Our son was born the first week of July. Very close to the holiday weekend. My husband is a hospitalist at a nonteaching hospital. Last year we got in trouble because he took every summer holiday weekend off. He didn't know about Memorial Day weekend. He ended up working July 4th. And basically threatened to quit for Labor Day weekend because that's when our COVID postponed wedding reception was. His boss doesn't have a scheduling system in place at all.
This year we're avoiding all the holiday weekends. And my parents decided to throw my son a bigger birthday party at the end of July. They live 5.5 hours away. Today we find out that everyone's taking vacation that weekend. They have two people going to fellowship, one person's finishing his non-compete and going back to his specialty, someone on maternity leave, and the graduating residents aren't starting until after boards.
Every summer keeps getting worse. Our school district has a 90% attendance requirement so we have to take vacation in the summer next year on. My husband is thinking of going indepent because it's ridiculous. I really wish we had a full year school option in our district.
Is it just this job? Or are a lot of attendings in a hospital setting dealing with this?
Bonus: my mom asked why all my cousins who are residents weren't coming before I told her about my husband's schedule. I think I should tattoo "July is the worst month" on my forehead. 🫠

I haven’t even flirted for such a long time, and lately, during those boring lunches where people just talk about heiresses’ dogs’ illnesses (a Pomeranian dog shares all her illnesses with her owner) or gossip about some technocrat who has a limp and who may be cheating on his partner, and while rice with cod is served, I am asked “darling, are you dating yet?”. No, I am not, and here I am, mostly because dating apps are too dull – unfortunately the odds of being flashed by a Jewish 19 year-old from Manchester is smaller on these things, though sometimes you might have some luck and end up being insulted randomly by a Portuguese girl, who is visiting her uncle.
I do have names, and surnames, and I was born in a big city in Brazil. My sister used to describe our childhood address as “a building with cars and trees and buildings”, which is a rather good description of much of the city. For a while I wanted to join the seminary but after having to face the fact that this was an inadequate career choice considering I didn’t believe in God and had always found masses to be awfully boring (though fascinating at times – the priest at my childhood church used to go on long rants about things, of which there are many) often turning my back to see the watch, and so I chose the next best thing: I am studying sociology, which involves, in many ways, taking a vow of poverty. I also work at a small online newspaper so I am well informed on sub celebrities and local occurrences such as babies heroically rescued by policemen after choking on the thing babies eat. And yes, I write poetry sometimes.
I am fascinated fairly often by everything, or many things, at least so you won’t be bored. These last days I ended up reading a lot of things about Egypt after reading about Ottoman chief eunuchs being exiled to Cairo after their tenure. In general, I really enjoy the humanities. I follow politics keenly – in fact, there is some chance I might have some thoughts on your country’s politics – and I’d say I am on the centre-left – pro-choice, in favour of a robust welfare state, LGBTQ+ rights, affirmative action. If you know about Brazilian politics, I voted for Marina and Haddad in 2018 (the voting age here is 16), and Lula last year.
As you can imagine, I also really enjoy reading and writing. Besides poetry, I have often thought about writing a novel, but this seems like too much work – and it seems that it would be arrogant of me to write a novel having lived this little, though it wouldn't be uncommon. I really enjoy learning about other languages and cultures and I know a bit of French, German, Spanish, and Russian, besides English and Portuguese. I’d really like to learn Arabic and/or Mandarin. I am really into genealogy, and I know quite a bit about it. I often cry while watching dumb movies (I cried during Minions!) or listening to beautiful music; my music taste has been described as “fairly gay” and in movies as “slightly gay”.
I guess I am pretty introverted, polite, and timid (well, I am on here after all). I am affectionate and I can be really passionate as well. And I am fairly funny, or rather, I have made a few people laugh over the years. I asked a close friend to describe myself, and that is what he said:

I think you’re very communicative. Shrewd, funny, a good companion. Kind of withdrawn but not necessarily shy. You avoid conflict and unnecessary arguments, but love to participate in good conversations. I think you’re very kind too, besides being polite.

As for what I want to do with my life, I am unsure though I am inclined to go into academia. I have been considering applying to a PhD program in the U.S. after finishing my undergrad here in Brazil. My family does want me to go into their business, which is related to politics. I have also considered going into diplomacy.
Who am I looking for? I’d like someone curious about the world around her, and open-minded. The rest? Cultural differences can be interesting and I am open to converting (nominally?) to most world religions.
Some poems I really like:

• Litany for our lord Don Quixote by Ruben Dario
  
• Tobacco Shop by Fernando Pessoa
  
• Ash Wednesday by T. S. Eliot
  

Some songs I have been listening to:

• Ariana Grande - 7 Rings
  
• Rosalía - Delirio de Grandeza
  
• Pescado Rabioso - Cantata de Puentes Amarillos
  

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Hi there. Content spoiler : love story. Also English isn't my mothertongue, so sorry by advance.
This will be a bit long but I just feel the need to talk to someone. I have no friends nor anybody that might understand this because I'm not close to them enough and I'm quite used to keep my thought for myself (not a good idea, I know).
So where's to start? 10 years ago was my last year's to school. I won't be much original by telling you I met someone there for which I deeply fell in love. It was instantaneous. Back this time, I was depressive, unexperienced and I was a teenager. Anyway, I found any stupid excuse to talk to her. This began a long and classical story of "two teenagers messaging for hours everyday". What I felt instinctively did confirmed : she was what I expected on every matter. She has a creativity like no one else, I love her humor, we got a lot in common and my sensibility was so close to her's.
We were both kind of "dreamers" so we started writing texts, poems, things like that together. This might sounds ridiculous, but the thing is, our creativity was like.. Enhanced by the other. As if dreaming was only doable together.
Obviously, it didn't took long for me to tell her how I felt. But because reality isn't made of dreams, she told me we'd better to stay friends. It hurted me like hell. But I managed to keep in touch with her. I would never ever want to loose her. But the thing is, at multiple times, I couldn't hide my feelings and it led to many "long talk". In fact she always told me I was like, the perfect dude, a real pearl. Everything to be loved. But she just couldn't. She many times admitted to hate herself because she wanted to love me, she really wanted because she knew she would be the happiest if it was the case. This was even more hurting. When you know someone actually do want to love you, this is.. I have no words.
All of this happened on a 3 years period, I was way too emotional and this was a bit suffocating to her, which didn't helped on the situation. After that she met some other dudes and even though she did not felt quite happy with them and had bad experiences, she never came back to me. She wanted to stay friend with me, talk to me, etc. But at a certain point, I couldn't bare it. The pain was like, way too hurting.
So I agreed to listen to my friends. I ignored her, started to push her away of my life even though I was dead inside by doing so. I focused on studies, met other people and had a GF for 8 years. I completely changed my behavior. Younger, I was like that dude at the back of the classroom, always daydreaming, over creative, completely unaware of its surrounding. I became utterly "rational", I graduated in economics, got a job on economics statistics. I met my GF and it's been 8 years. She's an adorable person, etc.
But. I'm just wearing a mask. I'm not feeling myself anymore. I feel like I just jailed myself into a grey and "common" life, one night out of two I'm dreaming of that girl I met 11 years ago. And I awake as if my entire week had been demolished. I miss her, I frequently cry at night because.. I just want to speak to her, write with her, idk. From times to times, she sends me some messages just to get in touch, even to see me, but I always refused or found excuses.
Recently, I heard my school is organizing kind of a "10 years anniversary" in like 20 days. you know that kind of things. Of course, she goes to it.
Having heard about this event and remembering those times made my heart completely explode some days ago. I couldn't hold this situation anymore. I hate what I became, I hate my situation even though I should be the last to complain. And I still deeply love her, so deeply.
I wrote to her because fuck it, I can't support ignoring her, I love to talk to her and I should never have put her away. Biggest mistake of my life, 8 years wasted on the wind. She said she had no more hope of me to come back, and that she missed me too so that was a surprise. So we're talking again.
But I fear to come too late. After all this time, I've grown, I made mistakes I would never do again. And she may have done her life? And now I just want.. A chance? Lot of time did go, and I would like to ask her to meet again. I know I shouldn't never ever tell her I still have feelings because it's too early. But I want to speak with her at this famous "school anniversary", asking to see her again but with nothing on my mind. Just letting the future decide. Maybe things will go well, are maybe not and we can stay friends? I'm quite sure, just seeing each other again, having some nice time would be a nice second chance because I changed by a, lot now, as she did too obviously. I also want to retake the time I lost with her. I'm so ashamed to have ignored her for years I think I might cry when I would see her again.
But I have a lot of fear. I realize that wathever I can do in my life, everything always makes me go back to her again. I cannot describe how I feel we would be together. I'm not religious nor a believer. But gosh. This makes me doubt. I know you can forget people you loved, that love can go away. But I've never ever been able to forget her nor diminishing what I feel, even after 10 years.
Honestly, I don't know what advices I could get. I just want some emotional support, idk. I'm feeling lost. Am I the only one who felt I've been in the wrong dimension for so long? As if I deviated from a path were I would be someone else, as if I would be with her but I managed to somewhere, do a mistake?
I'm just crying for days now, feeling like shit and I don't know how to manage the situation. I need to tell my GF that out of nowhere I wanna leave, I need to do my best to cope with my "renewed" contact and I don't know how to proceed, I hate everything in my life.
I just wanted to share this with someone, just a common story I guess. But I'm so devastated right now, I just rely on miracles she does not reject me.

Introduction

I am an experienced game master looking for one additional adult player (21+) to join an existing D&D 5e Midgard campaign in the Woodbridge / Dale City area. We will be meeting from 6 PM to 11ish every other Saturday (Next Session is June 17th). The game is a local tabletop game hosted at my home.
I will be making my final decisions by the 9th of June.
It is very likely with all of the stupidity Hasbro has been doing of late that our campaign will transition to the Tales of the Valiant 5e variant being created by Kobold Press once it becomes available. This will be discussed as the campaign continues.
As a way to keep things interesting, I like to have a short adventure that is not related to the campaign when the characters hit a level milestone. We generally have a two or three session experience with a different system each time. This includes a homebrew system we are creating and playtesting.

Rules & Expectations

I hope to have a laid back and inclusive game where all levels of gaming experience, genders, cultures, races, and sexuality are welcome. All that I ask is that you are polite to each other, engaged in the campaign, and try to be proactive. If you are not LGBTQ+ friendly, please do not apply.

• We are a non-smoking household with a young child, so there is no smoking in or around our home. This includes vaping and all other tobacco products.
• We are a drug free home so please no illegal substances nor marijuana.
• Alcohol is allowed in small quantities for those of legal age. Please do not become intoxicated and absolutely no driving under the influence. I am the final judge of intoxication.
• We have no pets to be concerned with if you are allergic.
• There is on-street parking, but please be considerate to the others on our cul-de-sac
• Once our child has gone to bed profanity is allowed. Please be considerate beforehand.
• Outside game chatter is welcome in a balanced mix, but please don't let it get too distracting. We are here to have fun, socialize, and create a collaborative story. That works best when everyone participates.

Requirements

We will be using D&D Beyond for character creation and management. You will not need to purchase any of the source material as I have an account that will share them with you, once you have joined the campaign. If we do transition to Tales of the Valiant, we will be changing this management to Demiplane as their 5E nexus becomes available. They will have the same sharing ability as D&D beyond , so don't worry.

• My games are always free. I don’t mind donations to help defray costs, but they are in no way expected. Just appreciated.

Setting & Campaign

The setting will be Midgard from Kobold Press, but the themes and goals will be player and character oriented. My play style leans towards plot and narrative driven gaming, with an entertaining amount of puzzles, exploration, and combat. I love getting player input and creativity to help shape and propel the campaign forward. My games have a solid narrative thread that binds them but I never have any qualms about improvising or allowing players the freedom to make the story their own.
The campaign so far deals with an evil book called the Umbral Codex which was split into three parts and hidden away. So far one villain has a third, and a former player character was corrupted when she found the second. Now the third is up for grabs and the party must fight two villains to keep the Codex safe until they can destroy it.

• I have the Kobold Press books in PDF to share with players once you join the campaign
• The characters are currently at 5th Level.
• We already have a Kariv Griffon Knight, a Half Elf Wizard, and a Trollkin Priest of Thor. That leaves a lot of other species / class options available.
• Good and neutral alignments are preferred and will work best with the story. Other alignments are allowable if the character retains a compelling reason to continue working with the party. Once that reason ends, expect the character to be retired from play.
• A well written character will not be at odds with the rest of the party
• Character materials from the official 5E line and Kobold Press’ Midgard line of books are allowable. Other third-party materials are not allowable.
• There will be a mix of premade adventures and homebrew adventures leaning on the side of homebrew

Optional Rules

• Magic items should have a greater mystique, so we are removing the ability to identify the properties of a magic item during a short rest, and require the identify spell, experimentation, research, or a combination to reveal what a magic item does. A short rest may give hints as to the nature of the item from a visual and visceral level of magical understanding.
• Flanking gives combatants a simple way to gain advantage on attack rolls against a common enemy. A creature can't flank an enemy that it can't see. A creature also can't flank while it is incapacitated. A Large or larger creature is flanking as long as at least one square or hex of its space qualifies for flanking.
• Reaching zero hit points will inflict a level of exhaustion.
• Story Based Advancement (DMG pg. 261)
• Feats, although this hardly seems like an optional rule.

Experience

I am experienced in quite a few games including D&D (Classic Boxed, 1st Edition, 2nd Edition, 5th Edition), Fate Core, Dresden Files, Alpha Chronicles, FFG Star Wars, World of Darkness (oWOD & nWOD), Aberrant, Palladium Megaverse, Cypher System, Cyberpunk 2020, Shadowrun, Hackmaster, Top Secret SI, and quite a few others.

Contact Info

Please feel free to contact me on discord ( FangGrip#7572 ) if you are interested in joining or if you have any questions. I would like to have a conversation with all prospective players. This conversation does not guarantee you a slot in the game but will help keep you in mind in case a player chooses to resign or ghost us. There is no impersonal form to fill out, but I will need some basic information.

• Name
• Your age (21+)
• How far away you are from Dale City Virginia
• Experience in gaming, D&D 5E, and the Midgard Setting
• Types of characters you like to play most
• Any character concept you may have
• Style of play you prefer
• Goals and hopes for a campaign
• Things you don’t like in a game
• Why do you think you would be a good match?

​
Thank you for reading this post. I know it's fairly long, but I want to save people time by giving you all the information I can think of to help you determine if we are right for you.

Over the years, I have been told on the computer and off the computer that my disabilities are nothing compared to the racism Meghan Markle gets every day.
I have light medium brown skin, black eyes and black curly hair. I am Chinese, Black and Choctaw Indian. I am way darker than Meghan Markle. I was born with physical and mental disabilities and emotional sensitivity. I sometimes have to be in a wheelchair.
I have also gotten bullied on Twitter on other previous accounts by Serena Williams fans for not hating white people.
And Serena Williams is I heard married to a Reddit co-creator. And Serena Williams is friends with Meghan Markle.
And now there's this thing of Reddit about to get rid of stuff that helps handicapped people use Reddit easier.
Are the creators of Reddit. their families and friends handicap bigots?

It is well known that the Aishi aren't originally from Japan per YandereDev. The Aishi couple emigrated to Japan in 1797, when the Sakoku was still in effect. Sakoku, in effect between 1603 and 1868, marked a time where Japan didn't allow foreigners or emigration from the country. But not all exchanges vanished: trade between Japan and China was still extensive, and there was a literal Chinatown in Nagasaki, while the Rangaku policy allowed to Japanese to stay scientifically afloat with Westeners via the Dutch. As the Aishi were originally foreigners, what are their origins? (dates and names are random)
​

#1: Dutch

YandereDev has been G E K O L O N I S E E R D. Seriously, you should all give credits to the Dutch, as without the Rangaku policy, Japan had similar scientific knowledge as the Westerners despite the isolationist policy. After the Portuguese were expelled in 1639 following the Shamibara Rebellion, the Dutch replaced them in Dajima in 1641, with very regulated trade between Japanese and Dutch. However, the Dutch were privileged, as they were the only Westerners who had access to the Japanese culture, goods and society until the reopening of Japan. However, after the bankruptcy of the East India Company in 1795 and the number of Dutch boats allowed on Dejima reduced to one per year in 1790, immigration to Japan was harder than it was before (which was very hard). Here's my theory on how the First Aishi was capable of emigrating from her hometown Netherlands to Japan (sorry for the names' butchering):
A certain Dutch girl called Anneke Smeets (1780-1853) met her "Senpai" Pit Vaessen (1779-1847) when she was 16. They ended up together before moving to Japan in 1797, where Pit's father, Henrik (1746-1814), was working as a astronomer in Dejima, as per Henrik's request to have the two of them to help him in his office. Because astronomy was a space of interest for Japanese, Henrik Vaessen had the opportunity to go to Edo to pay homage to the shogun and to actually talk to learned Japanese.
In 1798, the three of them (Henrik, Pit and Anneke) were part of the delegation that would visit Edo for the first time. However, because Japanese aren't Dutch, they had a hard time to pronounce the word "Vaessen" (it's Vassen and not Vaessen, and there's no V in Japanese unless if you count the letter "Vu" ( ヴ ) as a Japanese letter). So the shogun instructed one of the scribes to translate his name to Japanese in Ateji (because Katakana was used for official documents until post World War II and hiragana was used for unofficial documents, thus Ateji was used for loan words during that time.)
However, the scribe butchered the translation: he removed the V, changed the ae to ai and the ssen to shi, transforming the Vaessen to Aishi, which doesn't match the name's meaning in Japanese (because it's Ateji, like Sushi (寿司) because Su (寿) means "lifespan" and shi (司) means "to administer"). The word, however, was approved by the Shogun and the family became officially known as Aishi in Japan.
Thus, Gerlinde Vaessen (1800-1882) was technically the first one who bore the Aishi name. However, they were still Dutch, and they had to wait until 1871, after the reopening of Japan following the treaty of Kanagawa and the end of the Boshin civil war which ended the Shogunate in 1869 that the Aishis would acquire Japanese nationality through marriage of 4th Aishi Gertie Vaessen-Aishi (1853-1921) and her Senpai Muichiro Hirose (1852-1895), and the rest is history...

#2 Chinese

China was the other whose relations with Japan were under direct jurisdiction of the Bakufu who were the de facto rulers of Japan. Extensive trade between Japan and China happened during the sakoku, and there was residences for Chinese people within Dejima. However, Chinese people weren't allowed to enter Japan even for delegations (unlike the Dutch), so we can consider that the first Aishi's (Liu Aizi, 1780-1855)'s family name was " 愛恣" (àizì, the name means selfish love) emigrated to Dejima in 1797 with her fiancée (Jiang Zhou, 1779-1832) to work as a merchants. The àizì would become Aishi once Japan would reopen during the Meiji Restauration and the 4th Aishi (Jia Aizi, 1853-1899) marries her Senpai (Muichiro Hirose, 1852-1895) in 1871, even though the first Aizi/Aishi born in Japan is Hui Aizi (1800-1875).
​

#3 Other Nationalities

While there was some trade between Japan and Korea, it didn't reach the heights of Dutch and Chinese influence on Japan during the Sakoku. There was some contact between Ayutthaya and Japan during the sakoku, though it faded quickly. Russians were the ancestors of some Japanese people, but no recorded trade between the two countries.
​

Conclusion

Ayano Aishi has a big probability to have Dutch ancestry, although her chances of being Chinese aren't negligible. However, Ayano is unlikely to have non-Dutch or non-Chinese origins, as the Sakoku forbade any non-Dutch Westerner to enter Japan, and trade between Japan and Korea was very limited. As always, criticism is accepted, and debate peacefully. Sayonara

I heard on the news that Pope Francis is being admitted to hospital for abdominal surgery to remove an intestinal blockage. Two years ago he had some of his colon removed due to inflammation. Sounds like crohns. I can’t imagine what that is like at age 86.
I’m not catholic I just thought the news was interesting. Also, I’m sure he wouldn’t like to be labelled a famous person, but it’s just a generalization.
Anyway any other famous people/celebrities that you know have crohns? If they can do it and have successful careers there is hope for us.

I beat the men again :) This was a super fun and well-run meet.
photo for cover

Background and training

I compete in USAWA, the US All-Round Weightlifting Association, best known for its many wacky odd lifts. This meet had just two official lifts, the Hackenschmidt Floor Press (a floor press done with the bar at 15" off the ground) and the Dinnie lift (weights in two stacks with ring handles, one heavier than the other, to mimic the famous Dinnie Stones of Scotland). After the competition was over, the organizer held a "record day" where lifters can pick anything they like from the rulebook and attempt to set or break records.
I've been competing in USAWA since 2019 and have been the undefeated women's champ at all the in-person meets I've done--although in many cases I was the only woman competing. Usually men and women are scored separately, but I asked ahead of time if the HackenDinnie organizer would be able to use a formula that combines men's and women's scores. Because, I told him, I'm competing to win. (He said yes.)

Meet prep

The first time I tried the floor press, I was only able to move 75 kilos (about 160 pounds). u/BenchPauper suggested using the Gillingham bench template to train it, which involved one day each week with a heavy single and backoff sets, and a second day with lighter lifts. After a few weeks I figured out the right grip width and bar placement and was able to hit 85 kilos (about 185 pounds). This remained my 1RM for the rest of training. I deviated from Gillingham in the last few weeks, but it was a solid structure to keep me in practice for most of my training time.
The Dinnie lift I've done before. Back in 2020 I got up to 503 pounds with straps. But in USAWA, no straps are allowed, nor even thumb tape. You just chalk up your hands and go for it. My best without straps had been 418 pounds.
When I trained the Dinnie lift, I kept getting little tweaks and aches and pains. One time I took two weeks off of Dinnie lifting because I was convinced I'd sprained my left ACL. (That's the ACL I tore and had reconstructed many years ago, so it kind of spooked me.) Later I had an issue with my hip. I was kinda bummed about all of this and didn't train this lift as heavy as I would have liked. Fortunately, by the time the meet rolled around everything was feeling better.
I had a total of 11 weeks between my last big weightlifting meet (Masters Nationals in olympic weightlifting) and the HackenDinnie. I did 3 days/week of normal weightlifting training, and 2 days where I practiced these two lifts and a few other lifts that I selected for the record portion. I pulled my last heavy Dinnie lift 8 days out, at about 440 pounds. My heaviest in the whole training cycle had been a hook grip PR at 470. On u/just-another-scrub's recommendation I bought a pair of Versa Gripps to get in more volume without worrying about my thumbs, but in the end my lower body injuries (or fear thereof) limited me more than my grip.

Meet day

I drove down to Kentucky for this one. The meet was held in Clint Poore's very nice garage gym and he put on an extremely well run meet. I refereed when I wasn't lifting.
The guys at the scoring table called me over to ask what my opener really was on the floor press--maybe it was my handwriting, or maybe they weren't expecting me to open at 180 pounds. Out of 11 people there, I was 4th to open on the floor press. And of 9 people who did the Dinnie lift, I was second-to-last to open. One lifter bumped up his own opener to match mine (430).

The lifts

Hackenschmidt floor press

• 180 pounds - good lift, and set a record in my weight class.
• 185 pounds - had to follow myself. Good lift and an all-time women's national record.
• 190 pounds - I believe I followed myself again. I didn't quite wait long enough for the down command, but got white lights and a warning.
• 200 pounds - 190 moved so easy I knew I had more in me, so I went for the big 2 hundo for a 4th attempt for record. Looking at the video I think I may have even had a bit more.

(This lift is not eligible for world records in our international organization, IAWA.)

Dinnie lift

Had to wait a while to open this one. My hands began to slip on my last warmup at 400, so I made a note to chalk the heck up and to believe in the magic of the taper.

• 430 pounds - good lift and set a record in my weight class.
• 480 pounds - good lift and beats the record in the 70kg weight class. (I had chosen to be in the 75 to make sure I wouldn't have to worry about whether I could beat this number--but here I am beating it anywaay.)
• 500 pounds - good lift and a women's all time national record.
• 510 pounds on a 4th attempt - good lift at a poundage that beats all the IAWA women's world records as well. Sound on for this one!

There are several women who have either lifted the real Dinnie stones or the Rogue replicas, at 734 pounds, so it's not a world best lift. But 510 is higher than any woman's Dinnie lift in our record books.
I also had the second-heaviest Dinnie lift (by raw poundage) of the 9 of us. The only person who lifted heavier than me was a highland games athlete who said he had planned to do 500/550/600 but bumped his attempts when he saw mine. He did 550, 650, and broke 700 off the ground but didn't get a complete lift. I pointed out that a 300+ kg lift is all you need to book an appointment to lift the actual Dinnie stones, so even though the competition was over at that point, everybody supported him to get his qualifying lift in. We loaded 671 pounds, weighed it out and documented the scale weight, and he pulled it to massive cheering.

Results

When age and bodyweight were taken into account, I had the 4th best total on points. Our international org, IAWA, uses a 1.33 multiplier for women when they combine men's and women's scores, so we did the same to determine the overall winner. That turned out to be me.
Honestly, I believe several of the men there were strong enough to beat me, but they weren't as familiar with the lifts and/or underestimated themselves when it came time to choose attempts. I, meanwhile, had been able to train on very similar equipment (I have Dinnie rings at home) and had a strong sense of what attempts would be strategic and doable for me. What can I say, I came to win!

Record portion

One of the first things the meet organizer showed me when I arrived that morning was a foot press he had just gotten. Sort of like a primitive leg press, but the idea is that you just need to break the weights off the supports (no need to fully lock out your legs). I almost couldn't reach the footplate, but with my heeled lifting shoes on I was able to participate.
The foot press had 350 pounds on it when I first gave it a try. I lifted that, and so did a bunch of other folks. Then four more plates got piled on, and we all did 530. Next up, a bunch of the guys did 580. When it was my turn, I said...well, why not 600? So that was my third. And I finished up with a 4th attempt at 700. Felt that one in my shin bones (ew), but no problem lifting it.
I also did a clean rack Sots press (James Lift is the USAWA name). 75, 80, and set a record and a small PR at 85 pounds.
I had planned to do a snatch, but there were no weightlifting bars in the place, and I forgot how weird it is to have a bar without your usual landmarks and to have so much knurling. I scraped up my legs enough on the Sots press that I scratched the idea of snatching with it.
Somewhere in there I took a first attempt at a normal bench press (IAWA/world lift but not USAWA lift). Did 150 pounds, then got distracted and never bothered to come back for more.
It was kind of chaotic, okay? At some point I stumbled across an axle loaded with 275 pounds. Pulled that for a beltless deadlift, because I didn't have my belt on when I impulsively grabbed it and told a ref to watch me. One attempt one record. Moving on.
Last one was an Apollon's Lift, which is just an axle press anyhow. I have not attempted to clean an axle in years and kind of forgot how. I no-contact power cleaned it and then did a split jerk at 115 pounds. Easy. So I went 135 next, couldn't remember how to clean it, managed to get it up to my shoulders continental style, then shit the bed on the jerk. I'm for sure good for more if I practice this someday. But the record book had a blank space on that, so 115 was good enough.

Aftermath

I'm working toward getting into the Century Club of people with 100 or more records. (We love our records in USAWA. The Century Club has many members, in part because you can keep setting different age group records as you get older.) I'm on track to make it this year.
Next meet is USAWA nationals in Missouri in three weeks, so once I recover I'll jump right back into training. I've actually taken two whole days off from training so far, which is weird for me. Stay tuned for the next meet, which includes a Steinborn squat and a hip lift, among other things.
I'm not always sore after meets, but mannn is my body feeling this one. Everything hurts, including some bruising on the back of my leg and a superficial skin tear on top of my thumb from hook gripping so hard. Still have never torn a callus on my palms or fingers. File those suckers down, kids.
PS. I'm lifting the real things someday. Only 224 pounds to go.
Happy to answer questions about joining us at USAWA meets. They're for everyone (my daughter even lifted at Nationals at 6 years old) and are always a blast.

A Reddit submission:
# On the 5th of September... On the 5th of September, 2024, the United Nations Security Agency (FCC) has announced a plan to build the new government. It is an initiative that will be based upon the development of the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. This plan is aimed to provide the resources of the United States and the military in Afghanistan, as well as the strategic and strategic support of the United Nation. The plan also includes the U.N. Security and General Assistance Program. - The U.S.-Afrique Fund will establish an international membership in the General Assistance Programme for the United States, as well As New World Order, which will also hold the National Assistance Act. - There is also another possibility that the US Government will also fund the Defense Corps in the following steps:
1) Provide the Defense Assistance Project to protect and promote the United States; 2) Prepare the U.F. National Coordination Assessment for Foreign Affairs; 3) Bring this project to a more comprehensive level and then work out how to participate in the U.U. While there are some good ways to contribute to the United States' Joint Declaration, the U.G. and other foreign governments may have been involved in the project. We would like to share the U.K., which will include the U.P. and NATO Joint Agreement. 4) Deliver the Defence Assistance Project to the U.E. While not being part of the Defense Support Plan, it will be available to the US as well as other countries in the U and many other countries around the world. 5) Offer and Serve the Defense Assistance program at your local meet-up with a U

The victim of yesterday afternoon's deadly shooting has been named as "Adib Fazal", a 29 year old Arab refugee.
Shortly after midday, Fazal had been on a lunch break and had been driving along the A146 when a collision occurred and an argument ensued. The driver of the car involved in the collision with Fazal's car is then said to have pulled out a handgun and shot Fazal in the head, "killing him instantly" according to police.
"This was an extreme crime and we are still investigating whether there was also a hate crime element to this incident, given the victim's Arab background," DCI Solomons said this morning.
Police confirmed that a 42 year old white male had been taken into custody and charged with reckless driving, possession of an unlicensed firearm and murder.
Friends of Fazal told The Herald of their shock at the news.
23 year old housemate Ella Malden, who lives with Fazal in a shared house in Norwich, told the paper that Fazal was "a very hard-working man who worked 13 hours a day, seven days a week as a tree surgeon" and that he had just received his Level 6 diploma in Advanced Forestry and Advanced Arboriculture from the Chartered Institute of Agroforestry and Arboriculture just days before the shooting.
"It's just crazy," she said. "Fazal was a talented tree surgeon and he has been through hell. He fled the Central African Republic after the new black government began to target, persecute and kill the non-black Arab population. His brother was killed as well as his cousins. His mother has also been imprisoned and he was still fighting for her release. He claimed asylum in Britain and his application was accepted and he has been trying to make a life for himself here ever since. He's an even more productive member of society than most born-and-bred Brits I know. I just can't believe he was shot dead over nothing."
Asylum International estimates that more than 21,500 Arab people have been displaced from their homes in the Central African Republic, a landlocked country in central Africa, with more than half of that number escaping to Europe to seek asylum in western European countries. More than 2,700 people - mostly Arabs - have been killed in what UN Secretary-General Timothy Vincent labelled "the worst ethnic violence seen in central Africa in over a decade".
The country's new President, William Djotodia, has also been labelled by world leaders as an "authoritarian dictator" after he conferred extra powers to his position, effectively enabling himself to bypass the requirements for votes in the national senate when making new laws and signing "overreaching" executive orders. A national security executive order for instance, signed by him last year, gave the security services and police extra powers to spy on "at-risk" groups in the population and raid homes and neighbourhoods in "problematic areas" without warrants and detain suspects - mostly of Arab descent - indefinitely and without requirements for charges to be brought within a certain period of time. Djotodia's rhetoric has been described as "vitriolic" and "evil" after he said "Arab people are not African; they should not even be in this country".
Relations with the Arab world also reached an all-time low last year after Djotodia ordered the shootdown of a Global Emirates cargo plane which had deviated slightly off course on a preplanned route. The CAF government insisted that the modified 747 cargo plane, which had flown out of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and had been bound for the CAF capital, became "unresponsive" following a course deviation and following the shootdown, Djotodia quickly declared the airspace closed to cargo planes flying from 6 Middle Eastern countries, shortly before countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UAE issued an advisory to freight companies and other businesses advising them that the airspace over the Central African Republic was "unsafe" and the "threat of a shootdown was high".
Meanwhile, the accused of yesterday's shooting is expected to appear before magistrates in Norwich Magistrates' court tomorrow morning where he will be named and asked to confirm his date of birth and address and be asked to enter a plea before the case will then be escalated to the Crown Court for a jury trial or sentencing, given the serious nature of the crimes he is accused of. He is not expected to be granted a bail hearing, given the serious nature of the crime.

I beat the men again :) This was a super fun and well-run meet.
photo for cover

Background and training

I compete in USAWA, the US All-Round Weightlifting Association, best known for its many wacky odd lifts. This meet had just two official lifts, the Hackenschmidt Floor Press (a floor press done with the bar at 15" off the ground) and the Dinnie lift (weights in two stacks with ring handles, one heavier than the other, to mimic the famous Dinnie Stones of Scotland). After the competition was over, the organizer held a "record day" where lifters can pick anything they like from the rulebook and attempt to set or break records.
I've been competing in USAWA since 2019 and have been the undefeated women's champ at all the in-person meets I've done--although in many cases I was the only woman competing. Usually men and women are scored separately, but I asked ahead of time if the HackenDinnie organizer would be able to use a formula that combines men's and women's scores. Because, I told him, I'm competing to win. (He said yes.)

Meet prep

The first time I tried the floor press, I was only able to move 75 kilos (about 160 pounds). u/BenchPauper suggested using the Gillingham bench template to train it, which involved one day each week with a heavy single and backoff sets, and a second day with lighter lifts. After a few weeks I figured out the right grip width and bar placement and was able to hit 85 kilos (about 185 pounds). This remained my 1RM for the rest of training. I deviated from Gillingham in the last few weeks, but it was a solid structure to keep me in practice for most of my training time.
The Dinnie lift I've done before. Back in 2020 I got up to 503 pounds with straps. But in USAWA, no straps are allowed, nor even thumb tape. You just chalk up your hands and go for it. My best without straps had been 418 pounds.
When I trained the Dinnie lift, I kept getting little tweaks and aches and pains. One time I took two weeks off of Dinnie lifting because I was convinced I'd sprained my left ACL. (That's the ACL I tore and had reconstructed many years ago, so it kind of spooked me.) Later I had an issue with my hip. I was kinda bummed about all of this and didn't train this lift as heavy as I would have liked. Fortunately, by the time the meet rolled around everything was feeling better.
I had a total of 11 weeks between my last big weightlifting meet (Masters Nationals in olympic weightlifting) and the HackenDinnie. I did 3 days/week of normal weightlifting training, and 2 days where I practiced these two lifts and a few other lifts that I selected for the record portion. I pulled my last heavy Dinnie lift 8 days out, at about 440 pounds. My heaviest in the whole training cycle had been a hook grip PR at 470. On u/just-another-scrub's recommendation I bought a pair of Versa Gripps to get in more volume without worrying about my thumbs, but in the end my lower body injuries (or fear thereof) limited me more than my grip.

Meet day

I drove down to Kentucky for this one. The meet was held in Clint Poore's very nice garage gym and he put on an extremely well run meet. I refereed when I wasn't lifting.
The guys at the scoring table called me over to ask what my opener really was on the floor press--maybe it was my handwriting, or maybe they weren't expecting me to open at 180 pounds. Out of 11 people there, I was 4th to open on the floor press. And of 9 people who did the Dinnie lift, I was second-to-last to open. One lifter bumped up his own opener to match mine (430).

The lifts

Hackenschmidt floor press

• 180 pounds - good lift, and set a record in my weight class.
• 185 pounds - had to follow myself. Good lift and an all-time women's national record.
• 190 pounds - I believe I followed myself again. I didn't quite wait long enough for the down command, but got white lights and a warning.
• 200 pounds - 190 moved so easy I knew I had more in me, so I went for the big 2 hundo for a 4th attempt for record. Looking at the video I think I may have even had a bit more.

(This lift is not eligible for world records in our international organization, IAWA.)

Dinnie lift

Had to wait a while to open this one. My hands began to slip on my last warmup at 400, so I made a note to chalk the heck up and to believe in the magic of the taper.

• 430 pounds - good lift and set a record in my weight class.
• 480 pounds - good lift and beats the record in the 70kg weight class. (I had chosen to be in the 75 to make sure I wouldn't have to worry about whether I could beat this number--but here I am beating it anywaay.)
• 500 pounds - good lift and a women's all time national record.
• 510 pounds on a 4th attempt - good lift at a poundage that beats all the IAWA women's world records as well. Sound on for this one!

There are several women who have either lifted the real Dinnie stones or the Rogue replicas, at 734 pounds, so it's not a world best lift. But 510 is higher than any woman's Dinnie lift in our record books.
I also had the second-heaviest Dinnie lift (by raw poundage) of the 9 of us. The only person who lifted heavier than me was a highland games athlete who said he had planned to do 500/550/600 but bumped his attempts when he saw mine. He did 550, 650, and broke 700 off the ground but didn't get a complete lift. I pointed out that a 300+ kg lift is all you need to book an appointment to lift the actual Dinnie stones, so even though the competition was over at that point, everybody supported him to get his qualifying lift in. We loaded 671 pounds, weighed it out and documented the scale weight, and he pulled it to massive cheering.

Results

When age and bodyweight were taken into account, I had the 4th best total on points. Our international org, IAWA, uses a 1.33 multiplier for women when they combine men's and women's scores, so we did the same to determine the overall winner. That turned out to be me.
Honestly, I believe several of the men there were strong enough to beat me, but they weren't as familiar with the lifts and/or underestimated themselves when it came time to choose attempts. I, meanwhile, had been able to train on very similar equipment (I have Dinnie rings at home) and had a strong sense of what attempts would be strategic and doable for me. What can I say, I came to win!

Record portion

One of the first things the meet organizer showed me when I arrived that morning was a foot press he had just gotten. Sort of like a primitive leg press, but the idea is that you just need to break the weights off the supports (no need to fully lock out your legs). I almost couldn't reach the footplate, but with my heeled lifting shoes on I was able to participate.
The foot press had 350 pounds on it when I first gave it a try. I lifted that, and so did a bunch of other folks. Then four more plates got piled on, and we all did 530. Next up, a bunch of the guys did 580. When it was my turn, I said...well, why not 600? So that was my third. And I finished up with a 4th attempt at 700. Felt that one in my shin bones (ew), but no problem lifting it.
I also did a clean rack Sots press (James Lift is the USAWA name). 75, 80, and set a record and a small PR at 85 pounds.
I had planned to do a snatch, but there were no weightlifting bars in the place, and I forgot how weird it is to have a bar without your usual landmarks and to have so much knurling. I scraped up my legs enough on the Sots press that I scratched the idea of snatching with it.
Somewhere in there I took a first attempt at a normal bench press (IAWA/world lift but not USAWA lift). Did 150 pounds, then got distracted and never bothered to come back for more.
It was kind of chaotic, okay? At some point I stumbled across an axle loaded with 275 pounds. Pulled that for a beltless deadlift, because I didn't have my belt on when I impulsively grabbed it and told a ref to watch me. One attempt one record. Moving on.
Last one was an Apollon's Lift, which is just an axle press anyhow. I have not attempted to clean an axle in years and kind of forgot how. I no-contact power cleaned it and then did a split jerk at 115 pounds. Easy. So I went 135 next, couldn't remember how to clean it, managed to get it up to my shoulders continental style, then shit the bed on the jerk. I'm for sure good for more if I practice this someday. But the record book had a blank space on that, so 115 was good enough.

Aftermath

I'm working toward getting into the Century Club of people with 100 or more records. (We love our records in USAWA. The Century Club has many members, in part because you can keep setting different age group records as you get older.) I'm on track to make it this year.
Next meet is USAWA nationals in Missouri in three weeks, so once I recover I'll jump right back into training. I've actually taken two whole days off from training so far, which is weird for me. Stay tuned for the next meet, which includes a Steinborn squat and a hip lift, among other things.
I'm not always sore after meets, but mannn is my body feeling this one. Everything hurts, including some bruising on the back of my leg and a superficial skin tear on top of my thumb from hook gripping so hard. Still have never torn a callus on my palms or fingers. File those suckers down, kids.
PS. I'm lifting the real things someday. Only 224 pounds to go.
Happy to answer questions about joining us at USAWA meets. They're for everyone (my daughter even lifted at Nationals at 6 years old) and are always a blast.

Recently i have been reading all these news how a 16 year old girl was stabbed and before that how a girl was cut into pieces and how people are giving it all a religion perspective love jihad and not looking at the actual concern of girls safety in delhi it's not about Hindu Muslim it's about girls living in delhi and how you should make them feel safe ! Media has created a Islam phobia in people's mind and not looking at the actual scenario in delhi! Girls can't walk alone without getting stares or being catcalled here literally every girl phases harrasment on streets,metro and in working places even at cafes sometimes and not necessarily all are Muslim ovi it's about people in general in delhi they think coming up to a girl and start talking to her like she owes you something huh? As a delhi girl i don't feel safe here and i wish to move out as soon as possible! Stop glorifying this behaviour in delhi by saying it's delhi yrr no it's not okay change yourself first and then point on others! Delhi is a rape capital that's the reality face it! I feel anxious here to a point i feel why I'm born here or I'm a girl fear is literally living inside a girl in delhi and they have to be alert every time thinking what will happen! I don't feel proud of saying I'm from Delhi anymore!

The old mansion had been abandoned for years, but it still stood proudly at the top of the hill overlooking the town. People would often talk about the strange occurrences that would happen there. Some claimed to have seen lights flickering in the windows at night, while others swore they heard the sound of someone playing the piano on still evenings.
It was the talk of the town for a while, but as time passed, people forgot about the old mansion and went on with their lives. However, there was one person who couldn't stop thinking about it. His name was Jack, and he had always been fascinated by the old mansion's history.
One day, Jack decided to investigate the old mansion for himself. He made his way up the winding path to the mansion's front door and pushed it open. Inside, he found a vast empty space, covered in dust and cobwebs. The mansion was even bigger than he had imagined, and he couldn't wait to explore it.
As he walked around, he noticed that some of the old furniture had been moved. It was as if someone had been living there recently. But that couldn't be possible, could it?
Suddenly, he heard a sound coming from one of the upstairs rooms. It sounded like footsteps. Jack froze in fear, wondering who or what could be upstairs with him. Slowly, he made his way up the creaking staircase and down the long hallway.
Finally, he reached the room from where the sound had been coming. He slowly pushed the door open and gasped in shock. Inside, he saw an old man sitting at the piano, playing a hauntingly beautiful melody. The old man turned to look at Jack, and Jack saw the emptiness in his eyes. It was then that Jack realized that he had just stumbled upon a ghost.
The old mansion had been home to the old man, who had been a famous pianist in his time. When he died, his spirit remained, haunting the mansion and playing the piano that he loved so much.
Jack left the mansion, shaken but fascinated by what he had seen. From that day on, he would often visit the old mansion and listen to the ghostly music playing on the old piano. The old mansion may have been abandoned, but it was never truly empty.

Does anyone ever feel like they have missed out on alot just by becoming a mom at a young age?
Let me explain. I'm 36 years old, and have 4 kids. My oldest is 15 and my youngest will be 8 next week. When I had my oldest, I had just turned 21.
At the time, I was working from job to job, just to make ends meet. I didn't finish high school, I ran away from home at 16 (that's a long story, but leaving got me out of that situation, and it was better for my mental health) I was mostly partying when I wasn't working, just to not feel anything anymore.
When I got pregnant with my son, things changed. I stopped getting high and started taking care of myself. I got pregnant within 2 months of meeting my husband (we're common law)
At the time he was on call for a moving company. Not long before I gave birth to our son, he decided to quit.
We wound up moving to a bigger city next to us. To be able to have more job opportunities. I never went back to work. I stayed home with our son to avoid daycare costs, and then I got pregnant with our second child... The last 3 kids were all born within 6 years of each other.
Now, all of the kids are old enough to fend for themselves a bit. I'm still at home, here just to go pick them up for lunch and bring them back to school. I don't drive... Some days I hate walking around everywhere (he doesn't have his license either)
My husband has been working for a landlord for the past 13 years... I'm his 'assistant' but to be honest, I hate the job. It doesn't pay me as well as it should.
When I talk to him about going back to school, he shuts me down, telling me that at my age it's really stupid with 4 kids to want to go back to school, and that if it's something I really wanted to do, I should have done it before having kids. When I talk to him about going back to work, finding a real job, he tells me that he won't be able to get certain tax returns if I go back to work... Part of me hates my life. This sucks. I don't go out, haven't bought myself anything new in years.... I'm always last. For everything and everyone.
I can't even follow people I went to school with on social media. Most of them have gone to university and have incredible careers.... Whereas, I have nothing. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment and I sleep on a pull out couch with my husband. I feel like I failed myself somewhere along the way....
Does anyone else feel that way? Like they've missed out on the best years of their lives?

It's been awhile since I played this so this post is quite delayed, but I'm here now with my deeper dive into setting the Golden Vault adventures in Wildemount.
Anthology Conversion (original post)
I'll be covering the following sections — Location, Lore, Experience, Future, and Resources — for the 1st-level adventure, The Murkmire Malevolence.
​

“You’ve got to steal the Murkmire Stone and bring it back so I can save the city!”

Location

I like the Varkenbluff Museum of Natural History being in a big city — it makes sense for them to then have the resources available to magic-ward the building in the various ways we see in the adventure. A smaller city could have such a museum, but a large or small town definitely not.
For examples of such cities, I recommend Rexxentrum, Zadash, Nicodranas, Port Damali, Rosohna, or Uthodurn.
My personal preference, as well as where I set this the two times I ran it, is Rexxentrum. I just like how having it in the Empire opens up the possibility of tying Cerberus Assembly stuff into it, including Dr. Dannell's involvement and the museum's arcane traps and workings.

Lore

With that in mind, this section isn't necessary, but if you're looking to give some flavor to the adventure to make it feel more immersed in the world, as opposed to just a drop-in module, then there's a lot to work with.
Dr. Cassee Dannell, first of all, could be an archaeologist who works for the Soltryce Academy, Hall of Erudition, or the Marble Tomes Conservatory, both being arcane universities. I would say the Cobalt Soul Archives don't work in this case since they're not as much an arcane-focused organization.
Curator Alda Arkin could just be a freelance fence working independently, but she could also be a Myriad fence, using the museum as her cover.
If you're not using the Golden Vault as your group's patron, mages who're interested in the Murkmire Stone — such as Doolan Tversky, Yussa Errenis, Vess deRogna, or Essek Thelyss — could either be hiring the party to grab the stone for them or could be the ones funding the stone's safekeeping for the gala... and then perhaps Alda sneaks it away after the gala to be delivered directly to them. Who knows!

Experience

I ran this adventure twice with two different groups. It was pretty straightforward, hence why this post is on the shorter end compared to my other conversion posts. A lot of the additions I made were simply flavor ones, having the PCs know certain NPCs already or being familiar with the museum using the given hooks or expanding on an NPC's written personality to include a brief backstory that helped make them feel less one-dimensional (especially for an adventure that has so many named NPCs).
The two groups I ran were for a oneshot with 5 players and for an anthology series side campaign with 2 players. Both were set in Rexxentrum with the same NPCs quirks and backstories.
The oneshot group was first, so I learned from all of my mistakes with them. Party was warlock, monk, Draconic sorcerer, artificer, and rogue.
I had had their meeting with Dannell in the morning, as the book said, but since the gala was at night, they took that as an opportunity to go around the museum during business hours (the Gemstone Wing was, of course, closed and cordoned off). That let them get the layout of the museum before the gala, as opposed to having to attend the gala and plan at the same time.
Hilariously, the warlock kept trying to get in with the guards as a new hire but wouldn't back down even when the guards told her that Alda hired guards directly herself, so there was no such "job posting" asking for new hires. This almost busted their recon period since Alda got suspicious when one of the guards came to her office saying that the warlock was claiming to be a family friend, too, but eventually Alda got busy and ignored this after telling the guards to shoo the warlock off.
The party left themselves an escape rope hanging from the skylight (the rogue had climbed the building from the outside during the recon portion) and then hid in the bathrooms or the supply closets after the gala.
I accidentally skipped over the part where the animatronic doesn't attack anyone and just jumps downstairs to wreak havoc. Sureth died in this oneshot because she was standing 5 feet away from the animatronic when the artificer activated it from the other side then quickly backed up. The animatronic crit on her, but she got revived at the end of the story by the Golden Vault cleaning things up.
The warlock also was knocked unconscious because (since I hadn't sent the animatronic downstairs and the party was in hiding watching Maryam and the guards fight it) she fled downstairs to create a distraction, and the guards down there knocked her out. She was arrested but I had their Golden Vault handler come by and talk her free.
On the bright side, the artificer did end up in a relationship with Dr. Dannell, who he came into the adventure having an established crush on, so that was cute.
In the wrap-up, we established that the party convinced Dannell to quit her association with the Soltryce Academy and go do research and similar work for the Golden Vault. The museum was shut down for investigation by the Cerberus Assembly and the Crown, and its future of ever being open again was put into question because of the havoc that'd been caused by the animatronic killing Sureth.
In terms of runtime, that group did 6 hours with 1 hour debrief, 3 hours prep, and 2 hours heist/combat.
The anthology group was second and only had two players, so I extra scaled everything down (removed half HP from everything). Part was Clockwork Soul sorcerer and rogue.
Same thing happened with the "early meeting" and "late gala" prep time — they wanted to go in during business hours to recon because there was still a whole day to kill. I've been recommended that, perhaps, the DM should skip from the meeting to the gala immediately, but I think that players might still say "hey, we had all of those hours to kill, we could've been doing recon then, too". In that case, maybe it'd be for the best that Dannell meets with them shortly before the gala so that there's no time to really do separate recon.
The sorcerer and rogue pretended to be on a date, and since this is an anthology connected to my campaign, we had a lot more stuff to work with. (The players were controlling NPCs-turned-PC-sheets that they've met before and are allies with in the campaign; the anthology is basically "what were these characters doing while y'all were not with them?") My favorite part being that they were both nobles, so I played off the idea that everyone knew them... which then made them have to work around the fact that people knew their faces so they couldn't be too suspicious since it'd be too easy to catch and identify them.
The rogue was the eldest child of Watchmaster Brunda Gleshin (and the black sheep of their family), so I had them know Maryam as a former Watch captain who'd retired to take on private museum security (it pays better than law enforcement). There was a lot of snarky back and forth between the rogue and Maryam because of that once they had gone up to scope out the second floor. This was my favorite interaction:

Micha: We'll leave you alone, but nice to see that you've taken up this... position.
Maryam: Mhm.
Micha: I'm sure my mother is very proud of you.
Maryam: Can't say the same for you.

They also set the skylight up for later, mingle at the gala (Watchmaster Gleshin is there, much to the rogue's chagrin), and then make their leave. But they don't actually leave and go in through the basement, fight the mimic, go into the records room and Alda's office and kill Marigold. Then they leave again and head up to the attic to wait for the museum's closing.
They'd previously tried to talk up some guards to see who they could maybe flip during the heist... but then when it comes time for them to come out of hiding, both of them discover that the guards have all changed positions so now the guard set-up they'd lifted is useless.
(This was fully because they chose to come in early and Maryam saw the rogue walking around during normal business hours, so she went and tipped off Alda right before the gala. I thought it was a nice touch since the rogue was acting real cocky and it further emphasized their bad reputation for being a troublemaker around town, that any Crownsguard who knew them would automatically think they're up to something.)
At the end of the day, both heists were successful, although the oneshot group definitely had more chaos going on, likely due to the number of players and the fact that I'd missed the line about the animatronic not causing real people damage. The oneshot group swapped the stone for the replica while the anthology players swapped the stone for a sack of ten pounds of adventuring gear... because it was "more fun". When I pointed out that that meant they'd probably know that the sorcerer and rogue did it since they were the only adventurers casing the museum earlier in the day, the rogue replied, "Yeah. We want them to know! They can't catch us. With what proof?"
I also found that Cassee was popular to flirt with. I mean, she's a dorky archaeologist, so I guess that was written in the stars already. In the oneshot group, as aforementioned, the artificer ended up dating her, but in the anthology group, the rogue tried to flirt with her and ask her out for dinner... but she declined because they were way too boisterous and high energy for her. (In comparison, the artificer from the other group was also shy and quiet like her, so she appreciated that... and his starting hook was knowing Dannell through academics, so there was that.)

Future

There's already future hooks discussed in this adventure, so I won't repeat those. However, I think because of the huge amount of named NPCs in this adventure, there's a lot of opportunities to reuse them later on, especially if you're running the adventures as connected like I am for my anthology group. Could be a nice callback.
The museum guards, if the museum is shut down, could reappear as guards in a later adventure, showing that they had to find somewhere else to work.
Alda Arkin, if her fencing was never discovered, could rise up to do bigger work and be involved with a later heist, such as Masterpiece Imbroglio.
Even Dr. Dannell herself could reappear in a later adventure that has to do with arcane magic or weird creatures (perhaps Markos Delphi has correspondence with her about eldritch horrors?).
I'm currently playing with the idea that Franceena, who the anthology rogue gave the business card of their dueling academy they run to, could have gone and taken those dueling lessons and become stronger over time, reappearing in a mid tier adventure (Vidorant's Vault?) as part of a rival crew. I haven't implemented it yet since I'm also considering using the Thieves' Gallery from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves as a rival crew, but who knows! It's fun to think about, regardless.
As a side note, I also love that Dr. Horthnar Stonecrusher shares a name with Torgja Stonecrusher of the prewritten rival crew. It could be that it's just a happenstance of having the same name, especially since they're both dwarves... but I think it could also be fun if they're related — maybe he's her father and he mentions at the gala how his daughter has run off with some 'petty thieves'? And then she appears later as part of the rival crew!
In addition, I didn't get to implement this because I thought of it after I'd run both games, but I had the idea of dropping foreshadowing objects in the displays to hint at later Golden Vault adventures (similar to the museum episode of Black Mirror, iykyk). These obviously can't all be the MacGuffins of the adventures because those MacGuffins have to be somewhere, but maybe they could be allusions to characters the players will encounter or locations they'll go to.

• a casino chip from Afterlife for Stygian Gambit
• a plaque about the Celestial Codex or the actual book itself (donated by Vasil and later stolen by Markos after the events of this adventure because so many of the guards quit and he was able to sneak in easier) for Reach for the Stars
• tools that were used to build Revel's End, a painting of Revel's End, or the needles/original tech that was later used to make Prisoner 13's magic tattoos for Prisoner 13
• a bunch of automatons or clockwork trinkets for Tockworth's Clockworks
• a replica of the Constantori's Portrait for Masterpiece Imbroglio
• an exhibit of things donated by Froderic Dartwild before his death for Axe from the Grave
• an exhibit of a master thief whose identity is unknown and their many exploits, including stealing the ruby diadem of the Goldenbeard family for Vidorant's Vault
• a mural about Xeluan and his friends' heroic deeds for Shard of the Accursed
• an art installation of glasswork from Ghalasine for Heart of Ashes
• a model automated train replica of the Concordant Express that educates viewers on how the Outer Planes work OR plaques talking about all of the cases Ignatius Inkblot has solved for Affair on the Concordant Express
• a plaque talking about a Shard Solitaire, the many rumored variants of it, and how Varkenbluff has tried to acquire one from a famous adventurer, Zorhanna Adulare, but she hasn't been willing to part with it for Party at Paliset Hall
• and finally an exhibit/plaque/mural about the efreeti tyrant Vrakir, his long reign of terror destroying cities, and his unknown whereabouts now for Fire and Darkness

Resources

No third-party supplements were used in either of my runs of this adventure.
My Playlists: Gala / Heist / Combat

Conclusion

My rating for this adventure doesn't change from my original conversion post of the book.
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8/10 - simple, effective, and meets all of the three pillars. The anthologies usually don't miss with the 1st-level adventures. I docked points simply because the flavor and setting was a bit predictable, but it makes sense to start an anthology with a classic museum heist.

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Overall, it's still very fun, and both groups loved it when I ran it for how 'classic heist' it feels. It's got a lot of potential for future hooks
Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading, and happy gaming!

Yes, it's clickbaity, but just hold on for a second.
Long time viewer and occasional SCP reader, but not too active on social media.
It's a bit hard to tell what actually happened, as nuance is always lost in all the drama, especially on the internet. Considering Orion and Bung were close, is it not at least understandable that Bung took Orion's side against Kwite? Sure, I think I would have just waited and not burned any bridges, but most people tend to take the side of the accuser.
It's happened with Nairo, RelaxAlax, ProJared (actually, this one was alleged cheating) and now, famously, Johnny Depp. It's happened to many others that I can't be bothered to think of right now. It's an unfortunate result of how accusations are handled by the public, which is itself a result of a history of dismissal of legitimate accusations. It's not right, but it's at the very least understandable. And this is coming from someone that hated that Alpharad immediately tried to memory hole the connections he had with Alex. I've long said to presume innocence before guilt when an accusation comes out, but this doesn't mean to assume the accuser is lying either— It simply means that one should wait for all the information until one makes a judgment. Sadly, this is not common as humans are deeply driven by emotion.
The porn thing is weird, but the content is tame and harmless smut. People are really blowing the thing out of proportion calling it "rape", "fetishization" and similar things. This shit is tame! There are more mainstream things that are much more explicit. The real insult is towards financial supporters. However, as apparently this was leaked rather than officially released, how fair is it to judge, if it was just meant for internal use? This community post from 6 months ago has a scene from the leak, but there's no way the leak was official content. The first minute of it was great, but then it devolved into what feels like a porn parody. I understand why people are mad as the prospect that something like that was funded by donors, but next to nothing of the full story is known! It could have been done on Bung's free time, unrelated to the time spent on Confinement, for all we know.
So many of are complaining about how Bung immediately took the side against Kwite without having all the information, but it almost feels like the same is being done in this instance, towards Bung. The circumstances may be different, but everyone should just cool off, wait a month, and see what happens. This doesn't mean Bung should avoid accountability if it turns out they did do something wrong, but what this does mean is everyone should wait until they have more information.
Thank you for reading, and let's keep it civil! :)

I remember this website from 2000s about Titanic and the design remains unchanged today. I spend hours to explore this website, there are lot of explanations about various equipments used on board and life on the Titanic.
But this website will disappear on the 5th September because Orange will shut down the personal web pages service.
https://titanic.pagesperso-orange.f

Edit: Sorry, I forgot to activate the spoiler function before posting but I think a mod kindly changed it now. My apologies
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Hi everyone,
I have just finished S1 and there are many things I still don't really understand. Perhaps you can help me with some of them.
This post is going to be long (I'm sorry!) because I want to explain where I come from with my current understanding. I hope that makes it easier for me to convey what I am actually trying to ask and for you to point out where I might have gone wrong and misunderstood something.
Btw, please treat me as if I know no MCU lore. I have watched a couple of movies some years ago but I wasn't super invested in them. I don't remember any lore details, esp. those pertaining to time travel, multiverse logic etc. (I also haven't watched anything from the Dr. Strange or Ant Man franchises.)
​
So I'd like to start with my current understanding (and perhaps you can already point out what's wrong) and then I'll follow up with my questions:
My current understanding
The Sacred Timeline is a loop. As long as it is stable and maintained there are no multiverses (this is already where I'm not sure - but as far as I understand breaking the sacred timeline is what will trigger the creation of multiverses in the first place, which the next phase of the MCU then aims to explore?).
(The alternative would be that there are a couple of multiverses that exist in parallel but they are written in a way so that no Kang can start a war? It wasn't clear to me.)
But back to the "no multiverse" perspective:
There is just "The One" timeline that plays over and over again. Variants are created if events occur that deviate from the predetermined path of the loop/the one time line (as Sylvie puts it "Sometimes time/the universe tries to break out").
The time loop does not have to play out the exact same way but a core formula needs to be followed (hence classic Loki didn't die at Thanos' hands but he still had a certain role to play.)
For example, on the sacred timeline Loki is supposed to be a man and his life always has to play out a certain way (he serves as a catalyst for the growth of the avengers (so they can be their best selves), while he himself is always alone and can only cause death and suffering with his own hands - he can't break out of the villain role). If he deviates from this looped fate - e.g., by being born a woman, by killing Thor or by leaving his isolation to be with his family - he leaves the the pre-written story of the one sacred time loop and causes the emergence of a new branch/alternate timeline/parallel universe. This deviation, if left unchecked, would result in an alternate timeline/a branch/a parallel universe that would then exist in addition to the sacred timeline. (As would any other branch that is caused by another person.)
At the same time, the TVA propaganda makes it sound as if there is no time loop as "the end of time is still being written". An end indicates that the time line is actually an ongoing/straight(ish) line and not cyclical. This is what everyone seems to believe.
However, if there are (currently) no multiverses - and my understanding is that this is what the characters believe in the show? (again not sure...) - then for variants to exist, some form of time loops/traveling to the past are a prerequisite.
The creation of our Loki's variant is a good example because he is created due to time travel altering his previously established life history: Normally he'd been taken away and then Thor 2 etc. would have played out. But when the avengers go back in time he can escape that one timeline and creates a new branch by changing the course of his life events (which is of course immediately pruned).
Yet, there are many examples where no time travel within the sacred time line ( e.g. the avengers'/Loki's/Thanos' type of time travel) takes place. E.g., Sylvie being born, Loki killing Thor, Loki leaving isolation to see Thor, the Goldman Sachs guy, etc. Still, they all trigger the growth of a new branch.
That is, because their entire timeline is a loop that restarts the course of history over and over again and produces variants if something in this big time loop goes awry.
At the same time, due to the TVA propaganda no one, even the incredibly intelligent characters like Loki, never notice this inconsistency that not all variants are created from time travel directly related to their lives.
They believe those non-timetravel-related variants (Sylvie, kid Loki, Goldman Sachs guy) occur simply because they went against the path that the Time Keepers had already decided (but that has not happened yet).
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So far, so long. This is my current understanding.
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My first question
...is basically "is my overall understanding correct?"
Second question: The characters' contextualisation of the TVA propaganda confuses me
If an event that deviates from the predetermined timeline is not caused by a direct event of backwards time travel by characters (Loki, the avengers, etc.) then the logic of the (false!) TVA rhetoric of an ongoing timeline with a definitive ending (vs. a loop) would dictate that the result of such an action should just alter the course of the main timeline and steer it away from what the Time Keepers intended. It shouldn't cause a branch.
If for example, kid Loki kills kid Thor then (in Loki's understanding of there only being a non-cyclical time) line there is nothing that should suddenly release some cosmic power that directly alters time itself and creates two timelines (unlike our Loki's time travel after the battle of NYC that actually altered the timeline) because it's just a linear action on the timeline. Albeit one that goes against the will of the Time Keepers.
Hence, this linear action, that doesn't directly meddle with the flow of the sacred time line (vs. time travel), shouldn't (from Loki's propaganda-informed perspective) be able to somehow trigger the emergence of different timelines that exist "next to each other": One where kid Thor is now dead (the branch) and a second one where this never happened (the intended one).
Due to this on-time-line behaviour, that is simply not in line with the Time Keeper's plan for the timeline, the "intended" (as per the Time Keepers) timeline shouldn't keep playing. It should be changed. Consequently the TVA would (according to that logic) not cut off branches but bend the changed timeline back into its original state so it conforms to the Time Keeper's plan.
I hope it makes sense. It's a bit hard to describe what I mean. I'm sorry.
But no character seems to notice or point this inconsistency out so I don't understand what the characters actually believe before they learn the truth from Kang.
My third question
Why does killing Kang reset the time loop? This might seem like a stupid question but let me try to explain:
The way I normally understand time loops is: You are currently at some point in time A. You travel back to a point in the past B and change certain events. Now starting from B time has to pass and events have to play out in a way that have you reach point A (again) and make you travel back to point B (again) and so on and so on.
But if I understand it correctly Loki and Sylvie meet Kang outside of the time loop/time line. (Or you could at most say they travel to "the end of time"/right before the loop restarts.)
Yet even though Kang says he doesn't know how they decide (not sure if I believe him though) it seems like if they kill him the time line will certainly start again, the multiverse war will occur and at some point "the right Kang" will end it and establish the sacred time line again. Hence, why he says that he'll end up in the same place, that he is in right now, anyway.
(It is not clear to me btw if this is The sacred timeline. I.e., the sacred time loop is actually always: a multiverse war sacred timeline and stability Kang gets killed (by Sylvie?) multiverse war sacred timeline is established and so on.
Or whether normally "He who remains" Kang is completely detached and the sacred timeline restarts over and over due to his design (without a multiverse war). And a multiverse war just happens to yield the same outcome.
I am leaning towards the first option tbh.)
Side question
Would the first option mean that there is a time loop inside the time loop? Since Sylvie is officially not supposed to exist according to the course of the sacred time line but she is at the same time also necessary to kill Kang and restart the time line, doesn't that mean she ultimately has to exist every time, meaning that the creation of variants might actually not be a deviation from the sacred time line but a feature that is part of the predetermined flow of time designed by Kang? But since she can only occur due to one of the time lines going wrong, would that mean that there are lots of smaller time loop of the same reality and they are all part of a bigger time loop repeatedly starts with the multiverse war?
(I don't mean this in a multiverse way though. Rather that there is one "base reality" and that base reality plays over and over again one after another (not parallel). However each "same" reality is slightly different due to Kang's purposeful design, leading to certain variants to occur in this but not that replay, one of them being the loop where Sylvie is born, another one with classic and kid Loki (they do need to end up in the void to help our Loki after all) and so forth. So there is a consecutive string of the same reality playing out over and over again (with slight changes) until that string reaches the end of the loop of the big, all-encompassing time-line and then truly everything, i.e., the multiverse war and the very creation of the sacred time line, is restarted.)
Back to the previous question. ^^;
So what is it that I don't understand?
The most common interpretation I have seen is that the upcoming mutliverse war, that is about to happen, is the same multiverse war that already occured and it is "the same" Kang that ends it (and so on) because it is the aforementioned time loop. It is always the same events (hence the same war) replaying.
However, I don't see the "time loop pressure", as outlined in my previously described understanding of time loops, that forces the event to happen in a "time-travel-logic" based manner:
In such loops due to going backwards certain things will always have to play out a certain way between B and A, because the backwards dependency of A (future) existing due to B (past) is created by traveling back to B in the first place. This creates a "time loop pressure", meaning that some events always have to set in motion via time travel, leading to a cycle.
Sylvie and Loki don't travel back in time to a point B though and set certain events in motion that are necessary to ensure the events after point B play out in a way that (always) leads to a multiverse war and the recreation of the sacred timeline at point A.
I don't see this backwards dependency.
The only way I can explain the ending to myself is in terms of a "forwards causality" (I am not a physicist, so I'm sorry if all those terms are wrong btw - treat them as lay person jargon) caused by events that have to follow based on pure "logic" of infinity/"laws of ""nature"" ".
What I mean is: instead of truly restarting the time line and the same events playing out again, killing Kang just reasonably leads to a new multiverse war with a similar outcome, but not The same one from the past. So it's technically not a loop but a forwards motion, just that the events that occur after killing Kang are very similar to what has already happened:
Kang dies infinite multiverses start to emerge since there are infinite multiverses there are also infinite amounts of Kang variants (even if he does not exist in every multiverse he'd still exist infinitely by nature of there being infinite multiverses...) purely by the "logic" of infinity (again, not a physicist) I assume that this also means in some universes identical versions of the Kangs of the multiverse war exist simply as a result of chance/probability, including the Kang that becomes He who remains. Since it's in their "nature" (or some of the infinite multiverses with the identical Kangs play out similarly or identically to the ones before the first multiverse war) they repeat the actions of the previous Kangs and a multiverse war happens. That multiverse war is then stopped once more "by the right" Kang.
This multiverse war doesn't necessarily have to play out exactly as the previously one did. (In fact, infinitive multiverses begs the question if there are perhaps infinite multiverse wars and one of them plays out exactly as the one we know, but others also go completely differently.)
So even if simply by the logic of probability the same events can occur if infinite versions of reality/time/universes etc. exists, it would, strictly speaking, not be a time loop, as in a closed circle of the same events that is triggered perpetually due to a backwards dependency between two points in time caused by time travel.
That is why I initially did not interpreted Kang's lines "Reincarnation, baby" and "See you soon" as indicators for a restart of the time loop but of references to future events: He (his soul) doesn't actually reincarnate but due to probability a version of Kang that is exactly like him will exist in one of the infinite multiverses. And that Kang plus all the other variants are the Kangs Loki and Sylvie will "see again soon".
But I'm not sure if this is what the show is actually going for.
The way I see it now, most people seem to agree that it is an actual time loop, so I remain wondering how killing Kang would establish a time loop in the traditional sense with this "backwards dependency" between time points caused by time travel.
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My apologies for this really long post. But this show really got me thinking. I hope I was able to make at least a little bit of sense and could convey what confuses me.
Thank you for your time.

Hello everyone I am new to reddit i don't know much about it anyway i think here people share their stories so i would like to share mine
On January 4, 2022, my world fell apart as she ended our relationship. It was a devastating blow that shattered my heart and left me feeling lost and broken. Little did I know that this breakup would set off a chain of events that would lead me to the darkest period of my life.
In the months that followed, life took an even more tumultuous turn. Last September, my father's accident left him hospitalized, adding an immense weight to my already burdened shoulders. As I struggled to cope with his condition, the pressure became overwhelming.
Then, just 10 days before the breakup, everything took a turn for the worse. Due to a massive amount of debt, our family's properties were sold off. The financial strain, coupled with the emotional turmoil of the breakup, became too much to bear.
The weight of these circumstances took a toll on my mental well-being, and I found myself in a deep state of despair. The mounting pressure, the loss of love, and the chaos at home all culminated in a severe mental breakdown. It was a breaking point that landed me in the hospital.
For an entire year, I fought battles within myself. Day by day, I faced the demons of anxiety, depression, and emotional turmoil. The hospital became my refuge, a place where professionals could help me navigate the darkness that consumed me.
Meanwhile, back at home, everything seemed to unravel. With no one to look after our affairs, the household fell into disarray. The absence of a guiding presence left a void that echoed the disintegration of stability and care
During my time in the hospital, I underwent intensive therapy and received the support I so desperately needed. I slowly began to rebuild myself, piece by piece. Through counseling, medication, and the unwavering support of loved ones, I found glimmers of hope amidst the despair.
Though the journey was long and arduous, I emerged from that hospital room with a newfound strength. I learned to prioritize my mental well-being, to seek help when needed, and to embrace self-care as a crucial part of my life.
I can go though everything but still I'm a human when heart shattered into 1000 pieces i fall apart
While the breakup may have been the catalyst for my mental breakdown, I now realize that it was a turning point, forcing me to confront and address the deeper issues that had plagued me for far too long. It was a painful but necessary step towards healing and self-discovery.
As I look towards the future, I carry the scars of this journey with me. They serve as a reminder of the battles I fought and the resilience I found within myself. I am committed to living a life where my mental health takes precedence, and where I can thrive and find happiness once again, stronger than ever before.
Even after so many things happen i still loves her .Even now don't have courage to delete her pictures