I just tried again, using the Edit drop down and paste because when I held my finger on the screen to pull up the copy/paste/cut/etc options on my phone, nothing came up.

Now though I'm getting an error at the top of the message textbox highlighted in red that says, "Your browser doesn't support direct access to the clipboard. Please use the Ctrl+X/C/V keybord shortcuts instead." --> which I usually do, just can't on a phone. Also, I copy and paste in my browser all the time, so I'm not sure what that means.

If this sounds like a problem just with my phone, that's fine. I'm a bus rider so I have a lot of time to kill working on collabs and stuff which C+P helps with when I want to post those or with things like that, so I just thought I'd ask. Oh well! Thanks for having a look for me though!

Sorry, none from out of country, but I can try to hunt one down of Seattle for you!

((longer and more filled with Black Friday rage than anticipated when I started))

Thanksgiving

My family's 2 favorite holidays of the year are 4th of Julias (joo-lie-us, July+that side-of-the-family's last name, "Elias") and Thanksgiving. Presents are cool, but Thanksgiving is a celebration of delicious foods and crazy family fun.

My siblings and I have have learned to pace ourselves during Thanksgiving, since we have two in one day. One side of the family is a 1000 times more reserved than the other. That side, we go over to my grandma's in the afternoon, eat by 2:30-3, then grab a coffee and head up into the mountains for the crazy side's shenanigans (they're also better cooks, sooooo . . . ).

Black Friday

Black Friday is the devil. As someone who's family adores Thanksgiving, but who also had to work retail and leave her family to open a craft store at 7 effing PM Thanksgiving Day, for people already chomping at the bit to get their frickin craft deals, and then having to clean the wreckage they left behind after we closed again a few hours later, telling the last customer "It otay," when they say happily, having everything they want in their cart, "Aww, too back you have to work Thanksgiving, huh?" instead of telling them to go fuck themselves *hyperventilating*

Sorry, I blacked out there for a moment.

Black Friday represents the things I love fundamentally and which give me the purest sense of joy being turned into prison-grade toilet paper and being horrifically defiled at the hands of a bargain. And I like a bargain. But not at the cost of anyone else's soul. Am I being dramatic? Yes. But am I being too dramatic? Also yes. Anxiety allows me to be nothing less. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

/rant

Christmas Time

As a kid, I used to live about a mile away from a neighborhood called "Candy Cane Lane" because during the holidays the entire maze of a neighborhood would cover their properties in Christmas decorations. Even lamposts and such would be decorated. We'd join the migration of cars slowly driving through the neighborhood and gawk at all of the amazing designs.

We don't do that anymore though. Less people would participate in decorating and we all just got older.

At the beginning of each December my grandma on the docile family side gets all of us tickets to a Christmas play. We all grab dinner beforehand and then I put on my flame-retardant suit so as not to harm the other audience members when I burst into flame after setting foot on the sacred ground of the church the play takes place at. The plays are generally entertaining at the very least. At the end the family huddles up and we all pull names from a little box to determine who we are going to play secret Santa to that year.

When Christmas Eve rolls around we go to docile fam side Grandma house and hang out. It's mellow. We have a nice dinner, then presents are sorted, and we go around from youngest to oldest, each opening one present per round (we only have one secret Santa, but sometimes they get us a few things, and my Grandma always gets everyone an extra gift).

Later, our immediate family breaks off and we go either to my dad's or my sister's place. We open the presents we all got for each other, then my dad pulls out the board game he got for us. We all play the game and whoever wins gets to keep the board game.
That is probably one of my favorite parts of our Christmas tradition.

The next day is Christmas. My siblings and cousins all hop in our cars and we make our trek up into the mountains to my aunt's house. It's all just fun family time from there on out. The only people that get presents on that side are the little children, which is fine. The company is all we care about

Aaaaaaand those are pretty much my family's traditions!

Normality is all relative anyway, Nomad, it doesn't exist. So ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Stardate 2365.02.21
U.S.S. Peregrine; Deck 4 - Sickbay – 0401

=/=Reine here, I’m about to exit the turbolift. Status report =/=

“All nursing personnel on site in Sickbay,” Dana replied to the doctor as she kept an eye on her staff around her, “We are making sure to secure Sickbay in case of battle damage. We have medkits ready and personnel standing by to deploy as needed about the ship if called upon. Do you have any additional orders, Doctor?”

=/= Begin triage setup =/=

Reine entered then and spoke with Cook directly, taking a mental inventory. She had not worked for any extended length on a ship as small and with as limited resources as the Peregrine, but she had certainly worked with less, “There isn't word of any injured or casualties of as of yet, but with only seven beds in total available I'd like you to designate a team headed by our most senior nurse under you in the event that we need to convert the cargo bay into an extended sickbay.”

“Do you know what's going on Doctor?” Cook asked at last.

“We’ve dropped out of warp and are being attacked by three unknown ships,” she shared a look with her head nurse, “Nothing more than that as of yet.” The remaining med staff ran in through the doors behind her and joined the others in preparation, “Will that be all, Chief?”

((OOC: assuming a positive response, but will add/revise as necessary))

Reine nods and replies, “Let's get to work then,” and joins the rest of her staff.

Not sure if anyone else has this problem, but I'm not able to copy and paste using my phone. I'm not even given the option. Is this something we can change?

I'm on an Android and use the Chrome browser, not sure if that has anything to do with it.

Anyway, it's been the bane of my RDINN existence for so long now.

Honor has nothing to do with this!

Also, I haven't been emotionally stable since 1997, so this is just par for the course

Stardate 2365.02.20
U.S.S. Peregrine; Deck 5 - The Aerie - 1945

Flecks of some of the dried flower she used to steep her tea swirled around in her mug. Sure, the replicator could make a chai babooneh, but as was the case with so many she had met, nothing ever tasted quite as delicious as home. The dried flowers had been a gift from her parents a few months prior, on her birthday. At thirty-seven, she never expected much in the ways of birthdays, but her parents always seemed to remember to send her a good, large batch of her favorite tea.

She took a sip and continued to re-read once more all the information she had on the Daa’vit anatomy. As with most humanoid non-humans, many systems worked similar to, if not exactly like humans, though maybe a few organs were located in different places. However, a hubristic familiarity with said systems had left many in dire trouble in the past. And while she herself or in the assistance to others had put hundreds of humanoids of varying species and backgrounds back together, the repetition of knowledge was a comfort to her.

Add to that the warm, calming effects of the chai babooneh from her parents, and the blur of space beyond the observation windows, and Melody could almost feel herself beginning to settle into this new ship.

Stardate 2365.02.21
U.S.S. Peregrine; Deck 2 - CMO Quarters - 0353

The shuttle careened down the road as it always did, the sun bright, but beginning to settle after their long day at the beach in Marseille. Her daughter is unusually quiet, and Melody smiles, guessing she must be exhausted from the day. She runs her fingers through the little girl’s dark, curly, sand-strewn hair, and as always, this is when the shuttle violently--

Melody wakes, startled. She looks around the dark room but nothing seems to be out of order. She shakes her head, confused. Her dream never ends there, but then again, that lurch never feels quite so violent anymore.

The red alert signal goes off then and Reine jumps out of her bed, “Computer, report!” she says, throwing on her uniform and racing toward the turbolift.

=/= The Peregrine has fallen out of warp and is currently under attack by three unknown vessels =/=

“Wake any med staff not already on their way to sickbay and send them down there,” she hops into the the crowded turbolift, commanding it to Deck 4 and is about to contact her head nurse when her voice comes through the comms.

=/= Chief Cook to Doctor Reine =/=

“Reine here, I’m about to exit the turbolift. Status report.”

Melody sleeps on a bed made entirely of swords and the blood of her enemies.

Post on the way from me too! Working out some dialogue with Cook, but I'm hoping to post by this evening.

dragon-soul! That's happened to me before too! I feel your pain Sorry you fell victim to the site crash

Since I only know you in this make-believe place, Brom, you could very well be telling the truth, but also you could be a horrible liar.

I have no way to tell.

So I guess from now on I just believe you are Giddy's father in real life.

Mazel tov.

The Wheel shall decide.

P.S. Go for it!

Oy dragon-soul! To answer your question about how often to post, for me, I think one or maybe two posts are enough. That way you can see how everyone else is reacting in that moment and can respond to direct questions and stuff like that.

I think in general you don't want to make too many posts because we will want to see how our GM's NPCs respond or react to the things we do and say, and how the GM narrates the outcomes of what we've chosen to do. If we move too far ahead, things and timelines can get jumbled.

For instance, Cho'Ra has asked to heal the wounded woman, Thren has asked if we would like to go grab a bite before saving the day, and Dane has asked the the woman if she would like to join us. We won't know how the woman reacts until Giddy makes his posts. Then we can respond to what she chooses to do and any information she chooses to offer us and interact with each other and move on from there.

Other people may have a different opinion, but so far that is what I have seen to be effective in this form of story-telling and play-by-post RPGing.

We'll be fiiiiiiiiiiiine. You all are just so . . .

<.<

>.>

PARANOID

I heard this earlier and have yet to really process it, but I am so, incredibly saddened by this.

Eol is BACK! *fires off special channel: Air Horn*

Oh come ooooooooooon!

"I invite those of you who want to join me in supplication before the Battle Lord before we begin our day," Kithran hears the Therassor priest say, though she pretends she does not. She remains in her corner with her eyes closed, the one farthest from the door, leaning back against the wooden walls, her hand on the hilt of the dagger in her lap. Her sleep was light that night, though moreso at the idea of more undead clamoring through the door, and less for the awkward position in which she decided to sleep.

What remained of the day before, after their victory, shed only a little more light on the next leg of their journey.

"Ah been rangin' farther to find meat, was out 'untin' taday." The man had said, answering the party's inquiries, "Left yestermorn, spent tha night in tha woods. Were 'eadin home this afternoon, saw tha tracks coming from tha northwes'; a whole slew 'o footprints. Ah saw a man dressed all in black, ah did, right afore tha dead came outta tha ridge at me. 'e didn't seem none too afraid 'o them, even after 'e saw tha lot. Mother be me witness, the bastards didn't even look at 'im, they just came fer me - and for me 'ouse and family!"

"Did you get a glimpse of what the man looked like, other than his clothing? Distinctive facial features, scars, weapons? Symbols on his clothing or person?"

((OOC: Hopefully some info, DM? But any response))

Kith nods and listens as the others disseminate the information the woodsman is able to offer.

The rest of the day had been wrought with dragging and burning bodies. The work wasn't too hard, considering all those able to help, but they had lost the light quickly and remained on alert for any signs of another attack. Graciously, Therassor or Solanis or both had allowed them a peaceful, though uneasy night of rest.

Eventually the sun, bright and horrible through the fog, willed Kith out of her rest and she joined the others in a light breakfast before they make their way.

"Northwest takes us deeper into the furthest regions of the Kingdom," Gib is saying as they work on their food, "I would have thought we'd find ourselves marching towards Sendria but here we are. I am attempting to recall maps of the area that I've seen but even with this image in my head, I don't know how far we are from any of the major landmarks that I might remember. I'm afraid that I've no further insight into what might lie ahead."

"Sir,"

((OOC: oh no, have we not learned this guy's name? I don't like Kith calling this guy "sir"))

"you must know this area well. What have we to expect in our journey to the northwest?"

((OOC: assuming some response))

"That's something at least," she turns back to Gib.

"I would suggest being consistently watchful all the while moving to support one another as we progress. Kith might do well to scout ahead a bit provided we can find a means for her to communicate back to the rest of us without alerting any adversary of her position." Kith nods her agreement to that plan, and Gib continues, "So far, we've had Shinara watching over most of us—" he pauses for a moment, his eyes slightly losing focus, before finishing his thought, "—but we cannot allow this foolhardiness to continue or we'll soon be whittled away into nothing."

"I don't mind scouting ahead, I'm much quieter without you armored lot beside me," she offers them a sardonic grin. "Perhaps we can work on a bird call or something of the sort. Though," she thinks aloud, "I haven't heard or seen many since this blasted fog swallowed us all." She shrugs, "If we can't think of anything, I can simply return to you if I find anything of interest. I am not the type to charge in, as you know," she turns that small grin to her large cat friend. "Though if I do end up in trouble, please feel free to charge in as wildly as you like."

((OOC: assuming there is no argument with her taking the lead. I can retcon as necessary))

The group eventually finishes their meal and prepares for their journey. They find the unmistakable path of the undead once more, and Kithran leaves her spot beside Ch'dau, now taking point as their scout, and stealthily moving forward through the mist.

Haha we'll see! It's not like she's planning on fireballing Alyrëa anytime soon.

. . . As far as you know . . .

Dragon-soul: IIII know she was just being polite, Cho'Ra's just not as friendly or trusting as she looks haha

Reposting because I haven't seen an answer and am impatient 

"Per the "DM's note", Kith would want to know if the woodsman could say anymore about the man dressed all in black--facial features, hair, noticeable marks or scars or anything like that, symbols or markings on his clothes, could he see his hands and if so was there anything of note on them, weapons he may have had on him."

"It would be a shame to harm such fine girls," the neanderthal replied. Plastering a greasy smile on his face, he sneered down at Cho'ra and the other Domani who had materialized by her side, "Perhaps we can work out something else. If you delightful girls would care to accompany me, I'm sure we can work out . . . something to settle your crimes."

Cho'ra leaned in, happy for the chance to reign justice on yet another horrible man, when the other guard interjected, "That is quite enough, Dain!" he spat, laying the girl on the ground and striding forward to stand next to the oaf. "Captain Kerwin will hear of this!" Turning toward Cho'ra and the others who had stepped up to protect the girl and old woman, he crossed his arms and sighed.

"Outsiders, you do not know the full situation, and as such, I cannot fault you for this . . . confrontation. As all of Maeldon must know by now, an Aes Sedai by the name of Nelelle Mathera was murdered. She was discovered last night, her body still warm on her room floor. Millae is believed to be the culprit."

"What eviden-" before she could continue, the mother cried out once more.

"No!" scrambling to her feet she stumbled toward their group, gasping between her sobs, "Millae would never! She adored Nelelle Sedai!"

The kinder guard tried consoling the woman once again and Cho'Ra kept the brute in her peripheral vision in case he wanted to try anything. Beginning to channel would likely be seen as an act of aggression in this situation, but her hand slid silently to another dagger and rested lightly around the hilt beneath her robes. This one had no such significance as the other, but it would do the job.

The woman shouted out again, "No! I won't leave Millae to the gallows!"

"Get lost, you stupid old bit!" The pigswine stepped forward once again like the bully he was and Cho'Ra's grip tighted around her dagger, while her arm reached out as she prepared to attempt to speak with him once more. The good guard then punched the ogre hard in his side, and Cho'Ra hid another smile.

"You are out! Of! Line!" Good Guard practically shouted, pushing Ogre back another step with a finger in his chest. "Return to the guardhouse and remain there!"

Weezing like an idiot, the ogre replied, "You'll pay for that, Jandran."

"Get out of my sight, Dain." And the ogre was off to terrify others, Cho'Ra could only assume. Jandran then picks up the unconscious girl again and sighs, "It's a tragic business," he says, softer now, "And I must say I find it hard to believe. I've known Millae since she was a child. Since we were both children. She was always so gentle." He straightens again, so full of self-right he may as well be kin to the Ebou Dari behind her, "But I have a duty, and all evidence points to her. If you truly want to help the girl, come to speak with her in the jailhouse when she wakes up. I'll see that you can get to her. Perhaps you might be able to prove her innocence."

"Sir, before you go, who would accuse such a gentle young woman?"

((OOC: any response))

"Thank you, sir, we shall see you shortly."

Shaking his head sadly, Jandran turned away carrying an unconscious daughter and turning his back to a defeated mother and six onlookers as he strode down the solemn street.

Cho'Ra moved toward the hysterical woman, still bleeding and sobbing at the fear of losing her daughter, "Ma'am, Mistress," what was it? Oh, "Velalin, may I heal you? I am no Aes Sedai, but I have been a healer in my, home, for as long as I can remember. May I?"

As she waits for the woman to reply, Cho'Ra hears a new, smaller female voice behind her, and glances back to find the other woman who had been standing with their group at the front of the Gleeman's Abode. She had stayed safely away from the fray, which was probably the smarter choice, "My fellow travellers," she began shakily, and continued as though she were running out of breath, 'Will you join me in investigating this terrible matter and, if discovered that she is indeed innocent, assist me in allowing the woman to be pardoned and set free? Please, my friends, I implore you to help me with this task."

"Of course," Cho'Ra said, turning her attention back to the woman, and wondering why the little Ebou Dari girl would consider them friends. She would help the young woman find justice if she were indeed innocent, and anyone who wanted to assist her reach that goal was welcomed. Though it would put a damper on her lead.

A thread to discuss the Overlord movie with anyone interested. **Possible spoilers ahead**

Overall, this movie was pretty entertaining. It was a lot less of a "zombie-esque" movie than the trailers made it seem. Really the first 1/2 to 2/3rds it was mostly just a WWII movie, with some Metal Gear or Uncharted-type sneaking around stuff mixed in. There are also a lot of jump-scares, so take that how you will. I know a lot of horror fans find that a cheap trick, and jumps are pretty predictable, however there is quite a bit of gore when you get to the second half/last third.

I kept thinking about how much the filming reminded me of videogames--which I was into. It was like WWII, some Metal Gear, a little Assasin's Creed, and in the end a lot of Uncharted and Resident Evil. This movie was almost what I imagine a videogame movie done well really looks like.

I think even if you didn't know Bad Robot productions/JJ Abrams touched this movie, you wouldn't be surprised. Blessedly no lens flares though, so don't worry. The camerawork and framing were superb though, and the effects team did an amazing job.

From what I've seen and read online, the reviews have been pretty polarizing around this film--at least as far as horror fans go. Which I guess I should mention as a little disclaimer: I'm not truly a horror fan, but I've grown up surrounded by them, so I'm more of a horror-adjacent fan. Or . . . whatever. I went into this movie looking for some action, some scares though a little campy, an interesting plotline, and the trailer made the overall aethetic and look of it look really good. The action was excellent (the first 10 minutes alone, guys, the first 10 minutes alone!), the scares were plenty (for this wuss), the plotline was okay (Nazis+weird science experiements isn't exactly new, but it was executed very well), and yes it was a gorgeous looking movie.

Has anyone else seen this yet? What did you think? What'd you like or hate? Why TF was it called Overlord?

Also, did you know people thought this was supposed to be Abrams' next Cloverfield installment? That's weird, right? I'm pretty sure that's not true, but it felt remiss not to mention it.

If you haven't yet, and you're interested, check out the trailer here.

Welcome to the fun, SilentOne!