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Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

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[X] Plan lecture time
[X] Plan: As Gods and Men

They are quite long, and I expect interruptions, but they carry the intent well.
 
Adhoc vote count started by Anaja on Apr 14, 2025 at 3:12 AM, finished with 72 posts and 16 votes.
  • [X] Plan lecture time
    -[X] Offer a ton of nuance
    --[X] After warning them, switch to Primordial speech (SCCP with mote expenditure for clarity): 1 essence
    --[X] Also activate relevant excellencies (Occult and a social one, Empathy seems most appropriate)
    --[X] To compare us to gods would be to do a disservice to both us, and gods alike. In power, yes - I have crossed blades with war gods and forged guardian deities alike, and yet there are those that can easily defeat us all put together. In nature we are nothing alike, for exalted are, first and importantly, human. If we were not, our exaltations would not work. And I say this as a living, inhabited planet.
    --[X] To address our longevity - a short lecture. The power we bear, our exaltations are old. Old enough to precede the current iteration of humanity, the sun and the stars. Old enough that their age can no longer be measured in terms of linear time. Ours is the Fifth Age of Creation, and we bear the weapons from the beginnings of the First Age. Our power is, almost certainly, forever. We might not be, and when we pass, it'll go to the next chosen.
    --[X] And this leads me to my last point: the power of God Kings this may be but this is not a world for god kings to bestride, it can ill afford internal conflict, besieged as it is by forces wicked from all sides. It needs to be built up, it needs to be protected, its enemies need killing. The Wheel of Ages is turning, and it is up to us, among others to shape the next Age to come.
    [X] Reality Check
    [X] "Ah, being gods would be too simple unfortunately."
    -[X] "I can get into detail as to theological there and what gods are in the magical sense if you like, but I don't think that would help."
    -[X] "Instead understand that exalted were made to do the impossible. If you wish to become onto a god, that is possible. If you wish to slay one... That too is possible, though I would advise against it heavily. Think of it this way, we can slay Atlas, and in doing so the world could not be held up."
    [X] Reality Check
    -[X] Molly allows herself a small but visible wince at Azhi Dhaka's grandiose proclamation. "The powers of the 'gods' are not a metric by which we should judge ourselves. Earth is lousy with gods, from the mighty to those barely more potent than a mortal wizard. I have slayed ancient beings who could rightfully claim godhood and were long ago worshiped as such, and I have conversed with the servant of a god who I am fairly confident could swat me like a bug, if they were so inclined."
    --[X] She looks Azhi Dhaka directly in the eye and holds his gaze for a long moment before continuing, "Make no mistake, we are strong. We who have Exalted possess the potential to grow in power more quickly than perhaps any other beings in existence, and that power is often expressed in strange, alien ways. This gives us advantages unseen in the current Age. We are the quintessential 'outside context problem'."
    ---[X] Finally shifting her gaze from Azhi Dhaka, Molly looks first to Silver, then to the Doctor. "But this world is full of dangers, both mortal and monster alike, and any number of them can snuff us out like a candle in the wind. Don't let your new status go to your head, or you may soon loose it entirely."
    [X] Plan: As Gods and Men
    -[X] Agree and offer nuance, the power of God Kings this may be but this is not a world for god kings to bestride, with subtle hand the world should be shaped.
    --[X] Also activate relevant excellencies
    --[X] "Let's get one thing straight before this all gets out of hand. Yes, we have power. A lot of it. I've seen it, I've used it, I've bled for it. We can rewrite the understood rules of reality, punch holes in the skein of fate, and bend logic until it screams and it is old. Older than this Age. Older than our species. Older than this sun, these constellations. The Exaltations we carry were forged in the First Ages of the world, and we now stride towards the sixth. Time cannot measure them. But know this: our power may last forever but" gesture to your self than at the gathered Abyssals. "We are undying not invincible. When and if we pass, the Exaltation will choose another. The cycle continues." A sigh falls out
    --[X] "The powers of gods are not a metric. Earth is full of gods — weak ones, strong ones, old ones. I've killed things that could be called gods. Ancient things. Big things. Some of them never mentioned in myth and no less dangerous for it. I've also talked to real powers that make no claim to divinity, the kind that don't need to swing a sword to end continents." Molly crosses her arms, tone shifting — less confrontational, more instructive now.
    --[X]"We Exalted are fast. We're strange. We grow in power faster than just about anything else walking. We do stand outside context — we're the answer no one planned for. And yes, that makes us formidable. But don't confuse that for invincibility. The world is still full of things that can kill us. Things that don't care how shiny our new tricks are. Monsters. Politics. Each other. Get cocky, act like the old gods did, and you'll end up the same way they did: dead or gone, and not particularly missed." Eyes alight with emerald fire staring into the man with the title of the Beast of Ahriman
    --[X] "Why do you think gods don't openly walk astride absolute lords of the Earth anymore? You think they just gave up the throne? Any authority they had over the world? No. They either got with the program or got sealed up, put down or cast out. And if you try to act like them — unaccountable, untouchable — it'll be your turn next. Maybe it'll be your enemies. Maybe your allies. Maybe it'll be me." A pause looking at the faces of the gathered Abyssals
    -[X] "More importantly — in nature, we are nothing like the gods. We are Exalted. This mechanism of the soul — that is human essence magnified, melded and channeled. Were we not human, our Exaltations would not work." Placing a hand over her heart "Even I — a living inhabited world, a hemisphere of brass, iron, ice, soul and soil, am still human. We are free to chose, to be merciful, to be kind, to be Good."
    -[X] "On to my last point this isn't a world that can afford squabbling god kin. It doesn't need them. What it needs are people willing to build, to defend, to do the work. The kind of power we carry could shape the future in to something beautiful beyond words — or burn it down to less than ash. And we're not the only ones holding the match. So yes, you're strong. But strength isn't what defines you. What you do with it — who you become with it — that's what matters. Because from the moment you took your second breath, the world started watching. And it will come for you the second you give it reason. Because in the end, this realm belongs not to kings or gods — it belongs to those willing to shoulder the burden of consequence. You want to walk around like a god? Fine. Just don't forget — this world kills gods."
    -[X] "Now any questions if not I'll go onto to the forces in the world or mutual foes. The jades, The Denarians and The Fomori and more."
    [X] Reality Check
    -[X] Molly allows herself a small but visible wince at Azhi Dhaka's grandiose proclamation. "The powers of the 'gods' are not a metric by which we should judge ourselves. Earth is lousy with gods, from the mighty to those barely more potent than a mortal wizard. I have slayed ancient beings who could rightfully claim godhood, and I have conversed with the servants of gods who were themselves so powerful they could probably shatter this planet with less effort than you blink an eye."
    --[X] She looks Azhi Dhaka directly in the eye and holds his gaze for a long moment before continuing, "Make no mistake, we are strong. We who have Exalted possess the potential to grow in power more quickly than perhaps any other beings in existence, and that power is often expressed in strange, alien ways. This gives us advantages unseen in the current Age. We are the quintessential 'outside context problem'."
    ---[X] Finally shifting her gaze from Azhi Dhaka, Molly looks first to Silver, then to the Doctor. "But this world is full of dangers, both mortal and monster alike, and any number of them can snuff us out like a candle in the wind. Don't let your new status go to your head, or you may soon loose it entirely."
    [X] Plan: God's Honest Truth
    -[X] [Stunt]: "Whatever whispers echo in the ear, whatever was intended for us by others, that which was given cannot be taken back. Make no mistake; we can be hurt, we can be beaten, and we can die. But nothing, nothing, can make us choose if we do not allow it. However"
    —[X] Meeting their gazes, something almost seemed to glow from behind her eyes - focus honed to a laser's edge. "Remember Caesar, thou art mortal."
    —[X] "Each of us remembers what it means to be weak. To be ignored. To fight against a world that doesn't seem to care and lose". For a moment she can feel the chill of Artis Tor on her skin, and from the look of things she wasn't alone. "We are more powerful people, but that doesn't make us better ones."
    —[X] Gesturing between them, Molly continued. "Whatever comes between us next, please do not allow yourselves to forget what it feels like to be small."
    [X] BronzeTounge
Click to expand...
 
Okay so I read through it and I like Degorium's stunt quite a bit now. @Degorium please don't ruin it by adding SCCP to it. It's perfectly understandable as you wrote it and as you put at the end questions can be fielded after. I don't want it to turn into speech not intended for humans in the first place.

[X] Plan: As Gods and Men
 
[X] Plan: As Gods and Men

Degorium said:
-[X] "More importantly — in nature, we are nothing like the gods. We are Exalted. This mechanism of the soul — that is human essence magnified, melded and channeled. Were we not human, our Exaltations would not work." Placing a hand over her heart "Even I — a living inhabited world, a hemisphere of brass, iron, ice, soul and soil, am still human. We are free to chose, to be merciful, to be kind, to be Good."
-[X] "On to my last point this isn't a world that can afford squabbling god kin. It doesn't need them. What it needs are people willing to build, to defend, to do the work. The kind of power we carry could shape the future in to something beautiful beyond words — or burn it down to less than ash. And we're not the only ones holding the match. So yes, you're strong. But strength isn't what defines you. What you do with it — who you become with it — that's what matters. Because from the moment you took your second breath, the world started watching. And it will come for you the second you give it reason. Because in the end, this realm belongs not to kings or gods — it belongs to those willing to shoulder the burden of consequence. You want to walk around like a god? Fine. Just don't forget — this world kills gods."
-[X] "Now any questions if not I'll go onto to the forces in the world or mutual foes. The jades, The Denarians and The Fomori and more."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This part seems excessive to me. Not necessarily bad or wrong, but maybe something that should be emphasized or said later rather than in direct response to Azhi Dhaka's statement.
 
[X] Plan: As Gods and Men

Don't like that the personal threat is still there, but it's reduced and made impersonal enough that it's no longer a deal breaker. I like that it still has the excellencies from Lecture Time, but no primordial speech. If we want to make us all look human, then maybe don't resort to super special ancient god speech without actual need.
 
OK, I was going to do an interlude if this looked close, but it doesn't so vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Apr 14, 2025 at 9:53 AM, finished with 81 posts and 19 votes.
  • [X] Plan: As Gods and Men
    -[X] Agree and offer nuance, the power of God Kings this may be but this is not a world for god kings to bestride, with subtle hand the world should be shaped.
    --[X] Also activate relevant excellencies
    --[X] "Let's get one thing straight before this all gets out of hand. Yes, we have power. A lot of it. I've seen it, I've used it, I've bled for it. We can rewrite the understood rules of reality, punch holes in the skein of fate, and bend logic until it screams and it is old. Older than this Age. Older than our species. Older than this sun, these constellations. The Exaltations we carry were forged in the First Ages of the world, and we now stride towards the sixth. Time cannot measure them. But know this: our power may last forever but" gesture to your self than at the gathered Abyssals. "We are undying not invincible. When and if we pass, the Exaltation will choose another. The cycle continues." A sigh falls out
    --[X] "The powers of gods are not a metric. Earth is full of gods — weak ones, strong ones, old ones. I've killed things that could be called gods. Ancient things. Big things. Some of them never mentioned in myth and no less dangerous for it. I've also talked to real powers that make no claim to divinity, the kind that don't need to swing a sword to end continents." Molly crosses her arms, tone shifting — less confrontational, more instructive now.
    --[X]"We Exalted are fast. We're strange. We grow in power faster than just about anything else walking. We do stand outside context — we're the answer no one planned for. And yes, that makes us formidable. But don't confuse that for invincibility. The world is still full of things that can kill us. Things that don't care how shiny our new tricks are. Monsters. Politics. Each other. Get cocky, act like the old gods did, and you'll end up the same way they did: dead or gone, and not particularly missed." Eyes alight with emerald fire staring into the man with the title of the Beast of Ahriman
    --[X] "Why do you think gods don't openly walk astride absolute lords of the Earth anymore? You think they just gave up the throne? Any authority they had over the world? No. They either got with the program or got sealed up, put down or cast out. And if you try to act like them — unaccountable, untouchable — it'll be your turn next. Maybe it'll be your enemies. Maybe your allies. Maybe it'll be me." A pause looking at the faces of the gathered Abyssals
    -[X] "More importantly — in nature, we are nothing like the gods. We are Exalted. This mechanism of the soul — that is human essence magnified, melded and channeled. Were we not human, our Exaltations would not work." Placing a hand over her heart "Even I — a living inhabited world, a hemisphere of brass, iron, ice, soul and soil, am still human. We are free to chose, to be merciful, to be kind, to be Good."
    -[X] "On to my last point this isn't a world that can afford squabbling god kin. It doesn't need them. What it needs are people willing to build, to defend, to do the work. The kind of power we carry could shape the future in to something beautiful beyond words — or burn it down to less than ash. And we're not the only ones holding the match. So yes, you're strong. But strength isn't what defines you. What you do with it — who you become with it — that's what matters. Because from the moment you took your second breath, the world started watching. And it will come for you the second you give it reason. Because in the end, this realm belongs not to kings or gods — it belongs to those willing to shoulder the burden of consequence. You want to walk around like a god? Fine. Just don't forget — this world kills gods."
    -[X] "Now any questions if not I'll go onto to the forces in the world or mutual foes. The jades, The Denarians and The Fomori and more."
    [X] Plan lecture time
    -[X] Offer a ton of nuance
    --[X] After warning them, switch to Primordial speech (SCCP with mote expenditure for clarity): 1 essence
    --[X] Also activate relevant excellencies (Occult and a social one, Empathy seems most appropriate)
    --[X] To compare us to gods would be to do a disservice to both us, and gods alike. In power, yes - I have crossed blades with war gods and forged guardian deities alike, and yet there are those that can easily defeat us all put together. In nature we are nothing alike, for exalted are, first and importantly, human. If we were not, our exaltations would not work. And I say this as a living, inhabited planet.
    --[X] To address our longevity - a short lecture. The power we bear, our exaltations are old. Old enough to precede the current iteration of humanity, the sun and the stars. Old enough that their age can no longer be measured in terms of linear time. Ours is the Fifth Age of Creation, and we bear the weapons from the beginnings of the First Age. Our power is, almost certainly, forever. We might not be, and when we pass, it'll go to the next chosen.
    --[X] And this leads me to my last point: the power of God Kings this may be but this is not a world for god kings to bestride, it can ill afford internal conflict, besieged as it is by forces wicked from all sides. It needs to be built up, it needs to be protected, its enemies need killing. The Wheel of Ages is turning, and it is up to us, among others to shape the next Age to come.
    [X] Reality Check
    [X] "Ah, being gods would be too simple unfortunately."
    -[X] "I can get into detail as to theological there and what gods are in the magical sense if you like, but I don't think that would help."
    -[X] "Instead understand that exalted were made to do the impossible. If you wish to become onto a god, that is possible. If you wish to slay one... That too is possible, though I would advise against it heavily. Think of it this way, we can slay Atlas, and in doing so the world could not be held up."
    [X] Plan: God's Honest Truth
    -[X] [Stunt]: "Whatever whispers echo in the ear, whatever was intended for us by others, that which was given cannot be taken back. Make no mistake; we can be hurt, we can be beaten, and we can die. But nothing, nothing, can make us choose if we do not allow it. However"
    —[X] Meeting their gazes, something almost seemed to glow from behind her eyes - focus honed to a laser's edge. "Remember Caesar, thou art mortal."
    —[X] "Each of us remembers what it means to be weak. To be ignored. To fight against a world that doesn't seem to care and lose". For a moment she can feel the chill of Artis Tor on her skin, and from the look of things she wasn't alone. "We are more powerful people, but that doesn't make us better ones."
    —[X] Gesturing between them, Molly continued. "Whatever comes between us next, please do not allow yourselves to forget what it feels like to be small."
Click to expand...
 
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Arc 15 Post 101: Balefire and Moon's Shadow New
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    • Balefire and Moon's Shadow​

    15th of March 2007 A.D.

    It wouldn't help to glare at him, you know that with the insight writ in Essence, one Silver at least can see: "Let's get one thing straight before this all gets out of hand. Yes, we have power. A lot of it. I've seen it, I've used it, I've bled for it. We can rewrite the understood rules of reality, punch holes in the skein of fate, and bend logic until it screams and it is old. Older than this Age. Older than our species. Older than this sun, these constellations. The Exaltations we carry were forged in the First Age of the world, and we now stride towards the Sixth. Time cannot measure them. But know this: our power may last forever but" gesture to your self than at the gathered Deathknights. "We are undying not invincible. When and if we pass, the Exaltation will choose another. The cycle continues. The powers of gods are not a metric. Earth is full of gods — weak ones, strong ones, old ones. I've killed things that could be called gods. Ancient things. Big things. Some of them never mentioned in myth and no less dangerous for it. I've also talked to real powers that make no claim to divinity, the kind that don't need to swing a sword to end continents."

    You cross your arms in silent rebuke, But as Silver turns to look to your left you know Azhi Dhaka isn't going to take it lying down, isn't going to take it as anything but a challenge.

    Before the breath is done he answers, reasonably, oh so reasonably: "Of course I didn't mean we are God. A river wide as whole seas spilling into a silvered seas, from her banks jade-green hills rising crowned with marble and cold and rose quartz. Beyond the sea a mountain taller than tall. Did we die or were we sleeping only now our eyes to open?

    "Whispers," Silver says. "I only hear the Whispers."

    At the same time the Doctor shakes his head, though you can tell it's more to deny both caution and self-aggrandizement.

    "A good point, a fair point, the parts of the soul, three we have. Two that were born and one that has slept. One that shines and spills out beyond us." As you close your eyes a moment, seemingly in thought other eyes shine like distant stars for just one moment and then you open then and turn, gaze fixed in the trouble maker, you might be channeling Mom a little bit and you don't mind: "We are nothing like the gods. We are Exalted. This mechanism of the soul — that is human essence magnified, melded and channeled. Were we not human, our Exaltations would not work." Placing a hand over her heart "Even I having found within myself a living inhabited world, a hemisphere of brass, iron, ice, soul and soil, am still human. We are free to chose, to be merciful, to be kind, to be Good."

    "So we're human gods then, like Gilgamesh," the excitement is still there at the back of his throat, turning the last syllable into a question into endless possibility. It's a thought you had before, and one that reminds you of your confrontation with Thorned Namshiel, not a pleasant memory that. "We'd definitely do better than the stuffed suits. Wouldn't even have to take over, not openly at least, a little lobying here, a little investment there. Better us than the Hellfire Club or whatever that Elephant asshole's friends were called?"

    "Same thing we do every night Pinky, try to take over the world," Silver mutters, quite audibility, though without making it obvious she'd meant to.

    "What's that supposed to mean?" Says your... antagonist? Yeah lets go with antagonist for now.

    "Stories of arrogance and greed and failure get told and told again for a reason, you are not the first one to have that thought, you are not the tenth not even the thousandth. There's a council of wizards and holy knights, vampire courts and faerie courts, lots of courts now that I think about it..."

    "We are more than they are, more than they can dream, petty parasites...."

    "I have a bottle of cyanide pills in my bathroom cabinet at home," one who was Inari Raith interrupts bleakly. "I got it in case my father the White King were to overcome my sister and then comes to collect me to make me pay for my supposed 'sins' against the Family. I don't know about you and the Fallen Angels you pissed off, but I'm not throwing that bottle away."

    Normally one might consider it a good sign that she thinks of her apartment in California as 'home' again, but probably not in the context of the suicide pills.

    I wonder if it has to do with the resonance of their Essence, that they keep cycling back to death, Usum thinks clinically.

    Instead of addressing all that for the moment you keep your eyes on the shaken, but still you can tell unswayed expression of Azhi Dahaka: "Right, we're are fast. We're strange. We grow in power faster than just about anything else walking. We do stand outside context — we're the answer no one planned for. And yes, that makes us formidable. But don't confuse that for invincibility. The world is still full of things that can kill us. Things that don't care how shiny our new tricks are. Monsters. Politics. Each other. Get cocky, act like the old gods did, and you'll end up the same way they did: dead or gone, and not particularly missed." Eyes now alight with emerald fire bore into the man with the title of the Beast of Ahriman.

    "Yeah... now I believe my luck again," The Doctor tries to lighten the moon. Even were the air not heavy with an unspoken threat the humor would have flown as well as a cast iron kite, but he's trying at least.

    "So what, we go back to our normal lives?" the way Azhi Dhaka says 'normal' makes is sound like a disease one he is newly rid of.

    "No, this isn't a world that needs the timid anymore than the quarrelsome. What it needs are people willing to build, to defend, to do the work. The kind of power we carry could shape the future in to something beautiful beyond words — or burn it down to less than ash. And we're not the only ones holding the match. So yes, you're strong. But strength isn't what defines you. What you do with it — who you become with it — that's what matters. Because from the moment you took your Second Breath, the world started watching. And it will come for you the second you give it reason. Because in the end, this realm belongs not to kings or gods — it belongs to those willing to shoulder the burden of consequence. You want to walk around like a god? Fine. Just don't forget — this world kills gods."

    Beside you Lydia filches a little, but when you give her an apologetic look she shakes her head and mouths. "Good pitch."

    It seems to have been, everyone's paying a bit more attention to you and they look like they might be open to suggestions. The question now is what kind?

    [] Everyone should keep in touch and call each other for help

    [] Make the rounds of some of the supernatural powers and introduce the new Exalted, it will probably save them a lot of future conflict

    [] Everyone should avoid swearing any binding vows until they understand more of the world

    [] Write in

    OOC: So far so good. It helped a lot that you made a good impresion on the Moonshadow because she is the one who can back you up socially the best.
     
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    DragonParadox said:
    "I have a bottle of cyanide pills in my bathroom cabinet at home," one who was Inari Raith interrupts bleakly. "I got it in case my father the White King were to overcome my sister and then comes to collect me to make me pay for my supposed 'sins' against the Family. I don't know about you and the Fallen Angels you pissed off, but I'm not throwing that bottle away."
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    Well if it helps any, keeping Exalted imprisoned is exceedingly stupid and dangerous.
    Infernals more than others, but it still works on basic principle.

    You'll hardly need suicide pills, cause the competent foes will aim to kill.

    (Still disagreeing with the idea that there can be actual Celestial-tier Exalted in Demonreach, not just Exaltations)
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    Well if it helps any, keeping Exalted imprisoned is exceedingly stupid and dangerous.
    Infernals more than others, but it still works on basic principle.

    You'll hardly need suicide pills, cause the competent foes will aim to kill.

    (Still disagreeing with the idea that there can be actual Celestial-tier Exalted in Demonreach, not just Exaltations)
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I mean it's been made pretty clear there are though right? I mean I agree it's kinda stupid Merlin could pull off what the greatest gods and even primordials have tried and failed at. But eh dp is qm.
     
    Can't help but notice that the threat was left out. Especially with Dahaka over there doing his thing.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    They lose their name and they must remain surrounded by the trappings of death or suffer the Nameless Curse. Also they cannot gain a new name. If one should develop organically from a title they must disavow that as well or suffer the same consequences.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Logically False Spring Beckons would work on that - might be worth a try.
     
    zxzx24 said:
    If its possible to imprison the YOZI I believe its possible to imprison the exalted.
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    In all fairness the Yozi are kinda one minded idiot gods and that was a working of autobot, gods, and the exalted host. Also technically the Yozi themselves since the surrender oaths. At least dp hasn't confirmed but basically said the exalted in demonreach likely were no longer human since demonreach canonically can't hold a human for long.
     
    Would now be a good time to offer to put them all on a very generous retainer, one with almost no strings attached?

    Something along the lines of:

    [X] The Carrot
    -[X] Molly claps her hands once, the sound more like the peal of a bell than the crack of thunder, before donning a small, but genuine smile. "Right! That's some of the heavy stuff out of the way, so now onto something less troublesome."
    --[X] "I'm rich, thanks to one of my abilities. Your powers might give you similar opportunities to amass wealth as mine have, once you've had a chance explore them more fully, or that might not be a facet shared by your Exaltations. Whether money can buy happiness or is the root of all evil, no one can argue that having the stuff doesn't make things easier."
    ---[X] "This isn't an offer of employment. If you are interested in some freelance work, we can talk about that later. Instead, what would you all say to a monthly stipend? No strings attached, of course, beyond not using the funds to aid the enemies of humanity. Getting a handle on your second lives should be easier without worrying about paying for the essentials, like rent, food, or coffee."
     
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