Stratos

Can't link youtube right now but: Foo Fighters- February Stars. Gets in my head when I feel wistful. Then I end up putting the ear buds in and listening at max volume. It starts slow and soft and unassuming. It almost feels like a nap, then a hug, then a slow dance. When it builds to the climax and the last chorus hits I tear up but I still shout along with Dave Grohl. Damn good song.

You would probably like this quote by Carl Sagan: "The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides."

My best friend is my gender swapped self. We had an awesome time for 5 years but then I had to move but we still drive to visit each other all the time and text every day. We didn't "date." We fooled around, yeah, and we also fight alot but we can't stay mad for more than like 5 min and we laugh at the same stuff but sometimes we get bored. We'd be a terrible married couple, but we're awesome friends. So... sex, share everything, laugh, fight and cry? Yes. Live together or get married? Nooooooooooo....

I pretty much believe the etymology of the word means "follower of a way without a deity," there ARE anti-scientists and they get elected to public office more often than is comfortable and I think you may have misunderstood my post, but that's ok.

Nationality: American. Religion: Reformed Catholic (Atheist) Language(s): English, Portuguese, Spanish. Ethnicity: Mutt! Portuguese (Iberian and Indian), Danish, Irish and Israeli. Race: The only race of bipedal animals capable of abstract thought and advanced mathematics on planet Earth: Human. Edit: The first four metrics I used are actually useful in categorizing people. The fifth is hardly ever useful, often misleading and most of the time used to be hateful.

That's called being a sociopath. Sociopaths see no problem hurting people and will grab at straws to defend their behaviour when confronted. Not believing in the god of Abraham did not make that dude rape someone. He chose to do that and is a terrible person. Edit: And another thing, religious people do terrible things (rape, kill, steal, etc) ALL the time.

I'd like to congratulate you on starting this thread. It is very brave to stick your head out of the crowd and risk being singled out. Every time I do it, I see an object flying my way But seriously, I believe man created gods to explain phenomena and to convey moral and social norms. That includes the Abrahamic god that Judaism, Christianity and Islam worship. He wasn't the first, nor the last god on record, he's just pretty popular. That doesn't mean I look down on those who have faith in that god or other gods. I have faith in things too! Faith is an important and healthy thing for a person to have! I'm just a born skeptic and look at things with a wide angle lens. I do have a slight problem with Atheism though I'd be considered and atheist. It implies that the Abrahamic god is the only god but you don't believe in him. I've met self proclaimed atheists who believe in ancestor spirits and jinn and other mythological things. It just seems to exclude the one god that a bunch of people loudly support, like an opposition to those people. I don't support that. So, I'd call myself a Humanist, if anything, but it is a type of atheism, just a type that doesn't go around trying to disprove matters of faith, rather having faith in this mortal plane and putting your chips in the basket that maybe one day we'll all get along and be cool to each other. That also colors my political beliefs (won't get into THAT on this board) and how I interact with people. Try to give good vibes, hope to get good vibes back. It's all very hippy-ish, haha.

"You up yet, filly? We're at the Capitol, time to see your new digs." Skimmer looked up to see a large earth pony with a solid green coat riddled with jagged scars. He was standing next to the ridiculous unicorn from before. "Name's Brush Runner. Call me Bud. From the look on your face, let me fill you in. I'm the last victor from District 4 and I'm your mentor. This is your escort Pearl. The other tribute from our district is comin' with me, you're goin' with Pearl. I feel it's best to not get the tributes to close so they can do what needs to be done when the time comes. You'll meet him, but you ain't gettin' to know him. Alright, love fest's over, get goin' with Pearl and I'll meet up with you later." Skimmer tried to process all that's happened. Nearly drowning, being selected in the reaping, having to fight, having to kill another pony. She got the sudden and overwhelming sense that she was going to die. Pearl read the emotions on Skimmer face and put a hoof over her shoulder. "Now, now, we'll have none of that nervous nelly business right now. It just would not do to look weak in front of the other tributes, darling. And you're in public, so no crying, for goodness sake. Ready?" Skimmer plodded off the train like a mare marching to her death. Which she probably was. Hundreds of Capitol ponies were gathered around the train, cheering, jeering and adding to Skimmers urge to cry. She didn't care who saw. Her life was over. With slumped wings, she left a trail of tears as she shuffled toward the training center.

@@Alex Kennedy, @@SilverHeart, @, Skimmer looked at Azure quizzically. "What about the hole? I said that it probably leads around the cave-in to the ne-" Skimmer suddenly got an intense feeling of vertigo. This only happens to her when she's in the clouds. Having a fear of heights isn't common for a pegasus, and cave shafts didn't bother her. Just being too high in the wide open sky. So why was she feeling like this inside a cave? Skimmer swallowed hard and shut her eyes tightly until the feeling subsided. "Sorry about that, guys, I felt weird for a minute." Skimmer turned to Ocean. "No need for the flare, my mare." Skimmer tapped her headlamp with a hoof. "I'm a floating flare. Just secure this," Skimmer tossed her a rope from her bag, "to something sturdy and I'll hold my end when I go down. Just wait for me to give the OK before you start climbing." Skimmer looked into the drop, shining her light. Squinting, she could just make out something glittering. She had no clue what gave her a jolt just a minute ago, but it couldn't have been the cave. Maybe she just needed lunch. She decided she would eat an apple once she made sure everypony was down the shaft safely. As she floated down, rope in her mouth, she saw something strange. There were marks on the walls like something or someone dug this hole. That couldn't be right. Why would this hole have been dug out so deeply and how in the hay could you get through this much solid rock without explosives? When her hooves his the bottom, she saw what had been sparkling at her from the top. "Ooooh, pretty! Guys, there's gems in this cave! I want to say rubies, but I've never seen rubies like this... It's safe, by the way, you can come on down. We might have to hoof it for a while down this tunnel, but I don't see anything but the gems."

That's what I'd call either a variant of breakbeat or just a wider label of alt electronica. Both have elements of hip hop and lots of alternative. You have sampling but also an offbeat whimsy. Yeah, I'd put them both under alt electronica. Also The Avalanches are great! Have this: OH! I almost forgot about THIS Worth it for the Scootaloo solo near the end.

The second test leaves room, but I don't like how both tests disregard the game's setting for the most part. "Is my character a mythological being?" Well the character's a pegasus so DUH but its an MLP character so what do you want from me?? Going to say once again how much I hate the recent Mary Sue firestorm of everyone just slapping the label around to mean anything they don't personally like. I try not to self insert as much as possible in an RP but the very nature of a role playing game trends toward self insertion. Unless I were writing a stand alone novel, I wouldn't care as long as my character stayed within the parameters of the game and its context.

Eh, you did have a somewhat aggressive opening volley so you can't be surprised that you picked up some vitriol. Also, some people on these boards can't deal with disagreement that they view as... They are watching so I have to say this quietly...

I don't want to pick on you, because I agree with a healthier lifestyle and part of that comes with severely restricting the consumption of meat.... But allow me to pick apart your argument and still be your friend? To summarize, I agree that the advantages of a PROPER vegetarian diet to ones health are massive. But I do not agree that everyone 1: is in an economic position to do so 2: is properly educated on how to put together a nutritious diet 3: would be able to overcome the human impulse for convenience 4: is automatically terrible because they are poor or undereducated or acts on the dietary impulses bred into them over 20,000 years.

I originally read the title as "A Rainbow and Some Tostitos" and I got hungry for chips and salsa. What is a tortoro anyway is it that bunny-rat-mole thingy that kinda looks like a Pikachu?

Surf Skimmer dozed on a cloud just above the water. Her seafoam coat matched the color of the bay and her cerulean hair, streaked with grey, was wet from dangling down into the gentle tide. In her hooves was a half finished net made from seaweed- after all, she did live in District 4. The purpose of her district was to bring the bounty of the sea to their masters in the Capitol. Skimmer didn't really care. Her parents were rebels and they paid the price for it, but she just kept lazing her days away by the beach. She loved it here. The bay where she lived was more mother and father to her than her parents were. Who cares if the sick Capitol runs their Hunger Games as long as she got to live on her bay? She earned her keep by gathering. The only pegasus in District 4 that didn't work in the sky, she was with the earth ponies and she liked it that way. She hated heights. Her job was to gather seaweed for fishing nets and food and also to scavenge the beach for relics from the old world. Equestria that was looked a fair bit different than today. Before the war, the area now known as District 4 was known as Horseshoe Bay and there was a big city called Baltimare. Whatever happened to make Baltimare sink into the sea, Skimmer had no idea, but she found the shiny bits and baubles that washed ashore. Some, she gave to Capitol salvagers, some she kept and some smaller shinier things she wove into her mane along with seashells. Maybe it was her cutie mark of three leaping fish that foretold her destiny today, but her life- the one that she loved- was to be forever changed when three fish jumped from the water and dissipated her cloud. Waking up underwater isn't pleasant. Even for somepony who loves being in the water. She gasped as she woke, sending seawater into her lungs, burning her chest and suffocating her. Figuring out what happened, she managed to flail to the beach, retching and coughing up the water she swallowed. Lying on the sand, lucky to be alive but feeling much older than her 18 years, she whacked at her back with her wings, trying to get the last of the water out of her system. She was in no state for what happened next. A whole troop of peacekeepers crashed through the coastal scrub and hauled Surf Skimmer onto their shoulders. "THIS is where you were!?!?!? EWWWW!!!" Shrieked a shrill voice affectated with the ridiculous exaggeration of a Capitol accent. "You RUINED the Reaping, I hope you know that! To be on this smelly beach with the icky water and the grimy sand UGH!" Skimmer weakly coughed and turned her head in the direction of the ranting. A white unicorn with a meticulously styled mane and ridiculous makeup feigned being on the verge of death while Surf Skimmer actually very nearly was. "Well! I supposed you'll have to do, your name being selected and all... HMPFH! Why did I draw District 4 as my first!? I suppose we could spin her as a diamond in the rough since we found her in the sand? NO! That's stupid, maybe a beautiful pearl inside a dirty shell? No, no, too dirty and that's my NAME for goodness sake, 'Pearl presents her pearl to the Capitol?' That's idiotic!" Skimmer lost consciousness listening to the fretting of her escort, the surviving being nearly drowned having weighed more heavily on her heart than being selected in the Reaping. That is, until she woke up alone on the train.

A cream colored earth pony with a sandy mane stood in the town square. He looked around at all the ponies and almost felt overwhelmed. Ponyville may not be a big city, but it's way bigger than the village he used to go to when his parents took him to "town." Appleoosa looked like a small, haphazard pile of wood compared to Ponyville. "Maybe that's why it's called 'the sticks,'" Phillips chuckled to himself. He sat on the side of the square, his screwdriver cutie mark matching the one stitched on his saddlebag. He was here. Now what was he going to do? He wished he had more experience with other ponies as he felt confused and a little scared.

@@Alex Kennedy, @@SilverHeart, @, "Sure, man," Skimmer said with her laid back drawl. "I'll go ahead of you, and like, make sure it's safe or whatever. This is gonna rock." Surf Skimmer opened her left bag with her wing and fished out her headlamp. After securing the strap around her forehead and switching on the LED torch, she fluttered into the cave proper, staying low to the ground. She spied several runes and small figures that could be statuettes or just pylons guiding a path. The age of the place and the natural erosion made it impossible to be sure which. Flashing her light around, she was able to determine a safe path where the group wouldn't stub a hoof on a stalagmite or bump a nose on a low hanging stalactite. There was plenty to study for the rest of the group in this portion of the cave, provided magical lighting or each pony having gear like Skimmer. What really attracted her attention, however, was that the ancient carved and weathered stones seemed to lead to a caved in entrance. Even more interesting was the broken floor nearby that lead to a pitch-black vertical drop. "OK, guys," Skimmer shouted, giggling at her echo, "There's runes and stuff in here and it's mostly safe, but we'll need more light. When you're done with that stuff I think this drop-off is where we need to head next."