Today we had the first session of my first DnD campaign as a player. Myself and another player both showed up with clerics with a hermit background. Not only that but both of us have the deaths of our mothers as key backstory. (We're different races, though.) The birthday paradox is at play here. Get a half a dozen people showing up with independently created characters and you're more likely than not to have two of the same class.

Still, it weirded me out, like we're copycating each other or something. I haven't been this weirded out since I found out another person on the cross country team had the same middle name as me. (I have a unique first and last name, so I'm not used to sharing a name with other people.) I'm probably definitely overthinking this. It doesn't help that this is my first character and I'm self conscious about the whole thing.

Have any of you other Tilda Swintons ever had a character that was similar to another player in your party? How did you react? How did they react? Have any of you had a hermit cleric with a dead mother?

So I've spent the last few days trying to sync everything up between devices, with the following thoughts in mind:

1. how fucked am I going to be if a device gets corrupted/stolen/lost?
2. how can I easily access everything I need from a mobile device/device not belonging to me?
3. how can I avoid using services from the big tech companies, and keep things open source, as much as possible?

I'm by no means an expert in the field, and I'm hoping in this thread to get a discussion going as to the pros and cons of using different services/setups, to get a general idea as to what others are doing to keep their daily lives simpler and more secure, and to perhaps see what are the future steps for me to take when I feel like playing around again.

Servers & Storage
I span up a 25GB VPS with Vultr for 'active use data', and also took out some 'deep storage'(?) from Wasabi for things which I need to keep, but not really access that much.

Mail
Protonmail with custom domain. Using the ProtonMail app for mobile, and Linux ProtonMail bridge with Evolution mail for desktop.

Pics/Vids
Nextcloud autoupload feature on mobile automatically uploads my pics to an 'autoupload' folder on Nextcloud server. Here, I categorise pics into folders and share what needs sharing before deleting anything I don't need and wiping the pics on my phone.

Passwords
Nothing yet. Looking at getting KeyPass synced across devices.

Bookmarks
Again, nothing yet. Had Firefox Sync running to connect Fennec and Firefox, but am looking for a more open approach which involves Nextcloud somehow, and allows me to tag and order things more effectively as opposed to dragging things around in the sidebar.

Calendar/Contacts
Evolution calendar on desktop, simple calendar on mobile, hooked up to Nextcloud and all synced using davx5

Programs and General Setup
Here, I'd like to somehow take an image/backup of my Ubuntu configs of importance and experiment with getting my setup and customisaitons replicated on another machine quickly and without taking up too much space in storage (i.e. don't need to bakckup all my files as they're already on cloud).

Also, I am very curious as to whether anybody is using Syncthing across their devices? And if so, how are they finding the experience?

I keep on my journey when the world's asleep,

searching you out, like a bewildered sheep.

If you'll come to my aid when you see me-

with my knees bleeding red on these cobblestone streets.

It must be the price of my earthly sin,

that I've no food or water for nourishment

that I crawl alone, in the dark, hoping.

I am the moonlight masochist.

..

So hear me cry out your name, whoever you are.

Bring me the moon, and make me your star.

Protect me like mountains and be my guard.

Help me sleep sound when the noise is harsh.

Be the hearth for my fire; the warmth for my heart.

Get me into a home, and out of the bars.

Can you hear my infantile, crying heart -

My moonlight masochist matriarch.

..

I cough as I choke on the poisoned air.

No one around who seems to care -

Save for two beady eyes who approach and glare,

a thin coyote with a hungry stare.

I only hear howls in monotone

as two other dogs come sniff my throat

But at least when they carry off my bones,

I can kinda say I never died alone.

..

Hear me cry out your name, whoever you are.

Bring me the moon, and make me your star.

Protect me like mountains and be my guard.

Help me sleep sound when the noise is harsh.

Be the hearth for my fire; the warmth for my heart.

Get me into a home, and out of the bars.

Can you hear my infantile, crying heart -

My moonlight masochist matriarch.

it's kinda silly

kinda nothing

but i was thinkin

kinda wondering

hey.

if i asked.

would you pick the loose string from my sweater

bring a blanket in cloudy weather

go with me on an adventure

give a little hug, a little pressure

would you grab a little snack

put my favorite towel on the rack

hear me sing, and try not to laugh

or light a blunt, hit twice, and pass

help me dye my hair

tell me i look cute in underwear

text me just to say you're there

snap your cookie just to share

or rub my neck soft when it hurts

tell my i've a way with words

walk to the park when wind's absurd

just to sip a tea and watch the birds

tell me that you like my lips

pick me clothes out for a trip

head to the lake to skinny dip

and blush a bit because you like my hips

could you

sweat with me at the gym

fill our popcorn to the brim

say that this shirt makes me look slim

and maybe love me limb from limb

instead of him

.

.

.

you know the alternatives to http://archillect.com/ ?

Who is Archillect?
Archillect [archive + intellect] is a synthetic intelligence (or artificial intelligence, depending on the point of view) made to find and share inspiring visuals over social media channels. She is a living inspiration archive. She is a digital muse. She currently has an active Twitter profile, a Facebook page, and a Pinterest board where she converts unhappy human beings to inspired artists.

I don't have as much to put up here as @alyaza but I thought it'd kick off the discussion as the debate begins.

Watch live on your local ABC station.
Edit: or on YouTube (thanks @deimos) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UWVO0Trd1c

Only 10 candidates and 1 night of debates this time.

What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or anything else you can think of.

If you want to, feel free to find the thing you're talking about and link to its pages on Anilist, MAL, or any other database you use!