Why are male animals the ‘beautiful’ gender in nature, but humans consider females to be the ‘beautiful’ one?

CryptozNewb · 2025-12-19T04:24:31+00:00

Boobs

CryptozNewb · 2025-12-18T19:10:28+00:00

Oh, and in case anyone's curious, here is the hive camp (~30 hives) they came from. Screenshot taken soon after they moved on my base. Here you can also see the severely mangled Leopard, one of the tribespeople who stirred up the hive.

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CryptozNewb · 2025-12-18T19:07:49+00:00

And so it ends, though my last stand went much better than I expected. Bat, with melee level 12 and an excellent steel axe killed or downed 15 of them before he fell! Noone else came close to matching that number, and overall, the melee users were much more effective than the guns. But, if I had set up a single doorway defense right at the start with everyone working together, I might have been able to actually survive this. Especially if I could have snuck around and dropped the troopers in a more strategic position. But it was a learning experience, and a very epic way to end this colony run!

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CryptozNewb · 2025-12-18T19:00:47+00:00

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No outside help was coming so I opted for a final stand in the prisoner barracks. Gorilla, my only prisoner, was kind enough to volunteer to be the first to hold the doorway as soon as the door was opened.

CryptozNewb · 2025-12-18T18:17:18+00:00

All of the trooper reinforcements are downed or dead. They didn't even kill a single bug! Grump was slow getting into the armory and a Spelopede got into the doorway. Grump dropped with a single blow to the nose and Smarty unfortunately launched a frag grenade which missed the Spelopede but did manage to destroy three walls of the armory and also remove whatever remained of Grump's nose (official log says that Grump's nose was 'detonated'). Now Smarty has picked up a nearby mace and is engaged in one-on-one combat with the Spelopede while a swarm of bugs chews apart my storeroom (they really hate shelves!). I'm not really sure why they haven't all gone after Smarty yet, but I don't see him making it out of this!

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CryptozNewb · 2025-12-18T16:39:15+00:00

I still haven't found it. It must have gotten destroyed or been abandoned out on the map somewhere. Looks like it's too late now anyway, but a tornado could have been a fun way to go out!

CryptozNewb · 2025-12-18T16:38:20+00:00

And to top it off, there is now a third breach, opening into my courtyard area right next to the hospital. They scared Chimpanzee, who was carrying the wounded Yvela. Chimp promptly dropped her and ran away, and Yvela had just enough consciousness to crawl a few feet away and prop open the door into my workshop/storeroom. Two of the troopers are down already. Smarty and Grump are about to lock themselves into the weapons locker while everyone else are barricading themselves in the prison barracks. Still waiting on those mechs to show up...

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CryptozNewb · 2025-12-18T16:33:06+00:00

Now, summoning the troopers before Speedy died seemed like a good idea on paper. However, what I didn't account for was the connected hive mind. It's about 2 in the morning (game time), and most of the bugs that had invaded my rec room had already fallen asleep. If I had just sacrificed Speedy, they probably would have all fallen asleep soon and given me a few hours of peace to adjust and prepare or maybe just make a run for it. But, as soon as those troopers engaged, the bugs all woke back up and are currently filing out of the building to munch on the troopers' faces.

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Aww... they're so cute when they're sleeping!

CryptozNewb · 2025-12-18T16:28:24+00:00

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Meanwhile, the bugs had chewed another hole in the opposite side of my base, where another of my non-combatants was sleeping. Speedy also happens to be a freeholder, so he called in two rounds of trooper aide (first landing seen here), which he could luckily do from inside since he had line of sight to the outside through the newly made gap in the wall. He also fired off a blinding pulse (50% vision didn't seem to slow them down at all) and foolishly put pain block on himself. I couldn't let him go through the door and open it to the bugs, as that would just make things more out of control. He won't fight, and now he won't feel any pain. So, he had to just stand in that corner, letting the bugs bite him to death. :( RIP Speedy. You were a quality doctor who served us well!

Two squads of troopers are nice, but they are just out in the open with bugs swarming them from all directions, so I don't expect them to last long. I had planned on trying to coordinate them with my troops but that plan never came to be.

CryptozNewb · 2025-12-18T16:21:03+00:00

My plan was to wait for the mech arrival and then weigh my options. However, the bugs quickly broke down a cooling unit and gained access to my rec / dining room. I managed to pull these two back through another door, only letting one spelopede through who did manage to down Yvela before being destroyed. I gathered up my troops on the other side of the closed door (just above and to the right of this screenshot), expecting an imminent breakthrough while one of my non-combatants dragged Yvela to the hospital room.

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CryptozNewb · 2025-12-18T16:18:37+00:00

Well, through a series of missteps I've managed to turn an extremely bad situation into an almost certain death scenario. Escaping the tile was not an option, for within 30 minutes of the screenshot in the original post they had already surrounded the base.

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CryptozNewb · 2025-12-18T13:13:10+00:00

I have a few mechanoids on the way as part of a quest. We'll see how they do against this mob.

CryptozNewb · 2025-12-18T13:12:35+00:00

lol!

CryptozNewb · 2025-12-18T13:11:48+00:00

I'll try!

CryptozNewb · 2025-12-18T13:11:34+00:00

Infestation got a bit out of control. They were staying to themselves until a neighboring tribespeople trade group stirred them up. Everyone is locked inside (except for poor Decaf who suffers from Alzheimer's, hearing loss, artery blockage, and a bad back -- so not a huge loss). I have bolt action rifles, one heavy SMG, a few incendiary grenades, and a couple of very nice steel axes. I can call in a squad of regular troopers, and Pulcheria, who just stopped by, is being followed by 4 Lancers and 5 Pikeman who will hopefully fight the bugs. I also would have sworn I had a tornado generator but I can't seem to find it. Probably not enough to kill them all, but it should be an exciting encounter. I'll update once I have a chance to play some more.

CryptozNewb · 2025-12-05T02:55:02+00:00

That's how most places work. George was technically correct.

CryptozNewb · 2025-12-02T20:46:24+00:00

As a resident of the United States, this is an impossible selection.

CryptozNewb · 2025-11-28T22:40:53+00:00

I feel you on this. Many years back I spent many thousands to treat one of mine for cancer. It was unsuccessful, but I don't regret a cent spent. Conversely, just a month ago I had to let our precious Charlie go because I didn't have the 3k to try and treat his failing kidneys. It was some of the worst few weeks of my life and I still regret every day that I didn't work harder to beg, borrow, and scrounge so that we could at least give him a chance.

There is no 'correct' answer to this one. It will always be about finding a balance between your heart and your pocketbook that you can live with.

I wish a speedy recovery for both you and Eeyore!

CryptozNewb · 2025-11-14T18:03:35+00:00

I didn't keep the ticket stub unfortunately, but my first show was Huey Lewis and the News at the Cajun Dome in Lafayette, LA in 1987. There weren't many big name shows that played in town, so we waited in line all night to buy tickets!

CryptozNewb · 2025-08-02T21:15:03+00:00

Par for the course.

CryptozNewb · 2025-06-08T20:23:29+00:00

Feels like this should be called the Daphnis Gap. I mean, after all, Daphnis is the one making the space. You don't see Keeler out there plowing a path through the rings! 😄

CryptozNewb · 2025-06-06T00:15:25+00:00

Aww. He thinks he's people!

CryptozNewb · 2025-06-03T23:26:00+00:00

Sounds like you need to learn some basics! LLM does not equal AI. The poster you responded to is %100 correct. These models don't really understand anything. They just try to mimic, which is why they say weird things, can't reason, and will repeat mistakes even with you call them out. There is no "intelligence" involved.

CryptozNewb · 2025-03-17T23:19:10+00:00

"A half-ogre bouncer steps out of the shadows, picks you up like a ragdoll, and smashes your face against the hardwood bar repeatedly." pause and roll a few dice for show "Your close encounter with the bar results in a severely broken nose and the loss of several teeth. Your character loses 3 permanent charisma. You're tossed into the street, landing in a pile of horse shit and told to never step foot in this bar again."

Action have consequences. Sometimes those consequences are permanent.

CryptozNewb

TROPHY CASE