven’t spoken to F since we like met all the way back on May 2023.
As for the classes itself, the atmosphere before classes commenced were like happy reunion places and that it’s all sunshine and rainbows and anybody was welcome. This place felt extremely off to me. After the classes finished we would split off into homerooms, I just left when the classes finished and Z tried to beg me to stay back for homerooms, I kept on declining and Z said it’s like 10-20mins but the homerooms are like another hour, I eventually told her to piss off. For once I stopped eventually agreeing.
I thought to myself “What kind of fucking rabbit hole did I go down? And what are all these people especially my “friends” getting out of this? What’s in it for them? Why are they doing all these teachings about God for free?”
I kept all the past events on mind to see what I would do next. We were discouraged from using tech and I was told to delete photos of the whiteboard, my reason was because I needed to save them for notes, but I now it’s because that they don’t want any of their faces exposed. I do still have a photo of Z on my camera roll. As she took a selfie with me on my phone when we went out.
Chapter 5: Decline of Mental Health
After a month or 2 on these classes, my mental health was down the drain, one of my friends from high school we will name D also attended these classes. Which felt weird as the city has been the most isolating feeling I have come across.I had a couple catch up sessions with Z even though I most of the classes. Every class I missed Z would call me and set up a catch up session. Anyways I stopped going for like a week because I didn’t wanna go. Z would call me and just be annoying she wouldn’t give me personal time and space and told me I was selfish.
Now because I didn’t wanna deal with Z at all, I ghosted her for a week, she was angry with me. I told C that I didn’t wanna go for like a week and she understood.
Chapter 6: The Final Straw
Now going into my final class my mate D messaged me and found out these classes are SCJ. I was furious but unsurprised at the same time. Keep in mind I was about to quit these bible studies for good like a week before he found out, it was very toxic towards my mental health.In my last class Z told me to come with her, we had a 1 on 1. It was like I was being interrogated. Keep in mind I had important appointments too that week I was absent. She told me to still try to attend bible study during those days. I told her no. I told her explicitly I can’t cancel appointments I already set up weeks ago. I could tell she was trying to manipulating me.
She even tried to fake cry I can tell straight away, she told me how selfish I was and that Satan is overtaking me, and how the events of Revelations are gonna commence anytime. I didn’t care, it felt like for the first time in this whole ordeal, I was finally ready to speak out my own opinions. I told her no, she tried to convince me, I tell her no. Until class ended and C asked me if I was okay, to which I replied yes.
As for C and J, they were just there to attend classes with me, J still gave me weird vibes but I was cool with C. S wasn’t present and attended classes once in a blue moon. And as for F, yeah well we can forget about her. Everytime I went home they took the tram with me until we parted ways at the train station.
Now I asked C a question I don’t remember related to the bible, she knew the answer instantly and too well. Now I was convinced that S, C, and J (SCJ reference!) have attempted at recruiting me. I decided to eventually never attend these classes again.
When I got home, I messaged S C J and Z that I will never attend bible study again and how toxic it was towards my mental health.
I answered it in the most friendly manner, that I thanked these bible study sessions for opening my eyes up with God and how important it is to stay away from False Prophets (which I found funny because they talked about 1 John 4:1 and they were false prophets themselves, kinda hypocritical isn’t it?) and I was gonna take my own path with God. And it was a safer option for me.
- Z didn’t reply.
- C asked me why I thought it was SCJ, to which I gave her answers and evidence. She wanted to go out with me again with J, but I said no.
- J told me that he was suspicious and he will talk to Z, I told him that Z is highly manipulative and to not be dumb. Haven’t heard from him since. Most likely a member.
- S surprised me, I thought she would berate me for not loving God and following Satan, as she was responsible for all the events happening. She wished me luck on my journey and fully supported my decision. She didn’t like force me to have an opinion, so I thanked her and wished her good luck.
Chapter 7: Epilogue
After a few months of not going city, staying home, and going on my own lane. My mental health has been in top shape and i’m just grateful that I can hang out with my real friends, spend time with my family that I started to miss. Go and work hard at the gymI caught up with D a few months later, we had a blast, ever since I left SCJ I haven’t been to the city a lot. Maybe once or twice with my mates, I hate the city now thanks to how mentally exhausting it is for me largely thanks to SCJ. I hate the vibe now. I love my home area and I don’t intend that to change. It’s peaceful for me now.
C contacted me a few months ago, she wanted to catch up with me again, I told her i’ll think about it. Didn’t reply back to her as I didn’t wanna encounter anything again that’s related to SCJ.
Now it’s been a whole year since this whole fiasco started, haven’t spoken any of them and my life has continued on as normal, as if nothing happened. I have many friends that I still talk to. I go uni now again but I don’t like going city anymore. So I get in and out asap. I did see C outside my uni like a few weeks ago but I kept my head down and hid from her path till she walked past me, she didn’t see me at all. Oh and i’m doing well mentally now.
2024.05.20 02:31 LivingPeace2722 Would you give up everything for your dream?
Hi- need serious advice. I know this is a novel, I’m so sorry but I would appreciate anyone who reads it. I’m a 20 yr old F and I live with my brother, 19 M, and my two parents. My parents are abusive. There is no way to get around it. Physically when I was young and mentally now. I can’t describe what they put me through now- it’s awful. I promised myself all throughout high school I would leave the moment I turned 18 but something kind of switched and they became more tolerable, almost nicer, so like a fucking idiot I stayed. I started my bachelors, started working and tried to convince myself it was alright. The other reason I stayed was for my brother. I’ve taken care of him my whole life. I didn’t have any other choice, and I didn’t think I wanted one. It was my duty to take care of him and I did my job as best as I could only being 11 months older. I have gotten in the middle of fights, taken beatings, punishments, paid for him, drove him, etc. Time and money I didn’t have to spare spent on him with no repayment, and I’m talking about he wanted a new $60 game so I asked him to help me while I cleaned my room (vacuuming, taking down dirty clothes, wiping down my fan). This has been going on for years. I was the one to complete his college essay, to call his advisors to get his transcripts, to do his homework, otherwise my ass was on the line with my parents. I have done everything I could for him. Plus, he didn’t even get into college because I told him he had to complete his 200 word prompt for his college application, leading him not to get accepted because he didn’t fucking do it. He’s in his first year while I’m almost in my fourth. I have had jobs for the last 3 years in my field while he has done nothing. I begged my parents for a car and drivers license for 2 1/2 years while he, at 19, only got his 4 months ago. He does the bare minimum. Less than that, actually. The night before fall semester started he got into a fight with my father, physically, left the house, and made me go looking for him and try to convince him to go back home until 5am. To say my semester was fucked after that is an understatement. It’s constant but I stay because I’m his sister. It’s my job. It’s also a cultural thing I guess. I know I’m venting but I’m getting to the point I promise. A month ago I asked him to help me clean my room so that I could study since he has a habit of fucking his room up, coming and staying in my room, taking up my bed, and asking me to buy him food. I had just returned from the library, brought him Taco Bell, and wanted to clean a bit before continuing to study for my final the next day. To be clear, if I didn’t pass this class I wouldn’t be on track to graduate or get into my optometry program. He said he didn’t want to help and bitched and moaned but when I pointed out that I had gone out of my way to get Taco Bell for him he agreed to aid. I asked him to just bring up some cleaning stuff and take down my clothes so I could have them clean for work and he left. After an hour or so of waiting for him (yes I was procrastinating and purposely didn’t ask why he was taking so long) I heard him come upstairs with a plate full of sandwiches and go into his room. I was pissed. I started to text him, angrily and cursing I’ll admit, about him not doing shit and being so annoying. I called him a bum for never following on his promises or doing absolutely fucking anything. He started texting in all caps not to call him that otherwise he swore to god I would regret it, and I, being the person that I am (a fucking idiot) called him it again. He rushed out of his room, kicked open my door and threw his phone at me as hard as he could and left me with a bruise. He started standing over me, threatening me, saying shit like he was going to throw me done the stairs, snap my neck, etc. I’ve seen him get that way before- he smashes shit to pieces, breaks anything in his sight, and generally destroys things. For some context he’s a big guy, almost 300lb and used to be able to deadlift 500+lb. I got scared, saw a knife on my counter from dishes I had yet to clean, and pulled it on him. He slowly backed off and went to his room, before I, again, a fucking idiot, called him a bum again. A stupid decision, I know, I would definitely be the bitch that got knifed in a movie and you’d cheer for her death. This time I closed the door before he could come in, he tried to break down the door while I was on the other side, and in response he smashed something made of glass on the other side and punched a hole in my door. I contacted my dad who was far away and he sent my mother home. My mother and I haven’t spoken to each other in a few months since she called me a burden for asking her to help me get my work clothes ready for the week. She came in, spoke to my brother I guess, then came in and spoke to me. She said it was unbelievable and she didn’t know what to say and when I explained what happened and then told me to study for my test. She also went back to talk to him and came back to talk with me, asking me if I pulled a knife on him, which I admitted to, only because I was seriously afraid of him pushing me down the stairs or knocking me out. After that I locked the door and when texting my parents about the situation they only told me not to worry about it, just study. I couldn’t, and I swear to god I tried, all night. I was scared and I think in shock. I got to the lecture hall early and tried to study there but that didn’t help either. I had done alright in the class, done very well in the lab, but knew I bombed the final. I went home and didn’t speak to anyone at home for days. After about 3 days I went downstairs and saw my dad who tried to act like it wasn’t a big deal. I explained how insane and irrational the entire situation was and how I wanted to move out. I couldn’t handle dealing with all of their shit, and if I was the problem like they said I was then I would be fixing that too. I have a very important board exam this summer that I also have to take to get into optometry school and I proposed that I would live on campus, only for the summer. He refused, angrily saying that it wasn’t me place to move out, that he would never support me, and that if that’s what I wanted to do I could get the fuck out right now. A few things- I pay partially for my school. I don’t make much but I put a lot of what I do have toward school and the rest towards little things for me and my brother. Secondly, almost every single thing within my bedroom I have paid for. Excluding the mattress, furniture, and my phone, I have paid for everything I need or want through hard work. Thirdly, both my parents are currently unemployed but wealthy. Wealthy enough that they can go on vacations, pay for four cars, go out with their friends, and pay for their son’s tuition with no hassle. It’s only mine that poses a problem, which is the reason they let me work. They attempt to dictate how I should spend my money constantly. The argument went on for an hour, him accusing me of failing because I chose to, him proposing that he get a lock for my door, telling me I could move into the basement, etc. When my father refused to budge I went upstairs, used a loc that I had bought for when your staying at a hotel to barricade the door and have not spoken to him since. It has been a month now and I have not spoke to anyone in person, though my mother has been trying to guilt me into making me give up my refrigerator in my room by telling me my grandfather is in hospice, there will be a funeral soon, and me having that fridge is making me too fat to be presentable, as well as trying to be nice and hugging me when I have to leave for work in the morning. Now, with all of that context, here’s what’s going on. Since the entire incident happened I have been trying to figure out a way to leave. I have looked into campus housing but it’s an additional $7000 per semester that I don’t think I can afford even if I take out student loans and do FAFSA. I’m scared of the position. It’ll put me in when it comes to going to school. I do have another choice though. I recently toured an apartment complex that is beautiful it’s my dream place and the rent is less than $1500 a month. The only problem is that I only currently make being part time 12 to 1300 a month I just got a raise to $18 an hour but even then that’s not gonna be enough to cover it if I’m going to school at the same time, I’ve looked into some options and FAFSA and loans wouldn’t be able to cover any of my housing outside of living on campus. The only problem with living on campus is I can’t make the morning drive less than an hour and a half to work and I’m afraid with how it all affect my schedule and will to study. I was honestly giving up the idea of moving out at all because it seems so impractical and there was no way that I could actually leave and take my stuff with me without a fight. However, I recently learned that my parents tomorrow are leaving on a five day vacation to Vegas with Little to no thought of how that affects me and the position that I’m in with my brother, if I can figure out a way to somehow be able to afford the rent for this place afford a car to get to work because we have really bad public transportation in my area then I think I would just drop out of school and go. I love optometry more than anything and that’s why I was willing to deal with all of this but maybe school just isn’t in the cards for me. I don’t want to give it up but I don’t think that I’ll make it out of here alive, in all honesty. I can’t keep up with everything it’s ruining my life and I’m only 20 years old. But it’s so scary that I don’t know if I can even take the steps to moving out. I just paid tuition for the spring summer semester and have only $500 to my name. I would need to take out a loan to be able to put down the down payment for the car and the apartment and what if I don’t get approved? What if my work doesn’t give me full-time? what am I gonna do then? I don’t have anybody in my life that could help me. I also have a big family that would all be on their side and agree with them and what if I leave and they come back and cause a scene that causes me to lose my job? They would 100% do that. I know for some people it’s a no brainer but put yourself in my shoes. I have no money, family, friends, or support. At least here I have car and my room and sometimes they’re tolerable. I would only have to do it for 1-2(?) more years. On the other hand, this place is destroying me. I hate who I am becoming because of it. Would it be worth giving up my future for getting my dreams or moving out? If you read all of this you’re amazing, thank you so much. I can only stare at a pros and cons list for so long 🙃
submitted by LivingPeace2722 to Advice [link] [comments]
2024.05.20 02:28 Flying_Snails_Today2 King Dedede vs Sir Pentious analysis
Snail: Dedede! King Dedede! The most greedy, tyrannical, and goofy penguin in all of dream land!
Bowser: Self made ruler of the land and by that I mean he kicked everyone’s butts and nobody could stop him! He took all the food in dream land! He’s starving a planet the fuck-
Snail: King Dedede would smash anyone who stepped in his way as massive ego boosts for the unrighteousness and undeserving king! All until a certain Star Warrior name Kirby came along!
“Hiiii!”
Bowser: Kirby kicked Dedede’s ass not once but TWICE! And in one game geez dude he didn’t even have copy abilities yet that’s sad!
Snail: But even still Kirby showed the king… kindness?
Bowser: This really changed Dedede’s view on things by the next game he tried saving dream land! I mean while looking like a dick because he sucks at asking for help but he’s trying!
Snail: While it would take time Dedede was on the path to redemption! But he’d have to be strong!
Bowser: While not as strong he fought with and alongside Kirby on multiple occasions! And even defeat Magolor and his ship! Magolor’s ship could cross another dimension a higher dimension that exists above time and space! And even destroy another dimension!
Snail: And while he had his trust hammer to clobber the bad guys and that there Kirby he wanted a bitttt more!
Bowser: Like the invincible Candy that can make King Dedede entirely invulnerable for a short period of time! Or his jet hammer that has missiles! And is a flame thrower!
Snail: Even with mask and hammer King Dedede is a king… SO HE HAS AN ARMY! Like his snail servant super cool right hand man! Escargon! He’s not much of a fighter… but he and Dedede have a car with a canon on it!
Bowser: What about the Waddle Dees! You got ones with spears, a guy with a bandanna, umbrellas, cars, they the waddle boys!
Snail: Of course they aren’t very strong or competent fighter with Bandanna Waddle Dee being the only notable exception but they are all extremely loyal to their king to the bitter end! No matter what! And Dedede loves all of them willing to put his life on the line to save them!
Bowser: In order to keep him say he learned a ton of powers! He can regenerate after being stabbed or come back as a ghost by absorbing life force! He can fly! And inhale his enemies and spit them out!
Snail: A lesser version of what Kirby can do! Because King Dedede always wants to one up Kirby!
Bowser: Why do that when the King has his own abilities and weapons that are just as cool! Like bombs! Every good game villain like us needs bombs!
Snail: His mask amplifies his own power greatly and he can shoot electricity out his hands to paralyze people!
Bowser: He can summon the monster of the week from Nightmare enterprises although don’t expect him to pay!
Snail: Lovely! Ya know too think all this cuz he was beefing with a baby.
Bowser: King Dedede’s intelligence may seem below average but it’s far from it, he is a master fighter with experience fighting aliens, robots, alien robots, gods and bug queens! And even drive giant mechs like the the Dedededestroyer Z! A giant mech with more missiles and a hammer arm! It’s huge!
Snail: What a self absorbed penguin! But he’s there for his friends thick and thin! While before he was unwilling to allow Kirby to help him, he went from that to be fine cowering behind Kirby and being happy to see his now friend.
Bowser: Maybe Dedede ain’t so bad! Like when he got double mind control in forgotten land! He became stronger than ever but didn’t care that he lost!
Snail: But when a giant bunch of animals attack our heroes and a Waddle fell behind Dedede tossed that Waddle to make sure he was safe with Kirby and was ready to put down his life and fight alone to protect his friends and subjects
Bowser: And hey he survived! What a legend! He may be kind of a jerk at times but he’s a caring jerk!
Snail: I think Dedede shows us all why we should be kind because one act of kindness can change the worst people for the better!
Bowser: In the world of Hazbin Hotel where angels purrge Hell once a year none can hold a candle in terms of crafty building as Sir Pentious!
Snail: While he may not be as smart as me he’s a very dangerous man! Sir Pentious is a sinner and they’re people who died and of course, went to hell!
Bowser: Very bad ones! While it's unknown how he died we know when! Back in 1888! He's a whole sas steampunk inventor so he had time to learn how to make hell weapons I guess!
Snail: Sir Pentious as a sinner has all the regular sinner powers you'd expect! He can regenerate missing arms and he's immortal as a never-aging demon, without death, as a possibility for him cuz he ya know died.
Bowser: He was a ruthless crime lord who survived the complete vaporization of his airship a feat that would have required him to tank 104 tons of TNT! And he's considered a physical wimp in hell! Oh yeah, he has an airship!
Snail: It comes equipped with lasers, giant thrusters, and more lasers! And even a holy laser!
Bowser: His minions are the Egg Boiz they are egg people who are fierce and loyal they also have electricity guns!
Snail: Sir Pentious wields a chain for combat as well as a spider like well… arm thing? I'm not sure what this is.
Bowser: He may not be the best in hand to hand but he still has the hands and even if he struggles he can use his many eyes over his body to shortly stun or hypnotize you! Combine that with a poisonous bite and he’s no push over! Well maybe he is but-
Snail: He should also be far superior to imps like Blitz! Who can fight robots who can dodge sniper shots at Mach 9! Making Sir Pent very very fast!
Bowser: He really just wanted to be an overlord a ruler of hell but instead he was manipulated by a group of overlords and force to spy on the Hazbin Hotel where sinners get redeemed!
Snail: But he got caught extremely fast and got told to Low Tier God himself by his boss! But god damn the Hotel was nice enough to let him get redeemed! He made friends, joined them in bondage, and crushed on the fire bomb! Cherry Bomb!
Bowser: But to save her and the rest of the hotel he gave his life to stop Adam and shoot a laser at him! The same Adam who could cut mountains! No, he got killed before he could hit but even Adam admits it could've gotten ugly if he was hit!
Snail: And hey for his good actions he went to heaven! I’d say this Hazbin turned his afterlife around pretty damn well!
submitted by Flying_Snails_Today2 to CosmicClashSeries [link] [comments]
Bowser: Self made ruler of the land and by that I mean he kicked everyone’s butts and nobody could stop him! He took all the food in dream land! He’s starving a planet the fuck-
Snail: King Dedede would smash anyone who stepped in his way as massive ego boosts for the unrighteousness and undeserving king! All until a certain Star Warrior name Kirby came along!
“Hiiii!”
Bowser: Kirby kicked Dedede’s ass not once but TWICE! And in one game geez dude he didn’t even have copy abilities yet that’s sad!
Snail: But even still Kirby showed the king… kindness?
Bowser: This really changed Dedede’s view on things by the next game he tried saving dream land! I mean while looking like a dick because he sucks at asking for help but he’s trying!
Snail: While it would take time Dedede was on the path to redemption! But he’d have to be strong!
Bowser: While not as strong he fought with and alongside Kirby on multiple occasions! And even defeat Magolor and his ship! Magolor’s ship could cross another dimension a higher dimension that exists above time and space! And even destroy another dimension!
Snail: And while he had his trust hammer to clobber the bad guys and that there Kirby he wanted a bitttt more!
Bowser: Like the invincible Candy that can make King Dedede entirely invulnerable for a short period of time! Or his jet hammer that has missiles! And is a flame thrower!
Snail: Even with mask and hammer King Dedede is a king… SO HE HAS AN ARMY! Like his snail servant super cool right hand man! Escargon! He’s not much of a fighter… but he and Dedede have a car with a canon on it!
Bowser: What about the Waddle Dees! You got ones with spears, a guy with a bandanna, umbrellas, cars, they the waddle boys!
Snail: Of course they aren’t very strong or competent fighter with Bandanna Waddle Dee being the only notable exception but they are all extremely loyal to their king to the bitter end! No matter what! And Dedede loves all of them willing to put his life on the line to save them!
Bowser: In order to keep him say he learned a ton of powers! He can regenerate after being stabbed or come back as a ghost by absorbing life force! He can fly! And inhale his enemies and spit them out!
Snail: A lesser version of what Kirby can do! Because King Dedede always wants to one up Kirby!
Bowser: Why do that when the King has his own abilities and weapons that are just as cool! Like bombs! Every good game villain like us needs bombs!
Snail: His mask amplifies his own power greatly and he can shoot electricity out his hands to paralyze people!
Bowser: He can summon the monster of the week from Nightmare enterprises although don’t expect him to pay!
Snail: Lovely! Ya know too think all this cuz he was beefing with a baby.
Bowser: King Dedede’s intelligence may seem below average but it’s far from it, he is a master fighter with experience fighting aliens, robots, alien robots, gods and bug queens! And even drive giant mechs like the the Dedededestroyer Z! A giant mech with more missiles and a hammer arm! It’s huge!
Snail: What a self absorbed penguin! But he’s there for his friends thick and thin! While before he was unwilling to allow Kirby to help him, he went from that to be fine cowering behind Kirby and being happy to see his now friend.
Bowser: Maybe Dedede ain’t so bad! Like when he got double mind control in forgotten land! He became stronger than ever but didn’t care that he lost!
Snail: But when a giant bunch of animals attack our heroes and a Waddle fell behind Dedede tossed that Waddle to make sure he was safe with Kirby and was ready to put down his life and fight alone to protect his friends and subjects
Bowser: And hey he survived! What a legend! He may be kind of a jerk at times but he’s a caring jerk!
Snail: I think Dedede shows us all why we should be kind because one act of kindness can change the worst people for the better!
Bowser: In the world of Hazbin Hotel where angels purrge Hell once a year none can hold a candle in terms of crafty building as Sir Pentious!
Snail: While he may not be as smart as me he’s a very dangerous man! Sir Pentious is a sinner and they’re people who died and of course, went to hell!
Bowser: Very bad ones! While it's unknown how he died we know when! Back in 1888! He's a whole sas steampunk inventor so he had time to learn how to make hell weapons I guess!
Snail: Sir Pentious as a sinner has all the regular sinner powers you'd expect! He can regenerate missing arms and he's immortal as a never-aging demon, without death, as a possibility for him cuz he ya know died.
Bowser: He was a ruthless crime lord who survived the complete vaporization of his airship a feat that would have required him to tank 104 tons of TNT! And he's considered a physical wimp in hell! Oh yeah, he has an airship!
Snail: It comes equipped with lasers, giant thrusters, and more lasers! And even a holy laser!
Bowser: His minions are the Egg Boiz they are egg people who are fierce and loyal they also have electricity guns!
Snail: Sir Pentious wields a chain for combat as well as a spider like well… arm thing? I'm not sure what this is.
Bowser: He may not be the best in hand to hand but he still has the hands and even if he struggles he can use his many eyes over his body to shortly stun or hypnotize you! Combine that with a poisonous bite and he’s no push over! Well maybe he is but-
Snail: He should also be far superior to imps like Blitz! Who can fight robots who can dodge sniper shots at Mach 9! Making Sir Pent very very fast!
Bowser: He really just wanted to be an overlord a ruler of hell but instead he was manipulated by a group of overlords and force to spy on the Hazbin Hotel where sinners get redeemed!
Snail: But he got caught extremely fast and got told to Low Tier God himself by his boss! But god damn the Hotel was nice enough to let him get redeemed! He made friends, joined them in bondage, and crushed on the fire bomb! Cherry Bomb!
Bowser: But to save her and the rest of the hotel he gave his life to stop Adam and shoot a laser at him! The same Adam who could cut mountains! No, he got killed before he could hit but even Adam admits it could've gotten ugly if he was hit!
Snail: And hey for his good actions he went to heaven! I’d say this Hazbin turned his afterlife around pretty damn well!
2024.05.20 02:25 merry1137 STUPID LONG ANSWER for Jesse re: Earth plants on a planet near a binary star system
Dearest Jesse (and co),
I heard your call for someone with relevant expertise to talk about the effects of radiation of two "suns" on Earth plants and I have some thoughts to offer. Plants per se are not my specialty, but I am a cell biologist with enough info on how they work to be relevant (I hope). TL;DR, you are correct the plants would not be happy, though honestly radiation is only one of the problems and probably better tolerated than some of the others, but these could easily be fixed by building an environmental chamber.
The radiation-specific bit:
Assuming that the radiation is not 'insta-kill' levels, the problem is primarily that it causes damage to DNA. Plants and other organisms exposed radiation from the sun and other sources on a general basis have evolved ways of dealing with this. One way is to try and prevent radiation from getting to the DNA (see e.g. melanin-producing fungi that thrive at Chernobyl). Another, used by pretty much every organism, is to have DNA surveillance mechanisms that either fix the problem or, in the case of multi-cellular organisms like plants and humans, cause the cell to self-destruct if the damage is too severe. As evolution is honestly an inelegant process that gets things to a 'workable for procreation' state not a 'beautifully and perfectly optimized' state, these systems are indeed best suited to the level of radiation damage they can expect to accumulate from our normal sun. Higher levels could cause a variety of effects ranging from stunted growth because of increased rate of defective cell division (due to DNA damage) to generation of al kinds of weird new types of plants. This is actually where many of our modern agricultural products come from. In the early 20th century a bunch of horticulturalists blasted food crops with radiation and just looked for desirable offspring generated by the mutated plants (no, this is not what is meant by the modern term GMO).
This gets to the second part of the point: of all the organisms on Earth, plants are probably the best suited to suddenly be transported to a place where they will incur lots of extra radiation damage. This is because their chromosomes are WEIRD. Humans have two full sets of chromosomes, one from each parent. 23 chromosomes x 2 copies = 46. Most animals are like this, i.e. diploid. Lots of fungi are haploid (only one copy each) or diploid. Plants looked at this system and said N00Bs! Many of them have more than 2 copies of each chromosome and are tetraploid (4), octaploid (8), or more. The fern Ophioglossum reticulatum is reported to hold the current record at 1440 copies, which is just absurd. Lots of food crops (wheat, potato, sugarcane, peanuts, to name a few) have more than 2 copies of each chromosome. In practical terms, this means they could withstand a lot of genetic damage without necessarily being too affected because they have a large information backup.
The non-radiation problem bit:
If this situation was proposed to me, my first concern would actually be circadian periodicity. Plant growth and especially flowering (necessary for any fruits or veggies) is tightly regulated by circadian rhythms and many plants are exquisitely tuned to the length of dark and light. If suddenly they are getting the wrong amount of light, flowering (and therefore fruit production) might be halted completely. In a binary star system, I imagine the fraction of time spent in "day" is probably more than it is on Earth, wreaking havoc on the ability of any plants whose flowers are involved in the part that we eat (i.e. it wouldn't matter for things like lettuce), to produce a food crop.
There is also the problem soil composition/nutrient availability. The chances of the alien planet having the right kind of soil is essentially zero, though they could certainly grow most things hydroponically and add in liquid fertilizer, but how much fertilizer of this type were they bringing (Mathas can check the inventory for this item)? And how long would that last?
This would all be fairly easily solved by just building an environmentally-controlled chamber with lighting on a timer, and I assume that would be the plan. Many greenhouses even on earth use a system like this so that they can dictate when flowers form and to keep growth more regular. On Serpo, they would just want to make sure the outside was especially shielded from any stray light/radiation.
Credentials: Cell and molecular biologist. Experience in plant, fungal, and mammalian model systems. PhD and postdoctoral research conducted at Ivies (which isn't as fancy as it sounds TBH). Now an industry scientist in biotech field.
PS If for any reason you want to discuss this on the podcast, feel free
PPS obviously I am happy for any more dedicated plant biologists to add more nuance to this.
submitted by merry1137 to ChilluminatiPod [link] [comments]
I heard your call for someone with relevant expertise to talk about the effects of radiation of two "suns" on Earth plants and I have some thoughts to offer. Plants per se are not my specialty, but I am a cell biologist with enough info on how they work to be relevant (I hope). TL;DR, you are correct the plants would not be happy, though honestly radiation is only one of the problems and probably better tolerated than some of the others, but these could easily be fixed by building an environmental chamber.
The radiation-specific bit:
Assuming that the radiation is not 'insta-kill' levels, the problem is primarily that it causes damage to DNA. Plants and other organisms exposed radiation from the sun and other sources on a general basis have evolved ways of dealing with this. One way is to try and prevent radiation from getting to the DNA (see e.g. melanin-producing fungi that thrive at Chernobyl). Another, used by pretty much every organism, is to have DNA surveillance mechanisms that either fix the problem or, in the case of multi-cellular organisms like plants and humans, cause the cell to self-destruct if the damage is too severe. As evolution is honestly an inelegant process that gets things to a 'workable for procreation' state not a 'beautifully and perfectly optimized' state, these systems are indeed best suited to the level of radiation damage they can expect to accumulate from our normal sun. Higher levels could cause a variety of effects ranging from stunted growth because of increased rate of defective cell division (due to DNA damage) to generation of al kinds of weird new types of plants. This is actually where many of our modern agricultural products come from. In the early 20th century a bunch of horticulturalists blasted food crops with radiation and just looked for desirable offspring generated by the mutated plants (no, this is not what is meant by the modern term GMO).
This gets to the second part of the point: of all the organisms on Earth, plants are probably the best suited to suddenly be transported to a place where they will incur lots of extra radiation damage. This is because their chromosomes are WEIRD. Humans have two full sets of chromosomes, one from each parent. 23 chromosomes x 2 copies = 46. Most animals are like this, i.e. diploid. Lots of fungi are haploid (only one copy each) or diploid. Plants looked at this system and said N00Bs! Many of them have more than 2 copies of each chromosome and are tetraploid (4), octaploid (8), or more. The fern Ophioglossum reticulatum is reported to hold the current record at 1440 copies, which is just absurd. Lots of food crops (wheat, potato, sugarcane, peanuts, to name a few) have more than 2 copies of each chromosome. In practical terms, this means they could withstand a lot of genetic damage without necessarily being too affected because they have a large information backup.
The non-radiation problem bit:
If this situation was proposed to me, my first concern would actually be circadian periodicity. Plant growth and especially flowering (necessary for any fruits or veggies) is tightly regulated by circadian rhythms and many plants are exquisitely tuned to the length of dark and light. If suddenly they are getting the wrong amount of light, flowering (and therefore fruit production) might be halted completely. In a binary star system, I imagine the fraction of time spent in "day" is probably more than it is on Earth, wreaking havoc on the ability of any plants whose flowers are involved in the part that we eat (i.e. it wouldn't matter for things like lettuce), to produce a food crop.
There is also the problem soil composition/nutrient availability. The chances of the alien planet having the right kind of soil is essentially zero, though they could certainly grow most things hydroponically and add in liquid fertilizer, but how much fertilizer of this type were they bringing (Mathas can check the inventory for this item)? And how long would that last?
This would all be fairly easily solved by just building an environmentally-controlled chamber with lighting on a timer, and I assume that would be the plan. Many greenhouses even on earth use a system like this so that they can dictate when flowers form and to keep growth more regular. On Serpo, they would just want to make sure the outside was especially shielded from any stray light/radiation.
Credentials: Cell and molecular biologist. Experience in plant, fungal, and mammalian model systems. PhD and postdoctoral research conducted at Ivies (which isn't as fancy as it sounds TBH). Now an industry scientist in biotech field.
PS If for any reason you want to discuss this on the podcast, feel free
PPS obviously I am happy for any more dedicated plant biologists to add more nuance to this.
2024.05.20 02:25 8th_Hurdle [DEVELOPMENT] Was It Something That He Said?
8th December 1966;
Longuelac, SCS;
He was far away from all that concerned him and his presence.
Opposite him was a woman who reminded him of somebody from his childhood. Her outfit was mostly covered by a long, thin, woollen coat, made of wool that he could conclude only could hail from one of the Old World’s sheep, with only silk stockings and ankle-high boots emerging from the discoloured coat. That coat had seen some use, because it the inside of it was cream-coloured - the outside was more brown in appearance, in comparison. That face was creased, smiling, and enjoying another’s presence, and her voice, when she spoke, was lightly-accented, sounding as if it came from Wexford, but mixed in a way that was so typical of those displaced by the floods.
“Gloria, how did you get over here? I… I… I’m lost for words, *you are here, and… how has Andrew…”* was Mark stumbling over his words, attempting to find resolution.
“Have you been lied to, dear? I’m still Gloria, I still have your wedding ring, I assume you keep yours on still too… oh, I… see. Where is it, is it gone forever?” inquired Gloria Prenton.
“No, no… I kept it off because Gatley thought it was better for us to keep our rings off if we needed to concentrate on our work to try to get back to you… before he then told us you and… AHH!”
“So Robin is also alive, huh, and of course Andrew is, then Xander and Brendan also, then. You were all pretty tidy on the RMS Samaria, I guess you all took the same train to the SCS too, yep. You’ve done well for yourselves, I say!” stated Gloria, looking past the raw anger of Mark.
Those names did send him into silence, and there were two there he had not heard in years. Brendan? Robin? “Andrew and Xander are still with us, but Brendan and Robin… how do I put it… we lost contact? They wanted to see what Wisconsin was like, and haven’t returned. They’re probably still there, but there’s no way to know. When we called the hotel they said they’d go to, they said nothing. We don’t talk of them in the same way…”
“… that they talked of us. AHH, I’VE LET IT GO, THEY’RE… THEY’RE… I cannot, they never intended… so I cannot…”
“Let it go, Mark. I’m here, we can enjoy today, and you don’t need to tell me you’ve moved here for good. One of your acquaintances, Lee, let me know when I got over to Port Arthur of that, after I stopped by in Sault South for a short time. I guess that’s the advantage of being a dockworker. Never mind that. We can do the newspaper crossword.”
“We can, yes. We could also read the headlines… oh wow, new tax mechanical computing machines, set up for three distinct tax districts? That’s amazing, wow, and then they’re planning on using it to do welfare stuff too… wow, this new technology really does help us all, doesn’t it? Hmm, now 1 down… the clue is ‘Up Shit Creek Without…’”
“A paddle. It’s 6, that’s good. We could do this. Great. Great!”
2024.05.20 02:23 beautifulanarchy I just hosted my first murder mystery party!
 | a shot from the night :) submitted by beautifulanarchy to Constructedadventures [link] [comments] I’m building an AI to create and host a murder mystery party. I’ve posted about my experience building it here a few times before. I had my first playtest of an entirely AI-generated murder mystery. However, the information below is useful for anyone hosting a murder mystery. tl;dr: It went pretty well, given that it was 100% generated by AI, but there is still much room for improvement. How I did it:
While I’m building, it’s free to use and generate murder mysteries. I think it generates, on average, a C+ murder mystery, but with some human intervention, it could be turned into an A+ murder mystery. All I ask is that you let me know how you improved it ;) https://aimysteryparty.com |
2024.05.20 02:21 Kaltovar Great Eras of the Cybernetic Federal Republic of Kaltovar (Abridged)
The First Era:
Kaltovar was once part of massive Empire whose name is now lost to time. That Empire fractured into individual counties when the Emperor died at the age of 93, having outlived his heirs who had died variously of disease, war, and old age.
Most Counties were fiercely xenophobic due to centuries of rivalry, but the County of Kaltovar was an important trade hub of many peoples and its tradition was to welcome outsiders if they had coin. A non-noble member of the officer class, Major Karl Von-Doppelberg, had been elected to rule the County in place of a Count. Karl did not have the highest military rank, but was incredibly wealthy due to his family background, and was able to literally purchase votes.
The less intense xenophobia and more permissive atmosphere toward building meant rapid growth of an industrialized population in the city centers without having to drain the rural areas of their people to make the "Great Industrial Shift" as many of their peers had to do. Land became very expensive but labor was cheap and steel was in great supply, so the Merchants built higher and higher. Rural communities were subsidized to support the growing urban population, and a period of incredible wealth and prosperity ensued that drove even further immigration.
Kaltovar's massive wealthy population in relation to its neighbors allowed it to maintain a substantially larger military force, which came in handy during the brutal decades of civil war between the Counties. The death of the Emperor had left a power vacuum in which every County believed it was the best and most fit to inherit the Imperial throne. Huge factions formed, supporting different rulers, while Kaltovar traded with all of them and accepted the many refugees generated by the fighting. The Kingdom of Nirn, the Kingdom of Balugia, and the Republic of Thet.
A great paranoia swept the land, and it was during this period that the rule of Universal Conscription and the law requiring all citizens to own a "Modern Infantry Weapon" was introduced. At the time, that meant a bolt action rifle. One had to pay a fine of 3 Kaltmarks or 2 chickens if their household was found to have less than one such rifle for every member over the age of 16. This period also saw women and children conscripted into the military under the theory that they were capable of operating rifles in battle, which was later proven correct.
Eventually the Kingdom of Nirn decided to invade Kaltovar, which brought support from both the other factions who wanted it for themselves. Together, Kaltovar and the two factions slowly consumed the Kingdom of Nirn and then Kaltovar was again neutral. Balugia and Thet resumed their struggles, both intending to finish Kaltovar off when the war was over. Kaltovar, in the meanwhile, continued to build improvements and strengthen its military. Many years passed in the great war between Balugia and Thet, and both of them did frequent trade with Kaltovar.
After a long battle, the exhausted forces of Thet finally defeated the Balugian Royal Army and proceeded to immediately turn their forces against Kaltovar. Kaltovar defended its new lands and simultaniously invaded the former Balugian territory, which was only protected by a light occupation force meant to keep the locals suppressed. Kaltovar, being rich, paid great sums of money to the locals to rise up against their new Thetian masters. The combined peoples of Kaltovar and Balugia annihilated the armies of Thet in a relatively short campaign, because Thet was already tired from fighting against Balugia.
Major Karl Von Doppelberg celebrated the victory by declaring the First Directive of the new Nation, "From Many Peoples One Nation." which confirmed that there was no single culture to be venerated above the rest. Loyalty to the nascent State, productivity, wealth, and military competence were more important.
The Revolution:
Vadim Bel-Khyber was, at one point, an eager young Cybernetics Professor from a long line of aristocratic merchants and military officers. He received the best education from the youngest age, and was groomed constantly to fill the role of a leader. He did not by any means reject his role as the family heir, and was by all accounts excited to take up his position as the head of House Bel-Khyber, but spent enough time in Marxist theory circles to cause minor embarrassment to his family.
When his father fell out of favor with the high nobles for losing his temper during a plenary session, most of their family property and wealth was confiscated,. Vadim's casual interest in Marxist theories of inequality turned into a fanatical obsession now that economic and social inequality personally impacted him. It wasn't just about achieving justice, which was truly part of it, but also more prominently about taking revenge against the Nobles who had wronged his family for simply [talking shit] speaking their minds.
Vadim started by getting a job as a low level public servant, and gradually working his way up to the position of Comptroller-General. He was essentially the master-treasurer for the entire nation, someone who in theory was supposed to have very little actual power. The nobles found it hilarious to keep him in this role, which was seen as unfit for one of his birth, and a mark of shame on the wider Bel-Khyber dynasty. However, they always viewed him as a coward and so never feared him - to their magnificent error.
Over 3000 years ago he instigated a coup against the government he served, though he never altered his official title. He always remained the "Comptroller-General", a position responsible for all financial disbursements on behalf of the government. Gradually, after convincing the nobles to allow him a small "Treasury Police" to catch white collar criminals, he leveraged that authority to refuse to pay for the buildings or wages of entities that opposed him on the grounds of corruption and abuse of funds. This was corrupt on his part because it was to serve his own interests, but he could not be impugned because the corruption actually existed and had merely been overlooked for decades... Enough decades to establish long chains of evidence.
Although his behavior was obviously corrupt, the citizens almost universally supported it because everyone else was even more corrupt.
Vadim worked his way to the top of the Oligarchy, and proceeded to systematically dismantle it using its own tools of control, concentrating all their authority under him and elevating himself to the status of the Supreme Ruler in the process.
As soon as his control was undisputed, Vadim had many of the Nobles and Oligarchs arrested or even killed without warning all over the country on the same night. He established control over state broadcasting systems, ordered the army to open their armories to the public, and ordered the public to go into the armories and take up weapons and "clean up the government as they saw fit."
Although that night of chaos spiraled wildly out of control, the aftermath transitioned into thousands of years of relatively peaceful rule. He originally achieved this by personally performing surgery on himself using a wireless transmitter attached to his brain-stem to enable him to control the robotic surgical instruments even as he extracted his own brain and implanted it into the state machinery.
The Golden Age:
After approximately 1000 years in power, Vadim decided a human brain was no longer necessary. Having already expanded his mind with machine components, he realized his organic brain was less than 1% of his total cognitive capacity. In order to abandon his mortality completely and prove his theory of total consciousness transfer, he dissected his own brain alive and studied it as it died, observing hardly any change in his overall processes and confirming his beliefs.
The same day he faked his own death, releasing press statements that his brain had passed away during a recreational drug induced stroke. He did this because his position as dictator had started to inspire too much fear in his subjects. He wanted them to grow freely and experiment with democracy, though his shadowy hand would continue to guide their course.
Kaltovar was brought under the management of the TEMPEST Council (Temporary Emergency Management Political Economic and Security). The TEMPEST Council was made up one third of those personally selected by Vadim, one third those selected by the leaders of his ministries, and one third by those elected by the people.
The Rule of the TEMPEST Council progressed for hundreds of years and enjoyed broad public support. It was seen as a step toward democracy, spearheaded by one of Vadim's most trusted advisors, Diplomatic Mainframe O.D.I.N. / DZ-00a69v00, until ...
The End of Time:
A top secret facility designated X-16 at the heart of an artificial depleted uranium moon named Lucifer was infiltrated by an agent from a foreign power. There, experiments on a new generation of hyperspace drive were well underway. This hyperspace drive was much faster than previous model, and required hundreds of times more energy. Unfortunately, the technology was dangerously unstable and the lead scientist was under the influence of an inter-dimensional being who sought to turn his work toward demented ends. What manifested was a device capable of altering the specifications of reality, and that is what the foreign agent gained access to. The Agent wished for "A world that would start from scratch, where neither country would be hostile toward each other, and the threat of a great war between them was no more."
Reality, as it was known, was totally destroyed by the device. Survivors were thrust into a new and previously unknown dimension where the laws of physics remained largely intact except for the minor detail that magic existed. Dozens of nations from the same reality were shunted into a single planet that was perfect for life yet mysteriously devoid of advanced civilizations. The new reality is more durable than the previous one because of the presence of magic, and it is no longer possible to destroy it with the same level of technology. This event created a massive energy signature within the multiverse that attracted scouts from other advanced multidimensional civilizations, and this single planet became one of the most populated worlds across realities, where many countries own "Embassy Territories" that are often thousands of miles and include cities, forests, lakes, and all the other features one would expect of a country. This arrangement facilitates diplomacy between these various ancient entities.
A new figurehead, an acid-blooded insectoid alien General T'Xlekhan L'Xrada, has become the defacto leader of Kaltovar due to being in charge of a special anti-doomsday taskforce and leading the bulk of the survivors at the time of the disaster. However, the TEMPEST Council, still lead by O.D.I.N. / DZ-00a69v00, continues to wield extraordinary influence. It is currently unknown whether L'Xrada might become the next supreme leader, or whether he'll inevitably be forced to yield full control to the Council.
submitted by Kaltovar to worldbuilding [link] [comments]
Kaltovar was once part of massive Empire whose name is now lost to time. That Empire fractured into individual counties when the Emperor died at the age of 93, having outlived his heirs who had died variously of disease, war, and old age.
Most Counties were fiercely xenophobic due to centuries of rivalry, but the County of Kaltovar was an important trade hub of many peoples and its tradition was to welcome outsiders if they had coin. A non-noble member of the officer class, Major Karl Von-Doppelberg, had been elected to rule the County in place of a Count. Karl did not have the highest military rank, but was incredibly wealthy due to his family background, and was able to literally purchase votes.
The less intense xenophobia and more permissive atmosphere toward building meant rapid growth of an industrialized population in the city centers without having to drain the rural areas of their people to make the "Great Industrial Shift" as many of their peers had to do. Land became very expensive but labor was cheap and steel was in great supply, so the Merchants built higher and higher. Rural communities were subsidized to support the growing urban population, and a period of incredible wealth and prosperity ensued that drove even further immigration.
Kaltovar's massive wealthy population in relation to its neighbors allowed it to maintain a substantially larger military force, which came in handy during the brutal decades of civil war between the Counties. The death of the Emperor had left a power vacuum in which every County believed it was the best and most fit to inherit the Imperial throne. Huge factions formed, supporting different rulers, while Kaltovar traded with all of them and accepted the many refugees generated by the fighting. The Kingdom of Nirn, the Kingdom of Balugia, and the Republic of Thet.
A great paranoia swept the land, and it was during this period that the rule of Universal Conscription and the law requiring all citizens to own a "Modern Infantry Weapon" was introduced. At the time, that meant a bolt action rifle. One had to pay a fine of 3 Kaltmarks or 2 chickens if their household was found to have less than one such rifle for every member over the age of 16. This period also saw women and children conscripted into the military under the theory that they were capable of operating rifles in battle, which was later proven correct.
Eventually the Kingdom of Nirn decided to invade Kaltovar, which brought support from both the other factions who wanted it for themselves. Together, Kaltovar and the two factions slowly consumed the Kingdom of Nirn and then Kaltovar was again neutral. Balugia and Thet resumed their struggles, both intending to finish Kaltovar off when the war was over. Kaltovar, in the meanwhile, continued to build improvements and strengthen its military. Many years passed in the great war between Balugia and Thet, and both of them did frequent trade with Kaltovar.
After a long battle, the exhausted forces of Thet finally defeated the Balugian Royal Army and proceeded to immediately turn their forces against Kaltovar. Kaltovar defended its new lands and simultaniously invaded the former Balugian territory, which was only protected by a light occupation force meant to keep the locals suppressed. Kaltovar, being rich, paid great sums of money to the locals to rise up against their new Thetian masters. The combined peoples of Kaltovar and Balugia annihilated the armies of Thet in a relatively short campaign, because Thet was already tired from fighting against Balugia.
Major Karl Von Doppelberg celebrated the victory by declaring the First Directive of the new Nation, "From Many Peoples One Nation." which confirmed that there was no single culture to be venerated above the rest. Loyalty to the nascent State, productivity, wealth, and military competence were more important.
The Revolution:
Vadim Bel-Khyber was, at one point, an eager young Cybernetics Professor from a long line of aristocratic merchants and military officers. He received the best education from the youngest age, and was groomed constantly to fill the role of a leader. He did not by any means reject his role as the family heir, and was by all accounts excited to take up his position as the head of House Bel-Khyber, but spent enough time in Marxist theory circles to cause minor embarrassment to his family.
When his father fell out of favor with the high nobles for losing his temper during a plenary session, most of their family property and wealth was confiscated,. Vadim's casual interest in Marxist theories of inequality turned into a fanatical obsession now that economic and social inequality personally impacted him. It wasn't just about achieving justice, which was truly part of it, but also more prominently about taking revenge against the Nobles who had wronged his family for simply [talking shit] speaking their minds.
Vadim started by getting a job as a low level public servant, and gradually working his way up to the position of Comptroller-General. He was essentially the master-treasurer for the entire nation, someone who in theory was supposed to have very little actual power. The nobles found it hilarious to keep him in this role, which was seen as unfit for one of his birth, and a mark of shame on the wider Bel-Khyber dynasty. However, they always viewed him as a coward and so never feared him - to their magnificent error.
Over 3000 years ago he instigated a coup against the government he served, though he never altered his official title. He always remained the "Comptroller-General", a position responsible for all financial disbursements on behalf of the government. Gradually, after convincing the nobles to allow him a small "Treasury Police" to catch white collar criminals, he leveraged that authority to refuse to pay for the buildings or wages of entities that opposed him on the grounds of corruption and abuse of funds. This was corrupt on his part because it was to serve his own interests, but he could not be impugned because the corruption actually existed and had merely been overlooked for decades... Enough decades to establish long chains of evidence.
Although his behavior was obviously corrupt, the citizens almost universally supported it because everyone else was even more corrupt.
Vadim worked his way to the top of the Oligarchy, and proceeded to systematically dismantle it using its own tools of control, concentrating all their authority under him and elevating himself to the status of the Supreme Ruler in the process.
As soon as his control was undisputed, Vadim had many of the Nobles and Oligarchs arrested or even killed without warning all over the country on the same night. He established control over state broadcasting systems, ordered the army to open their armories to the public, and ordered the public to go into the armories and take up weapons and "clean up the government as they saw fit."
Although that night of chaos spiraled wildly out of control, the aftermath transitioned into thousands of years of relatively peaceful rule. He originally achieved this by personally performing surgery on himself using a wireless transmitter attached to his brain-stem to enable him to control the robotic surgical instruments even as he extracted his own brain and implanted it into the state machinery.
The Golden Age:
After approximately 1000 years in power, Vadim decided a human brain was no longer necessary. Having already expanded his mind with machine components, he realized his organic brain was less than 1% of his total cognitive capacity. In order to abandon his mortality completely and prove his theory of total consciousness transfer, he dissected his own brain alive and studied it as it died, observing hardly any change in his overall processes and confirming his beliefs.
The same day he faked his own death, releasing press statements that his brain had passed away during a recreational drug induced stroke. He did this because his position as dictator had started to inspire too much fear in his subjects. He wanted them to grow freely and experiment with democracy, though his shadowy hand would continue to guide their course.
Kaltovar was brought under the management of the TEMPEST Council (Temporary Emergency Management Political Economic and Security). The TEMPEST Council was made up one third of those personally selected by Vadim, one third those selected by the leaders of his ministries, and one third by those elected by the people.
The Rule of the TEMPEST Council progressed for hundreds of years and enjoyed broad public support. It was seen as a step toward democracy, spearheaded by one of Vadim's most trusted advisors, Diplomatic Mainframe O.D.I.N. / DZ-00a69v00, until ...
The End of Time:
A top secret facility designated X-16 at the heart of an artificial depleted uranium moon named Lucifer was infiltrated by an agent from a foreign power. There, experiments on a new generation of hyperspace drive were well underway. This hyperspace drive was much faster than previous model, and required hundreds of times more energy. Unfortunately, the technology was dangerously unstable and the lead scientist was under the influence of an inter-dimensional being who sought to turn his work toward demented ends. What manifested was a device capable of altering the specifications of reality, and that is what the foreign agent gained access to. The Agent wished for "A world that would start from scratch, where neither country would be hostile toward each other, and the threat of a great war between them was no more."
Reality, as it was known, was totally destroyed by the device. Survivors were thrust into a new and previously unknown dimension where the laws of physics remained largely intact except for the minor detail that magic existed. Dozens of nations from the same reality were shunted into a single planet that was perfect for life yet mysteriously devoid of advanced civilizations. The new reality is more durable than the previous one because of the presence of magic, and it is no longer possible to destroy it with the same level of technology. This event created a massive energy signature within the multiverse that attracted scouts from other advanced multidimensional civilizations, and this single planet became one of the most populated worlds across realities, where many countries own "Embassy Territories" that are often thousands of miles and include cities, forests, lakes, and all the other features one would expect of a country. This arrangement facilitates diplomacy between these various ancient entities.
A new figurehead, an acid-blooded insectoid alien General T'Xlekhan L'Xrada, has become the defacto leader of Kaltovar due to being in charge of a special anti-doomsday taskforce and leading the bulk of the survivors at the time of the disaster. However, the TEMPEST Council, still lead by O.D.I.N. / DZ-00a69v00, continues to wield extraordinary influence. It is currently unknown whether L'Xrada might become the next supreme leader, or whether he'll inevitably be forced to yield full control to the Council.
2024.05.20 02:20 BlueLensFlares Question about whether to hire for AI/ML
Looking for some advice - I am wondering whether I should push to hire someone for our ML needs, or continue as is.
I work at a company in the US with my boss. We are a small startup of just me and him, and I've been here 4 years. He has been the owner for two decades and does all contact with clients. I do all the programming. We were much larger at one point but then had to downsize a few years ago, and then it became me and him. We've been a duo for two years, where before we were a bit larger, and all our clients are French speaking, though we would like to branch to English-speaking.
I am a bit of a jack of all trades, my specialty is backend, but I do work in frontend, backend, and implementing existing AI/ML algorithms, mostly transformers.
We have a software that we built over 4 years that processes documents using a pipeline that uses some open-source multimodal, image transformers, and some non-open source cloud OCR to give us analysis on the data in documents. The user uploads documents, we give back information about the documents. This could anything from quantities, dates, names, addresses, etc in these documents.
We are a both enthusiastic people who are always open for new solutions. We both have a bit of high functioning depression though, because the ML technologies that we use fail to give high quality output that works for the client. Our existing clients feel like our output is not very good, that the AI makes too many mistakes, and our software is unstable. However, they have stayed with us for several years. We have dozens of new clients interested in our software but we both feel like the output quality right now is not very good.
Even though the company has been around for 15 years, we've built a software over the last 4 years, that has had difficulties with clients. However, our revenue comes from another software that is large and stable, that we don't work on. We use this to fund the project that both of us are focused on, which is this AI software.
My background isn't machine learning, even though I work with transformers, I am just managing. With the last year's wave of generative AI, we want to implement open source generative AI to solve our problems. OpenAI is a temporary solution, but not a permanent one.
I am wondering - would it be a good idea to hire someone to handle the AI side of things, and potentially other things. We are both depressed and exhausted, because the quality of our output just isn't good enough, but we both will not let our software die. I am wondering whether I should push to hire someone to take on this role to improve AI. But for two years I didn't push to hire anyone because I didn't feel like they could be successful in our organization, and I want anyone who joins our ship to succeed and have a good experience. I am also wondering whether it is a good idea to place this challenge/burden on someone new. I would obviously be able to help with things.
I don't want to waste any person's time, I want them to enjoy working here and feel they're being compensated fairly but also help solve our problems, which are vast.
Now I think that since our needs are clearer, and so many people are looking for work, might be a good time and opportunity. I myself have attempted to spin up Mistral, Yi, and other models with some success, but haven't experienced any stability with the output, and don't want to get stuck down the open source generative AI rabbit hole while having other problems to work on.
My pay is ok, my boss does what he can. We're both family oriented homebodies that put in long hours (rarely weekends). My salary has gone up by 75% since I started from a support developer to the only developer, though not six figures. He is very informal and wishes he could pay me more. We're both happy but a little overworked. This is a major problem for us. We work remote but live in the same city.
submitted by BlueLensFlares to startups [link] [comments]
I work at a company in the US with my boss. We are a small startup of just me and him, and I've been here 4 years. He has been the owner for two decades and does all contact with clients. I do all the programming. We were much larger at one point but then had to downsize a few years ago, and then it became me and him. We've been a duo for two years, where before we were a bit larger, and all our clients are French speaking, though we would like to branch to English-speaking.
I am a bit of a jack of all trades, my specialty is backend, but I do work in frontend, backend, and implementing existing AI/ML algorithms, mostly transformers.
We have a software that we built over 4 years that processes documents using a pipeline that uses some open-source multimodal, image transformers, and some non-open source cloud OCR to give us analysis on the data in documents. The user uploads documents, we give back information about the documents. This could anything from quantities, dates, names, addresses, etc in these documents.
We are a both enthusiastic people who are always open for new solutions. We both have a bit of high functioning depression though, because the ML technologies that we use fail to give high quality output that works for the client. Our existing clients feel like our output is not very good, that the AI makes too many mistakes, and our software is unstable. However, they have stayed with us for several years. We have dozens of new clients interested in our software but we both feel like the output quality right now is not very good.
Even though the company has been around for 15 years, we've built a software over the last 4 years, that has had difficulties with clients. However, our revenue comes from another software that is large and stable, that we don't work on. We use this to fund the project that both of us are focused on, which is this AI software.
My background isn't machine learning, even though I work with transformers, I am just managing. With the last year's wave of generative AI, we want to implement open source generative AI to solve our problems. OpenAI is a temporary solution, but not a permanent one.
I am wondering - would it be a good idea to hire someone to handle the AI side of things, and potentially other things. We are both depressed and exhausted, because the quality of our output just isn't good enough, but we both will not let our software die. I am wondering whether I should push to hire someone to take on this role to improve AI. But for two years I didn't push to hire anyone because I didn't feel like they could be successful in our organization, and I want anyone who joins our ship to succeed and have a good experience. I am also wondering whether it is a good idea to place this challenge/burden on someone new. I would obviously be able to help with things.
I don't want to waste any person's time, I want them to enjoy working here and feel they're being compensated fairly but also help solve our problems, which are vast.
Now I think that since our needs are clearer, and so many people are looking for work, might be a good time and opportunity. I myself have attempted to spin up Mistral, Yi, and other models with some success, but haven't experienced any stability with the output, and don't want to get stuck down the open source generative AI rabbit hole while having other problems to work on.
My pay is ok, my boss does what he can. We're both family oriented homebodies that put in long hours (rarely weekends). My salary has gone up by 75% since I started from a support developer to the only developer, though not six figures. He is very informal and wishes he could pay me more. We're both happy but a little overworked. This is a major problem for us. We work remote but live in the same city.
2024.05.20 02:13 Street_Style5782 Understand the hate but true fans should be happy
I totally understand that lots of people hate Madden and are skeptical of EA. But at least for me I would’ve been happy if EA would’ve just paid the Revamped guys to port their game to this generation. I’m saying the game is so much more than some animations. I wish the technology was advanced enough to have an adaptive physics engine that didn’t rely on animations but we don’t. So I’ll take whatever animations they have, add player names, amazing graphics and lighting, college football playoffs, the transfer portal, 132 customized stadiums with unique sounds, two announcer teams and much more. And I’ll be very happy!
submitted by Street_Style5782 to NCAAFBseries [link] [comments]
2024.05.20 02:13 Loud-Grapes-4104 Perished in the General Slocum disaster, June 15, 1904
 | submitted by Loud-Grapes-4104 to DeathCertificates [link] [comments] |
2024.05.20 02:13 speedyBoi96240 Round 4: the phantom-weight champion versus the exalted seraph
 | Spitfire slumped over and trudged out of the arena. submitted by speedyBoi96240 to skylanders [link] [comments] His worldview had been altered severely. Not once in his life had he ever thought about giving an opponent respect on their deathbed. But there was just something about that fight that shook his head for him. He ended his round the least injured of anyone before him. An incredible feat considering the two before him were amongst the strongest skylanders. But not only that, round 3 had left the arena in the best state so far. Not many wounds lay upon the battlefield this time giving the cleaners a well deserved break after the catastrophic damage caused in the first 2 rounds. Ambush sat in the stands blown away by what he had just witnessed, other skylanders, mabu and greebles were loudly discussing the outcome. A large and intimidating figure loomed towards ambush. When it reached him a gruff yet booming voice greeted him. “AMBUSH MY GOOD FRIEND ITS NICE TO SEE YOU, WHAT DID I MISS?” Is what the man said. Ambush slightly startled turned to the man knowing exactly who he was. “Tri tip… ive told you countless times that you need to use your inside voice more often” ambush responded. “BUT AMBUSH MY GOOD FRIEND, THIS IS NO TIME FOR SILENCE, THIS IS TIME FOR UPROAR!” Tri tip countered. “Yes yes i suppose an event this exhilarating doesnt happen every day… now you asked what you missed correct?”. “YEYUP”. “Well that spitfire just turned our fellow miss boom bloom into past tense”. “WHAT?”. “I forget you're not the brightest… ahem, boom bloom is dead, spitfire killed her”. “WOAH, SOMEONE ACTUALLY BEAT A SENSEI? AMAZING!” tri tip seemed very happy for someone who had just lost a colleague and friend. “Disturbing priorities aside how is king pen doing?”. “OH YEAH I JUST SAW HIM, HE SHOULD BE SHIP SHAPE BY THE END OF THE NEXT ROUND HE SAID”. “Brilliant, i may have to fight again soon, i dont want him in the hospital for that”. “SO WHO’S UP NEXT?” Tri tip questioned. “Well if you had ever learnt to read you would see the notice board over there” ambush pointed to a large board hovering above the arena as if by magic. “WHEN ONE IS AS IN TOUCH WITH THE POWER OF THE CLUB AS I AM READING PALES IN COMPARISON MY FRIEND”. “Oh no doubt” ambush mocked “well it says the next to fight are night shift and knight light”. Tri tips eyes widened “NO WAY! THE KNIGHT LIGHT? YOU MEAN…”. “I do… the only knight i have ever trained, to surpass me…”. “WOW! I MEAN JUST WOW! WITH A MAN LIKE THAT FIGHTING MY CLUB WANES FOR MY ROUND EVEN MORE!” Tri tips joy could not be contained and exploded out into a destructive little dance that he performed so carelessly that he accidentally trampled a mabu or two yet failed to notice. Suddenly a voice echoed throughout the stadium. “ATTENTION VIEWERS OF THE MOST EXTRAVAGANT EXTRAVAGANZA TO GRACE THIS WORLD IN CENTURIES!” The voice seemed to be coming from speakers placed around the stands. “ROUND 4 OF THE TOURNAMENT WILL BEGIN SHORTLY! DONT FORGET TO PLACE YOUR BETS AND PLEASE MAKE SURE ANY CHILDREN WITHIN THE VICINITY ARE VACATED IMMEDIATELY”. “That’s the que tri tip…” ambush said. tri tip abruptly stopped his dance and swung himself onto one of the benches and yelled “OH SWEET! I CANT WAIT”. “No need to, looks like the fighters are already stepping up to the plate” ambush pointed out. “BRILLIANT! THEY REALLY DID MEAN SHORTLY WHEN THEY SAID SHORTLY!”. “Excellent observation…” ambush said as he rolled his eyes. Before anyone knew it the fighters of round 4 were staring each other down just like the six others before them. Knight light brandished his traptanium scimitar with a stoic expression on his face and night shift was shadow boxing the air inbetween the both of them. Both fighters took their professions before becoming skylanders very seriously. One was an all star in the ring, revered and highly admired amongst the viewership. The other was a knight like no other, an angelic swordsman that wore armour fashioned by the most esteemed blacksmiths and craftsmen skylands had ever known. Even with all of this being popular lore amongst skylands, no one could have forseen what would take place the millisecond the bell rang, no one except the two in the ring. Thats right, a ring, the very place night shift was the reigning champion in for most of his life, until he was forced out due to the officals having to ban his signature techniques. Thats right, they had to ban his fighting style to give anyone a chance. But in this ring… He was free. He could do anything he wanted to the man that stood before him. And night shift displayed his understanding of this once the bell rang… The vampiric boxer opened with a swift chomp to knight lights shoulder. And to everyones suprise… It broke through his armour… The same armour that had never been pierced, not even by the most divine weapons in skylands. Knight light was the only person who was unfazed. “Impressive…” Knight light praised. “You’re impressed by this, boy? Trust me this is nothing compared to what you have yet to see…” night shift stated condescendingly but truthfully. “Is that so? Then please, show me…” Knight light said confidently. Night shift smiled and responded with a technique he liked to call the over underhand. A powerful attack that ended 86% of his fights during his hayday. This involves throwing a simple over hand punch at range, then when the opponent least expects it, using his teleportation he would instantly move in close and throw a powerful under hand strike that embodies the true damage of the technique as opposed to the diversion the first hit is meant to be. So when he performed this on knight light you best believe it did some real damage. Knight light attempted a block on the over hand like so many did in the past. However he simply could not react to the under hand just like everyone else. The resulting damage from the attack left a boxing glove sized hole in knight lights armour revealing his stomach. “Remarkable, i never thoug-” knight light started before being interupted by a lightning fast barrage of punches that were thrown at him. Each punch dented his armour and spread cracks across its surface. Just after a few seconds of the barrage happening knight light had decided that he had had enough… He lifted his hand and bent his fingers like he was holding a sphere before launching a bright flash of light at night shift. “Fighting dirty are we? I can do that too…” knight light said as his opponent was violently blinded. Night shift still had his guard up however, so when knight light swung his scimitar with enough strength to cleave a mountain in two it was not a lethal blow. His knuckle had a chip in it and a tear in one of his coveted gloves was made but overall no problematic damage was taken. An impressive display of a boxing champions instinct that shocked the crowd. “WOW! THIS SHIFTY GUY HAS SOME REAL SKILLS” tri tip yelled to ambush over the cheering audience. “Indeed, however knight light isnt even attempting to win yet…” ambush responded. “WHAT!? THIS IS LITERALLY A FIGHT TO THE DEATH WHAT COULD HE BE WAITING FOR??” tri tip replied in a perplexed manner. “He knows that night shift is not just all stats”. “WHAT?”. “Sigh night shift has a trump card and knight light is trying to bait it out” ambush explained. “AHHH SO HE’S USING HIS BRAIN TO FIGHT! I NEVER REALLY GOT USED TO THAT” tri tip said honestly. “That is unfortunately excruciatingly evident…”. “YEAH WELL YOUR BIG FANCY WORDS HAVE NOTHING ON MY CLUB!” Tri tip yelled defensively. “Yes im sure thats the case, now lets just focus on the match” ambush redirected. “FINE! BUT ONLY BECAUSE THAT ONES THROWING A HAYMAKER!!”. and sure enough if you were watching the fight in that very moment you would see a still blinded night shift throw a devestatingly powerful punch that made a perfect connection with the skull of his opponent. A large shockwave was created by the impact and the tiles of the arena crumbled but more importantly knight lights helmet shattered into a thousand pieces. The man who's face had not been seen ever since his duty of protecting the starlight began… Had eyes cast upon that very face for the first time since then. Underneath he was not a gruff viking or an ascended immortal, instead he was just a person, like everyone else. All of the legends that were told about him had clouded everyones view of such a figure. The revealing of his face made knight light feel more human, it grounded him for the first time in a while, like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. So the act came off, the veil was lifted and he spoke… “you shitty old man…”. At the very sight of hearing such words from this man the crowd silenced themselves. “Do you really think anything you have done so far is impressive?” He continued “Do you really think someone like me could ever be compared to you?” “Well… i thought those things too, until that punch just now” knight light smiled a comforting smile “All of my battles and feats placed me on a pedestal that i wasnt worthy of in my eyes” “But you have just brought me down into a sport” “A place i can be myself and not the stoic hero everyone thinks i am” “So for that i thank you” “Ya done squirt?” Night shift grumbled obviously just regaining his eyesight. “I am” knight light responded. “Good, because all of this character development is real nice n’ all but i want to know why, even after everything i’ve thrown at you…” “You’re still in the same spot you started the match in” The crowd remained silent but in response to night shifts statement the silence grew louder. No one had realised it but even after taking hits that easily broke his armour not once had knight lights feet ever left the ground, not once had he ever been knocked backwards, not once had he cried out in pain and whats more? Not once had he bled. “Well you see… my armour is moreso for theatrics, batman has his outfit, superman has his and so does wonder woman” knight light answered. “Are you sassing me compadre?” Night shift snarled. “Not at all! It is strong armour no doubt but my armour is never what made me strong, no no you see my bones and muscles were enhanced by the starlight itself, after a millenia within its proximity, intern granting me enormous power”. “You talk like your blood is gold and honestly that makes my blood boil but what you're telling me scares me…”. “Why’s that?”. “Because if what you said was true that means… that swing you took at me whilst i was blind, was your absolute weakest possible attack”. “Atleast it wasn’t obvious” knight light chuckled. The crowd began getting loud at the changing tides, this fight just went from fairly even to a massive mismatch. However an interesting development in knight lights demeanour was noticeable as it was no longer pompous and gallant but he was a lot more lax despite still displaying faint hints of those aforementioned traits. “Since a funeral is gonna have to happen soon its best we get back to the fight” night shift yawned. “We probably should but don’t dig your own grave like that, its unbecoming of a champion”. “Oh i wasn’t talking about me pal… ive got no one to attend my funeral”. “Ah a lonely road you’ve paved i take it?”. Night shifts eye twitched with irritation “let’s just box, im sick of hearing shakespear”. “As you wish” knight light obliged and opened with a brutal yet glamorous attack. This attack wasn’t even initiated by so little as a gesture. It simply started with light pouring out of knight lights body. This light was very water like and flowed gracefully before sharpening and becoming rigid. Once solid it wrapped around night shift before he had any hope of reacting to such an attack. It then pulled him towards knight light who began to charge up a special type of swing. One that follows through beyond all the way. This technique was one that had slain many elderitch horrors in the past and its name was “the celestial vortex”. Once night shift was stunned, helpless and in range knight light let loose… He swung his scimitar, but not just regularly, like i said, beyond all the way. The second half of the celestial vortex consists of a 1080 degree spin with the traptanium scimitar. This means the attack encompasses the full area around knight light and strikes three seperate times with powerful blows. And so that is exactly what happened to night shift… The first hit ripped through his ghastly body, the second shattered his mortal bones and the third killed him. Or so everyone thought because although his body laid lifeless on the ground moments after the incredible attack, a coffin manifested around it out of nowhere. This coffin had an ominous aura that swirled in demonic fury around it. But not long after appearing it burst open and a good as new night shift was there ready to settle the score. “Suprise, im immortal” he said with an astonishing amount of hubris for a man who just got diced in three seperate ways. “So thats it is it?” Knight light in the arena and ambush in the audience understood the event at the same time and prefaced this with the exact same words. “THATS GOTTA BREAK SOME KIND OF RULE RIGHT!?” tri tip roared in signature sportsfan fashion. “Well surely an opponent that can’t die has a supreme advantage in a battle to the death yes, however there may be ways around it we are currently unaware of” ambush tried to approach the situation with logic and reason. “NA THIS GUY IS GONNA WIN THE ENTIRE THING, THIS JUST GOT BORING IM OUT” tri tip angrily hopped out of his seat and turned to leave the stadium. Instead he bumped into an individual almost as large as himself. It was king pen, still bandaged up a tad but overall he seemed in good health. “Now now tri tip, did the club not teach you patience?” King pen persuaded. “WHA- KING PEN YOU’RE BACK UP AND RUNNING ALREADY!?” Tri tip was startled by the sudden appearance of his leader, mentor and friend. “Why yes i am, and im glad to say i did not miss too much of this spectacular match”. “BUT YOU SAID YOU’D BE READY BY THE END OF ROUND 4”. “Oh silly tri tip, always being so dense, thats what i love about you, theres no bigger picture in your mind. Can’t you see the round is already coming to a close?” His words sounded harsh but they were comforting and professional in a strange way. “I- IT IS?”. “Just watch, my friend” king pen put a hand on the shoulder tri tip did not have his club over and guided him back into his seat then sat peacefully beside him. Night shift was still, his guard was raised and his eyes were focused. Knight light was obviously brain storming, desperately trying to find a way he could overcome immortality. But it wasn’t possible… There isn’t a way to kill an opponent that can’t die… All he could do was smile softly. “There may be nothing i can do to you vampire… however! I will put up my very best against you!” He said confidently. “Id expect nothing less” night shift replied in agreement with his philosophy. And so knight light engaged with a heavy swing downwards onto night shift who swiftly teleported out of the way. Knight light spun around with another ferocious swing that again was dodged easily. The powerful shockwaves from these attacks tore apart the arena violently. Many more swings were performed and each successive one had more power than the last. After 12 or so more attacks night shift performed his final dodge. Not to say he got hit no, he simply began charging up a powerful punch in response to knight lights onslought. This was no ordinary punch however. The way he tensed his phantom muscles was very unique. He held the power that he would normally release into one of his jabs. This subsequently multiplied the force that the punch would exert. But the main problem was that he had to hold the punch for a while. A feat that wasn’t easy with an actively attacking opponent. So when knight light began another swing, night shift tapped into a power that would majorly help him. This power allowed him to constantly teleport to every location simultaneously within a small area around knight light. This made him virtually unhittable. He called it “the ghost gods ring”. Knight light was completely perplexed by the sight of such an ability. His attacks halted and his brain was scattered in thought. But again everything has a downside and this technique drained night shifts stamina incredibly fast. At the very least he had to throw this powerful punch with enough energy to not make it a dud. However he only had this one chance to do it… It was an all or nothing approach but it was the only way he could ever hope to win. So he channelled both techniques for an entire minute. A minute is what he assumed to be the perfect amount of time but really he had no clue. A constant minute of being omnipresent in a specific section of the arena… A constant minute of having his very internal forces gestate and multiply within his muscles… This was an incredibly risky play to make, if he didnt end this with this attack he was absolutely done for. His body would be destroyed internally and he would be forced to die over and over again until he had regained enough energy to try it again. But now was the time to launch it… He methodically stopped his rapid teleportation behind knight light. Then he released all of the pent up force he had been holding in, into a full fledged super punch. The punch radiated power, it generated shockwaves just by existing. Reality warped and light bended around it. The size of the fist grew to a humongous size as if by the will of the universe. This attack was called “The pinnacle of punches” and it ended 1% of night shifts matches back in the day. It came into contact with knight light before he even realised what was happening. Steam was being let off in every direction and the surrounding section of the arena was levelled completely with nothing built by mabu remaining. Knight lights last few pieces of armour turned to dust. All that survived was his boots and his pants. Night shift struggled to keep the punch thrown. His vision swayed and his energy dwindled but he kept holding out for the win. Well he did until… His fist exploded. The sheer pressure of the clash was too much for his hand to take. Everyone including both fighters were absolutely gobsmacked with this development in the fight. But what they were to see next would set the precedent… that this fight was unwinnable… Knight light appeared to have taken zero damage from that attack. And whats worse was the fact that his feet were still in the exact same spot they had been in the entire fight. The first person to realise the match was a lost cause was none other than night shift himself. “So thats it huh…” he said in a hushed tone “You are one hell of a guy” “You took the best i had…” “And you’re not just still standing…” “You didn’t even budge, you didn’t even bruise” “The only one who got hurt by that hit was me” “And honestly i’d be pissed if it didn’t…” “That was the strongest punch i have ever thrown and im proud of it” “But more importantly im concerned about this match now…” “Neither of us can kill the other, i can’t put a dent on ya and you can’t put me down for good” “So what’re we gon’ do?” He finished “While i appreciate your praise and your power i actually did think of a way to kill you” knight light confessed. If everyone wasn’t already silent from shock they were now. “You did?” Night shift asked intrigued. “Yeah but before i show you i just wanted to say a few things” “I’ve never had such an intense fight” “Its been a real rollercoaster and to be quite honest at the beginning i thought you were just a grumpy old fart” “But you exceeded every expectation i had of you” “And just for you im gonna try to talk normally from now on” he finished the sentence with one last comforting smile “Hehe… i’d say your doing a great job, i understood every word you said just fine” night shift chuckled. The whole crowd was dying to know what knight light had in store for them. No one could believe a way to kill the unkillable existed. But little did they know… Knight light was about to invent one… “Alright!” He yelled to gather everyones attention “Observe! For you won’t see a more impressive attack as long as you venture within this realm!” He said raising his arms, one holding his scimitar “So much for talking normally…” night shift mumbled. All of the spectators viewed intently only to see… Knight light doing the unthinkable before doing the even more unthinkable. He stepped forward… For the first time in this match he had moved out of his starting position. A thing that would be commonplace in any other fight had become suprising to see in this one. But he didn’t step forward for no reason no, he took a stance with his scimitar over his head in the air. He was slightly crouched and he held his free hand outwards like he was stopping someone. His wings outstretched themselves as if ready to take flight. Now that all of the preparation was done he inhaled slowly then exhaled even slower… Suddenly a pool of light formed around his feet and expanded to encompass a large area around him. Then his body began to glow with a radiant light, like that of the sun. The very same light encircled his sword and began to wrap around it like a web that flexed and vibrated in a helix pattern. “Your fighting style reminded me of something…” he began “The way you made yourself seem numerous and the fact that every punch you threw was stunningly beautiful” “It just brought stars to my mind” “And what was around before the stars?” “Nothing” “So thats exactly what this attack will do” “Not nothing, but it will completely erase anything in its path, wiping anything from the face of reality” The crowd loudly discussed this revelation. Ofcourse it was so simple yet no one else had ever thought of it. The crowd seemed to understand the weight of these statements. But one question was asked numerous times within their discussions. Could an attack really remove something from the world for good? Well… Knight light would be about to answer that question… For when he swings his blade… The truth will be evident. “In a way this attack will be named after you…” knight light was still talking as the attack was charging “You inspired it…” the light danced around him in the air and shimmered on his body “And Im going to name it after the inspiration” his scimitar was glowing with a very volatile and unstable light that shifted tones so much no one could determine its colour “It must be an honour having to be killed this way…” his muscles tensed in response to the light moving on his body as if they were soaking it in like a plant “Likewise its an honour having to kill you this way…” the very air in the stadium began to sparkle like glitter “That’s why im calling this ability, the highest possible grade of attack that can ever be reached, “the brightest constellation” as soon as he finished those words knight light jumped into the air “I couldn’t have had a better opponent in this here match today… thank you” night shift heroically stood proud ready to embrace death as he said his final words. The jump knight light performed broke the sound barrier and created a sonic boom that sent people in the stadium flying off of their seats. The liquid light that covered the floor of the arena attempted to follow him up into the sky, this created a bunch of pillars that were formed out of this light. Once knight light reached the apex of his jump he began hovering in place with his wings. “I thank you too…” he muttered knowing that only he could hear anything he had to say. Then he readied his scimitar and began a skydive back down to the arena. Light encompassed his body like a cacoon. It swirled enchantingly around him. On the otherhand the light on his blade began to erupt with an unsettling degree of colour. Before he knew it he was nearing the ground. In preparation he held his sword in the swinging position. Then when he was within the boundaries of the stadium again he swung his blade horizontally towards night shift with the momentum of his skydive included. All of the light within his blade, surrounding him and on the floor of the arena shot at night shift. He landed shortly after. Before reaching night shift the light transformed into stars that were linked together by lines, they resembled constellations incredibly well. But they didn’t last long because shortly after coming into creation they detonated and discharged a beyond blinding amount of light. Everyone in the audience could not see as a result of this. The attack was the mother of all flashbangs and everyone going wild in the stands proved it. The fact that they could not see meant they could not know what happened to night shift. And that was the main focus right in this moment. Everyone NEEDED to know what had happened. But no one would get an answer until the first few viewers regained their eyesight. After 19 excruciatingly long and chaotic minutes the very first people able to see again witnessed the state the arena was in. The entire third of the arena night shift was stood in… Had been decimated… It looked as though it had been carved right down to nothing, it boasted a weirdly smooth and eerie shape. Almost like within a radius of that attack, things had indeed been set to zero. But no one knew how. No one except knight light. Who was smiling with a tear in his eye. he grimly said with a catch in his throat “i’ll come to your funeral night shift…”. THE WINNER OF THIS BOUT IS KNIGHT LIGHT, THE EXALTED SERAPH! |
2024.05.20 02:09 whatokay2020 AI Music
 | I’ve been making a ton of music using Suno (an AI music app) about every artist and brand under the sun. Of course when I went to write one about Taylor, neither the words “Taylor” or “Swift” were allowed 😂 Who knows how much her team/Dad paid to stop that. Bet they’re going to police AI music more than any other artist in the future. submitted by whatokay2020 to travisandtaylor [link] [comments] In the meantime, enjoy this AI song I did make called Cult of the Swifties 😅 ———————————————————————- Lyrics: [Verse] She's got the fame Her name's a brand But let me tell you It's all been planned Daddy's money bought her ticket to the top But talent? Well That ain't something she's got [Verse 2] Her songs Oh They're all the same A catchy hook A predictable refrain But real substance? It's nowhere to be found Just formulaic pop that's going around [Chorus] Welcome to the cult of the Swifties Can't you see? Blinded by the fame Lost in the fantasy But I'm here to break it down Call it what it is A manufactured star Who can't sing for sh*t [Verse 3] She's no tortured poet, just a trust fund kid Handed everything, never had to bid Daddy bought her label, paved her golden road She’s just playing a part in the story he's told [Verse 4] Uses every man, turns their hearts to her song Pretends it’s real love, but it never lasts long Greedy for the money, that's her true desire Not the art, not the soul, just the platinum and fire [Chorus] Welcome to the cult of the Swifties Can't you see? Blinded by the fame Lost in the fantasy But I'm here to break it down Call it what it is A manufactured star Who can't sing for sh*t [Bridge] So take off the blinders, see the truth laid bare It’s all a facade, but does anyone care? In the end, it’s the fans who pay the price For a hollow throne built on lies and hype [Chorus] Welcome to the cult of the Swifties Can’t you see? Blinded by the fame Lost in the fantasy But I’m here to break it down Call it what it is A manufactured star Who can’t sing for sh*t Who can’t sing for shit Who can’t sing for shit |
2024.05.20 01:56 jobe_br Next card? Traveling to Europe, planning for next opportunity
Just put ~600k points to a Europe trip (flights) for the family this fall. Next few months will have a good bit of travel prep expenses and booking hotels, trains, rental car (maybe). Looking to figure out what card(s) to get next. Points so far have been mostly on cards to my name, so my partner would be an option if we want to grab bonuses on cards I already have. They also have a business TIN, so that opens an option, no biz cards yet.
Trying to formulate a strategy to maximize points over the next 12-18 months. Ambitious goal is 1M points. With our expenses, $4k in a month is usually trivial. I’ve eyed some of the bonuses on biz cards that need $20k in 3 months … we can usually do that at the beginning of the year, because we burn $3-6k in medical expenses to hit our HDHP deductibles (one of the kids has a very expensive medication). Otherwise it’s hit or miss, depending on various factors.
Ok, enough context. Here’s what I have currently: * Blue Cash Everyday AMEX 6yrs * Plat AMEX 4yrs 10mos * Gold AMEX 7mos
I’m good with canceling anything that makes sense, too. I’m especially not sure if it makes sense to keep the AMEX plat at this point, need to decide in the next month or so. Advice welcome.
Edit: score FICO: 823, TransUnion: 793, Equifax: 806
Edit 2: * oldest card: 27yrs * limits are generally 15-30k per card * past 6 mos: 1 card (Chase Aeroplan) * past 12 mos: 3 cards (Chase Saphhire Preferred, AMEX Gold, Chase Aeroplan) * past 24 mos: 4 cards * category specific cards? sure, mostly out for bonuses * rotating category cards? sure, use MaxRewards app already * monthly spend is gonna favor groceries (family with older teens), Target, Amazon; no rent, minimal travel, minimal gas (WFH); will be in Europe for 2.5wks * Current member of Amazon Prime?: yes * Currently paying $13.99/month or more for Disney Bundle (Disney+ / Hulu / EPSN+) or other Hulu services? yes, using AMEX Plat entertainment credit * Current member of Chase, US Bank or any other big bank?: Have Chase cards, but that’s all * Are you open to Business Cards?: yes
submitted by jobe_br to CreditCards [link] [comments]
Trying to formulate a strategy to maximize points over the next 12-18 months. Ambitious goal is 1M points. With our expenses, $4k in a month is usually trivial. I’ve eyed some of the bonuses on biz cards that need $20k in 3 months … we can usually do that at the beginning of the year, because we burn $3-6k in medical expenses to hit our HDHP deductibles (one of the kids has a very expensive medication). Otherwise it’s hit or miss, depending on various factors.
Ok, enough context. Here’s what I have currently: * Blue Cash Everyday AMEX 6yrs * Plat AMEX 4yrs 10mos * Gold AMEX 7mos
- Chase Amazon Prime 8yrs
- Chase Sapphire Preferred 11mos
- Chase Aeroplan 4mos
- Capital One Venture 2yrs 11mos
I’m good with canceling anything that makes sense, too. I’m especially not sure if it makes sense to keep the AMEX plat at this point, need to decide in the next month or so. Advice welcome.
Edit: score FICO: 823, TransUnion: 793, Equifax: 806
Edit 2: * oldest card: 27yrs * limits are generally 15-30k per card * past 6 mos: 1 card (Chase Aeroplan) * past 12 mos: 3 cards (Chase Saphhire Preferred, AMEX Gold, Chase Aeroplan) * past 24 mos: 4 cards * category specific cards? sure, mostly out for bonuses * rotating category cards? sure, use MaxRewards app already * monthly spend is gonna favor groceries (family with older teens), Target, Amazon; no rent, minimal travel, minimal gas (WFH); will be in Europe for 2.5wks * Current member of Amazon Prime?: yes * Currently paying $13.99/month or more for Disney Bundle (Disney+ / Hulu / EPSN+) or other Hulu services? yes, using AMEX Plat entertainment credit * Current member of Chase, US Bank or any other big bank?: Have Chase cards, but that’s all * Are you open to Business Cards?: yes
2024.05.20 01:51 PopularBehavior Gotta get those property taxes filed and fund my build. If I were to try and use my (as of now) vacant land for a wedding venue for small 20-40 people gatherings, what hoops would I likely have to jump through?
more info: 38 acres
No facilities or permanent structures but I could get temp power with a little investment.
a restaurant across the street just opened up and could serve as a reception area.
I figured that tents, porta potties, altars, generators, etc could be supplied by a budget oriented woodsy couple.
I have highway and side road access, and about .75 mile of roadside to park on.
there's also space for about 10-12 cars to park.
the reception area will be in a clearing with a mountain view. won't need much work done there as long as I have a safe and dry path to walk on.
Bonuses are Plenty of close housing & hotels bc ski resort is 5 miles away. Is a 4 season rental area - 1:20m from city w INTL aiport.
27 wooded acres (some 200 yr old pines) So far I have a driveway, a ground spring I tapped, and approval from local environmental agency to start my build.
**the remaining acreage is federal and state protected wetlands
submitted by PopularBehavior to Homesteading [link] [comments]
No facilities or permanent structures but I could get temp power with a little investment.
a restaurant across the street just opened up and could serve as a reception area.
I figured that tents, porta potties, altars, generators, etc could be supplied by a budget oriented woodsy couple.
I have highway and side road access, and about .75 mile of roadside to park on.
there's also space for about 10-12 cars to park.
the reception area will be in a clearing with a mountain view. won't need much work done there as long as I have a safe and dry path to walk on.
Bonuses are Plenty of close housing & hotels bc ski resort is 5 miles away. Is a 4 season rental area - 1:20m from city w INTL aiport.
27 wooded acres (some 200 yr old pines) So far I have a driveway, a ground spring I tapped, and approval from local environmental agency to start my build.
**the remaining acreage is federal and state protected wetlands
2024.05.20 01:44 tomasticar MS100 WEEK 10 RESULTS
And we are back! 2 players will not make it to the final, but who will they be? (Go check my other post to understand why its the final) So lets start! For once, people guessed eliminations quite right, but no one guessed both eliminations right, and with this being the final week with this format, tomasticar (me) is the only player to ever do so in the ENTIRE season!
But anyway, lets get to this week's results! >! Tvdiet101 by a single point wins this week with 199 points!!< >! CoolOff and Tanmi round up the podium with 198, and 183 points respectively!!< >! RIP Biskit is safe as well! they scored 175 points this week. Good job!!< SnowLucario, tomasticar and Micek_52 are safe as well with 169, 169, and 151 points respectively! SnowLucario beating me because they had the better doubler. and the last one safe is Johnny! They are 10 points clear from 9th, and move on to the finale! sadly, Primary-Hotel-579 and Whitey are gone this week with 132 and 131 points respectively. Primary-Hotel-579, you were insanely good throughout some weeks, and probably one of the most consistent contestants in this tournament but your journey ends here, farewell! As for Whitey, you were one of the 2 rejoiners, but you couldnt do much after that spectacular rejoin battle, you will be missed whitey, you were not that shabby in the first few weeks, but after an elimination in week 6, and now week 12, your final position is now determined, as theres no more rejoins. oh btw, here's the sheet: Okay, I dont know what to name this link, but good luck to the ones who have made ot to the finale!
submitted by tomasticar to JellesMarbleRuns [link] [comments]
But anyway, lets get to this week's results! >! Tvdiet101 by a single point wins this week with 199 points!!< >! CoolOff and Tanmi round up the podium with 198, and 183 points respectively!!< >! RIP Biskit is safe as well! they scored 175 points this week. Good job!!< SnowLucario, tomasticar and Micek_52 are safe as well with 169, 169, and 151 points respectively! SnowLucario beating me because they had the better doubler. and the last one safe is Johnny! They are 10 points clear from 9th, and move on to the finale! sadly, Primary-Hotel-579 and Whitey are gone this week with 132 and 131 points respectively. Primary-Hotel-579, you were insanely good throughout some weeks, and probably one of the most consistent contestants in this tournament but your journey ends here, farewell! As for Whitey, you were one of the 2 rejoiners, but you couldnt do much after that spectacular rejoin battle, you will be missed whitey, you were not that shabby in the first few weeks, but after an elimination in week 6, and now week 12, your final position is now determined, as theres no more rejoins. oh btw, here's the sheet: Okay, I dont know what to name this link, but good luck to the ones who have made ot to the finale!
2024.05.20 01:40 hilightnotes Some highly critical first impressions of Legendary Tales
This post is very long. This first section, before the first triple-line-break, is the summary. Details follow that.
__________________________________________
SUMMARY
__________________________________________
So, I was very much looking forward to Legendary Tales for a while now after hearing so many great things.
I bought it on sale a couple days ago and played the first hour or so, completing the tutorial and entering the main hub. Then I uninstalled and refunded it.
This is not a 'hate post' and I hope that this post will not only help people understand some of the issues of this game, and what this game is NOT, but also help people understand what this game is and why you might love it. I talked about my criticisms with others who love the game to help me approach this and hopefully deliver some useful thoughts. It's worth noting that I got lots of agreement about my criticisms from the people I talked to - who still love the game.
In short,
People love this game for the combat development in the context of a 40+ hour adventure. All the depth to the skill trees, which of course in my hour I didn't touch. The creativity of building the mechanics of a character RPG style - except you get to physically battle in VR. The reward of unlocking that cool skill you've been excited to try out, or finding a legendary that's a blast to use. Even in my short time with the game I could feel the beginnings of this with the parry system. I did have fun fighting skeletons with a simple sword and no skills, and felt the challenge as I had to aim my sword deflections well and time my counterstrikes. There is an effective mechanic preventing waggle-fest and I can begin to imagine all the room to develop your combat mechanics in a way that is, fun and rewarding, and uniquely VR.
Sounds great right? To some it truly is.
But to me, not so much. Why? Because everything else is lacking to a degree I did not expect.
I've been playing a lot of The Light Brigade lately. And although these two games are totally different, it's a useful game to bring up because The Light Brigade excels in all the ways that Legendary Tales significantly falls short.
Atmosphere - music and sound, lighting and colours, art design, character and enemy models
Interfacing - Onboarding and intuitive learning, UI design and fluidity, control mapping, options, grabbing/interacting with objects, general polish
Storytelling - Plot, lore, world building, characters, character and enemy expressiveness, writing
For many people who play games, combat is at the forefront of their interests. For me, it always takes a backseat priority - if its present at all - to the above three aspects. The combat in Bloodborne is great, but it is because it excels in those 3 aspects that it's one of my favourite games. I also love lengthy games like Pentiment, Disco Elysium, Planescape Torment, and Pathologic 2, which have minimal or no combat and lots of reading!
Legendary Tales is simply mediocre in those three bolded aspects and for me that's a hard pass. If these aspects were serviceable to me - done well enough to facilitate the combat - I might have kept going. But I don't use the world 'mediocre' lightly. This is the appropriate word to me, and because of that, I did not want to spend 40+ hours in this world.
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__________________________________________
DETAILS
__________________________________________
For those interested, or for the developers, I will continue with a breakdown of these aspects I am criticizing, trying to go through everything I felt about them in the first hour or so of playing.
Main menu was my favourite part. I liked the scene + music together. Nice. I was looking forward to playing and this had me feeling fuzzy and ready to enjoy the game. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
The very first issue I noticed was that the game felt washed out. Even in that main menu I liked, I was feeling like it was a bit washed out. So I tried adjusting brightness down... then the darker areas felt better, but the light areas felt off. The more I played and tried to adjust to find the right equilibrium, the more I realized the lighting and contrast is just not good and adjusting brightness can't save that.
The second issue I noticed was the menu cursor to select things. It felt like an early VR game that hadn't quite figured out VR menus yet. It's useable but not fluid and pleasing.
The third issue I noticed was the unintuitive controls. I thought that this was the kind of game, kind of like a Souls game, where you aren't taught everything but learn things as you go in an organic manner. Maybe some of that exists in this game, but mostly it's simply bad control design and a bad tutorial. It's the difference between having barriers that have purpose, purposeful friction, and feel good when discovered vs barriers that feel pointless and just build frustration without purpose. The controls feel like a mess and while it's apparent that people can get used to them as they play more, it's not in a justified sense.
Along with this are interfacing issues. For example, grabbing items feels very awkward. The motions are clunky, for example the way a weapon will slowly glide into place in your hands. There's so many interfacing issues. The interface to see weapon/item stats on weapons that are laying about is clunky, the interface to switch weapons is clunky, the magic interface is clunky, dialogue boxes feel clunky,... all of these things feel clunky both in terms of feel and also aesthetic.
A very straightforward and obvious example is dialogue. Character dialogue is presented in a large bland text on a page. To progress through the dialogue, there's no obvious place to click or button to push. In fact, you have to click a particular area of the page, which feels totally arbitrary and unintuitive. Sure, once you learn, you can do it fine, but it's just bad interface design.
To go back to The Light Brigade, think about the difference in both feel and aesthetic to opening a chest or breaking a pot. Grabbing a gun and how it arrives to your hand. The attractive dialogue boxes. Watching a reward pop out of a chest, picking a tarot card. Putting objects into your waist pouch or taking them out. These interactions are all comfortable, beautiful, fluid, and intuitive.
The next thing on my mind was sound.
As I played the tutorial, the soundscape was barren. There was a wind loop, which didn't loop correctly leaving a solid second of space between the end and beginning. Sounds didn't feel like they were placed quite right in 3D space. Point-based sounds (like the crackling of a campfire, that comes from a specific point in space) had too small of a zone (the sound should be heard from further away). In general the soundscape was very barebones. And when I encountered the first character, not only did the character look totally goofy and out of place, but they made no sounds when 'speaking', not even grunts or gibberish sound.
To skip ahead for a moment, I also felt the music did not match the environments enough. The music was quite pretty - that's not the problem. It just didn't feel like the environments were quite synergized with the music.
Again for both music and sound, think of the gun sounds, the ability sounds, the sound of the enemies as they spot you, the sound of the environment, the footsteps and dash, the grunts of characters when the speak, the music... not only does it all sound great, but it all feels like expressions of the unique world of The Light Brigade. This is excellent sound and music design, that truly bring the world to life.
Although a minor complaint, I also noticed lots of grammar and spelling errors. Although I understand the team is in South Korea, and I appreciate the challenges of translation, just like with everything else I was just expecting... more polish. I thought it would feel like a full package, at indie scale. But it feels very much like a partial package.
And that segues into the writing...
There are games with simple and/or unmemorable story, where the story is still servicing and facilitating the gameplay.
And then there is just plain bad writing.
This is very much the latter.
Maybe a bit of this goes back to translation but I am doubtful that it fares much better in original Korean in essence.
The writing is goofy, juvenile, poorly structured, and generic.
I was also seriously turned off by a couple lines in particular, that I'm sure affect me more than most but I will mention anyways. One was something like "valuable gem missing. And a hot girl". Like... There's nothing inherent about calling a woman (or a man) hot that I don't like. Yes gamers, you are allowed to find women attractive, relax. But it's the way its written,... I'm not going to turn this into an essay about male gaze but the way its written simply services a particular male audience that casually objectifies women.
Even worse was the final line I read, a quest line. Paraphrasing, but the primary descriptive words are all exact: "Go kill 10 kill peasants in a refugee camp". I don't think I need to elaborate, people who are on a similar page to me will understand why this was just an incredibly gross line.
I know the above two dialogue criticisms will not be shared by everyone and not affect everyone the same way. I am expressing them as part of what I felt, my personal criticisms and experience, just like the rest of what I'm sharing.
Again to compare to The Light Brigade... every line feels thoughtful and builds character and develops the lore. Whether its the forlorn lines of NPC members of The Light Brigade, or the scenes that appear between runs, and other bits and pieces you get. The Light Brigade develops so much world with few words, it's quite impressive and again a beacon that Urban Wolf Games can learn from.
The final issue I'll discuss was something that struck me earlier on. That is, player character model and lack of customization.
First of all - again an issue that the majority here probably won't be affected by - I could not pick my character model until after completing the tutorial. Specifically, I was forced to do calibration as a male character model, and then had to play the tutorial as this character. Minor complaint but again just another polish issue.
Both male and female models are just... boring designs, and the female model is again very juvenile, obviously serving a primarily male audience, whether intentionally or not.
But more importantly, there's no character customization. Not even the tiniest bit. Even the ability to change just skin colour and hair only would go a long way. Especially in a lengthy adventure like this, I need to be able to identify with my character. Especially with multiplayer it seems essential to me, but even if it were single player, and as someone who plays primarily in single player, character customization is hugely impactful to me.
This does not really have a contrast in The Light Brigade - there's no character customization in The Light Brigade either, although the kind of game it is, it's not as relevant. That said, I do think it would be a nice touch if there WAS some minor character customization in The Light Brigade, and especially if you could play as a woman instead of man if you so choose. Although maybe lore-wise it is intended that all members are male except for 'Mother'. This hasn't been established with any good reason though. So on this point I would lightly criticize The Light Brigade as well.
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__________________________________________
ENDING THOUGHTS
__________________________________________
Ultimately, Legendary Tales is quite simply a very indie game that probably had a very small team and limited funds. I don't know for sure, but probably there *wasn't* a dedicated writer, a dedicated UI and interface designer, etc.
However, these things are still failings of the game and its design. The greatest indie games to me are ones that successfully recognize their scope limitations and develop something complete within that scope. Whether it's the roguelike world of The Light Brigade, or the very short and stylish Tiger Blade, or Jeff Minter's trippy games like Akka Arrh and Polybius, or the retro Silent Hill aesthetic of Organ Quarter, or the suspenseful hotel of Propagation Paradise Hotel... all these games are made by small teams but successfully navigate their limited funds to deliver a full package within an appropriately limited scope.
On the one hand, I really value and support BJ's push for indie games to be respected and for that respect to reflect in the price consumers are prepared to pay. But after being totally on board with the price of Legendary Tales based on what I read from BJ and reviewers and many regular players too, I have to disagree with this game's pricing. This game is not polished enough, and is not a full package. That the game sucked out so much funds is an error of scope.
Maybe I will be in the minority, and Legendary Tales has been a success so it seems that I am, and so good on them for knowing the value of their game to the demographic they targeted I guess. And regardless, even if the pricing and attempted scope of the game are an error on the dev's part, I'm glad for the dev to earn back as much as they can, or even turn a profit hopefully.
But to me, reflecting back to the question the devs put forward: "Do you want to see deep combat development like this in VR for a 40+ hour adventure from indie devs?" The answer is no, I don't. I do consider the scope of this game an error on the part of the developers. It sounds like they did not even turn a profit enough to allow them to expand their team (but maybe I'm misunderstanding). I hope that they do continue with VR development, but instead focus on a much smaller scope game. Deliver a polished, complete package within a smaller scope, implementing a much tighter budget that will allow for potential turning of profit with an appropriately lighter sale price (maybe targeting a $30 game?).
If that is successful, do it again, and again, until they can expand and eventually work toward their dream adventure RPG, hiring actual writers and UI designers and sound designers etc. For me personally, this is simply not the kind of game you can half-bake. It should be attempted again when, and only when, they feel they have budget to do this in a truly full and polished manner.
I had the pleasure of meeting BJ briefly at PAX East. He struck me as friendly, kind, totally genuine, and incredibly passionate as a game developer and a VR game developer in particular.
I do wish this team good luck and despite my own harsh criticism I am glad so many ARE enjoying this game, and also feel the price point is justified. I want devs to earn money, including Urban Wolf Games. And I hope that they will continue to develop and bring more VR to the world.
I hope that my criticism is constructive and useful toward these same goals.
submitted by hilightnotes to PSVR [link] [comments]
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SUMMARY
__________________________________________
So, I was very much looking forward to Legendary Tales for a while now after hearing so many great things.
I bought it on sale a couple days ago and played the first hour or so, completing the tutorial and entering the main hub. Then I uninstalled and refunded it.
This is not a 'hate post' and I hope that this post will not only help people understand some of the issues of this game, and what this game is NOT, but also help people understand what this game is and why you might love it. I talked about my criticisms with others who love the game to help me approach this and hopefully deliver some useful thoughts. It's worth noting that I got lots of agreement about my criticisms from the people I talked to - who still love the game.
In short,
People love this game for the combat development in the context of a 40+ hour adventure. All the depth to the skill trees, which of course in my hour I didn't touch. The creativity of building the mechanics of a character RPG style - except you get to physically battle in VR. The reward of unlocking that cool skill you've been excited to try out, or finding a legendary that's a blast to use. Even in my short time with the game I could feel the beginnings of this with the parry system. I did have fun fighting skeletons with a simple sword and no skills, and felt the challenge as I had to aim my sword deflections well and time my counterstrikes. There is an effective mechanic preventing waggle-fest and I can begin to imagine all the room to develop your combat mechanics in a way that is, fun and rewarding, and uniquely VR.
Sounds great right? To some it truly is.
But to me, not so much. Why? Because everything else is lacking to a degree I did not expect.
I've been playing a lot of The Light Brigade lately. And although these two games are totally different, it's a useful game to bring up because The Light Brigade excels in all the ways that Legendary Tales significantly falls short.
Atmosphere - music and sound, lighting and colours, art design, character and enemy models
Interfacing - Onboarding and intuitive learning, UI design and fluidity, control mapping, options, grabbing/interacting with objects, general polish
Storytelling - Plot, lore, world building, characters, character and enemy expressiveness, writing
For many people who play games, combat is at the forefront of their interests. For me, it always takes a backseat priority - if its present at all - to the above three aspects. The combat in Bloodborne is great, but it is because it excels in those 3 aspects that it's one of my favourite games. I also love lengthy games like Pentiment, Disco Elysium, Planescape Torment, and Pathologic 2, which have minimal or no combat and lots of reading!
Legendary Tales is simply mediocre in those three bolded aspects and for me that's a hard pass. If these aspects were serviceable to me - done well enough to facilitate the combat - I might have kept going. But I don't use the world 'mediocre' lightly. This is the appropriate word to me, and because of that, I did not want to spend 40+ hours in this world.
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
DETAILS
__________________________________________
For those interested, or for the developers, I will continue with a breakdown of these aspects I am criticizing, trying to go through everything I felt about them in the first hour or so of playing.
Main menu was my favourite part. I liked the scene + music together. Nice. I was looking forward to playing and this had me feeling fuzzy and ready to enjoy the game. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
The very first issue I noticed was that the game felt washed out. Even in that main menu I liked, I was feeling like it was a bit washed out. So I tried adjusting brightness down... then the darker areas felt better, but the light areas felt off. The more I played and tried to adjust to find the right equilibrium, the more I realized the lighting and contrast is just not good and adjusting brightness can't save that.
The second issue I noticed was the menu cursor to select things. It felt like an early VR game that hadn't quite figured out VR menus yet. It's useable but not fluid and pleasing.
The third issue I noticed was the unintuitive controls. I thought that this was the kind of game, kind of like a Souls game, where you aren't taught everything but learn things as you go in an organic manner. Maybe some of that exists in this game, but mostly it's simply bad control design and a bad tutorial. It's the difference between having barriers that have purpose, purposeful friction, and feel good when discovered vs barriers that feel pointless and just build frustration without purpose. The controls feel like a mess and while it's apparent that people can get used to them as they play more, it's not in a justified sense.
Along with this are interfacing issues. For example, grabbing items feels very awkward. The motions are clunky, for example the way a weapon will slowly glide into place in your hands. There's so many interfacing issues. The interface to see weapon/item stats on weapons that are laying about is clunky, the interface to switch weapons is clunky, the magic interface is clunky, dialogue boxes feel clunky,... all of these things feel clunky both in terms of feel and also aesthetic.
A very straightforward and obvious example is dialogue. Character dialogue is presented in a large bland text on a page. To progress through the dialogue, there's no obvious place to click or button to push. In fact, you have to click a particular area of the page, which feels totally arbitrary and unintuitive. Sure, once you learn, you can do it fine, but it's just bad interface design.
To go back to The Light Brigade, think about the difference in both feel and aesthetic to opening a chest or breaking a pot. Grabbing a gun and how it arrives to your hand. The attractive dialogue boxes. Watching a reward pop out of a chest, picking a tarot card. Putting objects into your waist pouch or taking them out. These interactions are all comfortable, beautiful, fluid, and intuitive.
The next thing on my mind was sound.
As I played the tutorial, the soundscape was barren. There was a wind loop, which didn't loop correctly leaving a solid second of space between the end and beginning. Sounds didn't feel like they were placed quite right in 3D space. Point-based sounds (like the crackling of a campfire, that comes from a specific point in space) had too small of a zone (the sound should be heard from further away). In general the soundscape was very barebones. And when I encountered the first character, not only did the character look totally goofy and out of place, but they made no sounds when 'speaking', not even grunts or gibberish sound.
To skip ahead for a moment, I also felt the music did not match the environments enough. The music was quite pretty - that's not the problem. It just didn't feel like the environments were quite synergized with the music.
Again for both music and sound, think of the gun sounds, the ability sounds, the sound of the enemies as they spot you, the sound of the environment, the footsteps and dash, the grunts of characters when the speak, the music... not only does it all sound great, but it all feels like expressions of the unique world of The Light Brigade. This is excellent sound and music design, that truly bring the world to life.
Although a minor complaint, I also noticed lots of grammar and spelling errors. Although I understand the team is in South Korea, and I appreciate the challenges of translation, just like with everything else I was just expecting... more polish. I thought it would feel like a full package, at indie scale. But it feels very much like a partial package.
And that segues into the writing...
There are games with simple and/or unmemorable story, where the story is still servicing and facilitating the gameplay.
And then there is just plain bad writing.
This is very much the latter.
Maybe a bit of this goes back to translation but I am doubtful that it fares much better in original Korean in essence.
The writing is goofy, juvenile, poorly structured, and generic.
I was also seriously turned off by a couple lines in particular, that I'm sure affect me more than most but I will mention anyways. One was something like "valuable gem missing. And a hot girl". Like... There's nothing inherent about calling a woman (or a man) hot that I don't like. Yes gamers, you are allowed to find women attractive, relax. But it's the way its written,... I'm not going to turn this into an essay about male gaze but the way its written simply services a particular male audience that casually objectifies women.
Even worse was the final line I read, a quest line. Paraphrasing, but the primary descriptive words are all exact: "Go kill 10 kill peasants in a refugee camp". I don't think I need to elaborate, people who are on a similar page to me will understand why this was just an incredibly gross line.
I know the above two dialogue criticisms will not be shared by everyone and not affect everyone the same way. I am expressing them as part of what I felt, my personal criticisms and experience, just like the rest of what I'm sharing.
Again to compare to The Light Brigade... every line feels thoughtful and builds character and develops the lore. Whether its the forlorn lines of NPC members of The Light Brigade, or the scenes that appear between runs, and other bits and pieces you get. The Light Brigade develops so much world with few words, it's quite impressive and again a beacon that Urban Wolf Games can learn from.
The final issue I'll discuss was something that struck me earlier on. That is, player character model and lack of customization.
First of all - again an issue that the majority here probably won't be affected by - I could not pick my character model until after completing the tutorial. Specifically, I was forced to do calibration as a male character model, and then had to play the tutorial as this character. Minor complaint but again just another polish issue.
Both male and female models are just... boring designs, and the female model is again very juvenile, obviously serving a primarily male audience, whether intentionally or not.
But more importantly, there's no character customization. Not even the tiniest bit. Even the ability to change just skin colour and hair only would go a long way. Especially in a lengthy adventure like this, I need to be able to identify with my character. Especially with multiplayer it seems essential to me, but even if it were single player, and as someone who plays primarily in single player, character customization is hugely impactful to me.
This does not really have a contrast in The Light Brigade - there's no character customization in The Light Brigade either, although the kind of game it is, it's not as relevant. That said, I do think it would be a nice touch if there WAS some minor character customization in The Light Brigade, and especially if you could play as a woman instead of man if you so choose. Although maybe lore-wise it is intended that all members are male except for 'Mother'. This hasn't been established with any good reason though. So on this point I would lightly criticize The Light Brigade as well.
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
ENDING THOUGHTS
__________________________________________
Ultimately, Legendary Tales is quite simply a very indie game that probably had a very small team and limited funds. I don't know for sure, but probably there *wasn't* a dedicated writer, a dedicated UI and interface designer, etc.
However, these things are still failings of the game and its design. The greatest indie games to me are ones that successfully recognize their scope limitations and develop something complete within that scope. Whether it's the roguelike world of The Light Brigade, or the very short and stylish Tiger Blade, or Jeff Minter's trippy games like Akka Arrh and Polybius, or the retro Silent Hill aesthetic of Organ Quarter, or the suspenseful hotel of Propagation Paradise Hotel... all these games are made by small teams but successfully navigate their limited funds to deliver a full package within an appropriately limited scope.
On the one hand, I really value and support BJ's push for indie games to be respected and for that respect to reflect in the price consumers are prepared to pay. But after being totally on board with the price of Legendary Tales based on what I read from BJ and reviewers and many regular players too, I have to disagree with this game's pricing. This game is not polished enough, and is not a full package. That the game sucked out so much funds is an error of scope.
Maybe I will be in the minority, and Legendary Tales has been a success so it seems that I am, and so good on them for knowing the value of their game to the demographic they targeted I guess. And regardless, even if the pricing and attempted scope of the game are an error on the dev's part, I'm glad for the dev to earn back as much as they can, or even turn a profit hopefully.
But to me, reflecting back to the question the devs put forward: "Do you want to see deep combat development like this in VR for a 40+ hour adventure from indie devs?" The answer is no, I don't. I do consider the scope of this game an error on the part of the developers. It sounds like they did not even turn a profit enough to allow them to expand their team (but maybe I'm misunderstanding). I hope that they do continue with VR development, but instead focus on a much smaller scope game. Deliver a polished, complete package within a smaller scope, implementing a much tighter budget that will allow for potential turning of profit with an appropriately lighter sale price (maybe targeting a $30 game?).
If that is successful, do it again, and again, until they can expand and eventually work toward their dream adventure RPG, hiring actual writers and UI designers and sound designers etc. For me personally, this is simply not the kind of game you can half-bake. It should be attempted again when, and only when, they feel they have budget to do this in a truly full and polished manner.
I had the pleasure of meeting BJ briefly at PAX East. He struck me as friendly, kind, totally genuine, and incredibly passionate as a game developer and a VR game developer in particular.
I do wish this team good luck and despite my own harsh criticism I am glad so many ARE enjoying this game, and also feel the price point is justified. I want devs to earn money, including Urban Wolf Games. And I hope that they will continue to develop and bring more VR to the world.
I hope that my criticism is constructive and useful toward these same goals.
2024.05.20 01:35 atom-bandit I wrote a legacy challenge based on each of the expansion/game pack worlds
So I just got back into playing TS4 again, aiming to try another legacy challenge but wanted a bit more for each generation to do. I've done the nsb challenge a few times now and it's a bit outdated at this point. I got to thinking about what I would want for a legacy challenge and thought about one where each generation follows an expansion. I'm sure there are others out there that follow the same theme, I just wanted to take a stab at writing one myself.
I tried to make it customizable with substitutions and options for anyone to be able to attempt it since I know not everyone is going to have every EP/GP.
I named it The Never Ending Legacy Challenge considering EA can't seem to stop releasing packs for ts4. For that same reason, it's also pretty long - about 17 generations right now. I left it at Growing Together as I don't have Horse Ranch or For Rent but I think 17 gens should be plenty for now lol.
This is just for fun, not to be taken super seriously or anything. If anyone does give it a try, I'd love to know how it goes and for any feedback as well!
Here it is!
submitted by atom-bandit to thesims [link] [comments]
I tried to make it customizable with substitutions and options for anyone to be able to attempt it since I know not everyone is going to have every EP/GP.
I named it The Never Ending Legacy Challenge considering EA can't seem to stop releasing packs for ts4. For that same reason, it's also pretty long - about 17 generations right now. I left it at Growing Together as I don't have Horse Ranch or For Rent but I think 17 gens should be plenty for now lol.
This is just for fun, not to be taken super seriously or anything. If anyone does give it a try, I'd love to know how it goes and for any feedback as well!
Here it is!
2024.05.20 01:33 BlueLensFlares Question about whether to hire for AI/ML
Looking for some advice - I am wondering whether I should push to hire someone for our ML needs, or continue as is.
I work at a company in the US with my boss. We are a small startup of just me and him, and I've been here 4 years. He has been the owner for two decades and does all contact with clients. I do all the programming. We were much larger at one point but then had to downsize a few years ago, and then it became me and him. We've been a duo for two years, where before we were a bit larger, and all our clients are French speaking, though we would like to branch to English-speaking.
I am a bit of a jack of all trades, my specialty is backend, but I do work in frontend, backend, and implementing existing AI/ML algorithms, mostly transformers.
We have a software that we built over 4 years that processes documents using a pipeline that uses some open-source multimodal, image transformers, and some non-open source cloud OCR to give us analysis on the data in documents. The user uploads documents, we give back information about the documents. This could anything from quantities, dates, names, addresses, etc in these documents.
We are a both enthusiastic people who are always open for new solutions. We both have a bit of high functioning depression though, because the ML technologies that we use fail to give high quality output that works for the client. Our existing clients feel like our output is not very good, that the AI makes too many mistakes, and our software is unstable. However, they have stayed with us for several years. We have dozens of new clients interested in our software but we both feel like the output quality right now is not very good.
Even though the company has been around for 15 years, we've built a software over the last 4 years, that has had difficulties with clients. However, our revenue comes from another software that is large and stable, that we don't work on. We use this to fund the project that both of us are focused on, which is this AI software.
My background isn't machine learning, even though I work with transformers, I am just managing. With the last year's wave of generative AI, we want to implement open source generative AI to solve our problems. OpenAI is a temporary solution, but not a permanent one.
I am wondering - would it be a good idea to hire someone to handle the AI side of things, and potentially other things. We are both depressed and exhausted, because the quality of our output just isn't good enough, but we both will not let our software die. I am wondering whether I should push to hire someone to take on this role to improve AI. But for two years I didn't push to hire anyone because I didn't feel like they could be successful in our organization, and I want anyone who joins our ship to succeed and have a good experience. I am also wondering whether it is a good idea to place this challenge/burden on someone new. I would obviously be able to help with things.
I don't want to waste any person's time, I want them to enjoy working here and feel they're being compensated fairly but also help solve our problems, which are vast.
Now I think that since our needs are clearer, and so many people are looking for work, might be a good time and opportunity. I myself have attempted to spin up Mistral, Yi, and other models with some success, but haven't experienced any stability with the output, and don't want to get stuck down the open source generative AI rabbit hole while having other problems to work on.
My pay is ok, my boss does what he can. We're both family oriented homebodies that put in long hours (rarely weekends). My salary has gone up by 75% since I started from a support developer to the only developer, though not six figures. He is very informal and wishes he could pay me more. We're both happy but a little overworked. This is a major problem for us. We work remote but live in the same city.
submitted by BlueLensFlares to cscareerquestions [link] [comments]
I work at a company in the US with my boss. We are a small startup of just me and him, and I've been here 4 years. He has been the owner for two decades and does all contact with clients. I do all the programming. We were much larger at one point but then had to downsize a few years ago, and then it became me and him. We've been a duo for two years, where before we were a bit larger, and all our clients are French speaking, though we would like to branch to English-speaking.
I am a bit of a jack of all trades, my specialty is backend, but I do work in frontend, backend, and implementing existing AI/ML algorithms, mostly transformers.
We have a software that we built over 4 years that processes documents using a pipeline that uses some open-source multimodal, image transformers, and some non-open source cloud OCR to give us analysis on the data in documents. The user uploads documents, we give back information about the documents. This could anything from quantities, dates, names, addresses, etc in these documents.
We are a both enthusiastic people who are always open for new solutions. We both have a bit of high functioning depression though, because the ML technologies that we use fail to give high quality output that works for the client. Our existing clients feel like our output is not very good, that the AI makes too many mistakes, and our software is unstable. However, they have stayed with us for several years. We have dozens of new clients interested in our software but we both feel like the output quality right now is not very good.
Even though the company has been around for 15 years, we've built a software over the last 4 years, that has had difficulties with clients. However, our revenue comes from another software that is large and stable, that we don't work on. We use this to fund the project that both of us are focused on, which is this AI software.
My background isn't machine learning, even though I work with transformers, I am just managing. With the last year's wave of generative AI, we want to implement open source generative AI to solve our problems. OpenAI is a temporary solution, but not a permanent one.
I am wondering - would it be a good idea to hire someone to handle the AI side of things, and potentially other things. We are both depressed and exhausted, because the quality of our output just isn't good enough, but we both will not let our software die. I am wondering whether I should push to hire someone to take on this role to improve AI. But for two years I didn't push to hire anyone because I didn't feel like they could be successful in our organization, and I want anyone who joins our ship to succeed and have a good experience. I am also wondering whether it is a good idea to place this challenge/burden on someone new. I would obviously be able to help with things.
I don't want to waste any person's time, I want them to enjoy working here and feel they're being compensated fairly but also help solve our problems, which are vast.
Now I think that since our needs are clearer, and so many people are looking for work, might be a good time and opportunity. I myself have attempted to spin up Mistral, Yi, and other models with some success, but haven't experienced any stability with the output, and don't want to get stuck down the open source generative AI rabbit hole while having other problems to work on.
My pay is ok, my boss does what he can. We're both family oriented homebodies that put in long hours (rarely weekends). My salary has gone up by 75% since I started from a support developer to the only developer, though not six figures. He is very informal and wishes he could pay me more. We're both happy but a little overworked. This is a major problem for us. We work remote but live in the same city.
2024.05.20 01:23 jsimait1 Reva Rann: The Next Spaceknight
Chapter 1: The Shadow of a Legend
The planet Galador mourned the loss of one of its greatest heroes, ROM the Spaceknight. His valor and sacrifice had saved countless lives, but his death left a void that seemed impossible to fill. Among those who felt his absence most keenly was his niece, Reva Rann. From a young age, Reva idolized her uncle and aspired to follow in his footsteps as a protector of the galaxy.Reva was determined to become a Spaceknight, a legendary warrior capable of defending Galador and its people. She possessed not only physical prowess but also a keen intellect, maintaining a GPA of 4.5. Her brilliance was recognized early on, and she was accepted into the Spaceknight Academy. However, despite her academic achievements, her instructors found her lacking in the combat skills and discipline they deemed essential for a Spaceknight. After several attempts to prove herself, Reva was expelled from the Academy.
Chapter 2: The Birth of a New Spaceknight
Undeterred by her expulsion, Reva decided to forge her own path. She delved into her studies, focusing on engineering and advanced technologies. With her exceptional intellect, she designed and constructed a new suit of armor, one far superior to the traditional Spaceknight suits. She named it "Lumina Vortex."The Lumina Vortex was a marvel of engineering and a testament to Reva's ingenuity. It was equipped with the following advanced capabilities:
- **Adaptive Armor:** The suit could change its composition to adapt to different types of attacks, whether energy-based, physical, or elemental.
- **Photon Blades:** Energy blades that could cut through nearly any material and be retracted when not in use.
- **Quantum Shielding:** A protective barrier that could deflect projectiles and absorb energy attacks, converting them into power for the suit.
- **Warp Drive:** A built-in teleportation system allowing Reva to travel vast distances instantaneously.
- **AI Integration:** An advanced artificial intelligence named "Orion" that assisted Reva with tactical analysis, combat strategy, and suit management.
- **Stealth Mode:** The ability to become invisible to both visual and electronic detection systems.
Chapter 3: The Dire Wraith Threat
While Reva honed her skills and tested her new suit, a sinister threat was looming. The Dire Wraiths, sworn enemies of the Spaceknights, had not been idle. They had regrouped under a new leader, a being of immense power and cunning. This new adversary was Raxia, niece of Hybrid, a powerful and malevolent Dire Wraith who had been a formidable foe to ROM.Raxia was a Dire Wraith of exceptional ability, possessing both the shape-shifting prowess of her kind and unique psionic powers inherited from her uncle. She was determined to avenge her uncle's defeats and destroy Galador once and for all. Under her leadership, the Dire Wraiths launched a series of attacks across the galaxy, leaving destruction in their wake.
Chapter 4: The Clash of Legacies
Reva learned of the Dire Wraith threat and knew she had to act. Donning her Lumina Vortex armor, she embarked on a mission to stop Raxia and her forces. Her first encounter with Raxia was brutal. Raxia's psionic powers and combat skills made her a formidable opponent. However, Reva's adaptive armor and Orion's strategic support allowed her to hold her ground.As their battles continued, Reva began to uncover more about Raxia's plans. The Dire Wraith leader intended to use a cosmic artifact known as the "Starheart" to enhance her powers and make her armies unstoppable. Reva realized that she had to prevent Raxia from obtaining the Starheart at all costs.
Chapter 5: The Final Confrontation
The final showdown took place on the barren moon of Xandar Prime, where the Starheart was hidden. Reva and Raxia faced each other in a titanic battle. The moon's desolate landscape echoed with the sounds of their combat, energy blasts lighting up the dark sky.Raxia unleashed her full psionic fury, but Reva's Lumina Vortex adapted to every assault. Using her photon blades and warp drive, Reva outmaneuvered Raxia, landing critical blows. In a climactic moment, Reva activated the quantum shielding to absorb a devastating psionic attack, redirecting the energy back at Raxia.
Weakened and defeated, Raxia attempted to flee, but Reva, with the help of Orion, disabled her escape route. Capturing Raxia, Reva secured the Starheart and brought it back to Galador, ensuring it would never fall into the wrong hands.
Epilogue: A New Dawn
Reva returned to Galador a hero. Her bravery and ingenuity had saved the galaxy from a dire threat. Though she had not been accepted by the Spaceknight Academy, she had proven herself as a true Spaceknight in her own right.The people of Galador celebrated her as "Reva the Resilient," honoring her determination and spirit. Inspired by her example, a new generation of Spaceknights began to emerge, combining traditional combat skills with innovative technologies.
Reva continued her work, always vigilant, ready to defend the galaxy from any threat. In her heart, she carried the legacy of her uncle, ROM, knowing that she had lived up to the promise of a Spaceknight.
And so, the legend of Reva Rann, the niece of ROM, grew, a beacon of hope and resilience in the ever-expanding universe.