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I had been on 100mg spiro for over a year. It gave me such a GLOW . my pores were smaller, no oil, skin cleared. But in that time my breasts went from a cute dainty 32C to 36C. Not sure if it was the spiro, starting the nuvaring within that time period, or just going through "second puberty" at 23 (i heard girls can have breast growth out of nowhere in their 20s) I know my boobs still aren't "big" but it gives me body dysmorphia. I had an ED in middle school because I always felt like the big freak when all the other girls were so petite and cute. Finally as I got older I ended up being the petite one. Buying clothes were never an issue because XS always fit regardless of the brand.
Now I am back to feeling frumpy and restricting food. I know in my head i'm not fat but having to go up to a medium or large in tops just to fit my boobs does horrible things to my mental health. All of my close friends are smaller chested and feel the need to comment on my boobs everytime we go out, saying things like "they enter the room before you do" and "yeah ____ tried on that top and her boobs were spilling out of it!" but in a mean tone. Not to mention how they always talk about how much they prefer being small chested, how guys like it etc. I want to scream. Do they think I like what has happened to my body? It's out of my control. I have a stupid condition that makes me hairy and oily everywhere and the only thing that seems to help made my boobs explode. I wish my body wasn't like this.
So I went down to 25mg of spiro and my boobs felt a little smaller but I still remain at 36C. I guess those are just my boobs now. Aaaand the oiliness is back in full force. So I either have to go back up on spiro (1. am I going to be oily my whole life unless i'm on this drug?! and 2. what if my boobs never stop growing on it) or deal with cystic acne and hair being oily even on days I wash it.
Fuck. this.

I know this is old news but since street fighter 6 came out and was great it sinks in even more how cool story mode for ow could be. I’m just a mercy main but it’d be so cool if everyone was forced to play as mercy for a bit in the story mode, and make it so it’s actually hard to give your team enough damage boost to win without dying, and make them have to fly around avoiding shit too. Still don’t really get how it’s not possible but whatever. But I feel like they do need more modes that aren’t vs other players. Mercy parkour is carrying ow2 for me rn.

I’m a full time CS student at a state university with about 2 years left until my graduation. I have 2 scholarships, 1 that pays my tuition in full and another that disburses $30,000 divided over 4 years. I also have been working as a software engineer in my MCOL city for the past year at $30 an hour. To this point, my employer has been flexible with me scheduling my work around my classes, and I’ve been able to manage my expenses, both so long as I work about 30 hours a week.
However I am approaching a problem. Starting this fall, it’s extremely unlikely that I will be able to schedule my work and classes effectively. My degree program has very little to no online options for higher level courses, and there are fewer times to pick from. It would be virtually impossible for me to be in the office at my job regularly. My scholarship requires a certain number of credit hours so I am essentially entirely at the mercy of my class schedule. As much as I would love to just focus on school, I need an income. Here are some options I’m considering:

• Find a remote job: Ideally this would allow me more flexibility, but I’ve never had a remote job before and I don’t know how feasible it is while going to school full time. The ideal situation would be to find a place that pays slightly better per hour and would allow me to work part time (20~ hours) but I don’t know how realistic finding a position like this would be.
  
• Negotiating my current position to be fully remote: I really, really enjoy the company I work for right now, but I don’t know how realistic this would be. My boss believes in having people at the office and he is already allowing me to only come in 3 days a week due to school. I don’t feel that he would be confident in my productivity if I were to work remotely full time. I would also be forced to work less hours starting this fall. At my current pay rate I would be stretching myself a bit thin.
  
• Transferring to a online degree program: A well-respected university in my state offers a fully online CS degree. It would certainly offer me the flexibility to work full time, in person or remote. I would still have my tuition payed for in full. However, I would be giving up $15,000 in my other remaining scholarship money. I also do enjoy going to class in person, a lot. I love campus, and the sports games, and all the other college stuff. So, the opportunity cost of this option is difficult for me to weigh.
  

I would love some advice on what course of action I should take. Thank you

I'd never really thought about this comparison before but I saw a comment recently that pointed out the two, conceptually speaking, actually do have a lot in common.
Both, at the time of their original stories, were brand new villains for Batman to face. The new hotness that's come to Gotham to f**k up his day, with a big part of the plot being the mystery of who The Phantasm/Hush is, with the reveal being...the only other new and significant character introduced for the story. Both Andrea and Tommy are retconned into Bruce's past and made very important to him (one being the woman he loved, the other his childhood best friend), with said past being shown to us in flashbacks throughout the story. And both serve as a dark reflection of Bruce himself.
With these similarities, why is it that I find one works way more for me than the other? Especially when I grew up with both these stories.
I'm definitely a bit in the minority here but I've never really gotten the hype over Hush. That's not to say I don't like the Hush story, just that Hush/Tommy Elliot specifically is just kind of...okay to me at best. Not bad but not one of Batman's villains I feel a strong attachment to or feel a lot of excitement over when he's going to be in something. I never feel the same as others when they say they want Hush as the villain for a movie or that he should have been the main villain of Arkham Knight. I could certainly believe a good writer could get something good out of his concepts, but as he is, as he was in the original Hush story, the story most people know him from and that put him on the map, he's just...okay.
But then there's Andrea, and while I don't think she really needed to appear in other stories after Mask of the Phantasm, since like Tommy it feels like a case of diminishing returns, I do still find myself a lot more attached to that character and feel like she was very well done despite conceptually being so similar to Tommy. With Hush I don't want him to be in anything more after his initial story because I didn't really care that much about the character, whereas with The Phantasm I didn't want her to be in anything after her initial story because I didn't want them to ruin what I felt like was already done near perfectly and wrapped up.
I think the difference comes down to two big things: Framing within the story, and characterization.
Both stories center around the mystery "Who is The Phantasm/Hush?", but the execution of both mysteries, the pay-off to them, and Andrea and Tommy's place within those narratives is handled very differently.
Hush, in my opinion, is interesting almost solely because of the mystery around who he is and how he manipulates events and Batman's villains to strike at him. When we get the reveal that he's Tommy, not much is added that replaces the mystery in order to keep him interesting.
Why did he do all of this? Because he resents Bruce for being able to inherit all of his parent's wealth as a child while his own attempt to gain the same was foiled by Bruce's father saving his mother's life after Tommy deliberately tried to get his parents killed. In regards to making Tommy a dark, twisted reflection of Bruce, this does work. While Bruce loved his parents, was deeply scarred by their deaths, and he'd have given up that entire fortune and more just to have them back, Tommy was willing to kill his just to get his hands on their money and hated his mother for surviving. But as the big conclusion to this big story spanning most of Batman's rogues gallery and all the manipulations and planning and gaslighting the villain had done, this motivation feels too...mundane. It's too petty.
Don't get me wrong, pettiness does not make for a bad villain motivation in the right context. My favorite supervillain of all time is Lex Luthor and half that man's plans are fueled by pure spite for Superman for daring to make him look bad by being a good person. But for all the build-up and everything that was involved this answer just doesn't feel satisfying. Even things like Tommy's mother always comparing him to Bruce or Tommy creating a new face to look like Bruce to steal his identity and fortune wasn't a thing until later stories. In the original Hush story, Tommy is purely just after revenge on Bruce for getting inherited wealth as a child while he had to wait until he was an adult.
This isn't helped by how little we really get to know Thomas Elliot and Bruce's attachment to him before the reveal.
I think one of the things that works best about Batman: Hush, more than the mystery around who Hush is, is that the whole storyline feels like a semi-celebration of Batman and a love letter to the character. It showcases a lot of his big name villains, shows Batman's connections to his allies, from the Bat family to Huntress to Gordon to Superman, marks the start of what, in my opinion, made Catwoman a genuine contender for being Batman's best romantic relationship rather than just another love interest, goes into Batman's history, from Jason Todd to Harold and even his childhood before his parents were killed, and all while throughout we're getting the narration boxes of Bruce's inner thoughts, going in on what he thinks of himself and everyone around him. It's one of those stories where if someone wanted to get into Batman comics for the first time or needed an introduction to the character (weird as it is to think that when the character is everywhere these days), Batman: Hush would be one of the ones I'd point out.
The story has a lot going for it...and Thomas Elliot gets lost in it all. We get to somewhat know what he was like as a kid, so much of which doesn't apply to him as an adult in the present because so much time has passed since then, and what we do get to know of him as an adult gets put into question once we find out he's Hush since he more than likely was putting on an act every time he interacted with Bruce. We don't even get that much interaction between him and Batman after the reveal of his identity is made in order to get to know the real him, nor does he even take off his bandage mask to fully confirm it's Tommy. He gets shot by Harvey Dent, falls from a great height, and then f**ks off until he can be brought back in an eventual sequel.
This is part of why I wasn't really that upset when the animated movie adaptation of the story had The Riddler be Hush instead of Tommy, who basically was the real mastermind behind everything anyway in the original and was the more impactful twist. He's the one who figured out Batman was Bruce Wayne, being the one to present that information to Tommy, and was the one who got all the villains to cooperate with the plan. Most important of all, I have a feel for who the Riddler is. But Tommy? He's...smart. Apparently. And petty....apparently. What is Tommy's actual character beyond "guy who wanted his parent's money"?
Let's compare all of this to The Phantasm and Andrea Beaumont.
Like with Hush, the main mystery Mask of the Phantasm centers around is "Who is the Phantasm?" but the scale is more simple. The Phantasm isn't after Batman but rather is knocking off members of the Valestra crime family and, intentionally or otherwise, is getting Batman framed for the murders.
Like with the flashbacks to Bruce and Tommy's past with each other, we get flashbacks of Bruce and Andrea's own past together. However, not only was it a past relatively more recent, and thus we get a better feel for who Andrea is since she's already an adult in the flashbacks, but the flashbacks are more central to the movie's plot and don't have a million other more memorable or iconic bits happening around them to take the attention away, in part because these flashbacks show us Bruce's own history with the Valestra mob. The flashbacks with Tommy often didn't have a lot of relevance to the mystery around Hush or what he was doing beyond the fact that they involved Tommy It was mostly Bruce reminiscing about his childhood. While the flashbacks with Andrea also served to give insight on the people the Phantasm is targeting and why someone would want them dead, Andrea especially. Even the Joker, who is brought into the movie to help spice up the climax, used to be a hit man for the Valestras, and in fact was the one who was sent to murder Andrea's father. He ties into the main plot of the mystery while all the rogues used in Hush were mostly there to just wear Batman down or throw him off Tommy and Riddler's trail.
We also get Andrea and Bruce interacting in the present, greatly aided by her quickly figuring out that he's Batman and the two being able to speak frankly to each other, and interacting after he figures out she's the Phantasm. And when we get the reveal that she's the Phantasm, her personality doesn't really change that much, meaning that while she was hiding the truth from Bruce she wasn't putting on a complete front. Unlike Tommy, who we honestly aren't sure if we know anything real about, we feel we understand Andrea quite well. While what we saw of Tommy prior to the reveal helped cover up that he was Hush, what we saw of Andrea had it make even more sense that she was the Phantasm after the reveal is made.
Why is Andrea doing all this? She wants revenge on the Valestra mob for forcing her to flee Gotham, keeping her from marrying the man she loved, killing her father, and basically ruining her life. It's a very simple motivation but the build-up to it is more appropriate given the size and scale of the story and thus that simplicity doesn't feel like a big let-down. And even more so, it makes her a good dark and twisted reflection of Bruce. A normal life upended by crime and corruption unchecked, Andrea took on a terrifying alternate identity to bring justice in a way no one else could/no one else would, but along the way became consumed by the same need for vengeance that Bruce has always had to keep himself from falling into, to the point there's nothing else for her. A sympathetic motivation isn't inherently better than a petty one for a villain. It depends on its context and how it's executed. And Andrea's sympathetic motivation works here because of the parallels with Bruce and how much of a tragedy it's written as. Bruce almost never became Batman because he was so unexpected happy being with Andrea, but the crime Batman was intended to fight against tore him and her away from each other, destroying both of their lives yet again, and ended up corrupting the woman he had loved so much, turning her basically into...well...him.
TL;DR: Despite their similarities and how obvious their mysteries are when you think about them even a little, Andrea Beaumont as The Phantasm works better for me than Thomas Elliot did as Hush for the following reasons:

• We get to know the real Andrea better than we do the real Tommy, both before and after the reveals are made.
• Andrea's motivations feel more appropriate to the story being told with her than Tommy's were.
• Andrea being a dark, twisted reflection of Bruce ties in better to the story thematically than Tommy being a dark, twisted reflection did.
• Both the Phantasm and Hush start off cool and interesting because of how mysterious they are. The more of Phantasm's mystery is revealed, we get enough backstory and characterization to replace it to still keep us invested. The more of Hush's mystery is revealed, the less interesting he becomes because there's so little to take its place.

With the Advent of 10th and the index released today I'm super uncertain how to expand my current force as to me I don't see any clear avenues that would shore up any deficiencies i have a gravis captain a primaris apothecary, 20 intersessors 6 aggressors 9 eradicators. I know I could pick up vulkan hestan or adrax but both are unappealing from a modeling aspect.
Vulkan is in fine cast resin and makes me uncomfortable in trying to run him
Adrax is captain of the 3rd company and I wanna run 2nd company so from a fluff perspective it feels weird to have him leading my force
I'm considering getting a redeemer and a infernus squad as well but beyond that I'm kinda up in the air
I appreciate any suggestions.

Hi
I am playing druid on PS5. The game will freeze and the only way to shut the game down is to force close using the switcher. When I restart the game all of my Dungeons are set to brand new, green ticks are gone and I have to rerun the dungeon. I got 4 days early access and this has happened to me 5 times now. Anyone else getting this bug? I searched and couldn't find anything online about it. It is normally triggered when I hit options to open my inventory and once when I opened the map. Anyone know how to fix this?

I was a little nervous at first before going there. I was expected to arrive around 8:05. That’s 5 minutes after opening. I was scared to be alone so I went to the nearest mall’s parking lot to wait it out a bit. 8:25 came by and decided it was time to go and see some strippers. The entrance fee was 10$, but I left a 5$ tip. I’ve read that they don’t really like non-tippers so I felt obligated to before actually going in. While I was in I didn’t actually get that feeling, but the doorman wasn’t there, it was just a normal girl at a cash register. She did split my 20$ into 5$, probably expecting that we put a 5$ tip, I guess? When I actually got it, it felt weird. Like I didn’t belong. There were no dancers, only a couple dudes around the bar and a barmaid. I sat down at the bar, because that felt like the only place to be. I didn’t get noticed for maybe two or three minutes so I left to go play the money machine. I never really expected to play these types of games in my life since I’m not much of a gambler, but it felt like it was the only thing I could do to wait it out and see what’s going to happen later. I put in a 5$ bill and pressed buttons, and didn't actually understand what I was doing for a while, I was up 3$ by the time I started to understand how points worked. Anyways I played for maybe 20 to 30 minutes. During this time a barmaid came to me and asked if I wanted anything to drink. Knowing they kind of forced people into paying for drinks to stay inside I just picked a Rum & Coke. It cost around 12$ and I paid 15$ for a tiny glass, with ice. It was fine for a drink but very expensive. This would be my last drink of the night.
Anyway, while I was playing with the machine a dancer came to see how I was doing, her name was Layla, a nice blonde with big tits. At that point I had gotten my 5$ up to 28$ and back down to 23$ and some change. She asked if I wanted to cash out and go for a dance so I said yes. She showed me how to cash out as I asked her that I had no idea how this worked. The machine left me a ticket to claim my prize and Layla told me it’s normal for people to give tips when claiming the prize. Sure I just won money, whatever I guess. So I kept 20$ and tipped the change to the barmaid.
Layla then brought me to the cabin section where you have to pay 5$ to get in and then each song you pay 20$. I asked if I was allowed to touch and she said yes and told me the rules and whatever, I made sure whatever I was doing was in accordance with the rules and respectful to her. She started out in her small outfit, a white bra and panties that glowed under the blacklight, and she started dancing. I really liked caressing her body, she was very soft. I don’t actually remember much details about this dance, but I touched some fake breasts for the first time while they looked very nice, they didn’t feel as nice as some other tits I’ll be touching during this night. I got three songs with her, that was enough for her to drop her top and panties. I had a fully naked sexy stranger bouncing on my lap and feeling my very hard cock through my pants, wow.
After my dance with Layla I went back to sit down in front of the empty stage, closer to where the dancers were hanging out. I believe most of them got in while I was with Layla. After a couple minutes a new girl introduced herself, didn’t remember much, but I nicely told her off because I barely just got my lap dance and wanted to look around a bit. Not long after that Yasmine came to introduce herself. I didn’t think I was going to take her to the cabin when I initially saw her, but we talked a bit and I felt comfortable with her and she was fun to talk to so why not? I went to the ATM and got 140$ (7$ fee) and she led me to her cabin. Yasmine was an Italian & *local Canadian province* girl, very nice small and small tits but I’m getting ahead of myself. She starts dancing on me, I feel her out, caressing her body with my hands. This one was wilder than Layla, she was much more dominant. I was surprised by it, she bounced hard on my lap, my cock was rock hard and her bouncing kind of made it hurt, my dick doesn’t really bend that way. That wasn’t the nice part though, I wasn’t expecting this and kind of knew I would like something like that, but never experienced this before. She bit my ear semi-softly, licked my lip, pulled my hair and grabbed my neck. She was probably around my age but yes mommy. She also simulated going down on me by getting down on her knees in front of me, looking me in the eyes and licking her thumb she placed as if it was my penis. Also during the dance she leaned back a bit too much and she couldn’t get back up, I was holding her with a hug and though she was still in control because she was so light I didn’t even feel like she was falling. She told me to pick her up to help her and we continued the dance a bit. When I ended the dance I told her about how when I was a teenager I saw videos on Youtube about pranksters or whatever making videos asking random young men on the street if they can remove a bra with only one hand around her back without looking and was telling her that I never had difficulties with that and that the trick is to use your left hand, always. I asked if I could try on her and she said sure. I got it within 3 seconds and she said that she didn’t expect me to get it that easy. Anyway, I paid for the 4 songs (which I thought were only three, but whatever, I had a great time with her).
I went back to sit down at the same spot, pretty much the same thing some girls sat down next to me to talk and ask me for dances. I didn’t go right away. One girl named Maxime, a very beautiful girl, also Italian and Lebanese, brunette, came to talk to me, also didn’t think I would be getting lap dances from her at first, even less two of them. But she was really nice, we talked for a while and when she asked for a dance I asked her if she could do a little turn around. I wanted to see if she had a bigger ass than Layla and Yasmine, she didn’t really like me asking that. Usually it’s the annoying guys that ask this. I apologized and told her why I asked that and she was very proud to get up and lean on the main stage to show me her ass. Needless to say that I went and got some money out again. Her tits were small, but firm, probably my favorite tits to date. Her ass was perfectly sized, not too small, not too big, nice hips and nice outfit. She was wearing a black strappy bottom with a nice chain around her waist with a black strap and black top. She was so hot, I asked her if I could remove her bra when she was ready to remove it, kind of the same story as before, but more leaning on Yasmine being surprised I got it so fast. She told me to remove her bra soon after, this model of bra was slightly more difficult, it’s not the typical clip, it was a slide in elastic. It wasn’t as easy and I had to look to figure out how it worked. I helped her remove her bra. I touch her bare breast softly caressing her body. She really is cuddly and touchy, I’m really enjoying her at that point. She puts her panties to the side, showing me her pussy. She starts rubbing her bare pussy on my hard cock through my pants, oh my god she’s hot, she then licks her finger and starts rubbing her pussy in front of me, she moans a little. The dance continues and I don’t remember the details in the right order, but anyway she has a part two.
As usual now, I go back to sit down at the same spot, now the place was more crowded and the main stage was actually used for dancers. I was looking for a 4th girl to take on a dance, I wanted to see how a more curvy girl would feel. I had a couple more strippers talk to me, the barmaid asked that I should order a drink because I should have a drink at this point and somewhat tried to force me to buy a drink, but I told her I just wanted to get a last dance before going. So I felt a bit rushed to get a new girl and the girl currently on stage was a nice fat ass and curves so I looked at her when she got off stage and we went to the cabins a bit too fast. I don’t remember why but she told me she had drunk a bit. This part is going to be short. She looked hot, most strippers did anyway, I took her for 3 songs, whatever was left in my wallet. She wasn’t very touchy, she was more of a dancer, her moves were average like most strippers, she didn’t stand out much really. I didn’t remember her name either. When I got out of the dance I didn’t want to leave on a bad note, so I went looking for Yasmine. Honestly my short term memory wasn’t very good while I was there and I had a hard time remembering which girl was the one rubbing her pussy (Maxime) so it was one of these two, but I could only really remember Yasmine. While walking around I quickly remembered the face of girl #3, Maxime. I asked her for her name again and told her I wanted a dance. She knew I wanted to get a dance from another girl so she told me to go find another girl, I told her I wanted her again and we went back to the cabin after I got another 100$ out. She asked if I went with another girl between her two dances and told her that my last dance was not really nice and wanted to leave on a great note. I told her that I was missing the touchy part of the dance with the previous girl and that let her know I liked cuddles more than dances which she was all for. I told her I got 100$ for 5 songs, so she put a 15 minute timer on her phone instead of going song by song, should be more time with each other this way she told me. She asked me to remove her bra since I asked her last time. Which I gladly did, with much more ease this time might I add. This dance was the best. I caressed her, spanked her ass soft-mediumly, we got very close, I could almost kiss her (not that I was allowed to, but damn it would’ve felt so good). She lifted up my shirt, her hand caressed my chest a bit before she got down to slide her soft, but firm breast against my bare skin. She again showed me her pussy, spit on her fingers, rubbed her pussy for a while, sometimes rubbing herself on my crotch. I was so turned on by her. She moaned even more this time. We were both breathing heavily and she told me she was wet after briefly feeling her pussy. I felt so good with her and was so comfortable with her that I almost forgot I was in a strip club. When the dance ended, she pointed out my huge boner that was extremely obvious showing through my pants. I wore it proudly and flirted with her telling her it was her fault my pants had a huge bulge. I asked for a goodbye hug and I might have overdone it a little. It was a pretty sensual hug. This was how my night ended, the best lap dance ever, at least for now. I’m definitely going back to see her someday. I’m thinking of just skipping the bullshit and bringing 220$, 20$ for club entrance with tip plus cabin fee and just have a 30 minutes session with her the rest. On my way home I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing by myself for having lived such a nice experience. I was also extremely horny, horny for more women sensuality so nothing happened after that. I was so happy. I couldn’t go to sleep. I think I went to sleep around 3:30 AM because I simply was too happy to even go to sleep. This never happened to me before. I woke up at 6AM, my alarm was set for 8:20AM. Rough night of sleep. Now I’m writing this on my laptop because I want to be able to relive this experience again. It’s almost 10AM. I finished writing this just in time before my morning work meeting to start my day off. I’m going to be really sleepy today. But it was worth every penny.
I put back the same shirt as last night, I really love that shirt (Henley Shirt, LTTStore.com, not a sponsor), it was still clean since I only put that on last night after taking a shower. It smells like Maxime’s perfume, it's a really nice fruity smell.
Also, the confidence and energy boost this experience gave me is phenomenal. I never went to the gym, I’ve been somewhat considering going for a while now to lose the couple pounds I gained in the last couple years that put me over 200. I now feel like I’m actually ready to get up and put in the effort. Haven’t done anything yet, but I would like to see myself with some visible muscles.
(names used in this story are not their real names)

I was put on Academic Probation Circa 2005 and recently went back to school when I found out I was technically so poor that I still warranted a full Pell Grant from the government. I was told I had to submit a SAP appeal and bring up my GPA if approved. I was told it was approved and I was granted Financial Aid. The advisor told me to take it easy and take 2 classes to get my GPA up.
I got high A's in both classes while juggling 12-hour factory shifts.
I apply for Summer school to keep the momentum and found out a week into class the financial aid was revoked.
The reason why?
I didn't submit a SAP appeal.
I go back to the office and find out that I never needed to file a SAP appeal to for probation and that even though I was granted financial aid for the 1st semester I needed to bring my GPA AND completion percentage up.
If I had been told this I could have planned accordingly and taken on more courses.
Instead, I find out today that my SAP appeal is denied, even though I had already received emails telling me how much aid the government had approved for me, and after they already gave me money to go to school for a whole semester where I did everything as right as I possibly could.
Is there any way to move forward from this?
Is that aid denied entirely? or can I just move my studies to Seminole College instead?
It feels like any other company or business would be forced to amend something like this, but college is a whole other beast.

I feel like I'm missing something super important but beyond the "what have the gods ever done for me?" Attitude there doesn't seem to be any rock solid gripes against them besides Ludinis' weird obsession with them? Orym feels the best when he spoke about how it's not the gods but their followers.
But so far the party have really only interacted with forces of nature or people that seem to have a REAL anti god bias and then they don't even try to find a differing opinion. Even talking about the Original elemental Titans who have been long since banished and where also a point of conflict AGAINST mortals for having any kind of power to defend themselves.
And while the various churches and holy people seem to be a point of ire... It makes sense to me that people who have had real, actual, provable tangeable connections to higher entities who have sworn off directly interfering with mortal lives and giving their followers abilities that are directly or indirectly used to help other people have suddenly lost these connections and are trying to figure out what is happening. It would be as if the Magical Weave was ripped from a sorcerer or magical words stopped having effects from a wizards spell book, a fundamental element of the universe has gone silent and people are freaking out.
Anyways yeah that's my sort of rant question I guess. I just don't get it

Hello guys. You know I want to make Palpatine-style dictator guide, so I remembered and researched some of his famous quotes to use in the guide and make it more fun. Below you can find altered Palpatine’s quotes adapted to Anton Rayne’s perspective(not chronological):
After signing Electoral Campaign Finance Bill:
“I love democracy—I love the Republic.”
When ordering investigations of Tarquin Soll:
Anton: “There’s a great disturbance in the Force.” Lucian: “I’ve felt it.” Anton: “We have an old enemy. Old fck who has tried to sink my constitution. I have no doubt this man is the son of a btch.” Lucian: “He’s just an old man, sir. Although he was very influential once, but not anymore after you have passed the constitution.” Anton: “Don’t underestimate his influence. The Force is strong with him. That son of a b*tch must not become powerful again.” Lucian: “Sir, we have very specialized Lord Greiser to investigate and pressurize him. If he could be pressurized, I think he would become a powerful ally. Do you want me to call him?” Anton: “Ah yeeeeesssss, he would be a great asset. Can it be done?” Lucian: “He will join(support) us or die, sir.”
After passing the constitution in Assembly:
“Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.”
After passing the constitution in the Supreme Court:
“POWEEEEERRRR!!! UNLIMITED POWWEEEEEEERRRRRRRRR!!!”
When Ricter ranting against you in Assembly:
"Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the dark side."
When giving order about cleaning criminal gangs and subversives after forming SSP:
"Execute Order 66! Wipe them out. All of them!"
After passing the death sentence to Soll:
"Now Tarquin Soll, You Will Die."
When lying Heron Garaci about giving him the position of Chief Justice:
“Only through me you can achieve the power greater than any politician. Learn to know the Dark Side of the Force and you will be able to save your ass from certain destruction.”
When you declare your intentions to empower your constitutional powers:
"The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be…unnatural." When Lucian and Petr explain that it’ll be very difficult, then shout “There is only one plan—one great design which shall govern Sordland—mine!”
When giving order to Karl to destroy the opposition:
“Do what must be done, Lord Greiser. Do not hesitate. Show no mercy.”
Anton Rayne thinking about himself when post-assassination protests occur:
“You’re one man against Sordland full of scoundrels.”
Literally everyone who opposes you:
“Those who do not serve my ends, no matter how powerful they are, will be eliminated.”
When declaring war to Rumburg:
“Your arrogance blinds you, Queen Livingston. Now you will experience the full power of the Dark Side.”
Speech about constitutional changes in USP Meeting:
“I AM THE SENATE!” I am the USP!
Speech about constitutional changes in Assembly:
“I love democracy—I love the Republic. The power you give me I will lay down when this crisis has abated. And as my first act with this new authority, I will create a Grand Army of the Republic to counter the increasing internal and external threats and to bring order to the galaxy(to Sordland, as greater extent, to Eastern Merkopa).”
Replacing pervert Petr with Lucian:
“Soon I will have a new apprentice(VP), one far older, but more powerful.”
Talking with Lucian on his first day as VP (my new apprentice):
“Do you recall what I told you about the relationship between power and understanding, Lord Galade?”
Last talk with Soll after trial:
“From here you will witness the final destruction of the Sollism and the end of your gang’s insignificant babbling.”
When Nia, Ciara and Simon resign:
“Good. I can feel your anger. I am defenseless. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all your hatred, and your journey towards the dark side will be complete.”
When talking with Soll in the restroom:
“Oh, I’m afraid the Justices will not be immune when I order your arrest!”
When Lucian criticizing Petr for his immature behaviors(Spy Scandal):
“Gooooooooddd! Your hate has made you powerful. Now, fulfill your destiny and take Petr’s place at my side!”
When I nationalize Bergia Steel and Mikail Aven barking that “This is a big mistaaaake”:
“Oh, no, my young Mikail. You will find that it is you who are mistaken, about a great…many…things.”
When talking Franc about Civil War:
“Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Girl the Unwise?”
You’re free to add your version. I can add them.

As I see so many “just starting out - any advice” posts here, I would offer a few thoughts:

1. Read all of it, every page, even what you would ordinarily skip in a book. Think long and hard about the dedication.
   
2. Think about what you are reading and doing. It clearly is not intended as a passive experience but deliberately engages you. Consider if your doing anything similar to anyone in the book.
   
3. Consider who seems to be the current speaker, and what font is being used. Some fonts are very different. Some are very similar. Are you considering every speaking character? Are there speakers in the book who do not appear as characters? Never stop asking who might be speaking at any time.
   
4. If you at all can help it, read it yourself first. Resist your urge to ask questions. It is like psychotherapy - it is meant to force you to consider things yourself, and bring about self-realized conclusions.
   
5. Everything is important, and usually not in the way you think.
   
6. If you find something you see obviously connects to something else but cannot figure out why or how, it’s not because you’re doing something wrong. You’re on the right track.
   
7. All of it can be explained. You’ve understood the book once you figure out what it is explaining.
   

If I think of something else I’ll let you know.

Hi there! Name’s Auri and I’m a 28F. I’ve been rping for roughly 10+ years now and am searching around for another partner for a thread or two. I'm not replacing anyone!
General overview:

• All characters are 18+
  
• I’m not into doing smut or adult content. If we ever do get to that point in a thread, I would like for us to fade to black if at all possible. It's just a personal preference of mine.
  
• I would like for my partner to be at least 23+ or close to my age. No minors please
  
• I don't mind doubling!
  
• I can forward over whatever character info necessary on my OC(s)
  
• As far as posting frequency goes, I'm pretty okay with it being every other day, every few days or, if necessary, once or twice a week. Just let me know! I do have a full time weekday job so replies during the week may be a bit slow!
  
• I do write at least three to five paragraphs minimum and write third person past tense and at least 2k words plus. I'm more of a novella writer! Not all of my responses will be novella length
  
• I prefer to use Discord if at all possible
  
• I don't expect you to match my post length every response but please do not send out one word or one sentence replies
  
• I'm stating this here: my starter replies are rather lengthy. It is merely to set up the scene. Not all of my responses will be like that. As stated above, at minimum my replies will be three to five paragraphs but that does vary depending on the scenario, what character(s) are doing, etc.
  
• As I mentioned previously I do not expect you to match my post length and please do not feel intimidated! I'm here to have fun as much as you are
  
• If you feel uncomfortable at any point during the RP, please let me know. I can't do anything if you don't voice your concerns. Also if you have no intention of continuing past the starter phase, please do not contact me
  
• I definitely don't mind if romance is involved as long as our characters have chemistry (MxF and FxF ships are okay with me for our OCs!)
  
• Please be knowledgeable of any of the game(s) listed below
  
• I will not respond to messages like "Heyyy", "Wanna Rp?" or low effort chats requests like this. Please either interact with this post with the required info or DM me
  
• Let me know if you are within the age range specified above as well as a little about yourself. Specify which prompt(s) interest you in your message as well!
  
• Thank you for reading!
  

Prompt idea:
*Mass Effect 2 or 3: I created an original elemental race/character to use in the Mass Effect universe. This could take place during the second game and start off as a recruitment mission or start off with with third game after Shepard leaves the Mars archives. For either prompt here, I would like to try and follow Shepard's crew during both games. I'm currently not looking to do anything for Mass Effect: Andromeda at the moment

• Halo: I have two ideas for this. Our characters would meet first onboard Infinity around 2558 for either idea. The first prompt would be where my character(s) and yours are enlisted to search a derelict ship orbiting a Forerunner shield world and try to determine the reason why it was abandoned. We're then forced groundside as the ship yields no results and discover just how dead silent the planet truly is and why.

The second: Our characters are assigned to a backwater colony world that's now inhabited by both humans and ex-covenant forces. Our OCs/CCs are essentially made to be a temporary peace keeping force, a supposedly easy op. After meeting up with the colony's human governor, time passes and things start seeming a bit... off. The colony world isn't what it appears to be and there's a hidden menace that we need to uncover deep below ground and stop before it's too late.

(I’m sure this has already been discussed, but…)
Star Trek provides example after example of how, when people have their basic needs met (food via replicators/shelter aboard a ship), they will fervently pursue academic/scientific interests, art, and exploration.
Anyone in the real world who opposes a universal basic income for food and shelter, or insists that it would deter people from working, has never enabled people to actually pursue their true passions.
The motivation to work and be productive is embedded into the vast majority of the human race. Examples exist all around us. Wikipedia, the largest encyclopedic database on the planet, operates almost exclusively on free contributions from passionate people. Look at what people build in Minecraft on their own time. Poke around any game-modding community, and see the time and energy people invest into building/developing things with no expectation of financial profit. Countless other instances can be found throughout history (and contemporary society) of people, with all their basic needs met, pursuing art, tech, and academia. Most people have a gene-deep desire to build, create, investigate, and explore.
Star Trek’s Starfleet continually gets this right: the ships’ engineers constantly work to refine processes to boost efficiency: not for profit or monetary gain, but as a matter of personal pride and satisfaction.
The scientists keep exploring even the most minor astronomical anomalies, the doctors keep studying the most niche biological phenomena, all out of curiosity. They are legitimately interested, and therefore personally invested. They want to deepen their understanding. They want to learn.
The interactions between various alien cultures are anthropologists’ and sociologists’ dreams come true: hence all the diplomatic cross-culture ceremonies and “duck-blind” study scenarios.
These characters are all personally invested in their work, because almost everyone has found the position where they receive personal satisfaction/fulfillment.
You might be thinking “what about the jobs like crate stacking or inventory cataloguing? No one wants to do those jobs in real life.” Oh yes they do. Some people live for it. Organizers come in all forms. Tell me you’ve never met someone who lives to be meticulously organized; or someone obsessed with Tetris; an archivist/librarian who lives to sort things.
“What about garbage collectors? Who’d want to be garbage collectors unless they had to?” Trust me, there are people motivated to keep their community clean. (Additionally, without profit/capitalism/consumerism, aka “waste culture” as the driving force behind most things including manufacturing, waste generation is significantly reduced: most things are built to last/be repaired, or generally recycled. Organic waste is composted, etc. I digress.)
In a galaxy that large, where people are encouraged to pursue their interests (not just relegate those interests to hobbies because “you can’t make a living doing that,”) means you get an incredibly diversified knowledge and resource base within your greater community.
Need an expert in the microscopic harmonic fluctuations of alien cell membranes? There is one a subspace transmission away. Need a specialist on the dietary habits of the yarn people of Nylar 4? They’ll be at the diplomatic brunch tomorrow.
Need a faster ship engine? Someone in a lab has dedicated the past decade to building one, and they’re excited to share.
(These hyper-specific academic/technical pursuits also suggest a greater tolerance/societal value placed on neurodivergence than most modern, socially-oriented capitalistic workspaces as well, but that’s a topic for a whole other post.)
And sure, with basic needs met, you’ll get a small subset of people who don’t want to “work.” Who just “exists”. But, as another point, is there something wrong with someone just enjoying being alive, and being content with that?
Whenever someone (usually older) refers to these hypothetical “unproductive people” as people who’ll just “lay around, playing video games all day,” I want to point out that this is a major fallacy.
Almost all video games are goal-oriented. Most gamers game to accomplish virtual objectives: to win battles, complete quests, rank up. Gaming is entirely objective driven, just like most other pursuits mentioned above: the reason we look down on gaming accomplishments is because “it’s not real,” or “it’s empty/hollow.” But! That’s because we’ve cultivated a societal structure in reality where these “Hollow Pursuits” are the only sense of satisfaction or accomplishment that most people can get, who are often laterally trapped along the professional ladder.
Research has shown that, Given the chance, and the right circumstances, people will direct that objective-oriented energy into something real/consequential in like 95% of cases. The reason “couch-potato” gamers are so common these days is because so many people are unsatisfied with the work/opportunities provided by their jobs/careers, and turn to gaming as alternative suppliers for these feelings of achievement and accomplishment. (Also, gaming allows fantasy/imaginative/alternative pursuits, but that’s another notion.)
“But universal basic income will encourage people to stay home and sleep/drink all day.”
Most healthy people, both ND and NT, find their own purpose to get out of bed each day and get something done. Left open, they’ll find it and chase it. That’s healthy people. Substance addiction and clinical depression are not indicative of healthy people. A more community-and-fulfillment-centric societal structure lends itself to better-developed resources for recovery and treatment. PLUS! Not having to worry about earning basic needs/pay rent to survive while struggling with addiction or emotional issues is a key factor to bettering mental/emotional health, and aids recovery. Studies (with lab animals) have also shown senses of community and support have significantly curbed addictive behaviors that otherwise flourish/metastasize in isolation.
I didn’t expect this post to end up this long. I’m curious to hear thoughts!

Hello,
sounds like Im in the right place. Im looking for advice. We bought a house in 2015. We never paid any HOA fees, was not mentioned when we bought the house and after asking the neigbors, they said one didnt exist. Then this past month I got a letter saying that a HOA needs to be formed to pay for maintenance of a strip of lawn next to a road and a traffic circle. The fee is $50/year. The fee isnt an issue but I dont want to be subjected to all the ticky-tacky rules plus these things sound like scams.
Im in Illinois, can I be forced to join a HOA? The thing that is unclear is weather the HOA existed in the first place or not. When I bought the home, it wasn't in any of the closing documents but I did get a binder they provided by the developer to the original homeowner when the house was built in 2010 (the developer is trying to start the HOA) saying that a HOA did exist and had some rules. Just about everyone on my street would be breaking some rule as I would be as well. My guess is there was one in the beginning but it was never enforced until now. the letter states I have until July 30 then they will put a lien on the house.
Anyway, I already made some phone calls to lawyers. Any idea on what type of lawyer I should be looking for and how to find them?
I really dont want to go to court so am tempted to just pay the fees and try to fly under the radar but reading through these posts makes me sick to my stomach about giving into these people.
Thank you in advance.

I've really made an effort this week to stop jacking off. I've gone to the gym, stayed at work for longer hours, put my phone on my desk and away from my bed at night time. I'm a Christian also, so I've been getting into my Bible study (not forcing my faith on others but it does help me).
I'm getting better step by step. Need some advice as to how I can improve.

Atheism, in its essence, denies the existence of a deity or a divine force. Atheists typically rely on scientific narratives and naturalistic explanations for the origin of the universe. They align themselves with the current scientific consensus, finding solace and confidence in the potential of human intellect to bridge the gaps in our knowledge. However, when we dissect this stance, it unveils a fascinating paradox - the paradox of atheistic faith.
The Big Bang theory holds that the universe expanded from a highly dense and hot state approximately 13.8 billion years ago. While this theory provides a scientifically acceptable explanation for the universe's origins, it leaves an explanatory gap - what triggered the Big Bang? This question marks the advent of the paradox. The atheistic acceptance of an unknown trigger for the Big Bang can be seen as a form of faith, echoing theistic beliefs (Haught, J. F. (2008). God and the New Atheism.)
Intriguingly, this faith in scientific narratives and their inherent unknowns is potentially as profound, if not more so, than the faith needed to believe in a theistic narrative (McGrath, A. (2007). The Dawkins Delusion?). Critics have pointed out that this acceptance of an unknown scientific trigger for the Big Bang parallels the theistic belief in a known (if metaphysical) trigger (Lennox, J. (2009). God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?). It's a kind of atheistic theism, so to speak.
However, before we jump to conclusions, it's essential to address the obvious elephant in the room - how can we equate scientific faith with religious faith? A common rebuttal emphasizes that the "faith" held by atheists differs fundamentally from religious faith. The former remains open to empirical investigation and revision, while the latter often does not. Yet, the counterpoint is that the belief in an unknown trigger is still an acceptance of an unknown, irrespective of its susceptibility to future empirical evidence.

Engine: LV148EA-334048C - Tecumseh Engine
Issue: Pull cord gets stuck and too hard to pull at compression stroke
Checked out:

• spark good
• pull cord good
• camshaft/crankshaft appears to be good?
• I also tried pouring some oil in the spark plug hole to loosen things up but didn't work
• Put a wrench to the flywheel to confirm that it freezes up during the compression stroke and becomes really hard to turn over although it can with enough force.

When I take the spark plug out and pull the cord it pulls normal without any issues, once the spark plug is in there it becomes almost impossible to pull during then compression stroke.
I took it apart a little bit and looked at the camshaft and crankshaft etc. There wasn't really any metal shavings in there and looking at the parts everything seems fine. However this engine confuses me because the camshaft doesn't have a spring on it like briggs and stratton ones do. Those have the little lever for the compression release, so I'm wondering how this engine does it? Also what in the world could be causing this because everything seems fine.
​
engine schematic: https://www.partstree.com/models/lv148ea-334048c-tecumseh-engine/engine-parts-list-1-0/

With the news that development of Adventure Mode for the Steam release is progressing along, I figure some people may want to download the original version to give it a try ahead of the graphics update. As someone with hundreds of hours in adventure mode (there are literally dozens of us!) I thought I would share some of the biggest tips and tricks I've learned. I'll probably be making this into a video once the official release is out and I can get footage with graphics, but until then I'm posting the script I have now here. The rest of this post contains spoilers for every phase of adventure mode, so turn back now if you want to discover all of this for yourself!
Beginner

1. Always have food

-Large stacks of vegetables can be found in containers in human towns. Meat can be gathered from butchered animals. Meat from sentient creatures can’t be eaten.

2. Always have wateale 

-Adventurers need to drink 3-4 times a day. Water skin only holds 3 water, so it is useless. Bags hold 40 and Backpacks hold 100 which is too heavy for most adventurers. Quivers hold 20, which is the perfect amount. Fill quivers with water at rivers or wells.

3. Equip armor 

-Armor and weapons can be found in the barracks of each town. Try to get iron or steel if possible. Make sure to cover the head, neck, torso, legs, hands, and feet.

4. Get a mount 

-Mounts increase overworld speed which increases the amount of ground that can be covered in one day. This reduces how frequently you need to stop for supplies.

5. Get some pets 

-Companions can be tricky to recruit in the beginning, but pets are a great way to increase survivability. Unlike companions, you can also recruit a very high number of pets immediately. Everything labeled “stray” found within a town can become a pet, from ducks to dogs, and rarely even bears and elephants. Just don’t get too attached, most pets die very fast, or permanently run away after combat. Especially the small ones.

6. Make sure your character can read and swim 

-Most skills can be acquired organically by actions which your adventurer does, but certain skills like reading are never unlocked. Because you need to read slabs or books to learn magic, putting a point in reading at character creation is mandatory. A few points in swimming are also recommended. Even a single tile full of water is enough to drown an adventurer with no swimming skill.

7. Make a young world for less necromancers and more Megabeasts, and an old world for vice-versa 

-World parameters matter. Evil is slightly stronger on average, which means the older a world is, the more likely it is to be infested with Necromancer towers and Goblin Pits. Savagery is just the number of animal people to play as, and beasts is the number of beasts to fight. You want both of these as high as possible, the difficulty is actually easier with more beasts, as you won’t have to travel as far for missions.

8. Don’t be afraid to run if you can’t win 

-Although this is technically a turn based RPG, running away isn’t a button you press, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t an option. If you are heavily outnumbered or facing a very strong enemy, don’t be afraid to sprint away and reengage when it is more advantageous to do so. This is better than dying and losing your progress.

9. Don’t swim until you’ve really trained 

-While it may be tempting to take a quick dip in the river, death can be moments away in any body of water. Even at competent and above levels of swimming, your character can only go about 10-20 squares before getting tired, and swimming while tired has a chance to keep your character in the same tile, further increasing their fatigue. This can mean your character drowning even just one square from the shore if you are extremely unlucky.

10. Aim for the neck/head for instant kills 

-Aiming in combat can be extremely beneficial. Lots of minor enemies such as kobolds and bandits can be killed with one solid hit to the neck or head. Using this tactic can make encounters against large groups of enemies much easier.
Intermediate

11. Fast travel to long rest 

-If you are damaged in battle and bleeding out, even if you are faint with mortal wounds, fast traveling via the world map will instantly heal your wounds. This may be considered a bug, but since adventurers cannot currently be healed at hospitals via adventure mode, this is the only way to actually heal. Furthermore, since you can’t fast travel during combat, and because fast traveling doesn’t remove major injuries such as missing limbs, I’d say it’s a pretty balanced feature.

12. Jog whenever possible 

-Whenever not mounted and not in combat, you should set your speed to jog. This will increase your endurance stat naturally over time, increasing your combat prowess while you move around. Just be sure to reset your speed whenever your character drops to the ground from exhaustion to give them a chance to rest. Keep extra water on hand while doing this, as your character will need to drink more. And make sure not to jog into combat, this will increase your character’s chance of becoming exhausted during combat, which severely lowers stats.

13. Create a character that just wants to perform 

-A focused character will always be more proficient in combat, receiving a boost to stats such as accuracy and damage. Fully customizing needs in character creation can make a character that is very easy to keep focused. You can completely remove needs in character creation if you wish, but this will also remove the chance to receive the focused buff. If anything, just be sure to avoid needs that are currently impossible in adventure mode such as “Make romance.”

14. Create a world with legendary metals for better loot 

-The more metals you choose at world generation, the better the loot will be everywhere. This setting can make gearing up in the early game either extremely trivial, or extremely challenging. World age can also affect possible loot, as extremely young worlds will not have created enough armor to make most encounters have meaningful loot.

15. Tell stories of your notable kills 

-Information in dwarf fortress is passed via a rumor system. No matter how many dragons you may slay, when you enter a new town, no one will care because they don’t know who you are. Every time you reach a new town, you should tell the largest group of people you can the stories of every notable encounter you’ve had. Early on you should tell stories of killing bandits, while later on you should focus on just semi-Megabeasts and Megabeasts.

16. Recruit other party members 

-While animal companions are good choices for meat shields early game, you should recruit as many fighters at barracks to adventure with you as possible. The amount of companions you can have at any one time is limited by your current reputation level, which is why it is important to tell everyone you can of your notable kills. Animal companions take up companion slots even though they go over the max cap, so try to transition from lots of animals early on to a small party of adventuring companions in the midgame, and a large number of companions in the endgame. Just be sure to let your companions win some easy battles on their own to level up their skills, otherwise they will die just as easily as animals in fights against Megabeasts. Don’t be surprised if some of your companions get terrified in combat and run away just like animals. If you can, be sure to find them, as they will take up a companion slot if you don’t part ways with them or watch them die. If they die and you don’t see it, they may permanently take up a slot this way. This is a bug and will hopefully be fixed eventually, but be wary of it for now.

17. Become a hearthperson 

-Starting a new character and trying to find quests can be very challenging. Lots of random characters will have various rumors, but won’t know enough details to send you on a proper quest. Lords and ladies however can make you into a hearthperson, and can then give you proper quests. They will only do this if you have enough reputation level though, which is why telling stories is important. Usually it takes a story of a bandit leader kill or higher to get a lord or lady to recruit you. You can bypass this stage and get to quests right away by choosing to start as a hearthperson. Just beware that quests are randomized, and sometimes your first quest will be to kill a megabeast. When this happens, I recommend traveling to another town and becoming hearthperson there.

18. Train your skills early 

-Training skills via active combat can be very deadly. If possible, try to fight large, easy enemies to train all related combat skills as early as possible. If you find a horse for example, you can attack its legs to immobilize it, then spam nonlethal strikes to train your weapon skill. A couple horses with no legs is a brutal but safe way to train up weapons all the way to legendary.

19. Set combat preferences to facilitate training 

-Skills like observation and stats like endurance are very important for late game combat. These skills in particular can be trained incredibly fast with combat preferences. If you set melee combat preferences to close quarters, this will prefer to grapple the enemy over and over again. This means you can move into the enemy repeatedly to quickly train without navigating menus. Doing this without changing preferences can mean your character automatically makes a headshot and kills the enemy before you get the chance to properly level up stats. Just be sure to move away from your legless horses if you get tired, as the lowered stats means that even low risk combat can result in injury.

20. Sneak up to enemies for stealth kills 

-If you want to dispatch of large camps quickly and efficiently, chaining stealth kills can be an easy way to do this. Just press S to toggle sneaking, then try to approach enemies without walking into their cone of vision. Doing this at night can be especially effective, as enemies have greatly reduced perception.
Advanced

21. Get a slashing, piercing, and blunt weapon 

-Some enemies in dwarf fortress are much easier to kill than others. Kobolds and crundles will crumple against most weapons, while things like bronze collosi are much harder to deal with. A good rule of thumb is to keep a slashing, piercing, and blunt weapon on hands at all times. Use slashing against basic targets and undead for quick decapitations, piercing against large organic creatures like giant cheetahs or rocs so that they give into pain (essentially stunlocking them), and blunt against inorganic enemies to crush them (collosi, armored titans, iron men, etc). When in doubt, keep a whip on hand to one shot most enemies. A legendary lasher with a named masterwork whip can easily one shot most things in the game with a heavy attack to the head. This should be considered a bug that will probably be fixed later, but is very fun if you want to RP as a legendary vampire killer. Regardless of weapon choice, weapon skill is equally important. A novice hammer dwarf with a steel war hammer is just as useless against a bronze colossus as a legendary axedwarf with an artifact copper battle axe.

22. Remove your backpack when starting combat 

-Fighting while overencumbered is a death sentence. While fighting above default speed does not reduce the number of frames it takes to swing your weapon, fighting below default speed will add a delay after each swing before you can act again, giving enemies free strikes against you. This is also why fighting prone is ill-advised. However, this mechanic should not dissuade you from overencumbering yourself. Most mounts negate a large (if not all) amount of encumberance. In addition, your character can move anything they can grab, even if it is the entire corpse of a megabeast which weighs multiple tons, it will just take them more frames to haul these items. So long as you store all of your loot in the same backpack, you are always safe from ambushes no matter your encumbrance, as you can remove and drop your backpack as soon as combat starts, which usually takes less frames than it takes for any enemy to move. After combat, your backpack should be where you left it, and you can easily retrieve your haul.

23. Aim for the legs first, then the hands, then the neck 

Aiming for the neck can make weaker enemies trivial, but more proficient enemies will not allow this tactic, and very large enemies will have necks too large to decapitate. An advanced tactic that works against most strong enemies is to aim for the legs first to knock your enemy prone (or wings against flying enemies). Once your enemy is on the ground, their speed is halved, essentially giving you twice as many turns to attack. It is at this point you should aim for their arms, as these hold weapons for humanoids and usually have claws for beasts. Once the legs are taken out and the usage of weapons is disabled, you are much more likely to land a headshot, and in a much safer position to repeatedly spam this attack.

24. Bleed out megabeasts, cut off hydra heads, pummel collosi 

Certain enemies such as Megabeasts are much harder to kill. These should be considered boss fights, and thus have certain kill parameters. Bronze collosi in particular usually need to have every single body part destroyed in order to be killed. Hydras in turn need to have the brain of each head destroyed to die, and will almost always live if one head is alive. Hill titans can vary from nigh unkillable (humanoids made of steel) to killable via literally any damaging attack (blobs made of water), so reading their description is extremely important in dealing with them.

25. Never get hit (level dodge and block) 

-Because major injuries are unhealable, these accumulate over time. This means that the best way to play adventure mode is to never get hit. This may seem like a tall task, but almost all damage is avoidable via dodge and block. If you have a high observation stat, you will be able to dodge or block attacks. While this may automatically succeed against weaker enemies, it has a chance to fail against stronger enemies if not properly leveled, so be sure to train these skills early on. Fighting when focused and not exhausted should ensure that these avoidance abilities work properly. Just don’t try to block an attack you wouldn’t block in real life.

26. Don’t let enemies get a surround 

-Fighting against multiple enemies can be a likely death scenario. If enemies completely surround you, then your character has a greatly reduced chance of automatically dodging or blocking attacks. In addition, moving through an occupied tile in dwarf fortress will roll a die, and the losers will be forced prone, as only one creature can stand in a tile at once. Make sure to set speed to scramble in combat if this happens, get to an unoccupied square, and stand up as quickly as possible. Dodging into an open space in this scenario is a much better option than moving manually if at all possible. This entire scenario can be avoided if you slowly dodge in the same direction as enemies approach you in combat, ensuring that you only fight one at a time, and force the others to tire themselves as they run after you. Striking the legs of as many targets as possible is effective here, as it drastically increases the time it takes for each enemy to reach you.

27. Throw stones to level archery 

-Archery can be very cumbersome to use, as most bolts are too heavy to use without causing constant encumbrance, and training it is very slow and painful, as arrows usually split into stacks of one when fired. However, there is a way to level archery extremely quickly. By throwing something at the same tile you are on, you level your archery skill. You can then pick up the thrown object and throw it again. This is much faster than using arrows. One of the best objects to do this with is coins. As it turns out, coins are actually the best ranged weapon. Coins can be used in combat to great affect. Because dwarf fortress uses the archery stat when throwing items, it calculates the damage of thrown items as if shot from a bow with the same archery proficiency. While this does not do nearly as much damage as bolts themselves, it effectively gives adventurers a way to reliably use ranged weapons without worrying about retrieving ammo, as money can usually be found in multiple stacks of 100 at bandit camps.

28. Use archery against webs/fire 

-While archery is a niche weapon type for most scenarios, it is mandatory against certain titans and most dragons, as well as giant cave spiders. Titans, like spiders can possess the ability to web your adventurer. This stunlocks your character, making any shot a guaranteed hit. Against large enough titans, getting hit with a single shot of web is enough for instant death, as they will squish your head while webbed. Other titans may possess deadly dust or poisonous gas. While some of these effects are benign, breathing others can and will kill your character, and to my knowledge not even fast travel stops this. Fighting fire breathing dragons is an instant kill scenario as well, as they can melt your armor into molten liquid metal, stunlocking your character until they die from the heat. You can attempt to repeatedly jump until you reach a river, but you are certainly dead at this point. The use of archery (or rather, throwing coins) is mandatory at this point. While a few shots may not do anything at first, repeated shots will accumulate damage, and eventually kill or disable the enemy. Just be very careful getting into melee range to finish enemies off after this occurs, as one unlucky web or fire shot can and will still kill you. Avoid looting titans with dust or gas effects until after you leave and return to the area with fast travel to be sure that the gas dissipates.

29. Know the game progression (Kobolds, Bandits, Hearthperson, Semi-Megabeasts, Towers, Megabeasts, Dark Fortresses, Caverns) 

Knowing what you’re doing at any given point can be the difference between life and death. If you’re playing adventure mode without savescumming (which is the only way to play it in the old versions), then you will be making new characters a lot. Knowing the basic progression of where you should go on new characters will make the ultimate goal of raiding the vault and fighting the angel that much easier. Your basic path should be gearing up in towns, training basic combat skills against animals, fighting kobold and bandit camps to level reputation, telling stories to become a hearthperson, doing quests as a hearthperson to further reputation level and combat skills, fighting semimega and Megabeasts to become a legendary hero, raiding towers to find the secrets, raiding dark fortresses to find the vault and slay the angel, and finally using the secrets to delve into the caverns without having to eat or sleep and fighting forgotten beasts there until your character dies. The surface and visiting towns should be considered the early game, raiding sites should be considered the midgame, killing the angel in the vault should be considered the endgame, and roaming the caverns should be considered the postgame. Of course, adventure mode has lots more to offer than just combat, and if you want to learn its ins and outs for yourself, the only way to do that is to jump in and play it.

Hello, and welcome to RepWeidianSneakers! Whether you’re a long-time member or someone new who just straggled in from one of the other replica subreddits, this recurring post will serve as an introduction to or reminder of the subreddit rules. This group runs in several key ways that may be different from other groups to ensure we maintain a high-quality group where well-informed replica buyers can engage in constructive conversation regarding the best batches for various shoes, batch flaws of popular and commonly purchased batches, and QC posts of new and old products alike.
Please do your best to stay up-to-date on the latest subreddit rules and cultural norms in order to make sure that your participation in the group is in accordance with how we run things here! All sub rules are visible along the side bar if on desktop, and under the "About" tab if on mobile. We appreciate your attention and diligence to subreddit policies, and hope you enjoy your time here!
The following rules will be outlined in the following ways:

1. Most Important Rule of the Sub
2. Post Formats (QC, Find, Help Me Find)
3. General Subreddit/Reddit-Wide Rules

Rule #1: Sneakers from Weidian, TaoBao only
This one should be self-explanatory - QCs for shoes purchased from middlemen are not allowed on this sub. I understand that many users value the input from members in this subreddit specifically due to their reputation and credibility, but we want to keep this sub as pure to its purpose as possible. If there are specific people from whom you want input from, feel free to post in the other rep subs and tag them.
Additionally, when users ask for recommendations on where to purchase, make sure to provide links to Weidian or TaoBao stores, and not middlemen. Middlemen sell Weidian/TaoBao products at a markup for convenience - always focus on the actual product.
Rule #2: QC Post Title Guidelines: [QC] {Price in Yuan} {Batch} {Shoe Name} from {Seller Name}
When posting your QCs or Finds, use the following format: [QC] {Price in Yuan} {Batch} {Shoe Name} from {Seller Name}. Example: [QC] 400¥ FK Batch Travis Scott x Jordan 1 High OG Mocha from A GDJ Supplier
The Group Automod comments on every single post in this group with a reminder of this title format. If your title does not include each of the necessary components in the brackets above, please be proactive and repost with the correct format. If you don’t delete the post, a moderator will, and that or repeated infractions may result in a temporary ban from the group. This rule exists to ensure the group is easily searchable to help make researching batches on your own as streamlined as possible.
Rule #3: QC Posts need W2C Link:
If you are posting a QC, make sure to post the W2C link. If the listing link is dead, please post the link to the store where the shoe was purchased instead. No W2C link will result in the deletion of your post!
You are welcome to post Weidian links, TaoBao links, or links from any shipping agent except for PandaBuy, given that PandaBuy forces you to login to see the item, whereas the other agent links do not. Linking a PandaBuy link and not an alternative link will result in the deletion of your post.
Rule #4: Help Me Find Post Title Guidelines: [HELP ME FIND] {Shoe Name} + Picture of Shoe
If you are hunting for a certain pair, your post title must include the Full Shoe Name and Colorway as well as a picture of the shoe in question. If either is missing, your post will be deleted. This rule exists to reduce the number of repetitive “Help Me Find” posts, as a user will be able to search previously posted “Help Me Find” posts for the shoe they want.
Example: [HELP ME FIND] Jordan 1 High Chicago
Rule #5: Find Post Title Guidelines: [FIND] {Price in Yuan} {Batch} {Shoe Name} from {Seller Name}
Okay, so you’re on WeChat, and a seller has posted a new product. You want to be the first one to post about it on Reddit, so you rush over and make the post. Great, pat yourself on the back. Just kidding. Don’t just stop there - put some thought into the post. How does this new find compare to other products on the market? Do they have potential? You don’t have to be an expert QCer, but give your general thoughts. In short, were these worth finding? The hope is that with this general subreddit policy, it will encourage people to post high-quality finds and reduce clutter from low-tier finds that don’t add much to the group.
Rule #6: Be Respectful of One Another
Please be nice and courteous to one another. All rules of Reddiquette apply. Your membership in this subreddit is contingent upon your overall Reddit activity, not just limited to this subreddit. To put explicitly, this includes but is not limited to: harassing or disrespecting others in other subreddits, posting hate speech of any kind, or spreading misinformation. Any violation of this will result in the banning of your account and any alternate accounts you may be known to have!
Rule #7: No Cussing
In line with the previous rule, no cussing on the sub, please. Often, on the rep subs, the only time people are cussing is to insult one another, spread misinformation, or speak illy in general. For this reason, an AutoMod is in place that will regulate posts and comments on the sub. Your post/comment will be deleted and you will receive a message alerting you if this happens. Bonus: Mr. Frosty can't post or comment without some sort of explicit language, so this simple rule (and the accompanying AutoMod) keeps the sub safe
Rule #8: Support Your Statements with Evidence
Essentially, cite your source. Let's avoid being like other rep subs where people make up rumors or decide their opinions without any research or evidence.
If you comment saying a batch is the best or better than what has been posted, show us why. Link reference posts, rep vs retails, QCs, etc. Show, rather than tell, us why what you're saying is correct. If your statement is a good one, this shouldn't be difficult. As above, don't default to name calling if you can't support your statement. It is okay to have a well-informed opinion - it is not okay to have an uneducated opinion that you spread as fact.
If you run into issues with a member or members in the group that are not participating in this group norm, please tag a mod, and the situation will be handled accordingly.
Rule #9: No Seller Ads
Self-explanatory. This especially applies to lost middlemen posting their fake QCs to try to gain business. If you are a member and see this, please report the post. If a post receives enough reports, it is automatically removed and sent to the mod queue. This helps keep the group clean through community effort.
Rule #10: No WeChat Verification Posts
I understand that you may want your WeChat verified in order to communicate with sellers or see their WeChat Moments. There are other subs for WeChat Verifications though. Please do not make these posts here. Use the appropriate subs. Posts will be deleted.
Rule #11: No Memes
This group aims to be a research-focused subreddit. It prides itself on providing the most objective information possible. Please keep the memes or satire posts in other subs. This includes meme titles or captions such as "how fast do I need to walk" or "fire up the rep machines." These posts add little to no value and are often unoriginal anyway.
Any use of meme titles will result in a 14-day temp ban as previously announced, as will repeated infractions of posting other memes.
Lastly, this Group is Not Meant to Be a Direct Line to u/poncecatchemall
Please reference his guides and resources linked below for answers to most commonly asked questions. He does not read chats asking repetitive questions, and mod mail is not meant to be used to ask specifically him questions, so do not use it for that purpose.
- Poncecatchemall’s Recently Updated Beginner’s Batch Guide where I cover top batches for popular shoes.
- Poncecatchemall’s Select Weidian/TaoBao Finds: November 2022 Edition covering popular purchases with all W2C Links
- Never used an agent? Check out Poncecatchemall’s Updated Weidian, TaoBao, Agent: How-To Guide for a step-by-step guide on how to purchase reps using WeGoBuy
- How to Ask Poncecatchemall For a QC/LC please follow these instructions if you want a response.
​
Thank you in advance to everyone for following the sub rules and for keeping this sub a great, high-quality sub to be a part of. If there are any rule addition recommendations, we are always open to suggestions.

In my sci-fi/cosmic horror story, an anomaly gives many people abilities. My working name for them is the altered but I’m open to changing it if anyone has suggestions. While some were given preferable powers and changes many of these came with downsides. Any questions or suggestions on this group are appreciated.
When the anomaly took place a myriad of elements from other worlds were pushed into ours. The energy of Many eldritch beings was flooded into the world triggering an unforeseen effect and creating alterations in a chance few. Altered powers range from being able to control energy to communicating with animals. Abilities can be more abstract like the power to induce madness or communicating with space. One trait the altered all share is the power to combine their abilities into a singular skill. Deemed “resonance” this can allow any number of altered to blend powers as long as they have synergy. An example is one who controls fire and another ice working together to form electricity. As long as the powers gave some synergy any number of people can achieve resonance.
Many powers come with downsides as a side effect of how they work. Someone who can fly for example creates a personal gravity field that negates the surrounding force. While you can fly you can’t touch the ground without using something to weigh yourself like special shoes. Some energy powers require you to exude that same energy cause you can’t just pull that out of nowhere thanks to physics. Someone who controls fire may be perpetually on fire and need heat-resistant clothing. While some may have the same power the way it manifests would dictate whether or not you could have a side-effect.
Another issue is the matter of physiology changes. Some altered have different looks which can range from green skin to animal-like attributes. This physiology switch can range from needing to breathe carbon monoxide or having a different diet. Someone given the quality of a koala now can only eat plants as meat could be lethal. Another problem that comes from this is body dysmorphia. Having your appearance changed can result in many not liking the result. One of my characters is currently struggling to reconcile his self-worth with his pangolin-like appearance.
As the world struggles to deal with the changes caused by the Anomaly like monsters and strange phenomena the altered have been forced to deal with added weight. From getting treatment to managing their powers or therapy to process the change things have been shaky so far. Aside from a detention facility and them being requested to wear blatant proof of alteration, A huge issue is the matter of altered trafficking which involves kidnapping altered to act as things like indentured servants, unethical lab rats, or even just cage fighters for the criminal underworld.

Hi there (To anyone who reads this)
I'm looking or a new laptop,specifically, looking for one that plays the sims 2. Might seem like a silly question, but my current PC is a windows 7 pro, (And plays the sims 2 very, very well) if I get a laptop that is also a windows 7 pro, with similar performance specs etc, is there any reason at all the laptop wouldn't play the sims 2 ? Just won't to check before purchasing one. Thanks.
Follow up questions
If it should play the sims, 2 I have some other questions. I know my pc plays the game very, very well, so if there shouldn't be any issues, I just want to make sure i'm getting a laptop with similar performances specs.
Video card On the back of the game in the minimum requirements for the sims 2 it states, video card 64 mb, how do I find out what my current video cards mb, on my pc is, in this context, for game performance ? My current video card/graphics card, I believe is a radeon (tm) hd graphics 3.20 ghz. What's ghz ?
DVD-ROM The requirement for the sims 2 under dvd-rom is 8 speed, how do I find out what my current dvd rom speed is on my pc ?
Hard drive Just to double check, is the hard drive, the same as local disk c, and or storage drive ? And is this just space to install the game ?
Memory Another requirement on the back of the sims, is memory, where it says 1 gb of ram is required, is this the same as installed memory ram ? Just double checking.
Processor On the back of the sims it says processor 1. 8 ghz/ 2.4 ghz for vista.
And under ,system, and then processor on my pc, it says this "amd a8-5500 apu with radeon(tm) hd graphics 3.20 ghz"
What is GHZ, and does this apply to the processor requirement for the game ? Again just want to make sure.
A lot
I understand this is a lot, but I only really play the sims, and other games of the same era with similar requirements, so I just want to make sure the laptop I buy will play these games before I get it. Thank you very much indeed for anyone who reads this.