Basic Info Map: Exiled Lands Main Region: Central U.S. Player Slots: 10 (willing to increase if needed) Platform: PC Combat: If you like Dark Souls games or something challenging other than base Conan this hits a nice spot Server uptime: Will get paid for 3 months in advanced each interval (Currently 2+ months are paid for) PvP: (Limited) No building damage. Server Name: DM me for the name Rules: Dont be a twat hole Admin Buildings: Yes Mods: Yes (But hell no to ERP stuff, not my cup of tea friend) DM for Mod List or help setting up your own for your own friends/server
Okay now for some detailed sh1t/stuff
I have spent over 100 hours doing admin things for the server, curating it so myself and some friends can have a very fun time playing the game. There are scripted NPCs currently active and future questlines will become a thing. There are 5 Estates in the game. You can purchase a Deed to any of the 5 using Pippi coins. In the player community hub (Lumbridge Castle from Runescape) there is a Financial Advisor at the top where the bank is. You can buy a title there and from the Quartermaster you can redeem 3 different weeklies. Currency, Xp and Supply Materials/Floatsom. (These may seem Over powered but they are not, redeeming xp is level restricted however the other weekly boons are not.
Combat has been adjusted to be harsher and even attributes stats have been adjusted for a more fine tuned and fleshed out combat experience.
Your main way to gain resources will be looting, buying them from NPC vendors, slaying. The harvest is set to x0.7 and the crafting cost is set to x1.4 materials cost. Everything crafts 25% faster with fuel burning up twice as fast. Hunger and thirst were adjusted to be slightly more hard-core.
Ways to make currency and gain xp, Kill, sell raw meat, sell alchemy mats, sell heads of animals, quests.
There are 5 Estates; 1) Desert Villa-recommended levels 1-40 2) Savanah Villa-recommended levels 40-60 3) Northern Village-recommended levels 60-75 4) Tropical Estates-recommended levels 75-125 5) Royal Gardens-recommended levels 125+
Things people should know about the server, you will die, you will be barbarian fodder, you will lose a % of your currency on death, once a week your player wallet gets taxed 5% (there is a banker you can buy at the Community Hub to store your clans wealth), you will not be lvl60 your 1st or 2nd day playing, max level is 300 (However there are milestone levels to redeem weekly xp with the estates), if something is not working properly I will troubleshoot it ASAP, the server is far from perfect, however the intentions of this server is to enhance someone's experience on PC to show others the potential of the game and its modding community.
Loyalty system. I am thinking of a loyalty system to put in place. It is going to kick off maybe next weekend. One of our community members has followed us from our Siptah server to our Savage Wilds server and now our Exiled Lands server (This is the server i will spend the remainder of my Conan days playing) this loyal member will be gifted ANY DLC of his choice. I intend to do this system for anyone who really wants to stay and play. I have a couple of other legacy players who I'll make eligible for this. Unfortunately I am one man, have a family I gotta take care of so I cannot so this for 100+ players. So the giveaways will be curated/given out on my own terms with my own $$.
Dear God look at all this typing. If you were able to read through this mess of a server advertisement, I hope you have an awesome day whether you play Conan or like the game or are just casually strolling by, stay positive and go slay the sh1t out of some NPCs or Players. Ask me any questions regarding the server or something else, I may or may not answer them. Heck ask me questions about mods.
Mods I'm learning/familiar with include, Pippi, DMT, Fashionist, Hosav's EEWA and UI Mod, Emberlight, Highmane's Arsenal and a few others.
Pippi offers awesome new features, scripting and it goes amazingly well with DMT (Dungeon Master Tools)
I can also help fellow PC players put mods in the correct load order corresponding to their main server they play if you're on steam that way you don't gotta restart your game each time. (I got no idea how to for gamers users sorry)

I have a new head unit that has USB C charging/data for Android auto, and it is a USB C female plug. The goal here is to fit the female base into a 3d printed deep-sunk dummy port.
Preexisting conditions:
I don't have CAD/SOLIDWORKS.
I'm pretty dumb.
You will be exhausted from doing the heavy lifting.
Willing to pay $40 for creation and shipping. Let me know if I'm out to lunch with price.
Thanks!

For the most part, it sounds like most people ha e enjoyed the newest storyline events: terran emperov'gec'qer content. What would you all be interested in seeing after this next one.
Personally, I'm a massive fan of temporal shenanigans (yes I know...), and would love to see a TOS, SNW or TMP era campaign. As in the whole set be based in the past. Could be a call-back to the temporal cold-war, a discovery caused spatial rift launching us back to the past, or some omnipotent (Q?) based shenanigans. Either way, it'd be a great way change to the current ramp up of events and a way to bridge between crisis point to crisis point.
Specifically, it's also be a great way to reuse those glorious TOS era maps and assets, and a chance for cryptic/gearbox to add in some more old-school ships, visuals and equipment for us old-heads to caper over.
Optionally, a TNG/DS9 era (perhaps a dominion war story?) storyline would also be absolutely lovely to see. Perhaps it'd be the impetus needed to see a refresh to some of the older costume options and maybe see more of that period's technology. Ferengi marauder costumes anyone? Maybe more Tal'shiar shenanigans?
There's plenty of lore to plumb through and, in my opinion, would make many who started this game pleased to see their old 'friends' on screen again.
What do you all think? What are your thoughts and wish lists for a new campaign?

Have a good read everyone link to the video https://youtu.be/CN9WGasPih0
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Little people in the American West and the Perdo Mountain Mummy
The oral traditions of several Native American tribes, such as the Arapaho, Sioux, Cheyenne, and Crow, contain stories of "little people" who range in height from 20 inches to three feet. Referred to as "tiny people eaters" in some tribes, they were believed to be spirits and healers in others, while some regarded them as magical beings, similar to leprechauns or fairies. These legends were widespread among the indigenous peoples of America long before the arrival of Europeans.
In Wyoming, the Shoshone Indians knew this diminutive race as the Nimerigar, and their legends depicted the little people as attacking the Shoshone with miniature bows and poisoned arrows. Additionally, the Nimerigar reportedly killed their own kind by striking them in the head when they became too unwell to participate actively in their society. While this practice was also part of the legends, it was a regular occurrence for many nomadic Indian tribes.
Despite the widespread belief that these "little people" are purely mythical, several findings suggest otherwise. One of the most notable discoveries was the fully-formed mummy measuring 14 inches in length, known as the Pedro Mountains Mummy. In 1932, two men were prospecting for gold in the San Pedro Mountains approximately 60 miles southwest of Casper, Wyoming when they discovered the mummy.
Despite their efforts to extract gold from a vein in the San Pedro Mountains, Cecil Main and Frank Carr found themselves continually thwarted by rock. In a bid to reach the gold, they resorted to using dynamite to blast a section of the mountainside. This caused a cave to be revealed, which was approximately 15 feet long and 4 feet high, and had been sealed off from the outside world by a thick wall of rock.
Upon entering the cave, the two men were astonished to discover a small, pygmy-like man seated cross-legged on a ledge. The tiny mummy measured only around 6 ½ inches tall in its seated position and was estimated to be 14 inches tall when standing. Its skin was wrinkled and brown, with a low and flat forehead, heavy-lidded eyes, and a wide mouth with thin lips, resembling the face of an elderly man. Despite its small size, the mummy was well-preserved, with visible fingernails on its hands and a dark jelly-like substance covering the top of its head, which remained pliable even after all those years.
Upon discovering the mummy, the two prospectors took it to Casper, Wyoming, and it soon attracted the attention of scientists from all over the country. Initially skeptical that it was a hoax, experts conducted extensive tests on the mummy, suspecting that it may have been a taxidermy creation made from different animal parts. However, they were astounded to find that x-rays revealed a perfectly formed human-like skeleton. The tests also indicated that the mummy had met a violent end, as its spine was damaged, its collarbone was broken, and its skull had been severely fractured by a heavy blow. The soft substance found on the top of the mummy's head was identified as brain tissue and congealed blood. Based on the results of these tests, scientists estimated that the mummy was a fully-grown adult who had died at around 65 years of age. One unusual finding was that the mummy's teeth were unusually pointed, with a full set of canines.
According to some reports, the examinations were carried out by the American Museum of Natural History and certified as genuine by the Anthropology Department of Harvard University. However, other accounts suggest that the mummy was later examined by the University of Wyoming, which concluded that it was the body of a deceased child.
It is worth noting that claims of the discovery of remains or skeletons of small-statured people in North America are often met with skepticism from mainstream archaeologists and anthropologists. Many of these claims lack scientific evidence, and some have been proven to be hoaxes. However, the existence of legends and oral traditions about "little people" in various Native American cultures suggests that there may be some basis in reality for these stories. As with many aspects of pre-Columbian history, the truth may never be fully known.
The story of the Pedro Mountains Mummy is a fascinating and mysterious one. While some believe it to be a hoax or simply a misidentified specimen, the scientific examinations and tests performed on the mummy seem to indicate that it was a genuine, albeit unusual, discovery. The legend of the "little people" is one that has persisted for centuries among Native American tribes, and the discovery of the Pedro Mountains Mummy only adds to the mystery and intrigue surrounding these stories.

The other day I grabbed a drink with the worship leader of my new church (Alcoholic drink. I know. Scandalous). During the conversation we talked about our Christian faith and our church journey's. It was a great hangout where we learned a lot more about each other and our faith background.
Only after the evening was over, did I realize what was so strange about the hangout: at no point was he trying to lead me. We were just having a conversation, just getting to know each other. There was no agenda or expectation. Nothing that he was trying to advise me on, or help me process. There was no undertone that I was talking to a "leader", so I should watch what I say. Or that he was talking to a "follower" and should filter his words.
Recently I attended a Bible study led by an older (70+) member of our church, who had been around for only a year. What stuck me was how one of the church elders (age 50+) also attended this Bible study, and he was letting the layperson lead him. The elder was learning from the older member and asking questions for advice.
Both these experiences have really highlighted the unhealthy Network focus on hierarchy in church leadership. Small group leaders should be leading members, staff pastors should be leading small group leaders, and head pastors should be leading staff pastors. With Steve at the top of all this, of course.
There is never any reversal to this order, and the 70-year old member is expected to be lead by the 20-year old pastor. Why? Because the pastor is higher on the church hierarchy. It doesn't matter if the member has more life experience, more leadership gifting, or a stronger biblical knowledge. The pastor is the pastor. The member must be led.
Every relationship and interaction in the church was viewed through this lens. I had to sit through sermons and small group teachings where young leaders would talk about their marital struggles. Like, their spouse not putting a cap on the toothpaste. Realizing that these were kids, going through early marriage issues, trying to "lead" 10 to 20 year marriage veterans.
The issue was not having young people give sermons. It's that, in the Network hierarchy, they thought they were leading. The Network has taken a whole group of young people and told them, "You aren't just Bible teachers, worship singers, and discussion facilitators. You are leaders, who MUST be followed. All below you in the hierarchy must submit to your authority."
It is so refreshing to enter back into a Christian community where hierarchy isn't even discussed. I'm still waiting for a month-long small group focused on "following your leaders." Based on my experience so far, it will never come.

Welcome back, philosophers and antiquarians. I've neglected to mention, if you are participating in our Bingo challenge 2023, this book qualifies for nonfiction, Gutenberg, translation and discovery!
This section quotes extensively from Plato's work, among other famous Greeks, so I thought I would meditate a bit on the great debt that Rome owes to Athens. Everything from philosophy to warfare, from architecture to art, from religion to culture that occurred in Ancient Rome is largely based on and borrowed from Ancient Greece. It helped that the ruling class was taught mainly by Greek tutors. In addition, works like Virgil's Aeneas borrows heavily from Homeric tradition. Certainly, Plato, Socrates et al. influenced how Marcus Aurelius discusses things like ethics and politics and considers what it fundamentally "good". Interestingly enough, he also quotes from Epicurus, the founder of the rival philosophical movement, Epicureanism. Consider that the two movements actually have more in common, in terms of agreeing on basic principles than they do in divergent goals.
On to our discussion-again, if there is anything else you'd like to discuss, you are more than welcome to do so! Any quotes you find interesting or want to dive into further?
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Book 7

1. M. A. posits: "We shrink from change; yet is there anything that can come into being without it?" This strikes me as almost Buddhist in nature. How do you view this sentiment?
2. Another quote notes "When anyone offends against you, let your first thought be, Under what conception of good and ill was committed? Once you know that, astonishment and anger will give place to pity". Doesn't this strike you as another variety of "turn the other cheek", in terms of Christian ideas?
3. Any quotes stood out in this section? For me, "Dig within. there lies the well-spring of good: ever dig and it will ever flow", which hints that humanity is fundamentally good.

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Book 8

1. The opening is reminder to himself that he is incapable of calling himself a philosopher since philosophy is so far above him. Do you think that is true? Can we call Marcus Aurelius a philosopher?
   
2. M.A. notes "You have perhaps seen a severed hand or foot, or a head lying by itself apart from its body. that is the state to which a man is doing his best to reduce himself, when he refuses to accept what befalls him and breaks away from his fellow, or when he acts for selfish ends alone. Then you become an outcast from the unity of Nature; though born a part of it, you have cut yourself away with your own hand". One, clearly this is a way more violent society than ours. Two, even those who do so are able to return to Nature with changing their ideas. What do you think of this redemption?
   
3. Another quote that caught my eye: "I who have never willfully pained another, have no business to pain myself". Thoughts?
   

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Book 9

1. Let's discuss the opening section of Book 9: "Again, it is a sin to pursue pleasure as a good and to avoid pain as an evil. It is bound to result in complaints that Nature is unfair in her rewarding of vice and virtue; since it is the bad who are so often in enjoyment of pleasures and the means to obtain them, while pains and events that occasion pains descend up on the heads of the good". Do you agree on a philosophical basis?

Or are you more of an Epicurean: "
"When we say ... that pleasure is the end and aim, we do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or the pleasures of sensuality, as we are understood to do by some through ignorance, prejudice or wilfull misrepresentation. By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul. It is not by an unbroken succession of drinking bouts and of revelry, not by sexual lust, nor the enjoyment of fish and other delicacies of a luxurious table, which produce a pleasant life; it is sober reasoning, searching out the grounds of every choice and avoidance, and banishing those beliefs through which the greatest tumults take possession of the soul".
— Epicurus, "Letter to Menoeceus"[39]
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1. M. A. makes an argument to himself that reason should be the chief motivator: "Erase fancy; curb impulses; quench desire; let sovereign reason have the mastery". Do you agree? Or is the reason/feeling dialectic misleading?

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1. The ending passage in Book 9 discusses the role of annoying people and gives you a sense of M.A's court life back in Rome. He also writes " Once you have done a man a service, what more would you have? Is it not enough to have obeyed the laws of your own nature, without expecting to be paid for it? That is like the eye demanding a reward for seeing, or the feet for walking. It is for that very purpose that they exist; and they have their due in doing what they were created to do. Similarly, man is born for deeds of kindness; and when he has done a kindly action, or otherwise served the common welfare, he has done what he was made for, and has received his quittance". One, does it sound like his court was full of ungrateful people? Two, do you agree that a good action is its own reward? It strikes me as Kantian-or should Kant be described as Aurelian?

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Bonus Content:
A tongue-in-cheek on Epicurus. More about Plato's ideas.
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See you below for the discussion and, for our last session, we read Books 10-12 on April 8.
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Helpful Links:
Schedule
Marginalia
Discussion 1
Discussion 2

Hi. I don't speak much in person but I'm going to try to speak my mind here. BPD people have left me fragmented my entire life, my mom is undiagnosed and as a result, I went through my early childhood living directly through this kind of pain. I got into relationships and close friendships with many BPD people, and because I'm decently attractive and successful I've been a large target for them. I've had people spend more time trying to leverage my life than I've had actually living my life, so let me give you all the tips and tricks I use to skirt through life. I studied this in college to survive, so some descriptions will be more advanced and some will be simpler. Where I could've been incredibly successful as an individual, I have had to abandon my dreams at every turn to not only live but survive. I'm trying to use what I've learned to change the environment you guys live in. I'm tired. Here's what I know. Happy to help fix communication errors - I have to kinda turn off emotions to be able to talk about this stuff so expressions might not be emphasized in full. The great part about dealing with so many BPD people, I've learned to be able to flick the mental switch that turns off emotions as they can. I just have the moral conscious to use it for good instead of personal desires!
It boils down to them being insecure person. You may think this is obvious, but the understanding of insecurity they have is one that you or I may not immediately understand. Take a second to google Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - at some point in the person with BPD's life their Physiological needs were not guaranteed - this creates the stress response they keep for the rest of their life.As the stress response from this is so large and we have such a shoddy understanding of mental health - You will not be dealing with rational behavior EVER. The parts that are "mature" in your eyes have been created that way as a direct result of your childhood insecurities. You are dating the reflection of your home environment, and it is being leveraged by someone who is a reflection of their home environment, not the person standing in front of you today, yesterday, or tomorrow. Your rose-colored glasses are in areas you don't have a full understanding of - and because someone else may have more understanding or a worse "reality" you've grown to trust them (trauma bonding, sometimes done on accident, sometimes on purpose.) - regardless of what you eventually learn to be healthy. These people usually specialize in one very specific niche and dare to stray from it, creating their own demand. You'll notice that people are grasping at straws to be "unique" - for each person creating success, you have another 19 chasing them, copying their personality in hopes the 'archetype' works for them as well. Sometimes the number trying to copy doesn't stop. It scales based on how desperate people are for success, and how successful they think the person they're copying is. Remember that their thoughts have been proven to not be based on reality.
Many people like to think down on people with BPD, and the truth is that they are probably smarter than you or I. They just have so much extra brain space being utilized to help them 'escape' from either real or false fears, that they can't spend this space on progressing themselves or society. Until they outgrow the fear from this environment - it will be expressed ON YOU, the one choosing to interact with them. You may be able to have dates, vacations, and long-standing plans, but when this person gets re-stressed by their childhood insecurities you are GONE. You are no longer the reality they are living in, the sources of stress from their childhood are the reality they ultimately will end up reliving until their problems are fixed. This shows us they have been trying to escape Reality by living disconnected since their childhood. When the reality around them tries to embrace the personality they've made in a disconnected headspace, they can either double down that they have no problems or finally embrace their problems. With time, generations of families, changes in the environment, and personal factors, the problems become weighted and skewed with time to the point they aren't reflected honestly when voiced today. A problem 40 years ago may be expressed through a few unemotional words, if any words at that. I know people who have come to me silent who I've worked with to get them to talk, and they have lived some of the most traumatic shit I've ever heard in my life. They don't know how to bring it up in today's society, which is another post for another time on my end. I'm working on that in the background to give them a place to be heard, yet for YOU, HERE, TODAY:
What does that leave us with? A new resource - one that they can't value for their life. Time.Someone with BPD has to stay constant, and actively engaged, or else their natural fear complex sets in. The level of fear they live in daily EXCEEDS the amount a brain can healthily adapt to daily. Sleeping no longer resets their tolerance - rather degrades their long-standing habits until the stress overwhelms even these foundational ideas. As a result - their attention span is greatly decreased. Where you and I can relax, spend time to ourselves and chill, their attention span is almost negative if anything. They need constant visual input to stimulate their mind - and platforms like TikTok are normalizing this speed of consumption. If you think of TikTok as the end result of mental health problems rather than the source - you can truly see how widespread attention problems are in society. Mental health is being monetized before its being solved, which will evidently lead to it never being solved. Not only how they've been normalized, but how it's starting to affect the lives of others based on one's perspectives and expectations.
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I'm tired of fixing their problems for them, it's time for a true understanding that you can step out of their control and spend your time where it's important - yourself. Stop half-assing a relationship that won't be real in a few years, full-ass your relationship with yourself and you'll find better people with time. If each person reading this spent a year loving themselves instead of those around them - you would learn you don't have to tolerate those kinds of people. A year gives you time to not only reflect on your past but work out any bad habits and attempt to unlearn them/relearn good ones. Habits take a few weeks, so even if you have an ungodly list of 20 bad ones, enjoy your year working for yourself instead of someone faking a future with you. Build the future you want, and stop relying on others. They are utilizing your dependency on attention to avoid problems as a crutch - keep your time spent on yourself. They want you to fall into the same trap they have, and will drag you there as a result. They know what you will go through, and having the experience already will know exactly how to leverage you during that time.
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You ever wonder why their conversations jump from the past to the future, to the present, all in a circle to get you confused? Their brain doesn't let them sit on the stress of being the problem in the here and now. So they resort to different frames of time in order to rationalize it to themselves. The stress is so overwhelming they don't care if it doesn't make sense to you - they are purely trying to escape it with no regard for others. These people do not need relationships. They need mental health reform. It is not smart to get into relationships knowing there are these bombs waiting out there - with barely even half being able to understand their own problems. Why are we being forced to solve the problems of those who don't have consequences?
In the meantime - try to understand that added political disorganization in the USA is driving the normalization of these people. Soon we are going to lose the generation able to reflect on their challenges and rather have to embrace the lack of reality those with BPD are trying to embrace. You and I can't live at that pace, being on this forum indicate that, so we need to come together to work against this problem. Many people with BPD will weaponize the shitty mental health climate in America - weaponizing false promises or inaction in taking care of themselves. They can tell themselves subconsciously they are the problem, but as the socio-political climate of the nation endorses consistent, rapid interactions, it is easy for these people to escape into new pockets socially. They are consciously choosing to spend their time ignoring their problems at any cost - sometimes even losing their own touch with reality.
To fix this and no longer be influenced we would need to:
Reform the mental health culture - with the current understanding of mental health, these people are scared of embracing their problems for fear that they truly finally lose themselves in the process. They grasp at strings hoping to make it day to day, so taking faith in a system with notoriously bad experiences will only accelerate the problems from their perspective. They know that giving in to the current half-assed mental health industry (that may or may not beprofit-driven) may certainly end their life faster than they could themselves. BPD is the attempt of control a life that would otherwise be lost to the environmental and socio-political pressures around them.
Stop having a god complex around relationships. Our brain's understanding of emotions really excels around 25 years old, up to that point you are still growing and past that point, it is maintenance mode instead of growth. While you're meant to be growing uninfluenced, you've been spoon-fed the idea of a family sometimes even before you are fully emotionally mature. You are then going out and finding other emotionally immature people who then further complicate your own problems. well before you can even wrap your head around the complex emotions ongoing, you now have to deal with someone else's childhood insecurities haunting your thoughts the rest of your life. If you are younger than 25 - work on understanding yourself and your emotions. If you are older than 25 - work on not only understanding this but also how its going to interact with others. Base your actions on your body, instead of the fucked up expectations others have around us. Trust yourself for once, its a nice feeling :)
Remember, the BPD person wants you to feel isolated and alone. You are not alone. Someone is always out there, working for you, looking after you. We are almost done with dealing with these people, tough it out a little longer as you've done for years and you'll see the fruits of your labors soon. Where everyone else is focusing on their own lives, jobs, health, and money, you should know that you have someone fighting alongside you the entire time.

Bugs/Absolutely needs attention : 1- A thermometer so you don't just have your comfort drop without any warning. 2- When you die on a lift, your gravestone stays mid-air. 3- When you die rolling on a cliff, your gravestone can get placed mid-cliff, unreachable. 4- There is no way to cancel a bow attack when you're holding it down. 5- When you tab out with a menu opened, the escape button doesn't work anymore when tabbing back in game. 6- Sort buttons for inventory and chests. 7- Durability is way too low with pretty high repair costs (a completely broken item costs 50% of its original cost to repair). 8- As soon as your head goes underwater, you die. Unacceptable. 9- Clunky combat. Animation locks make it so you can't block or dodge if you're swinging or if you've swung in the past 1-2 sec. Fluidity has to improve. 10- The bow visor is terrible. A circle with an arrow above and under which tell you nothing (it shoots under btw) and if you shoot upward your character's head blocks your sight. 11- Stability % like in Rust must be implemented. You'll build a structure and, at some point, it'll just say it lacks support. No other indication. 12- No way to group up. 13- When in a group, if you go to bed and wait for your friend to do the same, you can't get back up.
Important quality of life improvements which SHOULD be implemented : 1- Craft/repair from storage. It's so painful to go around and pick everything you need to craft/repair. 2- Auto-deposit. Grounded's automatic deposit in nearby chests was one of the game's best feature. Use it. 3- Chest identification. In a game with dozens of different items and tens of chests, being able to colotag/logo them is awesome. Grounded and Rust come to mind. 4- Resources need to be tiered better. As soon as you get to flint (which can come REAL fast if you know where to go), you can harvest anything. 5- Mobs need to grow exponentially in difficulty. Atm, playing with a friend, we have no issue killing about anything in the map excepted for bosses. 6- Falling damage could be tuned down.
Suggestions : 1- More interaction between different insects. 2- Insects should have different fighting styles (ranged, charges, tumbles, combos, etc). Atm if feels they almost all just come in melee and do one attack. 3- Day time could be increased. Feels like night comes way too often. 4- The animation when you go to bed has to be better. Pretty sure it's in the books. 5- When you log out and then back in, you'll spawn at your last respawn location. This means you can do a farm run at the other end of the map, log out and log back in to get back to your base. It's a sad exploit.
I'll update this thread as I go, but feel free to suggest anything else.

I'm 19F and feel entirely cornered in life by different circumstances. I've always been 'academically gifted' and have come to realise that my sense of self-worth is largely based on this. I've also struggled with depression since a young age and this has manifested as a lack of motivation in the past couple of years. As a result, I'm not reaching my academic potential which is not helping my self-image and yet I can't seem to make myself care enough to fix this- I guess it feels pointless because I don't feel that my degree (anthropology) will fulfil me.
I think that my best chance of feeling fulfilled would come from a role that allows me to be financially stable, doesn't take up all my time, and gives back in a big way to people/animals/the planet, as well as being stimulating or creative. Under different circumstances, I think that a medical career path could've been perfect for me- I love the idea of helping people in this way and I loved biology in school and was good at it. I find anatomy and disease fascinating and love the whole process of learning/memorising/applying knowledge. Unfortunately, I have a severe sensory condition (misophonia) which makes interactions with people incredibly stressful, as well as contamination OCD (centred around disease/illness) which mean that this career path is not a realistic goal for me. Actually, most career paths aren't.
I feel so angry that I will never be able to be a doctor because of my illnesses. The contamination OCD is rough but could theoretically be managed with treatment (though even the idea of this is daunting) but my misophonia will never go away. It is completely debilitating and I could never get through med school, let alone be a doctor with it. I'm struggling and have struggled as it is and I do all of my classes online because in-person learning is out of the question.
The only other thing I feel passionate about is art. But my own perfectionism and self-doubt stand in the way: I feel that I have a degree of natural talent but whenever I feel the urge to create, I criticise myself to the point where I can't stick with an idea, and, when I do, I am unhappy with the outcome and am put off for a long time. At this point, I often don't bother because I feel like nothing I create will ever be good enough. Sometimes I think about dropping out of uni to pursue art but I feel that it is too late and I have wasted any natural talent by not practising enough and improving at a younger age (expired by 19, I know lol). Besides, I don't think I have what it takes to be a full-time artist.
The friendships in my life feel unfulfilling. I love my friends but lack a deeper connection with them. When I start to build this with someone, I find that I start to pick them apart in my head the way I do to myself until I find them insufferable and can't stand to be around them anymore. Either that or I convince myself that they hate me and don't want to be around me. I hate myself for this but can't seem to stop. I look back on the friendships I lost this way and it hurts like hell.
I spend a lot of my time making up scenarios in my head which only intensify the feelings of bitterness I have towards my actual life. I think I base my happiness a lot on how others view me. I want everyone to be in awe of me which I know is so stupid but I just crave approval. How do I start living for myself when everything I want is out of reach? Even if I were to achieve these things, would I even be happy then? Would love to hear from anyone who has had similar experiences or has any advice

I’ll start by stating, “the next person who utters ‘per head of capita’ I’m going to punch firmly in the nose…
10,432,751
That’s tonnes of carbon gas released into the atmosphere by China last year. And that’s what’s reported and we all know China couldn’t tell the truth if their grandmothers life depended on it.
5,011,586 This is the USAs count in tonnes for CO2 released to the atmosphere, and even with strict emission controls in place, they strive to do better and have a process of continuous improvement.
2,533,638 Indias claims… see comment regarding Chinas ability to be honest and apply here as well…
33,278 This is New Zealand’s release of CO2 last year.
I’m an Engineer who works in many sectors across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. I work in Coal, Gas and energy production and among my peers, we mainly agree, New Zealand has massively unrealistic carbon emission goals that are hurting business and seem to be set by poorly informed politicians who seem to only want to leave some form of legacy behind regardless of its consequences.
I was at a co-generation power station a few days ago to hear the stations generation capabilities will be closed down later this year. Why? To meet carbon goals within that company! The steam will still be there and still be produced (!) and this basically carbon free output energy source will disappear from the national grid placing more pressure on NZs thermal and hydro base load power providers. Shut down this station and watch the increase of carbon gasses from Huntley when it takes up the load…
Add to this the stupidity of city councils like Wellington creating a petrol car free city by 2027 (or whenever it is), who’s supplying the power to charge the EVs? Where is the foresight gone? We used to be a smart nation, we were (arguably) the first to fly, our amazing scientists this country has produced such as Rutherford, and over the last decade or so, New Zealand has been gradually “dumbed down” by inept politicians with nothing in their agenda but narcissism.
New Zealand, we need to say no, enough is enough. No more killing 500 cows needlessly to need an unrealistic carbon goal, no more shutting down of power stations - especially those who are basically carbon neutral, and if New Zealand wants everyone driving EVs, make every public servant who’s currently driving Hilux and Rangers in case they need to travel down some dirt road in the future, drive Teslas or other EVs that are coming from Europe, Japan or USA.
Stop supporting dirty manufacturing in China who are producing goods that are being forced upon us (EVs for example) to lower our personal CO2 footprint and make politicians accountable for their misguided actions now and in the past.
/rant over

Episode 1 - Departure

Index Next - Episode 2
MyAnimeList AniList
Crunchyroll (sub only) Funimation (sub + dub)
When Otonashi wakes with no memory of his past, he meets a girl with a big gun...and finds out that he is already dead. Where does he go from here?
Questions of the Day
1) Would you have joined Yuri after that pitch?
2) For first-timers, does anyone want to take a stab at predictions?
Also, don't forget to nominate your favourite screenshot!
Questions for Tomorrow
[One]What was your favourite trap?
[Two]What do you think of Yuri's backstory? Any thoughts about what else we might discover?
Visual Novel Corner
So, Angel Beats is an original anime, but it was headed by the visual novel company Key - they're the ones who made Clannad and a long list of other well-loved visual novels. In 2015 they released a visual novel based on Angel Beats called Angel Beats! 1st Beat, which was supposed to be the first of a series. The sequels never got made, but 1st Beat expanded a lot on the events of the anime.
I haven't played anywhere near all of the visual novel myself, but I figured I'd share a few things! Under spoilers for those who would prefer to find out themselves.
[VN Corner]When Yuri says that Angel will chase someone down if they're breaking school rules, that's something she actually does if she encounters you trying to skip class. You also get the option to just ignore the Battlefront entirely and act as a normal student, which results in a rather depressing ending.
Rewatchers, please remember to keep all discussions spoiler-free, and that means no hinting either! If you really want to bring up something that we haven't seen on-screen yet, make sure you hide it under spoiler tags.

From the questions and discussions in this forum, it is evident that some of the most recurring themes and problems include:
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1. Difficulty in establishing and maintaining passive income streams.
2. High initial costs and uncertainty surrounding investments, such as real estate or land.
3. The challenge of generating online traffic for passive income strategies.
4. Differentiating between passive income and side hustles.

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These are the recurring things people ask for help with. They're the biggest challenges. Breaking them down into their component parts helps to start to build solutions to them.
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1. Identifying Viable Passive Income Opportunities
*Understanding different passive income options
*Assessing your skills, interests, and resources
*Evaluating potential risks and returns
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Understanding different passive income options
There are three main ways passive income can be made. You can get a return in money invested, you can get paid for work someone you employ fully covers and you can get paid in different ways from work you have already done. Below is a list of potential passive income methods. It's not exhaustive, but it covers most of the popular ones and many practical ones.
ROI-Based Passive Income Options

• Dividend stocks: Invest in companies that pay dividends to shareholders.
• Real estate investments: Rental properties, real estate investment trusts (REITs), or crowdfunding platforms.
• Peer-to-peer lending: Lend money to individuals or businesses through online platforms and earn interest.
• Bonds: Invest in government or corporate bonds that provide periodic interest payments.

Recurring Payment/Commission-Based Passive Income Options

• Online businesses: Create and monetize blogs, YouTube channels, or e-commerce websites.
• Affiliate marketing: Promote products or services for a commission on each sale.
• Licensing intellectual property: License your patents, trademarks, or copyrighted works for royalties.
• Create and sell digital products: Develop e-books, online courses, or software and receive payment for each sale.
• Subscription-based services: Offer services or content with a recurring subscription fee, such as membership websites, software as a service (SaaS), or newsletter subscriptions.

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Assessing Your Skills, Interests, and Resources
To find the passive income streams that best suit your unique abilities, interests, and resources, answer the "Do you have/can you obtain" questions below. If you answer "Yes" to multiple questions in a category, it may indicate that you are well-suited for those particular passive income methods.
Category One: ROI-Based Passive Income

• Do you have risk capital (money you can invest without jeopardizing your financial stability)?
• Do you have risk tolerance for fluctuations in capital (can you handle temporary losses or dips in your investments)?
• Can you regularly allocate new capital to build a portfolio (commit to ongoing investments in your chosen income streams)?
• Do you have the ability to research and analyze investment opportunities (can you evaluate potential risks and returns)?
• Are you patient and willing to wait for long-term gains (can you avoid reacting impulsively to short-term market movements)?

Category Two: Recurring Payment/Commission-Based Passive Income

• Do you have writing skills (can you create engaging content for blogs, e-books, or online courses)?
• Can you code (do you have the ability to develop software, apps, or websites)?
• Do you know about marketing (can you effectively promote products, services, or content to drive traffic and generate sales)?
• Do you have graphic design skills (can you create visually appealing images, logos, or layouts)?
• Are you good at networking and building relationships (can you collaborate with others in your niche to increase visibility and opportunities)?
• Can you create compelling video content (do you have the skills and equipment to produce high-quality videos for platforms like YouTube)?

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Again, this is not an exhaustive list of skills and resources that can help you to produce passive income. Hopefully if you do not have skill sets here it helps put you on the right thinking process to become aware of skills/resources you do have. If you're answering "No" to everything and can think of nothing, you'd benefit from investing time and effort into developing skills.
Many passive income methods fall under either being good at managing money, good at managing systems that create income or good at managing people. These are areas to aim to find and build on strengths. Being able to leverage your own capital, efficient systems or the work of others are viable forms of creating passive income.
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Evaluating potential risks and returns
When considering various passive income opportunities, it is crucial to assess the potential risks and returns associated with each option. This helps you make informed decisions and select strategies that align with your financial goals and risk tolerance. In this post, we will discuss the key factors to consider when evaluating the potential risks and returns of different passive income streams.
1. Investment Risk

• Understand the inherent risks associated with each investment type (e.g., market volatility, liquidity, credit risk).
• Diversify your investments to mitigate risks and protect your overall portfolio.
• Stay informed about market trends and economic factors that could impact your investments.

2. Time Horizon and Return Expectations

• Consider your investment time horizon (short-term vs. long-term) and adjust your risk tolerance accordingly.
• Set realistic return expectations based on historical performance, industry benchmarks, and your investment time horizon.
• Reevaluate your investments periodically to ensure they continue to align with your goals and risk tolerance.

3. Initial Investment and Ongoing Costs

• Calculate the initial investment required for each passive income opportunity.
• Consider any ongoing costs, such as maintenance, management fees, or platform fees.
• Weigh the potential returns against the costs to determine the overall profitability of each option.

4. Liquidity and Exit Strategy

• Evaluate the liquidity of each investment option (how easily can you convert it to cash?).
• Consider potential exit strategies and the ease of withdrawing from an investment.
• Factor in potential tax implications when selling or withdrawing from investments.

5. Personal Risk Tolerance and Financial Situation

• Assess your personal risk tolerance and financial stability.
• Choose investments that align with your risk tolerance, ensuring you are comfortable with potential losses or fluctuations in value.
• Continuously reevaluate your personal financial situation and adjust your investments accordingly.

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Your risk breaks down into two parts. Risk of capital and risk of spent time/effort that does not later produce passive income. I'll be honest with you, we're probably in a time when the risks to popular passive income flows is getting to its highest. Both when it comes to investments and different types of commission based income, there are possible clouds on the horizon.
Popular methods of passive income such as blogging or different methods of affiliate marketing are now going to become much more flooded and competitive with AI making it so easy for anyone to produce MVP style stuff. Anyone with a bit of patience and understanding of AI to build exceptional stuff quickly and those are the upper end of the skill curve to cement dominance on big niches.
The popular ROI based investments should be a slave to interest rates. I say "Should be" because markets can be irrational for a long time, but even after this it will usually come to pass that interest rates dictate the performance of many ROI based passive incomes.
Dividends: Higher interest rates eventually produce lower stock prices. Dividends decrease and there's losses on initial capital buying stocks high that are now low.
Housing/Rents: Higher interest rates make people overall poorer and businesses more likely to lay people off. High rates can lead to vacancies in leases and decline in asset value relative to buy price.
Lending: In a higher interest rate environment across the board it's more likely debts will be defaulted on if people and businesses become bankrupt.
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The risk of rates going higher is the highest it's been in decades. No one knows how economic policies will play out and things can happen to change course along the way but it is clear that central banks around the world are talking about the need to increase interest rates. If they follow through on this (Now or later), all economic logic suggests ROIs on risk assets decrease or go negative.
There are many logical reasons why this happens. Asides from the risks mentioned above higher interest rates also mean people can save or invest in low risk bonds and make more money. Over the last decade people had to invest in stocks because bonds gave a return under inflation (Loss) - but when bond yields are high, why risk money on volatile stocks if you do not have to?
Let's be clear, there's economic theory and logic and then there's markets. It can take a considerable time for this to hit home in the real markets. I'd not be surprised to see stocks etc going higher in the short term purely on the power of the speculative boom of the last decade. When we're talking about 3-10 year returns, asset performance will usually be a slave to interest rates.
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2. High Initial Investment and Setup Costs
*Budgeting and saving for initial investments
*Exploring low-cost passive income opportunities
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Budgeting and saving for initial investments
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Before diving into passive income opportunities, it's essential to establish a solid financial foundation. Budgeting and saving for initial investments play a crucial role in ensuring you can invest in your chosen passive income streams without jeopardizing your financial stability. In this post, we will discuss tips and strategies for budgeting and saving to build the capital needed for your passive income ventures.
1. Set Clear Financial Goals

• Determine the amount of capital you need to invest in your chosen passive income opportunities.
• Establish a timeline for when you want to start investing.
• Break down your investment goal into smaller, manageable monthly or yearly savings targets.

2. Create a Realistic Budget

• Track your income and expenses to understand your current financial situation.
• Identify areas where you can reduce expenses, such as discretionary spending or subscriptions.
• Allocate a specific portion of your income to savings and investments each month, prioritizing your financial goals.

3. Automate Your Savings

• Set up automatic transfers to a dedicated savings or investment account.
• Utilize apps or online tools to help you save and invest automatically.
• Automating your savings helps you stay consistent and avoid the temptation to spend the money elsewhere.

4. Build an Emergency Fund

• Before investing in passive income opportunities, ensure you have an emergency fund to cover unexpected expenses or financial setbacks.
• Aim to save at least 3-6 months' worth of living expenses in a separate, easily accessible account.
• Having an emergency fund in place allows you to invest with confidence, knowing your financial stability is protected.

5. Explore Additional Income Streams

• Consider taking on side hustles, freelancing, or part-time work to generate extra income for your investments.
• Use any windfalls, such as bonuses or tax refunds, to boost your savings and investment funds.
• Additional income sources can accelerate your savings progress and help you reach your investment goals sooner.

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In theory, creating wealth (And passive income being a part of that) is a simple equation of spending less than what you earn and then effectively investing the difference. The theory is sound but there's real market/counter-party risk to investments. When investing capital you should put real consideration into what would happen if you lost it all or could not access it for a long time.
There are many evangelists of the virtues of passive income by dividend stocks or DCA'ing into index funds. Although I believe these may have a good short term performance, I think these avenues are much more risky with the conditions we have in the 2020s relative to the conditions we had up to 2019.
It's a good time to be risk aware if your investment timeframe is multiple years/decades.
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Exploring low-cost passive income opportunities
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Starting your passive income journey doesn't always require a large initial investment. There are various low-cost opportunities that can generate passive income over time with minimal upfront capital. In this post, we will discuss several low-cost passive income options to consider, helping you find the right opportunities that align with your budget, skills, and interests.
1. Affiliate Marketing

• Promote products or services through your blog, social media, or email list, and earn commissions on sales generated through your unique affiliate links.
• Requires minimal investment in website hosting, content creation, or marketing tools.
• Can be a lucrative passive income source if you build a loyal audience and focus on promoting high-quality products or services.

2. Print-on-Demand Products

• Design and sell custom products (e.g., t-shirts, mugs, phone cases) through print-on-demand platforms like Printful or Redbubble.
• No upfront inventory costs, as products are created and shipped only when a customer places an order.
• Requires an investment in design software, marketing, and potentially a small online store setup fee.

3. Stock Photography or Digital Art

• Create and sell stock photos or digital art on platforms like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, or Etsy.
• Requires an investment in a camera or design software, but the potential for passive income is high as customers can purchase your work multiple times.
• Focus on creating high-quality, unique images or designs that cater to a specific niche or audience.

4. Self-Publishing E-books

• Write and self-publish e-books on platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) or Draft2Digital.
• Requires an investment in time for writing, editing, and formatting, as well as a small fee for cover design or marketing.
• Earn royalties on each sale, creating a passive income stream as your e-book continues to sell over time.

5. Online Courses

• Create and sell online courses on platforms like Udemy, Teachable, or Skillshare.
• Investment in recording equipment, editing software, and potentially marketing efforts.
• Can generate passive income as students enroll in your courses over time, especially if you create evergreen content that remains relevant.

6. YouTube Channel

• Create and monetize a YouTube channel by producing valuable or entertaining content that attracts viewers.
• Requires an investment in recording and editing equipment, as well as time spent on content creation and promotion.
• Passive income generated through ad revenue, sponsored content, or affiliate marketing as your channel grows.

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There's some good news and some bad news when it comes to these types of income streams (Well, I suppose what's good and bad really depends on your skills and situation). Let's just call it some news:
AI is bringing the knowledge edge of many niches down to close to zero. When it comes to the raw basics of things AI can auto-generate info that of extremely high standard. If you know a bit about a subject you can structure a great ebook/course etc easily using AI to do most of the work. Even knowing nothing you can create stuff that's on par with many of the current blogs available on the topic. The knowledge niche is shrinking to really only apply to unique insights and experience (And these may also be swallowed up by AI later).
So it's never been easier to do this. Seriously. Want to write a book? You can do one over the weekend. Been trying to structure a blog? AI can do that for you while you're sitting on the toilet. The value of knowledge is crashing, but the value of audience is rocketing. If you can create some niche audience that will follow you, you can create amazing content that gives them real value.
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The value of building a social media following has never been higher. You can create niche products and sales funnels so easily and efficiently. Things like SEO are likely to be hard for anyone who's not good in the game - but building a following that sticks with you is viable. The value of list building now is probably also higher than it's ever been.

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Get a free trial with Get Response if you'd like to try/learn about list building. Affiliate link >> Non affiliate link.
It's never been easier to create products. It'd be a very shroud move to use this time to create audiences who can you keep in touch with and be able to sell them more products (As the tools for making them become even better).
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3. Balancing Time and Effort between Active Work and Passive Income Ventures
*Prioritizing tasks and setting realistic goals
*Developing efficient systems and automating processes
*Delegating responsibilities and outsourcing tasks when necessary
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Prioritizing tasks and setting realistic goals
Successfully creating and maintaining passive income streams requires effective time management, prioritization of tasks, and setting realistic goals. In this post, we will discuss strategies for organizing your tasks, staying focused on your objectives, and setting achievable targets that keep you motivated and on track to reach your passive income aspirations.
1. Identify Your Primary Passive Income Goals

• Determine your specific passive income objectives, such as generating a certain amount of monthly income or achieving financial independence.
• Clearly define the passive income streams you plan to pursue, based on your skills, interests, and resources.
• Break down your primary goals into smaller, actionable steps to create a roadmap for success.

2. Prioritize Tasks Based on Importance and Impact

• Assess the urgency and importance of each task related to your passive income ventures.
• Focus on high-impact tasks that directly contribute to your goals, such as creating valuable content or promoting your products or services.
• Avoid getting bogged down in low-priority tasks that don't significantly impact your progress.

3. Set Realistic and Measurable Goals

• Set achievable short-term and long-term goals that align with your primary passive income objectives.
• Ensure your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
• Regularly review and adjust your goals as needed to keep them realistic and achievable.

4. Create a Schedule and Allocate Time for Passive Income Activities

• Establish a dedicated schedule for working on your passive income projects, ensuring you allocate sufficient time to focus on important tasks.
• Use time management techniques, such as time blocking or the Pomodoro Technique, to maximize productivity.
• Be consistent with your schedule, treating your passive income activities as a priority and committing to the time you've allocated.

5. Track Your Progress and Celebrate Milestones

• Regularly monitor your progress towards your passive income goals, using tools like spreadsheets, goal-tracking apps, or journals.
• Celebrate milestones and accomplishments along the way, rewarding yourself for your hard work and dedication.
• Reflect on your progress, identifying areas for improvement and adjusting your strategies as needed.

6. Stay Flexible and Adapt to Change

• Be prepared to pivot and adjust your passive income strategies as circumstances change or new opportunities arise.
• Embrace a growth mindset, learning from setbacks and using them as opportunities to grow and improve.
• Stay informed about industry trends and emerging passive income opportunities, adapting your approach as needed to stay competitive and successful.

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Developing efficient systems and automating processes
Maximizing the potential of your passive income streams often involves streamlining and automating processes to reduce time and effort while increasing efficiency. In this post, we will discuss strategies for developing efficient systems and implementing automation to help you achieve passive income success more effectively.
1. Identify Repetitive and Time-Consuming Tasks

• Evaluate your passive income activities and identify tasks that are repetitive, time-consuming, or prone to human error.
• Determine which tasks could be simplified or automated to save time and improve efficiency.

2. Implement Automation Tools and Technologies

• Research and invest in automation tools and technologies that can streamline your passive income processes, such as email marketing software, social media scheduling tools, or accounting software.
• Test and optimize the automation tools you implement, ensuring they effectively save time and increase productivity without compromising quality.

3. Outsource Non-Essential Tasks

• Consider outsourcing non-essential tasks to freelancers or virtual assistants, freeing up time to focus on high-priority, high-impact activities.
• Use platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer to find skilled professionals who can handle tasks related to content creation, marketing, or administrative support.

4. Develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

• Create clear, step-by-step SOPs for your passive income activities to ensure consistency, efficiency, and scalability.
• Use SOPs to train new team members, virtual assistants, or freelancers, ensuring they understand and follow your processes and standards.
• Regularly review and update your SOPs to keep them current and relevant as your passive income ventures evolve.

5. Optimize and Refine Processes

• Continuously monitor and assess the efficiency of your passive income processes, identifying areas for improvement or potential bottlenecks.
• Implement process improvements or optimizations to further streamline your operations and maximize productivity.
• Stay open to new technologies, tools, and best practices that can help improve the efficiency of your passive income activities.

6. Monitor and Adjust Automation as Needed

• Regularly review the effectiveness of your automation tools and systems, ensuring they continue to meet your needs and align with your passive income goals.
• Be prepared to adjust or replace automation tools as your passive income ventures grow and evolve, or as new technologies become available.

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Again, shout out to Get Response who cover a lot of this efficient automation stuff. You can make a lot of money with these systems if you take the time to learn how to set them up and feed them.
Get a free trial with Get Response if you'd like to try/learn about list building. Affiliate link >> Non affiliate link.
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Delegating responsibilities and outsourcing tasks when necessary
Achieving passive income success often requires efficient delegation and outsourcing of tasks, allowing you to focus on high-impact activities and manage your time more effectively. In this post, we will discuss strategies for delegating responsibilities and outsourcing tasks when necessary, helping you maximize your passive income potential and achieve your financial goals more efficiently.
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1. Assess Your Skills and Strengths

• Determine your core competencies, skills, and strengths that contribute the most value to your passive income ventures.
• Identify tasks that are outside your skillset or expertise, or that consume significant time and energy without providing a high return on investment.

2. Prioritize Tasks for Delegation or Outsourcing

• Prioritize tasks for delegation or outsourcing based on their importance, complexity, and the potential time savings.
• Focus on delegating or outsourcing tasks that are time-consuming, repetitive, or require specialized skills, allowing you to concentrate on high-impact activities.

3. Choose the Right Team Members, Freelancers, or Virtual Assistants

• Research and select team members, freelancers, or virtual assistants with the skills and experience necessary to handle delegated tasks effectively.
• Use platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer to find skilled professionals for tasks related to content creation, marketing, administration, or other areas of your passive income ventures.

4. Develop Clear Expectations and Communication

• Establish clear expectations and guidelines for delegated tasks, ensuring that team members, freelancers, or virtual assistants understand your objectives and desired outcomes.
• Maintain open and regular communication, providing feedback and addressing any questions or concerns that arise during the delegation process.

5. Implement Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Training

• Develop detailed SOPs for delegated tasks, ensuring that your processes and standards are consistently followed.
• Provide training and support for team members, freelancers, or virtual assistants as needed, ensuring they have the resources and knowledge necessary to perform tasks effectively.

6. Monitor Progress and Evaluate Performance

• Regularly monitor the progress of delegated tasks, evaluating the performance of team members, freelancers, or virtual assistants to ensure they meet your expectations and contribute to your passive income goals.
• Provide constructive feedback and address any performance issues promptly, ensuring that delegated tasks are completed efficiently and effectively.

7. Adjust Delegation and Outsourcing Strategies as Needed

• Continuously evaluate your delegation and outsourcing strategies, making adjustments as your passive income ventures grow and evolve.
• Be prepared to delegate additional tasks, change team members or freelancers, or explore new outsourcing platforms as needed to maintain efficiency and maximize your passive income potential.

4. Generating and Sustaining Online Traffic
*Creating high-quality content and optimizing for SEO
*Leveraging social media platforms and online communities
*Paid ads
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Creating high-quality content and optimizing for SEO
Producing high-quality content and optimizing it for search engine optimization (SEO) are essential components of building a successful passive income stream online. In this post, we will discuss strategies for creating valuable content and effectively optimizing it for SEO, helping you attract organic traffic and generate passive income more efficiently.
1. Identify Your Target Audience and Their Needs

• Determine your target audience's demographics, interests, and preferences to create content that resonates with them.
• Research popular topics, questions, and pain points within your niche to develop content that addresses your audience's needs and interests.

2. Focus on Creating Valuable and Informative Content

• Produce high-quality, well-researched content that offers value and insight to your audience.
• Aim to create evergreen content that remains relevant over time, providing long-term value and traffic potential.

3. Develop a Consistent Content Publishing Schedule

• Establish a regular publishing schedule to maintain consistency and build trust with your audience.
• Use a content calendar to plan and track your content production and publication dates.

4. Optimize Your Content for SEO

• Perform keyword research using tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to identify relevant, high-traffic keywords within your niche.
• Incorporate target keywords naturally within your content, including titles, headings, and body text, while avoiding keyword stuffing.
• Create compelling, click-worthy titles and meta descriptions that accurately reflect the content and include target keywords.

5. Utilize Internal and External Linking Strategies

• Include internal links within your content to guide readers to related articles or resources on your website, improving user experience and increasing page views.
• Incorporate external links to authoritative sources when relevant, adding credibility and value to your content.

6. Optimize Images and Media for SEO

• Compress images and media files to reduce load times and improve site performance.
• Add descriptive alt tags to images, incorporating target keywords when appropriate.

7. Monitor and Analyze Content Performance

• Use analytics tools like Google Analytics or Search Console to track and analyze your content's performance, identifying trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Regularly update and optimize existing content to maintain relevance, improve search rankings, and drive organic traffic.

8. Promote and Share Your Content

• Share your content on social media platforms, online communities, or email newsletters to increase visibility and drive traffic.
• Network with influencers and other websites within your niche to build relationships and secure backlinks, further boosting your content's SEO performance.

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SEO I assume is going to get harder and harder. While it's a wonderful thing to pull off getting targeted passive traffic from searches I wonder how wise it is to invest effort into this unless you're already really good and likely to gain a better edge with tech than others can gain on you. I think creating your own niche audience is probably more viable.
If it works, SEO income feels like magic. You write some stuff. Post some links. Wait a while and money starts showing up. But it's a fickle world, SEO income can go from $1,000s a week to $10s a month (Or less) on a Google update or someone just outdoing you in the rank fight.
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Leveraging social media platforms and online communities
Utilizing social media platforms and online communities can significantly contribute to your passive income success by increasing your online visibility, driving traffic to your website or products, and building a loyal audience. In this post, we will discuss strategies for effectively leveraging social media and online communities to boost your passive income potential.
1. Choose the Right Platforms and Communities for Your Niche

• Identify social media platforms and online communities that are most relevant to your niche, target audience, and passive income ventures.
• Focus on platforms where your target audience is active and engaged, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, or niche-specific forums.

2. Develop a Consistent Brand and Online Presence

• Create a cohesive brand across all social media platforms and online communities, including profile images, banners, and messaging.
• Develop a consistent posting schedule to maintain audience engagement and build trust.

3. Share High-Quality and Valuable Content

• Publish and share content that resonates with your target audience, providing value and addressing their needs or interests.
• Use a mix of content formats, such as blog posts, images, videos, or infographics, to keep your audience engaged and interested.

4. Engage with Your Audience and Build Relationships

• Respond to comments, messages, and questions from your audience, fostering connections and building trust.
• Participate in relevant conversations and discussions within your niche, offering insights, advice, or resources to establish yourself as an authority.

5. Collaborate with Influencers and Industry Leaders

• Network and collaborate with influencers and industry leaders within your niche, helping to increase your visibility and credibility.
• Consider guest posting, co-hosting events, or partnering on projects to reach a broader audience and drive traffic to your passive income ventures.

6. Utilize Paid Advertising and Promotion

• Explore paid advertising options on social media platforms, such as Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, or Pinterest Promoted Pins, to increase your reach and drive targeted traffic.
• Test and optimize your advertising campaigns to maximize return on investment and minimize costs.

7. Monitor and Analyze Your Social Media Performance

• Use analytics tools, such as Google Analytics or platform-specific insights, to track and analyze your social media performance and identify areas for improvement.
• Adjust your content, posting schedule, and engagement strategies based on data-driven insights to continually improve your results.

8. Leverage Online Communities for Feedback and Ideas

• Actively participate in relevant online communities to gain valuable feedback and insights from your target audience.
• Use these insights to inform your content creation, product development, or marketing strategies, ensuring that your passive income ventures align with your audience's needs and interests.

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The social media model is much more viable since you have a better way of escaping the gatekeeping of the algo. On social media when someone posts asking something you can engage with them, chat, make friends and help them. You can make human connections and ensure your audience sees your content based upon building an audience that wants to see your content and will turn on notifications for it if the algo is not already showing them.
​
Paid ads
Paid ads can be a powerful tool for generating targeted traffic to your passive income ventures, increasing visibility, and driving conversions. In this post, we will explore various paid advertising options and discuss strategies for effectively using paid ads to boost your passive income potential.
1. Choose the Right Advertising Platform

• Identify the most suitable advertising platform(s) for your target audience, niche, and passive income ventures, such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, Pinterest Promoted Pins, or Twitter Ads.
• Consider your target audience's demographics, interests, and online behaviors when selecting an advertising platform to ensure your ads reach the right people.

2. Set Clear Advertising Goals and Objectives

• Establish clear goals and objectives for your paid advertising campaigns, such as increasing website traffic, generating leads, or driving sales.
• Use these goals to guide your ad creative, targeting, and budgeting decisions, ensuring your campaigns are aligned with your passive income objectives.

3. Develop Compelling Ad Creative

• Design eye-catching and engaging ad creatives that clearly communicate your value proposition and encourage users to click through to your website or offer.
• Test different ad formats, such as text, image, video, or carousel ads, to determine which performs best for your target audience and campaign objectives.

4. Target Your Ads to Reach the Right Audience

• Utilize the targeting options available on your chosen advertising platform to reach a specific audience based on demographics, interests, behaviors, or other criteria.
• Refine your targeting over time by analyzing campaign performance data and identifying the most responsive audience segments.

5. Set and Optimize Your Advertising Budget

• Establish a budget for your paid advertising campaigns, considering factors such as your overall marketing budget, campaign objectives, and expected return on investment (ROI).
• Optimize your budget allocation across different campaigns, ad groups, or targeting criteria based on performance data to maximize ROI.

6. Monitor and Analyze Your Campaign Performance

• Use analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, or platform-specific insights, to track and analyze your paid advertising campaign performance.
• Regularly review your campaign data to identify trends, areas for improvement, and opportunities to optimize your ads for better results.

7. Test and Optimize Your Ad Campaigns

• Continuously test different ad creatives, targeting options, and bidding strategies to identify the most effective combinations for driving traffic and conversions.
• Use A/B testing or multivariate testing to compare different ad elements and make data-driven decisions for campaign optimization.

8. Scale Your Campaigns for Greater Success

• Once you've identified high-performing ad campaigns and optimized your strategies, consider scaling your campaigns by increasing your budget or expanding your targeting to reach a larger audience.
• Monitor the performance of your scaled campaigns closely to ensure that they continue to generate traffic and contribute positively to your passive income goals.

Hello Internet! Welcome to... the Internet! The place where people sometimes do for free what MatPat does for MILLIONS of dollars. (You know that "attic" he films his YouTube Shorts in? More like "penthouse suite" in his hundred-floor mansion!)
Anyway, I've had this theory (a FILM theory!) bouncing around my head for a while, and it took me all of March to work out the convoluted connections, but fortunately, it is all SPOILER-FREE - because while it does involve the movie US (2019), it involves exactly one part of one scene, the very first scene in the entire movie, and knowing that will not spoil the rest of the movie for you. If you're still worried, feel free to go watch the movie right now and come right back! Now have a sit down with your extended family, this is going to be quite a ride!
So, here is the launching point of this theory: In the very first scene of US (2019), a television screen shows a lengthy commercial. That commercial is for...
HANDS ACROSS AMERICA, an event that occurred on May 25, 1986. On that day, people attempted to create a continuous human chain of people connecting the east and west coasts of the United States. They didn't quite succeed, though there are some calculations that maybe there were enough people to possibly make it happen if they were positioned just right. But it wasn't just a stunt, it was a fundraiser where people donated money to reserve their place, and that money, roughly fifteen million dollars, was donated to local charities. And this event was created by...
KEN KRAGEN, a music manager and producer, who over his lifetime managed such stars as Trisha Yearwood, Travis Tritt, and Kenny Rogers. He also was the executive producer of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. (He was also part of the chaotic Leno/Letterman battle for the Tonight Show, and portrayed himself in a movie based on it.) The year before he created Hands Across America, he was part of another fundraising event...
WE ARE THE WORLD (1985), an album and also famously the title of a song sung by numerous musicians, including Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, and Ray Charles (with forty-seven musicians all told). This supergroup was called USA for Africa, and used the millions of dollars collected (equivalent to $156,000,000 today) from sales to ship food, medicine, and clothing to Ethiopia, Sudan, and other African countries. While Kragen was the primary reason so many musicians took part, another person was also responsible for the event...
HARRY BELAFONTE, one of the most successful Caribbean-American singers and known for his Calypso songs such as The Banana Boat Song ("Day-O!"), though he sung in numerous genres. He was also a friend of Martin Luther King Jr. and continues to be involved in causes he believes in (including being part of the Hands Across America event above). He is also known for his movie roles including Island in the Sun. He was such a fan of acting that, when he was younger and needed to save money, he and a friend would buy one ticket total to see a show - one would go in to see the first half, then fill his friend in on what had happened so the other could watch the second half. And who was that friend?
SIDNEY POITIER, an actor and director who was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Acadamey Award for Best Actor for the movie "Lilies of the Field." He took acting classes at the Dramatic Workshop in New York, with his friend Belafonte and others such as Marlon Brando and Bea Arthur. While Poitier is also known for movies such as Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and A Raisin in the Sun, he is also known for the film...
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967), a mystery drama film where Poitier plays a black detective who must solve a murder in a small Mississippi town, where most of the residents despise him for his skin color, while the police, led by Rod Steiger's police chief, reluctantly assist him. The movie was a hit, and two sequels were made, as well as a television series in the 80s. Despite being set in the South, the film was actually shot in three towns in Illinois, including...
CHESTER, IL, a city along the Mississippi River, founded in 1829 by Samuel Smith, who named the city after his wife's hometown in England. Both Charles Dickens and Mark Twain are recorded as visiting the city; Twain wrote about it in his book, "Life on the Mississippi." It was also the home of E.C. Segar, who created the comic strip Thimble Theater and based the look of his characters on people around town. One of them, Frank Feigel, was a one-eyed brawler with a pipe, thus inspiring...
POPEYE, the Sailor Man, was a breakout star of Thimble Theater and soon became the subject of his own comics. He would generally solve problems by punching them, and under extreme circumstance would pop open a can of spinach and consume it in one gulp to gain incredible powers. Along with his longtime girlfriend Olive Oyl and rival Bluto, he would gain fame in animated cartoons and eventually a movie starring Robin Williams sporting gigantic forearms. In fact, Sony Pictures Animation intended to put forth a new computer-animated movie directed by Genndy Tartakovsky. But the movie was postponed and then eventually cancelled. And which amazing movie did Sony Pictures Animation create to take its place?
THE EMOJI MOVIE (2017), a movie about emojis. While a commercial success, critics were not exactly thrilled by the script, or the product placement, or the plot, or much of anything. Winning four Golden Raspberry Awards, it is generally considered a bad movie (except by Mr. Jacksfilms Douglas, who has been called "the #1 fan" of the film and attended its world premiere). One critique was the presence of the talking, ambulatory "poop" emoji, voiced by British actor Patrick Stewart. While Stewart is known for his amusing playing-against-type roles in animation, he actually took the role only after it was offered to another actor...
JORDAN PEELE, who upon realizing what the previous role entailed, was so annoyed that he decided to change the direction of his ENTIRE CAREER. As part of "Key & Peele," he was known as a hilarious actor and comedian, though his work behind the camera for the sketches was often noted for its skill and seriousness. He went on to present "Get Out" (coincidentally also in 2017), a psychological horror movie that received both box-office success and ciritcal acclaim for its plot and direction. Which then resulted in Peele creating a second horror film that opened just two years later...
And THAT, my friends, is how the first scene of US (2019) is connected to... the movie US (2019)!
And if you're left feeling a little confused, just bear in mind that it took me the whole month to write this up... and therefore, it's being displayed one day after the last day of March.
BUT HEY!
THAT'S JUST A THEORY!
AN APRIL FOOL'S THEORY!
THANKS FOR READING!
(Source is Wikipedia, the most trustworthy of all sources ever. The only stretch is connecting the demise of Popeye to the rise of the Emoji Movie. I can point to this YouTube video by Midnight's Edge (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPsmXytKkdg) that specifies it wasn't a direct cause-and-effect, but happened pretty much at the same time, so it's just enough of a correlation.)

This will briefly introduce Terran's hobbies, recreational activities, and actions, both as a guide and warning with a short story for better context. If a Human offers an activity as a “bonding” moment please reference these documents if it is safe for your species or personal well-being.
The first activity will be Sky Diving. Not Flying, Gliding, "Moon-Walk", Grav-Shift ParkouFree-running, or any activity not explicitly defined but denotes aerial activity. Sky Swimming will be mentioned in tandem briefly.
Risk: Death, Permanent Debilitation, Mental & Physical Trauma.
Species who can survive: Terrans*.
*No species can survive a fall from orbit. Terrans arguments and safety measures allow a modicum of success but critical failures still occur leading to severe injury.
Any other species would die of air pressure, lack of breathable air, high velocity, abrupt change in velocity, and stress. Vesha can potentially survive if they are in peak condition, are provided with respiratory aid, and have Grav-Shift harnesses monitored by at least a grade-IV VI companion.
This activity was traditionally conducted from around 4000 [Terran Unit: Meters] or 10000 [Terran Unit: Feet] with a polymer substance typically Nylon, Kevlar, or a blend of several fabrics woven into a parachute. A parachute being a material canopy deployed from a portable container to break ones fall in this context.
This act would be more accurately called break falling. As the act itself entirely encompasses the usage of assistance to reach high altitudes to leap off into freefall and with the usage of parachutes to safely slow and land.
Historically humans could not survive a drop any higher than 30 Meters on their cradle planet. Current Terrans can survive far more.
Those unfamiliar with Terrans may be asking why they would willingly subject themselves to such an activity. The answer may differ per individual but the "rush" of it can cause joy as it is a thrill to them.
Some more wild members of their society are dubbed Adrenaline Junkies. Adrenaline being one of the few natural chemicals that entail them to accomplish the more absurd acts you have heard. High stress situations will cause a release of it.
Of note is that whilst not all species can naturally produce Adrenaline, not all than can do enjoy it. Nor do all Terrans enjoy stress as such it is ill advised to actively stress them out.
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Addendum: Icarus Peaks
With the public opening of Icarus Peaks, those with any understanding of Terran history may be laughing, face-palming, or a mixture of both, many Terrans will be surely attracted to the "unique" opportunity. This facility will be mentioned heavily in this document and as such, some context will be provided.
Icarus Peaks is founded and created by a Terran trailblazer. Residing in the Helios system on the planet Rol'Percep. This system is notably marked on the now famous Nike Trail a collection of systems, planets, and locations for any and all recreational activities.
Rol'Percep has a naturally high oxygen atmosphere with a lower than standard gravity. Nearly a 3rd of Terran's and about 3/4ths the galactic standard. The terrain is notably rolling hills, valleys, and plains. Except for one extremely dense mountain range with some peaks going so far as breaching the local stratosphere.
Icarus Peaks as they are now called is the term for this mountain range and the facility constructed upon it. From free gliding, mountain climbing, hiking, and more. The facility offers a large variety of activities and luxuries. One such activity at the highest point is the subject of this article and story.
Thanks to the state-of-the-art medical facilities and staff, not one death has been confirmed although severe injury has been reported due to accidents. Notably of Terran, Veshan, or other crucible world species ignoring standard safety precautions.
Whilst the facility maintains strict safety regulations, should one waiver the safeties of their own volition the facility will take no action to impede one on their venture unless another individual is at risk of harm.
With this context, the following will be a story concerning the risks of Sky Diving. It should be noted as mentioned earlier the individuals within the story chose to waive the safeties and willingly took this action of their own volition against Icarus Peaks' precautionary advice.
The following is created from recordings and interviews using Simulacra, as such all rights...
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Loading... Sky_Diving_Veshan:
In an economy class suite, 3 friends are making plans for their final day before heading back home. They had strived to do as much as they could during their short break and had been successful so far in hitting every major event checkbox available to them. The last one unmarked was the joke suggestion of sky diving from the namesake Icarus peaks. From the stratosphere to sea level with nothing but a gravchute.
"I'm just saying. [Michael] is Vesha, they are tougher than we are." The first spoke, A young Terran female with fire in her eyes. Short for a Terran at 155 cm she only matched her companions in height and musculature. Her hair was dyed a variety of blues tied into a short ponytail as to not interrupt her action filled lifestyle. Her energetic nature barely contained within her small frame.
"Yea he's tough but not flexible or as reactive. Who knows what will happen in freefall. He might snap in two from the deployment. Think for a second Rosa, the staff advises any and all non-Terrans to not even attempt it for a reason." The second Terran replied from the bed. Fully exhausted from their day's adventure. Holding on to lucidity in hopes of keeping their Veshan friend alive from Rosa's antics.
By far the tallest of the group at 200 cm but the least physically active of the group. Auburn hair swept back and trimmed short for his escapades, often being dragged by Rosa and more recently [Michael] on more tiresome adventures. Preferring hikes, stargazing, and more sensible activities at a moderate pace. He was lean but found incapable of keeping up with his peers.
"If there is no precedent for Vesha to sky dive... why can't I be the first?" [Michael] asks with an innocent tone. Scrolling through his holo-pad looking for information concerning Vesha and attempts at sky diving with little results. Like most Vesha [Michael] was androgynous to Terran aesthetics. Their sexual dimorphism only in genitalia and psychology.
A shorter Veshan at about 180 cm he had the common light green skin much of his race did. Toned and well defined musculature supported his body similar to humans aside from their 4 arms. Whilst Terrans can carry a larger range of motion due to ball joints. They simply developed more limbs with a certain range of motion to carry out tasks.
"See Chen? He's thinking big. We can record the whole thing! It'll be a galactic first! They got good medical staff too. We can just tell them before hand. [Michael] will survive no problem." A quick ping confirming that in fact a dedicated medical facility was near by for any and all that attempted to do anything related to the name sake mountain.
"Yea this is a losing battle. [Michael] I suggest you update your will. I'm gonna try to get at least 6 hours before this. G'night." Promptly passing out shortly after their statement.
[Michael] following the suggestion updates his will, contacts the medical facility concerning the plans for the next day, and heads to sleep. Rosa heads out to get in one last late night workout before finally going to sleep.
The trio finally meet up next day to an unexpected knock on their door. Opening it to find a fellow crucible-world species staff member awaiting them. A member of the Lyisu race, similar to the Terran centipede as multi segmented arthropods. Hard chitin exoskeleton with calcium plates granting them toughness beyond measure. Their fully functioning appendages grant them swiftness unbecoming of their size. These combined allow them to do great in difficult terrain. Often found employed in some form of search and rescue.
"Oh. Hello?" Rosa reflexively squirms at the sight of the Lyisu before chiding herself internally. Before she could get out another statement attempting to disguise her earlier involuntary revulsion the individual before her spoke first.
"No need for apologies. I have done my research concerning my Terran counterpart. You're fear is justified so long as you do not continue insult. Your fluster and attempt at apology is more than enough. Moving on to official business. I go by [Marigold] and am here on behalf of Icarus Peaks in case of emergency. As you all have signed the waiver abolishing us of responsibility, the higher ups have deemed it still fit for some semblance of care on our end, if that is all right with you."
"Yes please. I couldn't convince them out of it and I was gonna ask if it was possible to get someone on standby anyway. This works out great." Chen spoke from behind Rosa, still half asleep whilst the other two had been up for an hour discussing plans.
"Alright sleepy beauty. Meet us in the lobby in 15 minutes. If you're late by a second we heading up without you. Toodle-doo." With that, the trio grabbed their equipment and headed for the lobby whilst Chen dragged himself out of bed.
The short trip from the central hub to the peak was a surprise to the trio. As whilst the hub and central facility was at the base of the name sake peak it shot off in many branches and extensions. Taking a dedicated vehicle equivalent to a hot air balloon but with anti grav generators amongst other modifications.
"Is the recording going?" Rosa ever terrible with technology inquires to [Michael] who promptly rewinds the recording to her stuffing her face during breakfast. Rosa's face flushes red and misses a swipe for the recording device.
"You'll have to do better than that... Hey Chen? How well is this gonna be able to travel with us during free fall?"
"The device you carry is a Hunter model recording device. It was built with flight, tracking, and more for active goers who wish to record quality videos without hassle or skill. It should be able to keep up quite well with the endeavor." Came from the voice above causing once again Rosa to jump as the individual snaked downwards towards them.
"Perfect! I can't wait for this! I haven't gone sky diving since I was in Andromeda." Rosa nearly halfway out of the lift enjoying the view. [Marigold] unsubtly shifting himself closer for quick action should the need arise. Chen mouthing a silent thank you to them, whether they registered it didn't show... or at least Chen couldn't tell by Lyisu standards.
​
Before [Marigold] could speak or gesture, Rosa leaps off the lift upon arriving at the dock. With an exaggerated inhale looks over the cliff and waiting for the camera to pan to her.
"I'm on top of the world!" Echoed off throughout the range with Chen face palming behind her.
"Safeties are all checked, medical is prepared at the base and the halfway point, and weather has and always will be all clear. Shall we make history?" [Michael] like many of his race fearless to a fault felt a tinge of dread spiking through his body. To die was natural, to journey with companions as wonderful as his was an honor, and for him to bring renown to his clan in such a way would not be the worst way to go.
As he prepared himself mentally he saw out of the corner of his eye a blue streak blur past him. A scream short followed as it leapt off the mountain. Connecting the dots and the simple fact there was only one individual stupid and impulsive enough up here allowed him the courage to follow. Seeing Chen trailing shortly ahead of him attempting to catch up to their reckless friend.
"CANNOOONNNN BAAAAAALL." Could be heard off the cliff face. [Marigold] actually dumbfounded quickly rectified to com the medical teams below of the first departure. Chen gave a quick nod to [Michael] before taking the leap himself.
"Ancestors above watch over me. May I join you in your halls or claim glory by my own grasp." A small prayer. A deep breath. Deafening wind blowing past.
As [Michael] opened his eyes the world before him was a blur as the mountain zipped by him as he angled himself away from the base. An attempt to move was made but Chen's words quickly ran through his head as he felt his limbs couldn't resist pressure.
Panic fully ran through him as he struggled in his own harness. The VI alerted him it was in control subtly guiding him to the designated landing zone. A fact missed by [Michael] in his flailing only stopped when [Marigold] dropped in from above and wrapping him.
"Hello? I am using low band emergency frequency. I have you. You are safe. Your VI is fully functioning. You will hurt yourself if you continue to flail around. Take a deep breath. I'm restraining you for your own safety right now."
"Everything alright?" A familiar voice. Opening his eyes [Michael] sees Chen having slowed his descent to match the two. "The halfway point is about 1300 meters down. We can check out there if you don't want to keep going."
As the world zips by [Michael] sees his friend with nothing but concern on his face for him. Not the wind bellowing by, not the risk of harm, nor the humongous arthropod clinging to him. His companions concern for him and his enjoyment of their activity over his own.
Peering behind him struggling to keep up was the hunter camera drone taking the appearance of a diving falcon found on Terra Sol. His failure and panic already recorded. Whilst his companions would surely remove it at his request. He would always remember this.
Closing his eyes he thought of his two companions. Rosa the wild, a maelstrom of energy and activity. She never speaks of fear but fears deeply loneliness and boredom. Chen the steady, a kind breeze that cares and moves at his own pace. He speaks of worries often but gathers the courage to continue onward in face of it.
Two brave souls who allowed him to traverse the stars with them. Seeking adventure in face of fear and risk. [Michael] gathered himself. A soft pat on the hard chitin of the gentle guide.
The grip released slowly, he saw his companion hovering close. Rosa below having finally realized the situation and slowing her descent to match. The drone falling in closer.
"[Michael]?" A soft hand gripped his shoulders. Locking their shoulders so they stay connected like divers did before. Rosa entered the frequency range just below cursing as she struggled to slow herself more. Attempting to get closer faster to comfort him.
A laugh rang out through the frequency.
"I am blessed with a great life. A wonderous journey, blessed experiences, and more. But none would be possible without my companions. I am bolstered by the two of you and I apologize for my lapse. The view is beautiful and I would be honored to complete the descent with you two."
A kind smile and brief nod and the two plummeted down in silence to catch up to Rosa. [Marigold] slithered downward at a distance keeping the drone company. The scene of the three friends in a linked circle falling together stored forevermore.
As clouds zipped by and the view panned further and closer. They laughed and cheered in unison the joy overtaking the fear of [Michaels] joints locking up. The wind was nothing but an orchestra to the songs of friendship they sung in their descent.
With the ground nearing closer and the VI alerted them of their proximity they activated their grav chutes and the journey was completed as they fluttered to the ground. Medical was waiting and ran a check over on all of them but focusing heavily on [Michael].
------------------------------------------
The trio are safe and continue their journey to this day. [Michael] survived with several injuries including dislocating every arm he had. His recording and medical data allowed for the first of many Vesha to attempt such acts with proper assistance.
Injuries are consistent across their species. Terrans survive with little to no ailments. Lyisu are tough by nature though in failure of equipment will not cause death but debilitating injuries. Vesha often find themselves with issues concerning their joints after such an activity.
As such this activity is rated unsafe for standard participation. Do such Terran activities at your own risk.
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______________________________
Thanks for reading as always! This is a continuation of my Surviving For Fun series. I guess I'll keep the name SFF as the nickname for this canon? I think a more light hearted series is nice.
Sorry for the delay, when reddit returned after going down I was hit by the draft bug. Should be fixed and gone now though. Back to weekly updates!
Hope you all enjoyed.

My wife and I are living separately and likely headed for divorce. Based in DC with no kids. We each have six figure incomes, although she makes close to double my current salary. I purchased the condo I am currently living in before we got married, although she contributed to monthly mortgage payments while we were living together (both before and during marriage).
I am trying to determine the best way to fairly determine/assign tax liability. Seems best for us to still file married jointly but how do we fairly figure out who should get refund/pay tax bill? I seemingly have the most to gain from filing jointly, as it allows me to itemize tax deductions, which is significant given property ownership and SALT. But my wife also benefits from the lower rate(s) that come with filing together vs. separately.

Wow... it's been three years and three months since I got dumped. I still haven't moved on. She is happy with all the vacations and partying. I was a happy man who focused on growing in my career. I dated this girl for nine months and was exhausted when I got dumped. Although I felt I was changing my values and personality to match her tastes, I did not dare call it quits. I thought she had other good things to offer and trusted that there was good in her. And then the dumping from nowhere and no reason. I got no closer. I moved to her city ten days ago, and she then criticized me for how my apartment looked. The irony is I asked her for feedback before I signed the lease for the apt. And she was okay with the apartment at that time. I was a fool shopping around to furnish the apt for the ten days I was in. She also selected an engagement ring and made me order it about two days before I got dumped. 15K for the ring and 10K for the furniture. 3K for breaking the lease. I moved to her city, thinking I would never be alone again, and everything came crashing down.
It's just not fair. For the first time, I felt I should only love myself and not anyone else. I had never heard of the saying "Love yourself first" until that moment. Now I'm here in the new city with no close friends, and I could not reach out to the few people I had acquainted with for the sheer embarrassment of telling them she had left. My confidence hit rock bottom. Felt like I needed to be better. What's weird about all this is on one side, I'm sure that the problem is not me. But the very next moment, I start questioning myself. This has been my story for over three years now. No energy for self-care. No interest in taking responsibility at work. I am barely meeting deadlines to get paid and keep the job.
​
My friend called her to ask what had happened in 10 days. She accused me of many things and had no problem telling my friend I had no personality and that I slept a lot. But if these were the problems, she never discussed them with me. I was stupid to listen to the phone conversation my friend, and she was having. I wanted to know what she had to say and maybe get some closure. I was there for a month, hoping that she would come back. It was like I could only be happy if I could get her back. And finally gave up after 45 days and decided to move back to my city. Then I get an email from her. "Hey, just checking to make sure you are doing okay." I was like are you kidding me? I wrote back and said, "I don't think you give a damn about me. You want me gone from this city and probably thinking I might harm you. I will not visit your place and will not harass you. I'm any way leaving the city in the next few days."
After three days, she writes back: "No, I genuinely wanted to know if you were doing okay." In my head, I was like, I already told her that I'm leaving the city soon, but why is she still writing back? I was so sure, based on how she treated me in the past, that this was not her feeling concern for me, just that she wanted to know the actual date I'm moving back, so I wrote back and said " I know you wanted to know when I'm moving back so, I'm leaving on Saturday (which is two days from the day I sent the email). My stupid ass still thought she would at least give me a farewell. I hoped she would offer to meet at a coffee shop. That did not happen. Then I thought she would call me over the phone and wish me good luck. That did not happen. Then I thought she probably wanted me to settle down in my city for a week or so and hoped she would at least send me an email wishing me luck. But nothing happened. I can't imagine there can be anyone with no heart after all the care and love I showed her.
​
I was 35 when I got dumped. I wasted three more years doing nothing. I want to tell people going through a similar situation like me to move on. It is super hard to do, but we need to try. I'm cleaning my apt starting today. I'm so weak I will probably take ten days to clean the apt. But a lovely, clean home is the first starting point. Start eating healthy and quit all the vices. In about 15 days, I will hit the gym and be a better version of myself. I'm good at my job and will start learning new things to progress in my career. I wished I had some family and a few friends with me during these challenging times, but unfortunately, I'm an immigrant, and my family couldn't visit due to covid travel restrictions. I was not willing to have my friends around. It was like I needed my own space with no one around, which was a big mistake. Be with people all the time. The best way to move on is to get busy and do things that make you happier. Plenty of people are also looking for love, and making a change by first making ourselves look better is the only way to find someone.
​
During this time, I learned about narcissism, a concept I had never heard of before or had no idea how it could tear apart a partner's life. So much shit out there we need to protect ourselves before we make a decision on a relationship. Always watch out for the red flags. If there is no open communication, if the partner doesn't address your concerns, just quit. A marriage is a long-term commitment where both the people in the relationship need to support, understand, compromise, and grow together old in a healthy manner. If someone in the relationship is toxic and their ideas don't align with the family's best interests, dump that person no matter how much they had to offer. It is better to have a loving dog than someone pulling you down. Some people only take but give nothing back. Learn from the red flags and run as fast and as soon as you find them.
​
Most importantly, don't attach yourself to the new person you meet. See if they are right for you. You will know if they are right for you with how you get treated. It took four months to start seeing the red flags in my relationship, but I had already invested in this relationship and did not dare to break it. Only if I can shower more love can I get her to love me more. Nope, shit doesn't work that way. So lesson learned. Next time, your job is to learn about the person and only fall in love with the person once you genuinely get to know the person.
​
Just to emphasize how hard it is to move on and start the healing process, know that I wrote this message you read three years ago, but I could not do anything. Days pass, and then they become months and then years. Same shit, and you will get older. I will try again, but I can pull this off this time. GLTA. Stay strong and work on yourself.

AN: WOOHOO I CAN FINALLY RELEASE THE FIRST CHAPTER OF MY NEXT BOOK!
​
It was raining, a light but persistent drizzle that soaks clothing through and through. Though the humidity and heat of Spring in a swamp permeated everything, the rain somehow made it even more uncomfortable. A thick silence lay over the darkness with the only exception being a very faint sing-song tone that could be heard in the distance, the sounds of a formation run in full swing. But beyond that, the base was still sleeping the grumpy snooze of Marines who weren’t really ready to face the new day yet.
Down a darkened street lay the building. Illuminated only by a single, sickly orange street lamp, it appeared that whatever architect had been responsible for the building’s design had really phoned it in on that day. It was a purely functional concrete rectangle with concrete stairs leading to a concrete landing that gave entrance to tired workers with no appreciation for cinder block motifs. Bright green patches of grass were only just managing to survive thanks to SgtMaj’s lifelong ordinance against pedestrians on his lawn, enforced at the point of a knife-hand.
On the ground, pressed up against the construction in what looked like a boring game of the-floor-is-lava, they sat. Shoulder to shoulder, lined up in a neat row, taking advantage of the mere six inches of protection against the elements provided by a high up ledge, Marines quietly waited for things to kick off and get worse. No one was talking. It was far too early in the morning to exercise one’s vocal chords and anyhow, they would be forced from their sulky silence any minute by the platoon sergeant.
Klobi stared blankly at her green running shorts, moving her gaze to the white running shoes and socks. Well, they used to be white. The platoon sergeant’s enthusiasm for running on low-impact surfaces, i.e. grass had fixed that right up. With a mix of exhaustion and low-grade anxiety about the immediate future, she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her green t-shirt. Should she have gotten up a bit earlier and shaved her legs before coming out here? Then again, does anyone really care about prickly stubble after a couple miles? Whatever was going to happen next was entirely out of her hands. The gentle susurration of Marines shifting around in a futile quest for comfort was the only sound. Oh, and the rain.
Softly, from the front of the line, someone muttered, “Yip”
A full second passed. Then another green-clad Marine repeated, “Yiiiip.”
“Yip yip yip…” chattered the next guy, faintly, as if the sound might be giving too much away. But Klobi could hear the wall of silence developing cracks.
“Yipyipyipyipyip” repeated the girl next to her. With no more words exchanged, the whole line suddenly broke out in the monosyllabic repetition.
“YEEEEIP, yip, yip, yip, yip, yip”, multiple voices joined in, all out of rhythm with one another. Then the base section at the very end started with their own contribution.
“UHHH huh, UHHH huh!” Within seconds, a disjointed cacophony was in full swing.
“YEEEEIP, yip, yip, yip, (UHHH huh, UHHH huh), yipyipyip, YEEEEIP…”
This went on for nearly two minutes and then, just like that, they fell silent. An intruder had been detected. A voice from off in the parking lot barked, “COMM PLATOON! FORM UP!”
Uggh. It was time to PT.
A couple of hours later, the gang were sitting in the chow hall picking at their government issued breakfasts. Today’s meal was low grade hash browns, eggs, fried ham slices, and slimy grey goop with chunks in it that the cooks claimed was meat from some named domesticated animal despite appearances. It didn’t look any more appetizing under the painfully bright fluorescent lights. The hall filled with the sounds of competing televisions tuned into the morning news shows and complaining Marines.
"I swear they put saltpeter in the food." Crannick muttered darkly, poking at his scrambled eggs with the cheap tin fork. "Every time we come here for breakfast, my junk don't work for the rest of the day."
"What, like you can't pee?" Tran asked around a mouthful of food. "Because that sounds like you should hit medical." He stabbed a piece of bacon that shattered on impact.
"No! No, I can pee just fine." Crannick grumbled.
"Why is this our breakfast convo, for fuck sake?" Klobi hated how they couldn't even get early mornings right. She smeared jam on toast, preferring that over anything that was cooked in the chow hall kitchens. At least she knew what was in it.
Ignoring her, Crannick pressed on. "I mean I should probably ask doc for some Viagra if I have to keep eating these disgusting eggs."
"So you're saying..." Klobi started to grin.
“Shut up, Klo.”
"I know a guy who can get Viagra for you. Cheap too, so you don't have to tell doc anything." Dawson contributed graciously. “He gets all kinds of stuff.”
"...Crannick is a broke dick?" Klobi looked quite chuffed with her own jokes as usual.
"It's not funny, Klobi!" He turned Dawson. "And is that even legal? Can we buy pills?"
"Long as you are quiet about it. Lots of Marines do." Dawson made a face as he drank some of the weird tasting milk the chow hall dispensed daily. He was the only person Klobi had ever seen actually drink it.
“Oh yeah? Who’s selling it?” Tran asked, entirely unaware of the street rules about naming names. Speaking names could catch the attention of the blue falcons and no one was having any of that if they could help it. Dawson shot him a dirty look and kept eating.
"If you pissed your pants, could we call the resulting puddle Lake Flaccid?"
"I'm leaving, Klobi had no idea how a penis works." As Crannick collected his tray, the others snickered. " Thanks, Dawson." With that, he left to dump his trash.
His departure lulled the conversation briefly. The shop report time was drawing closer no matter how they tried to ignore it. The brief window between PT and work was never enough.
"Who's he trying to perform for anyway? The Green Weenie doesn’t care if his thing works." Tran finished the last of his coffee and stood up. "Time hack?"
Dawson checked his watch, "0745. Let's get going."
They rose together from the benches and made their way out of the chow hall. As they approached the area to dump their trays and make their exit, Klobi saw a small, bleak table that had been set up ceremonially towards the front of the cafeteria. There was one like it in every mess hall in the Marine Corps, no matter where they were. The tablecloth was black. A single white candle sat unlit in the middle of the tiny dining surface and a single chair was sat on the right side. A neatly folded black cloth napkin lay beside a single white plate that was always empty. A bread plate held one single slice of lemon with a salt shaker sitting adjacent to the plate. There was never silverware beside the plates. No point. No one ever sat there and no one ever would. It would be sacrilege.
She took her eyes off the somber scene to toss the last of her uneaten eggs in the industrial waste collectors and stack her tray for washing before following her friends out the door.
As Klobi climbed the steps to the shop, she winced. The run that morning had made her legs sore already and she’d probably be barely able to walk by evening. But she’d be damned if she’d let that show when the others were bounding up the stairs two at a time.
“What are you all in such a hurry for?” she griped.
At the top of the stairs, Tran held the door as Dawson and Klobi went in. Compared to the muggy, suffocating air outside, the air conditioning hit like winter. Despite her muscle aches, Klobi sighed with pleasure. Air conditioning reminded her that it could always be a lot worse. She could’ve gone infantry and missed out on the joys of civilization for the entire enlistment.
Just before entering the shop, they paused at the wall of tiny metal lockers. Taking her phone out, Klobi set it on silent and then dropped it in one of the top lockers, closing the door and taking the key. In accordance with some universal law on abandoned cell phones, someone’s locked up device was playing a ring tone at max volume inside it’s locker. The owner had probably thought the ring tone was clever and individual, but it sounded damn silly on repeat as whomever was trying to call him couldn’t take a hint.
“Sounds like Hileman’s phone.” Dawson tried to get a good look at the locker number.
“How do you know? Besides the shit taste in music, I mean.” Klobi pointed to the offending locker as she was closer.
“What are you talking about? This tune was a banger.”
“Was. Oh well, guess we found our lunch flyer for the day.”
Anyone who didn’t put their device on silent became responsible for the shop’s chow run later. They’d have to take everyone’s order and then suffer the trip to the PX where the fast food joints were. This was also in accordance with universal laws that when a Marine catches another Marine slipping up, there will be some sort of fine levied informally. Especially if the violation was leaving their email open while they went to the head. Ooo-boy, that one was always a hit with the shop.
Stripped of all their devices, the three went to the door and swiped in. The data center might be air conditioned but it was also locked down against unauthorized entry. The Marines who worked in there, like many POG shops, treated their access as a rare privilege. More importantly, there was always internet.
They spread out to their separate desks, positioned all over the watch floor as they each jockeyed for some privacy. There was no other way to pretend to be doing work and if another Marine was sitting right next to you all day it ruined the illusion. Tran disappeared to the vault, his happy place in an otherwise confusing world.
“What’s the deal with Tran?” Dawson asked. “He’s cool and all but I think he might be gay.”
“Impossible” snapped Crannick. “He has boot bands on.”
Klobi snorted.
Dawson’s expression changed with mounting confusion.
“What do boot bands have to do with anything?”
Like any role playing game, and the Marine Corps during peace time bears a great resemblance to a bad one, Marines ascribed certain intangible qualities to otherwise boring (but required) uniform items. For example, Marines who had to wear red patches on their cammies[1] were considered to have AIDS and boot bands eliminated any possibility that your sex life leaned towards homosexuality[2]. The famous Marine dress blues gave the wearer +10 to sex appeal but that was nerfed by -20 when they inevitably started talking.
“He’s a jay-dub, Dawson. Poor kid probably doesn’t even know there’s more than one gender.” Klobi stretched as she talked, making her voice crack a bit when she got to the best part of her back muscles. “Oooooh gods, that’s good.”
Tran was in fact a Jehovah’s Witness. Or at least his family was. The Marine Corps was coming as quite a shock for him.
“Why do you care anyway? You trying to hit that?” Crannick leered at Dawson. “Forget your own bootbands for moment there?”
Dawson just shook his head and laughed. “He’s just…weird. I don’t know anyone back home that’s that innocent out of diapers. But he’s able to absolutely smoke everyone at PT, so yeah, I guess, who cares?”
Back in the barracks that evening, Klobi lay sprawled across her rack, thumbing through a paperback book. Her laptop was open streaming some YouTube channel for background noise, something she rarely did without headphones. This time, however, there was no roommate to bother. She didn’t have the room to herself exactly, although there were so few women in the battalion that single occupancy was not uncommon. It was just that her roommate, Sullivan, was dating another lance corporal, LCpl Hileman, down the hall. Hileman’s roommate had recently rotated out to another duty station and the barracks manager had yet to assign him a new one. That gave Hileman the rare privilege of having his own room, albeit temporarily. From what Klobi had heard, Hileman was using every available means of persuasion short of blunt force trauma and bomb threats to keep this state of affairs going.
The main benefit to Klobi was that, since Hileman’s room was private for now, Sullivan rarely slept in Klobi’s room.
Sully was a nice enough girl, although a bit naive in Klobi’s opinion. She had the look of a strawberry. Bright red hair, chubby oval face, freckles, pale skin that was prone to blushing at even mildly saucy comments, and bright green eyes, Sullivan looked way too innocent to be a Marine. Klobi knew better. The girl swore profusely, albeit in her squeaky high-pitched voice. It was like listening to a drunken chipmunk who’d caught his missus chipmunk with extra nuts.
Klobi shifted in her bed and tried to get back into her book. It was rough, considering she had just read the same paragraph four times but had not gotten any closer to understanding it. She flipped back a couple of pages and started over.
“In the universe, all things trend towards higher and higher states of entropy. Low entropy can be described as a closed system with a very neat order to things and little change, but if you break the system, entropy begins to increase almost immediately…”
She yawned. It was unfair that she so desperately wanted to be more knowledgeable and well educated while at the same time being as easily distractible as a kitten in a yarn factory. No sooner had she read one sentence than her own mind began formulating examples of the idea, until she was daydreaming and an hour later had forgotten the book entirely.
What did entropy have to do with anything? Well, it was pretty damn certain that just as soon as she had gotten things settled and neatly ordered that circumstance would lob a fragmentation grenade into the mix and then giggle with anticipation. Was it the fate of all ordered things to be utterly destroyed by chance? Was chaos never going to ultimately wipe out all possibility of order and sense? What, when you get right down to it, is in it for the universe? Is slam-dancing its way to surly oblivion the only method of locomotion that universes know?
Klobi sighed and closed the book, tossing it to the other side of the bed. Maybe being intelligent had a too crazy a syllabus to be worth it. It wasn’t doing her much good anyway. The more thoughtful she became, the less she fit in with her squad. Crannick, Dawson, and Tran weren’t the kind of folk to be impressed by quotations from Faust. They were more likely to stare in awe and wonder if Klobi were to pee standing up or knock someone out. She started to feel like their low standards were either telling her a major fact about people or else she was missing the real path to wisdom through controlled expectations and grotesque physical humor.
It seemed nature had designed Klobi to not fit in anyway. She dug around under her bed for her locker where she kept small personal items and put the book away. It was late and sleep would come and give her that wonderful feeling of eyeball ache that meant she’d be unconscious soon. No point struggling to understand eternity without its consent, she thought. It probably could not care less about the comprehensions of a hairless ape sitting in a swamp. Anyway, she thought, what, when you get right down to it, is in it for me?
She decided to visit the smoke pit before getting ready for bed. If there was anything going on, that’s where she’d learn about it. Besides, the odds were almost certain that the guys would be out there too.
In the darkness outside, the outline of a wooden gazebo that served as the barracks smoke pit was cast in the fluorescent lights from the barracks rooms. It stood at the far end of the courtyard, providing a vantage point where Marines could see the catwalks, sidewalks, and open windows of at least three floors of the building while they ingested their tobacco of choice. Two old instant coffee cans were placed at opposing corners of the entrance for butt disposal and one of them was charred from a small fire in the recent past. On her way out there, Klobi had knocked on Crannick’s door to invite him to the pit with her. He almost always said yes.
"I think he's up to no good." Klobi scowled. She lounged on one of the benches, pausing to admire the profane graffiti etched into the seat. Phallic fascination knew no bounds in the Marines. Maybe it was like ancient Rome, where dicks pointed the way to the good times. "Huh? He's like the chilliest SNCO in the company." Crannick had an annoying habit of trying to see the best in their leadership. “What did he do to you?”
"I just think," Klobi sniffed, "that he's a wolf in sheep's clothing." There was a slightly too long pause.
"What the fuck are you talking about? Is this your idea of some sort of zoological conspiracy?" Crannick really hated when Klobi got metaphorical.
Klobi rolled her eyes. "I'm saying that- "
"Hey, either of y'all got a smoke?" A new Marine joined them in the smoke pit and Crannick graciously offered him a menthol. As the lighter flared, Klobi could see it was LCpl Dawson.
"What's up, Dawson?" She took a pull from her own cigarette. "Living the dream." His southern drawl was even thicker with sarcasm. "Sup with you guys?"
"Klobi here is getting awfully agrarian about laundry day. " Crannick snickered.
Dawson frowned. "What? What’s that mean?" "I fucking hate you." Klobi sighed.
"What's wrong with her?" Dawson asked Crannick.
"She's been drinking the tap water." Camp Lejeune's tap water was legendary for its malignant properties and the on-base water treatment plant served every barracks, leading to some disturbing speculation on its potential as a source of chemical poisoning.
"Hey Doc!" Crannick hollered to the corpsman, Doc (PO3) Ellis, who had just emerged from the barracks. "You got anything in your bag for an idiom addiction? Klobi needs a fix stat!"
"I might actually stab you, Cranberry." Klobi got her own back by occasionally reminding him that his nickname was a fruit. “We’re talking about GySgt Castor, Dawson. Crannick seems to think he’s a swell guy.”
“No, I don’t. Stop putting words in my mouth.”
“Anything to shut you up.”
“Look, I agree that GySgt Castor is kind of a bastard. He’s just not as big a bastard as you think he is.”
Klobi privately reflected that Crannick was sort of right. GySgt Castor wasn’t a bastard, as such. It was more like he had the general temperament and charm of a demonically possessed wood chipper with a personality disorder. That was fine as far as the Marine Corps was concerned, but it was also a few steps beyond ‘bastard’. She couldn’t fathom why Crannick, or anyone at all besides GySgt Castor’s mother, would ever defend the man.
“He doesn’t sign you up for duty every single time the roster comes around.” Klobi snapped. “Or fail your room inspection for having dust on a pineapple.” She added, wondering to herself how one dusts a pineapple in the first place.
“Well, get good at the job then. If you’re crucial to the shop, you might find you’re less of a target for being voluntold.” Crannick flicked his ashes. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“I’ve had barracks duty, chow hall duty, battalion duty, and been sent to motor T to do preventive maintenance on the one humvee we have, all in the last six months.” Klobi took a drag. “No one is that big of a shit bird.”
“Don’t take it personally, Klobi. Crannick’s shit at the job too. He only gets by because he can run good.” Dawson smirked. “If we ever have to retreat, Crannick will be leading the way.”
Doc Ellis wandered up to join them in the dark of the gazebo. He pulled out a tin of shewing tobacco and began to pack it industriously. “How’s everyone doing?” He took a big pinch from the can and began lining his lower lip with a wad the size of a slug. It looked just as appealing.
“Hey Doc. We’re good.” Klobi grinned, thinking back to breakfast. “Actually, Crannick here has some questions for you regarding his-”
“OH BOY, would you look at the time? We’ve got PT tomorrow, y’all. Guess I’d better head back to my room!” Crannick stood up from the bench and shot her one more dirty look as he was leaving.
“Y’all need to quit smoking.” Doc Ellis said, pausing to spit into a reused plastic beverage bottle he always had with him. “It’s really bad for you.”
“Thanks Doc, I’ll forget you said that. Night all.” With that, Crannick departed, leaving the others to trickle away on their own.
“Yeah, that’s it for me too. Good night Doc, Dawson. See y’all tomorrow.” Klobi stretched and yawned, stumbling back to her room for the night.
​
And somewhere, two burly strong men shared an aggressive handshake and immediately exploded in splooge supernovas of epic scale.
​
The End. (For now)
[1] Their proper name is ‘landing support specialists’
​
[2] It does not matter if you then attend a sixty person same sex orgy, so long as you wore boot bands while you did it.

A magic circle appears on the ground in front of the ancient ruins. The group is transported to the entrance in a flash of light. John falls to his knees and starts to cry.
"It killed them," he screams.
John continues to sob uncontrollably. Kiera attempts to comfort him, but he lashes out. He pushes her away and starts to draw his sword. Marcus lunges to protect Kiera just as the sword's tip is removed from the sheath. In one swooping motion, John swings at Marcus. Luckily, because of his state of mind, John misses. Lilith walks up to John and flicks him on the forehead. John's eyes glaze over; his legs give out and he falls to the ground.
"What the hell was that?" Marcus questions.
"A simple paralysis spell," Lilith explains.
"Not that; why did he attack Kiera?"
"He didn't intentionally attack her. The orb fractured his mind, and Kiera was the closest when it finally broke."
"How the hell do you know so much about that orb thing?"
"My father told me stories from the war."
Marcus looks at Lilith, waiting for her to elaborate. "Would you care to fill us in?"
The group decides to make camp near the ruins before returning to Arcadia. Lilith sets up a tent for John and tends to the paralysis spell she placed on him while Marcus and Kiera start a campfire. After Lilith confirmed John's vital signs were normal, she started cooking dinner. She serves Marcus and Kiera a hot bowl of steaming venison stew. They start eating, waiting for Lilith to begin her story.
"At the beginning of the war, 8 years ago, two armies from the elf and human nations met in a field near a human village. The war had not yet begun, and this battle was over territory encroachment. The nearby village was expanding, and the humans needed more land to cultivate food for the growing population. The elves, however, claimed the forest to be theirs. In the middle of the battle, soldiers from both sides stop suddenly to look at a glowing red orb that appeared in the sky over the village. It stayed there for several minutes. It didn't move, didn't change in size or color. It just sat there. The fighting had stopped; it seemed to be a gift from the gods. But, just as the soldiers were heading back to camp, the orb disappeared, and a powerful shockwave destroyed the village. Some of the soldiers even reported feeling the shockwave from 4 furlongs away. The humans accused the elves of the destruction and retaliated by destroying an elven village, and the war started. My father and I were the only survivors when our village got destroyed by those disgusting…." Lilith pauses to take a deep breath. She cannot allow her emotions to control her.
"None of this makes sense," Kiera says.
"What do you mean?" Marcus asks.
"“None of this makes sense,” Kiera says.
First, why would an orb from 8 years ago be seen here in century-old ruins? And secondly, why were they reported to be a base for goblins when that is obviously not the case."
"Maybe someone has a sick sense of humor?" Lilith suggests.
The group is interrupted as John emerges from his tent and joins them by the fire.
"How are you feeling?" Lilith asks.
"A bit nauseous," he says.
Lilith prepares a bowl of stew broth and hands it to John, "This should help."
"I overheard you talking about the quest, and I had a crazy thought," John says as he slowly sips the broth. "When I met you, Marcus, you said you already had a quest."
"That is right," Marcus says. "The Guild master personally asked us to complete it."
"So, if you were picked for the job, someone may be targeting you three."
Marcus, Kiera, and Lilith look at each other in bewilderment. They can't believe the guild master would be involved in such a heinous plot.
John notices their concerned looks and tries to reassure them, "the job was probably passed through many hands before it reached the guild master. Whoever this person is, they're covering their tracks."
The four adventurers sit silently by the fire, contemplating their next move. Marcus and Kiera decide it's best if they get some sleep and continue formulating a plan in the morning. They head to their tents while Lilith and John remain by the fire.
"I'm sure you have many questions," Lilith says
"I do, but first, why do you trust me?" John asks.
"Because you have lost everything as I have."
"But we lost them in different ways. I lost mine to a powerful unknown entity while humans killed yours. So again, why do you trust me, a human?"
"I do not hate a person just because they are the same race that destroyed my village. And you did not learn about the orb until about an hour ago."
"I had already known the orb wasn't of elven origin 2 years after the incident. I was determined to find the one that killed my family. Throughout my research, I discovered that no dark elf can produce something of that magnitude."
"Well, uh...yes and no. No dark elf, as you call us, has the magical capacity to achieve something on that scale, but there is a race of elves on the northern continent who can."
Lilith explains that after her village was attacked, she began having nightmares. One occurred over and over again about a man with no name and no face. It seemed as if he would appear in her dreams purposefully. He would greet her as if they knew each other and show her his magic power.
"Are you telling me you can create an orb like the one in the ruins…?" John asks.
"yes," Lilith replies.
John stares silently at the campfire as he processes this new information.
"I'm not involved in any of this if that's what you're thinking," Lilith says defensively.
"Sure you aren’t. It was quite convenient that you put up the barrier only after the orb nearly killed us all."
"I said we needed to leave. Marcus and Kiera listened to me, but you were in shock."
John picks up a piece of firewood and tosses it on the fire. "It's going to be difficult trusting you in the future."
Lilith stands up, "why don't you sleep on it. We can discuss it more tomorrow." Lilith leaves John by the fire and walks toward her tent. She hears a faint rustling in the bushes near the forest's edge. She looks back to see John still staring into the fire. She turns back toward the woods, holds her out hands, and casts 'detect thoughts.'
"Hello, my dear Lilith," A voice says in her mind.
Lilith's eyes grow wide as she recognizes the voice. It is the man who appeared in her dreams.