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You have probably seen a clip on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube that shows a group of friends from a video game all screaming for their lives as they die in increasingly comedic ways at the hands of monsters called Coil-Heads, Thumpers, or Forest Giants. The game is called Lethal Company, and yes, it’s just as fun as it looks. Very few games can strike fear into your heart one moment only to leave you gasping for air from laughter a few seconds later, but that is the line that Lethal Company walks perfectly.

The premise of Lethal Company is quite simple: Land on a moon, enter a facility, collect random scrap, avoid the monsters, bring the scrap back to the ship, and sell it for money. If you manage to meet quota then you get to do it all over again. If you fail? Well, capitalism doesn’t take too kindly to a lack of profits.

Thankfully, death in Lethal Company is a fairly minor penalty in the grand scheme of a playthrough. If your crew survives, then you manage to get back on the ship with the only consequence being that you don’t get as much experience and you lose any items you were carrying at the time. If your entire party dies, then you have to start over from the beginning with less funds for buying supplies like walkie-talkies, but restarting a session takes almost no time at all. This quick, seamless style of play helps players not feel discouraged when a run fails and instead encourages them to give it one more go.

At that point, it’s up to the players to make their own fun and set their own goals. Do you want to simply meet quota and move on to a higher bar? You can do that, or you can try to go above and beyond to earn larger potential rewards. The more money you earn, the better equipment you can buy for your excursions to make them easier and more entertaining. Items such as jetpacks, shovels for beating back monsters, and a teleporter to bring back a friend in danger all go from luxuries to a necessity in longer runs. If players want, they can even download mods to enhance their experience even further.

Since Lethal Company is still in early access, the base game — while fun — is missing a few features that can make the experience even better, such as alternative costumes or the ability to play with more than four players. While not a requirement, mods can change Lethal Company from a fun game to one of the best games of the year.

One of the best mods out there right now is one called Skinwalkers. When players load into a session, the game begins listening to your voice and then monsters will be able to talk back to you using the voice of other people in the session. There is nothing quite as terrifying as walking through a hallway only to hear “hey come here” out of nowhere in your friend’s voice. It can make you feel like you’re going crazy, only to burst out into laughter when you realize you’ve been duped, and it’s those moments of laughter that make Lethal Company as fun as it is.

Despite being a horror game, it is not a traditionally scary one. It can be anxiety-inducing and monsters will sneak up on you in scary ways, but nothing ever reaches truly horrifying levels of fear. At most, you’ll get a little nervous turning the corner because you’re worried a coil-head is waiting there, or you weren’t paying attention so a Bracken comes up and snaps your neck, which is obviously startling. None of this ever crosses over into too scary territory, though, making it a great game for people who aren’t a big fan of horror games.

If anything, Lethal Company is more like a campy horror movie than anything else. Can it spook you out occasionally? Sure, but it is best experienced with a group of good friends who are there with you to get scared, laugh, and make it more fun. It’s only $10 on Steam right now and modding it is extremely easy. Grab a group of friends, pick a Saturday night, and just give it a try for a few hours.

After being ordered to pay $148 million in damages for defaming two Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, and subjecting them to a violent harassment campaign following the 2020 election, Rudy Giuliani has reportedly filed for bankruptcy.

The man who was once revered as “America’s Mayor” hitched his wagon to Donald Trump and became a key figure in the former president’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. As a reward for his efforts, Giuliani is now faced with calamitous financial ruin.

Via Associated Press:

The former New York City mayor listed nearly $153 million in existing or potential debts, including almost $1 million in tax liabilities, money he owes lawyers and many millions of dollars in potential legal judgments in lawsuits against him. He estimated he had assets in the range of $1 million to $10 million.

However, Giuliani’s latest ploy will not get him off the hook for the $148 million judgment. The judge ordered that Freeman and Moss can start collecting immediately to prevent Giuliani from “hiding assets.” The AP also reports that “bankruptcy law does not allow for the dissolution of debts that come from a ‘willful and malicious injury.’”

“This maneuver is unsurprising, and it will not succeed in discharging Mr. Giuliani’s debt to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss,” the election workers’ attorney said in a statement.

Meanwhile, social media is having a field day watching Giuliani’s finances implode in real time. The reactions started pouring in shortly after news broke that Giuliani is filing for bankruptcy and reportedly buried in debt.

You can see what people are saying below:

(Via Associated Press)

Beauty product influencer Gabi Day shared a personal problem she was going through as a parent and daughter on TikTok, and resonated with many fellow Millennials. Her mother, who watches her 18-year-old twins, expresses her love for her family through demonstrative anxiety.

Day believes that this personality trait made her an anxious person, and she doesn’t want it passed on to her children.

“Does anyone else have a Boomer mom whose primary love language is anxiety-at-you?” she asked her followers. She added that her mother was always “reactive,” “nervous,” and “anxious” throughout her childhood. Now, when her kids are playing and aren’t in any danger, her mother is still on edge. “She’s immediately like gasping and just really like exaggerated physical reactions, and then, of course, that kind of startles my kid,” Day said.

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“Again, I know that this comes from a place of care. It’s just a lot,” she continued.

@itsgabiday

It comes from a place of love but it is exhausting 🫠😬 #millennialmomsoftiktok #boomergrandma #reparenting #gentleparenting

To further complicate things, Day’s mother believes this constant expression of anxiety is her love language and shows she cares. She can’t understand why it causes such problems within her family.

“The flip side of this is she sees me actively trying to be the calm in the room, model emotional regulation, breathe through things being regulated and she looks at me confused. As if me not anxiety-at-ing my children somehow means that I don’t care about them enough,” she revealed.

The post resonated with a lot of people in the comments.

“My mom thinks that her anxiety is proof of her love. The more she wrings her hands, the more she loves you,” Lori wrote. “I think the commonly accepted stereotype of a loving mom is the worrywort. Women don’t recognize it as a problem,” Claire added.

Street artists are a special breed. While “the art world” can sometimes be a snooty, elite place for those with means, street art is made for everyone. Sometimes that means large public murals, but street art can be small, too. In fact, some of the best street art is so small you might miss it if you’re not paying attention. But those who are can discover some delightful surprises.

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Just imagine walking down a sidewalk and seeing this little fella at your feet:

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Or this young lady:

Or this creature:

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That would make your day, wouldn’t it? Or at least bring a smile to your face for a while?

Public art is an act of love to strangers, a way of connecting to people without saying a word. It says, “Hey there, fellow human. Here’s a little something to make you smile, just because.”

That’s the beauty of David Zinn’s street art. It’s meant for the public—just average passers-by—to enjoy, individually and collectively.

Zinn has created an entire world of characters who pop up in unexpected places. For instance, meet Gerald the otter, who is waiting for a blind date in this tree stump.

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Zinn uses chalk and charcoal to make his cast of characters come to life in cracks and crevasses, sidewalks and tree trunks. His creations aren’t meant to last forever; in fact, as Zinn points out, the temporary nature of them adds value to them.

“Famous works of art hanging in museums get seen by thousands of people every day. But this? You could be among the dozens of people who get to see this while it exists,” he told CBS Mornings. “That’s pretty special.”

Watch how he takes something he finds in the sidewalk and transforms it into a sweet little duo.

Sometimes he uses natural things he finds as inspiration for a piece.

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Other times, he uses something human-made, like this upside down terra cotta pot:

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Or this manhole cover:

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Sometimes the shape of a rock lends itself to a character, like Keith and his emotional support chick here:

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Or the space itself serves as inspiration.

Nadine the mouse features in many of Zinn’s pieces, probably due to her small size making it easy for her to fit into small spaces.

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Usually his pieces use what’s already there—like a crack in the sidewalk—to tell a story.

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The 3D nature of his drawings make it feel as if his characters are truly there.

“Looks like another long day of things stubbornly refusing to be impossible,” he writes in a caption of one of his “pigasuses.”

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(Speaking of having wings, Nadine found a pair for herself.)

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Watch Zinn turn a simple pot into a character with personality in a matter of minutes:

His entire Instagram page, Facebook page and TikTok channel are filled with endless delight. It was nearly impossible to decide what to include in this article because I wanted to include everything.

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This is all well and good, you might say to yourself, but how does Zinn make a living if he’s not selling this art?

He sells books and prints of photos of his artwork on his online store. He also gets invited to schools and events. He has created a career for himself by rejecting blank canvases, putting his imagination out on the street for everyone to see for a while, then selling versions that will actually last. Pretty brilliant, really.

Zinn gave a fascinating TEDx Talk explaining how he found his own artistic niche. You’ll never look at a parking meter or sidewalk the same way again.

This article originally appeared on 02.12.22

Ten months after a man’s wife passed away, he finally got the courage to read a letter she left him, which contained a devastating admission. The 4-year-old son they had together may not be his.

“My ‘darling’ wife passed away 10 months ago,” the man wrote on Reddit’s Off My Chest forum. “She wrote a letter for me before she died, but I couldn’t bring myself to read it until now. She told me how sorry she was that she didn’t have the guts to tell me this to my face when she was alive.”

In the letter, the wife revealed that there was a “good chance” that the son he thought was his wasn’t his biological child. A few weeks before their wedding day, the wife got drunk at her bachelorette party and had a one-night stand with another man. Soon after that night, she became pregnant but was unsure who the father was.

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The man was torn whether or not to have the paternity test done. The child had only one parent in this world, and he would have to take care of him regardless. He also thought it was cowardly that his former wife would wait until she was no longer around to share the truth with him.

“So she thought she’d rather drop this bomb on my life when I could no longer confront her about it,” the man wrote. “Now that my son would only have one parent looking out for him, and she’d have no idea how I would even react. Maybe I should not have got the paternity test done. Maybe it might be better to live in ignorance. But I just had to know.”

The man took the paternity test and learned he wasn’t the child’s biological father.

“I’m devastated. This doesn’t change how I feel about my son,” he wrote. “He’s my whole world and he’s innocent. But boy, does it hurt. There’s so much going on in my head right now. I haven’t stopped crying. Thank god my son is at my parents’ place for the day. I’d hate for him to see me like this.”

Facing a pain nearly too much for him to bear, the only outlet he had at the moment was reaching out to Reddit to find some solace. “I just needed to let this all out. Don’t have it in me to tell anyone in my life about this right now,” he wrote.

The commenters send him hundreds of messages of support to get him through the shock of first learning the truth about his family.

The most popular message was straightforward and honest. “All your feelings are valid, a lot of people will react with some kind of toxic positivity to things like these. Your feelings are valid. Each and everyone,” femunndsmarka wrote.

Another commenter added that someday, his son will appreciate how he stepped up and did what was right in a very trying circumstance. “He is going to find out the truth one day. Imagine how much more he will love you knowing you didn’t leave him, even though he wasn’t yours,” ImNotGoodatThis6969.

Another commenter provided valuable insight from the son’s perspective.

“As an adopted child, I just want to thank you on behalf of your son. I deeply believe it changes nothing, family is not about blood, its about who you love, want to have by your side, and care for the most. Sending hugs, strength and gratitude,” Mariuuq wrote.

The father at the heart of this story is understandably devastated because his life was upended almost overnight. But the hope in the story is that his trials also taught him a powerful truth—his love for his son goes much deeper than blood.

This article originally appeared on 9.28.23

It’s uncomfortable for people to tell someone they met for a first date that they aren’t interested in a second one because nobody enjoys hurting another person’s feelings. TikTokker Jo Brundza has mastered the art of painlessly getting out of a second date by making them reject her.

How does she do it? Once she realizes she doesn’t want to see them again, she rants about the moon.

“From that realization and on, I spend the rest of the date trying to convince the other person that I don’t think the moon is real,” she says. Now, many folks out there incorrectly believe that the moon landing was faked, but she goes a step further by saying the massive object doesn’t exist at all.

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“They’re typically too stunned to argue back,” she says.

@jbrundz

They’re typically too stunned to argue back #fyp #dating #funny #bits

In a follow-up video, Brundza outlines the three arguments she uses to prove that the moon isn’t real:

1. If you know, you know

“I just think it’s ridiculous that all these billionaires are going up into space. I mean, when they get up there, what do they expect to be there, or not be up there?”

2. False evidence

“Look, I’m just saying that if you look at the science of how light refraction works when it enters the atmosphere, it would bend it in a way that to the naked eye would look like solid mass, but it’s not. Also, at the end of the day, do you know anyone who has actually been to the moon?”

3. Blame Greenland

“Eighty percent of the island is covered in ice and uninhabitable. You’re really gonna tell me that’s not where the projectors are? Actually, now that I think about it, do you personally know anyone who’s ever been to Greenland?”

@jbrundz

Replying to @TySpice Bonus points if you can somehow work in that the sun is fake too #fyp #funny #bits

This article originally appeared on 9.28.23

She’s everything. He’s just Ken — but he could soon be Oscar winner Ken.

The shortlist for 10 categories at the 2024 Oscars were announced today, including Best Original Song. The potential nominees include three songs from Barbie: “I’m Just Ken” sung by Ryan Gosling, “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish (who won for “No Time To Die”), and “Dance The Night” by Dua Lipa.

The other finalists include “Can’t Catch Me Now,” Olivia Rodrigo’s ballad for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and “Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)” from Asteroid City. It’s the people’s favorite (the people is me).

Here’s the full list:

“It Never Went Away” from American Symphony
“Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)” from Asteroid City
“Dance The Night” from Barbie
“I’m Just Ken” from Barbie
“What Was I Made For?” from Barbie
“Keep It Movin’” from The Color Purple
“Superpower (I)” from The Color Purple
“The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot
“High Life” from Flora and Son
“Meet In The Middle” from Flora and Son
“Can’t Catch Me Now” from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
“Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon
“Quiet Eyes” from Past Lives
“Road To Freedom” from Rustin
“Am I Dreaming” from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

The 96th Academy Awards air on March 10, 2024.

Reacher is currently beating down the confines, as the character Jack Reacher tends to do, while piling up streaming hours for the second season thus far. As star Alan Ritchson recently revealed as well, ladies and gentlemen tend to appreciate the show for different reasons, and it’s the women who rave about the show’s action the most when they approach Ritchson in person.

Another delightful effect of Reacher being back is that the leading man is out there discussing fight scenes, too. In a new interview with Screenrant, the Fast X actor revealed that there are plenty of combat-related stunts that he would love to perform, and this includes one key daredevil feat:

“Oh, dude. Yeah. Well, some good motorcycle stunts, I would love. I like to ride. I’d also like to do, like, aerial fights. Like, aerial skydiving fights. That would be the icing on the cake for me.

When further asked about a “20,000 foot piledriver,” Ritchson answered, “Exactly! Just don’t be the guy who lands on the bottom, and you live!” Hmm. So, what do y’all think about a scenario with Ritchson to appear alongside Tom Cruise in a film where they get their mutual aerial-fight moves on? Two Reachers on the same screen might be too much for everyone, including Tom, but here’s to hoping that Ritchson can eventually take on his fight-related dreams, solo or otherwise.

(Via Screenrant)

The lineup for the 2023 New Year’s Rockin’ Eve got a few new significant additions, as Megan Thee Stallion, Sabrina Carpenter, Tyla, and Jelly Roll will be joining the party and the already star-studded slate of performers.

As for what songs to expect, Megan is treating the crowd to a special performance, which could possibly be a selection of new music. Carpenter is planning to mashup her two singles, “Nonsense” and “Feather.”

Tyla will play her breakthrough hit, “Water,” along with her new song, “Truth Or Dare.” Finally, Jelly Roll will be performing a medley alongside special guest Jessie Murph.

Other previously-announced artists that will be performing on the holiday special include Green Day, Ludacris, Janelle Monáe, Post Malone, NewJeans, Ellie Goulding, Doechii, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Nile Rodgers and CHIC, Paul Russell, Loud Luxury, Two Friends and Bebe Rexha, Reneé Rapp and Coco Jones, and many, many more.

While the event will be held live in New York, some of the artists will be joining in from around the globe for their performances. For example, Post Malone is participating in Vegas, and NewJeans will be in South Korea.

Viewers can tune in to watch their favorite artists starting at 8 p.m. ET on December 31 on ABC.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Things have gone pretty well for the Philadelphia 76ers this season. Despite the fact that the team had to figure things out on the fly following James Harden’s trade to the Los Angeles Clippers, Philly sits in third place in the Eastern Conference with a 19-8 record and have the best point differential in the league by some margin, all while Tyrese Maxey is turning into one of the brightest young stars in the NBA and Joel Embiid is playing better than he did during his MVP campaign last year.

From the moment the Harden trade happened, one major question that popped up around the team is whether they’d be able to take what they got back and turn all of that into another star. Their success has put those questions on the back burner, but according to Shams Charania, Philly is still keeping tabs on the market and has particularly kept an eye on a pair of players: Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine and Toronto Raptors forward O.G. Anunoby.

LaVine is a tricky nut to crack, because while both he and the Bulls are apparently open to a change in scenery, the team has won seven of the 10 games they’ve played ever since he’s been sidelined with a foot injury, and the market for his services does not seem to be particularly robust. At his best, LaVine — who might be open to a move to Philadelphia — can provide another scoring punch and some shooting to stretch the floor around Embiid, and he is under contract for the next few years, although it’s worth wondering how he would fit alongside Maxey and if it’s worth acquiring a player who would take the ball out of the hands of the Sixers’ two stars.

Anunoby would not need the ball nearly as much, as he is the exact sort of wing that every team covets right now. Anunoby is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, hits 37.2 percent of his 6.3 attempts from three a game, and would give Philly a hand-in-glove fit alongside their two stars. Plus as an added bonus, he played under current Sixers coach Nick Nurse in Toronto. It’s unclear if Toronto, which is known for driving a hard bargain and has reportedly turned down lucrative offers for him in the past, is willing to move on from Anunoby, who is also slated to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season if he declines the player option in his contract.