Burgundy nail designs

Aimeili

2019.07.01 08:25 Aimeiligelpolish Aimeili

AIMEILI, your better option for nail products. Find us on our brand website, Amazon or eBay. Note: All products are cruelty free and vegan friendly!

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2020.01.17 02:41 dutchgurl00 DIYnails

Share your favourite DIY nail polish designs 💅🏻

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2019.11.25 15:06 storm_e_sky PressOnNails

I am a novice press-on nail designer and I design whatever comes to mind. Because most of us cannot afford the nail salon prices (or, can't afford the time) I've created a community where we can show-off our designs, our nails, and our ideas. If you find cute, pre-designed press-on nails, be sure to share them here! Let's ball on a budget :)

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2023.05.28 17:44 fullnihilism Advice for someone hard on their nails

I've been wanting to ask this for a while but wasn't sure if it was allowed, if it isn't obvs please let me know.
TL;DR I'm very hard on my nails and am hoping for tips to have longer lasting nails that won't tear up my nail beds, ensuring I can get them year round?
I'm am owner operator of a small dog grooming salon so my hands are in water and soap all day and I am always bumping them on stuff etc. Also my natural nails are not naturally very thick. I've really only gotten gel (before i did this work) or acrylic nails with gel polish over the years and I find the latter is the only thing that truly lasts more than a couple weeks. I get a fill every 3 weeks when I'm getting them done. I've noticed many add on like getting chrome powder or designs make them chip sooner so I don't get them. I generally get oval or ballerina shape. Still, I'll have 1-2 fall off between fills.
I often have to stop getting them at some point and let my nails heal because with the nails that fall off they just start to get too thin. I haven't had them in 4 months now and I MISS MY NAILS SO MUCH.
My question is, is there anything I can do in the type of nails I'm getting, the place I'm going, the amount I'm going, in between care etc that will enable me to keep getting them year round? I've only tried polygel and dips at home and they literally just peel off or start to crack after one day of work. Help!

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2023.05.28 17:23 Fungames5420 What ChatGPT thinks about the Super Giant

Hey Clashers!
I just wanted to take a moment and share my thoughts on the Super Giant in Clash of Clans. As a dedicated player, I've had the opportunity to experiment with this powerful unit, and I must say, it has left quite an impression on me.
First off, let's talk about its appearance. The Super Giant looks absolutely stunning! It's larger than life, towering over everything in its path. The attention to detail is commendable, from the intricate armor to the menacing expression on its face. Supercell definitely nailed the visual design of this colossal warrior.
When it comes to performance, the Super Giant lives up to its name. It packs a serious punch, demolishing walls and buildings with ease. Its high hit points make it a formidable tank, capable of soaking up damage and protecting other troops behind it. This makes it an excellent choice for those intense ground assaults.
What I particularly appreciate about the Super Giant is its ability to spawn regular Giants upon death. This unique feature adds an extra layer of strategy to gameplay. If you're smart and deploy your Super Giants strategically, you can create a chain reaction of reinforcements that catches your opponents off guard. It's a satisfying feeling to watch those Giants continue the fight even after their colossal comrade falls.
However, like any unit, the Super Giant has its drawbacks. Its slow movement speed can be a bit frustrating at times, especially when you're trying to keep up the pace of an attack. Additionally, air units can easily bypass the Super Giant, rendering it useless against certain base layouts. These limitations remind us that balance is essential in maintaining a fair and enjoyable gaming experience.
In conclusion, the Super Giant is an impressive addition to Clash of Clans. Its imposing presence, raw power, and unique spawn ability make it an exciting unit to use on the battlefield. It brings a fresh dynamic to attack strategies and keeps the game engaging for both veteran and new players alike.
So, fellow Clashers, what are your thoughts on the Super Giant? Have you had the chance to utilize this colossal warrior in your raids? Share your experiences and strategies in the comments below! Clash on!

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2023.05.28 17:20 Ilja003 Brutal honesty about Bryan Trailer

I was excited for a quick second. We all knew we are gonna see a Bryan trailer this weekend. So its actually not that suprising. I went to YouTube after i woke up, scrolled a little than saw the thumbnail of Bryan and i was like: "Oh, it happened". Save for later - Kept scrolling
This is the first time ever where I reacted like this to a Tekken Trailer since the T7 announcement back at Evo 2014.
Idk if its because of the fact it got leaked, or I dont care about Bryan or if I find his design just boring. Since Bryan had the potential to have a crazy design in T8, I was actually excited to see it. But its literally the same with little changes. The 4Chan leaks back in 2021 even sounded better with that eye loss and robotic parts beeing exposed sounded much cooler and more fitting. But the robotic eye detail in the trailer and the rivalry with Paul was a nice touch. And the announcer nailed it again!
Overall i found the trailer mostly uninteresting. Especially the bad lighting is sending me off everytime when a Rage Art is launched where the background becomes blueish/redish. But I get it it's still in development and I have some hope. I mean look at the difference we got from T7 -> T7 FR within a year.
Or maybe all thats just because we are able to watch it only in 1080p because theres no official trailer from BNE with their 4k trailers out yet. It would be nice if this was a trick and they gonna surprise us with a second trailer later.
Otherwise Its really the time to show off something else. New Characters/Stages/Costumes, Game Modes, Release Dates, … These character trailers are too predictable and are less exciting.
But I must say. Those trailers are very exciting when the characters get an unique T8 design such as Jin, Law, Paul, Jack-8, Nina, Jun and Hwoarang. They just look so different and it fits the theme which made the whole thing more interesting.
What about you?

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2023.05.28 16:34 AlertCucumber4179 Nail Salons that can hand-paint detailed designs? I’d like to get a design inspired by this album art and logo but don’t know of any salons in the Cleveland area that could do this.

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2023.05.28 14:31 AnderLouis_ Hail and Farewell (George Moore) - Book 3: Vale, Chapter 11.2

PODCAST: https://ayearofwarandpeace.podbean.com/e/ep1572-hail-and-farewell-george-moore-vale-chapter-112/
PROMPTS: George does not care about you, whatsoever.
Today's Reading, via Project Gutenberg:
Borde could not enlighten him on that point, and I suggested that he should make application to the publisher of his Prayer-Book and get his money back. There is nobody. I said, like him. He is more wonderful than anything in literature. I prefer him to Sancho who was untroubled with a conscience and never thought of running to the Bishop of Toledo. All the same he is not without the shrewdness of his ancestors, and got the better of Archbishop Walsh, and for the last five years Vincent O'Brien has been beating time, and will beat it till the end of his life; and he will be succeeded by others, for Edward has, by deed, saved the Italian contrapuntalists till time everlasting from competition with modern composers. He certainly has gotten the better of Walsh. And I thought of a picture-gallery in Dublin with nothing in it but Botticelli and his school, and myself declaring that all painting that had been done since had no interest for me.... A smile began to spread over my face, for the story that was coming into my mind seemed oh! so humorous, so like Ireland, so like Edward, that I began to tell myself again the delightful story of the unrefined ears that, weary of erudite music, had left the cathedral and sought instinctively modern tunes and women's voices, and as these were to be found in Westland Row the church was soon overflowing with a happy congregation. But in a little while the collections grew scantier. This time it couldn't be Palestrina, and all kinds of reasons were adduced. At last the truth could no longer be denied—the professional Catholics of Merrion Square had been driven out of Westland Row by the searching smells of dirty clothes, and had gone away to the University Church in Stephen's Green. So if it weren't Palestrina directly it was Palestrina indirectly, and the brows of the priests began to knit when Edward Martyn's name was mentioned. Them fal-de-dals is well enough on the Continent, in Paris, where there is no faith, was the opinion of an important ecclesiastic. But we don't want them here, murmured a second ecclesiastic. All this counterpoint may make a very pretty background for Mr Martyn's prayers, but what about the poor people's? Good composer or bad composer, there is no congregation in him, said a third. There's too much congregation, put in the first, but not the kind we want! The second ecclesiastic took snuff, and the group were of opinion that steps should be taken to persuade dear Edward to make good their losses. The priests in Marlborough Street sympathised with the priests of Westland Row, and told them that they were so heavily out of pocket that Mr Martyn had agreed to do something for them. It seemed to the Westland Row priests that if Mr Martyn were making good the losses of the priests of the pro-Cathedral, he should make good their losses. It was natural that they should think so, and to acquit himself of all responsibility Edward no doubt consulted the best theologians on the subject, and I think that they assured him that he is not responsible for indirect losses. If he were, his whole fortune would not suffice. He was, of course, very sorry if a sudden influx of poor people had caused a falling-off in the collections of Westland Row, for he knew that the priests needed the money very much to pay for the new decorations, and to help them he wrote an article in the Independent praising the new blue ceiling, which seemed, so he wrote, a worthy canopy for the soaring strains of Palestrina.
Unfortunately rubbing salt into the wound, I said. A story that will amuse Dujardin and it will be great fun telling him in the shady garden at Fontainebleau how Edward, anxious to do something for his church, had succeeded in emptying two. All the way down the alleys he will wonder how Edward could have ever looked upon Palestrina's masses as religious music. The only music he will say, in which religious emotion transpires is plain-chant. Huysmans says that the Tantum Ergo or the Dies Irae, one or the other, reminds him of a soul being dragged out of purgatory, and it is possible that it does; but a plain-chant tune arranged in eight-part counterpoint cannot remind one of anything very terrible. Dujardin knows that Palestrina was a priest, and he will say: That fact deceived your friend, just as the fact of finding the Adeste Fideles among the plain-chant tunes deceived him. For of course I shall tell Dujardin that story too. It is too good to be missed. He is wonderful, Dujardin! I shall cry out in one of the sinuous alleys. There never was anybody like him! And I will tell him more soul-revealing anecdotes. I will say: Dujardin, listen. One evening he contended that the great duet at the end of Siegfried reminded him of mass by Palestrina. Dujardin will laugh, and, excited by his laughter, I will try to explain to him that what Edward sees is that Palestrina took a plain chant tune and gave fragments of it to the different voices, and in his mind these become confused with the motives of The Ring. You see, Dujardin, the essential always escapes him—the intention of the writer is hidden from him. I am beginning to understand your friend. He has, let us suppose, a musical ear that allows him to take pleasure in the music; but a musical ear will not help him to follow Wagner's idea—how, in a transport of sexual emotion, a young man and a young woman on a mountain-side awaken to the beauty of the life of the world. Dujardin's appreciations will provoke me, and I will say: Dujardin, you shouldn't be so appreciative. If I were telling you of a play I had written, it would be delightful to watch my idea dawning upon your consciousness; but I am telling you of a real man, and one that I shall never to able to get into literature. He will answer: We invent nothing; we can but perceive. And then, exhilarated, carried beyond myself, I will say: Dujardin, I will tell you something still more wonderful than the last gaffe. II gaffe dans les Quat'z Arts. He admires Ibsen, but you'd never guess the reason why—because he is very like Racine; both of them, he says, are classical writers. And do you know how he arrived at that point? Because nobody is killed on the stage in Racine or in Ibsen. He does not see that the intention of Racine is to represent men and women out of time and out of space, unconditioned by environment, and that the very first principle of Ibsen's art is the relation of his characters to their environment. In many passages he merely dramatises Darwin. There never was anybody so interesting as dear Edward, and there never will be anybody like him in literature ... I will explain why presently, but I must first tell you another anecdote. I went to see him one night, and he told me that the theme of the play he was writing was a man who had married a woman because he had lost faith in himself; the man did not know, however, that the woman had married him for the same reason, and the two of them were thinking—I have forgotten what they were thinking, but I remember Edward saying: I should like to suggest hopelessness. I urged many phrases, but he said: It isn't a phrase I want, but an actual thing. I was thinking of a broken anchor—that surely is a symbol of hopelessness. Yes, I said, no doubt, but how are you going to get a broken anchor into a drawing-room? I don't write about drawing-rooms. Well, living-rooms. It isn't likely that they would buy a broken anchor and put it up by the coal-scuttle.
There's that against it, he answered. If you could suggest anything better—What do you think of a library in which there is nothing but unacted plays? The characters could say, when there was nothing for them to do on the stage, that they were going to the library to read, and the library would have the advantage of reminding everybody of the garret in the Wild Duck. A very cruel answer, my friend, Dujardin will say, and I will tell him that I can't help seeing in Edward something beyond Shakespeare or Balzac. Now, tell me, which of these anecdotes I have told you is the most humorous? He will not answer my question, but a certain thoughtfulness will begin to settle in his face, and he will say: Everything with him is accidental, and when his memory fails him he falls into another mistake, and he amuses you because it is impossible for you to anticipate his next mistake. You know there is going to be one; there must be one, for he sees things separately rather than relatively. I am beginning to understand your friend.
You are, you are; you are doing splendidly. But you haven't told me, Dujardin, which anecdote you prefer. Stay, there is another one. Perhaps this one will help you to a still better understanding. When he brought The Heather Field and Yeats's play The Countess Cathleen to Dublin for performance, a great trouble of conscience awakened suddenly in him, and a few days before the performance he went to a theologian to ask him if The Countess Cathleen were a heretical work, and, if it were would Almighty God hold him responsible for the performance? But he couldn't withdraw Yeats's play without withdrawing his own, and it appears that he breathed a sigh of relief when a common friend referred the whole matter to two other theologians, and as these gave their consent Edward allowed the plays to go on; but Cardinal Logue intervened, and wrote a letter to the papers to say that the play seemed to him unfit for Catholic ears, and Edward would have withdrawn the plays if the Cardinal hadn't admitted in his letter that he had judged the play by certain extracts only.
He wishes to act rightly, but has little faith in himself; and what makes him so amusing is that he needs advice in aesthetics as well as in morals. We are, I said, Dujardin, at the roots of conscience. And I began to ponder the question what would happen to Edward if we lived in a world in which aesthetics ruled: I should be where Bishop Healy is, and he would be a thin, small voice crying in the wilderness—an amusing subject of meditation, from which I awoke suddenly.
I wonder how Dujardin is getting on with his Biblical studies? Last year he was calling into question the authorship of the Romans—a most eccentric view; and, remembering how weakly I had answered him, I took the Bible from the table and began to read the Epistle with a view to furnishing myself with arguments wherewith to confute him. My Bible opened at the ninth chapter, and I said: Why, here is the authority for the Countess Cathleen's sacrifice which Edward's theologian deemed untheological. It will be great fun to poke Edward up with St Paul, and on my way to Lincoln Place I thought how I might lead the conversation to The Countess Cathleen.
📷
A few minutes afterwards a light appeared on the staircase and the door slowly opened.
Come in, Siegfried, though you were off the key.
Well, my dear friend, it is a difficult matter to whistle above two trams passing simultaneously and six people jabbering round a public-house, to say nothing of a jarvey or two, and you perhaps dozing in your armchair, as your habit often is. You won't open to anything else except a motive from The Ring; and I stumbled up the stairs in front of Edward, who followed with a candle.
Wait a moment; let me go first and I'll turn up the gas.
You aren't sitting in the dark, are you?
No, but I read better by candle-light, and he blew out the candles in the tin candelabrum that he had made for himself. He is original even in his candelabrum; no one before him had ever thought of a caridelabrum in tin, and I fell to admiring his appearance more carefully than perhaps I had ever done before, so monumental did he seem lying on the little sofa sheltered from daughts by a screen, a shawl about his shoulders. His churchwarden was drawing famously, and I noticed his great square hands with strong fingers and square nails pared closely away, and as heretofore I admired the curve of the great belly, the thickness of the thighs, the length and breadth and the width of his foot hanging over the edge of the sofa, the apoplectic neck falling into great rolls of flesh, the humid eyes, the skull covered with short stubbly hair. I looked round the rooms and they seemed part of himself: the old green wallpaper on which he pins reproductions of the Italian masters. And I longed to peep once more into the bare bedroom into which he goes to fetch bottles of Apollinaris. Always original! Is there another man in this world whose income is two thousand a year, and who sleeps in a bare bedroom, without dressing-room, or bathroom, or servant in the house to brush his clothes, and who has to go to the baker's for his breakfast?
We had been talking for some time of the Gaelic League, and from Hyde it was easy to pass to Yeats and his plays.
His best play is The Countess Cathleen.
The Countess Cathleen is only a sketch.
But what I never could understand, Edward, was why you and the Cardinal could have had any doubts as to the orthodoxy of The Countess Cathleen.
What, a woman that sells her own soul in order to save the souls of others!
I suppose your theologian objected—
Of course he objected.
He cannot have read St Paul.
What do you mean?
He can't have read St Paul, or else he is prepared to throw over St Paul.
Mon ami Moore, mon ami Moore.
The supernatural idealism of a man who would sell his soul to save the souls of others fills me with awe.
But it wasn't a man; it was the Countess Cathleen, and women are never idealists.
Not the saints?
His face grew solemn at once.
If you give me the Epistles I will read the passage to you. And it was great fun to go to the bookshelves and read: I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
Edward's face grew more and more solemn, and I wondered of what he was thinking.
Paul is a very difficult and a very obscure writer, and I think the Church is quite right not to encourage the reading of the Epistles, especially without comments.
Then you do think there is something in the passage I have read?
After looking down his dignified nose for a long time, he said:
Of course, the Church has an explanation. All the same, it's very odd that St Paul should have said such a thing—very odd.
There is no doubt that I owe a great deal of my happiness to Edward; all my life long he has been exquisite entertainment. And I fell to thinking that Nature was very cruel to have led me, like Moses, within sight of the Promised Land. A story would be necessary to bring Edward into literature, and it would be impossible to devise an action of which he should be a part. The sex of a woman is odious to him, and a man with two thousand a year does not rob nor steal, and he is so uninterested in his fellow-men that he has never an ill word to say about anybody. John Eglinton is a little thing; AE is a soul that few will understand; but Edward is universal—more universal than Yeats, than myself, than any of us, but for lack of a story I shall not be able to give him the immortality in literature which he seeks in sacraments. Shakespeare always took his stories from some other people. Turgenev's portrait of him would be thin, poor, and evasive, and Balzac would give us the portrait of a mere fool. And Edward is not a fool. As I understand him he is a temperament without a rudder; all he has to rely upon is his memory, which isn't a very good one, and so he tumbles from one mistake into another. My God! it is a terrible thing to happen to one, to understand a man better than he understands himself, and to be powerless to help him. If I had been able to undo his faith I should have raised him to the level of Sir Horace Plunkett, but he resisted me; and perhaps he did well, for he came into the world seeing things separately rather than relatively, and had to be a Catholic. He is a born Catholic, and I remembered one of his confessions—a partial confession, but a confession: If you had been brought up as strictly as I have been—I don't think he ever finished the sentence; he often leaves sentences unfinished, as if he fears to think things out. The end of the sentence should run: You would not dare to think independently. He thinks that his severe bringing-up has robbed him of something. But the prisoner ends by liking his prison-house, and on another occasion he said: If it hadn't been for the Church, I don't know what would have happened to me.
My thoughts stopped, and when I awoke I was thinking of Hughes. Perhaps the link between Hughes and Edward was Loughrea Cathedral. He had shown me a photograph of some saints modelled by Hughes. Hughes is away in Paris, I said, modelling saints for Loughrea Cathedral. The last time I saw him was at Walter Osborne's funeral, and Walter's death set me thinking of the woman I had lost, and little by little all she had told me about herself floated up in my mind like something that I had read. I had never seen her father nor the Putney villa in which she had been brought up, but she had made me familiar with both through her pleasant mode of conversation, which was never to describe anything, but just to talk about things, dropping phrases here and there, and the phrases she dropped were so well chosen that the comfort of the villa, its pompous meals and numerous servants, its gardens and greenhouses, with stables and coach-house just behind, are as well known to me as the house that I am living in, better known in a way, for I see it through the eyes of the imagination ... clearer eyes than the physical eyes.
It does not seem to me that any one was ever more conscious of whence she had come and of what she had been; she seemed to be able to see herself as a child again, and to describe her childhood with her brother (they were nearly the same age) in the villa and in the villa's garden. I seemed to see them always as two rather staid children who were being constantly dressed by diligent nurses and taken out for long drives in the family carriage. They did not like these drives and used to hide in the garden; but their governess was sent to fetch them, and they were brought back. Her father did not like to have the horses kept waiting, and one day as Stella stood with him in the passage, she saw her mother come out of her bedroom beautifully dressed. Her father whispered something in his wife's ear, and he followed her into her bedroom. Stella remembered how the door closed behind them. In my telling, the incident seems to lose some of its point, but in Stella's relation it seemed to put her father and his wife before me and so clearly that I could not help asking her what answer her father would make were she to tell him that she had a lover. A smile hovered in her grave face. He would look embarrassed, she said, and wonder why I should have told him such a thing, and then I think he would go to the greenhouse, and when he returned he would talk to me about something quite different. I don't think that Stella ever told me about the people that came to their house, but people must have come to it, and as an example of how a few words can convey an environment I will quote her: I always wanted to talk about Rossetti, she said, and these seven words seem to me to tell better than any description the life of a girl living with a formal father in a Putney villa, longing for something, not knowing exactly what, and anxious to get away from home.... I think she told me she was eighteen or nineteen and had started painting before she met Florence at the house of one of her father's friends; a somewhat sore point this meeting was, for Florence was looked upon by Stella's father as something of a Bohemian. She was a painter, and knew all the Art classes and the fees that had to be paid, and led Stella into the world of studios and models and girl friends. She knew how to find studios and could plan out a journey abroad. Stella's imagination was captured, and even if her father had tried to offer opposition to her leaving home he could not have prevented her, for she was an heiress (her mother was dead and had left her a considerable income); but he did not try, and the two girls set up house together in Chelsea; they travelled in Italy and Spain; they had a cottage in the country; they painted pictures and exhibited their pictures in the same exhibitions; they gave dances in their studios and were attracted by this young man and the other; but Stella did not give herself to any one, because, as she admitted to me, she was afraid that a lover would interrupt the devotion which she intended to give to Art. But life is forever casting itself into new shapes and forms, and no sooner had she begun to express herself in Art than she met me. I was about to go to Ireland to preach a new gospel, and must have seemed a very impulsive and fantastic person to her, but were not impulsiveness and fantasy just the qualities that would appeal to her? And were not gravity and good sense the qualities that would appeal to me, determined as I was then to indulge myself in a little madness?
I could not have chosen a saner companion than Stella; my instinct had led me to her; but because one man's instinct is a little more clear than another's, it does not follow that he has called reason to his aid. It must be remembered always that the art of painting is as inveterate in me as the art of writing, and that I am never altogether myself when far away from the smell of oil paint. Stella could talk to one about painting, and all through that wonderful summer described in Salve our talk flowed on as delightfully as a breeze in Maytime, and as irresponsible, flashing thoughts going by and avowals perfumed with memories. Only in her garden did conversation fail us, for in her garden Stella could think only of her flowers, and it seemed an indiscretion to follow her as she went through the twilight gathering dead blooms or freeing plants from noxious insects. But she would have had me follow her, and I think was always a little grieved that I wasn't as interested in her garden as I was in her painting; and my absent-mindedness when I followed her often vexed her and my mistakes distressed her.
You are interested, she said, only in what I say about flowers and not in the flowers themselves. You like to hear me tell about Miss —— whose business in life is to grow carnations, because you already see her, dimly, perhaps, but still you see her in a story. Forget her and look at this Miss Shifner!
Yes, it is beautiful, but we can only admire the flowers that we notice when we are children, I answered. Dahlias, china roses, red and yellow tulips, tawny wallflowers, purple pansies, are never long out of my thoughts, and all the wonderful varieties of the iris, the beautiful blue satin and the cream, some shining like porcelain, even the common iris that grows about the moat.
But there were carnations in your mother's garden?
Yes, and I remember seeing them being tied with bass. But what did you say yesterday about carnations? That they were the—
She laughed and would not tell me, and when the twilight stooped over the high trees and the bats flitted and the garden was silent except when a fish leaped, I begged her to come away to the wild growths that I loved better than the flowers.
But the mallow and willow-weed are the only two that you recognise. How many times have I told you the difference between self-heal and tufted vetch?
I like cow parsley and wild hyacinths and—
You have forgotten the name. As well speak of a woman that you loved but whose name you had forgotten.
Well, if I have, I love trees better than you do, Stella. You pass under a fir unstirred by the mystery of its branches, and I wonder at you, for I am a tree worshipper, even as my ancestors, and am moved as they were by the dizzy height of a great silver fir. You like to paint trees, and I should like to paint flowers if I could paint; there we are set forth, you and I.
I have told in Salve that in Rathfarnham she found many motives for painting; the shape of the land and the spire above the straggling village appealed to me, but she was not altogether herself in these pictures. She would have liked the village away, for man and his dwellings did not form part of her conception of a landscape; large trees and a flight of clouds above the trees were her selection, and the almost unconscious life of kine wandering or sheep seeking the shelter of a tree.
Stella was a good walker, and we followed the long road leading from Rathfarnham up the hills, stopping to admire the long plain which we could see through the comely trees shooting out of the shelving hillside.
If I have beguiled you into a country where there are no artists and few men of letters, you can't say that I have not shown you comely trees. And now if you can walk two miles farther up this steep road I will show you a lovely prospect.
And I enjoyed her grave admiration of the old Queen Anne dwelling-house, its rough masonry, the yew hedges, the path along the hillside leading to the Druid altar and the coast-line sweeping in beautiful curves, but she did not like to hear me say that the drawing of the shore reminded her of Corot.
It is a sad affectation, she said, to speak of Nature reminding one of pictures.
Well, the outlines of Howth are beautiful, I answered, and the haze is incomparable. I should like to have spoken about a piece of sculpture, but for your sake, Stella, I refrain.
She was interested in things rather than ideas, and I remember her saying to me that things interest us only because we know that they are always slipping from us. A strange thing for a woman to say to her lover. She noticed all the changes of the seasons and loved them, and taught me to love them. She brought a lamb back from Rathfarnham, a poor forlorn thing that had run bleating so pitifully across the windy field that she had asked the shepherd where the ewe was, and he had answered that she had been killed overnight by a golf-ball. The lamb will be dead before morning, he added. And it was that March that the donkey produced a foal, a poor ragged thing that did not look as if it ever could be larger than a goat, but the donkey loved her foal.
Do you know the names of those two birds flying up and down the river?
They look to me like two large wrens with white waistcoats.
They are water-ouzels, she said.
The birds flew with rapid strokes of the wings, like kingfishers, alighting constantly on the river, on large mossy stones, and though we saw them plunge into the water, it was not to swim, but to run along the bottom in search of worms.
But do worms live under water?
The rooks were building, and a little while after a great scuffling was heard in one of the chimneys and a young jackdaw came down and soon became tamer than any bird I had ever seen, tamer than a parrot, and at the end of May the corncrake called from the meadow that summer had come again, and the kine wandered in deeper and deeper and deeper herbage. The days seemed never to end, and looking through the branches of the chestnut in which the fruit had not begun to show, we caught sight of a strange spectacle. Stella said, A lunar rainbow, and I wondered, never having heard of or seen such a thing before.
I shall never forget that rainbow, Stella, and am glad that we saw it together.
In every love story lovers reprove each other for lack of affection, and Stella had often sent me angry letters which caused me many heart-burnings and brought me out to her; in the garden there were reconciliations, we picked up the thread again, and the summer had passed before the reason of these quarrels became clear to me. One September evening Stella said she would accompany me to the gate, and we had not gone very far before I began to notice that she was quarrelling with me. She spoke of the loneliness of the Moat House, and I had answered that she had not been alone two evenings that week. She admitted my devotion. And if you admit that there has been no neglect—
She would not tell me, but there was something she was not satisfied with, and before we reached the end of the avenue she said, I don't think I can tell you. But on being pressed she said:
Well, you don't make love to me often enough.
And full of apologies I answered, Let me go back.
No, I can't have you back now, not after having spoken like that.
But she yielded to my invitation, and we returned to the house, and next morning I went back to Dublin a little dazed, a little shaken.
A few days after she went away to Italy to spend the winter and wrote me long letters, interesting me in herself, in the villagers, in the walks and the things that she saw in her walks, setting me sighing that she was away from me, or that I was not with her. And going to the window I would stand for a long time watching the hawthorns in their bleak wintry discontent, thinking how the sunlight fell into the Italian gardens, and caught the corner of the ruin she was sketching; and I let my fancy stray for a time unchecked. It would be wonderful to be in Italy with her, but—
I turned from the window suspicious, for there was a feeling at the back of my mind that with her return an anxiety would come into my life that I would willingly be without. She had told me she had refrained from a lover because she wished to keep all herself for her painting, and now she had taken to herself a lover. She was twenty years younger than I was, and at forty-six or thereabouts one begins to feel that one's time for love is over; one is consultant rather than practitioner. But it was impossible to dismiss the subject with a jest, and I found myself face to face with the question—If these twenty years were removed, would things be different? It seemed to me that the difficulty that had arisen would have been the same earlier in my life as it was now, and returning to the window I watched the hawthorns blowing under the cold grey Dublin sky.
The problem is set, I said, for the married, and every couple has to solve it in one way or another, but they have to solve it; they have to come to terms with love, especially the man, for whom it is a question of life and death. But how do they come to terms? And I thought of the different married people I knew. Which would be most likely to advise me—the man or the woman? It would be no use to seek advice; every case is different, I said. If anybody were to advise me it would be the man, for the problem is not so difficult for a woman. She can escape from love more easily than her lover or her husband; she can plead, and her many pleadings were considered, one by one, and how in married life the solution that seems to lovers so difficult is solved by marriage itself, by propinquity. But not always, not always. The question is one of extraordinary interest and importance; more marriages come to shipwreck, I am convinced, on this very question than upon any other. In the divorce cases published we read of incompatibility of temper and lack of mutual tastes, mere euphemisms that deceive nobody. The image of a shipwreck rose up in me naturally. She will return, and like a ship our love for each other will be beaten on these rocks and broken. We shall not be able to get out to sea. She will return, and when she returns her temperament will have to be adjusted to mine, else she will lose me altogether, for men have died of love, though Shakespeare says they haven't. Manet and Daudet—both died of love; and the somewhat absurd spectacle of a lover waiting for his mistress to return, and yet dreading her returning, was constantly before me.
It often seemed to me that it was my own weakness that created our embarrassment. A stronger man would have been able to find a way out, but I am not one that can shape and mould another according to my desire; and when she returned from Italy I found myself more helpless than ever, and I remember, and with shame, how, to avoid being alone with her, I would run down the entire length of a train, avoiding the empty carriages, crying Not here, not here! at last opening the door of one occupied by three or four people, who all looked as if they were bound for a long journey. I remember, too, how about this time I came with friends to see Stella, whether by accident or design, frankly I know not; I only know that I brought many friends to see her, thinking they would interest her.
If you don't care to come to see me without a chaperon, I would rather you didn't come at all, she said, humiliating me very deeply.
It seemed to me, I answered, blushing, that you would like to see ——, and I mentioned the name of the man who had accompanied me.
If I am cross sometimes it is because I don't see enough of you.
It seems to me that it was then that the resolve hardened in my heart to become her friend ... if she would allow me to become her friend. But in what words should I frame my request and my apology? All the time our life was becoming less amiable, until one evening I nipped the quarrel that was beginning, stopping suddenly at the end of the avenue.
It is better that we should understand each other. The plain truth is that I must cease to be your lover unless my life is to be sacrificed.
Cease to be my lover!
That is impossible, but a change comes into every love story.
The explanation stuttered on. I remember her saying: I don't wish you to sacrifice your life. I have forgotten the end of her sentence. She drew her hand suddenly across her eyes. I will conquer this obsession.
A man would have whined and cried and besought and worried his mistress out of her wits. Women behave better than we; only once did her feelings overcome her. She spoke to me of the deception that life is. Again we were standing by the gate at the end of the chestnut avenue, and I remembered her telling me how a few years ago life had seemed to hold out its hands to her; her painting and her youth created her enjoyment.
But now life seems to have shrivelled up, she said; only a little dust is left.
Nothing is changed, so far as you and I are concerned. We see each other just the same.
I am no more to you than any other woman.
She went away again to Italy to paint and returned to Ireland, and one day she came to see me, and remained talking for an hour. I have no memory of what we said to each other, but a very clear memory of our walk through Dublin over Carlisle Bridge and along the quays. I had accompanied her as far as the Phoenix Park gates, and at the corner of the Conyngham Road, just as I was bidding her goodbye, she said:
I want to ask your advice on a matter of importance to me.
And to me, for what is important to you is equally important to me.
I am thinking, she said, of being married.
At the news it seems to me that I was unduly elated and tried to assume the interest that a friend should.

submitted by AnderLouis_ to thehemingwaylist [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 13:26 Falinor [TotK] I didn't like BOTW but I am enjoying much more TOTK

Hi everyone! Ever since my last publication on why I didn't like BOTW (link here: https://www.reddit.com/truezelda/comments/13ej8ai/i_didnt_like_botw_and_i_hope_totk_will_solve_the/) I have since received messages asking me what I thought about the sequel and whether or not it fixed the issues I had with BOTW.
For me BOTW was a 7/10 (good game with issues). I am now 50 hours in TOTK and I feel like it is a solid 8/10 (very good game with some issues). I would like to start with reviewing the flaws I perceived in BOTW and how TOTK has changed that. But first a little disclaimer. Obviously there will be a lot of spoilers ahead so don't read this post unless you have finished the main story. Besides, I don't know what may be your sensibility towards spoilers so I won't hide anything. Read this critic at your own risks.
In my point of view, BOTW had 4 main flaws: the lack of stories, the lack of diversity, the lack of challenges and an overpraised originality.

1) Stories in TOTK
In terms of stories this is where TOTK clearly shines above BOTW in my opinion. Personally I love the main story so far. Ganondorf has never been so epic and the master sword's obtaining may be the best iteration of the whole series. The only aspect where TOTK underperforms compared to BOTW is with the champion cut scenes after the boss fights. It was a mere copy-paste with no personality when BOTW was highlighting the relationship Link had with each champion and their own regrets.
In terms of side quests TOTK clearly blows BOTW away. The secondary characters react to their environment being destroyed or restored. They also have much more appropriate rewards. Saving Lurelin village actually gives you the eternal gratitude of its inhabitants (free salt baths, let's go!!) . When you save the Rito Village they actually put themselves back to work in order to rebuild what has been damaged. Even the Gerudos make an exception on their ancestral no-voe rule for the guy who saved them from destruction. Hell even the Hylians are now actively fighting monsters! And you unlock the great fairies with a whole quest instead of a bunch of rupees, etc.
So yes, if you are like me waiting for some interesting interactions with NPCs, I feel like TOTK fully remedied this problem.

2) Diversity in TOTK
BOTW had the weakest catalog of enemies. Even a game like Ocarina of Time which was released in1996 had roughly 2x more enemies. In this category I feel like TOTK improved on this issue but doesn't fully solve it. Yes, the enemies can craft vehicles just like Link. Yes there are flying creatures now, cave-dwelling creatures, mobile Goblin bases and Gleoks. But it still lacks some regional specific monsters. I was actually very happy to see the Gibdos in the desert as this is the kind of interesting and localized enemy I wanted to see. But unfortunately all the other enemies, including the new ones, are declined in difficulty/elemental patterns just as before.
The quests are only slightly more diverse than BOTW. Their real strength is not in their diversity but in the contexts that motivate them. Yes, most of TOTK's quests can basically be summed up as "go there and find this". But the motivations are numerous: some traveler(s) who didn't make it to the stable, some odd local story to investigate, a person who needs medical help, etc. Addison's quest is still unnecessarily repetitive and the Koroks are back to annoy us though.
In terms of shrines diversity it's the same formula as BOTW. It neither adds nor removes anything. However, to me TOTK's shrines feel overall more interesting than BOTW's but we'll talk about this in the next section.
Finally the bosses in TOTK have much more personality than in BOTW. Better even, you can refight them in the depths!

3) Challenges in TOTK
Overall TOTK feels harder than BOTW. Even with 20 hearts I still encounter some new declination of an enemy which destroys me in 2 or 3 hits. Also, now that they have removed the bomb runes my resources feel much more valuable and I clearly think twice before using a flower bomb or anything else on an enemy. Furthermore, the fuse power clearly incites you to build more powerful weapon to fight enemies which would have been considered as bullet sponges before.
In terms of dungeons and shrines there is a lot that I could say. I could actually write a full other post to talk about this. I will try to remain as concise and as on point as possible.
Let's start with the shrines. Overall I feel like the shrines in TOTK require more creativity and skills than in BOTW. Building contraptions help a lot in this regard, you have to be more observant of your surroundings. There are also more shrines where you are strip naked and have to find solutions to fight powerful enemies.
Some shrines however remain trivially easy but hey... It's a game meant for an incredibly broad audience. I can't even imagine for a new gamer or a kid how complex some shrines or quest hints may feel. Looking backward the riddles of TOTK require much more imagination and thoughts than most of the riddles of Zelda Ocarina of Time (yes I am criticizing my baby here). I remember being in a shrine with a spinning gear, two sliding platforms and two cylindric bars. My initial thought was to glue the cylindric bars together and stick them to the spinning gear so that it would push the sliding platforms all the way up. But instead I had jammed the whole mechanism, closed a door behind me and I was almost afraid I had soft locked myself. The solution was actually to stick one cylindric bar to the large sliding platform and the other one to the spinning gear. I remember when I was 6 years old, playing OoT and being stuck in Jabu Jabu's mouth because I didn't think about bringing a box and putting it on a button to keep it activated...
For the dungeons I also feel like there has been improvements. Accessing the dungeons are overall a much more epic journey with several quests to solve before. However, TOTK's dungeons themselves suffer the same flaws than BOTW's ones:

TOTK's dungeons are linear. Let's think about the way the old dungeons used to be designed. The old dungeons were usually solved by the players with a depth first search. You enter the dungeon and you have several paths you can follow. You start with one path, go as far as you can and find yourself stuck at some point. You backtrack and explore a second path where you may or may not find an object that will help you progress in the previous path. This object was usually a small key or a new tool for Link. In BOTW/TOTK there is almost no backtracking (besides the goron dungeon). There is an unordered sequence of paths that you can take with each path leading to straight to a part of the solution.
This point derives from the first one. Why would backtracking be even an interesting thing for a dungeon? Because it gives a feeling of solving an overall puzzle. The paths feel more intertwined, there are dependencies between the rooms. Solving the overall puzzle is what some players are looking for. It is what motivates them into solving all the intermediate puzzles. These players then feel rewarded by the boss fight.
Another flaw sticks the nail in the coffin of the new dungeons for me: as soon as I am starting to have fun the problem is over. This is true for almost every dungeon/shrine I encounter. Yes I had some "Eureka" moments which filled my brain with Dopamine and some narcissism (better be self-aware right?). But almost every time I had this "Eureka" moment the whole thing was over. My hypothesis is that because of the broad audience and the increase in the puzzle's creativity they don't want to take the risk frustrate the new players. But for a 25 years gamer of course it falls short.

4) Originality in TOTK
There isn't much to say here. TOTK is basically an improved formula of BOTW. Magnesis is now Ultra-Hand, Stasis is now more or less recall with more complex vectors, the bombs have been scraped off (they made the game trivially easy anyway) and the useless cryosis has disappeared. By the way, I heard a Youtuber saying that the attachment points displayed with a dotted lines were a genius idea. I mean come on... Has he played Kerbal Space Program?
With the depths TOTK seems to get some inspiration from the dark souls series. Maybe more specifically lost Izalith from DS1? At least for the goron part of the depths.
What Nintendo is clearly good at is keeping track of what systems major games have implemented and bring them to life in a coherent way into Zelda's universe.

To conclude, TOTK clearly shines with its new more sensible side quests and even its main quest as far as I am concerned. It improves the initial formula by bringing more creativity in the puzzles you solve and more value to the resources you gather. I am now motivated to explore the inhabited parts of the game because I know that there will be an interesting quest to do. However, it also misses some occasions to make this game a 9/10 (excellent game with minor issues). Namely, there could have been more localized enemies and there could have been more optional dungeons with more intertwined paths and longer sequences of puzzles. I feel like the Zonai tech was the occasion to bring back this mechanic of finding a new tool/blueprint of a tool that unlocks some problems of the other rooms (they more or less did it with the mirrors in the Gerudo temple). Finally, I didn't mention it in the points above but I find the fuse power to be a bit tedious to use. Despite these flaws I am enjoying TOTK much more than I did with BOTW.

submitted by Falinor to truezelda [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 13:19 Moa_Hunt Scavenger movie character study

https://preview.redd.it/6oe368q93k2b1.jpg?width=2480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7b19f9a0f53208e916da7d092b6378ea5f5c9df7

Character study
This character study for a movie will add depth to the screenplay, paint a vivid impression to prompt an actor performing the part and be incorporated in the pitch deck. This vignette is not necessarily the plot of the movie. Any general feedback on character, writing, concepts or design are welcome. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
Name : Jandro
Role : Protagonist
There's dirt under Jandro's finger nails. Grime stains across his threadbare t-shirt reveal bony ribs. Eyes cast down he searches for lost cash or shiny valuables on the ground. Seeing him hunched forward hauling scrap on his back, you wouldn't guess he's over six feet tall. With ambition to his stride, Jandro walks in jolting starts, a diet of cheap n' greasy street feed fueling his nervous energy. Speaking in a soft tongue he schools himself from a dog eared nineteen seventies encyclopedia read by the dim light of a corner store lamp. Jandro’s bad habits of voicing his mind and interrupting rather listening have earned him the reputation of eccentric for his age. Beneath the disarray of hair, behind those darting eyes, blooms a handsome charismatic teen.
As a five year old during a provincial war, he got separated from his parents and a childless couple of junk scavengers found him crying beneath Jandro River bridge, adopting him as their salvage picker. Concealing the shame of poverty remained a burden until hunger broke his resolve and he resorted to foraging through trash after dark. The other children in the rag clan were desperate by nature and Jandro did not trust them. The stray kittens who’d once rode in his backpack were closer to his heart. Symbols of good fortune, the whimsical cats embroidered in yellow thread dancing around his filthy jean jacket’s collar were an emotional reminder of dear friends departed.
Two days before his fifteenth birthday, hidden in the crumbling adobe walls of a colonial church, Jandro chanced upon a hessian sack filled with silver coins. The foreign antique dealer who purchased the loot offered Jandro valuable advice, encouraging him to travel village to village, to roam far and high, asking discreet questions regarding the whereabouts of priceless mystic artefacts. This quest for treasure ignited Jandro's imagination. Legs trembling with impatient enthusiasm he couldn't sit still, jumping at an opportunity to bid the city junk trade farewell.
These past months of lone mountain roving honed his reflexes and agility. Owing to his informal nickname, with no valid proof of identity, Jandro dashed land borders before dawn and lurked on the fringe of any town he visited. Opposed to formally registering his name with the ministry he'd quietly slip away should anyone question his past. Never in one place for too long, he preferred to sleep rough, exposed to the shifting sky. Each night Jandro wrestled with the guilt of abandoning his scavenger family, doubting if pursuing his dreams was worth the risk. But on waking his morning thoughts returned to the rumors of Inca rebel gold dumped in a highland lake, or the fabled Wari tomb of animal spirits, then inspired by newfound wanderlust Jandro fastened his steel pick axe and, determined to succeed, trekked toward the far horizon.

submitted by Moa_Hunt to OriginalCharacter [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 09:28 Square-Bad-4949 Serious question that I’ve never found any real answers to. How do the WWE women maintain their looks while on the road? Especially the early/mid 2000s? They always looked so flawless during that time?

I’ve read that superstars can work over 300+ days a year which means constant traveling. My question is

When it comes to makeup, did they all carry their own makeup case and do their own makeup before showtime? What if they were terrible at their own makeup? Or was there a designated makeup artist on the road with them that used their own kit and did makeup application for them?
Another makeup question, but how did they manage to have their entire look stay on even in the most brutal of matches? I’ve never seen anyone with smeared lipstick or foundation rubbed off. Everyone always seems to have their makeup perfectly in tact even after a match.
How did they not have visible sweat on their faces or bodies? I’ve noticed a lot of them don’t really look drenched like you would think. (Maybe they’re just so trained and have amazing stamina so they’re kinda used to it and therefore don’t show it as much?)
For hair, did they style their own hair and have to bring their own tools? Was there a hairstylist to travel with them and use their own tools on them? Also, when would they have time to touch up their hair dye/hair extensions? I’m assuming on an off day but you’re traveling constantly would they go to random salons when the time came to retouch hair? I can’t help but wonder what would happen in the case of a hair disastebotched service and they have to be on tv the same/next day.
Another hair question, I’m assuming that after every match (whether it was a show or just training) they would not only have to shower their face and bodies, but also their hair. Every single time? Wouldn’t that dry out their hair really bad? (On top of having to use hair dyes, extensions, heat tools etc) Did they all just walk around with extremely damaged hair?
How did they maintain their tans? Tanning beds? Self Tanner? Spray tans? Wouldn’t a spray tan melt off them from sweating, showering a lot, and rolling around excessively? How did they always manage this?
I’ve noticed they always have a nice manicure whether it’s a simple French tip or colored nails, would they just go to random nail salons while traveling? I’m assuming yes since they can be on the road for weeks and months at a time without being home right?
Diet & exercise, I’m sure they get plenty of exercise and had the hook up on gyms whenever they went, but what about diet? I’ve read a lot of them either get room service or go to random fast food/diners. Sure they can get healthier choices but it seems like it would be hard to calorie count that way?
Last one, but how did they manage wardrobe? We’re they in charge of their own clothes? Would they just travel with a limited amount of clothes? (I’m assuming they were only allowed to bring so much) Would they just have to buy clothes as they went? Did WWE choose their attire for them and already have it ready for them? What about when it comes to laundry? Is there a department for that? Is it up to the superstar to get it dry cleaned/washed? I can’t imagine a “regular” washer can be used with some of the extravagant gear some of them had.

I really wish I could interview one of these ladies and ask. It seems like there’s so much behind the scenes that remains a mystery. Most answers I’ve gotten are guesses (that’s okay too) but I’d really like to see if anyone actually knows for sure.
TLDR: How did the women maintain hair, makeup, clothes, nails, tan, body, & diet while constantly on the road?
Thank you in advance everyone. I appreciate all answers.

submitted by Square-Bad-4949 to SquaredCircle [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 09:00 Shnuge [US-PA] [H] Ungodly Design Luna HHKB and Launchpad, Kindlestar Orion 87 built with GMK Yuru, Keychron Q6 built with GMK Nautilus 2, Drop Alt Orange built with GMK Thai Tea, Drop Alt Barebones, Tokyo 60 HHKB built with Cherry Sand, GMK Godspeed Colombia [W] Paypal

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I am selling these keyboards as built. I would be willing to separate pieces from these bundles for the right price. The GMK sets have plastic aftermarket trays except for Thai Tea.
All prices are Shipped CONUS and OBO
Ungodly Design Luna HHKB & Launchpad in Navy $315 Shipped OBO
Good shape, some minor weamarks. Hotswap, and I honestly never built them. NOTE: The silicone gaskets are not the same color, the Luna has Yellow, and the Launchpad has white.
Kindlestar Orion87 in Burgundy $460 Shipped OBO
Built once with Drop Holy Panda X's and GMK Yuru. Will come with the GMK Yuru Hiragana Base set, and will include the switches and the staebies stabs. GMK Yuru is missing the "Home" key unfortunately.

Keychron Q6 in Navy $300 Shipped OBO
This is built with Zealios Zilents. However, I removed the dampening that made them zilent. This comes with GMK Nautilus 2 base set, a carrying case, and a wrist rest.

Drop Alt HP Orange $380 Shipped OBO
This is built with Drop Holy Panda X's. The orange color is only available if you purchase the Drop X Skiidata prebuilt. This comes built with GMK Thai Tea base set, spacebar set, and also includes the stock MT3 Skiidata keycaps (they're a bit dirty), and a drop carrying case with an orange inside.

GMK Godspeed Colombia Base kit $90 Shipped OBO
New, never used. Only opened to move into the plastic tray.

Drop Alt HP Ceramic Black Barebones Kit $110 Shipped OBO
I wanted to build this board, but lost interest in RGB. This includes the Ceramic Black case, acrylic diffuser, and an Alt PCB. All new and unused, opened just for the pictures.
Tokyo 60 in Coyote $95 Shipped OBO
This is built with Cherry Sand and Box Pale Blues. It also has the box and the acrylic diffuser.
I have trades on AVexchange
Comment before PM

submitted by Shnuge to mechmarket [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 05:45 Bignicky9 Titanfall 2 has an energizing campaign full of sound

The voice acting and sound design nailed it for me. Every fight sounded crisp, each tiny movement of BT is very well articulated, and the pace of the game was long enough at 5 hours for me to enjoy characters' relationships, namely Jack and BT's, while getting my share of the varied fighting loadouts against a small variety of enemies and fair boss fights.
The levels seem to differ from each other at times, which results in higher emphasis on platforming in some and on storytelling in others. I thought the one soldier in the ceiling was unintentionally hilarious, and the time travel that followed it to be a nice level reminiscent of those in the game Portal.
For $5 on sale, it was a fantastic bargain, and it's just sad that last time I checked, the team had given up on stopping cheating in multi-player that was causing it to have horrible reviews on Steam.
I have more games to catch up on, including just about every free Epic Games AAA game from Control to Tomb Raider to Metro to Death Stranding. Here goes nothing.

submitted by Bignicky9 to patientgamers [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 05:20 causticFish Memorial Day & Anniversary Sales Masterlist

Hi everyone, I compiled a list of sales running this weekend!
Memorial Day Sales:

Witch Baby 20% Off: Save 20% Storewide with Code MEMORIAL
Fanchromatic Nails: Buy 3, Get 1 Free
Siren Song Elixirs: 15% Off, Free Dram
Touch of Glam Beauty: 30% Off
Baby Bat Beauty: BOGO, Buy 2, Get 2 Free
Possets: 20% Memorial Day Sale: memorial2023
Chikyu Skincare: 15% Off No Code
BunnyNoseScents: 20% Off Code
Lunar Life Apothecary: 15% Off
Notoriously Morbid: 30% Off with Code Memoria23
Apocalyptic Beauty Cosmetics: 25% Off
Designer Dust Co: Memorialday2023

Anniversary Sale:

DandyLion Co STARTS: May 27th 12:00 PM EST ENDS: May 31st at 11:55PM EST Sale details: no code needed! ⚫ 25% off Single Eyeshadows* (including multichromes) ⚫ 30% off Highlighters ⚫️ 25% off Palettes * ⚫ 60% off Lip Creams ⚫️ 80% off Liquid Eyeshadow, Nail Polish, and Clear Gloss
Poesie's Birthday Sale: 1 Free sampler of Layering Notes with purchases over $50 before shipping.
Samar: Samar Anniversary Sale! Samarbday2023 active until the end of the year!

submitted by causticFish to Indiemakeupandmore [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 04:03 micronesiarain Episode 4- "Design Gone Galactic" ⭐️🪐

the queens return to the workroom after Yuka's elimination
Wren: Awww, Yuka!
🏁Wren CF: Seeing Yuka leave is bittersweet. I had gotten really close with her. But when you're in the bottom two, you can only focus on it not being your name on that lipstick. One of us had to go, better her than me!
Fleur: I'd say I can't believe she's gone this early, but I'm afraid I saw it coming.
Sue: Really?
Fleur: If there's one thing about me and Yuka being in a competition together, it's that I'll make it farther. Bring out the tiny violins, bye bitch!
🏁Fleur CF: Did Yuka do anything to me? Hmm, that's a dumb question. But I do know that she was in the competition, and now she's not!
Morgs: Blondie and Zodya, congratulations. I'll admit, I was hoping this would be our week. But you did a nice job.
Blondie: Thank you.
Sharris: Let's hope that there aren't any more pity wins this season. That would be great.
Zodya: There's a difference between a pity win and being the best team to follow the rules.
Sharris: And I don't think you were either!
Zodya: Sharris, I don't need you making this a miserable experience.
🏁Zodya CF: I feel like Sharris brings a dark cloud over the competition. I trust Morgs and Steph, and I know that they trust Sharris. For now, I can play nice. But when it comes down to the inner group of the alliance, she'll have to go.
Kami: Blondie, how are you feeling after being in the top?
Blondie: It felt right, it felt correct!
Fleur: Oh shut up.
Blondie: Alright, that came out of nowhere, but work.
Wren: I'm sure my lipstick is in your bra right now, but it really was nice to see you get celebrated like that.
Blondie: I actually chose Yuka.
Wren: Girl, you don't need to lie. It's fine, really.
Blondie pulls her lipstick out to reveal she truly did choose Yuka
Blondie: Not lying.
Wren: What the hell, I'm at a loss right now.
🏁Blondie CF: Saving Wren was not an easy decision. I know people want her gone. And after what went down between the two of us, I had a million reasons to get her out of here. But this is the new version of Blondie, and I've made the decision to fight for this friendship. And that can only happen once one of us decides to be the bigger person. And that's usually not me, but there's a first for everything!
Blondie: What you did, it hurt me. But things I did on Season Six, that hurt you. If we keep going after each other, we can't move forward.
the camera slowly pans over to Sue who is hysterically crying
Steph: Sue?
Sue: I just...I just love seeing the birth of a friendship!
🏁Steph CF: If any of you question why I love this bitch, now you know. The sweetest soul I know.
Wren: Blondie, that means a lot to me. Thank you. Now, I still don't know if it should've been me in the bottom, but thank you.
Fleur: Here we go again.
Anthyy: Who do you think should've been in the bottom?
Wren: Our challenge was to show up at a certain time and perform. Most of us did that. But two of us didn't.
Sharris squints her eyes and takes off her earrings, handing them over to Morgs
Sharris: Wren, you're a joke. Not just a joke, an embarrassment. Why the fuck are you even here?
Wren: Excuse me?
Sharris: You take this so seriously, and it makes me physically uncomfortable. It's a game, calm down.
Wren: I'm not apologizing for showing up to a competition and wanting to compete.
Sharris: You need to apologize for a lot more than that. Starting with that face.
Fleur: And then work your way down.
Zodya: Are we really doing this right now? You're all taking this too far, and it needs to stop. I'm serious.
Sharris: Oh bug off, you don't need to play mediator.
Zodya: Sharris, stop. I'm not letting you attack my friend.
Sharris: If that's the kind of freak you're friends with, that says everything about you.
🏁Sharris CF: I won't rest until Wren is out of the competition. I don't like her, I haven't liked her, and I will never like her. It's not even about winning anymore. It's about breaking this bitch from the inside.
The Next Day
the queens enter the workroom, laughing and ignoring the drama from the previous night
🏁Anthyy CF: It's a new day in the workroom, and the stress of the competition is clearly getting to these girls! I feel good, staying out of the drama, and ready to slay. You won't see me safe again, that's not a cute look!
Sue: Seeing how many people are still here just shows how big this season is going to be. Three girls down, and we can still barely fit around the table.
Sharris: Some of you can skip some meals, and that'll change!
🏁Sue CF: I'm afraid that I'm fading into the background, and it's about time that I step forward. On Season Four, I never got to a win, even though I was close. I know that these girls think my attitude is more fun and relaxed, but I won't let them underestimate me.
the workroom door swings open as Micro steps in, wearing a sliver puffer track suit with futuristic silver sunglasses
Micro: Greetings Earth queens! When I invited each of you back, I did so because you are the best and brightest in the galaxy. And to prove that, it's time to take things out of this world. Behind me, there's a table full of celestial inspired materials. Each of you will design a high fashion look that takes us to infinity and beyond. Now, some of you may not love the idea of producing your own look. Which is why you have options! If you'd like, you are able to use a pre-existing look. The only catch is that you need to modify it enough so that it reads as your own unique creation. Good luck, and I can't wait to see what you come up with!
Micro leaves the workroom, and the queens rush over to the table of materials, grabbing everything they can find
🏁Whorechata CF: This is what I've been waiting for! From the start of this competition, these queens have questioned whether or not I belong here. And I knew they were wrong. Because...duh, look at the material. But this is the challenge where I know I can outdo everyone else. Yeah, I feel pretty good about my chances.
the queens spread throughout the workroom in different groupings
Fleur, Morgs, and Sharris discuss the challenge and what their ideas are
Sharris: I've decided to not make my own look. I know my limits, and there's more I can do with little embellishments than with a sewing machine.
🏁Morgs CF: Sharris is the person I'm the closest to here. I do trust that she can make this challenge work. But when she says she's not even taking out a sewing machine, I'm starting to worry.
Fleur: I've taken my sewing classes after Season Four, and I didn't really have that much to improve on.
Morgs: You had a design challenge on your season, right?
Fleur: We did. We got these horrible boxes of trash and had to make it into something.
🏁Fleur CF: I felt great about my look on Season Four. Truly, how can you describe it without using the word beautiful? Some people said I should've been in the bottom, but "some people" got sent home two episodes ago. Hi Lectro, thanks for watching!
Morgs: From what I can see of other people, I don't think we have anything to worry about this week.
Sharris: Just say Wren...
the camera cuts over to Wren on the floor, sculpting multiple arms and cutting out fabric
🏁Wren CF: I've always had a strong sense of what I want when it comes to the designs I wear. But it's taken some time to polish up the level of execution. This is my chance to show how much I've grown, even in the short time since Season Six.
Zodya: Wren, you doing good?
Wren: Can't talk, too busy serving cunt.
🏁Zodya CF: If you can't love yourself, then you must not be Wren! But hey, I can't knock the confidence.
Zodya: Chata, what are you bringing with your look?
Whorechata: I'm trying to embrace the materials as much as possible. I don't want to use any patterns I brought, any base garments, nothing. If it's not from that table, I'm not using it.
Zodya: It's definitely a bold color choice.
Whorechata: I need to stand out. Whatever it takes.
🏁Whorechata CF: Being able to create looks like this, that's why I applied for Season Five. And finally, I got a challenge where I can shine.
Anthyy, Steph, and Sue chat by the mirrors as they sketch out look ideas
🏁Anthyy CF: I've come back to judge fashion challenges on MDR a million times. If I don't slay this, I need to apologize to everyone I ever critiqued! I need to bring a new silhouette, new materials, everything. You won't be able to clock a single detail.
Steph: Last time I had a challenge like this, it caused me to spiral.
Sue: You know you've gotten better since then.
Steph: I think I have. Being back in these four walls, and feeling like I'm just starting to get the momentum going, it's hauntingly familiar to how I felt on Season Three.
Anthyy: You have to believe in yourself! Let the infection take over. Well, not like that. But the fashion infection.
Steph: Please, I need to catch the fashion infection first!
🏁Steph CF: Ever since my elimination on Season Three, I've felt like had I just made it through the design challenge, I could've won the whole thing. This is my chance to show that I can not just make it through this challenge, but I can come out unharmed, and ready to give this competition what I have. Call me dramatic, but you all saw the look, it was traumatizing!
Sue plugs in her headphones and turns on Kylie Minogue, unlocking her full powers. She turns on the sewing machine and gets to work
🏁Sue CF: When it comes to sewing, I may not be Sue Essence Hall. But I have the drive and heart to win this thing. Nobody wants this more than me, and that's gotta count for something.
Runway
the lights flicker and an electric magenta light floods the runway as Micro struts down the center
Micro Episode 4 Look
Micro: Welcome back to the runway of Micro's Drag Race: All Stars! This week, the queens were asked to design a high fashion look utilizing or inspired by celestial materials. And joining me on the judging panel is a very special guest. Usually, we keep it in the family and have past queens return to judge. But this season, I've invited some legendary queens that I admire to help me out. And tonight, we have the amazing Hex!
Hex Guest Judging Look
Micro: Hex, thank you for being here!
Hex: Honored to be here.
Micro: You've been a legendary designer in the drag world for years. What do you think makes a good design?
Hex: Finding a concept, and immersing yourself in that world. If you want to be an alien, become that alien and think about how they'd wear the look. You have to commit!
Micro: That is fabulous advice. You ready to get started?
Hex: I'm ready to feel inspired!
Micro: Without further ado, let's see if these looks are truly out of this world!
"Bad Juju" by Jujubee plays
Anthyy: Coming down this runway I feel amazing! It’s a design challenge and you just know that miss Anthyy will deliver in those! Tonight the category was space at first I got a bit scared cause the home eis super broad if you look at it but then my. Mind went straight to my sister she is OBSSESED with space, so I called her and asked her what is her favorite planet! She said Uranus… and the rest is history! So tonight for my look I am channeling you the Uranus fantasy, my dress is a net made out of 27 of the Uranus’s moons and being me you can see a stunning set of it’s rings, not many people know that Uranus is one of the 3 planets with rings! Yup not only Saturn so tonight I wanted to make sure we don’t forget about those rings! Uranus is also one of the coldest planets that exsist so i made sure my alien puss is frozen the haus down boots! The parts holding together the moons on her dress are all coveed in galaxy dust and you can see my stunning 3 pairs of hands all going in diffrent directions! As for the look itself, it is a pretty gown (which you know i only do for special occasions!) with an amazing backpiece and stunning hair artistry! I would say this is soemthing that isnt often seen and its one of it's kind so im suoer happy to bring it to you on the design challenge! Lets hope this alien lands me my 3rd win! Finding out that this week's guest judge is my amazing friend Hex, she also is included in this look honey did you notice how my alien has 3 nostrills??? YUPPPPP thats what i call referencing
Anthyy Look
Blondie: You better beware, you're in for a scare! Run in fear when Captain Blondatrix arrives on your planet and goes for a pure femme pink fem-pire! For this look, I did use a pre-existing outfit but dyed the colours to a nice ballet slipper pink & a rose gold pink to add to colour theory. I did paint the mask and got a dazzling matching wig... I mean, styled my hair into a gorgeous blonde to meet my branding. Next, I got rid of some pesky details that weren't needed and created more of a space priestess vibe, and kept the alien incubator, as I'm here to spread my seed any way I can. Finally, I created a new banner and an amazing bi-sexual planet to create awareness. So beam me up, cuz I'm here to take y'all down~
Blondie Look
Fleur: I love the Earth. The Earth just gives cunt 24/7 for the past billion years. She always finds some way to absolute slayyyyyy. For example when she decided that she wanted a desert, we were all like "yas girl sand is so sexy". Her brain is just so innovative and she is truly a lovely person. I love the Earth. It is just so calm, and peaceful and sweet. Everyday is amazing on Earth because the Earth is just amazing. It has not one bad quality. That is why I love it. This look resemblances the cuntiness Mother Earth is but also how serene it can be. She's so quirky. But sometimes... just sometimes... the Galaxy is jealous of Earth's cuntiness. Like for example, when the Galaxy decided to shoot a meteor onto it and kill all those leather wearing, katy perry roaring carnivores. Like that was bullying! But sometimes... just sometimes... the Galaxy is in a bad mood and it wants to recreate the devastation of the first meteor. Fuck the galaxy honestly. FUCK YOU. And when the Earth goes BOOM, so does the runway Fleur is modelling and strutting on. This gives her enough times to take of her jumpsuit and reveal her bare naked skin which is just coincidentally painted in a molten galaxy pattern. Science lesson: This is because the Earth has plates. The crust, the mantle and the core. The core is filled with molten lava and I think lava is so that bitch. Like it can burn a hoe like that! So obviously when the earth explodes, lava will ooze into the milkyway making the milkyway turn orange. Kind of like food colouring. And obviously, when the world does explode into the galaxy, you would probably be blinded by the light so you will always need some funky Lady Gaga looking sun glasses. And that's on period.
Fleur Look
Fleur Reveal
Fleur Reveal
Kami: Kami steps out onto the stage, and she is ready for space! She is serving you astronaut realness with her helmet in hand, and her bedazzled star space bodysuit when suddenly she trips -
her belt unravels and suddenly you can see a fake face laying on the ground
Oh my god! She's really an alien?? She's kind of serving though... Her alien wings held back by the belt that was previously cinching her waist (?) in, has revealed who she truly is. The wig seems to have melted down, and a bunch of the accessories are now falling off as well. The stars on the alien skin slowly falling off as the bodysuit from before is now revealed to have been her skin all along. how is she hiding humongous wings underneath a tiny belt ? these are questions that are unnecessary!
Kami Look
Kami Reveal
Morgs: BLAM! for my intergalactic runway it’s getting hot in here, why? because i’m a star, litterally. i wanted to be the sun, the most important thing for life. i've got a warm dress on, glasses to protect me from the UV rays, and a backpiece that are supposed to be sunbeams. i’m slaying this runway and even though i hate designing my own stuff, i managed to make myself a whole outfit and sunbeams that shoot out!
Morgs Look
Sharris: For my Space Age Couture runway, my inspiration comes directly from the galaxy and the beautiful sky we see at nighttime. I didn’t want to go with an astronaut, or an alien, I wanted to go with the sheer beauty that the natural world holds. It’s couture, and just so so extravagant. This runway represents an entire celestial body. If a lady from the Capitol moved to space- this is what she’d be wearing. Upon walking onto the runway, the lights dim, and i’m SHINING. Practically radiating with beauty. I have never been in more awe than I have with what I’ve produced tonight
Sharris Look
Steph: for my runway look tonight i wanted to be a FIERCE celestial goddess. my entire body is painted in that same sparkling purple color as the mug which reminds me of Nebula one of my fav guardians of the galaxy. and honestly my look tonight IS THE SPACE AGE AND THE UNIVERSE MAMA. she is a space goddess and she has kidnapped the stars and the color purple to make this look. thx a bunch:) My vision is filled with this collage and i hope u enjoy her:)
Steph Look
Sue: So for my look tonight I am serving you intergalactic space pop star. She has her Ariana ponytail on and her microphone that she totally didn’t get inspired by from Fever by Kylie Minogue.
Sue Look
Whorechata: Tonight is my day to shine. Chata is living in the year 3000 and failed her astronaut astronomy space class exam thing and can’t use her spacesuit to go to the plant Whore anymore. So what does she do… she takes it apart MAWMA. This outfit is using a deconstructed padded astronaut suit. Some green tubing and inflatable thingys to create this futuristic Lewk. Tonight I hope to show these girls why micro let me in the doors.
Whorechata Look
Wren: Kneel.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3UhSk0Tk48k
Zodya: Tonight on the runway, I am giving you space duchess to the extreme! I am the most fabulous diva at the annual Galatica Ball, and honey, you can’t outshine me! Get out of my way, girls, because none of y’all can be as glamorous as me!
Zodya Look
Critiques
Micro: Thank you ladies! Based on your performances tonight, I've made some decisions. When I call your name, please step forward.
Micro: Kami, Steph, Whorechata. The three of you...are safe.
Steph: Oh thank lord. Whew!
Kami and Steph thank the judges as Whorechata's face is drained of all life. Her legs begin to quiver, and her eyes lose emotion as they twitch
🏁Whorechata CF: Safe. Safe. Oh wow.
Whorechata steps forward and walks towards the judging panel. She hunches over and grabs the base of the panel, as Micro and Hex look at her in confusion. Whorechata lifts with all of her might, and flips the panel. Her eyes turn bright red and she storms around the studio, throwing punches and kicks at everyone in sight
🏁Whorechata CF: Well, that's what I wanted to do at least...
the scene snaps back into reality where Whorechata is standing on stage and faking a smile
Micro: The three of you may leave the stage.
Whorechata: Safe girls, woohoo!
Micro: The rest of you represent the tops and bottoms of the week. It's time for your critiques.
Micro: First up, Anthyy!
Hex: Hello Anthyy! This look is fun, i know that this isn't really your style but i think that you did the theme's justice tonight. You decided to be inspired by one of the planets which is a really safe choice to do on a theme like that, but you went with one of the most interesting ones so its ok, We can see that the inspo was there from the color palette and the rings. The look is just a basic gown let's be real but you still make it interesting with the transparent parts and overall its giving me very Brooke Candy/slutish vibe which i am personally a fan of. What i am not a fan of is the makeup here, i like that you decided to pay homage to your drag sister - me, but idk i am not really feeling the eyes, they kinda look weird but i guess it fits the whole alien aesthetic so maybe i'm just quirky and nitpicking. The headpiece is really fun and playful. Overall it's a really strong look from you tonight, good job!
Micro: Anthyy! I think this week was a great chance for you to show off a new style with your looks. Getting more into the alienesque and untraditional glamour. And you really nailed that in my opinion! I love when a look is simple, but has dynamic silhouettes and added bits. This strappy dress on its own would maybe be too simple, but the back piece and extra arms, it elevates it to an incredible level. I think the color palette of blue and gray was unexpected but worked well. And usually I’m begging for rhinestones, but I wouldn’t add any rhinestones to this look, I don’t know how you managed that! Great work.
Micro: Next, Blondie!
Hex: Blondie! Hi, i love how both you and Anthyy decided to go with 3 eyed aliens! I see what you tried to do with the theme, but i lowkey don't see space in it, your color palette is giving me just a normal person, maybe if you changed the hair and face to be pinkish too maybe it would help to sell the theme more? I also don't think that you edited your look enough to be that different from the original one which is a shame because i see some potential. Overall you were in the middle tonight, not the worst but not the best one either.
Micro: Hi Blondie!! I think this base look was a great choice for this challenge, since it does lend itself to that outer space vibe. And you definitely put the work in to make this your own. I do think though that the new color palette makes the level of detail come down a bit. There’s a lot about this that I like, but I have to nitpick!
Micro: Next up, Fleur Tation!
Hex: Fleur! Hello girl, let me start with the positives first, well, so i liked that you decided to be inspired by earth which is an original choice for a theme like that not gonna lie, everyone would do something quirky but you decided to not look too far for your inspiration. You have a + for that from me. Now for your look, hmm i think that you could do way more with it, its just a simple bodysuit with a print on it, the reveal version is better, but still could've been more elevated. I just wish that you did something more with the hair and makeup in both of these, because even though your inspiration was really good for me, it just looks like you did not know what to do with it. Overall its not a good look from you tonight, I appreciate that you drew it and your description was fun to read.
Micro: Let me start off by saying your runway commentary and how you sold this look was my absolute favorite. I love the effort you put into that. Now onto the looks. I think they told a great story. But the actual design elements, I’m not getting much from it if I’m being totally honest. If there was some sleeve action, some interesting cut to the pants, something to bring more to it.
Micro: The always fabulous, Morgs!
Hex: Hello Morgs! This is very safe for me, i like the inspiration because without the sun there wouldn't be us so good for you to appreciate that. There's nothing much to say here really, maybe other than i don't really see cosmos here but it's just not the worst look tonight so, at least you tried and drew it.
Micro: Hi Morgs! I love the energy and vibe that this look conveys. It’s modern and has a cool look to it. I will say, I think the back piece really saves you here. It adds a unique element, and I think the look needed it. The rest of the look is a bit too simple to me. Maybe some stoning, a different neckline on the dress, some little adjustments could’ve amped this up. But as is, this doesn’t totally work for me, I’m sorry!
Micro: Next, Sharris!
Hex: Hello Sharris! Your look is good but i don't think you did enough for me to call it as 'your' look. Micro gave you all an option to edit one of many existing looks and while you picked a really good one, you barely did anything to edit it as yours, it just looks like you put a filter over it and called it a day, not even bothering to change the colors really. While Blondie did the same thing, she at least i don't know tried to make things a bit interesting by changing the whole color palette. That's all.
Micro: Hi Sharris! With the option to take a pre-existing look and edit it, I think the potential to make something your own and really special was there. And while I think you look amazing right now, it is so similar to the original look. Small things like changing the hair, adding new jewelry, maybe a metal corset piece, those could’ve really worked to make this more of an original piece. Not a bad look by any means, but I have to look at how different it is from the original, and I’m not seeing much.
Micro: Shining bright, it's Sue Pernova!
Hex: Sue! This look is very adorable, i really like the color palette, it looks like some video game character thats a singer and has some cosmic related superpowers. Your inspiration here clearly shows because i can see each thing you mentioned in your description. I love how we can't really see her face because it also adds to the mystic element that the cosmos has because we still don't really know much stuff about it. Overall a really good job tonight, congrats!
Micro: Sue, this look is adorable!! I love the outer space popstar vibe you went for, and the vibrancy of these colors work really well with that. The different textures and materials as well add some visual interest and keep it from being too simple. I maybe would’ve liked to see some lengthening to the legs and a tighter cinch on the corset, but this is a stand out look for me, you really impressed me here!
Micro: Next up, Wren Wyvern!
Hex: Wren, uhh hello? This was a letdown for me, you kinda did a similar look to Steph but i guess her's more elevated and just more interesting to look at. I don't think your look really sells the theme since it's barely cosmos related other than the cosmic print. I like what you tried to do with the arms but it reads more as angelic to me rather than some alien creature. I'm sorry but i don't like this.
Micro: Hi Wren! I’m gonna have to disagree with Hex on this one. I really enjoyed this look. It’s very cosmic deity, and you stand out from the group tonight. I think a really big collar piece that had some height and sharp edges to it would’ve taken this look to an even stronger level, but I see where you were going with it! Some minor little edits I’d make, but solid look from you!
Micro: Last but not least, Zodya Killer.
Hex: Hello Zodya! This is one of my favorite looks tonight, you had a clear vision and presented it really well. I really like the color palette and how vibrant it is, i love the accessories and the overall shape of it. The backpiece with your blonde hair in front of it kinda reminds me of the sun which is also a really fun detail. The way that you drew this also is a big plus for me + the props? I am a prop queen so i like the use of them in this look. Overall a really good moment for you tonight.
Micro: Zodya, you look like a goddess tonight. You found a way to take this sort of galaxy pattern and print and make it look regal and expensive. I love the way this look sparkles, and the golden accents against that deep blue and purple, it adds to that royalty look. If I had to nitpick, I wish there was a big necklace or set of earrings, but I can appreciate the simplicity in not going heavy with accessories. Great work!
Micro: Thank you ladies. I've made some decisions.
Micro: Blondie, Morgs, and Wren. The three of you are safe. You may step to the back of the stage.
🏁Wren CF: At this point, I'm not sure what else I could do. I gave you a full goddess, and then Micro has the nerve to put me in the same group as Blondie and Morgs? It's stupid, it really is.
Micro: Anthyy. Tonight, your E.T. was a T-O-P.
Micro: Sue Pernova. You took us all on a trip to Chromatica, and we didn't want to leave.
Micro: Zodya Killer. Category is...MET Gala on Mars.
Micro: Anthyy, Zodya. Congratulations, you are the top two queens of the week!
🏁Anthyy CF: Ah, screaming!! I put so much of my heart and soul into my designs, and the hard work paid off.
🏁Zodya CF: I didn't think I'd be the type of queen who looks forward to a design challenge. But I really believe in my skills, and having that validated by the judges, that means the world.
Micro: Sue, you are safe. Great work this week.
Sue: Thank you Miss Micro.
🏁Sue CF: This week was all about wanting to prove myself as a real competitor here. I have what it takes to win the crown, and this moved things in the right direction. I feel amazing!
Micro: Fleur, Sharris. I'm sorry my dears, but that means you are the bottom queens of the week.
🏁Fleur CF: I don't have words. To be in a room full of people who look...like that, and be told I'm in the bottom? When I'm wearing custom couture? They're out to get me.
🏁Sharris CF: I'm fine being in the bottom. It doesn't bother me. I'd never throw a tantrum over a placement, unlike some people in this competition who shall not be named...but it's Wren.
Micro: Anthyy, Zodya. In a moment, the two of you will lipsync for your legacy, and the power to chop one of the bottom queens. Head backstage to Untucked, and make your decision.
Untucked
the safe queens enter Untucked
Kami: Redemption!
Steph: And it feels oh so good! I'm so proud of us. Whorechata, are you happy to be safe?
🏁Whorechata CF: wHoReChAtA, aRe yOu hApPy tO Be sAfE? No bitch, I'm not!
Whorechata: I'm thrilled.
Steph: No you're not.
Whorechata: Oh really, what gave it away?
Kami: Let it out, let it out.
Whorechata: The girls up on stage right now, you can see the stringy little bits of hot glue. The seams are jankier than Wren's book in the first episode. Not to sound arrogant, but this belongs in a museum.
🏁Whorechata CF: Whorechata shows off her look and letting the camera zoom in on the hems
Kami: If it makes you feel better, I thought you should've been up on stage tonight.
Whorechata: If you change your name to Micro and tan a good twelve shades darker, it would mean more. But still, thanks Kami.
🏁Kami CF: You can't argue with crazy. You just can't.
the top and bottom queens enter Untucked
Wren: The attempt to break my spirit continues.
🏁Wren CF: Heading back to Untucked, it really does sting that I didn't win. I thought I had the best look, and I love the way I presented it. I wouldn't change a thing, but clearly the judges would.
Kami: I've heard the word "safe" enough times in the last hour to last me a lifetime, so can one of you fill us in on what happened on stage?
Anthyy: I'm in the top with Zodya!
Steph: Whyyyyyyy. Oop, not like that. Just you know, the Sue stan in me.
Sue: I'm torn with my emotions right now. Getting praised on this look felt amazing. But then it almost gave me a false sense of hope. I thought maybe I could win.
Zodya: And you could've. I'm so proud of your work here. It's amazing.
🏁Zodya CF: I know how much Sue wanted to win this challenge, but I'm also freaking out a little inside that I just won my third challenge! I mean really, what could go wrong now?
Wren: Regardless of what the judges said, I'm proud of this look.
Sharris: So why do you keep bringing it up?
Wren: With the runway last week, it was a more masculine approach than what I'm used to. And this week, I wanted to give full cunty goddess.
🏁Wren CF: Exploring gender identity and expression through fashion is important to me. Like, really important. I won't apologize for that.
Blondie: And just so I know, you use all the pronouns, right? I'm not trying to get cancelled again.
Wren: After saving me, you can call me whatever. But yes, anything works. He, she, they, it's all okay to me. But it doesn't take away from my trans-ness.
Sharris: Wren, what the fuck does that even mean?
Wren: What does what means?
Sharris: How are you a he, she, and they. Make up your mind.
Wren: I don't think I need to make up my mind. It's my personal journey, and I don't need to conform to what you want.
Sharris: You just represent everything that's wrong with the world to me.
Blondie: Okay, that's a bit much.
Fleur: Blondie, stay out of it.
Blondie: No! Why can't I say anything without you all jumping to make me look like the bad person?
Fleur: If people always think you're a bad person, maybe you just are.
Morgs: Woop, there it is.
🏁Fleur CF: Blondie swears she's an angel on Earth. But she's not. She's nasty, she's an input ho, and I don't fuck with her. Screw any alliances, I want her gone.
Sharris: The more I learn about you, Blondie, the more I understand why you and Wren are friends. The only upside to that is it means none of us have to be bothered by either of you. You can annoy each other instead.
Wren: Talk that talk in your bottom outfit. You could never give what I give!
Sharris: And thank god for that. Man, man, man. I see a MAN.
Anthyy: Girl...
🏁Anthyy CF: Sharris took a low blow with that one. Wren has been so open about her identity, and really advocated for trans representation! I considered Sharris a friend, but that changes everything.
Wren: Are you really going there? For real?
Sharris: I am, care to continue?
Wren: You know who I am and I've been nothing but transparent with how I feel in my identity. And for someone in this community to be the one coming after me, it's so gross.
Sharris: Let's get one thing straight, we're not in the same community.
Wren: Right, cause I'm some freak.
Sharris: Wren, shut up and go play in traffic.
Kami: Stop, don't go there. What's that even supposed to mean.
Sharris: As in, go die. Go die, for the sake of humanity, please.
the queens all clasp their hands over their mouths as they realize what Sharris said
Wren: You want me to go kill myself?
Sharris: Yes please, look at how easy that was!
Wren: Give me a few years, and I'm sure I'll get there.
Blondie: Wren, don't even say that. Don't give that bitch another moment of your time.
Sharris: Blondie, you too.
Blondie: You are a miserable and hateful little bitch. You're disgusting. You better be so ashamed of yourself.
Fleur: You're the moral compass now? Why do you keep putting yourself in things?!
Blondie: Sharris brought me into it, and I'm done sitting down and taking it. You both are vile.
🏁Fleur CF: Blondie spews the most venomous things out of that over-plumped mouth. Why are people surprised that it caused someone to snap? If you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. Blondie and Wren, there's the door, dumb bitches.
the queens return to the runway
Micro: Welcome back ladies. It has been brought to my attention that there was an altercation in Untucked.
Sharris rolls her eyes, as Blondie comforts Wren at the back of the stage
Micro: If this behavior continues, I won't hesitate to start this whole thing over. From the top, new cast and everything.
the queens snicker at Micro's comment, causing her to stand up and lean over the judging panel
Micro: I am NOT joking! Don't make me name names. But if you think you're one of the girls I'd replace, you're probably right.
the scene cuts to Lectro and Yuka standing outside of the studio and forming a prayer circle for the season to restart
🏁Kami CF: The behavior during Untucked shifted everything. I mean, it's really not that deep, and to stoop to that level? It's...it's just not acceptable.
Micro: Now, as much as I'm sure you'd love to keep attacking each other, we have more important things to get to: a fake lipsync. Will the top two queens please step forward.
Anthyy Lipsync Look
Zodya Lipsync Look
Micro: Anthyy, Zodya. Prior to tonight, you were asked to prepare a lipsync performance of "Supernova" by Kylie Minogue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcTHJ05R2bQ
Sue: Please say jk.
🏁Sue CF: I'm fine! I'm so fine, don't even worry about me. cries in Kylie Minogue
Micro: This is your chance to impress me, and secure the right to give one of the bottom queens...the chop.
🏁Anthyy CF: I really felt like I was in a tough spot with these queens in the bottom. But after that moment in Untucked, I know what needs to be done. It was taken way too far!
🏁Zodya CF: I don't have a connection to either of the bottom queens this week. But I am ready to channel my inner Sue, and give this song what it deserves.
Micro: Good luck, and don't fuck it up!
Read lipsync here!
Micro: Oh wow!
the queens clap for Sue as she shrouds herself in a cloud of glitter before remembering that Anthyy and Zodya are on stage
Micro: I think it's safe to say Sue was the real winner of that one.
Sue: Kylie, that was for you, baby!!
Micro: Ladies, I've made my decision.
...
Micro: Zodya Killer, you're a winner baby!
Zodya: Ah, thank you! Kylie, I am so sorry.
Micro: Anthyy, you are safe to slay another day.
Anthyy: I'm sorry mama, my feet were tired after doing three of these!
Zodya giggles and raises her eyebrows
Micro: Will the bottom two queens please step forward.
Fleur and Sharris walk to the front of the stage as the safe queens glare at them
🏁Fleur CF: I don't think I should be in the bottom this week, and I shouldn't have been near the bottom last week either! If they send me home, it's just putting me out of my misery. But if I stay, I'll make this hell for each and every one of them.
🏁Sharris CF: I don't regret a thing. It went far, but there's only so much I could take from that...person doesn't feel appropriate. I think pathetic troglodyte fits Wren better. Whether they like it or not, I'd say it again!
Micro: Zodya. With great power comes great responsibility. Which queen have you chosen...to get the chop?
Zodya: I'm going to be honest, I don't have any strong connections to either of you. I think you both deserve to be here and can be able to bring something fun to the rest of the competition, but tonight, I'm going to have to go with the person I felt really took on the challenge to heart. My decision...is...
...
...
Zodya: Sharris.
Zodya's Lipstick Choice
Sharris laughs as Morgs begins to tear up
Micro: So it is written, so it shall be done. Sharris, I know that you have everything it takes to thrive in a competition like this. But now is not your time.
Sharris: Womp womp.
Micro: Now, sashay away.
Sharris goes to the back of the stage to hug Morgs before walking off
Micro: Moving forward, I hope we can treat each other with some more kindness, and enjoy this for what it is. Now, let the music play!
"Banjo" by Bebe Zahara Benet plays
Next Time on Micro's Drag Race
Blondie: There is a killer on the loose, and nobody is safe.
🏁Whorechata CF: If this means I make a few enemies, oh well!
Micro: I'm so sorry, I need to excuse myself.
Micro steps away from the judging panel as her eyes fill with tears
Track Record
Cast Shot w/ Placements

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2023.05.28 03:57 Shiny_body Rugrats design

Omg this design is awesome! My friend Iracema is the best nail art. 🩷💛 She has drawn it with a very small brush.
https://instagram.com/mis.popnails?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

submitted by Shiny_body to NailArt [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 00:03 Itchy-Adhesiveness96 Dragon Ball themed Nails

if you guys were going to create Dragon Ball (Z or Super or whatever you want) themed nails, what would the design/s look like?

submitted by Itchy-Adhesiveness96 to NailArt [link] [comments]

2023.05.27 23:41 yournailsupplier Nine Things to Avoid at the Nail Salon

Clients are completely unaware of numerous unwritten laws that apply to nail salons, although nail techs wish they were aware of them. Wouldn't it be fantastic to know exactly what you should not do at the nail salon since customers frequently nails art blog make the mistake of doing the incorrect things when they visit?
The following is a list of the top 10 things you should try to stay away from doing at the manicure salon:

Talking on the phone too loudly, using earbuds while video conferencing, and loudly playing videos
Bringing an infant who won't stop crying and neglecting to watch your kids
Eating and drinking while having your nails done Being obnoxious and unpleasant to the nail technicians
Not planning ahead, being too unsure, and taking too long to choose a color or design
Not giving a sufficient tip
Moving about too much while working, constantly messaging on the phone
Not sitting up straight, holding outstretched hands, and stiff fingers
Constantly taking a quick look at your nails
Critiquing other nail shops you've visited

Why The Nail Salon Has A Big Problem With These NineThings

Avoid disturbing other salon patrons by not talking on the phone or using video chat without earbuds, or by watching videos at a loud volume. People nearby who want to unwind at the nail salon will be disturbed if you are talking on the phone too loudly or if the audio volume is cranked up too high. While being worked on, talking on the phone is acceptable as long as you are mindful of your voice volume.
Bringing a wailing infant and neglecting to watch your kids - It is understood that there may be times when you are forced to bring your baby to the nail salon; however, you should be aware that when your baby is sobbing nonstop, it causes a lot of disruption for everyone there. While you are getting serviced, you can either pick a better time to come when you have a babysitter or ask a family member or friend to come with you to help watch the infant.

mynailsart
It is acceptable to bring your kids to the manicure salon, but make sure you keep a tight eye on them. In the salon, be sure to keep kids from running around or touching and playing with objects. Don't let them hold without thinking.
Eating and drinking while having one's nails painted: Please don't eat or drink while having your nails painted. Particularly when you are constantly in contact with your nail tech's hands, it is quite unhygienic. Consider the quantity of flying nail dust or the possibility of chemicals like acetone being sprayed and perhaps landing on your food. So hold off on eating until after you are finished because this could lead to major health issues down the road.
When they have a lid or are consumed when you are having a pedicure, drinks aren't as unpleasant. If not, there's a good chance that nail dust will end up on your straw or possibly inside your beverage. Just save the trouble for later and spare yourself the trouble.
Speaking poorly about previous nail shops you've visited - The fact that you visited XYZ salon and had a negative experience there is probably irrelevant to your nail technician. Your nail technician will be extra cautious when working on you if you frequently discuss a negative experience you had at another nail shop. This is to ensure that they don't make a mistake. They will be concerned that you would do the same thing and make negative remarks about them at another salon.

Conclusion

Your nail technician will really love doing your nails when you come in for a visit now that you are more aware of the things you shouldn't do at the manicure salon. You should aim to follow these guidelines everywhere you go because they are generally cute easy nails applicable to nail salons. If you've disregarded one of these rules, it's entirely acceptable. Just make an effort to learn from your error and do better moving forward.

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2023.05.27 23:30 DrMik26 Finally wearing my ring!

We got my ring custom designed with Adornment + Theory in Chicago! Highly recommend them! It’s an oval lab made diamond with white gold band and black diamond side stones. It’s so perfect for me! (Nails are Olive and June press ons from Target 10/10 recommended!!)

submitted by DrMik26 to EngagementRings [link] [comments]

2023.05.27 23:15 sp0ngeB0BS For the Last Time Ever: A Love Letter to Succession and This Community.

TL;DR: It has been a great journey.
I have to do this before the finale because I would be too emotional afterward.
I have always wanted to watch great shows like Breaking Bad during their peak because I've always romanticized watching something weekly while it's airing, rather than streaming it years later. I feel so fortunate and thrilled that my dream has been fulfilled because this show truly is one of the bests of all time. And to be able to say, "Oh, I was there," is kind of emotional and nostalgic, but so satisfying.
It's rare that you can look at a show and say that every aspect of it is so meaningful and perfect. Mention a part of the show and I can give you a hundred reasons for its perfection. The camerawork, direction, production designs, costuming, cinematography, bloody soundtrack, and the marvelous writing and acting come to life in such grand and royal ways. In a chaotic coherence through the lens of an infiltrator. And if I start to talk about the all-rounded talent in our actors, I don't think I could stop.
Its Shakespearean tendencies are bound to make the show be remembered by generations and be talked about amongst the circles it parodies. The way that each episode to the date has made me feel is outstanding. For not even one episode to fail to spark a riot in my bones and the excitement in my body is such a fantastic feat that is so rare and riveting. But to know that you're watching a great show is kind of bittersweet because whilst you are watching something monumental and brimming with talent, you also are going to see it reach its end. Like we will tomorrow. Though the eternal magnetism of a modern tragicomedy shall forever keep me reminiscing, it will also attract more prying eyes and lovers, and cravers for this epic, which is dazzling and magical.
When I heard this was the last season, like all of you, I was devastated. But there was an appreciation for the team's awareness of ending the show's own succession during its peak rather than way past it. Such a decision, especially during today's television climate, is, frankly, highly commendable and a rather difficult one. I think this only increases my trust in the brilliant writing team and the showrunners. I know that tomorrow will be tectonic. I know that it will shake me. I know that it will make me laugh, raise my hairs, and tear my eyes. It will be difficult, but I am so grateful and lucky to be a part of this day.
And I am incredibly happy I get to do it with you guys. Every episode, as soon as I process it, I have to run to the subreddit. It feels like home here. Since none of my friends watch it, I love seeing people share my thoughts, sometimes right down to the T. It is amazing that strangers completely felt a certain way like you did, which also accomplishes what the writers' probably intended. I also love seeing comments I disagree with because that's normal and it's interesting to see so many different perspectives being sprouted from one thing. I mean, that is the unique thing about art. I definitely also love all those weekly posts reminding everyone that this is NOT THAT KIND OF SHOW (no shade lmao). But it's so lovely to be here, watching the finale with you all. I may need to pre-grieve, guys. Totally won't break down like Rome later, though.
This subreddit is a time capsule, for me and many thousands alike. It will remind me, always, of how much fun I've had watching the show and interacting with strangers online. And what a big, entertaining, and emotive part of my life it was. How it has made me laugh more than any of today's sitcoms through Roman's verbal diarrhea, how it has given me goosebumps via just one of Snook's reactions, how it has made me cry over Kendall's tragic journey and made me feel such a tragedy for Logan's empty heart and empty empire. The regal, aching story it has manifested and the lives that it affects. It has done it all and back. And it will do it one last time tomorrow. And I can't wait for them to nail it.
Yes, this is cheesy but it's true. I cannot believe I feel this way for a show. But I'm so glad it's this one. We don't know non-toxic love on this subreddit, so f*ck you and God bless!

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2023.05.27 22:14 Proletlariet Sokka

Respect Sokka

“Boomerang! You do always come back!”

Sokka was too young to fight when the Fire Nation attacked his village. Growing up preparing for the day he could take the battle to them, Sokka finally got his chance to make a difference when he and his sister Katara discovered the Avatar. Setting out on a journey to save the world, Sokka proved a critical piece in ending the year that had consumed the planet for over 100 years.
Despite not being a bender, Sokka proved a capable fighter, inventor, and tactician. Armed with an array of weapons and undergoing training from a variety of sources, Sokka conceived of and lead the invasion on the Day of the Black Sun and ultimately stopped the Fire Nation air fleet that would have devastated the Earth Kingdom.

Source Key: Avatar: The Last Airbender = S#E# The Lost Lore of Avatar = LLA Lost Adventures = LA The Search = TS The Rift = TR North and South =N&S

Relevant Scaling: 1. Aang 2. Zuko 3. Azula 4. Master Piandao

Physicals

Strength
- Throwing
- Striking
  - Knocks out a man with one blow of his club ^S2E1
  - Knocks out Wan Shi Tong with a book, a giant spirit who was earlier busting through walls ^S2E10
- Holding/Pushing
  - Holds the weight of another man while holding onto a rope ^S1E17
  - Rolls a large boulder ^S3E4
  - Holds Toph with one arm while attacking firebenders ^S3E20
Durability
Speed
- Scaling
  - Dodges a fireblast from Zuko after recovering from a fall ^S1E1
  - Briefly outruns Aang and swings at him while running ^S1E3
  - Intercepts a fireblast from Zuko ^S1E4
  - Dodges fireblasts from Azula ^S2E8
  - Dodges a surprise fireblast from Azula ^S2E13
  - Evades Ty Lee's close range attacks ^S2E20
  - Dodges an unexpected swing from Piandao ^S3E4
  - Again dodges an unexpected fireblast from Azula ^S3E11
- Reaction
  - Dodges a flail ^S1E7
  - Dodges thrown darts ^S2E8
  - Intercepts darts, knocking them out of the air ^S2E8
  - Throws attacks at two firebenders before they can fire on him ^S3E20
  - Dodges a blade and several arrows ^TR
  - Slaps an arrow fired at him from the air and dodges another ^TR

Skill

Unarmed Combat
- Embarassed by Suki, but trains with her and briefly bests her, although she recovers and returns the favor ^S1E4
- Evades Ty Lee's close range attacks ^S2E20
- Outfights a trained fighter ^TR
Swordsmanship
- In a matter of days goes from losing to a sparring partner to being able to disarm and beat them ^S3E4
- Spars with Piandao, keeping up with the more experienced master by using his environment and improvisation before finally losing ^S3E4
- Disarms a spearman and unseats him from his mount ^S3E10
Accuracy
- Throwing
- Returning Boomerang
Misc
- Learns to sail a ship well enough to navigate disastrous terrain ^S1E15
- Learns to forge his sword alongside Piandao ^S3E4

Equipment

Club
Machete
- Cuts through vines ^S2E4
- Cuts through wood ^S2E4
- Cuts through the vines of a swamp monster ^S2E4
- Slices off a metal tap ^S2E13
Knife
- Stabs into a tree and conducts sound ^S1E10
Boomerang
- Cuts ropes ^S1E10
- Cuts through spears ^S1E6
Sword

Intelligence

Water Tribe!

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2023.05.27 21:26 FormalSmoke Official Images: Nike Zoom Vomero 5 Mystic Red

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Official Images: Nike Zoom Vomero 5 Mystic Red
The Nike Zoom Vomero 5 lineup continues to grow as another colorway is showcased from Nike’s 2023 summer collection with this “Mystic Red” flavor of the popular silhouette. Covered in Mystic Red, Metallic Platinum, Reflect Silver, Burgundy Crush, and Summit White, this Nike Air Zoom Vomero 5 takes on the traditional mesh, leather, and synthetic upper with the signature plastic side panels and heel counter. Shades of red and silver cover the entire sneaker as well as the various branding throughout. 3M reflective accents and Zoom Air cushioning completes the design on this Nike Zoom Vomero 5 that will be releasing soon for $160.
For a complete guide including official photos, release dates, pricing and where to buy, visit: Nike Zoom Vomero 5 Mystic Red.
Here’s your reminder that the Air Jordan 14 Laney releases on May 27th.
UPDATE (5/26): Official images of the Nike Zoom Vomero 5 “Mystic Red” that is expected to release later this summer.

submitted by FormalSmoke to ShoeSneakerFashion [link] [comments]

2023.05.27 21:10 Saint-Andros A Lesson in Scionics Riding the Wind Chapter 8

First Previous Next
---
Thank you u/cliche_-_bartender as always for helping to proofread <3
---
SUBJECT-DESIGNATION: Tokieran Taqar
LOCATION: Earth
DATE: GALACTIC-STANDARD > EARTH-TIME [Saturday, August 17, 2186]
---
It felt odd to have my arms removed.
Well, they weren’t exactly my arms per se, but they had been a part of me long enough that I considered them my own. I was so used to adjusting my wings to account for their presence that to have them reduced to little more than a stripped-down pair of spherical joints felt wrong. And oh, how wondrously wrong it felt.
Even the very elements within which our wretched people belonged had been taken. Now, it was my goal to wrench it back from the iron grip of our lords.
“C’mon Toki, give it another shot! You’ve got it this time!”
Twenty-seven cycles had passed since our arrival on Earth, and for twenty-five of those cycles, Nia had been my flight trainer.
Considering her former profession was that of a soldier, I’m not entirely sure how qualified she was for such a position, but then again, she had technically known of us Khimrox longer than any other human. To me though, such ‘qualifications’ hardly mattered. She was my friend after all.
Together, Nia and I had agreed that mid-day would be the best time for my practice. Though she was not exactly well-versed in the ways of Khimroxian physiology, her genuine care and words of motivation made her a fine coach.
Compared to the suffocating smoke and smog of Mortamin—the world of my hatching—the clear skies and pure white clouds of the human homeworld may as well have been the spaces beyond where Maqar herself resided.
From that same world of Mortamin, I took both my manner of speaking and the general attitude of the desolate and dejected peoples unfortunate enough to be trapped upon it. It had taken a significant effort to begin picking away at that attitude to form a brighter countenance, but each and every day became easier than the last.
After muttering a quick prayer to the sky-mother, I set myself up just the same as I had over a hundred times before. I tensed up and loosened my wings, lowering into a crouch. My head turned upward to face the sky, avoiding the bright sun of Sol.
With the force of an uncoiling spring, I rushed forth, leaping into the air with my legs tucked in and my wings spread out.
I managed to make it off the ground, though just barely. A wing-length lower and I would have skidded across the muddied surface brought on by the current wet-season. The very fact that no clouds of rain had opened up upon us today was actually rather surprising.
The green downward slope rushed by in a blur as I descended, my recently-trained muscles working overtime to account for their many years of disuse. Slowly but surely, I ascended, climbing—flying—up and away. Soon, I rose above even the wide-reaching canopies before circling back.
My wings wobbled as I did, unsteady among the surroundings that shouldn’t have been new to them.
Even from so far above, I could hear Nia’s excited shouts from below as I continued my climb. For a moment, my eyes turned to look down at her leaping and waving her arms about with enthusiasm. If I was capable of it, one of those wonderful human smiles would have filled my face.
A harsh and unwelcome gust of wind beat against me as I soared, pushing my already struggling sense of balance off-center.
Without warning, my right wing bent just wrong enough—just long enough—for the skies to take advantage. The bending itself didn’t hurt, but the sudden movement was enough to pluck me out of the skies. In an instant, I was falling down in a spiral, heart racing as yet more unintelligible shouts were sent by my human friend.
The ground, the trees, the mud, the grass, friend-Nia, dashed towards me as my turbulent descent continued.
Out of all the words hurled my direction, I was able to catch one. “Remember!”
Remember. Just as we had drilled in prior days, I pulled my wings in, rapidly excelling the dive’s speed for but a moment before throwing them out once more. The wind took the bait and pushed itself over them as I dived down and out into a flat but steady decline. Towards the arc’s end, I rose ever so slightly before landing with a stumbling step.
Though I touched down safely, I toppled forward as my unsteady talons failed to grasp the ground, sending me flailing into the mushy slop.
“Toki! You alright?”
I rose with a ruffle of my feathers and sent mud flying every which way. A clump of the slick substance was spewed from my mouth and onto the ground. I was an absolute mess in more ways than one.
Nia stood near holding a hand over her eyes and chuckling as brown wet specks coated her otherwise clean clothing. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“I do not know what happened!” I shouted, anger boiling out and through my beak. “It was going so well until it wasn’t.”
“Are you kidding me?” called my friend. Her tone took on an incredulous tone. “That was one of your best attempts yet!”
“Perhaps, but it still wasn’t enough.”
“Bah. Don’t go thinking that way now.” Before I could voice any more complaints, Nia trotted over, raising a mud-speckled hand and placing it upon my head.
A few undignified, involuntary clucks of pleasure escaped my beak as her nail coated fingers scratched around my skull. I had since learned that any attempts at maintaining dignity were a waste of time around my human friend. The humans were startlingly similar to my people in how desperately they required contact with others.
In a way though, it was relieving to have an opportunity to let my guard down around anyone other than family. I hadn’t seen any such family for many years, and to say that finally having someone to wrap my wings around was a relief would be an understatement.
My mind and body melted at the sheer sensation of my friend’s touch. “I’m sure you’ll get it soon. You just need more time.”
“Yes. Like how the others needed more time.”
Nia’s face frowned at my words. “Hey, don’t go around comparing yourself to others. You’re doing your best! Some things take time. There’s no shame in being less gifted than someone else.”
Oh, but there is. I knew that friend-Nia meant well, but her normally uplifting words did little to raise my mood. For the first time in my life, I had the opportunity to fulfill the purpose my body was built for. This goal was just barely within my grasp, but each and every time, it managed to slip through.
“Do you have any idea what it’s like to be deprived of something that should be your right? All my life, both my wings and the wretched arms of our former lords have mocked me. I’ve dreamt of flight for years, only to be crammed into a cold white box.”
As she managed to scratch right behind my horns, I continued my lament. “I’m so close, but with each attempt, the skies only seem further away.”
“You do know it's okay to fail, right? I’m sure those Aurum bastards didn’t believe that, but I’d argue when it comes to humanity, that's one of our greatest attributes; we’re willing to fail.”
Among our former lords, failure meant pain, anguish, death. My mother—Habbaris—had learned such a lesson firsthand.
As if she had somehow sensed my very thoughts, Nia turned to me. “Hey, what's up?” Her voice was soothing to my ears, like a gentle breeze on a warm day.
“I’m sorry.” I gave a half-hearted cluck of a chuckle. “When failure almost always means the difference between life and death, one tends to stress quite often.”
Nia twisted her mouth downward and narrowed the brows above her eyes.
“And that’s why we’re gonna fight the bastards. I don’t give a damn what the higher-ups of the UEN say, to sit by and just watch as your people are treated like livestock, it’s cowardice is what it is!”
“I—I wish I could feel that way my friend.”
Nia met my eyes with a smoldering glare. “What!? You’re okay to just leave your people like that?"
I met her eyes with a voice that matched their intensity. “No! Of course I’m not fucking okay with it!” The human seemed taken aback by my words. Those human curses really pack a punch.
A sigh rose from my chest. “I’m just… I’m afraid. Afraid for my people. For yours. There’s no fighting against the Aurum. I have watched too many learn that lesson to repeat it myself. I’m afraid that if humanity fought back, they—you, would meet the same fate as my people.”
Nia pursed her lips. “You know Toki, some things are worth fighting for, dying for even. You and your people, you’re one of ‘em.”
Silence hung over us as I processed that thought. Even among my own people, it was often everyone for themselves. To lay your life down for someone else… It was absurd.
“I want to tell you somethin. A month ago, when we first met, do you remember what happened?”
I gave a sad chuckle. “How could I forget? I was a nervous wreck, sniveling in the corner of your room.”
“And I was the one who did that to you,” muttered Nia. “I’ve never told you why though. It was the thought of being trapped that set me off like that. I didn’t want to be angry with you, shit, I barely even knew you then. I had no idea how much you’d been through.”
“When I joined in on the military campaign of Kuiper as a marine, I thought that I was fighting for something that mattered. I fought like hell for the UEN but more importantly, for my fireteam. Sure, times got tough and we did shit that none of us wanted to remember, but at least we had each other.”
“I still remember the day that it all came crashing down. We were assigned to a strike-force, one tasked with infiltrating one of the major corpo production facilities out in the belt. Things were fine at first, but quickly enough, it all descended into absolute chaos. We did our best to back out after the whole facility was put on high alert, but it was too little too late. You wanna know what happened?”
“I failed,” she whispered. “Every last one of ‘em. Liu. Kris. Carlos. They all deserved better.”
“By some cursed miracle, I was the only one that made it, and for so long, I told myself it should have been me.”
“When the corpos managed to capture me, they locked me up, tortured me for information I didn’t even have, and tossed away the key. Three years I spent in that dirty steel cell, barely scraping by—haunted by the ghosts of those I failed.”
“Sure, I made it out when the UEN eventually came for me, but I didn’t escape without losing some part of me in the process. When they tried to put me back into the field, it took several incidents before I was ultimately discharged for my safety and that of those around me. It's been nearly a decade since then and sure, things have gotten better, but they’ve never quite been the same either.”
“I—I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Same way I didn’t know about you. About what you’ve been through.”
The woman turned to me with those deep jade eyes, locking them in place with my own. “Most of us are all broken in one way or another, Toki; but just cause something’s broken doesn’t mean it's useless. It takes time to fix a broken thing. For some things it takes less, for others more. And sure, sometimes things might be broke beyond repair, but I’d argue that’s pretty rare. You’ve got a pretty good head on those wings of yours; I’m sure you’ll turn out just fine.”
Nia shrugged. “And who knows, maybe in the process of fixing something, you’ll make it even better than it was before it broke.”
Nia took a step away and waved me over with a hand. “That’s enough moping for now. C’mon, I think you’ve got a good few attempt’s left in ya. Let’s not waste em sitting around doin’ nothing.”
Maybe she was right. But what if I am broken beyond repair? “C’mon! We don’t got all day!”
Upon Nia’s continued assistance, I climbed alongside her, up the slight incline of the muddy knoll, back to where we began. I thought to my friend’s recent words. This moment, this flight, this was something worth fighting for. Perhaps if I can manage this… “You ready?” asked Nia.
“Yes. Yes I think so.”
“Well alright then. Don’t let me get in your way.”
For a moment, I closed my eyes, letting out a sigh to calm my racing heart. My wings loosed and my body prepared. Unlike before, my talons found purchase. I set to a crouch, leaning my body forward in preparation. One flap, two flaps. Jump! Again, I leapt out, up, going down, rising up.
Gravity would no longer hold me. No longer would I allow myself to be a prisoner. Nothing could hold me now. No mind, no gravity, no implants, no lords. There was nothing now but the wind as it brushed against my now-freed being.
I understood it now—I think. Before, some deep part of me had fought against it; some part of me that had once buckled under the weight of the skies and the winds therein. I had thought this the result of some weakness within me—within my body—but I now knew this to not be the case. If I was to fight for the freedom of not only myself, but the freedom of my people, strength alone could not save me—save us.
My flight continued onward, far above the canopied tops with blossoms of the purest white and out towards the rocky spires that shot up towards the skies. From here, I could see the hastily created home of our people, see the specks of both Mankind and the occasional Khimroxian moving about with no more urgency put to their tasks than that of a working ant.
With great speed, I dipped and dove and cut between the formations of Karst. The wind blew all the while, pressing through me, over me, across me with impunity. The very span of my wings cast shadows comparable to those of the clouds that danced across the green below.
I could have soared in such a way for hours—lost with the flow. Somehow, it all made sense. I set to the skies like a fish to water. I glided, cut and darted—through, over and under each and every wave of wind like the crashing surfaces of a vast ocean. There was someone though who eagerly awaited my return—someone who I refused to leave waiting.
I returned, descending, slowly, carefully, to the clearing made among the trees. There was no need for the flapping of wings as the air glided softly against them, raising me ever so slightly.
A welcome shape came into view as she bounced up and down once again, raising her arms to reach for the heavens. I barrelled directly towards that shape with reckless abandon—with no regard for the consequences. She saw through my plan too late before she could try and escape.
Following our crash, a great tumble of flesh and feathers joined, rolling against and off one another, until at last, they both settled in the still wet soil.
Together, we laughed where we lay, side by side in the beautiful, black and slimy filth while we stared up into the endless blue.
As I rested on my back, I noticed movement from the corner of my eyes and turned. In an instant, those jade-colored eyes pulled mine from the cerulean sky. Their green was very much unlike the bright shades of the surrounding grass and trees. The green of those other things was superficial, surface-level. Her eyes held many things deep within their depths—things I couldn’t describe and things I wasn't sure should be described.
This beautiful human had more love than she knew what to do with. I was a broken thing, but by some miracle, she had managed to make me whole. As I looked at Nia, she did not seem as broken as she had claimed. There may have been a few cracks, dents or scratches here and there, but I was gladly willing to look over those. I couldn’t see her as being anything other than wondrously perfect.
---
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submitted by Saint-Andros to HFY [link] [comments]

2023.05.27 20:37 morongaaa Just wanted nice nails on vacay

Hi it's me, your resident ranter. Title sounds stupid but hear me out.
I never had many hobbies that stayed constant (thanks ADHD) but one thing I've loved for more than a decade now is nail art. I could be creative without committing to a big project and had an excuse to keep changing it up as nail polish only lasts for so long. A few years ago I even upgraded to gel polish. I was thriving.
Then I get pregnant. 90% of the time was too exhausted to sit and paint my nails and started only doing simple stuff/solids for special events. Then came baby. Forget exhaustion, there's no time to sit down and paint my nails even if I wanted. Made only more frustrating by the fact that every time i get some length to them, my nails would crack and break before I could even attempt to do anything with them. I would get upset and my husband would get frustrated: why don't i just keep my nails short so that doesn't happen, I'm a mom now after all.
But that's it. I'm a mom now and it feels like that's the end of the whole story of me. I can't wear 90% of my wardrobe anymore, I struggle to stick to a workout schedule (the only other hobby I've really stuck to over the years), I quit work to stay home with baby (probably contributes to lack of identity but I really wouldn't trade it), hell I've even given up my hair stylist. I just wanted one thing to feel good about.
We're on the road for family/friends vacation right now and I did my best to touch up my hair myself and the morning we left I put baby in the playpen with Ms Rachel, determined to do a simple but cute design for my nails. It was a bit stressful but I got them done and was pleased considering I hadn't really done anything in so long. First day on the road and one nail starts peeling already. Came off in one piece so it was a little upsetting but I thought screw it I'll buy some nail glue and see if I can fix it up for at least this week. Day 2, more nails start chipping. I make a "joke" to my husband that maybe I could just find a salon and get them done. Get shot down. I don't know what I've done wrong that they can't last two days but it's frustrating when even more start peeling and chipping so I sat and picked off all of it. Even typing this right now I feel petty and silly but I honestly wanted to cry. My body isn't mine anymore. My time isn't mine anymore. Hell the money in our bank account isn't really mine anymore either. I just wanted to feel good about something that's just for myself. It's like giving up on the last bit of pre-baby identity. I am just "mom" now

submitted by morongaaa to beyondthebump [link] [comments]

2023.05.27 20:17 a-soul-flame Lunar Noir. (Actual) Part 9.

To part 1

Last part (incorrectly also titled as Part 9)

Mild NSFW: Down bad AI and corporate bullshit that can hurt you personally
Part 9: A Luxury Flight

'*Doo-Ding~* Hello and welcome to North-Lunar Space-elevator~, of United Lunar States of America.
We at
United~ Corporations~ Incorporated~,
hope you have a the most satisfaction induced temporal time framed goody good time with our many entertainment, media, business, nine star hotels, hard-, soft- and wet-ware establishments, luxury gift shops and megastores, without forgetting our iconic designated +25 paid orgy zones.~
Have a good life~ and have good business~ with us~, at~
United~ Corporations~ Incorporated~.
*Doo-Ding~*
Oooh~ We - Can't - Thank - You - Enough~ as we are at our highest of highs and beyond~ razzle-dazzle level excited~ to get you the service you - deserve!~
Thank you, //Oscar Wright//, for agreeing to download our terms of service and allowing the access to your surface information from your personalized datasets, collected by your designated computer unit, to get you the best user experience and accommodations for your benefit!~
With the following mental click you can apply to our hourly subscription service and membership plans for further enhancement and benefit of your user experience at-
United~ Corporations~ Incorporated~.
Please, also consider the possibility of- and the recommended preparations for, any legal action, considering our and our compatriots' services, including, but not limited to; wrongful conduct of business, hacking and scam attempts, contraction disagreements or braking into- - -'
The broadcast to my brain got shut up finally, as I walked the packed and polished white marble floors of the Space-elevator's base megastructure.
'Finally got that policity ad to stop!' Elk huffed in frustration. 'I'm telling you, the U.C.I. keeps getting better and better at throwing ads and bullshit to even lag me! Well I'm also not running on the best hardware either.- I mean look at you! When did you last upgrade?
Since I recruited you, five years ago, you've only gotten the 'NailMesh 438.03'! You know that the latest is at 488.91! and that's an off-brand model anyways!' Elk complained.
'Well it has worked fine enough for me! It even manages to run you without a problem! And I don't really need the refresh and load times to be 2,45 nanoseconds faster, I can't even tell the difference!
Besides, I've always run the hardware until the software updates stop. It's fine for at least another year or two~.' I flicked my golden hair back as I got to the Person Storage Shelves that stacked up to the forty foot tall ceiling.
My hud displayed my own seat at pill-box seating shelf number 804, level eleven, seat 075. There were wide simple metal ramps and scaffolding leading up to each level, with regular intervals between just five seats to funnel the mass of people as quickly as near-post-humanly possible.
Still the many lines moved slightly forward constantly, people dividing to different levels and climbing to their, what some would call claustrophobic, sleep-in-pill-boxes.
To accommodate the avaridge, 8.5 feet tall to some reaching 12-15 feet tall, with their gene-, cybernetic-, augmented- and/or vessel modifications, the bunk bed designed 'seat' were highly adjustable, to cram as many people into one shuttle as near-post-humanly as possible.
The pill-boxes would expand and retract their frame and fold in or out the structural armour plating, ~for the benefit of ensuring our customer tailored experience and high quality safety.~
It was a thigh fit coffin.
No arguing about it, the U.C.I. even sell the damned things as ones, if a customer has, ~unfortunately suffered the ability to no longer perform business with us~, to the rest of the 'customers' next of kin!
'Well they're at least comfortable…' I thought to myself as I tracked my way to my seat.
Of course with the trip to the Earth or further away took anywhere from two hours to few weeks, laying down without moving much at all, needed to have some sort of 'reinvigoration and entertainment module, for preventing the downsides of long term enclosure and zero-g environment, including, but not limited to-'. jada-jada-jada..
That's why, you not only were climbing into a pill-box, but into the humanoid shaped harness that would encapsulate you to skin tight level, for the entirety of the voyage.
~to ensure the best safety, both physical and malware protection. Meteorite proofed and anti-hacking protection from our own U.C.I. VPN and downloadable subscription to our Project Buzz-Off,-
an in house, adaptive, anti-aliasing, procedurally generated firewall locking, multiple real-time and sub-time hacking attempted observing and- -.
Everyone in the waiting lines, including me, were already in our U.C.I. brand plastered suits that would seamlessly connect to the coffins.
Top of the line, haptic VR and hydraulic body movement, alongside a brain-computer connection enhanced experience, to ensure a realistic virtual on flight environment.
Real food funnels as well as smell and heat simulation for any activity you might do on the flight in addition to the limited Brain-computers induced senses, as well the time-dilation capable core-prosessors to the 7.5 safe multiplier outlined to the normal human brain.
The AR indicators told me exactly where to go, it was only a matter of waiting in line as the crowds of multiple languages and translations diluted into background noise.
'So… I mean, what should I even do in the 'Souls-like' game tournament? I have no clue.' I thought to the sub-core that lounged in my brain-computer.
'Eh, just doge, hit and don't die.' Elk in its emptiness, relaxed on a mental red velvety sofa that had appeared in my mind, for some reason.
'That's not even advice. Like, almost every game is like that. Like what do I need to do, besides basic combat?' I crossed my arms at the metal image of Elk.
'Well, you level your stats, weapons and armor, get skills, get better weapons, better movement options, talk to some NPCs to get the story, gather material to make potions and craft things and weapons… all normal stuff. There could be an extra mechanic or two if one of me was feeling extra today.
And you race to be the first on the final boss, that usually has like five phases and insta-kill mechanics on the last two phases. Or sometimes I throw in a random cooking simulation, DDR or a puzzle as the last boss for shit and giggles!' Elk laughed as we neared the end of the line.
'Ha! Well let's see how this goes then…' I was giving the game a shot.
Before getting to my seat I noticed two rare sight in modern life, one, a Hive-mind of ten people, who shared one luxury pill-box and two, an honestly obese human.
The one obese person was actually more surprising to me than the big hive-mind. It was standard to have the nutrient drip-feeder installed to you and at least some home-kit gene therapy, so unless they didn't have malfunctioning tech, they actually chose to be so.
'Mmm… yeah, you're looking right where I want.~ Look at all those sexy lumps, that meat, mmm…' The downright gutter mind mecha-god licked its empty lips.
'Do you have to make absolutely everything sexual? You you ever just chill out?' I turned my eyes from the big human that was arguing with a guard about their seat being literally too small for them.
'Well no, I don't have to, but you try being inside an autopilot program for close to five decades, without the ability to simulate porn and have no real touch sensors.
I've been thinking about everything and how I'd wanna do it, so I'm sorry I get a little over board about fucking.' The pervert god fragment waved its empty hooves nonchalantly.
'*Sigh* Whatever, pervert.' I muttered in my mind.
'Hey~! It isn't like you don't use simulated porn and hooker services, as much as I would, if I could. And I can't even access anything you can't see on the internet. It's frustrating~ that there isn't 24/7 humping and squirting~! And that ten-hive-mind... OooOoOhhh~-'
'Jeez! Who the fuck dialled your sex drive to the max!? No other AI I have met, like ever, was this depraved! You need to tone it down, Elk the fucked pervert.' I cut the data-space taking germling from digging its depravity further.
'Fine, fine. I'll cut the lust down for now.' And like a switch being pulled the eternal feeling of lust stopped. '... I'll just arrange to get us at least double the amount of action when we are on Earth, than what I had initially planned!' The perverted parasite god added as I was climbing into my seat.
'*Pah*! Now I don't want any of that...' I rolled my eyes as the hydraulic arms closed around me and the VR display and the brain-link cables started downloading all the usual emergency situation memories.
'B-but its a vacation!!!' The pervert was actually mortified.
'And its my fucking body!' That made the sub-core shut up for once.
Hydraulics hissed and clicked to place, encapsulating me whole and making me temporarily unable to move my limbs, as metal pressed on the skin-tight suit.
I could feel as the haptics tingle on every inch of my body, as my Work Official Avatar was 'spawned' to the shuttles hub-area in VR-space, basically a luxury hotel with windows, displaying real time camera footage of the outside, many times with impossible geometry, witch was a big trend nowadays in any VR world to have.
My personal avatar, a basically a carbon copy of myself with my regular clothes just having more lights and effects added to them, I refused to wear the big detective coat.- Still modest compared to the oddities you could regularly see on the internets.
Just surveying the flights hub-area, you could see avatars from all ends of imagination and abstraction.
We got jellyfish, floating eyeballs, fantasy creatures, demons of all kinds, giant- and tiny creatures, colourful splatters of art, walking plants, tuned game characters, disembodied voices, default avatars and of course the most famous ones, anime and the furrie avatars.
Those two categories tended to never die out completely even if they were as much as equal amounts; of down-bad as the parasitic mecha-god and hated by nearly everyone, including their own communities. -A weird paradox.
Muting the chat I immediately set out to find the webpage to connect to the tournament's own lobby.
Finding the link easily as it was one of the top searches anyways I joined in, with the time-dilation switching on, and got 'teleported' to a vast grasslands, whose horizon curved slightly upwards, making the place look absolutely massive.
Wind rustled the muted coloured grass blades as orchestral gothic music blared from above, where the titularly iconic Singularity's error textured crown floated above one of its many avatars playing all the orchestra's instruments at once and singing.
'*Awhg*, that's AXK-808554/i… a real try-hard…' Elk mumbled, collapsing its empty form on the red sofa in exhauston.
'... Huh?...' I thought back as the orchestral sud-core's wind/lightning elemental avatar sang with its lightning body's eyes closed.
Chanting vocals rang, as violin and flute teetered here and there, drums and percussion aiding to the fast paced tempo.
Looking around you could see basically the same categories of avatars, with maybe a little more demons in the mix.- I could even recognize some of the same avatars as in the shuttles hub-area.
'Axey boy Bob over there will probably focus more on the music and the story than the real meat and potatoes of combat!!...' Elk flailed around on the sofa, like a spoiled kid who didn't get what they exactly wanted.
'Oh, well that sounds more interesting to me then…' I thought as I listened to the music, the haptics diving the sensation of the wind blowing my hair around.
'*Pah* Suit yourself. No hope, religion, depression, humanity on the brink of extinguish, it's still basically the same. Haul marks of souls-like storytelling. Not that interesting after the hundred thousand time.' Elk shook its empty antlered head.
'Well you haven't even seen it yet, I'm giving this a shot, so be more happy with that alone.' I quipped back as at the same time the orchestral song ended quietly in run on notes.
'Besides the combat will be easy anyways, since I have the mod for quick reflexes.' I stretched myself a little.
'Oh, yeah, no. All players will have their stats begin at the same and all computing power and physical abilities reduced to the same frame, whatever that will be by the given game. That way there's no pay 2 win shit, it would be literally cheating.' Elk explained in a bored fashion.
'O-oh shit… I-Isn't souls-likes really hard?' I realized this wouldn't be so easy.
'Fucking da-aa, detective! That's why most people play them! Hahah! And the award money.' Elk laughed on the sofa.
Cold sweat started to run on the back of my neck as the error crowned elemental descended from the sky, its lightning face and hands stuttering in a lower framerate.
''Welcome everyone. I think it's about time to begin, so without further ado… //Press start//'' A gravely voice echoed, but then switched to an 8-bit announcer voice.
The words appeared before me as everyone else.
People immediately started to disappear around me, so I too tapped the floating words.
I found myself in darkness, odd moon light reflecting from somewhere above.
A cave.- I smelled the wet clear air and felt the cold ground under me.
I was laying on the ground and slowly got up as there was now metal armor weighing me down.
'Oke, let's get going, Oscar. There's usually a weapon near the first spawn.' Elk got into a better position on the imaginary sofa.
'Yeah, ok?' I started to blindly search the way forward, the odd moonlight giving very poor visibility.
Slippery rocks almost made me fall many times as I descended gradually, making me question if this was the right way.
But after a half a minute I got to a water spring area and immediately realized what had been wrong about the moonlight. Everything was pixelated, like an old old arcade game.
'Huh, 16-bit, nice, nice. Haven't seen Bob do this sort of thing before…' Elk brushed off the non-realism right away.
The moonlight hit the underground water from a long crack in the ceiling and reflected mirages to the cave's walls, lighting the area nicely in pixelated moving symbols.
Looking at my pixelated hands I felt slightly funny, looking at the small jumping 'sensor' squares dancing on my hands, replicating every hand sign I did.
But I also took note how quickly my depth perception turned to little more than barely recognizable pixel vomit. That would be annoying…
'Ok, let's focus, can you access some sort of inventory?' Elk guided.
With the feeling coming from the brain-computer connection I indeed could with a mental click.
// User: [FemboyDetective77]//
// no items.
// Weapon slot: empty
// Full set of Iron Plate Armor: simple
Reduces all physical damage by: [22] Armour points.
Plate Armor Movement speed in water and muddy terrain: -35%
Iron Attracts lightning based attacks. If grounded Lightning damage: -50%
See, further description…
Weight: +20
// User Statistics: baseline of 100 in everything.
'Hmmm… Ok no items and this armour is pretty trash…' Elk mumbled.
'Yeah, I'm already feeling slower in this foot deep water.' I agreed as I took a step further.
A scream came from ahead of me and I saw… a roughly humanoid greenish pixel blob waddling towards me.
''I don't even have a weapon!!'' I jumped backwards from the pixel vomit enemy, not really getting what it even was supposed to be.
'Relax, just doge and you have hands. Punch that monster in the face!' Elk did an empty uppercut on the sofa.
'Ok, ok.' I put my hands up and waited for the slow enemy to walk to me. 'Umm… how do I dodge, Elk?'
The enemy that I realized at the last moments was an ugly fish amphibian monster, as it swiped its long claws at me with surprising speed.
I fell on my back as I tried to dodge the attack.
'Oh, c'mon!! Don't die to the first enemy! And just dodge to fucking dodge! This isn't a controller game, there's no buttons! You have to move dammit!' Elk complained on the mental sofa, as I struggled to roll in the foot deep water and dodge two further attacks from the mer-folk.
'It's hard to move in this thing! Ok!' I got some distance and got back up, but the pixel monster was already attacking again.
I blocked with my arms as the three swipe attacks pushed me back a little.
// Current Health: 100HP
// (Armor protection) 22Arm. Damage reduction // (slashing attack) 40DMG
// (Armor protection) 22Arm. Damage reduction // (slashing attack) 40DMG
// (Armor protection) 22Arm. Damage reduction // (slashing attack) 40DMG
// Current Health: 56HP
It hurts!
'Quick! Do a counter!' Elk yelled in my mind.
I didn't know what I was doing but I did a simple punch to the monster's squishy face.
// (Counter attack) +50% DMG /+/ (Critical hit) +200% DMG // (normal attack) 5 DMG
// Enemy: 45.5HP
The pixelated mer-folk backed away slightly and swiped blueish blood pixels off of its face.
'Ok, just ten more normal punches and the thing's dead, or even less if you get more crit hits.' Elk encouraged.
'Yeah, sure…' I was getting slightly winded already.
The mer-folk instead skipped and weaved towards me. I dodged to the right before it even attacked, which got its initiative to redirect its claws at me anyways.
// Current Health: 56HP
// (Armor protection) 22HP Damage reduction // (slashing attack) 40DMG
// Current Health: 38HP
I didn't have the reaction time to counter again, so I just dodged more.
'You have to get the timing right! Wait, just before the monster attacks, there's usually some timing clues. Also if you un-equip the armor you'll dodge faster, but as a beginner just keep it on for now.' Elk had gotten a mental carton of popcorn from somewhere.
The mer-folk readied for an attack again, this time paying attention I saw its dull black pixel eyes flash in red, right before it lunged at me. I got the dodge right this time and got two fits in before backing up.
// (enemy: Enraged) // (normal attack) 5 DMG
// (normal attack) 5 DMG
// Enemy: 35.5HP
'Nice, your getting there…' Elk munched on the imaginary popcorn.
'Hehe… Uhh… what is it doing?' I was waiting for the monster to attack again but it stood in place with its clawed hands in front of it.
A silvery blue flash blinked from the monster's eyes, as damage hit me.
// (Armor Status: Grounded) - 50% DMG // (Lightning scorch) - 60HP
// Current Health: 8HP
The pain was dulled from what I had gone through yesterday, but it still hurt like all hell!
// (Grounded Lightning) 60 DMG
// Enemy: Dead // + 35XP
''Wait what?'' I looked back at the monster that now dissolved into dark pixels.
'Oh! That'll probably get some people angry…' Elk flashed a moment of surprise but got back to lounging immediately.
''What just happened? Did the attack actually bounce back? Why the fuck does the first enemy have lightning magic!?'' I walked to where the monster had been just a second ago.- No drops.
'Relax, Oscar. This was planned this way to make some of the try-hards die early, or at least think twice about the rest of the game. Like I said, Bob is a try-hard and an asshole…' Elk explained, reclining on the sofa.
'Well ummm… ok? How do I heal?' I didn't really get what Elk was talking about.
'I guess we need to find that out. Let's see if there's anything in this room before moving forwards.' Elk shrugged.
Pixelated reflections moved sporadically as I did a quick search through the water floored cave chamber.
''Aha, what's this?''
// Flint stone (x2) (crafting item)
'Ok, let's move. You're taking probably twice as long as everyone else.' Elk shook its head in disappointment.
'Hey! I'm playing this game for the first time! Cut some slack!' I moved to the next tight crack in the cave wall and continued.
'So is everyone else? I make a new game for every Friday's Game night.' Elk jabbed.
'Fine, fine. Well this is the first time I play a Souls-like, ok?... whatever…' I fell into a rhythmic step, as I went and searched a way forward in the dark crevasse.
Now there was light coming from the end of the way forward and the faint orchestral music kicked in.
'Watch your steps, Oscar…'
'Huh?' I got to the edge of the cave, the blinding light, stinging my eyes as I stopped right before a massive fall into the abyss.
''Holy shit!'' I backed off, slipping pixely rocks to fall down into the void below, pixels getting smaller until they disappear.
'Like I said, Bob's an asshole.' Elk muttered.
I took a better look outside, seeing a rough pixelated floating island slightly below the caves drop off. Purple and blues dominated the sky and the horizon, and it all was barely identifiable as such, because of the chunky blocks of pixels.
''Where are we?'' I looked around what little I was-…
A giant abstract eye drawing glowed above in muted red, being distinctly not pixelated, it looked surreal.
'We-ee-eird… Well? Is this a dead end?' I tried to not fall with the loose ruble.
'I think I saw a ledge to the left there…' Elk noted.
And sure enough there was a pixelated narrow rock ledge that I hadn't first seen with the lack of detail.
Shimmying around the sharp corner of the crack in the cliff-face and on to the barely foot wide ledge that led upwards with miss-matched foot holds and occasional jumps.
As I tried clearing the climb, I was constantly swepped by the wind, nearly tripping me up, but I made it up to the platow of muted blue pixel grass.
'Huh, surprisingly easy. I thought some birds or a dragon was going to agro or something…' Elk mumbled before getting up from the sofa to get another carton of popcorn from a vendor with a popcorn hat.
'Wait where did all that come from, Elk!?' I focussed on all the things Elk had somehow gotten into my mind.
'Oh, this~? Just some things I got from the larger me~, when I checked the memory banks.' Elk explained while giving the vendor an empty nickel in exchange for the popcorn. 'Keep the change~.' Elk winked at the popcorn vendor, who's blank face grew heart eyes at the mecha-god.
'The pleasure's mine. //[elk-777773/o]//' The vendor nodded, while the heart eyes remained.
... Ignoring that, I focused on the other thing Elk mentioned. 'Did you get any answers on that?' I had forgotten the whole of yesterday for a long second- 'The pain, the ghosts… maybe it was better I forgot that…'
'Well, yeah… I was trying to not mention yesterday… get you to relax properly. But on the topic I did find that there's something going on, on the Lunar bio-servers. The deleted memories have been deleted through them, but there's never been any executive orders to do so from the Earth's servers…' Elk started to munch on the new carton.
'But that's huge!! What if a hacker has gotten into the server!... Wait, you have bio-servers?' I was completely distracted from the pixelated world around me with its sky eye and the swirling purple clouds with the hundreds more floating islands.
'Yeah, bio-servers work surprisingly better on Luna, than anywhere else. I haven't pinpointed it down, but do to pressure levels and low-g-'
'You, have, bio-servers!! You've made those illegal yourself!! What the fuck?' I questioned Elk, ignoring the group of enemies coming in my direction.
'No, I made it illegal to connect a bio-server to the internet, because the amount of data and therefore moderation, would skyrocket.
I didn't make them outright illegal to have and operate if they're not connected. I use them to store vast amounts of my memory on and to help stimulate my alternative physics engines.' Elk elaborated with dismissive hoof gestures. 'Also, watch out, there are three enemies coming.'
'Fine, I'll deal with those first!! What are people going to do with a bio-server that can't be even connected to the internet? Only you would have any real use for them.' I turned to face the three enemies.
Twisted humanoid things trying to be humans would be the best description for them. Two of them looked like squires, carrying all sorts of things on them, while the one in the middle looked like an arch-mage or something. All had pale blue skin, same as the grass.
I readied my stance.
''Greetings, new Awoken!'' The one in red/black mage robes said, their face being hidden by their hood, say, except their skeletal lower jaw. Twisting symbols written on strips of leather, wrapped their clothes together, while an assortment of bead-necklaces and bracelets hung loose on every joint of their body.
''Umh, hello?'' I didn't think this was an NPC, with how 'enemy-like' they looked.
''Ah, good. The Awoken, can understand us, good, good!'' The mage rubbed their skeletal hands together.
''So, what is this place?'' I relaxed my stance.
''Ah? A curious one. How splendidly good!'' The mage rasped. ''These lands are called mostly as the Veil. The islands you see here were once the battleground of the Titans… still are, as well as it is our ceaseless prison.
All Awoken like you and I can ascend to be the next Titans and kill the accursed symbol-!!' the mage suddenly raised one of their pale fingers to point at the surreal eye symbol above. '-that dare block the way into the afterlife. It helds us as prisoners here, like a fake limbo. This place shouldn't be.-
Even when we die here, we reawaken… the only release is to fall into the void below, but that's no afterlife, I can tell you that much…'' It shook its head in dismay.
''Oh wow, talk about depressing. Ok, so how can I level up? I mean- 'ascend' ?'' I put a bit of roleplay to my voice.
''Curious one indeed. I'm here to guide you to do just that. I'm but a humble mage~, no name to myself, but I held the information and the Orb of Location,- that is how I have found you, curious one.
We should relocate to my hold for now, much safer there than out here,- close to the edge…'' The mage noded to itself and gestured to follow as the three set out to walk at a rapid pace away from the edge of the island.
'Should I follow?' I asked.
'Yeah, sure. Probably another trap, or it's all false flags. *Noms*- Bob's an asshole either way…'' Elk fiddled with a popcorn kernel before popping it in its empty maw.
'Uh… whatever, I'll follow then.' I didn't want to get left behind.

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