STUDIES ON HUMOR IN THE ZHUANGZI
In one of the now classic studies on humor in ancient China, David R. Knechtges (1970–1971, 80) summarizes what may have been at the time a widespread scholarly view about a relative lack of humor in ancient Chinese texts: “It has been observed more than once that humor does not occupy a prominent place in traditional Chinese literature.” Toward the end of his essay, Knechtges concludes that, while indeed some humorous texts or passages can be identified in ancient China, “most of early Chinese humor is essentially didactic and moralistic” (95). In comparison with this rather unexciting estimation, Knechtges’s view on the Zhuangzi is quite remarkable: he writes that this “entire work is made up of a series of incongruities strung together in the aimless manner of sustained humor” (97). It seems that Knechtges felt slightly uncomfortable with conceding such a dissonance between the strikingly humoristic features of the Zhuangzi and the “essentially didactic and moralistic” humor anywhere else in ancient China, so he thought it better to surmise cautiously that Zhuangzi was probably just a madman with a “fondness for the bizarre and unconventional,” whose humor was “unintentional” and a mere “by-product” of a strange imagination (97).
Knechtges was by no means the first to ascribe exceptionality to the Zhuangzi as a humoristic work in ancient China. In 1932, Lin Yutang published an influential essay called “On Humor” (Lun youmo 論幽默) in which he commended the spiritual merits of humor in the world in general and China in particular. He identified various humorous traditions in ancient China and labeled Daoism (mostly referring to Laozi and Zhuangzi) as the “humorous faction” in the history of Chinese thought, as opposed to the “orthodox faction” of Confucianism (Sample 2011, 174; see also Liu Jianmei 2016, 106–11). Among the Daoists, he singled out Zhuangzi as “the father of Chinese humor” (Sample 2011, 173). He thereby seems to have set the tone for similar judgments, such as a more recent one by Xiao Dong Yue (2010, 403), who states that Zhuangzi “is recognized as the very first humorist in China.” As a rule, most contemporary interpreters of the Zhuangzi grant that it is an often witty text that uses humor among many other literary tools. Eske Møllgard (2007, 6), for instance, affirms that the Zhuangzi “employs prose poems, fables, satire, song, fictitious dialogue, spiritual exercise, didactic verse, aphorisms, and a number of literary genres we have still not identified and understood.”
While statements of this kind abound in the literature—both academic and popular—devoted to the Zhuangzi, in-depth studies on its use of humor as either a literary or a philosophical device are more difficult to find. Nonetheless, one attempt to assess the philosophical function of humor in the Zhuangzi was made by Erik Schwitzgebel (1996). According to Schwitzgebel, humor in the Zhuangzi has the therapeutic function of making its readers capable of taking truth claims or assertions of facts less seriously and thus allows them to adopt a more flexible attitude toward pronouncements in language. He says that Zhuangzi simply “would like to see us take what people have to say less seriously” so that we are “willing to play around with it in a disrespectful way for humorous or other ends” (70–71). We sympathize with this view, particularly since it echoes our point that its similarity to play is a philosophically relevant aspect of humor, but also because it resonates with our claim that humor dissolves moral seriousness and empties out meaning. Perhaps the most comprehensive attempt to analyze humor in the Zhuangzi from a literary studies perspective has been presented by Youru Wang (2003). In Linguistic Strategies in Daoist Zhuangzi and Chan Buddhism: The Other Way of Speaking, Wang adopts a deconstructionist perspective and deals specifically with “denegation” (i.e., negating and self-negating language such as the “negation of all polarities and double negation” [153]), paradox, and irony in the Zhuangzi, all of which he ties to the Zhuangzi’s self-ascribed use of the much-discussed “goblet words” (zhi yan卮言; for interesting discussions of this elusive term, see Wang Bo 2004; Fried 2007; Morrow 2016).3 According to Youru Wang (2003, 153), “the Zhuangzian denegation disagrees with the Derridean interpretation of denegation.… This Derridean interpretation still falls into a negation privileged over affirmation. Zhuangzi does not privilege negativity over positivity.” Instead, Wang believes that denegation as found in the Zhuangzi expresses a playful toying with the relation between language and the ineffable, while uses of paradox illustrate “the dynamic convergence of various opposites.” He thus links humorous rhetorical techniques to philosophical interpretations of the indirect “strategies of communication” (see Kupperman 1989) and “antirationalism” (see Carr and Ivanhoe 2000) found in the Zhuangzi. Wang (2003, 158) concludes, “When the use of denegation or paradox brings about self-negation or self-contradiction in an unanticipated manner, especially when it occurs in a form of self-mockery or self-ridicule, it involves irony.” In short, for Wang, irony emerges as the major humoristic device in the Zhuangzi and, philosophically speaking, it “calls into serious question any logocentric or metaphysical closure in a frivolous or humorous way” (159). Lee Yearley (2005) has also presented some ideas on “Zhuangzi’s kinds of language” and, like Youru Wang, combines a literary analysis with philosophically relevant conclusions. Unlike Wang, though, he does not use a deconstructionist conceptual framework. His intention is to interpret Zhuangzi as a religious ethicist who uses “literary devices like satire or parody” (516; another interpretation of Zhuangzi as a religious ethicist is presented in Lee 2014) to convey a spiritual message and to call for moral self-reflection. According to Yearley (2005, 516), these humorous devices in the Zhuangzi are intended to provoke “hermeneutical crises that have spiritual implications” for readers so that they will eventually be forced to “evaluate their own spiritual maturity.”
From a different philosophical perspective, James D. Sellmann (1998, 165) ascribes a transformative “mystical” meaning to humorous language in the Zhuangzi. He affirms that “storytelling, irony, jokes, even a simple pun—all of the elements that make up comedy, laughter, and forgetting … are the literary devices employed in the Zhuangzi.” Influenced by Kuang-ming Wu’s (1990) approach to the Zhuangzi and partially reminiscent of Robert E. Allinson’s (1989) reading of the text as a guide for “spiritual transformation,” Sellmann further argues that through such devices the Zhuangzi shows “how one must awaken to ‘transformation’ and ‘humor’ by beginning to live the life that affirms one’s own personal mutation” (172).
With fewer philosophical (but more historical and philological) ambitions than Wang, Yearley, or Sellmann, Shirley Chan (2011) has made an attempt at “identifying Daoist humor.” While her specific focus is on the Liezi列子, much of what she says is also applicable to the Zhuangzi, since several of the textual examples she discusses appear in both texts. Chan, too, pays attention to specific literary devices and points to “metaphor, exaggeration, hyperbole and reductio ad absurdum” (87). Interestingly, she connects both the Liezi and the Zhuangzi with the ancient Chinese category of “huaji-ists,” or “humorists,” who, as Knechtges (1970–1971, 82) remarks, “were considered important enough for Sima Qian to compile a monograph on them in his Records of the Historian [Shiji史記].” They were “jesters at the courts of the Warring States kings and Han emperors” (83) and spoke “wittily and relevantly to persuade their lords to accept their advice” (Shirley Chan 2011, 75). Knechtges (1970–1971, 83) states that huaji滑稽 “in the early period meant something like a ‘smooth talker.’ ” The term’s connotations were not necessarily positive, and so it makes sense that Chan reads the expression huaji猾稽 as huaji滑稽, or “humorists,” in an interesting statement made in the Shiji’s biography of Xunzi 荀子. In Chan’s reading, this statement has Xunzi dismissing Zhuangzi as someone “who attacked Confucian social conventions by being a humorist” (huaji luan su滑稽亂俗 [Chan 2011, 232n11; see Shiji 74.11]).
The anti-Confucian trajectory of many of the humoristic passages in the Zhuangzi is discussed in further detail in a more recent essay by Katrin Froese (2014). Froese notes that Confucius is not only sympathetically depicted as a spokesperson for Daoism at times but also ambiguously “at the receiving end of so much biting satire” in the Zhuangzi (310). Although Froese does not explicitly refer to Henri Bergson—whose interesting but unfortunately now-ignored theory of humor assumes that laughter results from perceiving something human as nonhuman, as mechanistic or lifeless (Bergson 1924)—she identifies the function of anti-Confucian humor in the Zhuangzi very much in Bergsonian terms. According to her, the Zhuangzi mocks the at times “mechanist” Confucian attitude to ritual. She writes, “For the Daoist, ritual, when held up against the spontaneous and yet harmonious movement of nature, will always be comic because it is mechanistic, artificial, and forced” (Froese 2014, 210). In the context of a collaborative comparative study on Kierkegaard and Zhuangzi (Carr and Ivanhoe 2000), P. J. Ivanhoe has discussed humor in the Zhuangzi by testing the text against the humor theory of D. H. Monro (1963), which preceded the present standard accounts by Morreall and others. Ivanhoe “ticks all the boxes” and attests that the Zhuangzi contains forms of humor that are compatible with any theory tracing humor back to “feelings of superiority, incongruity, ambivalence, or relief from inhibition or restraint” (Carr and Ivanhoe 2000, 136). Besides proving the Zhuangzi’s humorous versatility and its capacity to live up to contemporary humor theories, Ivanhoe is particularly keen on defending Zhuangzi against any accusations of using humor in a morally suspicious way. For this purpose he suggests a strict distinction between the good-humored, authentic Zhuangzi who speaks in the Inner Chapters and the inauthentic falsifiers of him present in the Outer Chapters. He believes that “it is not too strong a claim to say that sections of the text that criticize Kongzi [Confucius] himself in a severe and malicious way are immediately suspect as the work of late pretenders to Zhuangzi’s mantle.” He specifically points to “the ‘Robber Zhi’ chapter,” which he takes to “have been confidently identified as of rather late origin” (11). In the same vein, he categorically states that “one does not find the mocking humor of the assassin in the authentic parts of the text” (138).
Ivanhoe establishes a stark moral contrast between the mild, ethically instructive, and restricted humor of the genuine Zhuangzi on the one hand and, on the other, the “malicious” “humor of the assassin” of the “pretenders to Zhuangzi’s mantle.” Apparently he assumes that there is a kind of “devil in disguise” hidden in some parts of the book and thinks that the conscientious reader should beware of it. Perhaps Ivanhoe’s drastic good/evil and authentic/inauthentic distinction is due to an influence of the long history of the moralistic “traditional rejection of humor” documented by Morreall (2009). Ivanhoe’s distinction between good and evil humor in the Zhuangzi echoes the “moral fear” that has haunted philosophical and religious condemnations of humor for centuries in both East and West. It is therefore not surprising that it resurfaces in some of the literature on humor, including literature on the humor of the Zhuangzi. Accordingly, Ivanhoe is not the only one to judge Zhuangzi’s humor morally; other authors, too, make an effort to identify an ethically clean humor in the Zhuangzi that is free from immoral or harmful traits. Lee Yearley (2005, 516), for example, writes, “Zhuangzi’s humor rarely, however, just distances in a way that allows us to feel superior.” Youru Wang (2003, 158) finds (inoffensive) irony in the Zhuangzi but not (offensive) sarcasm, saying that irony “differs from sarcasm, because sarcasm laughs at the hearer.” Lin Yutang points out that Daoists “could have become cynical and disgusted with the world, but by arriving at cynicism and disgust, they would have lost an essential element of true humor” (Sample 2011, 175).
Unlike some of the authors quoted in the preceding, but in line with newer humor theories, we reject the traditional superiority perspective on humor that tends to find unchecked laughter morally suspicious. In our opinion, the ascription of such ethically negative attributes to humor results from a moralistic prejudice against humor. We intend to argue instead from an amoral perspective beyond good and evil that looks at humor as being, among many other things, a way to escape moral fear and not as a dangerous rhetorical device that, if not properly reined in and cleansed, will serve to assert one’s superiority over others. We have therefore made our preceding sketch of several characteristics of a Daoist theory of humor in response to a not uncommon impression among readers of the Zhuangzi addressed by Brook Ziporyn (2009, viii): “Profound comedians have always been hard to come by; funny philosophers perhaps even more so. To enter into this work attributed to Zhuangzi is to find oneself roused and enraptured by its intellectual and spiritual depth, but also by its provocative humor.” What we intend to do is make sense of the provocative humor of the Zhuangzi within a philosophical framework. This framework looks at Daoist humor, on the one hand, as a subversive reaction to the impossible existential demands of an ethical regime of sincerity and, on the other hand, as a way of experiencing the playful pleasure, effortless skillfulness, and childlike sanity of a genuine pretender.
From: TOWARD A DAOIST THEORY OF HUMOR
Book: HANS-GEORG MOELLER & PAUL J. D’AMBROSIO GENUINE PRETENDING ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ZHUANGZI COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS New York

Hi, David here!
There will be many barriers to overcome on your journey of self-improvement. You may be surprised to find that lifelong friends may ridicule you and try to hold you back. There are multiple reasons why they may try to do this. Firstly, they may care about you and fear your success because it means that they might lose you from their lives. Another reason is that your actions make them reflect on their own lives.
If you can succeed, then they must consider what this means for them. Rather than serving as an inspiration, you can serve as a reminder of what they too could have achieved if they had chosen to put in the effort.
Try to identify the reasons behind people’s actions before you judge them. In addition, be aware of becoming resentful of your complacent friends who may serve as constant reminders of what you are fighting so hard to escape. As stated by Robert Pirsig:
“We always condemn most in others, that which we most fear in ourselves.”
The greatest success barriers will likely come from within you. It is common to commit self-sabotage because success leads to change and change can be scary. This often takes place on a subconscious level, where your brain will rationalize a decision before you can even consciously question it. It is more comfortable to remain in a known space than venture into the unknown.
Your fear of change may cause you to rationalize your limiting beliefs in order to protect yourself and justify inaction. You may believe that if you were to try and fail, then you would only prove to yourself without a doubt that you are not good enough. Thus you put off trying in order to preserve hope and protect the belief that you will succeed in the future.
You must remind yourself that failing does not equate to failure. As long as you keep honestly trying and learning from your mistakes, then you have no other option but to improve. The only true failure is outright choosing inaction.
​
BTW, I wanted to let you know that I just finished putting together my eBook "Bros Guide to Meeting Women" version 4.0 and would LOVE to get some honest feedback from you!
I decided to give it away for free for the first 100 people who join my mailing list.
​
By joining the mailing list You would get:
- 27 pages long eBook (free for subscribing) that gives you a practical step-by-step solution to meeting women (14+ years of knowledge put into it).
- bonus emails where I share awesome advice on how to improve your dating life.
You can get the eBook and join the list by clicking here!
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This book is the result of going out and socializing with girls for over a decade. I have put in there all the fundamentals I have learned over that time so you know I have something to say ;)
P.S: You can unsubscribe at any time with a click of a button if you feel you don't like the content of the emails anymore (but I am sure you will ;)
​
What are your thoughts? Do you have any tips to add?
Let's discuss in the comments :)
Thanks for reading and have a GREAT day!
David Davidson

Just over four years ago, as we were getting close to 10,000 members, we put out the call for new moderators. Since then, we've had some folks stay, some folks go, but here we are at over 60,000 members, and we haven't really expanded our coverage in a couple of years.
It's time.

What We're Looking For

There are a couple of qualifications you should have under your belt. This is a quick rundown:

• In a stepparent role, regardless of marital status or living status
• Participation in good standing on /stepparents
• An understanding of the rules and all of the nuances therein
• Spare time to volunteer

There are a few other things we'll be looking at as well. We want active members who are actually interested in helping others get over some of the hurdles stepparenting brings. We want people who are capable of engaging in reasonable discourse, even when dealing with a poster you may not be particularly fond of. And most importantly, we want mature posters who aren't afraid of being heckled.

The Daily Life of a Stepparent Mod

• View new posts and either approve or remove those that are in violation of the rules
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The mod team uses discord currently for communication. Most of what happens here doesn't require immediate attention, but when it does, it's usually a Really Big Deal. And while we respect the autonomy of mods to make their own calls, we do tend to discuss the big issues that come up. If you've been around for a bit, you've seen the brigading, and there are days when the cleanup takes a lot of coordination.

What's In It For You

Glory and fame. To be perfectly honest, while being able to say "I'm a moderator on a parenting subreddit," is nifty at cocktail parties, there really isn't anything else in it for you. There's no compensation, sometimes you can get burned out, and sometimes things can get stressful. Targeting and harassment by trolls is not unheard of.
The upside? There's a feeling of satisfaction knowing that you are helping others through things you yourself have experienced, and there's a lot of satisfaction in helping grow a community to be a place of comfort for thousands. And there's also the developing friendships between mods that brings its own sense of belonging and community.

How to Apply

We're going to leave the application open for a few weeks. If you are selected, you will get a 4 week trial run. This gives you time to see if you actually like moderating this sub and it gives us time to get a sense of your style moderation and making sure it's a good fit. We'll be adding several people, so you'll have other newbies to work with. We expect you to keep lines of communication open, and be open to letting the older mods guide you. It is absolutely critical that we all have a good rapport and can work together.
We look forward to seeing your responses on the application and will review them all as a team. If you have trouble accessing the form, please reach out via modmail and we'll see if we can find an alternative means for you.

The CredibleDefense daily megathread is for asking questions and posting submissions that would not fit the criteria of our post submissions. As such, submissions are less stringently moderated, but we still do keep an elevated guideline for comments.
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This weekly self-promotion thread is the place for content creators to compete for our attention in the spirit of reckless capitalism. Tell us about your book/webcomic/podcast/blog/etc.
The rules:

• Top comments should only be from authors/bloggers/whatever who want to tell us about what they are offering. This is their place.
• Discussion of/questions about the books get free reign as sub-comments.
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More information on Fantasy's self-promotion policy can be found here.

Fuzion is far from perfect but I kinda like it with some modifications.
One thing I would like to change is how skills are used. In Fuzion it solved by Characteristic + Skill + Dice.
Regarding dice in Fuzion you have actually two choices: Either 1D10 or 3D6, chose one and stick with it for the rest of the campaign.
For example Average Joe has dexterity 3 and knows how to climb trees (skill 3). Now he forced to climb a rock to escape from a cocaine bear. To do this Joe has to overcome DV 18, this rock requires a competent climber, and Joe is average, not competent.
Using 1D10 he is mostly screwed, he must roll 10 which is a critical success, it grants him to roll another 1D10 to add to this. So the mathematics is: 3+3+10+1D10, so even that has a risk of failure. Poor Joe.
Now with 3D6 the basic roll gives a much higher chance for Joe to not get molested by the bear. The DV is still 18 and rolling equal or better with 3+3+3D6 is lower than 50%, because... well Joe is average. However critical success is much lower, it requires you to roll all sixes and then you can roll 2D6 to add to the result.
If Joe managed to get a total result of 29 one could match it to the Difficult Value-table and say that Joe did an Incredible climb, but other than that it is either success or failure, which is kinda boring.
The option of using 3D6 is... intriguing, because several gaming system are using D6:s for skill rolls.
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Now to the point - using 3D6 to diversify the outcome.
Roll 1 three times = Fumble, worst possible outcome that is not lethal. Something you will remember for decades to come, like your attempt to sneak managed to alarm the entire town.
But if you are so competent that 1+1+1 + skills + characteristic are as good or better than DV it is just a simple failure.
Roll 1 two times = Either a bad failure, like you hurt yourself trying and will suffer the rest of the day. Or as not as good success as you desired. Like the task succeeds but something broke, got lost.
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Roll 6 two times = If it is a failure it is not a total failure, you can give it at a short rest to think it over and give it a second try, for example. Or a better than expected success, like you managed to climb unusually fast and are not even tired.
Roll 6 three times. Task succeeds even if the DV is not reached. A critical success if the result is same or better than DV, like making a bomb that do tripple the maximum damage.
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Thoughts? Has this been done before with 3D6?

Self defence laws in the United States are notorious for being some of the broadest in the world. We don't have any provocation doctrine. If you provoke someone and they attack you, you retain your right to self defence. You only lose it if you are actually committing a crime which is quite a big departure from common law. Most states also don't have a duty to retreat which is the idea that you can only use deadly force if you or someone else cannot safely escape but instead have stand your ground laws which explicitly removes the duty to retreat. What do you think? Should we have the Castle Doctrine or Stand Your Ground? Should we impose a duty to retreat?
My personal opinion is that the Castle Doctrine and having no provocation doctrine should stay but we should impose a duty to retreat. I would also extend the Castle Doctrine to every confined space.
The Castle Doctrine removes the duty to retreat in certain places like your house.

This started off as a response to a comment, but I realized I didn't want to come off as dumping on the commenter. So I decided that it was better suited to a new post. I'm gonna start on what appears to be a tangent, but it's relevant, I promise.
IRL, I watch a lot of YouTube channels discussing the problems the US faces that are caused by low-density housing, urban sprawl, and car-dependent regional-planning. (Strong Towns, CityNerd, City Beautiful, Not Just Bikes, RMTransit, and this great video by Climate Town)
It's resulted in a lot of cookie-cutter neighborhoods throughout the US that look ugly, and make their regions financially insolvent due to unbearable maintenance costs. NIMBYism campaigns by their residents lead to local governments deciding not to fix problems, and has led to a nationwide housing crisis. This is a GROSS oversimplification of a very complex and nuanced topic, and I'm not looking to start a political argument here.
While none of the political or ecological forces discussed in those videos really apply much to the channel - I'm recognizing that my fellow redditors are also planning their valleys with the mindset of desiring low-density, single-family homes that all "look good" together, with each home on a large plot of land (a.k.a. the "American Dream") This mentality, which has permeated post-WW2 US society (and is communicated globally through US pop-culture), is bleeding is over into Dreamlight Valley.
I'm bothered by the negativity that people have towards Woody's Carousel home. As someone who temporarily lived in an RV for the better part of a year while searching for permanent housing after moving across country, I'm offended by the elitist comments against the appearance Buzz's RV "ruining" their villages. Living in a real world where desperately needed multi-family homes to address housing crises are prevented from being built in communities because it would "ruin the local aesthetic / charm" and "hurt property values", it pains me to see these attitudes reflected in negative comments by people complaining about the potential addition of high-rise housing coming with the apartment building from Wreck-It Ralph.
Diversity in housing is beautiful, and interesting. It offers opportunities for people for find unique solutions to tie multiple visually distinct structures together with landscaping, paths, and fun public areas throughout their biomes.
So many people post that they can't figure out how to decorate their valley, or that they've hit item limits. It's because we're still in Early Access, and there are not enough houses yet to fill up the space. So people make grand estates and max out their item limits filling up one biome - because there's too much empty space. So many people post and comment about how they're out of space and there's no room for upcoming houses, so they want more biomes.
I'm not against adding additional biomes to the game, but there's already an insane amount of real-estate in Dreamlight Valley, and only a few houses currently available in Dreamlight Valley to fill it up. There's an achievement/trophy/Dreamlight Task for repairing 30 villager homes, and we currently only have 12. That means there are plans for at least 18 more houses coming to our villages. Once there are 30 -40 houses in the valley it'll be a much smaller task to decorate, and the restrictions / limitations will help remove the creative paralysis that too much freedom of choice causes for many players.
I'm HUGELY in favor of great parks, walkable city centers, and fun third places, in the real world, and also in Dreamlight Valley. Parks full of fountains and shrubs, cool beach areas, bars, ski resorts with saunas and igloos all provide unique charm and character to the valley - they can and should be part of people's design toolbox.
Sorry if this is a lot, and a bit heavy for a cozy game like Dreamlight Valley. I just had to get this all off my chest. Let's keep the discussion focused on Dreamlight Valley design and steer clear of the real world politics I mentioned, as they are better suited for other areas of Reddit.
Thanks for listening to my TED talk.

Just started my manga journey and I was wondering. Do you think the eclipse instantly teleports the sacrifices to the event no matter their location in our world? Basically I’m asking if Guts didn’t return and the band were (somehow) able to escape Wyald and Kushans and Griffith triggered the ascension then would Guts just be teleported to it from the mountains? Or does Fate just attract the most important people to the area?

All games are obtained by ME. If the game has a region lock, it will be locked to EU region.

Paypal F&F or G&S - fees on you.

Lower rep goes first.

Discount at purchase
5% @ €15-29
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Game	F&F (€EU)
112 Operator	0.50
112 Operator	0.50
2064: Read Only Memories	0.60
7 Billion Humans	4.50
911 Operator	0.50
911 Operator	0.50
A Little Golf Journey	2.50
A Long Way Down	1.00
After The Fall	15.00
Agent in Depth	0.20
Alchemist's Castle	0.20
Arcade Paradise - Arcade Paradise EP	0.20
Arcade Spirits	0.20
Arise: A Simple Story	2.50
Arizona Sunshine	6.00
Armello	1.20
Aviary Attorney	0.20
AWAKE - Definitive Edition	0.20
Backbone	0.20
Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition	2.00
Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition	2.00
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Baldur's Gate: Faces of Good and Evil	1.00
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Bean Stalker	2.00
Bionic Commando	0.20
Blaston	1.00
Breathedge	2.50
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Calico	0.20
Car Mechanic Simulator VR	1.50
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CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience	1.50
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Cook-Out	1.00
Corridor Z	0.10
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Dagon - The Eldritch Box DLC	0.10
Dark Deity	1.50
Dear Esther: Landmark Edition	-
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Death Squared	0.20
Desolate	0.50
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Devil May Cry 5 + Vergil	7.00
Devil May Cry HD Collection	6.00
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Draw Slasher	0.10
Drawful 2	0.10
Driftland: The Magic Revival	0.10
Epistory - Typing Chronicles	0.80
Eternal Threads	3.50
Euro Truck Simulator 2	5.00
EXAPUNKS	1.00
Expeditions: Viking	1.50
Explosionade	0.20
Farming Simulator 17	2.00
Field of Glory II	1.00
Flynn: Son of Crimson	1.50
Forgotton Anne	7.00
Frick, Inc.	3.00
From Space	4.00
fsongs	0.20
Fury Unleashed	0.50
GameGuru Classic	-
Gauntlet - Necromancer	-
Gauntlet Slayer Edition + DLC Necromancer	1.50
Ghostrunner	5.00
Gift of Parthax	0.20
Go Home Dinosaurs!	0.20
Golf Gang	0.50
Gotham Knights	20.00
Guilty Gear X2 #Reload	0.40
Guns & Fishes	0.20
Guppy	0.20
Hack 'n' Slash + Soundtrack (& Spacebase GIFT)	0.20
Hacknet	0.50
Hamilton's Great Adventure	0.10
Harmony's Odyssey	0.50
Homeworld Remastered Collection	1.00
Human Resource Machine	5.00
Hyper Gunsport	0.50
Hypnospace Outlaw	3.00
ibb & obb - Best Friends Forever Double Pack	2.00
Ice Age: Scrat's Nutty Adventure	4.50
Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition	1.00
Indivisible	2.00
Influent	2.50
Into the Pit	1.00
Izmir: An Independence Simulator	0.20
Journey For Elysium	0.50
Just Die Already	1.00
King and Assassins	0.20
Kingdom Two Crowns	3.50
Lair of the Clockwork God	1.00
Lair of the Clockwork God	1.00
Last Resort Island	0.50
Learn Japanese To Survive - Hiragana Battle	0.40
Learn Japanese To Survive! Kanji Combat	0.40
Learn Japanese To Survive! Katakana War	0.40
Learning Factory	3.50
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4	1.80
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7	2.20
LEGO Jurassic World	1.50
LEGO MARVEL Super Heroes	1.50
LEGO MARVEL Super Heroes 2	1.50
LEGO MARVEL's Avengers	1.50
LEGO The Hobbit + 3 DLCs	2.50
LEGO The Hobbit DLC 1 - The Big Little Character Pack	-
LEGO The Hobbit DLC 2 - Side Quest Character Pack	-
LEGO The Hobbit DLC 3 - The Battle Pack	-
LEGO The Lord of the Rings	2.50
Lighthouse Keeper	0.20
Little Orpheus	2.00
Love Letter	0.20
Luna's Fishing Garden	2.00
Lust from Beyond: M Edition	0.50
Magicka	0.50
Maize	1.25
Marooners	0.20
Meow Express	0.40
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition	3.00
Middle-earth: Shadow of War Definitive Edition	5.00
MirrorMoon EP	0.10
Monaco	0.50
Moon Hunters	0.20
Mordhau	5.00
Mortal Kombat 11	6.00
Mount & Blade: Warband	2.00
Murder by Numbers	0.50
Nanotale - Typing Chronicles	3.00
NecroWorm	0.20
Neverout	0.20
Neverwinter Nights: Dark Dreams of Furiae	2.50
Neverwinter Nights: Infinite Dungeons	1.00
Neverwinter Nights: Pirates of the Sword Coast	1.00
Neverwinter Nights: Tyrants of the Moonsea	1.50
Neverwinter Nights: Wyvern Crown of Cormyr	1.00
Neverwinter Nights: Darkness Over Daggerford	3.50
Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition	3.50
Non-Stop Raiders	0.50
Orbital Racer	0.10
Orbital Racer	0.10
Out of Reach: Treasure Royale	0.10
Pandemic: The Board Game + Mutation + Roles & Events	4.00
Pathfinder: Kingmaker	4.00
Patron	2.50
PAYDAY 2	1.00
PAYDAY 2: F*ck Cancer - Big Mike Mask	-
Perfect	0.50
Pikuniku	0.50
Pilgrims	0.30
Pill Baby	0.20
Pixplode	0.10
Pixross	0.20
Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition	1.50
Planet TD	0.20
PlateUp!	7.00
PLAYNE	5.00
Police Stories	1.00
Project Chemistry	1.00
Quadrata	1.50
Radio Commander	0.20
Railway Empire	1.00
Rayon Riddles - Rise of the Goblin King	1.00
Red Faction: Armageddon	0.50
Remnants of Naezith	0.30
Renowned Explorers: International Society	0.50
Rescue Party: Live!	1.50
Rise of the Slime	2.00
River City Girls	4.50
Roarr! Jurassic Edition	0.10
RPG Maker VX	0.20
Rym 9000	0.10
Say No! More	0.20
SHENZHEN I/O	2.50
Shing!	-
Shooty Fruity	1.00
Slinger VR	0.10
Small World 2 + Be not Afraid + Cursed + Grand Dames	2.00
Songbringer	0.30
Songs of Iron	1.50
Soul Axiom Rebooted	2.00
Soul Searching	0.20
Soulblight	0.10
Soulflow	0.20
Space Crew: Legendary Edition	0.50
Splendor	1.50
Stacking	0.10
State of Decay 2	9.00
Staxel	2.00
Steel Rats	0.20
Stick Fight: The Game	2.00
stikir	0.10
STONE	1.50
Strange Brigade	1.50
Strange Brigade	1.50
Street Fighter V	2.50
Strider	0.50
Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones	0.30
Sunlight	0.20
SUPERHOT VR	7.00
Supraland Six Inches Under	5.00
Swords and Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon	0.20
SYMMETRY	0.20
System Shock 2	0.40
System Shock: Enhanced Edition	0.40
Takelings House Party	0.50
Tales of the Neon Sea	1.00
Tales of the Tiny Planet	0.20
Tannenberg	1.25
Teacup	0.50
Telefrag VR	0.10
Terra Alia	2.50
The Almost Gone	1.00
The Amazing American Circus	0.10
The Amazing American Circus	0.10
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets	0.50
THE GAME OF LIFE 2	5.00
The Hong Kong Massacre	2.00
The Inner World	0.30
The LEGO Movie - Videogame	1.00
The LEGO NINJAGO Movie Video Game	2.00
The Smurfs - Mission Vileaf	6.00
The Textorcist: The Story of Ray Bibbia	0.50
The USB Stick Found in the Grass	0.10
The Wizards - Dark Times	2.00
Ticket to Ride	0.50
TIS-100	2.00
Titan Quest Anniversary Edition	3.00
Turbo Golf Racing	3.50
Ultra Street Fighter IV	1.50
Until You Fall	3.00
Vagante	1.20
Vault of the Void	5.00
Verdun	1.50
Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War	2.00
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus	1.00
We are alright (Wszystko z nami w porządku)	0.10
West of Dead	0.30
while True: learn()	2.50
White Day: A Labyrinth Named School	1.75
Winkeltje The Little Shop	4.00
Worms Rumble	1.00
X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack	0.20
X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack	0.20
XEL	0.40
Yoku's Island Express	0.50
Yonder The Cloud Catcher Chronicles	3.00
You Can Kana	3.50
Zombie Driver HD Complete Edition	0.10

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American Action Movie! Here’s options for downloading or watching Plane streaming the full movie online for free on 123movies & Reddit,1movies, 9movies, and yes movies, including where to watch the science fiction at home. Is Plane 2023 available to stream? Is watching Plane on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix, or Amazon Prime? Yes, we have found an authentic streaming option / service.
Watch Here>>Plane (2023) Full Movie Free Online
January is the time for campy horror movies (see: “M3GAN”), extremely late-coming Oscar contenders (International Feature hopefuls “Saint Omer” and “Close”), and of course, ridiculous action thrillers, preferably starring Gerard Butler.
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As its title suggests, the story of “Plane” begins on an airplane, piloted by Brodie Torrance (Butler), which is carrying Louis Gaspare (“Evil” star Mike Colter), a man being extradited on charges of homicide. After the plane gets heavily damaged by a freak storm, Brodie is forced to crash-land in Jolo, an island in the Philippines overrun by anti-government militias. When one of the militias, led by the short-tempered Dele (Yoson An), takes the majority of the crew and passengers hostage, Brodie is forced to free Louis and team up with him in order to save everyone and escape the island.
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When is the release date for Plane in the US?
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Plane hits theaters on 19 January 2023. Tickets to see the film at your local movie theater are available online here. The film is being released in a wide release so you can watch it in person.
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How to Watch Plane Online Free?
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Well, If you want to watch Puss in Boots free online, you will have to head over to YouTube or Google Play Movies. Both platforms have a massive library of movies that you can check out. They also offer a free trial, so you can see a movie without paying a penny.Alternatively, you can also search Netflix for television shows and movies.
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Apart from that, another option for you to watch Puss in Boots is to sign up for a free trial on Apple TV. In the meantime, you can also check out the official website of Crunchyroll, which may be able to stream the movie for you.
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Where to watch Plane online for free?
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The movie was released in September 2023 in Australia, the UK, and other countries. On Peacock after its release in theaters, you will be able to stream the film. After the film’s theatrical run, it should be available on streaming services 45 days later.
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Watch Here: Plane (2023) Full Movie Free Online
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There are also some popular streaming sites, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, where you can watch the movie. Finally, if you have a cable or satellite TV subscription, you may be able to catch the movie on one of the many channels that are airing it.
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How To Watch Boots: The Last Wish Free Streaming on Reddit?
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Reddit is a great place to watch puss boots: the last wish free streaming. You can watch it for free with a few clicks of a button. If you’re not familiar with Reddit, it’s a website where users post content related to each other. This content can be found on the subreddit “puss boots.” You can find all the information you need on the website, such as trailers, reviews, and more.
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The first thing you need to do is open up your web browser and visit the Reddit website. You can access the search bar by typing “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and pressing enter. Afterwards, you’ll see a list of posts related to the movie.
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Does HBO Max stream Plane?
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Unfortunately, no! HBO Max will not show Plane since it is not a Warner Bros. production. If you’re in the US and would like to watch Plane on HBO Max, here’s what you need to know-
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Usually, HBO Max is a streaming service that only provides access to content from the channel’s library of movies, original series and documentaries. The channel does not air live programming or sports broadcasts at this time;
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Does Hulu have Plane?
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Hulu is an American video on demand service connected with live TV that was launched in 2007, but the company has now been purchased by AT&T and Time Warner. It is an excellent streaming site where you can stream your favorite TV shows and movies.
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But sad news is, Hulu doesn’t offer a free streaming option for any episodes pertaining to this series, as of right now. Though, there is a growing demand for Hulu viewers to view Smile.
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Currently, As long as you choose to subscribe to cable or satellite TV service, you will only be able to watch this channel which is exclusive to MTV subscribers. No free streaming service, including Hulu, will allow you to watch it.
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Does Netflix plan to release Plane?
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Netflix is a paid streaming subscription service that allows you to stream a large library of movies and television shows on your computer, TV, mobile devices, and game consoles.
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Moreover, Netflix has an extensive library of original series and films that can only be found on Netflix.There is a free trial period so that you can watch Plane online for 7 days at no cost.
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Does Amazon Prime have Plane?
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As of right now, Amazon Prime Video does not offer a free streaming version of “Plane.” However, it might become available as video-on-demand in the near future. It contains a wide selection of shows and movies that you can choose from for $14.99 a month, but you can choose other shows and movies to watch.
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Disney+ is streaming Plane?
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If you’re wondering “Can you watch Plane on Disney+?”. Due to the fact that the film is produced by Universal Pictures, then the answer to your question is no. As proof that Disney + doesn’t have every franchise under its belt, there’s no sign of Plane!
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In addition to ‘Star Wars’, ‘Marvel’, ‘Pixar’, National Geographic’, ESPN, STAR and much more, Disney+ offers a monthly membership fee of $7.99, or an annual membership fee of $79.99. Despite the lack of ads, Disney+ is definitely worth it to anyone who loves even one of these brands.
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Though, It is not currently available on disney. But don’t worry, there are other ways to watch it! It’s available on Peacock or Netflix for streaming if you’re interested.

(part 1 https://www.reddit.com/worldbuilding/comments/10bjaph/limbo/)
From the great lands' vast sky, a power rose up, the 'Great Diamond', from an unremarkable rock of space that sat above limbo as one of its great wonders since everything else seemed to fall into its pull besides these moons. This moon would be basic, white with a fairly large size, The Great Diamond would hide on this moon as she created a race of women who would extract the life force from the earth to create gems, the name of the race who would come in all sorts of crystals. Each gem would be different from other gems unless they were of the same gem type which meant though they varied, this would be in more stylistic elements of the shaping of their bodies from their hole which would usually be fairly standard unless the job would be rushed. Using the lack of necessity on things such as air, water or food and virtually no need for base organic reproduction seeing as these gems were constructs of magically infused, condensed, light and rock. While the rest of the higher powers would be distracted from infighting or growing fat from peace and dominance, the gem empire would colonise the remaining 3 moons and other outer planetary bodies. This would all come crashing down when a glitch in the advanced systems occurred, causing the reveal of the gem empire which had amassed power far beyond the other races in the expansive world called limbo. In a panic, the empire would send its forces down and activate offensive protocols, thousands of ships would be unleashed in the first wave. Many powers would be eliminated and their races would be integrated or decimated, with the greatest odds of survival to escape to other powers. To combat the overwhelming power, the true might of the 'Will Of Man' would be shown to the entire world. In a gaping presentation of strength the 'Will Of Man' would use its power and rip apart the sky in holy light, the souls of man's greatest heroes from the 'Will Of Man' would be summoned which included unremembered or unremarkable humans who should the qualities of greatness. Bravery, righteousness, thoughtfulness and compassion were all shown within each soul as they, in their blazing forms, grew to enormous proportions and struck down the fleets that assailed Limbo.
Now with breathing room, man called together under the banner of humanity and began their counterattack. Thousands of different races would assail the new territories of the 'Great Diamond' as they would intercept communications and even achieved assaults on the gem empire's core worlds which were their outer solar civilisations. The union of races was empowering but unstable, the humans had an empty position within a matter of months as the 'Will Of Man' would be venerated while his children remained, put to slaughter. This fickle union would come undone however as man would rise up against the other races from other gods as they formed a fair and honest organisation under a unified empire. Instead of warring gods, they would assemble a pantheon as the state religion, under the rule of 'Deity Of Challenges', 'Prime Of Strength', 'Divine Ruler Of Games', 'Aquala, The God Of Waves', 'Goddess Of Friction' and 'Existence Of Hierarchy' with the 'Will Of Man' choosing to abstain. Yet he would still be present within the pantheon like a vanguard, one-man army, as the 'Will Of Man' would take vengeance against the races that wronged humans and gain notoriety throughout Limbo, assembling a justice cult in his honour. Ultimately, due to the overwhelming power of the 'Will Of Man', he would act as a double-edged sword, causing the 'Great Diamond' to join forces with the alliance of man which had been butchered from the 'Will Of Man'. But this would not stop the empire as the repentant 'Existence Of Hierarchy' would front military efforts with his followers and children. Using powerful attack legions of beast-men and organised forces of humans to confront most major challenges with more fortified positions being handled by forces like the children of the 'Prime Of Strength'. As the 'Deity Of Challenges' would send sects or nomads to wipe out encampments with the others contributing uniquely to military efforts but despite their uniqueness, all of the deities worked with great cohesion. Within a matter of years, the empire had become the major power and subjugated Limbo as the other races formed coalitions, unions and alliances. Meanwhile, the empire lived in great satisfaction as they endorsed equality and aid for all, acclimating territories from dictatorships and treating them with great care as even territories outside of the empire would be provided with aid and friendly behaviour. This would lead to a lot of deities joining the empire as territorial deities, deities who could become widespread and accepted into the pantheon but not connected to the higher echelons to keep out nefarious powers. But this admiration was not simply of deities as nations and people would commonly defect, making the empire rich with diversity as efforts to spread out populations across the empire were successful due to a desire to avoid mistreatment of other races.
The empire would run smoothly due to the deities as they would establish a grand system, the 'Deity Of Challenges' would spread the martial arts influence across the empire. Teaching cultivation techniques such as increasing strength, creating skin as hard as steel, aiding in handling various disabilities and dealing with most terminal diseases by using her children to have special adaptations to magic and QI that could be used to heal from poisons, gruesome damages and more. The 'Prime Of Strength' would create halls of proving where people would assemble to take on challenges such as defeating mountain eaters or proving great deals of endurance. As he would push the people to a better and healthier lifestyle as his land's bounty would be truly uncovered when creating the empire as the sense of power shifts caused the reproduction and power of the 'Prime Of Strengths' beasts to increase dramatically. Creating a great deal of meat and other great materials for the empire which also allowed the giants to live a more lucrative and decadent lifestyle. 'Divine Ruler Of Games' would be the most integral piece to the empire as it managed a great deal of the administration and governance along with always creating and innovating new types of games such as new park rides or game companies that aided the nation in creating extra revenue. the works of 'Divine Ruler Of Games' also included social services such as health care, mail service, firer fighters, humanitarian aid and more. This would often be seen through parks but 'Divine Ruler Of Games' would also leave his mark in amazing city designs or pedestals laced around the empire for small fun and rewards such as a pattern/memory game at a secluded waterfall, deep in the forest. But this should not degrade the work of other deities such as 'Aquala, The God Of Waves' who would handle oceanic-related disasters and sea fishing/trade like if the ocean needs to rehabilitate sea life or if the ocean needs to flow water into a chasm to allow villages access to water. 'Goddess Of Friction' was also very important as she would release high-tier and above, slime craft, into the empire instead of low-tier slime craft like when it was sold to the old human territory. This would drastically alter science and mechanisms as was known with the slimy mechanisms being used to revolutionise weapons of war, build homes and as aids in grand farming. Finally, there is the redeemer or as he is also known, 'Existence Of Hierarchy', the 'Existence Of Hierarchy' would become very useful in the empire as he would help create lush villages and cities that greatly incorporated plant and animal life. Along with boosting plant growth such as wheat crops along with using its caste system in a more productive way such as in the military or as its reformed design as a goodness meter where those who had a greater loyalty, faith and trust for the empire would be rewarded with privacy enabled. Meaning that this could not only help keep those who are loyal to the empire satisfied but also not cause potential problems with the amount of trust and faith from one person to another so as to allow a fostering of kind-ship before any disdain as those who had been granted power would also not be able to tell how high level they are. But this would all be overshadowed by the 'Will Of Man' who had gone from a vanguard of the gods to an eternal protector of life, giving up his conscious mind and body to bless the empire and its citizens with good fortune and ward off evil spirits. Creating many an event throughout the year, annually, such as the day of saints where the saints that had descended from the gem war and those made after, would come down in peaceful fashion and bestow greetings in a warm silence. Or other days such as the haunting which manifested the fears and anxieties of the empire's citizens to be confronted in their dreams with those with a more gentle mind having restraints so as to not cause psychological issues. Along with every citizen having their nightmares devour malevolent entities wishing to do harm like robbers or banshees with other holidays with a total of 13, including the haunting and the day of saints.

Next
  Alright, so I got this idea from a response by u/Nightelfbane to this post. I realized that yeah, a Q from Star Trek could defeat the federation thoroughly and instantly if they wanted to. But then I though, is that what they would actually do? And then the more I thought about it, the more interesting this idea seemed to me.
So without further ado, here is the first chapter of this train wreck of a fanfic: Q vs. the NOP federation
Memory transcript subject: Tal, Venlil Space Corps
Date [standardized human time]: December 6, 2136
I had been separated from my exchange partner. I hoped he had managed to escape with the rest of the evacuation, but either way, I had been left behind on Sillis. I was alone, and on the run.
That was when I came across the extermination officer. He seemed to be lying on the ground unconscious, and I could tell the venlil was an extermination officer from his uniform. I also took note of his rainbow socks which reminded me that some of Venlil Prime’s extermination offices were becoming accepting of humans. Still, the question remained. What was this officer doing here?
Suddenly, his eyes opened. The extermination officer quickly shot to his feet and looked straight at me.
“Holy shit! Look at you!” he shouted.
The venlil appeared to study his own arms and paws.
“Look at us! We’re so fluffy!” he said before reaching out and ruffling the fur on the top of my head.
The man was practically jumping with joy, and I had no idea how to respond.
“I didn’t expect to find anything, maybe some hydrogen gas if I was lucky, but this!” he said.
The extermination officer looked up and around for a few moments.
“And I don’t think they’re going to find us here,” he said.
The officer returned his gaze to me, baring his teeth. For a moment, I was startled. Was he trying to imitate the way humans smile?
Whatever he was doing, his “smile” faded when he saw my apprehension. The officer looked around, seeming to become aware for the first time of the devastation that surrounded us.
“Could you, by any chance, tell me what I’m wearing right now?” he asked.
The question left me even more confused than I was a moment ago. Nonetheless, I replied.
“You’re wearing the uniform of a chief extermination officer. Who are you?”
The man didn’t answer my question. Instead, he burst into an almost manic laughter.
Did this extermination officer have predator disease?
As he laughed, an antimatter warhead detonated off in the distance.
“Extermination officer!? Wow, Okay! Holy fuck! So you guys aren’t quite as cuddly as you seem. Alright, I get it.”
Another bomb detonated, this one much closer than the last.
I still had no idea what the man was talking about, but he was starting to make me nervous. He seemed to go back to studying his paws, and I was about to ask again who he was, when suddenly, he lifted his right paw up next to his head. In a motion that looked rather painful, the extermination officer pressed his claws together and flicked them past each other producing a piercing
\SNAP\**
And then everything went white.

I've always had a love-hate relationship with school and I know that's basically the same for everyone but I recently found out that it's not exactly mandatory to have a high school diploma to get into university. I know that I need to get a degree for my dream job and so that's what I've always been aiming for. I learned about alternate pathways from people such as unschoolers and homeschoolers like non-award studies, enabling programs, uni diplomas, TAFE pathways, bridging courses and etc. It made my heart soar to learn there were other ways to get into university. However idk how reliable these are since they were talked about far and few in between. (I'm really worried they might not be legit.)
I've asked my guardians and all they really know about are the bridging courses, they said it would be bad because it added extra time and costed extra money (I also think these are an undoubtedly worse option since they have age limits that would make me wait for half a decade). They also told me to talk to the career's advisor and school counsellor, etc but Idk who the career's advisor is and I've only heard bad things about the counsellor from fellow students. I'm also worried that the fact this is a private school might make the advisor biased since me staying would mean more money for the school. Ultimately they were discouraging and I did get the answers I asked them for but I didn't want to leave it at that because and I know this may sound melodramatic but I don't know if I can survive a full three more years of school.
Recently the mental health problems I've been dealing with at school have gotten much worse. At first (year 7-8) I could brush off my concerns (and concerning thoughts/feelings) with armchair psychology and philosophy lessons from youtube and such but I wasn't satisfied there. I kept digging myself deeper into that hole, into political philosophy (to deal mentally with the mess that is the 2020s), into philosophical speculation about what the meaning of life is and ultimately concluded (thankfully) that I am an existential nihilist (that life is meaningless but for the meaning we can create) and more general general escapist pursuits (gaming, books, Netflix, daydreaming, YT, etc). But I could only distract myself from the helplessness of it all for so long. After I while I started lagging so I went on a dopamine detox of sorts (didn't learn until after) but it only gave me more time to think about how pointless everything is and how little control I have to change. How little autonomy and time I can use to create meaning in my life.
I started struggling to wake up in the morning after I stopped escaping so often even while obeying the recommended 9 hours of sleep religiously and exercising. Instead of physically escaping to a book, I started escaping inside my head. Daydreaming, more and more. But it makes it so hard to get up everyday. I wake up at 6:30 everyday but only ever manage to leave bed at 7:30, 10 minutes before I have to leave for school. This time daydreaming before school helps me stay calm and feel alive but it comes with it's sacrifices. In exchange for it, I've been neglecting my breakfasts and lunches, my personal hygiene, proper preparation for a school day (e.g. my PE uniform or calculator) and I'm so tempted to go back to my bad habits in year 7 and start neglecting my sleep as well. I know it's not good but it seems like the only way I can bring myself back from the overwhelm at the start of each day.
The overwhelm of wasting the 6 and a half prime hours of the day and more on travel time, homework, chores, etc. It tends to add up to over 40 hours a week that I'll never get back or get to myself. The overwhelm of the powerlessness when a teacher equivocates anarchy to chaos or teenage sleep schedules to laziness instead of circadian rhythm and horrible mental health. Because only a one in a million teacher would still be alive enough to help make themselves or school bearable after all the pressures that get put on them. (I definitely don't blame teachers for any of this though, we're stuck in this hellscape together.) The overwhelm of being too tired to do the things you truly want to, of doing homework first and then finding yourself too drained to write or draw or even just enjoy yourself. The overwhelm of having to catch up because the class' average is much faster than you or the horrible feeling of having to not be off-task while you wait for the class' understanding of a subject to catch up to yours... So many hours I'll never get back.
For a while, before I got into year 10 and before I found those pathways, I was contemplating really dark things. (I didn't make any plans, I was too scared to indulge myself and I get called oversensitive enough that I didn't ask for any help.) The least dark thought of which I had was the idea to truant. I needed escape perhaps more back then than I do now but I can feel myself slipping again. Everyone says that year 10 is the last 'easy' year and I don't want to find out what that means. I don't want to get even more homework and study eating up my time; I don't want to be more overwhelmed than I am right now and I don't know if I'd survive it.
That's why I'm looking for alternate pathways. I hope I'm not being overdramatic or something like that, I hope I'm not the only one who feels this way or this desperate and I'm willing to have things be a little harder to make sure it's not as hard on my mental health any more. I want there to be a way out of year 10 and to university so badly but this isn't a mainstream enough pathway that I can tell how to move forward and if I should forward this way.
Whatever happens, I don't think I can keep on keeping on like this.
TLDR: I'm a high schooler who's looking for an escape, I looked in philosophy, fiction, drawing, writing, psychology, consuming in general and gaming but always got dragged kicking and screaming back to reality. Now I'm in year 10 I have the chance to escape school for good (via alternate methods to getting into Uni) but at the cost of having a for-sure pathway in university and not being able to fit the mainstream mould. I asked youtube, google, ChatGPT, my carers, friends and I'm about to ask my mildly dubious counsellor and career's advisor. But I'm so scared I'll miss some catch to this arrangement and I want to get as many people's advice as possible so I know that quitting school before doing that final rank selection test is okay.
P.S. Throwaway cos I'm paranoid about giving out my age and general situation to the internet.
Thanks so much for reading.

I just feel so disconnected from them. I know they love me but I am a degree away from them. I like this one dude heaps but I’m scared to talk to him in case I ruin what we could have had. I listen to music basically all day to escape loneliness. It helps but once again I’m disconnected.
I’m in an extremely ldr. I will see her this year. We’re gonna meet in Paris. She is the most beautiful girl in the universe. And when I’m with her I don’t feel lonely. I used to but we chill out more now. I’m 19m never had many friends. But spending time with her is my favorite part of the day. I’m gonna stay. Up to see her tonight.
I love her and I just know if we were together I would never need to feel lonely again. I love you hunny b

I hope this is the right place and right way to ask for this! I've lurked but actually posting is totally new to me.
I'm a 21 year old autistic woman from Finland and I have major trouble leaving the house on my own. My biggest issue is anxiety, I'm so afraid of having a breakdown that I dont even want to try. For the record I've experienced panic attacks, anxiety attacks, sensory overloads and severe stomach issues while out there, so my fears aren't exactly unfounded. I've tried my best to power through the fears and work through that anxiety with my therapist, support people, and my mom's help. However although there are days I'm successful, it's not a progression as much as a rare good day. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to have the freedom I want unless I embrace my need for further assistance and tools.
Which leads me to the topic of this sub! I'm wondering if a service dog could help me, or if they'd be more troublesome.

1. What kind of tasks could one be trained for? Could a service dog recognize when I should drop everything and head to the bathroom before I myself know? Would one sit with me while I suffer with that and/or a panic attack?
2. If I already struggle going out even with the company of my mother (who makes me the least nervous,) could a dog really help? On one hand a dog would be more often available than her, so I wouldn't have to only go out on weekends (more chances to go out on a good day!), but on the other hand the dog cant drive. (Bus systems are amazing in my city, but I get nervous without a solid escape plan.)
3. I have a pet cat. Any experiences with that combo?

Thank you! I'm mostly looking for personal thoughts, but I'm all for official resources as well.

Selling my sets for below mentioned price in items.
Feel free to add me/discuss.
Why u should trust me ?
Sold over 1000 TI6/TI7/TI8/TI9/TI10/Nemestice/Aghanim's/Diretide 2022 Collector's
Proof of gifting Caches Sets?
Check comments on my profile & check their inventory for my sets gifted by me.
Buyer always goes first or we can use middleman from this Sub.
Also, why would scam ? I got like 800+ cache sets to sell.
Profile https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198107212373

Diretide 2022 Collector's Cache

Set name	Hero	Quantity	$$
Shadowleaf Insurgent	Hoodwink	20+	$15
Scarlet Subversion	Riki	20+	$15
Whippersnapper	Snapfire	20+	$10
Hounds of Obsession	Chen	20+	$10
Seadog's Stash	Clockwork	20+	$10
Starlorn Adjudicator	Dawnbreaker	20+	$15
Spoils of the Shadowveil	Spectre	20+	$15
Chines of the Inquisitor	Faceless Void	20+	$10
Trophies of the Hallowed Hunt	Ursa	20+	$10
Crimson Dawn	Phoenix	20+	$10
Forgotten Station	Terrorblade	20+	$15
Dirge Amplifier	Undying	20+	$15
Champion of the Fire Lotus	Monkey King	20+	$10
Deathstitch Shaman	Witch Doctor	20+	$10
Blue Horizons	Marci	20+	$30
Angel of Vex	Invoker	20+	$35
Dark Behemoth	Primal Beast	20+	$50

Aghanim's 2021 Collector's Cache

Set name	Hero	Quantity	$$
Silverwurm Sacrifice	Dragon Knight	22	$20
Scales of the Shadow Walker	Phantom Lancer	23	$15
Perception of the First Light	Dawnbreaker	22	$15
Apex Automated	Clockwerk	22	$15
Test of the Basilisk Lord	Razor	25	$10
Secrets of the Frost Singularity	Ancient Apparition	23	$8
Perils of the Red Banks	Chen	22	$10
The Chained Scribe	Grimstroke	24	$10
Widow of the Undermount Gloom	Broodmother	23	$10
Forgotten Fate	Mars	22	$5
March of the Crackerjack Mage	Rubick	24	$10
Cosmic Concoctioneers	Alchemist	23	$20
Days of the Demon	Axe	22	$10
Blightfall	Abaddon	23	$15
Pyrexae Polymorph Perfected	Ogre Magi	25	$35
Wrath of the Celestial Sentinel	Chaos Knight	8	$60

Nemestice Collector's Cache 2021

Set name	Hero	Quantity	$$
Twilight Hex	Dark Willow	23	15$
Litany of the Damned	Doom	24	15$
Astral Terminus	Enigma	23	10$
Caerulean Star	Enchantress	22	8$
Arcane Inverter	Gyrocopter	22	20$
Creed of the Skullhound	Lycan	22	25$
Desert Bloom	Nature's Prophet	23	20$
Silence of the Starweaver	Oracle	23	10$
Eyriebound Imperator	Skywrath Mage	23	10$
Anthozoan Assault	Tiny	23	25$
Vision of the Seraph Scion	Vengeful Spirit	23	35$
Defender of the Brumal Crest	Winter Wyvern	10	10$
Red Sands Marauder	Shadow Shaman	23	20$
Indomitable Legacy	Sven	23	60$
Footfalls of the Sporefathers	Witch Doctor	12	60$

Collector's Cache I 2020

Set name	Hero	Quantity	$$
Ravenous Abyss	Underlord	20+	$10
Apocalypse Unbound	AA	20+	$10
Beholden of the Banished Ones	Warlock	20+	$5
Fury of the Righteous Storm	Disruptor	20+	$5
Lineage of the Stormlords	Juggernaut	20+	$35
Silent Slayer	Silencer	20+	$10
Mindless Slaughter	Pudge	20+	$20
Heartless Hunt	Bounty	20+	$10
Herald of the Ember Eye	Grimstroke	20+	$10
Fissured Flight	Jakiro	20+	$5
Flashpoint Proselyte	Husker	20+	$15
Signs of the Allfather	Nature prophet	20+	$15
Glory of the Elderflame	Lina	20+	$25
Lineage of the Stormlords	Juggernaut	6	$35
Origin of the Dark Oath	Night Stalker	6	$25
Songs of Starfall Glen	Enchantress	20+	$5
Ancient Inheritance	Tiny	20+	$30
Forsworn Legacy	mars	20+	$50

Collector's Cache II 2020

Set name	Hero	Quantity	$$
Evolution of the Infinite	Enigma	20+	$6
Beast of the Crimson Ring	bristle back	20+	$10
Clearcut Cavalier	Timber	20+	$6
The King Of Thieves	Keeper of light	20+	$10
Horror from the Deep	Tide	20+	$20
Ire of the Ancient Gaoler	Arc warden	20+	$25
Talons of the Endless Storm	chaos knight	20+	$15
Carousal of the Mystic Masquerade	Rubick	20+	$6
Crown of Calaphas	Shadow demon	20+	$10
Wrath of the Fallen	doom	20+	$20
Blacksail Cannoneer	Sniper	20+	$10
Secrets of the Celestial 📷	Skywrath mage	20+	$5
Blaze of Oblivion	Phoenix	20+	$6
Steward of the Forbidden Chamber	Templar Assassin	20+	$25
Claszureme Incursion	Void	20+	70$

Collector's Cache 2019

Set name	Hero	Quantity	$$
Echoes of the Everblack	Abaddon	19	15$
Paean of the Ink Dragon	Grimstroke	18	10$
Scorched Amber	Dragon Knight	20	20$
Allure of the Faeshade Flower	Dark Willow	1 M*	25$
Priest of the Proudsilver Clan	Chen	18	10$
The Arts of Mortal Deception	Enigma	21	10$
Poacher's Bane	Tidehunter	20	10$
Soul of the Brightshroud	Death Prophet	21	10$
Curse of the Creeping Vine	Undying	21	20$
Appetites of the Lizard King	Slark	18	25$
Riddle of the Hierophant	Oracle	20	10$
Defender of Ruin	Disruptor	22	25$

​

Collector's Cache II 2019

Set name	Hero	Quantity	$$
Sight of the Kha-Ren Faithful	Drow Ranger	31	15$
Tribal Pathways	Warlock	30	10$
Directive of the Sunbound	Clockwerk	31	10$
Endless Night	Abaddon	30	10$
Dapper Disguise	Pudge	27	15$
Fury of the Bloodforge	Bloodseeker	30	10$
Automaton Antiquity	Broodmother	31	10$
Grim Destiny	Wraith King	29	10$
Distinguished Expeditionary	Tusk	30	10$
Verdant Predator	Venomancer	31	10$
Prized Acquisitions	Batrider	31	5$
Fowl Omen	Necrophos	34	30$

The International 2018 Collector's Cache I

Set name	Hero	Quantity	$$
Trail of the Sanguine Spectrum	Bloodseeker	20	8$
Insights of the Sapphire Shroud	Dark Seer	18	4$
Pillar of the Fractured Citadel	Spirit Breaker	21	$5
Stonemarch Sovereign	Wraith King	21	$15
The Murid Divine	Necrophos	22	15$
Primer of the Sapper's Guile	Techies	22	10$
Molokau Stalker	Venomancer	21	$10
Morbific Provision	Witch Doctor	22	10$
Raptures of the Abyssal Kin	Queen of Pain	20	15$
Grasp of the Riven Exile	Weaver	20	5$

The International 2018 Collector's Cache II

Set name	Hero	Quantity	$$
Pitmouse Fraternity	Meepo	37	10$
Fires of the Volcanic Guard	Ember Spirit	37	10$
Shackles of the Enduring Conscript	Axe	37	6$
Shimmer of the Anointed	Nyx Assassin	29	5$
Loaded Prospects	Brewmaster	39	15$
Ire of Molten Rebirth	Phoenix	36	10$
Pattern of the Silken Queen	Broodmother	26	5$
The Rat King	Chen	28	10$
Raiments of the Obsidian Forge	Underlord	22	20$

The International 2017 Collector's Cache

Set name	Hero	Quantity	$$
Eternal Testament	Death prophet M*	19	15$
Rumrunner's Carronade	Brew master	20	15$
Abyssal Vortex	Enigma	27	10$
Samareen Sacrifice	Huskar	22	10$
Pressure Regulator	Clockwerk M*	24	20$
Spoils of the Vodou Rover	Witch Doctor	27	10$
Shadowforce Gale	Luna	24	10$
Mechalodon Interdictor	Gyrocopter	27	10$
The Dread Prophet	Nature's Prophet	23	20$
Cunning Corsair	Riki	24	20$

The International 2016 Collector's Cache

Set name	Hero	Quantity	$$
Rising Glory	Magnus	1 M*	20$
Nightsilver's Resolve	luna	2 M* dtygod*	20$
Oni Knight the Dark Conqueror	Chaos Knight	2 dtygod* dopey*	20$

I am no longer entertaining joy riders so I prefer you give $3 in items when u add me as deposit.
Those $3 will be subtracted from you're total sets cost.
Don't add me if you don't like the prices.
​

• prices are subject to change.*
• sets may go out of stock even if you're waiting for one if someone else buys it before you.*

*if you don't reserve the sets.

Donate to his veterans support charity No Duff if you can, it will go to his daughtewhanau, to return his body and continue his enduring kaupapa, which will help other whanau in this conflict and others.

No Duff Charitable Trust Givealittle page:

https://givealittle.co.nz/org/noduff

​

Kane Te Tai remembered as man of honour committed to aiding Ukraine

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/486507/kane-te-tai-remembered-as-man-of-honour-committed-to-aiding-ukraine

Whānau and friends of slain soldier Kane Te Tai say he will return home as a warrior in life and death, and be remembered as a man who always fought for what was right.
RNZ understands the body of the slain New Zealand soldier has officially been identified as Te Tai and is now being transferred to Kyiv.
He is understood to have been killed while clearing a trench in the Vulhedar area of Ukraine.
Sources have told RNZ he had moved deeper into the trench, away from his team, when he was killed by Russian soldiers.
His team were forced to leave his body there, before Ukrainian marines went in and recovered him overnight.
Veteran support and advocacy group No Duff is now working to ensure a New Zealander can be available to escort his body through the country to the Polish border, before travelling with him for his final journey home.
Comrades and friends have said they believed it was important a Kiwi was always with him, but the process would not be simple.
Te Tai co-founded No Duff with Aaron Wood, who told Midday Report his mother had asked them to manage the journey home.
"We're pulling all the pieces together. A number of volunteers and interested people from New Zealand, all the way through to Ukraine and in between, are coming together to make this happen."
It was highly likely they would be able to bring him home, Wood said, but there were numerous jurisdiction challenges ahead.
Deeply respected during time in Ukraine
Te Tai joined the Defence Force after leaving high school and went on multiple deployments while serving in the 2/1 Royal Battalion.
He left the Army in 2010 and travelled to Ukraine in April last year, operating under the call sign 'Turtle'.
Te Tai was a prominent character in the warzone and was widely followed on social media.
His colleagues described him as well-known and deeply respected for his professionalism, skill, leadership and relentless sense of humour.
They said he never underestimated the importance of his job, or the lives he held in his hands.
His death marks the third New Zealander to be killed in the combat - after the deaths of his best friend Dominic Abelen and humanitarian Andrew Bagshaw.
Te Tai had become the unofficial expert for New Zealanders in Ukraine, often acting as the point of contact for Kiwis wanting to travel to the warzone. He would ensure people knew what they were signing up for, a way to get into the country and a unit to go to.
He admitted in an interview with RNZ his initial motivations for going there were selfish, but that changed quickly on arrival.
The soldier became an infamous figure in the war, often featuring on Russian propaganda sites - seen by RNZ - particularly the Wagner group, who put a NZ$11 million price tag on his head.
In a conversation with friends he joked about ratting himself out for the money, illustrating his sense of humour.
Te Tai always said to his friends he was not afraid to die, but he also was not afraid to live.
During nearly a full year in Ukraine, he garnered respect from people in all walks of life. He volunteered with Ukrainian families, taught civilians how to fight and eventually found a spot at the frontline as one of the team's leaders.
Te Tai said he was fiercely protective of his team and did anything to make sure they were safe.
During one mission in August 2022, his best friend, Abelen, was killed in trench warfare. In an interview after the mission, Te Tai said the team were unable to get his body back and it ended up in Russian hands, but that did not stop him from trying.
He told RNZ they only stopped because Abelen would not have wanted them killed in the process.
Just last week Te Tai posted on social media, revealing that while clearing a Russian position he had found a "long lost friend" who had wanted to visit New Zealand.
Te Tai had thought his friend was dead and was amazed to find him alive, describing it as a "Hollywood moment".
He said at first he did not recognise the man, who had been shot four times and was skinny.
"He'd been starved by Russians for two months and drinking anti-freeze because the Russians wanted a laugh."
The man did not want to be left with the Ukrainians, but Te Tai had to keep fighting. He promised he would return and walk him personally to hospital.
That was exactly what he did, he said.
'The people grow on you'
In that August interview with RNZ, Te Tai said he had fallen in love with the country and its people, and was deeply respectful of their resolve.
"I was sort of getting a bit bored of being at home... and coming into this conflict was just one of those things that selfishly I thought I could be close to the war without getting too entangled.
"But then that sort of changes... I've met so many people, I've been everywhere in this country and the place grows on you, the people grow on you, and their strength, and that's why I'm still here."
Te Tai said he was prepared to leave everything in Ukraine, but in the weeks before his death he had made moves to return home.
His mother said he always kept her up to date, ending the calls with "I love you Mum", but more recently it was like "I'll see you soon".
In a Facebook message to another friend he said he loved Ukraine, but it was time to start living a real life - "gotta put the toys away and start to build while I can", he said.
"That's enough war for me, I love this place, it's like a playground where I can do anything I want.
"But that's the problem isn't it? So before the game gets me or before I decide that life here is too easy, maybe it's time to start living my real life.
"This place is pure escapism, we are all trying to run from something, mine is from having a real life, but the time is near."
Passionate about the cause
Te Tai is being remembered by his friends and comrades as a man of honour who was passionate about his cause, always doing everything he could to protect people.
Longtime friend Aaron Wood described Te Tai as a beautiful man, who he loved to bits.
"He just wanted people to live their best lives and he wanted to help as many people as he could.
"That sounds like a cliché, but with him it's a truism. That's his whole life... Just serving people, that's what he did, that's what his message was."
That was what he died doing, Wood said.
His mum, Ngaire Te Tai, said there was never any talking him out of it.
"He never did anything by halves, my son. We tried to stop him, but he had his mind made up, that's just Kane.
"When you were around him, you just felt safe."
A gift she said she knew he spread much further than just Ukraine.
Ngaire Te Tai's final comment about her eldest boy was: "Don't let my son's death be in vain."
He leaves behind a 12-year-old daughter.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t find anything glorious about killing young mobilised Russian boys who are crying in their trenches”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/300777917/the-shelling-is-so-close-it-makes-you-puke-says-kiwi-fighting-in-ukraine

The shelling is so close it makes you puke, says Kiwi fighting in Ukraine

A Kiwi soldier fighting under Ukraine’s military intelligence says he’s prepared to die.
Kane Te Tai, code name Turtle, is fighting in a secretive reconnaissance unit on Ukraine’s front line in the eastern Donetsk region.
After deaths, injuries and resignations, Te Tai now leads the Foreign Reconnaissance Team after only joining in July.
A December article in The New Yorker magazine revealed the existence of the unit and featured Turtle.
It’s the same unit that 28-year-old Kiwi Dominic Abelen was fighting in when he was killed in August, and the two were like brothers.
Te Tai’s unit has set up a PayPal to fundraise for vehicles it needs to move around its area of operation, near the town of Pavlivka.
As Te Tai was interviewed, he had to be careful his phone wasn’t too bright, so as to not give his unit away to any Russian drones flying overhead.
“We live on the line, we just occupy whatever place we can find at the time. If it gets too hot we just find somewhere else,” he told Stuff.
His unit’s job is primarily reconnaissance, a small mobile force that could reach into Russian land or no-man’s land between the trenches, and destroy a tank or hold a position, before the Ukrainian army moved in.
“Find it, locate it, observe it, report it, attack it.”
Good 4x4 vehicles are a necessity.
Donetsk is known for farming and coal production, and Te Tai described the land as similar to the Canterbury plains.
Soldiers try and use the tree lines separating the fields for cover, and trench systems are built through them.
During the winter, the roads and fields are muddy, pocked by craters from Russian artillery barrages.
The Foreign Reconnaissance Team can get the necessities of war – food, bombs, clothing, bullets - just fine.
Reliable working vehicles and parts, and enough for an emergency stockpile, are harder to come by.
The Foreign Reconnaissance Team is reliant on vehicles driven into Ukraine from throughout Europe by volunteers and paying for them with donated money.
“You can use that vehicle until it is blown up or you crash it, unfortunately both those things happen all the time,” Te Tai said.
“The last three vehicles we’ve had, in the last month, they’ve been hit with artillery. Holes in the front, s... just smashed through.”
Unlike the famous International Legion Battalion, which tens of thousands of foreigners have joined since the start of the war, the Foreign Reconnaissance Team is for some of the highly-trained foreign few.
Te Tai served a tour in Afghanistan for the New Zealand Defence Force and thinks of himself as having spent his whole life training to fight.
His team is given autonomy, building trust with local Ukrainian commanders to find out what they want and then formulating missions.
Te Tai was able to talk about one operation the Foreign Reconnaissance Team conducted during a December battle in Pavlivka, first described in the New Yorker article.
Te Tai and a small team of a half-dozen were set to cross a bridge at night and enter a tree line which ran into the centre of the town.
The mission was to see how close they could get to the Russian positions before they were fired on.
“The moment that we got onto the bridge, everything just opened up, rockets, missiles everything. We ran across this bridge and were just trying to scramble to the safest nearest spot.”
Te Tai’s team managed to get into the tree line and into a trench – all in the dark – but the Russians began to shell progressively towards them down the tree line.
“I remember just looking at everyone in the pit and we all had this look on our faces like, ‘well, the party had to end some time’. We had this feeling of acceptance.”
But, just as the next shell was set to kill the team, it flew off somewhere else and the Russians then began to bomb regressively back along the tree line.
“By divine intervention we missed getting smashed... We all knew we were supposed to die that night.”
Before joining Foreign Reconnaissance, Te Tai was working for a church training Ukrainians in basic military skills.
He was open with people back in New Zealand about what he was experiencing, including old army colleagues.
Te Tai described an environment where Kiwis in Ukraine often stayed in touch and worked together, including Dominic Abelen who contacted Te Tai before making the trip.
When Abelen said that he was set to join the International Legion Battalion, Te Tai told Abelen he was hearing bad stories.
“You go there as a foreigner, you get given a weapon, some ammunition, and sit inside a trench and you fight or die, that’s how it’s portrayed.
“People would tell us: 'Thank you for training my son, he didn’t make it back, but I felt he was better off than he was before’,” he said.
Abelen, now with the nickname Tolkien, made his way into the Ukrainian army, but managed to get taken into Ukrainian military intelligence.
Talking to Abelen about what he was doing, Te Tai had had enough of training soldiers and the 37-year-old felt like he was running out of time to fight.
“I told him [Abelen], ‘I’ll jump in with you too’.
“And he [Abelen] was like ‘thank God, cool man’,” said Te Tai.
He ended the volunteer work and a recruiter told Te Tai to get to Lviv where he entered a secretive military intelligence training camp.
Recruits weren’t allowed to use their phones and were closely evaluated for a two-week period.
“Pretty much from the second they take you into the camp, they don’t tell you what’s going on.
“They operate it like a psychological test, to see if you can be just told what to do and not know any other parameters,” he said.
Access to weapons was heavily restricted and there was heavy scrutiny as Ukrainian officials went through candidates’ records and social media, trying to weed out spies and the weak.
“When you talk to someone, it’s always a cover story, you’re never talking to who you think you’re talking to,” Te Tai said.
Then, one morning in July, officials gave Te Tai a contract and drove him to the Foreign Reconnaissance Team in Donetsk.
“As soon as we pulled up... Dom had no shirt on... he said, ‘let’s do some work’.”
“I was like ‘my man!’.”
Abelen had put in a good word for him with Ukrainian intelligence, Te Tai said.
He gave Te Tai the code name of Turtle, after he had originally named himself Talon. Talon was too cool, Abelen said.
Te Tai described new troops arriving for the unit as a big event, a celebration of strengthening the group after the fighting took its toll.
“There’s a high attrition rate either by death, injury, or guys wanting to leave.”
The Foreign Reconnaissance Team currently operates out of a house, planning their missions on a whiteboard.
“We’re normally strapped for time. If we’re not out working we are resting, or we are giving instructions.”
Te Tai said there aren’t ranks in the unit, so while he is the team’s leader, he sits on the same step as the other foreigners in the unit.
He eats Ukrainian food: soups like borscht, and two-minute noodles and toast.
At night Te Tai watches Netflix and YouTube fail compilations to decompress. Sometimes, he hears the Russians shelling, keeping him awake.
When you’re fired on by artillery, you can hear the lifespan of the shell, he said.
He described how shells left the Russian gun with a distant duh-boom, screeching through the air, before exploding somewhere on the Ukrainian side of the line.
Some shells landed far away, but some hit so close to soldiers that the concussion made them puke and made them feel sick for the next day, he said.
“That shit happens like every week.”
About six weeks after Te Tai joined the unit, Abelen was killed during a mission.
“It pissed me off more than anything, it just consolidated for me that I’m not leaving any time soon.”
Te Tai said Abelen didn’t have a death wish, but he was a soldier and fighting was what he had trained for his whole life.
“I could have told him, ‘you are going to die today’ and he would have been like ‘it’s a good day to die’, that’s just who he was.”
Killing didn’t weigh on Te Tai’s mind, he said. He described it as part of the job, and said his views hadn’t changed since Abelen’s death.
“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t find anything glorious about killing young mobilised Russian boys who are crying in their trenches,” he said.
“I’m willing to die, for sure, but I don’t want to die.”
Te Tai has no plans to leave and wants to attend a victory day parade in Kyiv.
“I know we’re going to win, I know that for sure,” he said.
“I’m staying here until I can’t take it any more, or I am dead.”

I have a flight from Vienna and my bag is thule crossover 2 model and its dimensions are 32 x 24 x 47 cm. How sensitive are they to the size limit?
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If the thule doesn't fit, I can get a new bag. Decathlon has the NH 150 Escape 16 liter bag and its dimensions are 40 × 30 × 7 cm.