Hi ladies. Just looking for advice on how to deal with a situation that is leading to a lot of burnout as a neurodivergent person…
I (35f) am currently living with my husband and his parents in their house. Our living situation was always meant to be temporary while we save for our own home, and it has served us well for the past few years. However, our house was recently flooded not once, but twice, from a series of storms that took place over the course of the last few months. This has caused a lot of damage to the house, with the floorboards needing to be ripped up, the walls needing to be cut out (to remove the water damage), and a number of electrical appliances going bust. As several people in our city have also been affected, repair services and insurance companies have been extremely overbooked and everything has been taking much longer to assess and fix than desired.
We are fortunately able to live upstairs in the meantime, which has been mostly unaffected by the floods. But the constant state of repairs, ongoing damage, and tradespeople coming in and out (sometimes at very little notice) have been quite disruptive and it is starting to wear me down. Already I find it very difficult to stick to a routine that helps me function. Last year I was able to finally nail down an exercise and healthy eating regimen that worked perfectly for me. Since the floods this year, I have been unable to do that. Our home gym (which greatly helped with my fitness as I have anxieties with exercising in public) was flooded and I haven’t felt safe using it due to the mould and dampness. My vegetable garden, which is normally my main source of stress relief, has been completely ruined. It is also no longer pleasant to pursue my love of cooking and baking as the kitchen is constantly in a state of repair. All of my vices for regulating my nervous system have become significantly harder (or impossible) to access. I feel mentally burnt out, stressed, and over-stimulated as I can't control anything that is happening.
Every time I find a way to adapt, something else unexpectedly changes and I need to switch things up. For instance, my husband and I recently went away for a few weeks and we came back to even more of the kitchen torn apart. At least before then, we still had kitchen counter tops and proper storage space. Now all of that has been torn out and we have been left operating on make-shift tables and having to search through boxes of utensils as all our cabinets are gone. I can feel my executive dysfunction winning as my motivation and patience with these changes wear down. Adding the double-whammy of needing to quit my meds due to high heart rate, I’m stuck trying to self-regulate and stick to some sort of routine in a construction site of a home while I search and trial new meds.
Does anyone have any advice how I can manage myself in this environment? Even if you don’t have any advice, I just need to vent and for someone to listen and stop telling me to ‘be positive! Some people have it worse!’. My husband and I both work from home, so we’re living in this environment 24/7. We don’t have the money to move out as rent in our area is very expensive. And while they haven’t condemned the house as unliveable, assessors have been recommending us to move out because it’s not healthy to stay here. I’m at my wits end, worried for my health, and generally just feel stuck. Thank you for your advice and for making me feel heard.

This week’s vintage batch features 5 BCHR FPs from my personal collection that are 100+ years old. Some of you might recall from years ago when I shared them over in fountainpens. They are the culmination of 20 years of hunting to find the cleanest examples I could short of NOS stickered. You’d be hard pressed to find nicer examples anywhere. All retain their factory back color with factory sharp chasing and knurling as well as minimal brassing – downright rare for hard rubber pens this old. Nibs range from Flexible to Wet Noodle. As always, all are fully restored and ready to write.

ALBUM & TIMESTAMP

Pastable link: https://imgur.com/a/nJEmzN7

Condition (n.b.): All pens listed below have been disassembled, cleaned and restored with new sacs installed in the last couple weeks. Each of these pens is guaranteed to fill and write as designed without leaks or other problems. Nibs have been adjusted when necessary to ensure that all lay down a smooth and consistent line.
THESE PENS HAVE NO CRACKS, CHIPS, PERSONALIZATIONS, LOOSE OR MISSING PARTS, BENT NIBS, MISALIGNED TINES, BROKEN/WORN OFF TIPPING, OR THREADING ISSUES.

Line Widths and Writing Samples: To provide buyers with as much information as possible, I have started to adopt the following line width standards: XXF (.1-.2mm); XF (approx .3mm); F (approx .4mm); M (approx .6mm); B (approx .8mm). Nib flexibility is determined by variation (max line width under pressure) and softness (amount of pressure). Flexibility designations based on variation generally run as follows for an XF/F nib: Semi-Flex (approx. 1mm); Flex (1.2-1.9mm); Superflex (>2mm). All line width measurements are taken with a digital caliper but should be considered approximations providing a general guide. Width may vary slightly depending on type of ink and paper used as well as amount of pressure applied. All writing samples are on Rhodia dot paper using Waterman Serenity Blue.

1. c.1913 Parker Jack-Knife Lucky Curve 20 (smooth HR, NPT, button filler, 14k Superflex nib). This full-sized model measures a hair under 5 1/4” capped. Manufactured roughly 3 decades after the company was founded in 1888, this early Parker features a Safety cap (marked "Jack-Knife Safety" with a 1912 patent date) designed not to leak when carried. Early, protuberant barrel-threads situate it’s manufacture shortly after that. It's made of smooth black hard rubber with nickel-plated clip. Knurled blindcap and cliplock and “X-mas tree” Lucky Curve feed. This pen is a button filler (see detail photo in album). To fill simply unscrew the blindcap, submerse the nib, and depress the brass button once. Super-Flexible 14k Parker Lucky Curve “Lazy S” nib lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx. 2.2mm) under light pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Thin hairlines, superbly responsive snap-back, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it an excellent choice for calligraphic writing styles such as Copperplate and Spencerian. Condition: near mint [B+]. Hard rubber retains its factory black color with no discernible fading. HR surface is smooth and lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes. Clip is close to pristine with no brassing or other notable flaws. Knurling is factory crisp. Manufacturer imprint on the barrel and number stamp on blindcap are factory deep and fully legible (DETAIL PHOTO). Price: $370 SOLD

2. c.1915 Parker Jack-Knife Lucky Curve 20 1/2 (BCHR, NPT, button filler, 14k XF Flex nib). This full-sized model measures a hair under 5 1/4” capped. Although this pen never had a number stamp, it corresponds to a 20 1/2, the ‘1/2’ designation signifying a chased pen. Like the pen above, it features a Safety cap (marked "Jack-Knife Safety" with a 1912 patent date) designed not to leak when carried. It's made of chased black hard rubber with nickel-plated clip. Knurled blindcap and cliplock and “X-mas tree” Lucky Curve feed. This pen is a button filler (see detail photo in album). To fill simply unscrew the blindcap, submerse the nib, and depress the brass button once. Flexible 14k Parker Lucky Curve “Lazy S” nib lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 3B+ (approx. 1.8mm) under light pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE - after taking measurements, I found that this nib is situated on the upper end of Flexible). Thin hairlines, strong snap-back, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it an excellent choice for expressive and calligraphic writing styles. Condition excellent+/near mint [B+]. Hard rubber retains its factory black color with no discernible fading. Chasing and knurling are factory deep and crisp with no discernible wear. HR surface is smooth and lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes. Clip exceptionally clean with no brassing – just a pin-sized mark here and there.. Manufacturer imprint on the barrel is deep and fully legible. Price: $340 SOLD

3. c.1913 Sheaffer-Clip 3A (BCHR, NPT, lever filler, 14k XXF/XF Superflex/Wet Noodle nib). This full-sized model measures 5 3/8” capped. It was Walter A. Sheaffer who first patented the lever-filling fountain pen in 1908. In 1912 he founded the Sheaffer pen company and his revolutionary design was met with resounding acclaim. In the 1910s, when the pocket clip and lever filler were recent innovations, Sheaffer pens were typically marked "Sheaffer-Clip" on the clips and "Self-Filling" on the nibs to distinguish them from the oldfangled clipless eyedroppers of other makers. Most of their model lineup in this period – before stiff, manifold nibs became the rage in the mid-20s - was comprised of simple black hard rubber pens with long-tined gold nibs every bit as flexible as early Waterman's but known for their more responsive snap-back. This 3A is made of black chased hard rubber with nickel-plated furniture, epitomizing the simple, utilitarian aesthetic of the era. Oval barrel imprint including "Patents Pending" inscription pertaining to Sheaffer's first patent for a double (pressure) bar lever-filler, a patent that was granted in 1914. This and the protuberant barrel threads pin this pen down to the first couple years of production of Sheaffer's Self-Filling pen. So early is this example in the evolution of FP design that it bears the cap imprint of a hand pointing in the direction the cap is to be unscrewed (see album photo) – a relic of a time when most FPs were slip caps. 14k #3 Sheaffer Self-Filling nib yields Super-Flexible variation with softness verging on a Wet Noodle. It lays down a smooth and consistent XXF/XF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx. 2.3mm) under very light pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Close-to-needlepoint hairlines, superbly responsive snap-back, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it an ideal choice for calligraphic writing styles such as Copperplate and Spencerian. Condition: excellent+/near mint [B+]. Hard rubber retains its factory black color with no discernible fading. Chasing and knurling are factory deep and crisp with no discernible wear. HR surface is smooth and lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes. Nickel-plated trim is exceptionally clean aside from a spot of wear on the top left corner of the clip. Manufacturer imprint on the barrel and number stamp on blindcap are factory deep and fully legible (DETAIL PHOTO). Price: $370 SOLD

4. 1920s Sheaffer No. 2 (BCHR - “changing lanes” pattern, NPT, lever filler, 14k XXF Needlepoint Wet Noodle nib). This full-sized model measures 5 3/8” capped. As Sheaffer entered the 1920s, they experimented with innovative materials and chasing patterns. Their hard rubber pens were generally more stable, i.e. less susceptible to oxidation. And they introduced eye-catching Art Deco patterns like the one on this HR pen, known to collectors as “Changing Lanes” for its resemblance to the painted indicators on the highway (even if this pen predates the US highway system by decades). Nickel-plated lever and clip simply marked ‘Sheaffer’s.” 14k Sheaffer #2 nib is a Wet Noodle in no uncertain terms with flow and doftness comparable to that of a dip pen. It lays down a smooth and consistent Needlepoint XXF line that widens to a 4B+ (see WRITING SAMPLE under minimal pressure (approx. 2.3mm). Needlepoint hairlines, phenomenally responsive snap-back, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it an ideal choice for calligraphic writing styles such as Copperplate and Spencerian. Condition: near mint [B+]. +]. Hard rubber retains its factory black color with no discernible fading. Chasing is factory deep and crisp with no discernible wear. HR surface is smooth and lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes. Nickel-plated trim is pristine with no brassing or other noteworthy wear. Manufacturer imprint on the barrel is factory deep and fully legible. Price: $370 SOLD

5. c.1915 A.A. Waterman No. 3 (BCHR, NPT, twist filler, 14k XF Superflex nib). This full-sized model measures a lengthy 5 9/16” capped. Arthur Allan Waterman began his career as a traveling salesman for the L. E. Waterman Co. in the 1880s-90s. In 1897, he left L.E. Waterman to found his own company in Boston by name of A. A. Waterman Pen Co., under which several new patents were approved, including his innovative twist-filling system. For L.E. and F.D. Waterman, who had just lost one of their best men, “favorably known to almost every dealer in the country,” this was a bitter pill to swallow. To make a LONG STORY short, A.A. Waterman’s “betrayal” in the eyes of the monopolistic L.E. Waterman company, his use of the address formerly associated with L.E., as well as his appropriation of “Ideal” and “Waterman’s Ideal” to advertise his pens, culminated in a lawsuit against A.A. that was settled in 1898. A.A. would come to found and later be forced out of a new company named the Modern Pen Co., but he continued to be hounded by L.E. Waterman’s lawyers into 1912, when A.A. Waterman was now legally bound to imprint their pens “Not connected with the L. E. Waterman Company”. Much of this fraught history is included on the lengthy barrel imprint of this pen, which reads: “Arthur A. Waterman & Co. NY. / Modern Pen Co. Successor / Pat. Nov. 17. ’03. Oct. 11. ’04. Aug 31. ’15 / Not Connected with the L.E. Waterman Co.” A twist-filler with patented clip, this pen is the fruit of all A.A. Waterman’s efforts. It’s mad of black chased hard rubber with slip cap and nickel-plated clip. The filler operates on the same principle as other pens with sacs, except that one twists the sac instead of compressing it to create the necessary vacuum to fill with ink. To fill one simply twists the blindcap 1-1.5 turns, submerses the nib, and lets the blindcap twist back to its starting position. Super-Flexible 14k AA Waterman #3 nib with clover-shaped breather is a lovely writer. It lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx. 2.2mm) under light pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Thin hairlines, strong snap-back, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it another excellent choice for calligraphic writing styles such as Copperplate and Spencerian. Condition: near mint [B+]. Difficult to repair and scarcer than comparable L.E. Watermans, these pens are exceedingly tough to find clean. The repair involves knocking a tiny pin out of the blindcap, removing the tiny section that’s been glued in from the factory, and attaching a sac cut at both end to length to the blindcap stem and the section. I repaired this one myself and am proud to say it works without a hitch and reliably fills to factory capacity. Cosmetically, this pen is also quite the gem. Hard rubber retains its factory black color with no discernible fading. Chasing is factory deep and crisp with no discernible wear. HR surface is smooth and lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes. Nickel-plated clip is pristine with no brassing or other noteworthy wear. Voluminous manufacturer imprint on the barrel is factory deep and fully legible. Price: $380 SOLD

Shipping: Pens purchased on the weekend are mailed on Tuesday. Otherwise they are mailed within 2 business days of payment. All pens that do not come with their original boxes are packaged in PVC or thick plastic tubes to protect them in transit. To CONUS locations the following shipping options are available:

~~USPS First-Class with tracking for $5~~ Due to the delivery delays that continue under postmaster general DeJoy, I strongly recommend that the Priority shipping option be chosen. All packages will include full insurance (covered by me). Rest assured that a full refund is guaranteed (issued through Paypal) in the event of a lost parcel and you will not have to wait until I receive a reimbursement from the USPS.
USPS Priority with tracking for $9

International Customers: Please contact me for shipping quote if located abroad (delivery confirmation required). (Note: due to the issues stated above, my international shipping options are currently limited. PM for more info). Please do not ask me to commit mail fraud by altering the declared value of a pen for customs. Not only am I registered as a business but shipping insurance is based on declared value.
New York Customers: For tax purposes, I am now required to add an 8% sales tax on any sale made in the state of NY. If your shipping address is in NY state, please let me know before payment to receive an adjusted total. Discounted shipping is included for NY State residents to help defray the extra cost.
Ordering: Pens are placed on hold for the first person to reply to the thread and PM me with firm request to purchase (no chat DMs please). A request with the words “I'd like to purchase [pen number]” would be best to avoid confusion), to which I’ll reply with payment details. Please note that a message inquiring into a price discount does not suffice to place a pen on hold. If I haven't received Paypal payment within 24 hrs after a hold is placed, then pen(s) may become available to the next person.
Payment, & Guarantee: Payment by Paypal only. All pens are guaranteed to be in the condition in which I've described them. If I've missed something objectionable or the filling mechanism is not fully functional, the buyer may contact me up to 7 days after receiving the pen for a full refund (issued once I receive the pen back in the same condition as sold). Buyer must ship the return no later than 2 weeks after it was delivered to receive a refund. I've sold pens online for over a decade. Please check my past listings here as well as on the classifieds and historical sales forums on FPN (username: Estragon) and FPGeeks (popcod) for some of my previous offerings.

OTHER OPEN LISTINGS:

My stats:

3.786, 514 (second try)
3500 research hours with 2 mid-author pubs, 2 oral presentations, and an abstract
850 non-clinical volunteering
450 clinical hours (375 working, 75 volunteering)
2 gap years
PA resident

School List Draft:
DREAM
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine (Philadelphia, PA) 522 3.96
Duke University School of Medicine (Durham, NC) 520 3.9
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Chicago, IL) 520 3.92
HIGH REACH
University of Virginia School of Medicine (Charlottesville, VA) 520 3.93
Stanford School of Medicine (Stanford, CA) 519 3.92
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (Cleveland, OH) 519 3.88
REACH
Boston University School of Medicine (Boston, MA) 518 3.85
University of Michigan Medical School (Ann Arbor, MI) 518 3.87
Emory University School of Medicine (Atlanta, GA) 516 3.79
HIGH TARGET
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (Pittsburgh, PA) 518 3.89
Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Bronx, NY) 516 3.86
Ohio State University School of Medicine (Columbus, OH) 516 3.91
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (Cincinnati, OH) 516 3.88
TARGET
Thomas Jefferson University Sidney Kimmel Medical College (Philadelphia, PA) 515 3.82
Tufts University School of Medicine (Boston, MA) 515 3.82
Western Michigan Homer Stryker School of Medicine (Kalamazoo, MI) 515 3.8
Georgetown University School of Medicine (Washington, D.C.) 514 3.84
UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine (Los Angeles, CA) 514 3.8
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine (Richmond, VA) 514 3.88
University of Connecticut School of Medicine (Farmington, CT) 514 3.84
Geisinger Commonwealth Medical College (Scranton, PA) 513 3.81
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (Roanoke, VA) 513 3.68
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine (North Chicago, IL) 513 3.78
Drexel University College of Medicine (Philadelphia, PA) 512 3.8
Eastern Virginia School of Medicine (Norfolk, VA) 512 3.72
George Washington University School of Medicine (Washington, D.C.) 512 3.75
Indiana University School of Medicine (Indianapolis, IN) 512 3.89
Penn State University College of Medicine (Hummelstown, PA) 512 3.79
Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine (Philadelphia, PA) 512 3.79
Wake Forest University School of Medicine (Winston-Salem, NC) 512 3.82
West Virginia University School of Medicine (Morgantown, WV) 512 3.84
"SAFETY" (no such thing)
Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine (Maywood, IL) 512 3.74
Tulane University School of Medicine (New Orleans, LA) 512 3.71
University of Toledo College of Medicine (Toledo, OH) 510 3.81
University of Louisville School of Medicine (Louisville, KY) 508 3.78

“The shield that defends needs a sword by its side”
- Mech Core Pilot's Motto.
----
Churk was going to die.
He was going to die, and his brood left behind were going to be enslaved.
He was going to die, and with him his race’s history, achievements and technology would also die out.
They would all be turned into the organic robots his enemy used to power its military might.
Churk’s people were known as the Algeen’s. The Algeen’s were frog-like people, they had four arms and two legs, with large hands and feet. Fiercely intelligent, obscenely democratic, unbelievably green.
Their whole population got an equal vote on any measure of policy or governmental decision, a slow and ponderous system, but one which worked. Once they had gracefully colonized over a thousand planets. Then the Tide came and generations later, on their battered and bruised Homeworld, they were making their final stand. One world left of the most civilized civilization.
The Tide were slavers, but they had been at it for millennia now. Absorbing, enslaving, and breeding thousands of species and races. Making them all part of a homogeneous whole. No one outside of the Tide themselves knew who the original species was, and maybe no one in the Tide knew either. It was possible that they still existed, at the very top of the slavery food chain, being served by those they considered lesser and treated horribly. But it was equally possible that a slave lead rebellion had seen fit to absorb them as they had been absorbed. An ouroboros of cultural erasure and brutal labour camps.
Five hundred metres from Churk’s position, stood the product of those labour camps. Two Tide mech’s which were currently powering towards him and his squad, Churk had little delusions about how effective his semi-fortified engineer’s depo was going to be in protecting their lives. Suddenly his neural link lit up with new high priority information, he was not to engage the enemy, reinforcements were on their way.
While he was glad he didn’t have to engage the enemy (as the ordinance he had at his disposal would have been ineffective against the heavy armour of the Tide machines) the order didn’t make any sense, and so he queried it.
“Reinforcements? What reinforcements? Who’s left?” He responded. As there was no one currently available to respond to his query the over-stretched AI superintendent replied in as basic and succinct method as possible.
“An orbital drop-pod enroute. Contents: One mech. Mech rating: Classified. Mech model: Classified. Mech origin: Classified. Pilot: Anna ‘Sustain’ Finand. Species: Human.” Rattled off the AI in his head.
A mind-numbing list containing more questions than answers. Human? The Algeen’s had included as many species as possible in their attempts to create a force equal to that of the Tide’s, but as far as he knew all of them apart from the Roc’s had been wiped out. He hadn’t heard of humanity before, and how the hell had they managed to get orbital assets in position? The battle for their home world’s skies had been lost months ago. Most importantly, how the hell was one mech going to win against two Tide models?
The Tide had a clear technological advantage over the Algeen’s, most prominently displayed in any of the many mech battles which had taken place throughout the war, whether that be on the ground or in the void. The Tide’s powerplants were three times as efficient as Algeen models, and their anti-gravity/ inertia damping technology was twice as efficient. This allowed the Tide’s mechs to pack on armour and energy shields, creating hulking tanks which moved as easily as the Algeen’s mechs but had a one to four advantage in a fair fight.
A massive crash signalled to Churk that he was about to get his answers, and he eagerly peered into the dust cloud that had formed around the human mech, waiting to see the sort of beast which had come to his (and indeed his entire species) aid. Hope flared ever so briefly, only to be crushed when a familiar silhouette appeared: That of an Algeen mech.
The rounded, purple armour. The gleaming blue sensor nodes. The dome like head. The large feet. Algeen through and through, maybe even an older design from mid-way through the war. One that prioritised speed over armour, a costly mistake. There were however a few differences:
For one, the mech had been heavily modified. Additional armour had been removed from the torso and right arm. A weird cage-like attachment had been crudely added to the front of the mech's thighs and shins. The mech still had its energy shield, but it was now held in the left hand instead of being permanently attached to the mech's chest.
The shoulder armour had been replaced with a series of tubes which looked rather spikey when grouped together, some sort of smoke or grenade launchers perhaps?
Its only armament was a single sword in its right hand. This was particular. For one, it was the only item on the mech that was clearly neither Algeen nor was it of the Tide. It was a dull grey blade, looking more like an oversized cleaver then a sword. Its handle was unadorned and had not even been painted to separate its likeness from that of the rest of the blade. The entire thing was made of one single piece of metal, and while Churk did not know it at that very moment, it had been simply pressed into shape.
Its edge was barely sharp enough to cut, leaving the entire weapon closer to a bat them a knife. By Algeen and Tide standards it was brutally crude. Utterly remorseless in its hatred for elegant craftsmanship. It was a pipe bomb in comparison to a hand grenade. But like a pipe bomb: it was lethal.
Churk watched with equal parts dread and (what he felt to be) misplaced hope as the Algeen mech charged its superior counterparts.
He didn’t know it at the time, but he would speak of the following battle for many years to come.
The human mech launched towards the Tide machines; dust flaring underneath it’s artificially lightened footsteps. It’s strategic removal of armour had made the machine’s already impressive performance even more pronounced, and while its speed surprised the two Tide operators, it did little to unnerve them.
These two operators had seen enough fighting to know one Algeen machine was of little concern, and its missing armour only further reinforced their confidence.
They must have pulled that thing straight out of a repair bay. Thought the pilot of the foremost Tide mech.
These Tide mechs represented a standard advanced scouting group, consisting of one heavy, ranged mech and one light, melee machine. As scouts these mechs would only engage when they had the advantage. But on Algeen Prime, there wasn’t a single Tide scout group that didn’t have the advantage. How the two would operate was simple, the light mech would push out to the front and engage any oncoming mechs, closing quickly to force the enemy into a melee fight. Meanwhile the ranged mech would perform counter-battery and point defence operations: shooting down oncoming missiles and retaliating in kind with its own.
Tide mechs wanted a melee. They always wanted a melee.
Churk didn’t know why exactly. For while it was true that the Tide saw a distinct advantage over Algeens in melee combat, many of their mech units would choose to engage in a melee fight even when they could have as easily dispatched their enemies from afar. Maybe they just found it fun? For the Algeen race it was obvious that the Tide mech operators had been trained extensively on sword combat, even before this war had taken place, and no Algeen could win against a Tide in a fair fight.
As the war progressed the Algeen’s had tried to level the playing field in this aspect, bringing in veterans to teach new operators how to properly utilise a blade. But the icy fact was that swordsmanship had died out long ago in Algeen society (for what modern, enlightened society could possibly keep such a thing alive?) and could not be resurrected in a timely matter. At least, not on the sort of scale they needed if they were to compete against the Tide.
Of course, neither an Algeen nor a Tide Thrall had seen a human wield a blade before. Human swordplay techniques had been forged in the flames of thousands of battles; and like a candle lit from that flame, had been preserved generation after generation. No one had expected that the fires which forged such skill would ever be relit, but it was on Algeen Prime that one small candle found the sort of kindling its ancient creators could not have even imagined.
The Algeen and the Tide machine finally met on the field of battle, with the Tide’s long-range support not having fired a single shot. The Tide machine used its superior power output to slash its sword down, the piloting hoping to knock the sword from the human mech’s clearly loose grip.
It was a surprise to all when the human mech flicked its blade up to deflect the blow, keeping its grip loose as it did so, letting the momentum of the blade do the necessary dirty work. Had a human been deflecting a blow like this, doing so would have reduced the amount of force (and hence, energy) necessary to block the blow. Allowing the fighter to keep their strength up, to persist in the melee for far longer than a less skilled counterpart.
On a mech muscle fatigue was less of a concern. However not resisting the full force of the blow vastly reduced strain on the framework, motors, and anti-gravity pods of the machine. In a long battle the kind of strain that comes from blocking each and every blow can destroy a mech far more thoroughly than even the most devastating sword or missile strike.
Furthermore, deflecting the strike had another key advantage: It positioned the Human's blade for a slashing follow up. Like a snake striking the human's blade leap for the Tide mech, a potent mixture of surprise and heavy armour preventing the operator from recovering in time: The Human's blade connected with a stunning yet well aimed ferocity. The blow exploited the gap in the Tide mech's armour at the armpit. A well-known weakness which the Algeen were rarely able to exploit.
The blade cut deep, severing several of the thick black cables which sent power down the opposing mech's arm. Like cutting into a ligament, the Tide Mechs right arm (sword included) slumped down, as the antigravity modules cut out due to lack of power and its motors struggled to lift the now considerably heavier arm. Completely blindsided by the ferocious attack and now lacking an effective sword arm, the Tide pilot responded in sudden desperation: twisting his mech at its hips, the pilot slammed his own weak and heavily armoured arm into the Algeen mech which had wounded it so.
This may have seen the Tide mech retake the initiative in battle, and with it the advantage. But the Tide pilot wasn't facing an Algeen pilot, and the human who had been training for this mission for the past three years saw the wild attack coming from a galaxy away.
Ducking before the Tide mech even began its twist, the human pilot successfully dodged the incoming attack. Only instead of leaving it there she followed up the movement by striking the upper thigh of the Tide mech with the pommel of her sword.
The ball joint located there had been studied by human engineers who, it must be stated, had a better grasp on how to break things then their Algeen counterparts: the joint shattered under the force of the well-placed blow and the stresses the wild swing with an overloaded arm had placed on the machine.
Churk couldn't believe his eyes as the machine crumpled into an awkward heap: with just two well placed blows the mech pilot had managed to take down a significantly better equipped target. His men behind him cheered, but he didn't. The friendly mech wasn't out of the woods yet, and there was still a lot of ground to clear between the fallen melee mech, and its ranged counterpart.
Churk could scarcely breathe as the Tide ranged mech readied itself for a missile salvo. A single Tide missile was capable of wiping out the Algeen mech, but they never fired a single missile. Churk clenched his teeth tight as his men stopped cheering and looked on with horror as smoke began streaking over the battlefield, signalling the death that was currently barrelling for their only hope.
Inside the outmatched Algeen mech however, the human pilot only smiled.
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Period: 187.69 days

	Submissions	Comments
Total	1000	6982
Rate (per day)	5.33	37.12
Unique Redditors	48	878
Combined Score	25426	29352

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8359 points, 357 submissions: FarPiano9575
7529 points, 276 submissions: ProgressiveDemocrats
2671 points, 84 submissions: Top-Bottle7403
2598 points, 101 submissions: In-The-Middle12
1121 points, 37 submissions: Safe_Salt9663
485 points, 17 submissions: Top_Bottle7403
1. This is why every vote matters! (91 points, 18 comments)
2. Thank you Senator Blumenthal for holding Clarence Thomas accountable — (49 points, 11 comments)
3. Child labor is making a comeback in Republican-led states. That’s what THEY mean by “progress”. (47 points, 11 comments)
4. A conservative city council has banned the LGBTQ+ flag from government property in Huntington Beach. Another attempt to marginal LGBTQ+ individuals. But hate cannot be allowed to win. Not in California. Not anywhere. (44 points, 13 comments)
5. Donald Trump just called Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg "a Racist in Reverse," and claimed that Joe Biden pushed Bragg to prosecute him. He then made a call to “investigate the investigators!” (34 points, 13 comments)
6. The Southern Baptist Convention decided Tuesday to oust Saddleback Church, the second-largest congregation of the convention, because it has a female pastor (34 points, 6 comments)
7. I wonder what the MAGA zombies think when Trump says DeSantis is being disloyal. Do they then hate DeSantis? Do they think he’s part of deep state? Or do they think Trump is a senile, old man? There are no policy differences. So, do they weigh which one is owning the libs harder? (29 points, 9 comments)
8. BREAKING: After taking heat for days trying to handle this on his own with Norfolk Southern and making it much worse, Gov. Mike DeWine finally relents and declares a disaster so he can get federal assistance. (25 points, 3 comments)
9. Here’s my advice to everyone — like me! — who’s excitedly awaiting Trump’s indictment: Relax, and keep your popcorn ready. 🍿 (20 points, 9 comments)
10. Good morning and Happy Saturday to everyone who agrees that it's better to be "woke" than to sleepwalk through life acting like a rude, obnoxious, selfish asshole. (18 points, 1 comment)
288 points, 10 submissions: SetMau92
125 points, 4 submissions: blixt141
108 points, 5 submissions: Smelly-taint
1. I love how the GOP wants to destroy everything that their own constituents benefit from. (33 points, 7 comments)
2. Can't think of anything better than a dictator. 🤦🏽‍♂️ (30 points, 9 comments)
3. Yes! Yes! Yes! (21 points, 28 comments)
4. Woke? (13 points, 3 comments)
5. Fuck these Anti Constitutionalist. Attack the Capital then attack my rights. (11 points, 20 comments)
89 points, 6 submissions: Puffin_fan
1. Idaho Republicans Deny Girls Free Tampons in School (28 points, 6 comments)
2. GOP’s Proposed Expansion Of Work Requirements Targets Low-Income People In Their Early 50s Who Already Work (20 points, 3 comments)
3. Finland's average electricity price slips into negative territory (14 points, 2 comments)
4. 'I’m trying not to go into panic.' Review of millions of Medicaid enrollees plagued by error and confusion (10 points, 4 comments)
5. After Signature Bank Deal, FDIC Is Left With $11 Billion in ‘Toxic Waste’ Loans (9 points, 3 comments)
6. As Rail Profits Soar, Blocked Crossings Force Kids to Crawl Under Trains to Get to School (8 points, 0 comments)

Top Commenters

SpukiKitty (2210 points, 453 comments)
SqnLdrHarvey (1737 points, 394 comments)
In-The-Middle12 (1456 points, 284 comments)
Top-Bottle7403 (1301 points, 240 comments)
SmylesLee77 (1147 points, 294 comments)
ProgressiveDemocrats (1104 points, 204 comments)
FarPiano9575 (1090 points, 205 comments)
Alternative-Flan2869 (679 points, 178 comments)
HillbillyEulogy (588 points, 124 comments)
Biishep1230 (533 points, 101 comments)

Top Submissions

Top Comments

26 points: KayleighJK's comment in Wow. Students are standing outside the Tennessee House right now and chanting, “Fuck you fascists.” Young people are absolutely pissed off & we are about to give Republicans hell like they’ve never seenZ We aren’t forgetting this.
23 points: Similar_Candidate789's comment in Wow. Students are standing outside the Tennessee House right now and chanting, “Fuck you fascists.” Young people are absolutely pissed off & we are about to give Republicans hell like they’ve never seenZ We aren’t forgetting this.
23 points: SpukiKitty's comment in Wow. Students are standing outside the Tennessee House right now and chanting, “Fuck you fascists.” Young people are absolutely pissed off & we are about to give Republicans hell like they’ve never seenZ We aren’t forgetting this.
23 points: brotherstoic's comment in Should we be looking for someone other than Biden?
23 points: moreobviousthings's comment in Holy shit. The former Lt. Governor of Texas, Ben Barnes, just came forward to say he was part of a secret Republican operation that convinced Iran to keep Americans held hostage in order to sabotage Jimmy Carter’s 1980 presidential campaign. (Link to the story in comments below)
22 points: westofme's comment in Alex Jones transferred his assets to his family and friends, evading payments to Sandy Hook families. It should be illegal, but sadly, it's not.
20 points: Explorers_bub's comment in The city of Franklin, Tennessee is voting whether to allow a Pride festival. Someone during public comment says it will result in “a rainbow room where 8-12 year-old kids are given butt plugs & dildos.” --- This is what GOP propaganda is doing.
19 points: ProgressiveDemocrats's comment in Holy shit. The former Lt. Governor of Texas, Ben Barnes, just came forward to say he was part of a secret Republican operation that convinced Iran to keep Americans held hostage in order to sabotage Jimmy Carter’s 1980 presidential campaign. (Link to the story in comments below)
19 points: westofme's comment in Another war I must’ve missed.
18 points: HillbillyEulogy's comment in Please tell me whats wrong with this picture?

Generated with BBoe's Subreddit Stats

TO ALL STUDENTS: Avoid renting an apartment from TREMONT, THE BRYN, or THE POINTE in State College, or any property managed or owned by CARDINAL GROUP COMPANIES or GREYSTAR, or KEYSTONE PROPERTIES in all states! These are predatory businesses, that target college students. Although GREYSTAR reflects a "warning" on their website to avoid any association with properties that prohibit potential Tenants from viewing their apartment before Leasing, that is exactly what GREYSTAR employees do! THE BRYN at 601 VAIRO BLVD in State College, Pennsylvania is a "slum property", and so is THE POINTE at 501 S. VAIRO. They forbid potential Tenants from viewing apts before paying them multiple months of rent in advance, and signing a Lease. They only allow the view of a "Model", which is nothing like the actual apartments that look like "crack-houses". They scam people by making false representations about the true conditions of the apartments. Their Marketing Manager is WENDY DONOVAN. She lies to potential Tenants about everything. She has also stated that they will not, under any circumstance, allow potential renters to see their apartment before they actually take possession of it, even if the apt is vacant. THE POINTE'S Regional Manager is ZACH LOVETT. He carries out the same RACKETEERING SCAM that CARDINAL GROUP does at THE BRYN and TREMONT, both on VAIRO.
These properties will lie to potential Tenants and say there is only 2 apts left and they need to put a deposit/sign a lease fast to ensure they have an apt. They'll ask for approximately 3 months rent, or multiple months, in far advance. In the Illinois case, the VICTIMS discovered that they'd paid for an apartment that did not exist, on the day the Victim Tenant moved-in. The apt was uninhabitable! There was Black Mold throughout, filthy, black carpets, although the Marketing Manager, KATIE LIBERMAN LOVETT said that the apt and ALL apts are "deep steam cleaned". She and other staff make false claims about doing extensive cleaning to avoid COVID-19 exposure, especially if a previous Tenant vacated in a short period of time before the new Tenant(s) moved in. This is also false! These misstatements and misrepresentations are all part of their scheme to defraud. THE POINTE does the very same thing. Although they are owned and managed by different companies, ZACH LOVETT, THE POINTE'S Regional Mgr. and KATIE LIBERMAN LOVETT, CARDINAL GROUP'S former Marketing Mgr at THE BRYN and current employee of CARDINAL GROUP, are married, and carried out the same scheme to defraud.
These predatory businesses will take their time to repaireplace old, non-working appliances. THE BRYN had ALL non-working appliances at the time the Plaintiff in the Illinois lawsuit moved in, although they claimed that they had ALL updated and up-to-date appliances. Their webpage reflects that as well, but the appliances were 25-27 years old and NOT working. CARDINAL GROUP staff will then tell Tenants, "Too bad! You signed a Lease! Pay us or we'll send you to collections!"
They will also delete Tenants MAINTENANCE WORK ORDERS so that there is not a "paper trail" and no evidence, in their efforts to further their scheme to defraud.
THE BRYN, along with it's Owner, HAIM SABAN, CARDINAL GROUP COMPANIES, CARDINAL GROUP MANAGEMENT, and the CEO, ALEX O'BRIEN, KATIE LIBERMAN LOVETT, and VALERIE HERRERA are being sued in the state of Illinois, Federal Court Northern District of Illinois, Case# 1:21_CV- 4324. HERRERA is a CARDINAL GROUP MGMT. employee and worked/works at THE BRYN.
If you're a Penn State student, or you know of any student who has been been defrauded / scammed by these people / predatory businesses, contact PSU's Student Legal Services. Do not contact LAURA ROBBINS, Attorney in State College. She has claimed that she "handled" legal disputes on behalf of THE BRYN. She's also a liar. Beware of Attorneys that don't "sound right". It is also important that those who have been scammed by these people, file an online Complaint with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. It takes about 7 minutes to complete!
\**CARDINAL GROUP COMPANIES, ALEX O'BRIEN, and CARDINAL GROUP MANAGEMENT ARE ALSO BEING SUED IN DENVER, COLORADO for the same Racketeering Scheme, Scheme to Defraud! They are involved in another Class Action Lawsuit filed by* Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP in Seattle, Washington.
\**BEWARE OF ANY PROPERTY OWNED/OPERATED BY CARDINAL GROUP, OR GREYSTAR (HAS SIMILAR LAWSUITS AGAINST THEM).*
Last, do your research. There are not many Student Housing properties Off-Campus, that have not been recently sued in the past, or have pending lawsuits against them by the Pennsylvania Attorney General, for defrauding and scamming college students!!! A quick "google search" or accessing their website, go in the upper-left-hand corner, enter "State College" in the Search bar. There, you can see some current cases. You can contact them directly as well. That online Complaint is important! They can't do anything unless they know about it.
****Most important: Know your state's eavesdropping/tape-recording laws! If you do business with these slumlords & fraudsters, make sure you tape-record every communication with them. Courts and Jurys love tape-recorded evidence; it's indisputable!
Here's an article about the Denver, Colorado Class Action Lawsuit against CARDINAL GROUP COMPANIES & MANAGEMENT: https://coloradosun.com/2021/10/29/cardinal-group-management-lawsuit/ There's also posts on Reddit. There are also fake positive Reviews for these slum-properties on Google and Yelp, by staff members.
\***REMEMBER: SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!! And contact an Attorney if you've been scammed by them OR if you've rented from CARDINAL GROUP or GREYSTAR at any time after 2010: Fill out this form for updates on the Class Action Lawsuit in connection with "RealPage". Currently, 13 Members of Congress have reached out to the Dept. of Justice to go after* CARDINAL GROUP & GREYSTAR. You can read about them here. PLEASE SHARE THE INFO WITH OTHERS & SCHOOLS!\**\**
Class Action Link: COLLEGE STUDENT RENTAL PRICE FIXING
Dept. of Justice Investigation of Cardinal Group for Fraud: DEPT. OF JUSTICE OPENS INVESTIGATION INTO REAL ESTATE TECH CO. ACCUSED OF COLLUSION WITH LANDLORD (CARDINAL GROUP, GREYSTAR & OTHERS).
Lawsuits: Class Action Lawsuit against CARDINAL GROUP HOLDINGS, LLC (CARDINAL GROUP), GREYSTAR & OTHERS
Illinois Lawsuit Against CARDINAL GROUP HOLDINGS, CARDINAL GROUP COMPANIES, CARDINAL GROUP MANAGEMENT MIDWEST, & CEO ALEX O'BRIEN

Here is the longest I have ever written. My really heavy trips that are like a sequels to one another and they are totally connected. Sorry for the bad English - not my main language. I also will write only about the first trip this time - it took me so long, so only if you are interested in me sharing the 2nd and the 3rd trip with you, only then I will write them.
Fast backstory - mid 35, married, a 2 year old kid, running my own business. Started with MJ 12 years ago, then couple years later met Lucy and since then that is my base to every trip - sometimes pure, sometimes mixing. For many years I have been tripping alone in doses range 200-500. Mostly for fun. Never less, but also never higher. Never less, because thought that it was boring, but never higher because I was scared loosing control and do something that would hurt me, especially since I was going always solo. And for past 2 years I didn't trip much- didn't felt the need and didn't have much time. Also important note for the story - my wife is a doctor and she is against any use of any substances and we had an agreement with her, that even if I decide to use it, than I have to promise her that I will do it in a way she wouldn't know about it. I never lie to her ever, but I lie only about when I trip, saying that I just stay at work late. I feel really bad for it. But I was tripping way before I met her and she said that she would never ever be with a man, who uses any drugs. I know she would not divorce me because of it, but I still leave her out of it. So I trip usually outside, in rented places. Or overnight in the living room of our house - she is a heavy sleeper, so I don't need to lie then, I just trip and join her in the bed near the morning. Story will be about 3 very heavy trips I had this year. SO, here goes!
Prequel trip, Short prequel - it was last summer, was tripping in the wooden rented cabin. I dropped around 700 (first time over my 500 limit). It was by accident, I took the wrong batch. I dropped thinking 6 tabs of 75, but I accidentally took to my drive the 120 tabs (understood the mistake only when got back home), and I added mushrooms to the mix as well. Long story short - my first comatose state, lying on the floor for hours , experiencing "death", flying into the cosmos and experiencing the meaning of life. I will quote myself from the last reddit post I made a year ago:
"I felt like there's just laws of gravity Because felt like gravity is the only force that travels anywhere Without knowledge of time it just exists And it felt like we are just energy floating around the space. And that everything we know and see around, sounds and feelings - all that is just to set boundaries for this energy to be contained in one place. Without my shell, my history, memories and emotions I will just scatter, like energy of supernova, all light particles fly from the epicentre away into the darkness... Death. And life - is what contains this energy, let's it develop and sparkle up to the last day. Life is fucking beautiful"
So yeah, my first real dive into the deep. Time stretched to infinity, never ending trip and me not existing and not being able to see my own hands. I thought a lot about that experience and if I ever should try the heavy dose again. Tried to find a trip sitter for myself that I could trust, but never did and decided to leave it at that for some time.
1st trip - Winter 2023. I am at a very low point in my life - tired, some business struggles with profit, same at home and the toddler kid tested our marriage. I didn’t trip for around 4 months, never had a chance to take a break, but I decided that it is enough. I rented a AirBnB house (the owner lived in other house just 40 metres away) with an inside pool, took LSD with me more than I needed or planned to take. I didn't intend to take a hero dose that night, but was to lazy to unpack it and cut it, because mine comes not perforated, so I took everything, around 20 tabs of 100ug. So I relax during the day, visit sauna and the pool and closer to midnight I had a time to reflect on the life crisis I was in. I tried to think about positive solutions and how to cheer myself up. I usually drop tabs at midnight, so by getting closer to the start I become sadder and even more angry by the life I was living, how unfair to me it was, that I have to go that long, pay so much, lie about just to take a small break. The break I thought I deserved the most.
So i take the strip, look at it and just go YOLO - I cut it in half and consume around 1000ug by 22:00. The real effects started already on 10min and around 20min they become intense. And at that point I became mad as hell - firstly I started to yell and curse. I decided to record myself on the phone (just the sound), so I can reflect on the trip next day. I just walked around the house shouting and whining about my life crisis, about how nobody gives a fuck, how I am tired of working my ass off and still have to go that far -to rent a house, drive somewhere and hide from my family members just to have a chill night and take a small break. Around 1 hour pass (it was the last time I looked at the phone clock) and that was when whole hell breaks loose - I start to demolish the house in anger. I break furniture, I destroy the rags and curtains, I broke the window while still continue to yell "I don't fucking care anymore". I swear I saw how the lights turned up in the owners house and I knew - that is it... He will call the police and the most intense part of the trip I will spend in jail. I grab the phone and run to the pool and sauna area, close the door behind me, turn on all the lights and prepared for the worse. There were tinted windows in the poll area all around and since I turned all the lights and it was dark outside - everyone should be able to see what is happening inside, especially the owner. I lifted the heavy marble coffee table over my head and at top of my lungs I yelled "I give you 5 minutes to stop me, or I will through this table it the glass sauna door". (The important note here is that the pool area had an installed radio station and speakers, so some random "relax" station was on all the time playing random songs while all of this unfolded)
So I just stand there, half naked, with coffee table over my head, waiting for someone to enter. I waited for the police lights to show up. I think I saw somebody to press his face against the tinted window to look inside, so I yelled again "If you don't stop me now, than all of this is and everything that will fallow is your fault" At that point I was blaming not just the owner, but absolutely everyone - my wife, my kid, my employees, myself. "I earned this time, I earned to have my rest, I earned all of this and I will prove it to you! If you are not stopping me now, than I am right! And no matter how crazy you will think I am, I will prove you that LSD is the key to all the questions" At that time the conception of the time started to blur, like there was no start or end point to anything. I started to talk like if I was from the future refering to this present moment (I am quoting myself here, because those words are recorded on my phone) "This trip ended, now is morning and you are not stopping me yet - that means I am right, I was always right and I deserve this insignificant resting hours in this whole eternity"... And still nobody was coming in. I gave up and dropped the coffee table on the floor. At that point my body started to shut down. I felt down on the floor, I could not see my hands or body. I tried to get up, but I was falling every time as though my body was disintegrating. I felt my heart stopping, like if I was having a cardiac arrest. I was not being able to take a breath and was choking. A huge pain in my chest as the life was leaving my body. I felt the blood stopping in my neck . Lights started randomly to turn off, turn on, music fading in and away. I though someone entered the room as I was dying on the floor. The roof of the house collapsing and falling on top of me. The huge amount of pressure against my head as my skull cracked open. Darkness and just like white noise for eternity. Just random rays of light and immense force of gravitation ripping me to shreds.
And at this point some magical shit started to happen, that even till this day I am convinced was real and still not sure how to explain it. 2nd and 3rd trip only convinced me even more, but that story will be later. The first thing I heard after eternal darkness was the radio - the titanic song by Celine DIon. But the word were not the same, she was talking to me. Like some entity started to talk to me through different songs on the radio. I can't remember the words exactly, but the titanic song was that they (entities) understand my pain, that they know I am tired, but that in the end of life we will be all together and my pain and suffering will be over. Then the song changed and now it is some jazz song where the male voice is arguing with female voice about why he (male voice was representing me) has to suffer through this life, to be that alone in his struggles and the female voice was trying to convince him that it is all worth it at the end. The next song (It's Raining men) was saying that I am good man, that I have to continue finding moments also for my own pleasure and I have the right for the rest I deserved. The mirror appeared in front of me and I saw reflection of my tired face. Then I saw my phone that was switching through all the good pictures of the life I was living - mostly photos of how happy are my kid and wife, how much love I gave them and that I should not give up on life. I saw the photos that were transferred to my home HDD for storage and should not be on my phone. And songs were changing from one to another, sometimes fast. Sometimes playing full length and sometimes not even playing for 5 seconds and I know that no radio station would prank me like this. Some other familiar song switched and the words said that I had to man up, to be strong, that life is full of shit and that I need to be strong to get through it. That all the entities on the "Other side" will be patiently waiting for me, when I will fulfil my purpose here on Earth. That the universe will still hit me hard, that my life will be challenging, but since I dove so deep and for the first time looked behind the curtains of how the thing work in this universe, saw the "Other Side" - I will be rewarded from time to time, that they will help me be strong and be n the right path. And that I was right - I deserved the rest, I deserved to get a break and that I will get this brake this time, but I should not push my luck any further.
At this point I started to have a feeling of love. Same feeling I had when I met my future wife and fell in love with her. I started asking if this female entity was some kind of form of my wife or her soul, or her astral projection? Why do you care so much? And she said nothing, but also did not denied it. I felt the urge to fight for my life, fight no matter the difficulties. To fight and do everything possible to make my family happy, to protect them and be there when they need me. My vision started to get back, I saw the roof of the pool area. I was lying on the floor, the bright light was still on. I looked on the sides and found my phone nearby. I rested myself against the wall and noticed that it was around 4 in the morning (6 hours into the trip). The last "custom" song started to play on the radio - the woman sang about if she chose the right guy in her life to say YES to. She also told me that I should ask for help and share this experience with my wife. I involuntarily grabbed my phone and opened up the chat with my wife. As I wrote "Sorry, I messed up, I need something to tell you, call me" the song changed to her being certain I am the right man for her to marry. And here I finally started to taking back control on my actions and I erased almost everything except for "sorry", and the song changed to depressed tone, that maybe she was wrong in choosing me. I started to type same message again and the song became positive again. And in the end I just sent to my wife on word - "sorry". That was the moment the song ended, the radio switched to forecast, told me that the day will be sunny and warm (we don't have warm days in winter, there was snow outside) and wished me a great day.
And here the magic ended, like if someone flipped the switch. Radio started to play usual retro songs with no changed lyrics. I tried to stand up, but I could not do it right away. I felt a sharp pain on the forehead. It felt like I hit the head, so apparently I really did fall on the floor head first. The trip was ending really fast, the memory started to get back to me as I started to have more control over my hands and feet. I grabbed the phone again and checked if it was still recording - it was. I started to look around and saw the coffee table flipped on the side. I remembered how I demolished the whole house. I got up and made my way to the closed to door, that was leading to the living room. I was so afraid and I was certain that there will be someone - police or at least the owner waiting for me. I opened the door, turned the lights... the house was fucking intact! I thought that I was tripping and that is just an illusion, but the more I went through the rooms, I didn't see even a tiny bit of destruction. I destroyed so many things, that felt so real, how furniture broke, how kitchen appliances and ceramic broke into small pieces smashing against the wall and floors.... Nothing! I tripped hundreds of times before and always knew what was real and what was not. But this time I still don't know how to explain it. Even the "broken" window was intact. I ran back to the pool area and looked for the cracks on the floor, since the coffee table I threw was heavy to break the tiles. And I did find a small crack right underneath where the table landed, so it meant that at least the coffee table I really did throw that night. But that was much later than I destroyed everything else, how can I remember the coffee table and hallucinate everything else. I remembered that I had recording on the phone. I hid in the bedroom and started listening - I really did yell on top of my lungs almost for an hour and then I heard some noises, but nothing that can be defined as 100% of something breaking. Yeah, some furniture sounds, maybe something fell couple of times on the floor but no glass breaking or anything else. But I could swear by how real it was, that I did all of this.
But still there was other problem - I really did yell a lot and there is just no way the owner or his family members would not hear me. My windows were open through out the night. I looked through the curtains to see if owners windows were open and they were. So there is just no way he could not hear me yelling almost for 1 hour, promising to destroy his house. Imagine you rent out a house and hear someone yelling rants and wants to destroys your house, and you hear something happening inside. I would certainly called the cops if I was in his shoes. " But Ok, ok.... Even if he didn't call the cops, he most certainly will have questions in the morning" - I thought. I went through the house 5 times more and except for the crack in the tiles in the pool area, there was no sign of anything being destroyed or damaged. And even the crack was not that noticeable. I went to the bed, where I laid till the morning and started to think through all possible explanations I would say to the owner and all possible question he could have.
The morning came and my wife called - told me she just opened the chat and saw my "Sorry" asking what I meant. I said that I thought I would be home earlier from my work tonight, but had to return back so wrote her "Sorry". Matter closed. But then I remembered the request of the entity - to ask my wife for help and to share this experience with her. Ok, if I will tell her and try to prove my point, she would think I am crazy, or I have a psychosis or something - and that would certainly not make thing better in our relationship. But not asking her for help - I felt that I failed her astral projection from the future, that it would somehow change my future and the life I will have after I die. I really didn't know what to think and what to do (after 2nd and 3rd trip it became a bit clear)
And for the AirBnB - I got out, closed the house, left the key under the mat, and with the pupils still wide as possible, sat in my car and drove to owners gate waiting for him to get out and talk to me about what happened this night. But he looked through the window and just smiled, waved at me and opened the gate remotely... I drove away. In 2 hours his wife wrote a review on the AirBnB that I was a great guest, tidy, quiet, etc. That they would be happy to see me again and would recommend me to other AirBnB hosts. I was shocked!
Like WTF? Did they really not hear me? Or they just decided to close the matter, not talk to me and hope that I would never get back?... And then I started to think about what happened that night. Quote: "And that I was right - I deserved the rest, I deserved to get a break and that I will get this brake this time, but I should not push my luck any further" - that what I was told that night. Did they (entities) protect me this time? Was that something they showed me, that I could've done, but I didn't? Or they fixed the destruction I made and shielded me from the owner by isolating the sound? I was ready to even believe in this kind of miracles.... And I still think that something not normal happened that night.
So, this is the trip report. I hope you like it and it wasn't boring. Any questions welcomed. And if you want me to write 2nd and 3rd part - let me know.

So Iv had my cinema 600 for a little under 2 years. Until mid week I loved this unit. I got home from work and everything was normal, then the LED that shows volume level disappeared but the light that showed what input was in use was active.
I then noticed that if you went to swap to Bluetooth that light wouldn’t turn on like hdmi digital or analog. And soundbar isn’t discoverable. Also notice bar disconnected from app BUT the Bluetooth subwoofer is connected and functional.
Skip a couple days of trying to get information from Klipsch which was useless they couldn’t understand what I was stating in email and wouldn’t field a phone call.
Fast forward 2 days and now all lights are out but soundbar and sun functioning, then it would fill with static sound, turn off and back on and okay.
Skip to today and won’t power on.
Anyone experience anything like this? Or even able to get Klipsch to get wiring and voltage diagrams and a parts list to try and repair? Or are they as useless as this week has shown me?

Respect Toph

"If you knew me, the real me, you wouldn't be wondering if we're gonna live or die. Because you'd know I can keep this up as long as I need to. I'm Toph Beifong, the greatest earthbender of all time."

History: Born a blind girl sheltered by her wealthy parents, Toph learned earthbending in secret from the badgermoles of Gaoling. Secretly becoming the Earth Rumble champion known as the Blind Bandit, Toph's true destiny arrived when she joined the Avatar as his earthbending master. In travelling the world with Avatar Aang, Toph became by many accounts the greatest earthbender of her time.
After saving the world, and inventing metalbending along the way, Toph became an influential figure. She started the Toph Beifong Metalbending Academy to spread knowledge of the art, became chief of the Republic City police, and aided in the industrialization that helped modernize the world. Though she retired in her old age as a recluse, Toph still periodically answered the call to duty whenever the Avatar needed her.
Powers: Toph controls earth with a unique bending style, built primarily around her "seismic sense" that allows her compensate for her blindness by detecting and predicting movement through the vibrations around her. She later developed the art of metalbending she integrated into her combat style.

Source Key: Avatar: The Last Airbender Season & Episode = S#E# Katara and the Pirate's Silver = KPS Lost Adventures = LA Team Avatar Tales = TAT he Promise = TP The Rift = TR North and South = N&S Imbalance = IM Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy = MBA Free Comic Book Day = FCBD Legend of Korra Season 4 Episode = LoK E# Ruins of the Empire = RotE Avatar: The Last Airbender; Legacy = AtLAL Avatar Legends = AL The Art of the Animated Series = AAS Director's Commentary = DC

Physicals

Strength

Durability

Speed
Reactions - Earthbenders

Reactions - Others

Earthbending

Projectiles
Small

Medium

Large

Shifting Terrain
Small

Large

Columns
Small

Large

Launching People
Individuals

Groups

Barriers
Small

Medium

Large

Structures

Creates a hut around her ^S2E8
Builds a tent ^S2E8
Creates a large tent around a few occupants ^S2E12
Raises platforms to prepare for a party ^S3E2
Grabs Aang with an earth hand ^LA
Raises a slide beneath several men ^TR
Traps a group of people by quickly raising walls around them ^IM

Busting

Binding

Traps Ty Lee's limbs and raises a boulder from the ground ^S2E20
Pins Azula's arm to a cavern wall with a projectile ^S3E11
Encases Azula in stone ^S3E11
Binds a soldier with the ground beneath him ^KPS
Pulls earth around someone to bind them ^N&S

Strength

Precision

Sand

Mobility
Amplified Jumps

Burrowing

Raising Herself

Earth Surfing

Launches herself across a gap, and then surfs along the earth to travel quickly ^S2E19
Continues surfing along a swell of earth ^S2E20
Rides a swell of earth, then later does so again ^TR
Rides atop the earth and blasts open a barricaded door ^IM
Old Toph surfs on mud with agility ^{LoK S4E3}

Misc.

Makes an opening in a solid wall and closes it seamlessly ^S2E6
Hides inside a rock until she gets sick of waiting ^LA
Pulls up an earth slide while falling that catches she and Sokka ^TP
Raises an earthslide to a rooftop she stands on ^TP
Old Toph hides in a cave wall ^RotE

Misc.

Pulls up a cloud of dust to blind approaching fighters, clearing it away when she whittles them down to one ^S2E6
Chops her hands through stone that resists Aang's hands ^S2E9
Creates a massive dust cloud to obscure she and her team's approach ^S2E13
Clears mud off herself ^S3E7
Stifles flames alongside Aang ^KPS
Flips earth over onto fire to stifle it ^S3E4

Metalbending

Crumpling

Binding

Precision

ArmoStructures

Strength

Misc

Senses

Seismic Sense
General Info

Individuals

Groups

Metal

Structures

Misc.

Hearing

Lie Detection

Limitations

Sensing Limitations
Airborne targets

Sandy terrain

Surprised

Water

Other impediments

Says she cannot see as well with shoes on, so tears out the soles of those she has on ^S3E2
[Says she can barely see the event of a play from the nosebleed section]() though still able to intuit actors' attributes based on their voices ^S3E17
Says thick boots she wears at the South Pole make it harder for her to see her surroundings, though still manages to detect the approach of an underground drill ^N&S

Cont'd in Comments

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND ENTERTAINMENT -- Today/Friday, May 26; Saturday, May 27; Sunday, May 28; Monday, May 29 --- Juan de Fuca Festival; Hood Canal Fjord Fest; Shepherds’ Festival; concerts; community theater; art studio for teens; historical society's online auction; art studio; work to learn party.
By Peninsula Daily News (www.peninsuladailynews.com)
• The 30th anniversary Juan de Fuca Festival begins today, bringing together more than 60 acts on five stages and dozens of artisan and food vendors at the free street fair in Port Angeles.
The Vern Burton Community Center and grounds, 308 E. Fourth St., is the hub for the celebration of music and art from around the region and beyond.
The street fair, which will also showcase 18 Juan de Fuca debut artisans — local entrepreneurs vending for the first time — will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today through Sunday.
The Five Acre School Soundwaves marimba band will play on the Community Stage outside the Vern Burton center at 4:15 p.m. today, and then comes the opening ceremony for the Juan de Fuca Festival at 5 p.m. On the mainstage inside the Vern Burton, live music starts at 5:30 p.m. this evening and continues through Sunday, with the closing act, the Americana band Rose’s Pawn Shop, starting its mainstage show at 8:30 p.m.
This year, those 17 and younger get in free to the festival, and students 21 and younger with valid ID pay half price.
Three-day passes for adults are $100, while single-day passes are $30 for today, $55 for Saturday and $50 for Sunday. The Juan de Fuca Festival’s new mobile app offers ticket sales and information, as does its website, JFFA.org.
• The Memorial Weekend fundraising festival in Brinnon continues this weekend with a new name and new focus.
It will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 251 Hjelvicks Road, Brinnon, off U.S. Highway 101. The gate fee is $10 per day. Children younger than 12 are admitted free with a paying parent. Active military and veterans are admitted free with ID.
ShrimpFest began 30 years ago to celebrate the plentiful Hood Canal Spot Shrimp and raise funds for such local causes as schools, food banks and animal rescues. This year it has a new name: the Hood Canal Fjord Fest.
No spot shrimp will be sold in bulk. However, the famous shrimp will be part of dishes made by some vendors, along with other seafood and specialty locally sourced dishes, some of which are detailed at https://www.facebook.com/HoodCanalFjordFest.
• Pianist Lisa Lanza brings together the cream of Port Townsend’s young musicians and some of their equally talented elders for a Memorial Day weekend concert Sunday to perform for the benefit of Ugandan AIDS orphans.
The 12th annual show will be at the First Presbyterian Church at 1111 Franklin St. in Port Townsend, which co-sponsors this historically sold-out musical event with Grace Lutheran Church.
“Sharing Music, Enriching Lives” will be at 4 p.m. Sunday. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m. Pre-concert music will be performed at 3:45 p.m. by “Lambs in the Fold,” Jeni Little, Don Fristoe, Hank Snelgrove and John Snelgrove. A $15 to $20 donation, cash or check, is suggested. Masks are recommended but not required.
• Key City Public Theatre in Port Townsend will present PlayCraft Originals and 10-minute productions for Sips & Scripts at 7 p.m. tonight and 5:30 p.m. Saturday
All tickets are pay-what-you-wish for a chance to have a behind-the-scenes look at innovative stories in the works, according to a press release. Tickets and information can be found at KeyCityPublicTheatre.org, by emailing [email protected], or in person during box office hours from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• The Bunker, a free art studio for teens, has its next session today at the nonprofit Northwind Art School at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend.
Calligrapher Lindsey Wayland and painter Michele Soderstrom, who’s also a Port Townsend High School art teacher, are the two volunteers hosting the session. Middle school and high school students are welcome. The Bunker will be well-stocked with art supplies, snacks and drinks, and music will play all afternoon.
The Bunker will be open from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Building 306 at the fort. Information and the parental permission form can be found at https://northwindart.org; click on Courses.
• Mia Torres will perform from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. tonight at the Old Alcohol Plant Inn, 310 Hadlock Bay Road, Port Hadlock. No cover charge.
• AHA Auction for the Jefferson County Historical Society ends at midnight today.
All funds raised go to sustain the historical society’s core programs and build new ones, the group said in a press release. AHA stands for Art, History and Adventure.
To place bids or donate, see https://go.rallyup.com/jchsmuseum-aha.../Campaign/Details....
• Mike and Val James will perform from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at Spirits Bar and Grill in the Old Alcohol Plant Inn, 310 Hadlock Bay Road, Port Hadlock. No cover charge.
• Sound Advice will play Motown, classic soul and rock favorites from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday at the Sequim Elks, 143 Port Williams Road, Sequim. Admission is $12 per person, $10 for Elks members.
• House of Hamill will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Quimper Grange, 1219 Corona St., Port Townsend. Admission is $20 per person; mask wear is requested.
• Port Townsend Urban sketchers will meet in Uptown Port Townsend at 10 a.m. Saturday. The group will meet at the corner of Lawrence and Tyler streets opposite from Aldrich’s Market.
After sketching, the group will reconvene at noon to share their work and take a photo. The event is open to all skill levels. For more information, visit www.urbansketchers porttownsend. wordpress.com.
• Spring Art Fair will be hosted by the Port Ludlow Art League from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The annual art sale is at the Bay Club, 120 Spinnaker Place.
The sale features work from local artists that includes jewelry, ceramics, paintings, photographs, textiles, woodwork, baskets, cards and books. Proceeds benefit the league’s scholarship fund. For more information, visit www.portludlowart.org.
• Work to learn party hosted by the Sequim Botanical Garden Society will be at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The work party is in the Terrace Garden at Carrie Blake Community Park, 202 N. Blake Ave. Gail Ditmore will discuss the care and growing of peonies. The presentation is free and open to the public. For more information, call Dona Brock at 360-460-8865, email [email protected] or www.sequim botanicalgarden.org.
• Shepherds’ Festival is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday.
The annual festival is at Sequim Prairie Grange, 290 Macleay Road. The free festival is sponsored by Clallam County 4-H, the North Olympic Shuttle and Spindle Guild and the Olympic Peninsula Fiber Growers Association.
Featured activities include sheep herding and shearing demonstrations, a farm animal petting zoo, fiber spinning demonstrations, a 4-H raffle, arts and crafts vendors and lamb kebabs and lamb chili.
• Art installation at Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend will continue through mid-August. Forty works form the Northwind Art’s Showcase program are on view in public reception areas. For details, see north windart.org and click on Courses.

One nice side-effect of the lifting of secrecy was that the entire team (human and alien) could now be reassigned to somewhere more palatial than a sealed-off side-entrance into a hollowed-out mountain. But where, oh where, to put them? What was needed was someplace A) which was much nicer than a tunnel (humanity must treat our alien guests properly, after all) and B) was already set up with the necessary security precautions and secure communications in and out.
In the end, there was, really, only one choice of location…at least if they wanted to stay in the United States proper.
Camp David.
Corporal McCoy spread her arms out along the back of a very nice red-leather sofa, in the middle of a room dominated by a red-brick fireplace in one corner. Along the two far walls from the fireplace stretched multiple windows which showed, at the moment, the denuded stick-like forms of leafless trees. She knew that in the spring and summer they’d be a veritable explosion of green; somehow, she didn’t mind that she wasn’t able to see leaves at the moment. Off in a far corner of the room sat a wet bar that she also eyed with quite evident lust. There was at least one nice single-malt scotch there that she wanted to get ahold of. Just for a taste, mind you.
Not everyone was there; Chao and Grakosh were off in the midst of some giant nerd mind-meld with some Lockheed Martin Skunk-Works types, trying to figure out how to lift what materials were needed into orbit so that humans could help fix the Rithro and show the Coalition that we are very good and oh so helpful little sapients, yes indeed we are, please help us out just in case we get discovered by some genocidal robots who want to do a little bit of trolling.
Moquon, the knuall-toua who was the ship’s lifesystem engineer, coiled around her shoulder as the latter looked with interest at the wood paneling which made up the rafters and roof.
“Now this is more like it!” McCoy exclaimed to all and sundry.
“Yes, indeed! It does seem much nicer than our previous lodgings,” said Mouquon.
“This is not a vacation, corporal.” Sergeant Shaw stood next to one of the nearly floor-to ceiling windows, looking out over the grounds below with a practiced eye.
“You need to relax, Sarge,” said Martinez. “We got something like a million Secret Service agents prowling around here. I went shooting with one of ‘em once, trust me when I say those people are no joke.” He chuckled. “First time I got my ass kicked in a shooting contest by a woman.”
Shaw let out a grunt. “We are the last layer of the onion.”
“Sir?” asked McCoy.
“Someone can figure out we’re here pretty easily.” Shaw pointed out into the wintry woods. “If they send a determined and well-armed force, they might just make through those million agents to here.” He turned away from the window and stared at his team, who, at the moment, sprawled or sat with evident relief on the furniture within the room. “The OPFOR might get taken down. But then again, they might not. What do we do then?”
McCoy felt Mouqon coil herself tighter around her shoulder. Almost on instinct, she reached up and patted the snake-like alien’s head. “Don’t you worry. I’m here.”
Shaw pointed at the corporal. “Exactly. We are the last, and I do mean the last, line of defense. We are gonna run some drills at a time and place of my choosing. We are going to protect our esteemed guests to the very last…and yes, I do mean the very last. Make sure your gear is ready and that you are ready, or I will give y’all an ass-chewing they’ll feel clear out to the Coalition.”
Agent Milton Vila strolled into the lounge at that particular moment with a grin on his broad face. “Sounds like we’re getting an upgrade to our security, Mack.”
“Aw hell, you know how it is. I gotta keep these assholes on their toes or everything breaks down into chaos.”
The Secret Service agent grinned. “Anyways…we now have a new member of our merry band of misfits.”
“Misfits?” Martinez looked appropriately indignant. “I’ll have you know I am a perfectly normal functioning member of society!”
The agent and soldier held each other’s gaze for a few moments before they both busted out in laughter. “Anyways,” continued Vila, “He’s the medical expert that the general requested.” He turned to one of the entrances to the lounge. “Come on in, sir.”
A dark-skinned, lean man with an uncertain air entered. “Zawahir Ibn Harith,” he said by way of greeting. His eyes widened upon viewing the various alien forms now stretched out in various relaxed postures before him.
McCoy decided to throw him a bone. “Welcome!” She gave a wave of her arm…the arm around whose shoulder Mouquon was currently coiled. “Welcome to our…merry band of misfits!”
“Thank you!” The newcomer still looked a bit at sea.
“Hey, Dhuz?” McCoy called out.
The auhn turned from her gazing out the windows. “Yes?”
“I figure you and this guy got a lot to talk about.”
Dhuz met Zawahir’s eyes and smiled. McCoy was still getting used to that; it was a gesture of happiness just as with humans, but auhn teeth were very numerous and very sharp. “I imagine so. Mutual exchange of medical data, yes?”
Now that he had a task before him, Zawahir looked a lot more focused. “Of course! I mean, from what I’ve read thus far all of your species use some method of metal-oxygen bonding to deliver the necessary oxygen to your tissues, but not everyone uses hemoglobin!”
Dhuz lit up. “Exactly!” She touched her forearm and a big old wall of text and diagrams formed above it. “Here, let me show you…”
McCoy chuckled as the pair moved off into a far corner to continue their conversation. “Another nerd mind-meld,” she said to no one in particular.
“Pardon?” asked Mouquon.
“Oh, sorry. Just…Chao and your engineer are now off doing a big old nerd mind-meld with our best and brightest. The last time we had that much talent in one place, we wound up dropping the sun on some people.” The corporal regarded the pair now in the midst of an animated conversation. “I hope this particular nerd-gasm results in something more constructive.”
“Oh!” Mouquon perked up. “I should be a part of this ‘nerd-gasm’. At least, if they start talking about what foodstuffs are viable for the various species.”
McCoy sighed. This was a very comfortable couch, after all. “You’re right, Mouquon.” She hauled herself up and off of the furniture with a bit of reluctance. “Let’s get you involved.” She walked towards the pair, who were both still gesticulating at the display over Dhuz’s forearm.
__________
Milton Vila had, much to his annoyance, been pulled off of President Correa’s detail and assigned to a new one…one to protect the alien captain. Sure, Agent Keynes had taken his place…and if he was forced to admit it, the guy was as good of a shot as he was…but Keynes wasn’t him, and that knowledge ate at him.
Still, he supposed that at least he wasn’t alone in his misery. Sergeant Shaw (who had finally admitted to Milton he was a Green Beret, which helped nail down exactly which branch of the armed forces his team worked for) was also pulled into the task of guarding Sadaf…upon Milton’s request. Not that he would tell the Green Beret that. The sergeant had also gotten the tailoring treatment from Milton’s wife, and now he wore a navy-blue suit which complimented his red hair quite nicely. But the Secret Service agent could tell that the man still wanted to be clad in full battle-rattle and toting a rifle instead of a mere hidden handgun.
“I still say I should be able to wear my normal shit,” said Shaw, not for the first time. At the moment, the three rode in a limousine, on their way to some gala luncheon event held by some upper-crust DC types who wanted to get a speech by one of the brand-new alien celebrities. Milton hoped that they’d also decide to open their damn pocketbooks to help fund the repairs needed for the alien’s ship; in the short time he’d known her, the agent had become won over by Sadaf’s no-nonsense and in-charge attitude.
“We’re trying to not scare the normies, Mack,” replied Milton.
Sadaf, who sat next to the hulking red-bearded man, looked over at him in curiosity. “You want to wear your usual fecal matter?”
“Frinxing translators,” muttered Shaw. As was usual, the various profanities of alien language were the first things to percolate into human speech. “Sorry, ma’am, I meant my normal gear. Yeah, I’m wearing body armor but this stuff is class two at best.” He plucked at his jacket. “Plus I’m not used to moving in this monkey suit.”
Milton grinned. “You’ll get used to it soon enough, Mack. Hey, my people have cleared the place beforehand. Our job is just to stand there behind the good captain and look menacing. And then when she’s doing the meet-and-greet afterwards we need to look extra menacing…and, of course, keep an eye out just in case someone makes a false move.”
“I don’t want to get used to this,” grumped Shaw. “I don’t want to get used to any of this. I want some proper goddamn body armor and a proper goddamn rifle with some goddamn extra magazines. A rifle with an M203 launcher, just in case someone gets really squirrelly.”
The agent winced. “Um, Mack, we civvies do have to worry about things like ‘collateral damage’ and such.”
Shaw’s normally cheerful demeanor fell into a somber look towards the agent, one that brought Milton up short. “Agent Milton, have you ever fallen victim to an RPG attack?”
“Um, no?”
“I have. Trust me, there is never such a thing as overkill.”
Milton sighed. He reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a city map. “Okay, I suppose that’s as good an excuse to go over everything again. This is the courtyard for the shindig.”
“Shindig!” exclaimed Sadaf in pleasure. “I don’t know why, but that word brings me joy.”
The agent smiled at her. “You’re gonna get used to it, believe me. So, we’ve got the whole area blocked off here, here, and here. Full-body scans for everyone going in, and believe me they’d better have the proper ticket to be there or they’re in for some looong questioning in a little dark room somewhere. No outside translator beads allowed, we issue ‘em after they get through the perimeter. We have snipers located here, here, here, and here. Each one has their own designated field of fire, the four of ‘em cover all angles. Anyone who pops their head up on any of the surrounding roofs will get a fifty-cal bullet right through their noggin before they can even blink.”
“What about the courtyard itself?” asked Shaw. “Before you set up the perimeter, I mean.”
Milton grinned. The sergeant had the makings of a first-class agent. “A very good question. We swept the area prior, using metal detectors and dogs. Especially for the dais and podium where Captain Sadaf is going to make her speech. If I was gonna try for a hit, that’s how I’d do it. Plant some explosives in the podium and trigger it remotely. But we didn’t find anything.”
The sergeant smoothed his beard in a nervous tic. “Drones?”
“Jammers for a thousand-yard radius around the podium. Anything remotely piloted into that space will just fall to the ground. As a bonus, just in case someone decides to try something cute using their cell phone, those won’t work either.”
Shaw grunted in grudging approval. “Sounds good.”
“This is how I earn a living, Mack. Relax.”
Sadaf rubbed a hand on her forehead. She was now clad back in her black-and-silver uniform; somehow the powers that be had determined that it was now okay for her to wear the supposed ‘militaristic’ uniform in public. “Is all this security strictly necessary? I mean, thus far most of your world’s nations seem to be behaving rationally.”
“Oh, we’re not worried about state actors, ma’am,” said Milton. “Well, except for a few. There’s always North Korea, after all.”
“Frinx, don’t get me started on those assholes,” muttered Shaw.
Milton continued, in what he hoped came across as a soothing tone. “Look at it this way. Does your kind suffer from mental disease?”
“Originally, yes. But thanks to medical intervention we can catch almost all of them. At present, we suffer from less than one in three hundred million who have an incurable derangement of the brain…” Sadaf’s eyes widened as she trailed off. “Oh. I forgot, you don’t have access to our level of medical technology.”
Shaw sighed. “No, ma’am, we don’t. Not to mention there’s almost eight billion of us on this here planet. Even assuming only one-hundredth-of-a-percent of those people wish you harm, that’s far too big of a population for us to relax.”
Sadaf seemed to shrink into the cushions of the limousine. “But we come in peace. We don’t mean you any harm.”
Milton knew that it was a breach of protocol, but he reached across and patted her knee. “I know that, ma’am, and almost everyone on the planet knows that. But there are some…well, there are some you just can’t reach.”
Shaw rubbed his jaw as he regarded the map again. “Damn. Wish I had Toke here. That guy could sniff out something hinky like nobody’s business. Plus if something did kick off, he could sort it out no problem.”
“He’s the skinny, taller guy, right?” asked Milton. “Marine Force Recon, I do believe. I know they are double-tough. Yeah, I admit he’d be good for something like this. But the powers that be want to keep him back at Camp David.”
The sergeant grunted in annoyance and looked out the window of the limousine. Then he looked up with a quirky smile. “I guess so. Look at it this way, if something does kick off, then having him at Camp David means that whoms’tsoever tries an assault there is gonna die.”
Milton replied to Shaw with a raised eyebrow. “All right, Shaw. Just between you and me, we deal with very dangerous people by being very dangerous people ourselves. Don’t try to feed me a line of dramatic bullshit.”
For once, Shaw looked flustered. “No, you don’t understand! Toke was the guy you’d drop into the shit, into the middle of any utter hell on Earth, and he’d get you your grid coordinates for arty or drone strikes while escorting two other guys and, oh yeah, he’d kill ten enemies at long range while doing all of that. And not just long-range. He once took out five guys in ten seconds with a knife…and he’s supposed to be a fucking sniper!” The sergeant shuddered. “I can’t tell you about the mission where he got his knee messed up, but let’s just say…he earned every single one of his medals during that action. He’s a throwback.”
Milton tilted his head, as did Sadaf. “Explain,” said the Captain, and not as a question.
“I mean, mentally, in some ways, he’s kinda from way back when we humans were all ooga-booga and lived in caves and smacked each other over the head with clubs. Toke just…ends things. Nice guy, hell if I had kids I’d let him watch ‘em with nary a care in the world. But you press one particular button and he…well, he reverts. He reverts to what we used to be.”
__________
Most of Camp David’s staff was still in bed; Matt had to admit that they’d adapted with admirable speed to having a motley crew of human knuckle-draggers and literal fucking aliens plonked down amongst them. But now it was early morning and Toke was hungry. If he was an asshole, he’d rouse one of the staff to assist in that but he’d rather slice off a toe rather than bother some hard-working person just to make him something to eat. Thus he headed for the kitchen to rustle up some grub for himself.
As he walked through the lounge, which was fast becoming the go-to point for everyone, he saw Kexal, the other udhyr, standing in front of the windows looking out over the wintry scene outside. The massive alien’s head just brushed against the auburn-colored wooden rafters that stretched upwards to form the roof overhead.
“Morning,” said Matt, trying to keep it casual. He’d never spoken much with the planetologist.
“Good morning, Matt!” replied the big alien, with enthusiasm. “I was just in the midst of getting my feel.”
The statement brought the Marine up short. “Feel?”
In response Kexal motioned him over with one of his lower arms. Matt had picked up enough alien social cues to know that such a gesture was intended as something more intimate. He stepped up beside the udhyr, who then proceeded to steer him around in front of him using his big upper arms.
He looked out over the wintry scene. Dawn was just starting, and the sun was beginning to peek over the leafless trees. “Okay, what am I looking or, should I say, feeling for?” he asked.
“The voice of your planet,” replied Kexal. “Being a planetologist is indeed a matter of knowing about weather patterns, about how the types of water, methane, and carbon dioxide ice react under various temperatures and pressures, of how a planet’s entire atmosphere changes when life is present. But there is also this.” He pointed with one big, three-fingered mitt out the windows in front of them both. “If you simply allow it, this planet can speak to you. Those in my profession call it getting the ‘feel’ of a planet. It may sound strange and mystic, but…I am getting my feel.”
That made Matt ruminate on his own view of his planet. Up until now, as far as he was concerned, it was just…there. “So, what kind of ‘feel’ are you getting thus far?”
“This place is wonderful, a lovely oasis. It welcomes me and my colleagues. This is a bastion of life in the midst of an unfeeling dark, much like other life-bearing worlds we’ve encountered…all too infrequently, sad to say.”
“So you’re saying we should treasure this planet?” Matt smiled. “I sure can’t argue with you there. We are trying to be more appreciative of it.”
“Indeed.”
The pair watched the sunrise in pleasant silence for a few minutes, until Matt’s stomach growled again. “All right,” he said. “This is nice getting our feel and all, but I gotta eat something. You hungry?”
“I could consume something.”
“Good, because I’m fuckin’ starving. Follow me.”
He led the big alien through to the kitchen. Thanks to heroic efforts by Dhuz and Mouquon back when they were sequestered in Cheyenne Mountain and then by efforts by those two and Zawahir in the last few days, all possible poisonous or allergic foods had been removed from the premises. That did limit the meals available, but as long as he didn’t have to eat it out of a pouch Matt was content.
He opened the fridge, surveying the contents. “I was just gonna do a sandwich. You want one?”
The udhyr sat at the nearby table; both of the big aliens had long ago forsaken chairs and simply sat on the floor. They claimed it was just as comfortable, and Matt for one was not going to press them on the matter. “Yes, I would like a ‘sandwich’. If it’s not too much trouble.”
Matt scanned the fridge interior. “No trouble at all. Okay, bread, we got.” He pulled a loaf out of the fridge; it had confused him the first time he’d seen it stored like that, since he’d grown up in northern, drier climes. But even in mid-winter this was a humid climate and it was way too easy for bread to go all moldy far too quickly. “Now all we need is filling…” His eyes lit on a big tub and he let out a little ‘ah!’ of pleasure. “Pimento.”
“Pimento?”
With reverence, Matt removed the tub from the fridge and set it on the counter next to the bread. “It’s a cheese-and-pepper spread. They call it the caviar of the South. I got addicted to this stuff back during my basic training days.” He shut the fridge, opened the upper cabinets, and was again pleased to see plates right where he expected them. He took down two.
Martinez strolled into the kitchen as he stretched his arms over his head. He was clad in sweatpants and a hoodie. “Morning, folks. Nothing like a nice little 5k to get the blood flowing in the morning.”
Kexal clicked his mandibles in puzzlement. “Five Kay?”
“Five-kilometer jog. Gotta keep fit, my man. Otherwise Sarge is gonna come back from his deployment and kick our asses.” The corporal’s eyes lit upon the foodstuffs laid out on the counter next to the fridge. “Hmm, breakfast?”
“Just pimento sandwiches,” said Matt as he took out another plate. “You want one?” It was a bit of a trick question; if you ask a soldier if he wants something to eat, the answer was always ‘yes’.
Martinez did not disappoint. “Oh hell yes. Not quite breakfast food, but I’ve for sure eaten way worse way earlier in the morning.”
“Vomlet?”
The corporal shuddered. “Shit man, I somehow wound up with one of those once in spite of it being way out of date. Nothing but a solid orange brick of nastiness, even with the salsa added to it. Are you tryin’ to give me PTSD?”
Matt pulled out a drawer and found a convenient knife. He began laying out the sandwich makings on each plate. “Could be worse. Could be the dreaded Four Fingers of Death.”
“Oof, I only heard about those. Were they bad as they say?”
“Oh, yes, they were,” replied Matt.
“Four Fingers of Death?” asked Kexal.
“Hot dogs,” replied Matt. “Um…little sausages. Ground-up meat, put it in a long casing, boil it or steam it or smoke it. It’ll last for a long time.”
“Ah!” The giant alien looked pleased…at least, Matt was pretty sure he looked pleased. “We have a similar cuisine involving smoked fish, ground up and molded into cakes.”
“Interesting. Then you should know that it should be a no-brainer to make good hot dogs. I mean, go to any ball game and you’ll see ‘em getting wolfed down by the ton. And yet, somehow, someway, Uncle Sam figured out how to screw up damn hot dogs. Four to a pack, and it was the nastiest shit you’ve ever ate.” He held up a hand, showing his fingers held together. “Hence the Four Fingers of Death.”
Kexal let out a pleased click as Matt continued assembling the sandwiches. “I really do feel like I’m getting a better feeling for human society.”
“It’s a very weird and small cross-section of human society,” said Martinez as he seated himself at the table. “We need to get this guy out to Yosemite or, or even better Yellowstone. I was out in Yellowstone once as a kid, it’s really damn cool. He needs to see some proper scenery. Or hell, just drop him into Times Square to chat with the locals.”
“We will do so, once we’re sure that the rest of humanity hasn’t lost its collective shit,” Matt replied. He finished putting the top slice of bread on each sandwich, then turned and fixed the two at the table with a gimlet eye. “Now. We have two important questions to answer. Crusts on or off?”
Martinez blinked, then responded. “Crusts on! Hell, I would always make sure to get the heel when I was a kid.”
“You’re a man after my own heart, Martinez. Kexal?”
“Um, as long as there are no allergens, then I will also go crust on?”
“Good. Next important question. Horizontal or diagonal cut?” Matt hovered the knife over one sandwich, showing each potential slice.
Martinez opted for horizontal, while Kexal requested diagonal. Matt cut each sandwich as requested, then placed each one in front of its recipient with the appropriate regal air. He then took his own, uncut sandwich and sat at the table.
“You don’t cut yours?” asked Martinez.
“Nope. That’s because I’m a savage.” Matt held the corporal’s eyes while he took a big bite out of his own uncut sandwich.
They all munched happily for a few minutes…right up until the alarm went off.
__________
“…and so I am humbly thankful to receive this honorarium on behalf of my crew and all of the Coalition…”
Milton figured that he had the easier job; just stand there and get across the message of ‘if you bum-rush this little blue-scaled person, you will die, and it will hurt the entire time’. He didn’t envy Captain Sadaf her newfound position as Representative Of All Of Alien-Kind, but then again he’d always been more of a wallflower-type anyway in spite of his impressive size. How he’d landed a dreamboat like Teresa was still a mystery for the ages. Although, if he was honest, she had approached him rather than the other way around.
He smiled internally at the memory of her walking up to him at the Sadie Hawkins’ dance and asking if he wanted to go for a spin on the dance floor. Something in her smile and direct gaze had awakened a more confident version of himself, and he’d accepted her request with the requisite gravity.
However it had happened, he now had a family. A wonderful wife and a son, the apple of his eye. But that wasn’t enough. He and Teresa were working hard on adding a daughter to the mix. If it turned out to be another son he wouldn’t be put out, but in his heart of hearts he wanted it to be a daughter. Just so he could spoil her rotten. But then again, if the Breakers arrived, whatever sex his next child turned out to be might be irrelevant.
Milton stopped his woolgathering and focused back on his job. Thus far his earpiece was silent save for periodic check-ins, which was good. No news was good news, after all.
Beside him, Sergeant Shaw constantly scanned the skies. That was fine, since Milton was busy scanning the people arrayed before him. Most of them were older blue-hairs who he could take with a pinky finger, but you never knew. Even an old person could wield a knife with deadly intent.
“…you must understand, we never intended to be here. It was sheer dumb fate that landed us in your, if I’m honest, quite generous lap. I understand that there is, amongst you humans, a lot of concern that we did not approach you directly. But I would invite you to look at it from our point of view. We had fragments, a few little transmissions and video images without context. We had no idea if you would respond to our presence with reflexive hostility. We were only here to gather data, to determine if a follow-up First Contact fleet would be welcomed.”
Sadaf paused and shook her head, a gesture she’d picked up from her time amongst humans. “As you well know, we were not given such a chance. But thankfully things have worked out well in spite of those circumstances…”
Milton’s forehead wrinkled as he heard a weird noise. It sounded a bit like ripping cloth, descending in tone. He reached up towards his ear to ask his team if they heard it as well…
Shaw straightened up, looking like a navy-blue wall of flesh. “INCOMING!” he bawled, just before lunging towards Sadaf at the podium.
The agent suddenly realized the source of that noise. “EVERYBODY DOWN!” he yelled in return as he threw himself at a few VIPs seated near him on the dais.
The huge sergeant simply yeeted the diminutive captain off towards the far end of the dais, before throwing his own considerable bulk at the other VIPs off to the other side.
Then the entire world seemed to explode. Milton’s ears just shut down at the resulting noise. After a moment, he picked himself up and looked over towards his principal, his ears ringing. He knew people were shouting, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.
The small alien was out at the perimeter of the blast, and as she got to her feet she patted herself down in an automatic maneuver that Milton knew very well. She looked up, met his eyes, and gave him a thumbs-up.
“One thing gone right, at least,” he muttered to himself as he hauled himself upright. Okay, damage check…legs okay, feet fine…get moving, you asshole, get to your principal, keep her safe. As he lurched forward, he realized his right arm wasn’t moving properly.
He looked down.
Oh.
His right arm was gone below the elbow.
“Fuck,” he muttered. “Am I supposed to learn to shoot left-handed now?”
Then he realized there was quite a bit of blood streaming out of his new stump…maybe he should sit this one out?
No.
Fuck that.
He was going to reach his principal, if nothing else he’d act as a meat shield. As he continued his determined lurching, in some distant corner of Milton’s mind he wished he could have given his beloved Johnny a little sister to torment.
Someone tackled him to the ground, and he performed an automatic hip-throw before jamming his still-existing left forearm across the throat of a terrified…wait, this was just a kid.
“MEDIC!” screamed the kid. “I’m a MEDIC!”
“What…oh.” Milton looked up into the astonished face of Captain Sadaf; he’d managed to made it all the way to her. “She okay?”
“SHE’S FINE!” yelled someone else.
Then another thought came into his adrenaline-fueled brain. “SHAW!” he all but screamed, looking back towards where the sergeant had been before this whole horrible business had kicked off.
What he saw was a big man, clad in navy blue, sprawled over several blue-haired gentry who looked appropriately terrified. And that big man’s leg ended just below his left knee, with blood streaming out of it.

First time built my own new PC... but after 2 weeks of smooth games playing, I experienced stuttering from games or even in desktop.
After frustrated of 1 month troubleshooting, the stutter still persist, so I made a short conclusion as GPU defect and sent back my used Gigabyte Gaming OC RX6700XT for a repaicheck by the used-GPU seller.
I would assume that the seller will just send back the GPU after "repair" and the stutter resumes, so I will just be like "fk it, let's just buy a brand-new-fresh-not-used GPU and done with it".
In this period of waiting for the respond from the used-GPU seller, I would like to know if waiting for GPU repair is better to buy a new GPU for a new build.
PS, I was considering a new RTX 4070, if that will not lead to potential stutter issue.
PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor	$219.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	ID-COOLING SE-207-XT SLIM 76.16 CFM CPU Cooler	$35.00
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650M GAMING X AX Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard	$210.00
Memory	Kingston Renegade Silver 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL32 Memory	$139.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Kingston KC3000 1.024 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$106.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Gigabyte GV-R67XT-12GD-B Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB Video Card	Purchased For $270.00
Case	Cooler Master MasterBox Q500L ATX Mid Tower Case	$78.98 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Thermaltake Smart BM2 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$90.44 @ Amazon
Monitor	Gigabyte G24F 2 23.8" 1920 x 1080 180 Hz Monitor	$160.00
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1311.39
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-05-27 13:24 EDT-0400

”Short” recap of the Jets' 2022 Season

The Jets had a noisy offseason in 2022 as they were big spenders in free agency, bringing in CB DJ Reed, TE CJ Uzomah, and OG Laken Tomlinson. The also had 3 first round picks and an early second rounder to give the team one of the youngest roster in the NFL by snaps given. The main headline going into the Jets regular season was, like most NFL teams, centered around the quarterback position. The Jets drafted BYU QB Zach Wilson #2 overall in the 2021 NFL draft. Statistically, Zach's rookie campaign was off to an abysmal start with 4 TDs and 9 picks in his first Five starts before having his midseason interrupted by a knee injury. Zach would return and threw 5 touchdowns and just two picks in his last seven games, playing less dynamically than he had in Tennessee but smarter and safer. Zach went into the 2022 season looking to improve on his 2,334 yards passing, 55.6% completion percentage, 9 passing touchdowns, 4 rushing touchdowns, and 11 interceptions from 2022.
However, Zach would miss September due to a miniscus tear he suffered in the preseason. The Jets started Joe Flacco at the quarterback position for their opening three games; going 1-2 with a historical comeback win at Cleveland (I didn't have to mention this but it's the most exciting Jets football you'll ever see). After Zach returned, the Jets opened out on a winning streak. However, this had more to do with the star performances of the Jets rookies, namely WR Garrett Wilson, RB Breece Hall, and CB Sauce Gardner. In Denver, the Jets suffered a pyrrhic victory at hands of the Broncos as the team won 16-9, but suffered season ending injuries to OL Alijah Vera-Tucker and Breece Hall. Hindering the offensive line and prematurely ending Hall's OROTY campaign. This altered the course of the Jets' season for the worse. While young stars Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner continued to shine, the team's offense couldn't make up for the loss of Breece Hall as they were forced to look to Zach Wilson to lead the passing offense. Zach Wilson regressed heavily from his already terrible rookie season and as a result of his poor performance and attitude, was benched. The Jets attempted to salvage their season by looking to Mike White, who almost immediately went out with injury, and then later to Flacco (and at one point, Chris Streveler, fresh out of the CFL). Only two seasons into Wilson's career, he's cemented himself among the greatest draft busts in NFL history and for the sake of playefan morale, is completely unplayable in 2023. He isn't going to be cut until at least August, as there's no financial incentive to give up on him until after next season. The Jets missed out on the playoffs in 2023 for the 12th straight season, the second longest drought in North American sports. The silver lining for the Jets this season is that their roster is still full of young talent across the board, as AVT should be back by the preseason, Breece Hall should be back in the early regular season this year, and Garret Wilson and Sauce Gardner are back for their sophomore seasons after winning Offensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Rookie of the year, respectively. The Jets had very little coaching staff/front office turnover from 2022. The main exception is the Jets moved on from young offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur to sign veteran OC and recently fired Denver Broncos' head coach, Nathaniel Hackett. This move was met with middling reception by fans. As many cited him as an underwhelming retread, though there was potentially one huge upside to signing Hackett and his name is...

Aaron Freaking Rodgers

After acknowledging his failure in drafting and developing his franchise QB, New York Jets General Manager Joe Douglas, scrambled to find a QB the Jets can compete with during their current window where their most talented players are on rookie deals. Joe Douglas doesn’t have the luxury of trying again with rookie QB roulette as he’s already four years into a rebuild that has yielded zero winning seasons. Many considered his huge failure with Zach Wilson to be a fireable offense, but due to his success in building the rest of the team, Jets owner Woody Johnson publicly voiced his confidence in Joe Douglas and let him have another offseason to try to pull a rabbit out of his hat at the QB position. The Jets were connected to almost every veteran QB that might conceivably be on the market from January to March. Around the time of the NFL Combine, the Jets had their options narrowed down to Tannehil, Cousins, and Aaron Rodgers headlining the group. With Rodgers’ ending his career in Green Bay, he then descended into a Darkness Retreat. Afterward, Aaron decided to tell Schefter to lose his number and went on the Mcafee show to announce that he had decided to play for the Jets, despite still being on contract with the Packers. After a month and a half of Jets and Packers fans taking to Reddit and Twitter to argue endlessly about Leverage, the Jets and Packers finally worked out a deal on April 24th, just days before the 2023 NFL Draft. The Jets acquired Aaron Rodgers and a 5th round pick in 2023 in exchange for a 1st round pick swap (Jets go 13 to 15th overall), a 2023 2nd round pick, a 2023 6th round pick, and a 2024 second round pick that can become a 1st if Rodgers plays >65% of snaps in 2023. Many were quick to declare an immediate winner to the trade, though I think with trades like these, you need to see how things play out and what will happen on the conditions before knowing for sure. My knee-jerk reaction to the trade is that it’s an overpay if Rodgers were to retire after 2023, but if he comes back for 2024 like he says he’s going to, then this is fair overall. If Jordan Love doesn’t pan out and the Jets make a Super Bowl over the next two years, people will look back on this trade as a steal for the Jets. Time will tell.

Jets Free Agency

Contrary to popular belief, the Jets did more this offseason than roll out the red carpet for Aaron Rodgers. In free agency, the Jets rolled out the red carpet for all of Aaron Rodger’s favorite teammates. In Free Agency, the Jets brought in:

WR Mecole Hardman (KC)
WR Allen Lazard (GB)
OL Trystan Colon (BAL)
OL Billy Turner (DEN)
P Thomas Morestead (MIA)
C Wes Schweitzer (WAS)
QB Tim Boyle (DET)
DT Quinton Jefferson (SEA)

Over half the names on this list have some kind of connection to Aaron Rodgers. Allen Lazard was the biggest swing for the Jets in free agency with $44MM over 4 years. The Jets cut bait by trading Elijah Moore to Cleveland, but are going to keep Corey Davis for the third year of his contract despite disappointing availability and stats by Davis. Lazard has experience in the slot, despite being primarily an outside the numbers receiver. With Moore and Berrios out, the Jets are a little bit heavier on outside receiver and light on slot receiver, so they’ll likely focus on size over shiftiness over the middle. However, bringing in Mecole Hardman brings a lot of the speed over the middle that the team is missing. Outside of WR, the Jets added more depth on the offensive and defensive lines. The main highlight of free agency for Jets fans was, strangely enough, the punter they signed- Thomas Morstead. Morstead punted for the Jets in 2021 filling in for an injured Braden Mann with an average of 48 yards/ punt and 7 punts within the 20. The Jets let Morstead go to let Braden Mann return. Mann was a decent punter for the Jets at best, but was infamous in NY for a shank a game that eventually became too much. The Jets have also worked out with P Matt “Punt God” Araiza, but that’s a can of worms I won’t get into. The Jets also brought back:

LB Quincy Williams
K Greg Zuerlin
DT Solomon Thomas
RB Ty Johnson
C Connor McGovern

I have much less to say about these players. Ty Johnson has already been cut, which has been a small controversy due to his surgery that was allegedly recommended by the Jets. But especially after the draft, the Jets have a glut of runningbacks on the roster. I don’t see what the Jets see in Solomon Thomas but HC Robert Saleh really likes him. Greg Zuerlin has been a replacement level kicker for the Jets. Quincy Williams is back, which is mostly interesting as his older brother, Quinnen Williams, is in a contract holdout with the Jets. The number for Quinnen Williams is likely going to look similar to what Dexter Lawrence got from the Giants.

The New York Jets 2023 NFL Draft

Pre-Draft Needs

Positions of Need going into the Draft: OT, FS, DT, RB
The Jets' strength on the defense was on the outsides, both on the passrush with Carl Lawson and Jermaine Johnson coming back and in the pass defense, with Sauce Gardner and DJ Reed returning after being arguably the best CB duo in 2022. The weakness was over the middle in the passing game and between the tackles in the run game. The Jets have Quinnen Williams on the 5th year option looking for a new deal this year and don't have another quality DT to complement him on the interior of their 4-3 front. Jordan Whitehead was disappointing for the Jets last year at SS and Ashtyn Davis hasn't fully panned out at FS.
On the offense, the Jets have fewer holes, but have positions like RB, TE, and WR where they can afford to add more talent. The biggest liabilities for the Jets are on the offensive tackle, where Mekhi Becton is coming back from two whole seasons of injury and Duane Brown is 38 and playing likely his last season of Pro Football.

1st Round (15th Overall) Will McDonald IV, EDGE – Iowa State

Before discussing McDonald as a player, we should discuss the Steelers’ trade with the Patriots at 14th overall. This trade led to a lot of criticism of the trade back with Green Bay for Rodgers as well as Joe Douglas’s composure as a drafter. The main thing we know about Broderick Jones is that the fact that Pittsburgh was interested in trading up for him long before the Rodgers trade. Jones to the Steelers was one of the worst kept secrets of the NFL draft this year and the New England Patriots (while not to pretend that Belichick doesn’t love to screw the Jets over) are notorious for trading back in the first round. I’m not going to assert that the Jets weren’t interested in landing Broderick Jones, I think the people who are skeptical of Douglas’s claim that McDonald was their top target are missing two things: the first is that Robert Saleh is a defensive minded coach who is obsessed with having an excess of edge rushers with good bend. Saleh and Douglas are still on good terms, and I would be very surprised if during the draft Saleh wasn’t pounding the table in Joe Douglas’s ear for Will McDonald. The second is that while Jones was on board, Douglas himself said that McDonald was his number 1. You can debate if the Jets should’ve taken Jones if he were available, but he wasn’t and so, the Jets picked McDonald. Will McDonald is a 6’4” 236 lbs Edge rusher from Iowa State University who turns 24 years old June 6th. He was considered a high draft prospect after his 2021 and 2020 seasons where he had 11.5 and 10.5 sacks respectively, but still decided to come back to school in 2022. This, plus the fact that he didn’t begin playing football until he was 17 years old, contribute to Will McDonald IV’s advanced age as a prospect. Some might have called this pick a reach due to his age, but it’s worth noting that McDonald isn’t exactly a “late bloomer” as a player, but rather he has been a competitive pass rusher in the Big 12 since about 2019 and is tied for #1 overall in the Big12’s career sack list. Another reason why Will McDonald IV is an underrated prospect is that many people aren’t familiar with the defense that Iowa St. and how it deflates pass rusher numbers. Iowa State runs something called a STAR defense, or a 3-3-5 (3 DL, 3LB, 5 DBs). This helped the Cyclones against pass heavy, air raid and/or spread style offenses, but means that a premier pass rusher like Will McDonald will get basically zero help in the box. The traits that scouts fell in love with that made Will McDonald IV a first-round talent were his bend around the edge, his top end speed, and his usage of his hands. The weaknesses that were brought up centered mostly around his smaller size, power, and lack of body of work on run defense. But his overall athleticism and potential to bulk up are the main thing the Jets are banking on as they look develop him going forward. McDonald’s athleticism is so over the top, that he’s made a hobby of jumping over cars and doing other acrobatics that will keep the Jets management up at night if he keeps it up through his rookie contract.
The main thing to understand when watching McDonald as a prospect is that the Jets are going to play him a lot differently than the Cyclones did. Due to the ISU 3-man front, McDonald was often moved inside if he wasn’t double or triple teamed as a 5 tech. When Robert Saleh called Will McDonald to let him know the Jets were drafting him, Saleh said “We’re getting you out of that 4i and into that Wide 9”. That meaning, that instead of playing him between the guard and the tackle, they’re going to put him as far out as the o-line is built. I think the Jets will try to get him standing up; even though they typically have four defensive linemen down as I trust Robert Saleh to not pigeonhole a guy to a set role and will just try to set him up to succeed as a pass rusher. The important thing to remember when evaluating McDonald’s upcoming rookie season (or Jermaine Johnson’s rookie season from 2022), is that the Jets have a religious dedication to cycling their defensive linemen in and out regardless of how well or poorly they’re playing. So, for young players like McDonald, Johnson, and Michael Clemons, they’re guaranteed to get a shot, but even if they succeed, they’ll get cycled out. But this does mean that in 2023, we’re guaranteed a chance to see the speed and shiftiness that Will McDonald IV will be bringing to the Jets defense for years to come.

2nd Round, 12th pick (43rd Overall) Joe Tippmann, C – Wisconsin

After the first night of the draft, most were shocked over the Jets’ selection of Will McDonald. And many more in Jets land were disappointed that the team couldn’t find any offensive line help for newly acquired QB, Aaron Rodgers. Fortunately for the Jets on night 2, the board broke their way positively, unlike on night 1. With most of the premier tackles off the board, the Jets then turned their attention interior offensive line. The Jets re-signed Connor McGovern to a 1 year $1.915 million deal after the main rush of free agency subsided and McGovern was unable to find a better deal. McGovern was a serviceable Center for the Jets on his previous 3 year deal, but at 30, the Jets are starting to look for long term options with higher upside. With McGovern making barely backup Center money, the Jets had basically no assets committed to the center position. With every center in the 2023 NFL draft on the board, I don’t think I need to do as much defending of the positional choice for center as I had to do for Edge rusher in the first round. The Jets selected Joe Tippmann with the 12th pick of the 2nd round. The Wisconsin Badger is one of the taller Centers we’ve seen at 6’6” (not including the mullet) and 313 lbs. However, Tippmann has shown on film that he’s able to get low off the snap off the height and in the later block can leverage his size. He had the highest athleticism score at his position (which is going to be a consistent theme for the Jets in this draft). He started his last two full seasons at Wisconsin, shining as a run blocker and allowed only on sack and five pressures over 338 pass blocking snaps. His strengths coming out of Wisconsin are his fluid movement and rotation, his high football IQ, and his size. His main weakness is his sense of balance and his high point of contact. Some might have questioned why the Jets chose Tippmann over John Michael-Schmitz and, while I would’ve been happy with either, I personally believe the Jets made the slightly better choice in banking on a player who is younger, bigger, healthier, and possibly has higher upside. The Jets have been looking for the heir apparent to Nick Mangold since he’s retired. While McGovern was a serviceable stop gap for the last three years and will get a chance to compete with Tippmann this summer, I believe this pick is a great chance for the Jets to find a new leader of their offensive line for years to come. The Jets are at their best in their franchise history when they have a Center with leadership, strength, and durability to support the offense.

4th Round, Pick 18 (120th Overall) Carter Warren, OT – Pittsburgh

In 2022, the New York Jets offensive line was a revolving door as the offensive line was decimated by injuries before they even started the regular season. They were able to mitigate these issues for the first few weeks of the season by deploying Alijah Vera-Tucker as a Swiss Army Offensive Lineman, but when he suffered a season ending injury, that had to come to an end. In this offseason, the Jets didn’t add many players who will contend for starting positions at guard or tackle in 2023, but Joe Douglas has made a point to bolster the depth at these positions so they’re better prepared for when Mekhi Becton, who hasn’t played a full game since mid 2020, or the 38 year old Duane Brown get injured.
To prepare for this, the Jets picked New Jersey native Carter Warren in the fourth round out of Pittsburgh. With his 7 foot wingspan, core strength, and leadership experience, Warren has the traits of a prototypical NFL Tackle. Carter Warren’s athleticism graded highly at the combine at the workouts he performed despite not being 100% from his shoulder injury. He fell to the fourth round in the draft as expected due to his season ending injury in 2022 and his overall lack of power and ability to sustain blocks for longer drives. The Jets are looking for Carter Warren to develop into a capable swing tackle or high end backup LT. The team is possibly still banking on Becton serving as the long term starting Left Tackle, but we’ll sort that out when training camp gets here. With veteran Billy Turner on the team and second year Maxx Mitchell returning as a swing tackle, the Jets are hopeful that they won’t rely on a rookie tackle in 2023. But if they do, Carter Warren has the traits needed to keep the offense on schedule when injuries inevitably come.

5th Round Pick, Pick 8 (#143rd Overall) Israel Abanikanda, RB – Pittsburgh

After selecting the Pittsburgh Panther from New Jersey in the fourth round, the Jets elected to take his teammate, RB Israel Abanikanda from Brooklyn, with the very next pick. In the last two years the Jets have brought in a lot of young runningbacks from the draft such as Michael Carter, Breece Hall, and Zonovan Knight. The Jets running back room looked like it was on the road to being elite after Breece Hall’s early career breakout before his tragic season ending injury. Breece Hall had emerged as a physical, downhill runner for the Jets and Michael Carter and Bam Knight were capable change of pace backs, pass blockers, and receiving backs. Breece Hall is going to go back to being the Jets premier runningback if he comes back to be 100% of what he was last year, even with Abanikanda on the roster. But what the Jets were lacking, even with Hall on the roster last year, was a shiftier, higher end speed running back that can break open in space. Hall checks off a lot of these boxes, but did so by being more physical over the middle. In 2022, Izzy Abanikanda’s stats were impressive. He reached 100 yards rushing in 9 out of his 11 games and rushed for 20 TDs on the season. With Hall, Izzy can be a dangerous lightning to Breece Hall’s thunder as the Jets look to round out their offense. Izzy’s athleticism is (say it with me now: ) really good. He ranked 5th out of running backs in this draft despite being a 5th round pick. The biggest weakness commonly cited about Izzy Abanikanda is his pass protection. This has been a recent focus on running backs in the NFL and something that will likely limit Izzy’s day one impact. But the Jets can keep things simple on the offense and just focus on getting the ball of playmakers like Abanikanda. The most exciting thing about Abanikanda is that he’s young, not turning 21 until October 5th of this year (making him born in 2002, if you wanted to feel old today). Abanikanda is an extremely speedy player with home run ability. The value in the 5th round is great for the Jets here and they are now hedged against a key RB injury like they suffered last year. This pick may spell trouble for fans of Michael Carter and Zonovan Knight (apologies to /DynastyFF), but it puts the Jets in a position to be dynamic in the ground game to capitalize on defenses thinking they can afford to sell out against the Aaron Rodgers-led passing offense.

6th Round, Pick 7 (184th Overall) Zaire Barnes, LB – Western Michigan

Getting later into the draft, the Jets start to look for roleplayers and positions where the team is light. Zaire Barnes fills both of these criteria with his special teams experience and coverage linebacker experience. The Jets have Quincy Williams and CJ Mosely playing in the box to handle secondary running coverage. The team may still bring back Kwon Alexander to return as the WILL linebacker in space, but the Jets are looking to bolster their coverage over the middle. The Jets have arguably the best cornerback duo on the outside with DJ Reed and Sauce Gardner and a capable slot corner with Michael Carter II. This means that most of the teams that threw the ball on the Jets did so over the middle.
At Western Michigan, Barnes lined up close to the line of scrimmage and focused mostly on man coverage. In order for him to unlock his potential and make this pick a steal, he needs to unlock his ability to use lateral movement to help in zone coverage. At 6’1” his height is unremarkable but more than adequate for a linebacker within the box. If Zaire Barnes can make himself valuable on special team and take advantage of the opportunities to make a play in coverage over the middle or to make an impact in the run game where the Jets are also light, Zaire Barnes will be able to be a part of this Jets team for a long time.

Round 6, Pick 27 (#204th Overall) Jarrick Bernard-Converse, DB – LSU

In writing Bernard-Converse’s position on the headliner, I opted to just write DB, as he’s played all over the secondary. Looking at JBC’s skillset and the holes the Jets have in their roster, it would seem Bernard-Converse’s best outlook on the Jets is to move to the Safety position. With good tackling ability, high athleticism, and four years of starting experience at the Power 5 level, the Jets are banking on Bernard-Converse’s ability to adapt to a new role as opposed to being a true CB. In coverage at LSU, he did have some issues letting players get behind him due to his ability to trail and backpedal, another sign that he’s likely better suited for the safety role. With Jarrick Bernard-Converse, the Jets are banking on his adaptability and Robert Saleh’s ability to develop a player with raw talent into a contributor on the backend.

Round 7, Pick 3 (#220th Overall) Zack Kuntz, TE – Old Dominion

The Jets have looked to rebuild their TE room after years of it being in disarray. Unfortunately, the group that Douglas has put together, CJ Uzomah, Tyler Conklin, and Jeremy Ruckert, didn’t quite pan out in 2023. Part of this was on the quarterback play, but part of this is that the tight ends on the Jets didn’t quite have the plus abilities the team needed to get production from their Tight Ends. This is just the beginning of why Zack Kuntz is an exciting pick for the Jets. Kuntz (pronounced KOONTS, unless you’re Australian) was primarily a receiving tight end for Penn State and Old Dominion in college. At 6’8” 255lbs, Kuntz has more than the prototypical size of a blocking Y tight end, but he instead spent his college career using his 4.55 speed to be a menace over the middle. His most productive season was only 692 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns, which is a bit less for the insane athleticism that a speedy and shifty tight end such as Kuntz possesses. Still, it’s hard to imagine how 32 GMs looked at Kuntz and decided over 200 times that they don’t need this freak of nature on their team. The Jets may look into developing his blocking a bit more, but I think they’re probably more excited by refining his hands and getting him over the middle to create some size mismatch. With Zach Kuntz elite size and speed, he’s truly a menace with the ball in his hands.

UDFA Rapid Fire

The Jets traded back in the 6th round at a pretty heavy loss. I believe this is because they wanted special teams and depth and were relatively satisfied with most of the starters they had going into the NFL draft. So, the Jets will likely not have a ton of contributions from UDFAs this year. Here are the 13 players the Jets have currently signed as UDFAs and I’ll highlight a few of the ones I think I have a chance at making the 53 man roster below:

Jason Brownlee, WR Southern Mississippi: Despite receiving a combine invite and showing a good vertical and 40 yard dash, Brownlee ends up unsigned on the Jets. I think the Jets will look to leverage his athleticism on special teams, as most of the WRs on the roster have little experience/interest in playing special teams.
Trey Dean, Safety Florida: A former starter as a freshman for the Gators in 2017, he’s got a lot of experience. As mentioned earlier, both safety positions are weakspots on the Jets roster, so a safety with Dean’s experience might be able to stick on.
Deslin Alexandre, DL Pittsburgh: Joe Douglas sure does love his Pittsburgh guys. Deslin played as an edge rusher in college, but went undrafted due to weak bend (which is an important trait in an EDGE rusher, as I’m sure you can imagine). Still, a player with his size could still be a valuable Defensive Tackle in a 4-3 defense such as the Jets’. The main thing for Alexandre will be improving his run defense, as that’s currently a sore spot for the Jets DL.

53 Man Roster Projection

POS	1st String	2nd String
QB	Aaron Rodgers	Tim Boyle	Zach Wilson
RB	Breece Hall	Israel Abanikanda	Michael Carter, Zonovan Knight
WR	Garrett Wilson	Corey Davis	Mecole Hardman
WR	Allen Lazard	Randall Cobb	Jason Brownlee
TE	Tyler Conklin	CJ Uzomah	Jeremy Ruckert
LT	Duane Brown	Warren Carter
RT	Mekhi Becton	Maxx Mitchell
LG	Laken Tomlinson	Wes Schweitzer
RG	Alijah Vera-Tucker	Billy Turner
C	Connor McGovern	Joe Tippmann
DT	Quinnen Williams	Al Woods
DT	John Franklin-Myers	Deslin Alexandre
DE	Jermaine Johnson	Isaiah Mack
DE	Carl Lawson	Michael Clemons	Solomon Thomas
ILB	CJ Mosely
OLB	Quincy Williams	Bryce Huff
OLB	Will McDonald IV	Zaire Barnes
CB	Sauce Gardner	Michael Carter II	Brandin Echols
CB	DJ Reed	Bryce Hall	Javelin Guidry
FS	Ashtyn Davis	Jarrick Berndard-Converse
SS	Jordan Whitehead	Justin Hardee	Chuck Clark
K	Greg Zuerlein
P	Thomas Morstead
LS	Thomas Hennessy

Notes on 53 man roster

Yes, the front seven is a complete mess. The Jets move guys around so much that even trying to delineate between a LB or a DE can be difficult. This is a rough guesstimation of what players will make the final roster, not necessarily where they’ll play.
The NFL has a new rule that allows teams to carry 3 QBs and still be under the 53 man roster. So that's why you may count 54 on this.
I only did this with players currently either on contract or drafted by the Jets. I think Kwon Alexander will eventually sign but for now, he’s not on here.
I really wanted to find a spot for Zach Kuntz, but it was tough since there’s a lot of dedicated money to TEs. I thought maybe we could cut Randall Cobb, but we’ll see.

Final Thoughts

This offseason will be remembered as the offseason where the Jets made a huge swing for a future Hall of Fame QB. It’s impossible for me to try to put this draft class up against that. But the Jets got a lot of athleticism in this draft that can set them up to be competitive in the long term. It was surprising that they traded back, seeing as they’re in a win now mode, still. I think the Jets got 2 or 3 starters from this draft, likely some combination of Abanikanda, Tippmann, and McDonald. Certain players like Warren and Kuntz do have some longer term potential, too. Nothing will ever touch Joe Douglas’s 2022 draft class, but I thought this class was solid and built a lot of overdue depth. Still, when July rolls around and it’s time for camp, it’s going to be the QB that all Jets fans are looking at.

Ripe has permission to read this on his channel.
Before we get to the story: SB (Southern Bell, our mother) DOB (Dear Oldest Brother) OS (Oldest Sister) MS (Middle Sister) OB (Older Brother) D (daughter of oldest sister) OP (me)
This story is long, and sorry for any misspelled words or formatting issues.
First I'll say, hello again; if you think my post about the grocery store was bad, then take a seat, because we are going for a trip down the dark halls that is my memory, hopefully by the end of this trip we all leave with our hearts un-shattered, and our faith in humanity still intact, unless you are like me and you are working on repairing it.
Because in this story, me and OB (Older brother) were the ones in the way of the category 7 hurricane, and there was no shelter to protect us. But in all honesty, I think SB (Southern Bell) had to deal with the worst end of it all.
On to the story:
So, before me and OB(Older Brother) ; SB(Southern Bell) had 4 older kids, our oldest brother that passed away when I was around 7 to 7 and a half maybe 8, he would've been in his very late 50's, DOB(dear oldest brother) who is in his late 50's I believe, OS(Oldest sister) who is in her mid 50's, and MS(Middle Sister) who is the same age as MIL in her late 40's, OB (Older Brother) who is in his early 30's, and me who is in her early mid 20's.
A small detail: I am the only African American out of my 5 older siblings, me and OB (Oldest. Brother) can use the excuse that we were adopted. OB(Oldest Brother) was, and still to this day has always been my strongest support system, and advocate when it comes to my mental health.
The time line of events:
Around 2014-2016 OB (Oldest Brother) puts his foot down because of some things going on, and moves me into his house.
2013-2014-2016: SB (Southern Bell) was fighting a battle sadly Losing battle with her health (Reasons why I am overly protective of MIL).
2017-2018: Me and OB (older brother) moved back in with SB (Southern Bell).
Back in 2016 to 2017, our SB (Southern Bell) was in and out of nursing homes, but the last time, oh boy it was different.. The board of the nursing home called for a meeting, in the meeting was Me, OB (older brother), DOB (dear oldest brother), OS (oldest sister) , and D (oldest sisters daughter).
MS (Middle sister) might've been in jail/ prison, or in the next town over where she lived with her roommate that passed away about a year or so before our SB (southern bell), the reasons why she didn't move into help can be a story all on its own, but basically OS (oldest sister) knew MS (Middle sister) told SB (southern bell) that if she moved her husband in, MS (Middle sister) would move out because she couldn't be around him, but that's awhole another story, and there's a lot of things he did that I've left out in this story...
Basically I could make a book out of everything.
Anywho, SB (Southern Bell) was coming to the end of her treatment and there was 2 options 1. She could go home, or 2. Stay in the nursing home.
Me, OB (oldest brother) , and DOB (dear oldest brother) said that she needed to stay in the nursing home, because we knew non of us was capable of taking care of her, but OS (Oldest sister) and D (oldest sister's daughter) wanted her to go home.
By the end of the meeting we had come to an agreement that she would stay in the nursing home, because that was the best option for mother.
Something to note: OS (oldest sister) was considered disabled, and SB (Southern Bell) was fully disabled, by this point she couldn't walk and was permanently in a wheel chair, she couldn't do anything for herself, she needed help being changed, bathed, fed, and help going to the bathroom and being cleaned up afterwards, SB (southern bell), a woman who I grew up to know as the purest form of a southern bell, was experiencing a living nightmare, or hell. As I stated I feel she got the worse end of it, she was a strong independent woman, coming from a long line of farmers so, she didn't like depending on anyone but herself.
The nursing home would allow patients to go home for a few days, either every week or every month, I don't really remember. Well, OS (oldest sister), and D(oldest sister's daughter) would pick her up, and take her home, everything was fine until Oneday, OS (oldest sister), and D (oldest sisters daughter) didn't take her back....
OS (Oldest sister) went and got power of attorney over SB (southern bell) without telling anymore, so now it didn't matter what me, OB (older brother) , and DOB (dear oldest brother) said, basically when it came to SB, OS's word was law.
The reason SB (southern bell) ended up in the nursing home the last was because OS (oldest sister) and D (oldest sisters daughter) fell with her... Remember when I said OS (oldest sister) was considered disabled? She had balancing issues, it was hard for her to walk, and she would randomly stop breathing in her sleep, basically she was in no shape to be taking care of someone who was fully disabled, and needed 24/7 care.
I believe when SB (Southern Bell) went to the hospital because of the broken hip (maybe before this) the doctors found out that she had 4 strokes, and a mini heart attack. Don't quote me on that, because it could've been before.
Let me get back on track: After OS (Oldest sister) , and D (oldest Sister's daughter) got SB (southern bell) out of the nursing home, me and OB (older brother) would go visit as much as possible, we were both in therapy, and trying to get a grip on our issues, I was finally figuring out what was wrong with me, but I'll save that for later.
Every time we went over, SB (southern bell) was still in bed around 12-2pm, to say we would be furious was an understatement, she hadn't been changed yet, hadn't been fed... You can't leave someone whose disabled in their own bodily fluids for that long, I mean come on----
Sorry sorry, getting off track, I'm trying not to rant...
OS (oldest sister) , and D (oldest sister's daughter) would still be in bed, I'll try to piece this together as best as I can.
OB (older brother) trying to contain his anger: "Why is SB(southern bell) still in bed? She should already be up, changed, and fed".
OS (oldest sister) in the best entitled voice I can muster in my head: " You know I can barely take care of myself, and D(oldest sister's daughter) works"
OB (older brother) I'm pretty sure he was trying to keep the red out of his line of sight: "We brought that up in the meeting, were we all agreed that SB (southern bell) would be better in the nursing home because she would have around the clock care, I told you that non of us would be able to take care of her like that, you KNEW the responsibility of taking care of her, neither of those are a good enough excuse"
I think OS's (oldest sister) only response was "Well she wanted to be home" and I think OB (older brother) told her that "What's best for someone, and their needs is more important than their wants".
A month to two months later, me and OB (older Brother) sat down for a chat, realizing that we might not be able to afford our house anymore, and we could A. Get a new place, or B. Move back in with SB (southern bell), were we could over see her care, and take care of her.
Clearly, I made the choice that any 17 year old would make...
OP (me): "As nice as getting a new place would be, I wanna move back in with SB (southern bell), so she can get the care she needs".
OB (older brother) a little shocked he said: "That's what I wanted to do, I'm proud of you, but you do understand that it's going to be very hard right?"
Even then, I knew what taking on that responsibility meant... I was going to give up, the freedom of being a teenager, I was finally able to be a teen for the first time in years, and I was ready to give it all up, I knew deep down... I would probably stop going to therapy, so A. I could make sure my brother would be able to, because to me he needed it more, and I wasn't going to take that away from him, and B. Our southern bell, the woman that gave up everything if she had to, was 100% going to get the care she needed no questions asked.
Shortly after we moved in, me and OB (older brother) had a talk, and came to the agreement that it would be a good idea if I got a job to help SB (southern bell) out with a few things, OB (oldest brother) was in therapy because of a lot of reasons, but mainly to get him to were he wouldn't have a panic attack everytime he even thought about going to the store, so while I was at work, I knew that SB (southern bell) was okay, because OB (older Brother) was there and everything was going to do their share, and help him when I was gone, luckily my at the time boyfriend, now ex had moved in with us to help with our SB(southern bell), so I knew he would 100% have someone to help him. And same for him when he'd go to therapy.
So, even tho I had a job I was still helping with our SB(southern bell), I warned my manager "Don't ever make the mistake in thinking that if you put me in a situation were I'll have to choose you or my mom, that I won't ghost you" a few months done the line, they did... They got ghosted. I got a better job that 100% understand, because the creator of the biggest Mc, wasn't more important than the woman that sacrificed so much for us.
The conversation was brought up again with OS( oldest sister), and she had the same excuse's.
"I can barely take care of myself, D (oldest sister's daughter) works"
OP (me): "I work, I'm also owner training my own service dog, on top of taking care of 5 puppies that have parvo and warms, yet I'm still able to take care of SB(southern bell) even tho I'm extremely over exhausted".
I don't remember exactly what she said or if she even said anything back, but by that time I realized I needed help, and in the form of help, I got my beautiful girl, even tho it was hard, any spare time I had I owner trained her to be a service dog, I took care of those 5 sick puppies that D (oldest sisters daughter) left in a bathroom to die, and the excuse for her was that she was working, even tho I worked, was training my SD, and taking care of SB(southern bell), I found time for those pups, because warms on their own is bad, but parvovirus and warms mixed? Those babies were going through hell, and I wasn't going to let them go out like that.
Que, me getting burnt out and sometimes having to take time off work, because my body needed the break, but I still made sure to help with SB(southern bell), unless OB(older brother) left me to sleep in, even tho I told him it wasn't necessary.
I barely did anything, except for going to the store with OB(older brother), and Ex. I'd take my service dog in training, with me so she could get in store training.
In the ending Of SB's(southern Bell) story, she did get better care, and at some point MS (middle sister) moved in to help us, there's a lot of things I left out, a lot more to this story. I'll post a part two, as reliving these events not only make me angry, but fill me with so much anxiety, and having to fight flash backs.... That's the reason its taken me so long to tell the tale of our beautiful southern bell..
Southern Bell did have have nurse's that would come out and help get her bathed, which we are forever grateful for. But, I want to end this story with this
Parent's, even tho I'd go to jail for my mother.. I actually did once, and we'll add that to the list of stories for another time, please don't expect your kids to take on the responsibility of taking care of you, because "I took care of you, so you take care of me!" Because as selfish as this is about to sound, or make me sound... It really isn't fair, and I'm going to beg my daughter as she gets older... One thing that will hurt, one thing that will break mine and her hearts when I'm an old lady... I will beg her to please let me go.
To please chose herself over me, and to live her life, take hold of her dreams and completely crush them, because at the age of 13 my southern bell started kind of needing a bit more help, at the age of 15 to 16 she simi needed a wheelchair, and walker. From 17 to 19 I had to watch helplessly as my southern bell slowly started to die, I had to hear her beg to God to finally take her away, hear her cry and it completely destroyed me, mentally, and emotionally. I can only imagine it did that to OB (older brother) too, we had to helplessly stand by, and only do what we could.
At around 15, to 17 I was finally able to go to therapy and figure out what was wrong with me: ADHD, anxiety, depression, PTSD (didn't find out I had PTSD until 2021), and Borderline personality disorder. My therapist was surprised I could have empathy, and sympathy because I have BPD. But I had a good woman raise me, I have so much more problems, some of which I'm still finding out (I'm gonna try to start therapy again).
But I stopped going, because at the end of the day southern bell and OB (older brother) was more important, and with the help of my SD(service dog) in training, I was able to go into places with out anxiety unlike OB(older Brother). The love I had, and still have for that woman is unlike any love I've ever had, expect for my own little tater tot.
I missed out on life, and I can't do anything about that, other than be happy that I was able to be there for southern bell probably the darkest and most hardest part of her life, because she was there for me. This story is already so long, and I'll post a part two or so later.
Thank you ripe, and ripe gang for reading one of my many tales of heart break, we are now exiting the ride of the darkest part of my halls, these walls... Tho they may be burnt, and the picture frames cracked, they still hold pictures of very valuable memories..
The memories, of the toughest Southern Bell, the memories of a woman, that raised me to be who I am today.
Memories, I will hold dear to my heart, ones that show me you have "FaMiLy", and then you have "Family".
I'm gonna dead bolt these doors shut again, until next time: I'm gonna go watch Ripe, and give my brain a break.

Replaced my CPU and MOBO the other day. When starting up I encountered a host of issues, for the whole day yesterday it was just crashing on launch with "Memory Management" BSOD. You can read more about it here. Today I managed to stabilize it a bit (I did a clean install as well as a full reset), it still has some issues, but it runs.

I just can't run games anymore for some reason, it seems that it always crashes a bit after with either a UE4 error ("Unreal Engine is exiting due to D3D device being lost") or sometimes it's a DLL that's an untrusted system file. For any game, the error code is "DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG". I have the latest drivers.

I ran"sfc /scannow" and there are still some corrupted files that can't be fixed. I run DISM and it says "The component store is repairable" followed by "No component store corruption detected", and sometimes "source not found".

Don't really know what to do now, full new build?

PCPartPicker Part List (CAD)

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor	Purchased For $154.99
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler	Purchased For $49.95
Motherboard	MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard	Purchased For $139.99
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 CL15 Memory	Purchased For $119.99
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 CL15 Memory	Purchased For $119.99
Storage	Samsung 850 Evo 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	Purchased For $133.95
Storage	Samsung 850 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	Purchased For $329.99
Video Card	Asus ROG STRIX-GTX1070-O8G-GAMING GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB Video Card	Purchased For $594.99
Case	Fractal Design Define R5 ATX Mid Tower Case	Purchased For $124.99
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	Purchased For $139.99
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Home Retail - USB 32/64-bit	Purchased For $139.99
Wireless Network Adapter	TP-Link Archer T6E AC1300 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCIe x1 Wi-Fi Adapter	Purchased For $59.98
Case Fan	Corsair AF140 Quiet 67.8 CFM 140 mm Fan	Purchased For $22.99
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$0.00
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-05-26 21:26 EDT-0400

Down the rabbit hole of the Bureau we go to see what horrors and wonders lie hidden upon and within the earth unearthed by an alien invasion...
Story connects My Moral Grey Area and useSilent_Technology540 and his Legion of monsters stories.
First Previous Next
Legion of monsters: Sanguine … 31 the House of Dealan
Pilotpriest, Future is dead
Arthur and his wives had been informed of the dress and … armament requirements that would be needed for their foray below and when he saw what the girls unveiled, he visibly winced.
Of course, there was some confusion in his disdain for their armour but Arthur insisted and within the hour they had travelled out to a place almost literally round the corner from the houses of parliament.
As he approached the old stone arch with its thick wrought iron door Arthur suddenly remembered the particulars of mixing Shil’vati and confined spaces.
“Um, I'm sorry but it slipped my mind that this place is underground.” He said, chuckling as his wives all gave him a cold disapproving look.
Arthur knew that just banging on the door would not open it so he pursed his lips and whistled the tune of the nursery rhyme pop goes the weasel while resting his hand on a very specific glassy green stone beside the doorway.
The clunk of a door deeper down the passage opening made him smile to his wives to reassure them that everything was okay.
As the chains rattled on the other side of the door, he heard the guard’s deep breath and several deep sniffs at the air, there was a deep animal growl, Arthur without meaning to swallowed dryly at what he knew was about to emerge.
The door swung open showing it to be a literal foot thick slab of metal, but from behind it stepped a man who emerged from his stoop in the hall to stare down at Arthur and look level eyed at his wives.
The man appeared Jamaican by descent by his predominant skin colour and hairstyle of dreadlocks, his face was mottled with vitiligo across his cheeks and brow speckling his brown skin with splotches of white, those eyes were brown but tinged yellow around the iris and his nails were thick and pointed claws.
This was a werewolf in human form, one that was not too shy about its inhuman traits being plain to see.
“Is master Ancetto in?” asked Arthur politely.
The doorman leaned over to be eye level with Arthur looking him in the eyes then looking past him to the four shil’vati behind him.
“Sebastian, they are my wives and I am looking to ensure they are well protected.” Stated Arthur.
Standing up straight the wolf in a man’s form smiled broadly displaying his fanged teeth as he then said in a deep Jamaican accent.
“Sooooh, da boy aboot town haz finally found someone’s dey is confortable with… doh-nah stress he is in, shall ah call da gent as well?” he asked smiling down at him.
Arthur nodded, and the guard looking over him to the four shil’vati women he smiled wider saying.
“Ladies, Welcome mahster Ancetto the artifaycer is down deez stairs mind your eads, dis tunnel wah made by shortah people dan us.”
As the guard turned Arthur let out the breath he was holding.
Gly’nrie and Imizael cast him an odd look.
“It’s okay I was just worried that he might turn us away is all, they are very particular about who they allow in past the doors.” Said Arthur as he followed the giant guard down the well-lit old stone stairs.
As they reached the bottom, they entered a room with much taller ceilings panelled with wood but also lined with hooks to take the coats of guests, the guard went back upstairs and could be heard locking the door behind them.
Coming back down he bowed slightly saying.
“You be da first sheel-vahti’s ever to be in-vye-ted to this place lay-deez we strictly insist that only trusted wehl known customah’s can introduce uthars to dis place, Arthur noh dah mahsters wohk very well, he wearin one of our suits right now he is.”
Another door opened and out came a well-dressed thinly built gentleman who looked almost totally albino, paper white skin and hair on a balding head, his eyes were only the faintest grey as only his glasses sharp red metallic frames applied any colour to his strictly monotone black and white attire.
“Master Gwydion, I trust that these people are both the ones you contacted me about and that they are well within the rules I insist upon?” asked the well-dressed man as he narrowed his gaze at Arthur.
“Master Ancetto, these are my wives!” said Arthur with a hint of sharpness in his voice but he held out a hand gesturing to each in turn.
“From left to right Viscountess Shal’endra Isilynor, Baroness Gly’nrie Xyrcaryn, Duchess Imizael Balcyne, and Marquess Miralana Umegwyn … we are expected to perform a diplomatic duty somewhere very, very dangerous and were told that it would be considered unseemly to arrive at said event in anything less than full battle armour.” Said Arthur politely.
The last time he had been here was being fitted for several suit’s both business and otherwise with armoured enhancement by Sir Philip and even then, it had been made plain that this was not a bureau establishment and that it served the needs of very special elite clientele of all types and strived for absolute neutrality.
“Battle armour for a diplomatic duty?” said Master Ancetto with a hint of a smile.
Arthur sighed, rubbing his brow.
“We have been invited to the investiture of a kind of lord before a council of similar lords in a very strange place I only recently learned existed, the lord in question is a former bureau agent called Sanguine.” said a blushing Arthur.
Master Ancetto smiled for the first time in front of Arthur, the corners of his mouth drew back very wide exposing fangs, his eyes, once milky grey, turned a startling sky blue as he rose a foot from the ground floating mid-air.
“You are attending the investiture of a lord of the depths?” said the now floating master Ancetto before a shocked Arthur.
“Yes.” Arthur replied nervously realising very quickly the signs of a grey stood before him.
“Then it is good that YOU came here to me, I was born of the depths and until recently I was exiled… recent changes have altered this… I have to say you are going to see wonders I long to see again, I am jealous but my duties tie me to this place a while longer.” Said the grinning telepathic vampire in front of them.
Leading them through another door they found themselves in an armourer’s workshop equal to any in imperial space they had seen with both power armour and lighter armoured garments being worked upon by a plethora of people both grey and rather obviously cyborgs.
The man performing servo maintenance on the power armour had multiple mechanical limbs extending spider-like from his back and even a multi-lensed prosthetic eye on his right-side which swivelled all three mechanical eyes to look at these new arrivals.
“As you can see, we create all manner of attire from heavy powered armour,” remarked master Ancetto as he gestured to the spider mechanic as he resumed his work, “to the finer and more flexible protection.” He said gesturing to a suit not unlike Arthurs which was having flexible polymer armour inserts applied.
“But this is all what one would consider as commonplace for the surface world.” He said as a black cube floated up beside him then, morphed into a suit of insectile armour around the body of master Ancetto… “You will be needing finer attire in the depths.”
IIIIIIIIIIIIII
Ixion OST, Across the void
Bellaluna watched as one of the Sanguine’s sparred with Zilyana.
One of the older one’s was sat beside her at her table sipping tea as they perused the options available from master Ancetto’s armourer’s.
They were sat within a glass roofed garden, the environment inside was absolutely not one you would ever see on the surface of earth, the dark red barked trees throbbed with bioluminescence between their scaled bark as their shimmering jewel like obsidian crystal leaves tingled and rang like crystal glass windchimes as they swayed in the breeze created by the room’s climate controls.
This was what the Ancetto clan called their hidden jewel, a garden made of depth’s native plants and a few insects in its center was a sparring ground for customers to acquaint themselves with their armour’s properties.
Bellaluna examined the possibilities available and found that many options were familiar to her thanks to the prevalence for noble families to outfit their daughters with Exo armour.
Only these suits were not the nine to ten feet tall armoured behemoth suits she knew, these were skin tight suits of biopolymer synthetic muscle synchronized directly to the user’s nervous systems through either telepathic or cybernetic means.
They self-repaired and maintained themselves and acted as a combination of life support system and power armoured combat body glove amplifying the wearers speed endurance and reaction times by a factor of two while allowing Exo levels of raw strength and physical power.
All while incorporating multiple strange biological systems requiring specialised “bio-ports” to be installed to allow the suit to interact symbiotically with its wearer's anatomy allowing it to sustain the host without water or food in the depths for months by recycling their sweat and waste.
Setting everything to its most basic Bellaluna took stock of what she could estimate to be the bare bones of a basic depths soldier.
It was an army of five-to-six-foot bio-armoured soldiers able to live for months without food water or resupply all while being able to jog at speeds near to that of Terran cheetahs, go toe to toe against Exo’s in hand to hand while being faster and smaller, and be able to self-triage when wounded, as the suit was designed if a limb was severed to seal the wound and assist its host in growing a new limb?
And that was the basic model.
“Sanguine?” she asked getting the attention of both the fully grown man beside her and the boy sparring with Zilyana.
“Got you!” exclaimed Zilyana proudly as she held the blade near Sanguine 1898’s neck.
Chink ! ….. That sound made Zilyana’s eyes drop to find a blade poised to do something drastic to her crotch.
“Shit.” Was all she could say to that.
Then the boy did something that made her freeze in shock, he leaned his cheek against her blade and without a single sign of pain opened an inch deep gash up on his cheek.
Then moving away from the blade, he pressed his fingers to the side of the wound pulling it open so she could see into it as with a mental effort he made the flesh seal and mend, the sight making her shudder in revulsion.
1898 nodded, sighing before he said.
“Flesh sculptors and their ilk are infamously capable of surviving decapitation, for next time if you are poised to cleave one open young Zilyana, have something like an incendiary grenade ready to shove deep inside the wound when you do as in their haste to heal, they will seal the flesh around it creating a much worse wound when the grenade detonates.” Said the boy clone in an aloof tone.
Zilyana snarled in offense but a faint growl from the older Sanguine beside Bellaluna caught her attention, and reminded her that yes this was but a boy in front of her, but it was also the weakest part of Sanguine and as such the least challenging one for Zilyana to fight.
“What did you want Bellaluna?” asked the older clone 818 beside her returning his focus to the interior mistress as the two in the ring resumed their practice.
Handing him her omni-slate she asked.
“Is this a good approximation of the basic depths soldier?”
Sanguine perused the screen with his eyes, the faint smirk on his face and the raising of an eyebrow told her that he had found her assumption amusing.
“For scav teams and tunnel runners yeah, proper city patrol wear,” he tapped several options then showed her the screen again, “this.” He said, showing a much heavier suit.
Bellaluna took back her slate and looked over the selections that Sanguine had put in, several options were highlighted as needing special licenses to acquire but the resulting armour was closer to power armour to her eyes with heavy plate armour requiring extensive mechanical articulation and amplified muscular systems bringing it closer to being something between an Exo and the baseline bio armour she had chosen.
“This is for the police?” she said with some incredulity.
“That bio-suit you showed me in terms of ease of acquisition akin to a basic Kevlar vest,” he said then handed her his slate, “For proper military assaults you would want the depths call a nomad suit which is what’s on that slate.”
Looking down at what was on her slate the resulting suit was much sleeker than the heavily plated police suit but the price was close to ten times more and resulted in a matte black suit heavier than the basic bio-suit but the list of extras said a lot.
Full NBC countermeasures rated for minimum two years survival time in contaminated environments under a mixture of biological toxic and radiological hazards.
In-built bio-support allows the suit to digest inedible substances to sustain its host, including the extraction of oxygen from ingested materials and water to allow the host to survive in environments with minimal to no atmosphere for extended periods.
In-built suit support mind and thus also its own barriers to allow it to shield itself, which required either the host be psychic or the installation of a neural symbiote on the hosts spine to ensure the suit can always remain in contact with the host.
Integrated pig plasma pulse guns in the bracers, retractable monofilament blades and claws and reinforced synth muscle and armour allowing for nearly four times the power of a police suit.
Bellaluna could feel her eyebrows going higher and higher, you could almost say she suspected them of trying to emigrate over her scalp to flee down her neck.
“How fucking dangerous is it down there?” said Bellaluna with a noticeable squeak in her voice at the shocking details of this virtual Exo that the depths considered a standard line solider.
Sanguine again smiled but it quickly faded away as he said.
“You sent salvage expeditions to Mars, full marine detachments, all manner of advanced digging equipment even tried to use some orbital fire to blast your way down below the surface.” He stated staring at her intently, this was not a question, this was a statement.
“Tiamat’s children are nothing if not tireless, so I will only say on that matter that they are not cruel, any trespasser would have died quickly, cruelty is a trait only found in the more human breeds of tyrant bio-forms.” He remarked with a melancholy smirk.
“Most if not all of them are a misguided bureau attempt to domesticate and weaponize things commonly found in the various bio-domes residing below, there are all manner of different environments across the universe preserved down there.”
He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a packet of settock nuts judging by the picture on the packet, which were something native to the shil’vati home-world, only these were in a packet daubed in a language she did not recognise.
“You call them settock nuts, I grew up calling them Kalzee and eating them as part a traditional meal in the depths called Ahrical,” the look of confusion on Bellaluna’s face spurred him into expanding his description, “The basic sauce is kind of a sweet red gravy like what you would expect of the human sweet and sour chicken, like a lot of grey cooking it has finely ground up iron rust powder mixed in the sauce but you can get it without.” Bellaluna’s face became more confused.
“The meat and nuts are simmered in this sauce on a low heat over several hours till cooked, then the sauce left to cool overnight, the next day sliced fresh fruit and vegetables are added and mixed with the cold sauce, its eaten with Sahsan a kind of salty cone shaped biscuit bread about cob or bun size that I would describe as halfway between naan bread and a tortilla with a soft inner side and a crispy outside that’s like a tortilla,” he remarked.
“You use the bread like a spoon to scoop up the Ahrical eating both as you go, it’s only the non-psychics down there that use cutlery.” He said smiling as he pointed to one of the Ancetto armourers sat eating his evening meal in the garden, a chunky reddish soup using small cones telekinetically to scoop up the bowls contents.
“Ahrical?” she asked Sanguine.
“No, that's something more common up here, beef bolognaise with pasta shells, but the bread is Sahsan.” He replied.
It was at this point that the small packet of settock nuts leapt off the table and an old man in a finely crafted suit of chitinous armour snaffled half the bag greedily.
“Kalzee,” he said with a blissful voice through a half full mouth as he savoured the nuts, “Can we have more of these brought up with the armour material shipments, I would pay their weight in gold for more of these.” Said an uncharacteristically uncouth Master Ancetto as his escorting cadre of four shil’vati and a single male human customer looked at him oddly.
Sanguine laughed before pointing to Bellaluna and saying.
“Sahngah those nuts grow on the shil homeworld,” he said to the old grey armourer, “they’re a common snack food, they sell in the vending machines on their bases.” He said with a toothy grin.
Master ‘Sahngah’ Ancetto looked to Bellaluna expectantly saying.
“You have Kalzee on your world?” he said with an odd intensity.
“Settock nuts,” said a bemused Bellaluna, “commonly roasted and put in bags with salt and spices.” She said seeing the old man’s eyes light up during her explanation.
Then the master looked at Sanguine and said rather excitedly.
“Mahak-sa Sanguine, do you know of any other foods they have that I might recognise?” he asked the seated clone 818.
“Mahak-sa?” said the lone confused human that had been accompanying the old master armourer.
Sanguine rose from his seat and approached the human smiling, he was well aware of this human, and what he really was under his genteel appearance.
“You must be Arthur Gwydion,” he stated crossing his arms and staring oddly intensely into the human’s eyes, “Mahak-sa is an honorific, a title it means that I am in essence I am a king, khan or emperor of one of the cities or domains of the depths, at least I will be officially soon.”
Arthur to his credit caught on quickly.
“So, you’re that Sanguine, the one who we are to escort down there as part of the delegation.” He said, taking a slight step back with what looked to be a nervous smile.
Sanguine 818 all six foot eight of him stared down at Arthur, his red on blue eyes glinting from his ashen white face, his grin framed by his white beard.
The dragon’s boon had brought more of the wolf out in him resulting in him being taller and more muscular with snow white hair on cream white skin… that this also caused slight grey speckling on the roots of his changed black horns was a little odd.
“Mahak-sa Sanguine Nah’gratha Mourdin, Grandson of the Ancient of Ahrama’geidahn Aihbael Nah’gratha Mourdin who is brother to the Gorr Mah’kjan,” he said seeing the evident confusion.
“Gorr Mah’kjan means the god king of the depths Kain Reish Mouridin, the one who swept the dead sea crater clean with a wave of reanimated dead.” Said Sanguine with a little hint of a smirk.
The way all five of them froze in apparent fright like a deer in headlights at that detail summoned a chuckle out of Sanguine.
Still for all his amusement his mind’s full attention was elsewhere, dealing with more important matters than this.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Darktide OST, Main theme
Tanis was a male Exo pilot in the shil’vati military which was a rarity but also, he was a single male pilot without a wife bound to him which was even rarer and his team were part of the support Exo’s of the local insurgent suppression unit tasked with keeping Massachusetts relatively calm and maintain it as a yellow zone.
It had begun as a raid of a suspected insurgent base at a mansion in a small town called Innsmouth, the brief had mentioned something about a cult, add in the area according to the marines muttered rumors being oddly infamous for lots of sightings of strange mutant fish monsters apparently, sightings which the incumbent regional government apparently had suppressed prior to the empire’s arrival for reasons unknown.
As they struck the marines storming in it quickly became apparent to her that more was going on, her unit commander Searsa kept switching comms channels, obviously their noble captain had been keeping details from them as shortly after the marines stormed in the shrill screams and shouts of ghastly horror filled the open coms as echoing the las-fire took up a cadence only heard during moments of sheer extremes, frantic fully automatic the fall back of the desperate and terrified.
The sounds of Las-Fire rattled out from inside the mansion punctuated by screams and strange gurgling roars as the unit commander started shouting into her coms, the words muffled and unintelligible under her Exo Armour's closed visor.
“What the fuck is making that noise?” Tanis asked and the commander whirled on him, a rebuke plainly mere moments from utterance.
Only for the screams and las-fire to stop, this shifted everyone's attention to the mansion’s doors.
Whispered chants oozed out of the air hissing and uttered in barely pronounceable mantras, the very shadows around them seemed to move with odd sinister momentum.
Then the mansion's doors slid open and a sea of darkness lay within, Tanis could feel something writhing within that inky depth but his ears alerted him to an odd silence.
Turning he beheld a true nightmare, monstrous things half fish half human assailed the marines in total silence, their screams and las-fire completely silent all sound lacking as marines were eviscerated and monsters devoured them alive.
Turning Tanis opened fire and in an instant all the riotous noise of the world came back.
“WHAT THE FUCK!” bellowed his commander in shock as the sudden return of sound snapped her out of whatever fugue had gripped her.
The rest of the unit took moments longer to regain their senses, moments enough for one of the monsters to grab a hold of a team mate called Kaunt, the monsters skin rippled under shredding las repeater fire but still it heaved and tore open her armour to thrust its maw inside to get at the pilot.
Tanis acted stepping forth he drove his armour’s fist flat like a blade into its ribs and with a sucking squelch tore out its insides before pushing it off Kaunt, but she was already dead.
Turning he hosed down a mass of swirling something that moved out of the corner of his eye and bellowed to his commander.
“We need to move!” but she stood visor open staring at him like she was drunk as a swirling tendril of shadows curled round her and touched her face, Searsa a woman barely a year older than himself let out a strangled groan as before Tanis’s horrified eyes the years passed in seconds and she withered away inside her armour.
The other women were similarly dumbstruck and barely moving, snaking shadows binding their feet as they stood immobile and insensate.
“DEMON!” roared a man’s voice and a blast of blinding white light rocked the mansion's doorway.
Around them had appeared soldiers clad in silver armour carrying blades that crackled with eldritch energy and guns that spat globs of blinding light that left after images in Tanis’s vision.
Thanks to Tanis’s cursory examination of this world’s history, he recognised something of these warrior’s armour and stylings, these were knights? And if their armour and cruciform symbology was anything to go by these were some forms of paladins.
There in the doorway one of them struggled with a figure that was as much a shadow as it was possibly a human being, snapping lightning exposed their struggles amidst that living darkness inside the house.
Tanis did the only thing that seemed to make sense after all of this he levelled his repeater on that shadow and fired.
Pulsed laser fire was swallowed by the darkness but a hissing roar of anger emerged, its attention shifted to Tanis and he felt something horrifying reaching for him but the paladin was on it fast cleaving down through its skull with one blade while another was driven into its chest.
In one lurching moment the shadows dispersed leaving the paladin stood blades pinning a withered old corpse.
Across the battlefield that had been the mansion's lawn the monsters broke and fled running back towards the mansion as the marines and what little of the Exo’s snapped from their fugue and opened fire on their fleeing assailants.
But then the ground heaved and rumbled, the paladins leapt back as the mansion collapsed into a chasm that had apparently been below it?
A shuddering growl rumbled in the air and ripples of that same unnatural darkness oozed out from the pit now exposed as up from it rose what to Tanis’s shocked eyes was a miniature black hole.
An orb of utter darkness as a big as a small ship tore free of the ground swirling mist like shadows cloaked it as the monsters hurled themselves towards its surface their flesh as they got close liquifying and becoming an orbiting ring of wailing meat around the orb which spat jets of steaming ichor out towards them.
One jet swallowed up a group of marines near Tanis and in moments their armour and flesh just dissolved leaving behind steaming bones.
“EVADE! … PULL BACK … EVADE!” roared Tanis and what little of his fellows not still gripped in fugue obeyed and fled, but the paladins stood their ground.
He saw some carrying large egg-shaped things tangled in roots towards the orb, his ponderings answered as he saw one hurled at the ominous thing, it crackled with energy as it drew close sticking to its surface there was a howling shriek as more were hurled onto its surface.
Finally, as it orbited with dozens of these things stuck to its surface the blasted orb just dropped back into its hole whatever dark power once animating it spent.
Still the paladins did not rest, more of those egg-like things were brought forth as well as lengths of massive chains as big as those you would anchor a ship with their surfaces etched with symbols that seemed to make Tanis’s eyes itch as he looked at them.
As they swarmed into the chasm Tanis could hear shrieking wails and screams that shook him to his core, moving to the chasms edge he stared down to see that they were chaining up and binding this thing lashing it to a frame they were building around it with the kind of haste one expects only with plentiful practice.
“All units form up and arrest those men!” bellowed the voice of their noble captain across the comms, turning Tanis surveyed the remnants of their force, barely a handful remained, many were horribly mauled by either the monsters or being caught by the acidic sprays, many more were simply catatonic in shock and were either stood or sat staring into empty space as if still entranced by the dispersing fugue.
The rest were rushing about trying to tend to the wounded or take stock of what the hell had just happened, even the Exo’s pride of the shil’vati military were stumbling broken and still in shock.
“I said Arrest those men!” bellowed the captain now outside of her mobile command unit pointing to the nearest paladin.
Tanis coughed as he stifled a laugh at the looks of incredulity passing across the marines, they knew that they had just been saved by these knights and the look of hesitation was evident everywhere Tanis looked.
“I SAID!” she roared, only for a bolt of lightning to snap out and reduce her in an instant to just a greasy smear of cooked meat and tattered armour.
One of the paladins was floating towards the MCU, his armour crackling with electricity as his eyes glowed like small suns through the slits of his visor.
The armoured vehicle peeled open under invisible forces and her command staff were plucked out and thrown to the ground beside the still steaming remains of the captain.
“Your captain was commanded by her own betters to stand aside and leave this matter to us, and she ignored this, her officers knew what they were facing and thought themselves prepared.”
As one of the captain’s lieutenants snapped off several bolts of las-fire at the floating paladin from her side arm they impacted a bubble of energy around him, the shots fizzling to nothing.
In a flash he hurled towards them the first he touched his fingers to her brow and she just evaporated in a spray of blue, ducking and twirling out of the way of the seconds wild firing she erupted into flames with a gesture.
The third tried to shoot herself, the pistol aimed up at her own skull swatted out of her hand in the last moment telekinetically the paladin clapped his hands together and the woman officer simply imploded.
Number four the one who had shot at him when he had been floating dropped her pistol.
“You were her sister trusted by the generals and admirals to keep your hot-headed sister in line.” Snarled the paladin as he produced an omni-slate from his armour.
“This is a warrant of execution for this woman, signed by six of this world’s ruling nobles… In ancient times when warriors failed so severely on this world they were made into a severe example, some were even given the honour to hurl themselves on their own swords to answer for their shame.” Said the paladin.
He removed his helm revealing a snow-white face with luminous blue eyes and black curved horns on his brow, as a long mane of startling white hair whipped about in an eldritch breeze.
“I am not as merciful to those who defy me!” he hissed as his mouth opened far too wide for a human revealing a set of very sharp canine teeth more akin to the mouth of a dog or very large cat.
He shot forward driving his fist into her guts folding the officer in half as she shot off her feet showing the force of the blow.
She begged, she pleaded but no one tried to help her as this supernaturally empowered man beat her savagely finally ending her by driving his thumbs into her eye sockets.
Tanis had been inching closer by the minute as he and everyone else watched this sentence be passed, the warrant and its signatures visible on their head up displays for every marine around them.
Finally, as Tanis drew close enough, he popped open his visor and simply asked.
“Who the fuck are you, and what in the deep minders barnacle ridden salty clam hole is going on?”
The paladin turned to him revealing a youthful if angularly gaunt face which smiled.
“I am Sanguine 984 hunter of demons and monsters,” he said with obvious mirth, “to you this will be one of the most confounding and horrible days of your life…… to me it’s just another FUCKING Tuesday doing my job.” He said as the other paladins pulled that dark orb out of the chasm by the chains, that faint agonised whine now a faint whisper, the very sight of that thing made Tanis’s eyes twitch.
“HEY!” barked the one calling himself Sanguine, to focus their attention on him, “not a good idea to stare at it like that, just try and ignore it until the transport arrives, staring at it will fry your brain cells and make you a mindless shell.” He said gesturing to one of the catatonic marines.
With that the paladin took a rag from his pocket and started to wipe the blood and viscera from his gauntlets saying.
“Stare too long causes brain burn, hollows you out, nothing left of your memories or mind, just a still breathing corpse with enough brain not turned to mush to keep the organs ticking but little else.”
Tanis looked to the many catatonic marines staring blankly into space, a cold horrified dread welling up inside at the sight of the living dead around them.
Next

Continued from Part 3

Fuck Tha Police Pt 1 – Best Buy Disappears

Best Buy was a huge problem for the detectives. First, how the hell did Adnan get there? Jay denied seeing Hae’s car in the lot and he was not sharp enough to later put together the fact that the Sentra was already at the Park N Ride when he picked up Adnan from the Best Buy. Hae’s car was sitting in the same spot where Jay would see it for the first time later close to 7 PM that evening. This indicates the involvement of at least one other accomplice who drove Adnan from the Park N Ride to the Best Buy. Second, it’s a fucking Best Buy. There were certainly security cameras covering the parking lot. This was 1999. Thomas Edison had taken credit for inventing the movie camera more than 100 years earlier. There was a national news story in 1997 when a security camera at a Louisiana Walmart captured a guy who murdered his ex in the parking lot. Florida Today, August 3, 1997, p. 19A (and several other papers). Yeah, Walmart with its inventory of low-end shitty merchandise. Not judging–I’ve shopped there. That’s how I know. Compare that to Best Buy’s mid-range electronics/appliances. Just saying that Best Buy had at least as much interest as Walmart with regard to security. The Baltimore Sun reported the installation of security cameras covering the parking lots in malls and other locations almost 2 years before Hae’s murder. The Baltimore Sun in Carroll, April 18, 1997, p. 5B; The Baltimore Sun in Howard, February 13, 1997, p.4B. Sure, this is anecdotal, but as you will see, there is specific evidence in the police file proving that the cops were treating any security camera footage from Best Buy like it was radioactive.
Fifteen years after Hae’s murder, Sarah Koenig stated in Episode 4 of Serial that “there probably weren’t security cameras in the Best Buy parking lot back in 1999. And that there certainly is no mention of any security footage in the police reports.” (emphasis added). Having recently gone back and found that part of Sarah saying this in the podcast made me realize even more how the cards were stacked against her. I don’t think Sarah had the same police file that I have. Props to SSR and Frankie Hellis for the MPIA requests and making them available in their native format instead of fucking them up by robbing them of the context in which they were produced by organizing them in timelines that seem helpful to the uninitiated, but only add to the confusion and background noise. Sarah may have only been working with the cherry picked information that Rabia Chaudry shared with her. Otherwise, she would have mentioned the subpoena to Best Buy that is in the police file, which we will discuss shortly. If Sarah had this subpoena, she should not hold herself out as an investigative journalist. Actually, that’s not entirely fair. The subpoena by itself is suspicious, but it is the context and timing of the subpoena that are damning. Even decent investigative journalists could miss that. The bottom line was that any security camera footage from Best Buy would create more questions than answers. If the footage shows Adnan getting picked up by Jay with Hae’s car nowhere in sight, how did he get there? If the footage showed Adnan getting dropped off by an unknown accomplice but the footage is too grainy to see who or make out a license plate, who is this person?
This is where Ritz and Macgillivary show that they attended Bilal’s seminar on fabricating evidence. Fortunately for us, they were shitty students. The detectives needed a story from Jay that would precede Adnan’s subsequent alibis. A story that would put Jay’s viewing of Hae’s body before Adnan was seen by anyone at track practice. A story that would shrink the time between when Hae was last seen alive and when the only witness they had saw her dead. Shrinking that window and putting Adnan in possession of Hae's body shortly after she was last seen alive would improve the case for making Adnan responsible for the murder. This new story would change Adnan’s situation from likely avoiding a misdemeanor charge for unlawful disposal of a body to almost certainly being convicted of 1st degree murder. Before you read on, take a moment to review the judge’s instructions to the jury in Adnan’s trial for the requirements to determine if a person is guilty of 1st degree murder–particularly the importance of intent. Trial Tr. 2/25/1999, 36:25 - 38:8. This will provide context for Jay’s emphasis about Adnan supposedly announcing his plans to kill Hae that Jay somehow never shared with Jen.
Jay’s inclusion of Best Buy almost guaranteed that the case would never close. The cops had no leads on how Adnan got there. No leads on who dropped him off. To make matters worse, any security camera footage would only serve to confirm the participation of an unknown accomplice.
Thus, the cops told Jay to forget Best Buy.
Like it never happened. They moved the location where Jay picked up Adnan after school to the strip on Edmondson Ave. near where Adnan dumped Hae’s car after disposing of her body. The cops didn't make Jay move the pick up to the Park N Ride because, like Jay, they did not put it together that Hae's car was sitting there since about 3 PM on January 13th. Morons. They had Jay change the story to have Adnan specifically tell him that he was going to kill Hae earlier in the day on January 13. MPIA 233. If that had happened, Jay would have shared it with Jen. They made Jay lay it on thick by making him say that Adnan proudly declared that he murdered Hae when he popped the trunk open at Edmondson Ave. MPIA 238. Recall that Jen never said that Jay told her that Adnan admitted he did it. It was now BCPD’s turn to make Jay do their bidding under the threat of dire consequences. And Jay, having waived his rights and lacking the means to defend himself, had no recourse and again was compelled to play along. I mocked Susan Simpson quite a bit for the tapping sounds that could be heard during Jay’s statement, because if the cops were going to entirely invent Jay’s version as Susan alleges, why not simply give him a script? Contrary to Susan’s assertion, the detectives made up parts of Jay’s testimony. Parts that required their prompting him. Parts that would fit with some of what actually happened. I might have come to that conclusion sooner if Susan wasn’t so goddamn annoying.
What the cops did here is particularly fucked up because they effectively coerced Jay into falsely admitting to increased involvement in Hae’s murder. Also, his statement read like Jay was a legal scholar who understood the importance of establishing intent to secure a murder1 conviction. While forcing him to change his story, the detectives also increased the probable cause that would normally compel them to lodge charges against Jay. They had everything they needed to put the bracelets on him but they didn’t. “Ok, you’ve admitted to being an accessory in a murder we’ve been investigating for the past few weeks. Can we give you a lift home?” At one point during the 2/28/99 interview while the recorder was off, Jay asked the detectives how he can go about getting a lawyer. Trial Tr., 2/10/1999 at 49:5-10. Jay stated during trial that the detectives asked why he would want one and gave him no guidance. Id. at 52:7-12. Of course, they were not going to charge Jay after that. If they did, he could ask for a public defender and that’s the end of their puppet. They liked that Jay was putty in their hands. They liked that they could leave their options open and force him to say whatever was necessary whenever it was necessary to make their case. Thus, Jay continued to be batted around as a plaything for the next six months by the cops with no charges brought against him and no lawyer representing him. Placing Jay in legal limbo for that length of time is beyond cruel and truly a shit situation.

FUCK THA POLICE PT. 2 - The PAPERWORK SNAFU RE BEST BUY

Remember all that shit I wrote about a dozen paragraphs earlier about the purpose and process for police progress reports? Here is where they come into play. Because the detectives conjured a sizable portion of Jay’s testimony, they hedged on committing it immediately to paper. They needed to be sure that they had the best version of the story before they started sending out grand jury summonses for witness testimony. Thus, after faithfully and promptly documenting the progress of the investigation, they sat on preparing reports of Jay and Jen’s recorded statements for more than two weeks. The dumbshit detectives were so enthralled at their manipulation of Jay Wilds and the story that they invented for him that they apparently forgot the entirety of Jen’s statement. That includes not only the substance of her interview but also the fact that she was less pliable than Jay because she retained a lawyer. On March 15, 1999, the day before grand jury subpoenas would be served, the detectives prepared their progress reports for Jen and Jay’s recorded statements from February 27th and February 28, respectively. The progress report for Jen’s statement has to be seen to be believed.
First, not one fucking word about Best Buy. You know, the place where she said Jay told her that Adnan killed Hae. Jen literally referred to Best Buy a dozen times during her statement. It was the only location that Jay told her about specifically besides Kristi's apartment that she shared with the detectives. Instead, the report mentions several places that Jen never spoke of. The 600 Block of Franklintown Road. The 4400 block of N Franklintown Road. The report mentions Adnan burying Hae in a shallow grave after she repeatedly stated that Jay told her that he did not know where the body was buried. Then there is the description of Hae’s car. You know. The one that Jen said she never saw before and knew nothing about. Despite her explicitly telling the cops that she had no knowledge about the car Hae drove, the report explicitly mentions the 1998 Nissan Sentra. Despite Jen stating that she did not know the trunk of which car Jay saw Hae’s body, the report about her interview puts it in the Sentra. The report about Jen’s interview also indicates that Hae’s car was parked near 600 Edgewood Street.
For those who attempt to argue that the report was intended to be a composite of information that was collected from both Jay and Jen, look at every other fucking progress report in this case. MPIA 15-105. When multiple things happen in a single day, there is a separate report for each task/incident. Each report covers a separate and discrete subject. Also, if the report of Jen’s statement was intended to be a composite of Jen and Jay’s statements, then why the fuck is there a separate report for Jay’s statement that was prepared on the same day as Jen’s? And why in the name of Circuit City is there no mention of Best Buy anywhere in the report? For those who are not scholars of big box electronic store history, Circuit City stores began disappearing around the time of this case because they could not compete with Best Buy. Yep, nothing makes an already mediocre joke worse than having to explain it.
The detectives sat down with the prosecutor on the morning of March 15 after preparing the bullshit progress reports to go over next steps for the grand jury proceedings. Whether it was because the detectives were ignorant, sloppy or both, someone finally thought to check the report on Jen’s interview against the actual transcript. The morons realized that most of the report chronicling Jen’s recorded statement was fan fiction. Jesus. I don’t even like saying that about other people’s writing when it actually applies. But what made them shit themselves was remembering that Jen had legal representation. That meant that they were stuck with what she said in her recorded statement. They were stuck with fucking Best Buy.
While Jen’s statement was etched in stone, Jay, who was still uncharged and still lacked legal representation, was still pliable. Thus, the detectives dragged Jay back to the homicide office to fix their fuck up. Their story is that they brought him back in because his story did not match the location data from Adnan’s phone. That is complete horse shit. While it is true that the cops were in possession of the location data from Adnan’s phone, the ignorant, lazy fucks did nothing with it. Actually, they had the location data before Jay’s first interview too. At any rate, take a look at Jay’s March 15, 1999 interview transcript and tell me how many times the detectives refer to the location data. I’ll save you some time, but feel free to confirm: ZERO. The subsequent communications with AT&T suggest that the location work was not done until closer to when Jay was finally charged in early September 1999. MPIA 1477-1480. And look at the timings of Jay’s March 15, 1999 interview. He was brought in at 3:05 PM and signed the waiver of his right to counsel at 3:15 PM. MPIA 265. His recorded statement did not begin until 6:20 PM–more than three fucking hours later! Yeah, I know, Susan…thank you, but shut the fuck up because you were still way off.
To eliminate the fact that Adnan was dropped off at the Best Buy lot by an unknown accomplice, Hae’s car now magically appeared at the Best Buy. The trunk pop that never happened during the day time moved from Edmondson Ave. to the Best Buy parking lot too. Hae’s car was now driven from the Best Buy to the Park N Ride while Jay followed in Adnan’s Honda. Even the dumbest plot would have had Jay meet Adnan at the Park N Ride instead of doing this idiotic convoy from the Best Buy to the Park N Ride. For the record, that is not “come and get me.” There was no one to “get” if Adnan had Hae’s car. It’s “come and follow me for no fucking reason.” What could the detectives do? Jen had saddled them with Best Buy and this implausible story is the best they could come up with in a few hours. Remember, they not only had to invent major parts of Jay’s story, but they also had to make it consistent with Jen’s locked version and drill it into Jay’s head so that he could regurgitate it on tape.
In their overzealous effort to paint a target on Adnan, the cops made Jay say that Adnan told him the day before on January 12, 1999 that he was going to kill Hae. MPIA 310. But then the detectives’ “stupid Bilal” went into overdrive and they made Jay say that he told Jen on January 12th that Adnan was going to kill Hae. MPIA 312. This was the detectives making like music producer Bruce Dickinson where they kept demanding more intent like it was cowbell.
To conceal the fuck up of their March 15, 1999 progress reports, the detectives subsequently prepared new reports dated April 27, 1999 to cover Jen and Jay’s recorded statements from February. MPIA 66-67. Yeah, two fucking months later. This time the cops learned their lesson and were more careful to not include any substantive information. What if they needed to change the story again? No explanation is provided for why these duplicative reports were prepared. My guess is that they were supposed to borrow Rabia Chaudry’s paper shredder and destroy the March 15, 1999 reports but got sloppy and forgot. When you never get called out for this shit, why bother? Alternatively, these sanitized duplicate reports may have been prepared for trial purposes so that they would not have to share the fan-fiction one with the defense. Gutierrez would have torn Macgillivary a new asshole if she was given the 3/15/99 version of the progress report about Jen’s 2/27/99 interview. The 4/27/99 version of the report gave her nothing.

FUCK THA POLICE PT. 3 - THE BEST BUY SUBPOENA

Having “fixed” Jay’s statement while forcing him to make fantastically ridiculous explanations for the wild changes that are directly attributable to the detectives’ incompetence while making us think it was due to Jay’s dishonesty, they were ready to hand out grand jury summonses. The first set went out on March 16, 1999 to Jen, Saad Chaudry and Bilal Ahmed ordering them to appear the next day. What is really interesting from this point forward is the information that the cops sought and, more importantly, what they did not seek.
Both Jay and Jen told the cops about several pieces of evidence that were tossed in dumpsters during the evening of January 13, 1999. These included Hae’s keys, wallet, shovels and clothing. On March 19, 1999, more than two months after all that shit went into the dumpsters, Macgillivary contacted BFI waste management service to inquire about the following info:

Pickup schedule for the locations where they were told the items were discarded;
The drivers’ manifest that logs details about the pickups;
The date when each dumpster was emptied;
The location where the contents were disposed.

Given that most commercial dumpsters are emptied weekly, those that allegedly contained the items sought by the cops were emptied at least 9 fucking times by March 19, 1999. Also, Maryland of 1999 was big on incinerating trash with over 100 incinerators located throughout the state. The Baltimore Sun, June 14, 2000 at p. 1A. Not good for the environment and really not good for evidence you hope to recover. Anything that went into the dumpsters 9 weeks earlier was likely reduced to ash. Yet the detectives pressed on with this quixotic quest. They might as well have subpoenaed hell demanding the production of the proverbial snowball. You would think that there would be other, more readily available evidence of high relevance that they should seek. Oh, they did seek testimony of other individuals and served subpoenas to gather additional information, including:

On April 3, they also served subpoenas on the news programs for five different TV stations for all news, videos, reports, etc. about the case. MPIA 92. They clearly are aware that the such a thing as video footage exists.
Adnan’s bank records were also subpoenaed on April 3rd. MPIA 96.
On April 7th, subpoenas were served on Jay’s employers at Southwestern Video and the drug store for his work records. MPIA 95 and 99.
Jen’s employment records were subpoenaed the same day as Jay’s. MPIA 100.
Also on that day, the detectives conferred with Assistant States Attorney (ASA), Vicki Wash, and served additional subpoenas on Yaser Ali, Imran Hasnuddin and Adnan’s brother, Tanveer. MPIA 101.

April 13, 1999 was a busy day for the detectives and prosecutors. They dragged Jay in at 7:00 AM for yet another interview early in the morning to get the final details of the story straight. MPIA 104, 336. This interview was not recorded and, according to Jay, the detectives did not even take notes. Trial Tr. 2/10/1999 at 154:3-14. Of course, no charges were brought against Jay and he waived his right to counsel. After violating Jay’s rights again, the detectives reviewed their progress reports with ASA Wash and presented the case to the grand jury after which Adnan was indicted for first degree murder. MPIA 104.
The description above of the evidence that was requested before Adnan was indicted on April 13, 1999 underscores a glaring omission. If you’re paying attention, you already know what it is, but I’m gonna build it up anyway. The detectives and the prosecutor obviously realized the omission themselves and–taking a page from Bilal–tried too hard and revealed their scheme. Recall that the bullshit the cops were pushing was that Adnan murdered Hae in the Best Buy parking lot. And, of course, Adnan then inexplicably popped the trunk open in broad daylight in a ridiculously public spot to show Jay Hae’s body. The cops and prosecution should have left well enough alone and not concerned themselves with optics. But, like Bilal, they could not stop themselves. They thought that it would look weird if they never subpoenaed Best Buy when all this ridiculous criminal activity was supposedly happening at that location. Thus, on the same fucking day that Adnan was indicted, a subpoena was served on Best Buys [sic]. MPIA 105 and 1250-1253 (the AdnanSyedWiki does not include the fax coversheet showing the time the fax was sent). But did these corrupt fucks request footage from security cameras? No. They requested “all journal rolls, records and employment records for January 13, 1999.” That’s like serving a subpoena on AT&T for Adnan’s dental records. Four weeks earlier, they asked for locations of garbage from dumpsters that were emptied nine times and likely incinerated but were not interested in requesting whether there was any security camera footage that, according to their bullshit narrative, would have captured the actual murder and presentation of the victim’s dead body. Oh, and they did this after Adnan was already indicted. The subpoena to “Best Buys” was faxed at 4:20 PM. MPIA 1253. Are you fucking kidding me? Because such footage would have been toxic to their bullshit narrative. If anyone later asked them if they subpoenaed Best Buy, they could now say, “yeah, but they didn’t have anything.” Because what the cops and prosecutors should have asked for was so obvious, no one would inquire, "what did you specifically request?"
The footage would have been problematic for the defense as well. If it was requested and showed Adnan getting dropped off by an unknown accomplice and subsequently picked up by Jay, Adnan would not exactly come off looking like the golden boy they hoped the jury would see. Because Adnan was already on record telling the cops that he went to track practice after school with no mention of a detour to Best Buy. MPIA 814. Neither the prosecution nor the defense wanted any part of any security camera footage from Best Buy. It was the evidentiary equivalent of Bilal Ahmed.
At the same time, Gutierrez could have used the failure to seek let alone show footage from Best Buy to skewer the detectives. It would have been like playing chicken though because what if the detectives had actually been sloppy and forgot to ask? It seems like a ridiculously obvious thing to request given the importance of what the prosecution alleged went down at that location. Emphasizing the police and prosecutor’s failure to pursue or present that evidence was a prime opportunity to hammer reasonable doubt into the heads of the jury. Actually, Cristina could have done that during closing arguments. She even mentioned Jen suggesting that "there's a camera at Best Buy." Trial Tr. 2/25/2000 at 91:1-2. But Gutierrez used it in the context of Jay changing his story. Damn, she could have won the case on that issue:

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, the state has indeed presented a strong case against Adnan Syed. They presented a sole eye witness whose story changed by the minute. That witness said that Adnan told him that he murdered Hae Min Lee. He said that Adnan proudly popped open the trunk of a car in the Best Buy parking lot and showed him the victim's body. Remember, the state wants you to believe that Adnan Syed strangled the victim in the vehicle and then dragged her dead body out of the car in broad daylight in the parking lot of a location for the busiest consumer electronics retailer in America during business hours and placed it in the trunk. Not one witness noticed that. Not a single shopper. Not a single employee.
But who needs a witness when you have security cameras! We were overwhelmed with the state's presentation of security camera footage of all this happening in broad daylight. They showed us footage of the victim's car pulling up to the Best Buy lot. They showed us footage of the car shaking suggesting the physical struggle that took place inside. They showed us footage of the victim's body being dragged out of the car and dumped into the trunk. And they showed us Adnan Syed popping the trunk open to show the victim's body to the state's sole eye witness.
Wait...they did not show any such footage, did they? But this was a Best Buy parking lot in the middle of the day. Surely the first thing the investigating officers did was request the security camera footage, right? No. They waited until after Adnan Syed was indicted and that afternoon, they faxed a subpoena to "Best Buys" for optics. How do we know it was optics? Because they subpoena only requested, and I quote, "all journal rolls, records and employment records for January 13, 1999." Not a single word about security camera footage. They did not request it because they did not want any security camera footage. Because they knew what their sole eye witness with the ever-changing narrative told you did not happen. As you deliberate whether this 17-year old boy should be found guilty of murder, you must ask yourselves why the state did not want you to see the security camera footage.

I'm not sure that a judge would allow that because you're not supposed to talk about evidence that was not presented. But that's not exactly the same thing. You're not talking about what the security camera did or did not show, just that it was obvious evidence that the state inexplicably failed to present. That is, if the state actually believed its own case. At any rate, this is hindsight and it was a strategic call that could have blown up in Gutierrez’s face. Because she was not privy to the information that we have today. She didn’t know what the tape would show. It would be insane for her to suggest evidence that could help the state make it’s case if there ended up being a new trial in the future. Accordingly, I don’t see that as a fuck up.
As to the footage itself, it likely would have been too grainy to identify the person who dropped off Adnan at the Best Buy parking lot. Let's focus on that for a moment to see if we can get a more clear picture.
On to Part 5...Hang in there!

So I work as a full time mechanic (50+ hours a week ) and recently ripped the muscle that connects my arm to the back of my neck aria (starts with a T but can not recall the name I apologize) , went to ergent care mid day at work and doctor ended up telling me I ripped the end of the muscle that connects to the tendon, and told me 4-6 weeks no heavy lifting and only soup can weight for the next week at minimum , boss man doesn't quite seem to think it's a concern and over the past couple days has been making fun of me saying I'm taking pussy meds and that nobody is going to give me a break ext ,in all honesty the first day back I pushed through it just fine but recently it's been hurting a lot worce and swelling, the doctor gave me prescriptions for it but clearly states to not drive when taking them and my job is test driving and repairing vehicles , currently doing a 3500 Chevy box truck transmission on the ground and not Shure if I'm behind dramatic as I have just went with whatever boss has been telling me since I can't oford to loose my job so I just agree to whatever he has me do , I don't really know where to go with this or if I'm being dramatic about the whole thing and was told by doctor if I don't take it very easy I may need surgery! My co worker seems to be trying to help as much as possible but once again I feel as im being over dramatic, as well I had a sludge hammer brake and smack my leg and broke my leg but kept working just on one foot for a few weeks till I could start to apply pressure and at this doctor visit I had it checked as well since it never healed right and was told I broke my leg , so I would like to assume I'm not too much of a wuss to pain... Ironically he found me on the ground wich I promptly stood up and tried to look alright so I don't get layed off lol , just kinda wondering if I'm the over dramatic asshole here , thank you!! (And no I didn't take any days off if you were wondering , currently on my "lunch brake" aka bathroom lol since we don't get lunch brakes due to abundance of coustmer cars ) and I don't want to file workers comp because I feel like that would screw over my boss being a mom and pop style shop and usually things go alright other then him having me do all the heavy lifting for the other 2 employees in the shop. Seems to have a high turn over rate ??

Whirlpool We bought Kitchen Aid refrigerator - Lemon - horrible refrigerator KitchenAid - reference # 7736263494 25.8-cu ft 5-Door French Door Refrigerator with Ice Maker (Stainless Steel) KRM706ESS no. 47740 Our cost $3399 Repair cost to dates $1650 and $630
When the refrigerator was brand new it stop cooling and freezing , we had it fixed with Appliance Hospital.(warranty existed )that was a years ago. May of 2023 the ice maker died , refrigerator was not freezing . We called Appliance Hospital got an appointment May 16,2022 when Appliance Hospital came out they noted and told of parts they didn't have but needed for repair so they would order. Two weeks later Appliance Hospital came back with parts. Our bill was $1600 parts were put in tech checked all was checked repair was suppose to be good . Two weeks later still no ice refrigerator not freezing Appliance Hospital came back out different tech all prior plugs replaced tech said they had blown ice maker dead parts were reordered. Now we are into June,2022 refrigerator still not working New tech sent Kevin checked out the parts but stated that what needed had to be ordered. Now we are into September Kevin said Let's check main part in rear plugs in front should not be blowing so quiickly, parts needed at rear could take two weeks Now we are in October 2022 no ice maker refrigerator not freezing, just cool Kevin ordered additIonal qparts our cost .again $630 parts came, Kevin from Appliance Hospital came . all new ice maker parts put in and Work at rear. November no ice refrigerator barely cooling or cycling couldn't get an appointment till December,2022. Kevin came out in December said now he is discussing repairs with Whirlpool because he feels we need a replacement refrigerator refrigerator is not responding to any thing he has done . January 2023 Kevin is appealing to Whirlpool, Whirlpool gave Kevin specific details of things to do to repair refrigerator. Now we are in February refrigerator is neither heating or cooling Appliances Hospital , Miranda suggested since.our refrigerator was dead we.should give our food to a neighbor to hold for us . At this point refrigerator heating only I got up one morning all my frozen foods in the Lower bucket was chilled sitting in water upper foods warmed . I had to clear throw out all food clean out refrigerator. We are now in May one year from where we started Appliance Hospital is talking with Whirlpool for 3 months trying to make them understand this refrigerator is Dead. They , Whirlpool need to replace it the issue is a manufacturer issue not my issue . My issue is my refrigerator is dead I need it replaced with my file number is 7736263494. Whirlpool respond. Why do I need to go Public for you to respond

Shen Wulong - Heavily implied
Gaoh Mukaku - Feats wise and it seems like he's the one who beat Erioh in Kengan matches.
Prime Erioh - It was stated that Eddie will be child's play to him in his prime. And I don't think he's lying.
Eddie/Gilbert - Took several decent fighters to defeat him. But since Gilbert is stronger, it is unknown if he's stronger, equal, or slightly weaker to Prime Erioh.
Six (Tiger Niko) - It seems like he's on the same level as Eddie though it's still unclear which one of them is stronger, but since we still haven't seen him go all out, I'll put him lower than Eddie.
Four (Ohma's Niko) - Somehow equal to Tiger Niko, but I'll put him lower since he's dead and TN is still evolving/growing stronger.
Kuroki Gensai - Yan and Luohan doesn't have feats and I can't think of anyone in between Four and Kuroki.
Tokita Ohma - He's on a whole new level now that he has Kure techniques and full mastery of the Niko style, and he beat Lolong mid diff.
Lolong Donaire - 422 wins and 0 losses in purgatory is no joke, and he tied with Kuroki before. His foresight is also insane.
Kanoh Agito/Raian Kure - Seriously, I can't decide which one of them is stronger. But anyway, I think they're just slighty below Lolong or maybe equal. Only Sandro can decide, so we deserve to see a Kengan match among these three.

What do you guys think? Did I miss someone?

for context i am disabled and in my 20s. i’ve been getting disability benefits since i was 16 and started paying rent all the way back then as a child even when i only had a bedroom and nothing else. my parents have always struggled financially and so i wanted to help them in any way i could.
we currently live as neighbors on a rural plot of land in the midwest. they have a 3 bedroom home and i have a one bedroom trailer. i don’t have a separate address from them and i’ve lived here on the property since 2018. i moved out for about 6 months in 2022 because i needed to try and make it on my own away from them for a while because of trauma that they’ve caused me throughout the years. i then had to move out of that apartment because although it was affordable the neighborhood i was living in was extremely unsafe.
my parents agreed to let me come back since there is no other housing in my area that accepts my pets and that is affordable with my fixed income. here’s where i need advice:
the agreed price on my rent is very affordable for me however i cannot pay them next month because my vehicle needs some repair work done on it that will leave me with nothing for the rest of june if i pay rent on top of that. i asked my mom first a week ago what her thoughts were on me waiting until july to start paying rent and explained my situation and she got upset with me because of their financial struggles. i asked her more so as a courtesy in hopes that she would be understanding to the fact that they’re not the only ones with financial struggles. she also mentioned to me when i was moving back in that after i moved out there wasn’t really much of a difference at all in their utility bill since we are in the same line but now they’re trying to make it sound like that was never the case and that now that i’m moved back in it’s another huge financial hardship for them even tho i pay for all of my own things without aid from them.
i need my vehicle to get myself to and from appointments so i will not be paying rent in june. we do not have any contracts or anything in writing saying that i owe them a specific amount. what i’m worried about is that my dad has threatened to kick me out before because he wasn’t able to control my actions and my lifestyle anymore (grew up in a cult and escaped last year but they’re still heavy in it) the only reason i didn’t get kicked out is because he gave me an ultimatum and i was desperate. but i realize now that i potentially have leverage if they ever do threaten me again with eviction. my mom gets paid by the state to help take care of me when i need it due to my disabilities but i don’t need her as much anymore because my health has gotten better in some areas which i thought my parents would be thrilled about but instead they were angry to be losing that money so i’ve kept it going for as long as possible because of their threats but i’m calling my case worker and informing her i do not need a caretaker anymore next month so july would be the final payment to my parents from the state for taking care of me.
with that being said i know my parents will be angry although they are aware that i most likely wouldn’t be qualified for her to be paid by the state on my next review anyway because i told them i was going to be 100% honest that my needs are different now and there are other disabled people out there who genuinely need the assistance more than i do. i’m worried that this combined with me not paying rent next month (although they’ll have the state check from this months work) will cause my dad to attempt to give me another ultimatum again. instead of cowering in fear and complying i want to know what my rights are and what i could say to them in return especially since i know about things they have manipulated and lied about for their financial gain.
i love my parents very much but they have time and again tried to make their bad financial decisions and struggles my problem since we always have helped each other out in the past. i’m trying to be independent. i have myself and my pets to look out for and i am in no position to move again right now. i don’t know exactly what my rights are as a disabled person on their property if they threaten to evict me over missing one months rent given there is no contract or anything in writing and there never has been.
also i don’t know if this matters but there is quite a bit wrong with my trailer. half of the electricity doesn’t work including outlets and ceiling lighting and i don’t have a working stove just a plug in burner and a few other plug in cooking appliances. also the bathroom didn’t work for about a year so i had to walk over to their house to use the bathroom. they only fixed it when i moved back in but even now i have to go to the bathroom in the dark because the lights and outlets don’t work in that part of the house.

Mid state appliance repair franklin tn

I have little control over my living environment, and I’m having a very difficult time regulating myself

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”Short” recap of the Jets' 2022 Season

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1st Round (15th Overall) Will McDonald IV, EDGE – Iowa State

2nd Round, 12th pick (43rd Overall) Joe Tippmann, C – Wisconsin

4th Round, Pick 18 (120th Overall) Carter Warren, OT – Pittsburgh

5th Round Pick, Pick 8 (#143rd Overall) Israel Abanikanda, RB – Pittsburgh

6th Round, Pick 7 (184th Overall) Zaire Barnes, LB – Western Michigan

Round 6, Pick 27 (#204th Overall) Jarrick Bernard-Converse, DB – LSU

Round 7, Pick 3 (#220th Overall) Zack Kuntz, TE – Old Dominion

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Final Thoughts

Fuck Tha Police Pt 1 – Best Buy Disappears

FUCK THA POLICE PT. 2 - The PAPERWORK SNAFU RE BEST BUY

FUCK THA POLICE PT. 3 - THE BEST BUY SUBPOENA