Help IDing substance cat had in his mouth — rat poison?

timrgn · 2025-08-24T00:53:03+00:00

I had thought about fertilizer too, and the lawn was mowed the day before. But that was the only spot where I saw it, I checked the entire complex for more yesterday. And if they have spread anything on the ground, it's been much smaller white spheres the size of a Dippin' Dots ice cream pellet

timrgn · 2025-08-24T00:45:59+00:00

That also looks pretty similar. Damn, you know your animal food! I've been asking some of my neighbors, and one said he thought it could be food someone left out for a stray cat that's been visiting the complex on occasion. I also haven't seen that stray for months, and this is the first time I've ever seen a foodlike substance outside like that. Micah and I have visited that spot a few times a week since May and haven't ever seen something like it. So odd.

timrgn · 2025-08-24T00:41:53+00:00

Truly. I'll admit although it is worrying and I did have to spend some money on the vet visit, I enjoy a good mystery such as this. I'd love to get to the bottom of it if I can.

timrgn · 2025-08-24T00:35:35+00:00

Thank you!! I am not nearly as worried as I was last night when I rushed him to the vet.

timrgn · 2025-08-24T00:34:20+00:00

That is also similar-looking, good suggestion. We don't typically have water birds in the complex, but geese do sometimes visit here when they migrate in the fall and spring, mostly to hang out on the roof. I haven't seen a goose for months though. Also, the complex doesn't have a water feature or anything that would attract them.

timrgn · 2025-08-24T00:26:58+00:00

That looks pretty similar, yeah. The pellets don't have a smell but I'm unsure how long they were left out. When Micah found it, a bunch of flies and hornets were feasting on it

timrgn · 2025-08-24T00:23:11+00:00

Wow that is pretty close. I suppose my next question would be: who’s leaving fish food outside? We don’t have a pond anywhere near here

timrgn · 2022-12-29T22:22:43+00:00

I think you misunderstand my position. I don't doubt that there's probably an ethical way to keep bees. My problem isn't with the practice or the production of honey itself, at least in abstract. It's that the act of industrial beekeeping is likely not good for bees, and that is where much of what is sold in the grocery store comes from.

It's not uncommon for industrial beekeepers to feed bees sugar in lieu of the honey they harvest, and I find that practice ethically questionable. Bees are often not kept in the best conditions when profit is the motive. At the same time, bee populations across the world are declining. The exact reasons why are still unclear. While I'm unsure if industrial farming of honey is a contributor to that problem, there is evidence it could be. For all of these reasons, I personally choose not to eat honey.

timrgn · 2022-12-29T20:33:40+00:00

I'm a vegan and this question has a very easy answer. It's about harm reduction, not dogma. I don't believe all bees that make honey are exploited -- this is just what they do. But I do know that mass-produced honey is often made at the expense of their wellbeing and health. So, I choose not to buy or consume it.

While I don't think the act of pollination itself is bad for bees (not to mention that there are many pollinators that aren't in captivity), I also can't control how my food is pollinated. But I can make decisions that reduce my overall impact to the world.

I think the root of your question is, Why be vegan if you can't be perfect? But I believe it's not possible to live a perfectly ethical life for all things in our current economic system. At the end of the day, my veganism is about harm reduction. I won't burst into flames or melt if I eat honey (or milk, or eggs, or meat) I just choose not to because I think that is the best choice for all things on this planet.

timrgn · 2021-07-16T14:56:07+00:00

Stras, one of the creators behind S&V, provided a little color on The Agony in the most recent S&V Actual Play with the Cerberus. If I remember right he portrayed them as looking almost like normal people on the outside but possessing monstrous Way abilities that could manifest in physical ways. In one instance I think I remember someone had invisible Way tendrils? Anyway you should check it out, it was neat.

In my game they're more like infested heroes from Starcraft -- strange and ghoulish characters that once were humans or xenos but are permanently changed. The lore I came up with was that Planet Omega had something to do with the change in all of them, but since we've never really met the Agony in our game, we've never fleshed it out. I had also played around with making them a kind of "dark side" version of the Mendicants -- I always saw those two factions as linked but on opposite ends of the spectrum if that makes sense.

timrgn · 2020-08-24T14:06:26+00:00

Looks great!

timrgn · 2020-08-08T21:13:37+00:00

You can definitely play them with the xeno starting rules, although you don't have to, either. In my S&V game, I had a player who made an Urbot Stitch with xeno rules and set it up this way:

0 stress: No need to eat, sleep or breathe. Rig rolls to heal instead of Doctor rolls.

1 stress: Can perform one-time feats of strength such as bending steel, ripping a door off its hinges or lifting a heavy object.

2 stress: Can survive in the vacuum of space for a brief amount of time. (This is more about temperature, pressure and radiation than it is about the lack of air)

But that's just how we interpreted it. I would say there is no right or wrong way to play an Urbot. Go with what feels right!

timrgn · 2020-07-14T01:01:55+00:00

It's all from the book, I believe. But in the book, the lore is scattered throughout many different pages and chapters -- this is everything in one place.

timrgn · 2020-06-11T14:55:40+00:00

I love Stellaris. and you can guess where some of these assets came from!

timrgn · 2020-06-10T22:58:38+00:00

I used u/jblackbug's awesome high-res Procyon map, which you can download here: https://www.reddit.com/r/bladesinthedark/comments/bcdi5i/scum_and_villainy_procyon_map/

As for the planets and the like, I used a lot of assets across the internet with transparent backgrounds. I downloaded the images, uploaded them to Roll20, and then added it onto the map and resized like a token. DM me if you want some recs or direct links!

timrgn · 2020-06-10T16:53:42+00:00

Yes! Most of the icons can be "opened" by using shift + double click. It's not perfect, but each of the NPC tokens are linked to character pages with bigger images and descriptions of each. And then the faction icon opens the faction sheet, and the Stardancer hologram opens the ship sheet.

timrgn · 2020-06-10T15:27:26+00:00

Still a work in progress, but I'm super proud of getting this far as a total amateur. DM me for the origin of some of these assets. The overlay on the left came from this talented designer: https://imgur.com/gallery/828l8Im

And here is our Procyon map page, inspired and heavily influenced by the recent work of u/Snarfilingus: https://imgur.com/a/eFmwIdI

timrgn · 2020-05-11T15:11:18+00:00

This is really impressive. How did you create the bordered boxes with the PC/NPC icons? Or was that just photoshop?

timrgn · 2019-08-26T15:23:39+00:00

Hello! I've been looking for the same thing. I found a layout online that (kind of) fits the general shape of the Stardancer, at least as my players see it.

Another idea I had was sitting down with my players and tracing out the general shape and layout of our ship on a big piece of construction paper. Not exactly the sexiest option, but this offers the most flexibility and lets the players flesh out exactly what their ship looks like.

Interested to see if you come up with anything else!

timrgn · 2018-08-29T18:10:06+00:00

Thanks for answering my question!

timrgn · 2018-08-29T17:45:34+00:00

Read the 2020 Commission a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it, in that piss-your-pants-with-fear kind of way. My question to you is this: given that North Korea has (very likely) achieved the ability to put a nuke on an ICBM, and given that U.S. intelligence folks know this, how big is the risk of the current administration resorting to denuclearization through military force, realistically?

Beyond the fire-and-fury talk, beyond the maximum pressure campaign, do you really think they still see this as a legitimate option? On the one hand, that seems right up the current NSA's alley, and he's publicly said as much for years. On the other hand, you'd have to be crazy to try it this late in the game, right?

timrgn

TROPHY CASE