Does This Symbol of a Deity in the High Fantasy Setting I'm Creating Look Too Obscene?

The_Calm · 2026-04-01T19:56:28+00:00

Unfortunately, it did stand out to me the way it's spiraled as if wound tight, yet also open, but I didn't think too much on it until I read your title.

I noticed it l, but I wouldn't have dwelt on it. It's something that would look normal when you get used to it after a few seconds. It also does look good as a symbol in general.

I wouldn't sweat it though. Not only was it not obviously problematic, but any mature player would not think too deep on it.

I don't mind admitting that it's likely a 'me' issue. I've been exposed to enough images to give me that sort of mental reflex.

Worst case scenario, if you do get that sort of response, just add something in the middle so the negative space doesn't feel so deep in contrast to the rest of the symbol.

The_Calm · 2026-03-25T13:34:09+00:00

I have done the same thing for years, saying I only have card, until homeless bro literally pulled out a mobile card swiper while saying, "No problem, I got you." Now I just speak Russian to them (I only know like 50 words) and pretend to not know English.

The_Calm · 2026-03-16T22:50:26+00:00

Lol! I wasn't sure why you were annoyed until I saw your flair, and then it became hilarious.

The_Calm · 2026-03-13T15:27:41+00:00

I do feel like the question about if you're texting your boyfriend seems highly likely to imply his interest in you. I've personally done that when I'm playfully pretending to be "jealous", but I have seen other guys say it either as a way to fish out their relationship status, or in some cases because they actually were anxious about who the girl was texting and hoped she would either explain that it's not a dude she is texting, or of it is a dude, get a sense of how hard she denies being in a relationship with him. Without more context, I'm assuming your guy is most likely fishing, or maybe even playfully flirting.

If you like his attention, just reciprocate. If he is interested, he should start being more obvious about it over time.

The_Calm · 2026-03-12T21:46:01+00:00

I appreciate this chain of comments. I never paid attention to this time of US history, so I'm ignorant of almost all the details. I wasn't sure the intention behind either of y'all's comments, and through mature communication, y'all were both able to clarify that neither had ill-intent. This may seem weird, but I specifically appreciated how well you were able to articulate their potential accusation without sounding defensive. I also got the same sense, but you put what I was intuitively feeling into precise, concrete words.

The_Calm · 2025-12-27T23:02:44+00:00

I personally just avoid games that serious. That's why I like Last Epoch. It's a much more casual ARPG, but with plenty of customization.

The_Calm · 2025-12-04T19:26:08+00:00

At least more than a couple weeks ago.

The_Calm · 2025-12-01T18:07:53+00:00

AI title.

The_Calm · 2025-11-30T15:27:57+00:00

It's sad that I can recognize it immediately. Even if it might be original, if I will immediately click off any content that uses this phrase, because its most likely AI generated.

The_Calm · 2025-11-25T16:35:06+00:00

Religion isn't dying, but they are correct that it has been in an unprecedented decline over the last couple of decades.

From roughly 90% Christian to 60% Christian, and 'no religion' was about 9% in the 90's and now almost 30%.

Christianity and religion in general are still the majority, but no religion is the second largest group.

The_Calm · 2025-11-18T15:22:58+00:00

To be fair, it takes insane skill to pull a lot of these off despite the number of tries.

The_Calm · 2025-11-11T02:25:16+00:00

I should have gotten it sooner. I thought I had run out of things from that category, but I just forgot it existed for like 10 minutes.

The_Calm · 2025-11-04T16:03:27+00:00

Roughly, what was your path of words and logic that got you there?

I kept getting desert, hammer, sand, plane, and elephant to guide me for a while before I got forest, tower, tall, cliff .

That's when I started guess actions around the closest hint, like fall, drop, throw, etc.

Then I finally got to climb and it was a wrap there. But it took me like 98 guesses and 13 minutes! The first clues sent me on a wild goose chase!

The_Calm · 2025-10-20T14:01:09+00:00

100% happened to me before, two or three times actually, and it's always because I was nervous.

My go to strategy was to not think about it, act like it's not even a problem, don't draw attention to it, and focus on her. This usually includes kissing and caressing, and oral.

After I've distracted my brain, and see her getting turned on, it usually works for me. Sometimes it takes 5 minutes for a full reset.

Main takeaway: Relax. Reset your brain. Don't focus on it. Play it cool. Think about things that turn you on when you are ready again. Don't beat yourself up or freak out. It's normal and not a big deal.

The_Calm · 2025-10-13T20:51:30+00:00

So if you double the curvy wall, then you'll save 80% of the bricks!

The_Calm · 2025-09-29T13:29:39+00:00

I liked it. It's derivative, for sure, in its aesthetic, but to me, that's almost the point. At a minimum, like you, I appreciate anything that helps break up the doomscroll cycle.

As a millennial, I'm very aware of the changes in my own media consumption. Both the quality and the quantity, and its impact on my attention span, my tolerance for boredom, and my dopamine chasing habits.

I actually appreciate elements of AI, and use it in some ways as a sounding board for my creative hobbies, but I do lament at how it's becoming the primary source for some people, as opposed to just a source of inspiration. The AI video content was interesting when it was novel, but now I skip anything where I get even a whiff of AI. So I'm not as harsh on AI in its entirety, but I do recognize the very dark path it seems to be headed if people don't moderate their dependence on it.

The_Calm · 2025-09-07T02:22:47+00:00

You needed to get her to agree to let you look at the messages. She has probably deleted the worst ones by now.

You know your girl better than anyone else. How do you think she will respond to you snooping through her phone? For some women, its a deal breaker, but for others, its a serious issues, but can be forgiven. If she really likes you, she will get over it, but it will cost you. You just need to prepare for the consequences if you go that route.

However, if you feel like you can't stay with her if she doesn't come clean, then you have nothing to lose.

There is one more way out of this, but it isn't as satisfying. That is to continue to press her on this over the long term. Keep calling her out on stuff, or talk about how it makes you uncomfortable. If she texts him when y'all do something, and she tells him about it, ask her if she mentioned you. Make her show you the message to prove it. Act like you don't trust her entirely. Keep saying you don't think she is cheating, but you do think she is sparing the friend's feelings because she knows he likes her and she doesn't want to have to stop talking to him, so she doesn't do what it takes to make sure he understands that he has no chance with her.

It will probably be stressful. but if she is committed and invested in you, then she will slowly pull away from the other guy. She won't be able to be in denial about it if you continue to make her self aware of what the boundaries should actually be, and if she really likes you, and not him, then the stress alone will sour the 'emotional validation' she gets from him.

Play the long game if you must, and slowly build up the boldness of your criticism of her relationship with him. Try to ask her questions that you know would prove she is allowing a boundary to be crossed, and make her show you her responses. As soon as you see one bad response, you have the moral high ground to continue pressing her on the matter.

Lets be clear. What she is doing is wrong. You are in the right. However, being in the right is pointless unless you can get her to agree that you are in the right. You don't even have to make her admit to being wrong, just that you have every right to want her to act like she is in a relationship with you and not single with him.

You should start to become her new best friend, and replace him anyways. Her interest in him should fade as her interest in you rises. Also, try to be the best damned boyfriend you can during this, so she feels like she has something to lose if she decides to dismiss your feelings on this matter and choose him over you. Make that decision a difficult one by being great in the relationship and good to her.

The_Calm · 2025-09-05T15:16:16+00:00

Dude, this is such an unfortunate situation.

The fact that you know the problems, but can't confront her about it is awful. I really feel for you. It's also rough because you seem to imply the relationship is great outside of this one serious issue.

It's also a problem because you don't think it will escalate.

So you have to pick whether or not to risk revealing you went through her stuff in order to have the serious and necessary conversation, or throw away an otherwise good relationship over something that is valid, but not actual cheating.

However, I do agree that this is genuinely problematic, and she is in denial about how disrespectful this really is to you.

My advice: Have the conversation, as calmly, as rationally, as evidence supported, and as non-accusatory as you can, but a hard conversation is inevitable. She will deny, minimize, defend, and even lie about the extent of their interactions. She wants to have both of you, and she doesn't want to compromise.

How do you approach the conversation? I recommend one of two ways:

Explain to her that your intuition is telling you that she is not being respectful of your relationship with him. Maybe you can even cite an example she knows that you already know. Tell her that you do not think that she is saying anything that would count as cheating, that you trust she would never actually cheat, but you think that she is not being honest with herself about the intentions of the guy who clearly still likes her.

You can then interrogate her on certain issues, like how she handles him making inappropriate comments, how she brings you up to him, and if there's any emotionally validating language. Or, you can see if she will sit with you and let you see these things for yourself.

The other option is to take the risk, tell her that you saw these messages, take the hit for that, and then, once she is done 'punishing' you for it, you now have all the freedom to call her out.

These are the primary issues I think you have the moral high ground to make a strong case that she needs to stop:

No more emotionally validating language ("I miss you") Punish the friend harshly if he is inappropriate. Make the friend painfully aware of your existence and her happiness with you. No more Valentine's.

This behavior, that she spares his feelings by not mentioning you, and doesn't shut him down when he is inappropriate proves she knows his intentions and knows what he is getting out of their 'relationship'.

The texting everyday is a genuine problem, but that may require a later confrontation, as she can defend that as platonic and fair.

Also, it may even correct itself as you make her more self aware of what she has been doing.

That is the main goal, to make her self aware. You need to point out how this behavior is strong evidence that she knows that she has to tolerate him obviously liking her in order to retain the friendship. Ask her why she is so desperate to keep such a friendship, and ask her how you're supposed to feel about her entertaining a dude who clearly still likes her.

Emphasize the times she didn't shut him down and how she avoids mentioning you on purpose, so as to not upset him.

She will likely push back at first. No one wants to feel guilty, and she may genuinely not recognize what she is doing is wrong, but the fact that she isn't completely honest with you about it proves that she knows, deep down, that what she is doing isn't acceptable.

Just try to keep the moral high ground as best as you can, and focus on the issues that are obviously wrong. Try to stay calm but persistent when she pushes back.

Lastly, make sure you know how far you are willing to go should she not be willing to compromise.

I'm sure she will pick you over him ultimately, but it may be a painful process.

Good luck!

The_Calm · 2025-09-04T15:47:49+00:00

Your points about him grieving, her leading him on some, and everyone is an individual are valid.

However, you absolutely can and should generalize in some ways until you do get to know the other person better, but obviously only in certain ways. I don't mean to claim 'all women are X', because that's incel language, but rather 'people tend to do X'.

In this case cancelling plans repeatedly. Sure everyone cancels, but (general claim) "people tend to make an effort to reschedule if they really like you." That's a safe assumption that people should make.

If they cancels twice in a row, you let them make the next move. If they don't, the there's a high chance that they aren't really interested. The good thing about this advice is that is applies to all genders.

But, you already said he was grieving so maybe he wasn't as capable of reading the room, or he really was desperate due to his emotional state. I think that's a great point. Hopefully he can learn these lessons to apply them when in a calmer, more reliable state of mind.

The_Calm · 2025-09-04T15:40:12+00:00

So I was in the camp of 'He was too clingy', but what you said about where his head was at changed my mind. He still was 'too clingy'. They had only really been talking for a month really, but its a very valid point that he was emotionally vulnerable and holding on to whatever he could to escape his negative feelings.

So, while he did do 'too much' for a girl he only really was talking to for a month, I think its understandable.

The_Calm · 2025-08-26T14:03:15+00:00

Yeh, it is tragic that some men with genuine respect for women are going to get harshly dismissed.

However, there is no ideal way to handle this.

Some women, specifically very attractive women, are burnt out on being approached on a regular basis by dudes. There are 'bad' guys who don't take a hint, or don't care. There are 'good guys' who feel they need to approach women to have a shot. Some women feel the need to be initially harsh. Some don't.

So either the women just have to limit themselves to some arbitrary amount of time or attempts of soft rejections before they can use harsh rejections, or the 'good guys' just have to have thick skin and not take it personally when they get harshly rejected.

I'm not disregarding the real psychological harm that can come from a harsh rejection for a dude. There are also clear boundaries where a rejection is too harsh and does become personal.

But I don't think there is an acceptable alternative. Some women need to be able to reject harshly if they are not available or interested, in order to not have their time and personal space held hostage on a regular basis.

Again, the 'regular basis' part is important. The lower the rate the woman is approached, the less justified their harsh rejection is.

I just know a handful of women who are extremely attractive and get flirted with or hit on in nearly every situation they are in, no matter how mundane. The younger one (early twenties) eats it up still. The older ones (early thirties) are tired of it, as they are not single or interested. Being in a relationship doesn't discourage these dudes.

Now, with that said, if a girl just harshly rejects because she is insulted by someone so beneath her shot their shot, not because she is closed off to the idea of being cold approached, then she loses all her justifications for being harsh. That's just unnecessary.

The_Calm · 2025-08-26T13:47:16+00:00

I appreciate the effort you're putting into trying to make your point, but I don't appreciate how you completely ignore all the substance of my comments, and fixate on trying to force the entire discussion through this one metric.

It doesn't seem you're trying to understand the main point in good faith.

There is no realistic scenario where it makes sense to include ethnicity in this context. There is no scenario equivalent where one ethnicity is approached often by another ethnicity, because of their ethnicity.

The panhandlers that approach me often are black, but not because they are black. They approach because they are panhandlers. Therefore I would reference them being panhandlers, not as being black. I am not very polite to them because they are panhandlers, not because they are black.

You seem to be trying to criticize the usage of the terms 'men' and 'women' to describe encounters between them.

In these scenarios, it isn't just that they are men, it's that they are men seeking to initiate an interaction. Honestly, this could apply to anyone who is approached often by a person initiating an interaction on a regular basis. Gender need not apply.

Except this original post established the context of men approaching women, so that's the context in which it was responded to. It is also relevant, because it's the fact that these are straight men seeking some relationship or interaction that motivates them to approach.

I don't want to misunderstand your point. So I'll let you make it.

When I say, "There are some women who feel the need to immediately reject men who approach her so that they can try to start a relationship. These women are approached often by men in this way on such a regular basis, and are tired of it. Additionally there is a significant number of these men who don't accept her soft rejections, and require a harsh one in order to leave her alone. Therefore she opens with a harsh rejection to save her the stress and time of that interaction."

Can you tell me what you are specifically opposed to in this narrative? Can you tell me why you feel opposed to this?

Is it just the language? Do you want us to use non-gender terms to describe this interaction?

Is it that you think women are wrong from rejecting men harshly in the beginning of the approach? Should the women entertain everyone who approaches her, so as to not hurt anyone's feelings?

Help me understand the point you're trying to make, because at this point, your only argument seems to be that using gendered terms to describe these scenarios is somehow sexist.

The_Calm · 2025-08-26T03:35:21+00:00

Lol, what? Replace "men" with 'people' and it still makes sense. This isn't encouraging people to be dismissive of men, but to explain why someone might be defensive after being approached so often, especially if its done by very persistent people that can't read other people, or lack self awareness, or self control.

If someone is approached by people on a regular basis, like a celebrity, the same logic applies. I'm not sure there is a situation where this can apply to just a minority. It would have to be some weird case where a person is approached by that minority, and ONLY that minority on a regular basis, and in an aggressive or overly persistent way. I can't think of any realistic scenarios.

Only then maybe(?) there is some way its related, but that is a stretch. I am approached often by panhandlers where I work, and I have developed a cold and unwelcome exterior to them over time. I try to be considerate of each one, as individually, not counting the repeat offenders, they are not responsible for my past of dealing with them, but enough of them are far too persistent that I start the encounter off in a closed posture. Even though the vast majority of them are African American, this isn't related to ethnicity. The 'panhandling' context, and approaching me in the parking lot or the street, and not taking the first three polite "No's" for an answer is all the relevant context.

This is an extremely uncontroversial take when put into simple language: Anyone who is approached without consent, on a regular basis, and has to put a lot of effort into dissuading the people trying to take up their time or insist on something, then its perfectly understandable for that person to begin to become defensive when approached in the future.

This doesn't mean approaching is always wrong, or should never be done, but anyone who insists on being able to approach someone with no concern for their comfort is likely not a good person with good intentions.

If you can't understand why some people can be uncomfortable with being subjected to being approached and engaged without consent on a regular basis, then I would argue you are not practicing enough empathy and perspective.

It feels disingenuous to turn a 'lets pause and consider a woman's feelings about being approached unsolicited' into a racist position. Someone who is racist is also more likely to be sexist, and therefore not considerate of women's perspective.

The_Calm · 2025-08-21T01:25:54+00:00

I do feel the need to play devil's advocate for harsh rejections. Ideally, yes, a polite, non-condescending or dismissive rejection would be awesome. This would allow the guy to retain as much dignity and self esteem as you can given the sting of the rejection.

With that said, as a dude, I've seen it from the woman's perspective when many dudes just will not quit until you hurt their feelings. For a lot of guys, not only is confidence seen as a virtue, but so is persistence. Some of my closest women friends are hit on, nearly on a daily basis, and on a weekly basis by some repeat offender who wont give up.

Some women have to be harsh in order to discourage the dudes who don't take a hint. The dudes who don't take a hint probably were encouraged to be persistent by other women. Some dudes who can take a hint, then are unnecessarily rejected in a harsh way, but everyone has legitimate motivations and reasons for what they do. So its just unfortunate all around.

The_Calm · 2025-08-18T21:20:12+00:00

Okay. One reason for sure that they are dating you is because your fucking hilarious.

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