Lawn mower repair shops near me

Living with CPTSD for a long time, I recently discovered the idea of ‘attachment style’ while listening to Amir Levine’s audiobook, Attached. Right now, I’m sitting in a coffee shop finishing up a journal I began on a day when I was feeling particularly anxious and lonely. Before coming into the coffee shop, I spent a few extra minutes in my car, engrossed in the audiobook. Later, I searched online for “Anxious Attachment Style Reddit” and was amazed to find an entire subreddit dedicated to it.
For a good while, I was convinced that I had BPD, which was my initial diagnosis. But, after eight years of therapy sessions with the same therapist, she believes I actually have CPTSD. I’m a 38-year-old man now, and I’m taking my therapy more seriously and regularly because I have hopes of finding a partner and starting a family someday.
A little over two months, I lost my dog who had been my faithful companion for 12 years. I decided to not go home and booked a one-way ticket to Hawaii and been in Maui ever since. After my last breakup, we ended up in isolation for nearly seven years as I was trying to cope and heal from the emotional rollercoaster. I’ve had some difficult times, even landing in jail for 4 months, being homeless living at my friends house, and building my business. I’ve also built two successful businesses since. Yet, despite all this, I’ve never felt more unhappy. I’ve had some short-lived romantic involvements but have generally kept to myself because I’m just not ready for a relationship.
In the past few months of living in Hawaii, I had a brief encounter that left me feeling particularly lonely and attached shortly after my dog passed away. To deal with it, I started going on hikes, off-roading, learning to surf, and taking up photography more seriously. But I still felt empty inside and turned to dating apps like Bumble, Tinder, and Hinge to fill the void and, admittedly, for some physical comfort as well.
I met a wonderful woman in Oahu whom I messaged as a friend looking for advice about Hawaii. When she realized I am not a tourist and actually decide to move here, she started flirting with me and being sexual. She invited me to visit her in Oahua and I traveled to see her. I met all her girlfriends that night, had a great time with them, and her and I got intimate. I prolonged my visit for another night spent a whole day at the beach and talking over at dinner. She spent the night again. After returning to the mainland to handle some things, we chatted every day for a week, until she decided she wasn’t ready for a relationship and suggested we should be friends instead.
I agreed to her suggestion, but the conversation that followed showed me how quick I am to blame myself when faced with rejection. This incident led to my hypervigilance going into overdrive, and our friendship was damaged because I came off too strong. I overshared, I even sent flowers (I had never done that in my life) I never acted angry or mean, but I did send her a drunken text that upset her when I noticed she talked to me less and less. She wants nothing to do with me at this point. Now, I left her entirely while doing my best not to beat myself up over the embarrassment. I have almost isolated myself in bed, but I continue to try not to fall back to my old depressive patterns. Hence, I am here at a coffee shop sharing this with a bunch of strangers.
To help cope, I’ve started journaling, meditating, and attending therapy. However, my heightened state of alertness has led me into risky situations, like crashing my motorbike and getting into a bar fight that resulted in me being assaulted.
At this point, I’m just hoping for some understanding and reassurance that I can improve through therapy and hard work. I’m not getting any younger, and the thought of ending up alone scares me.

Posted about this over on manufacturedhomes already but-
The Trustee of my Trust (sole beneficiary, irrevocable set up by frugal grandparents, not even a quarter of a mil in there) has been trying to get me stable, accessible, and affordable living as someone who has gone through over a decade of housing instability and is now needing to apply for SSI. Mobile homes in parks are pretty much our only option. At the end of May I found one that I loved, in an area I loved, with mid-range lot rent for the area.
The asking price was 45k$ for a 1990 single-wide mobile home 2b2ba. Everything looked great on the tour, which was conducted by my friends mom who already has home buying experience, since I'm on the other side of the country just trying to move back home.
We put in our cash offer June 1st looking to close June 13th. Inspection was yesterday.
-Roof is 30yrs old and at the end of it's lifespan, two shingles missing, some buckling at the sunroom connection.
-No attic access, vapor barrier is installed over everything else. So the inspector can't even check the wood.
-No window screens, but that's whatever imo (can get adjustable screens for 20$ and gradually buy mobile home screens)
-The back door has no landing and is a steep drop. I saw that in the Realtor photos but didn't know it was required (fire safety). The park just re-paved so if it needs to be anchored in the ground, we would have to jackhammer that.
-Water heater is nearing the end of its life.
-No receptacles on the outdoor outlets, kitchen needs GFCI, though I have a friend who does simple electrical like that.
-No CO2 detector, needs more smoke detectors. I don't think PA has a hard-wired requirement though.
-The breaker box needs the thing that prevents it from shorting out when power is restored after an outage.
-Shutoff for the water seems to be inaccessible.
-It's supported by a block foundation (cinderblocks, rebar, mortar) but apparently code requires it to have concrete footing.
-And the tie-downs are in dirt.
I just feel like some of this is a big whatever, especially considering one of my close friends is an electrical engineer and has already done stuff in his own home.
Water heater, roof, and whatever needs to be done to the supports are the big costly items, but I've read that roofing for a mobile home is cheaper because the roof has a lower pitch and is pretty consistent.
I had no power over the contract termination. The Trustee called me to review it, ended the call to take one from the buyer-side Realtor, and before I could even say hold on, let's think about this, I got a text saying they terminated.
My "second thoughts" are basically just that with the home at 45k$ I feel like it was already low enough that even 10-15k$ in repairs means I'm moving into a 55-60k$ mobile home that is up to code with all the biggest structural and utility costs having been taken care of for the next decade. Compared to going through this shit again with a mobile home listed at an event higher asking price.
Most of the homes in this area within our budget (75k$) aren't going to have new roofs and might have many of the same issues with utilities and supports. This is inland east PA, the home has already survived several hurricanes, we don't get major tornadoes and we're not on a fault line or near a flood plane.
So I don't know, but I just feel like impulsively terminating because of the inspection without taking a moment and trying to put everything in perspective was a bad idea, but maybe I'm wrong and the remediations would have been way higher than I'm estimating.

Apologies if I'm being naïve or certainly if I'm coming across at all insensitive or rude, but as someone who grew up in the UK, the concept of a price not actually being displayed as what it really is is baffling to me.
In the UK, if there is any variance in the price of a product from the shelf to the checkout, in almost all circumstances, the cashier will apologise and adjust the price to what was advertised on the label (or ignore the label if it is cheaper on their computer system).
Sometimes, they will just apologise and say that the label was incorrect, but for the most part, a shop in the UK, from my experience will actively try to rectify a price discrepancy by offering the lower price, essentially putting it down to a labeling mistake or system error and 'taking the hit'. I have worked in retail and done this several times myself (although, it usually requires manager authorisation).
Ultimately, by law, you cannot falsely advertise prices in the UK as far as I understand it, so the price on the shop floor MUST be the total price that would be paid by the customer and not a penny less.
In the US, I understand this isn't the case and you have taxes added on after the fact? So, firstly, how an Earth do you know you can afford anything before scanning it at the till, and secondly, are there any plans to change this in the near future? Fair enough if there's genuine benefits to this I'm unaware of, or people just prefer it this way for some reason (again, I apologise if this comes across as insensitive or rude), but surely not knowing the REAL price isn't an ideal situation for the customer?
I'm really just asking as I'm genuinely confused. I imagine if this were to happen in the UK, there would be heavy protests and rioting pretty much immediately as soon it were suggested.

Last year I bought a 2000 Honda CBR 600F4 for under $2k. It has about 22,000 miles on it. Five of which are mine. It had a few issues with it including the carbs. They definitely needed a cleaning and a tune, but I was able to ride the bike last year with its quirks. This year I wanted to get it inspected and repaired, so I took it to a local shop that I was recommended to by some folks that I ride with. I bring the bike in. They do a top to bottom safety inspection and send me an estimate for the parts, along with the labor, which totaled to about $2,400. I'm just curious if this is a reasonable price? Thanks in advance! Here's of pic of the bike: https://imgur.com/a/akKIEm7
The following parts and repairs include the following:
Services Carb Clean Inline 4 Cyl Oil Change Coolant Change Front Brake Fluid Flush Replace Front Brake Pads Rear Brake Fluid Flush Replace Chain and Sprockets Replace Clutch Lever Pivot Bolt
Parts Carburetor Gasket Set Carburetor Float Valves Carburetor Holder Spectro 10W40 Oil Bikemaster Oil Filte Maxima Coolanol Coolant DOT4 Front Brake Fluid Front Brake Pad Set DOT4 Rear Brake Fluid Final Drive Chain 16T Counter Sprocket 45T Final Drive Sprocket Clutch Lever Pivot Bolt

I'd love some help on next steps and should start by saying this is my first reddit posting, so if I've done something wrong/could do it better, I'll take that feedback!
My wife's uncle recently passed away and they found these collection of comic books in binders. Each is in a simple plastic bag in the binder and stored in a cedar chest. The family doesn't have a lot of emotional attachment to the comics and are interested in selling them, and I've taken the task of doing next steps.
Here's the problem--I don't know next steps!
As you can see from the pictures (again, sorry for not having the actual issues), some of these seem fairly valuable like the first three original Silver Surfers, the first 8 Invincible Iron Mans, and issues 4-7 of The Amazing Spider-Man.
These seem to be in fine condition--I wouldn't say mint by any means, but no massive yellowing of paper nor major folds/bends.
Two questions I need help with:
1) What are the next steps we can take to sell these? I live near Denver, Colorado and the comics and the family are in Casa Grande, Arizona. I don't know if it's best to get them graded, just go to a comic book shop, post them on eBay, or what. I want to help them but am afraid they might get ripped off.
2) Which comics, assuming they are all in good condition, should I tell them are the most valuable?
Thanks for the help!
PS A friend recommended this reddit page but as I look at the rules, it's possible this breaks rule 7 about speculation or value--if so, please give me the feedback so I can follow the rules!

My car got hit in the parking lot behind my house in September by a DoorDasher. It took until mid-March to determine who would pay for the repairs because of DoorDash having their own insurance. Long story short, I got my car into a repair shop on May 3rd while having the insurance of the person who hit me (Allstate) pay. The body shop estimated the repairs to be $5500 and Allstate only gave me $3500 when doing the initial over-the-phone quote. The repair manager told me that the repairs would take about a month and that they have a hard time dealing with Allstate because "they don't like paying".
The body shop started the repair without having all of the money required (I don't know if this is normal but I find this weird). Once they tore the car down they set a final estimate of $7500. Quite a jump so I was interested to see how this played out, especially after hearing about a week or two before the above quote.
Got an email today that they are putting the car back together just about a month later and it should be done next week. Great news except for the fact that they are short $1700... So the repair is about to be done, they've already received at least two supplements from Allstate, but I can't get my car until it's paid in full. I asked what they are going to do to get the money and he said that they will send a final bill to Allstate in hopes of getting the $1700. Sounds like a stretch to me. So I proceeded to ask, what if Allstate simply won't pay more or it takes forever to get the extra money? He said that I can pay the $1700 and go after them for it. Now I'm not the smartest, but if the body shop themself can't get the money, how am I supposed to?
Some side notes, this was my preferred shop and I've done some reading on here and saw that since I picked it this happens because of the shop being an ass or whatever. You don't need to spell that all out. However, Allstate offered to repair it here when they gave me the over-the-phone estimate. I don't know if I filled something out saying this was my preferred and that's why they put it but I feel like if they don't want to deal with this shop they wouldn't have done that.
So now I come to you and ask, what should I do here? Wait it out and assume it'll be okay or what? I was already screwed dealing with insurance for months because of DoorDash and now this is just the saga that never ends.

First time posting here as I am actually a visitor and not a resident. Something happened to me and my fiance on Kingsland Road in Hackey on our way to a concert this evening. A man came up to us from behind, said something, and gestured behind him. I looked back, thinking we might've dropped something, but nothing was there. Confused, I asked him "Sorry, what did you say?"
He then gave me this weird kind of smile and started saying something to me I didn't understand, he was definitely slurring. He started getting up close to me. Anyway, my fiance came between us and told him to back off. He immediately got angry and started squaring up to him, my fiance said "leave my fiancee alone" and he started snapping back bits and pieces "just one drink" and "are you gonna fck her? Are you gonna fck her?"
I got scared at this point and pulled my fiance and myself into a small kebab shop/takeaway at the side and luckily for us, one of the workers and another passerby helped us get rid of him, but it took 3 men yelling at him to go away to finally leave. I wish I remembered the name of the takeaway that helped us, but I just wanted to get away asap. All I know was it had a bus stop outside and was near the Earth Arts centre in Hackney.
It's left me quite shaken, and wanted to put a warning out there to other women, especially those travelling alone. He was maybe in his 30s or early 40s, I'd estimate 5'8ish, short dark hair, olive complexion. Wearing a sweater. That's all I remember. My fiance says at one point he saw him try to reach up under my skirt, but I didnt notice as I was too busy looking on the ground where he'd gestured to.
Please please be careful.

June 10th, 327
It’s been a bit since I’ve written here. I decided to give Augustine a looser leash and I allowed him to explore the outside world as long as he knew what he was doing.
June 11th, 327
Augustine said he had something to tell me later tonight, he’d been exploring almost every day now, the active sense of adventure that boy has honestly impresses me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A: Hey Zach
Z: Hey what’s up?
A: I wanna tell you about something I found while I was exploring the other day.
Z: Spill then.
A: Alright, so as I was playing around with my long distance teleportation spell and I ended up on the base of a large mountain range. It was strange as I couldn’t teleport all the way to the top, it was like something within the very mountain’s mineral makeup was negating my attempts to teleport up to its peak. So I decided to scale the mountain the old fashion way: climbing it. Thanks to the enhancements given to me by that project I scaled the mountain in no time, and the other side? It was like nothing the world has ever seen, the mountain range was hiding a large gulf of water, a large island placed just within the gulf, lush forest and 2 large mountains towards the center, a place that seemed untouched by time itself. It could be the perfect place to permanently hide from the Templar, after all we can only hide in this cabin for so long before they eventually find us.
I was certainly surprised at the fact that he was able to scale an entire mountain with seemingly very little effort, but what interested me more was the island he discovered. He claimed it looked “untouched” but the higher ups at the Templar claimed they have colonized nearly all the available land in this world so to have an entire island be left untouched is almost like foreign concept, something of legend.
Z: An untouched island? Not only untouched but also unheard of. The Templar said they’ve colonized all known land in this world.
A: I know! But I couldn’t see any mana towers among the trees or any humans from the peak of the mountains.
Z: Well if still untouched after all this time, chances are that they won’t find it anytime soon.
A: exactly! A place where the Templar will never reach…solemn look
Z: What's wrong Augustine? The memories and thoughts haunting you again?
A: yea, I’m sorry to constantly bother you with them but I’ve kept them contained for too long
Z: Hey, hey it’s alright. You’ve never been a bother at all, helping you deal with your issues is what friends are for.
A: I appreciate it Zach, for the longest time Elock was really the only friend I’ve ever had so it’s enlightening hearing someone else say that, to this day I still wonder where she is today and if she’s even alive! I used to have nightmares where I would meet her again just to discover that she’s-
Z: it’s alright, I’m sure she thinks about you every day too and most likely wonders the same every night.
A: Yeah I know, but it’s hard remaining optimistic in this world with the whole war between humans and keidran going on.
Z: Well to me that island sounds like a great place to start.
A: agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Augustine and I agreed to visit the island he found beyond the mountains tomorrow, he thinks it’ll be the perfect place to hide from the Templar.
June 12th, 327
Augustine said that the mountain range was incredibly far, about days worth of running in Augustine’s estimation, so teleporting there is just another thing to add to the list of things he impresses me with. While the material the mountain range is composed of prevents any magic from directly interacting with them, they don’t extend beyond that, so Augustine offered to fly us up there using a telekinetic spell.
Turns out Augustine is only used to telekinetically lifting one item, how do I know? Because he accidentally dropped me. Luckily I landed in a tree. After traversing both sides of the mountain and making it across the water, we arrived on the island at last and man Augustine wasn’t lying. It truly was beautiful, lush fruit bearing trees, 2 large mountains and not even the smallest hint of Templar interference!
We headed further inland and decided to stay at the valley between the 2 mountains with Augustine immediately getting to work and hacking away at the tree with the guard’s sword. After a few hours of work, Augustine already had a large pile of planks with me barely keeping up and Augustine teasing me about it, oh I’m sorry not everyone is a magically enhanced super soldier.
It was beginning to grow dark and we made the decision to head back to the cabin for today and continue the build some later time. Augustine made a waypoint in the cabin so getting back was easy though it had some issues as it took a while to activate. I took a rock sample from the mountains to analyze back at the cabin.
June 13th, 327
This was fascinating! The rock sample I took had incredibly unique properties never before seen! Its primary ability was “absorbing” sources of mana. I had stabbed one of our mana crystals into the rock and I observed as it broke down the crystal over the course of an hour! This explains why Augustine couldn’t teleport up the mountain. So even if the Templar did find the mountain they would never get over it, even with the most powerful mages magic.
Augustine had gone out to town again, he said it was to pick up building tools to help shore up the house we were building. He claimed he could handle it on his own and despite me wanting to protest, I let him go through with it. Unfortunately the town we went to around a week ago didn’t have a hardware store as any construction must run through Lulio first, so Augustine had to head to the neighboring town to see if he could find anything there.
~~~~~~~~~~
(Cut to Augustine’s pov)
Thoughts: “ugh cmon how hard could a hardware store be to find, it feels like I’ve been searching for hours already!”
sees sign with a hammer on it
“Gah! Finally!”
heads inside
Shopkeeper: Greetings sir! How may I assist you today?
“Uhh it’s alright I can handle it on my own, thanks for the offer though!”
Thoughts: this time the illusion should last longer as these mana crystals are fresh rather than being recharged.
grabs a large amount of nails, 2 hammers, some axes to preserve his sword, saws, sand paper, and stone blocks
Shopkeeper: Oh my sir, this is an awful load that you’ll have to carry on your own, are you sure you can handle it?
“Yes I’m sure…”
Shopkeeper: Are you sure? We have a policy that allows you to rent slaves to help you with whatever you’re working on.
“No, n-“
(Shopkeep rings a bell to send a slave to the front before Augustine could interject)
Thoughts: are you kidding me? Gahhh cmon Zack is waiting for me and I don’t wanna keep him on the line!
Female voice: coming!
Augustine: frustrated and staring at the floor
Shopkeeper: How about this one? Hard worker she is, very cooperative, very friendly.
Augustine: looks up
Elock: hello sir! How may I assist you today?
shivering
Thoughts: E- Elock?! When?! How?! I thought you worked for a farmer?! I can’t say anything, it'll reveal my identity to the worker! Okay, okay, okay just keep it calm!
“I- uh stuttering I changed my mind! She can help me, I’ll take her!”
Shopkeeper: I’m not surprised, she’s gone from owner to owner as she’s quite a hard worker, she’s worth a lot of money after being traded so many times before ending up at my place. 1000G for 7 days.
“I- yes I’ll take her”
Shopkeeper: perfect!
exits with supplies and Elock
~~~~~~~~~~
Elock looking at Augustine’s wanted poster: solemn
“Something wrong?”
Elock: oh! N-nothing! It’s just these ropes binding my hands are just a bit tight! And W-where are we heading sir? We’re outside of town at this point and I- uh-
A: chuckles a bit you’re still just as bad as ever at hiding your nervousness Elock
Elock: Ah- I- how do you know my name?!
A: unties the rope and disables illusion It’s been a while, wouldn’t you agree?
Elock in shock and on the verge of tears: I…A…trembling, mouth slightly ajar in shock
A: what? Cat got your tongue? Well I guess that’s true consid-
Elock: pounces on him AUGUSTINE! I’ve missed you so much!How have you been?!Where did you- starts talking so fast that even Augustine couldn’t keep up with what she was saying and weeping happy tears profusely on his shirt
A: slightly choking from how tight she’s hugging him it’s okay, it’s okay! I’ve missed you too. I almost thought you were gonna be de- ow ow! Stop it I was kidding!
Elock: blep I know. Not a single day went by where I didn’t think about you! And say weren't your eyes brown before?
A: I’m flattered that you still remember and well…it’s kind of a long story…but first let’s retreat to safety. teleports with Elock
~~~~~~~~~~
A: …and then I ended up here
Elock: That’s incredible! You sure had been on a wild cart ride while I was gone! I wish I could have been there.
A: It's not as glamorous as it sounds, that experiment was agony incarnate, it’s a wonder I survived! In fact I was the only one who came out alive, though the powers I got bestowed with are certainly nothing to complain about but still the effects after we’re brutal.
Elock: glad you did, the way you and Zach escaped the facility was incredible.
A: well he can tell you all about it points to cabin we’ve arrived
Zach opens door
A: Hey Zach, I’m back from my shopping spree.
Z: Augustine what took you so long? The plan was to just get the supplies and get out.
A: I know! But I got a bit off track. I found someone very special.
Elock: pokes head through the door Mrow?
A: meet Elock, remem-
Z: her! The keidran you met when you were 10?
A: yup to Elock it’s alright Elock it’s fine he won’t bite.
Elock: H- hello sir.
Z: please call me Zach. It’s a pleasure.
shakes hand
Elock: it’s a nice place you 2 have here.
A: It was by sheer luck that we found this place actually.
Z: Yeah, the blast was much larger than we’d anticipated and even if my house remained intact, they’d still come searching for me.
Elock: Well lucky you found this place when you did.
A: Are you hungry Elock? We have some steak leftovers.
Elock: oh, I am actually, thank you!
Z: say Elock…
Elock: yes?
Z: Would you mind telling us your journey? I’d love to learn.
A: Zach!
Z: Right, sorry.
Elock: No, no Augustine, it’s alright. I don’t mind in the slightest.
Life in the rainforest regions was paradise, plenty of food, clean sources of water, plenty of building materials, and a beautiful sight to wake up to everyday. My parents worked directly under the matriarch, Lektra(keidran for bolt/thunder) so me being born was almost as exciting as the coronation of the matriarch herself. Unfortunately that swiftly came to a close when Lulio decided to use our home as farmland and despite protests from Lektra, Lulio still went through with the plan. In a flash everything was pretty much destroyed. Our warriors tried to fight back but were eliminated instantly, I was about 3 when this happened and the memory still burns strong to this day.
Augustine: muttering under his breath psychotic bastard…
Elock: I know how you feel, Augustine, trust me I do.
A: I know, I’m sorry
Elock: holds his hand It's alright.
After the destruction of my people and my home, I was sent into the town and stayed in a keidran only home until my 4th birthday. Instead of pleasant accommodations like human orphan homes, all we got was a pillow and some sheets to make ourselves comfortable with, most of us slept on the hardwood floor and it was unbearable. Lulio passed a law where keidran as young as 4 would be eligible for work. After my 4th birthday I was almost immediately whisked off to work on a farm, while the job was tough, they at least gave me my own room and bed, one of their guests even took a small liking to me but tragically he died of a lung infection.
Z: I lament your journey and loss Elock, I can’t imagine how tough this was to bear all at once.
Elock: please it’s okay, you don’t have to apologize for anything. None of this is any of your wrongdoing.
Z: You said your people were killed but what about your parents? Did they survive too?
Elock: Oh right! My parents were spared as they opted to surrender peacefully and they were sold to different owners. I used to occasionally see them from time to time but after I moved I had to say a tearful goodbye to both them and Augustine. playfully pinches his cheek
Z: You’re strong for getting through that, not many could take that much.
Elock: I appreciate that.
Z: Do you have any idea where your parents are right now?
Elock: I think they’re still in the same tow- Augustine? Are you okay?
A: on the other hand gripping the table so hard that it was gonna break, eyes with a look of both confusion and rage
Elock: Augustine?
A: I- I saw them…
Elock: What do you mean?
A: They were there…in the same room.
Elock: Are you talking about the operation?
A: Y- yes…I saw them, both of them. They were in the operation too, part of the 10 keidrans selected to be in the experiment. I briefly saw them looking at me, they were scared but I couldn’t do a damn thing to help them and now they're dead! slowly growing hysterical
Elock: Augustine!
A: snaps out of his hysterics
Elock: it’s not your fault! Neither of you have to feel guilty!
A: I know, but I just wish I could have done something to help them, but I was just a powerless child.
Z: Augustine. We all wish we could have done something to stop Lulio’s plan, we all feel the same way just please don’t put all the blame on yourself.
A: I know, I'm sorry…
Elock: it’s alright…we’re all here to support you, you got hit the hardest out of all so you should be the one to be the one who receives sympathy.
A: …thanks guys, It feels like it’s been so long since I’ve heard something so comforting.
Elock: don’t worry, we’ll never leave and when we do, we’ll leave together.
A: …oh! Elock, I hate to do this but would you mind helping us with something? We found a place that could be our key to salvation.
Elock: Of course! I don’t mind in the slightest.
A: teleports all 3 of them via waypoint
~~~~~~~~~~
Elock: in awe of the island I…this is incredible! It reminds me so much of my home! And you were right! There’s no hint of Templar activity at all!
A: We were just as shocked as you are right now when we first found it. I mean like Zach said, the Templar claimed that they have settled on all available land in this world.
Elock: Well then, let’s make good use of this place, so let’s get to work!
A: I couldn't have said it better myself.
hours later, the trio had finished building a moderate sized wooden house
A: woo! Not bad for a day's work, am I right?
Elock: Mrrrr…man that was a nice workout!
Z: Tell me about it!
A: So Elock, should we tell Zach?
Elock: I think so!
Z: Tell me…what?
A: Well…on the way here, Elock and I started thinking and we were thinking of a way we could free other slaves from their captors.
Z: sigh… well at this point, I know better than to criticize your plan before even hearing it so go ahead, spill it on me.
A: Operation: torchwick
—————

1. Elock would be our messenger, using her spare time to get any other slaves on board with the plan, amassing as many as possible.
   
2. On the large hill next to the town, we plant a large amount of gray mana crystals. Where downhill wind will carry the effect down into the town
   

(Gray mana crystals were created for a special purpose, making large smokescreens on the battlefield)

1. I would then use a spell that emits a light that can’t be perceived by humans but can be seen by keidrans and basitins alike, Which would act as the signal to go for it.
   
2. The group would then head towards the light where we would then break for the mountains as fast as possible.
   

(Unfortunately the waypoint spell barely lasts for even a few days, and teleporting a large group of people via waypoint could be tough even for me)
I would then use as much of my power as possible to telekinetic lift as many refugees as possibl-
Z: Yeah…considering that you almost dropped me off the side of the mountain, I think even you would have trouble lifting a bunch of slaves.
A: hey!
Elock: Mreeheehee!
A: anyways! After we figure out a way to get everyone up there, we’ll be untouchable!
Z: huh…well from one chaotic strategist to another, it’s worth a shot.
A: Perfect! See Elock?
Elock: mew?
A: I kept the promise I made, all those years ago! when we meet again, it’ll be your freedom.
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To be continued
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Also for anyone who wants to know a bit more about Elock:
Name: Elock of the rainforest leopards
Species: rainforest leopard
Languages: human, keidran
Physical characteristics: yellow fur, black nose marking, black rosettes running down back and onto tail, unusually big and poofy tail, butter yellow hair with black streaks, faint outline of heart pattern on her behind
Height: 5’4”
Age: 9 years(was 4 when she met Augustine)
Eye color: emerald green
Mental characteristics:
-Quick learner
-Eager to help
-Bad at hiding panic
-Imaginative
-Heart of gold
-Shy but slowly growing out of it
-Optimistic
Likes: adventure, rain, storytelling, being adored, helping, hugs(especially from Augustine), pouncing on people she cares about.
Dislikes: slavery, Templar(although not as intensely as most others)
Unlike most, Elock had the ability to both read and write prior to slavery, being taught by both her parents and Lektra herself. Spending most of her time reading and drawing using whatever material she could find.

Here is chapter 16 of Tight Money.
Special thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 for creating the universe and allowing fan writers to join the fun.
Additional thanks to u/BiasMushroom, u/YakiTapioca, u/cruisingNW, u/SavingsSyllabub7788, u/YaaliAnnar, u/White_Dragon_Coranth, u/Illwood and u/Redundant-Honse for letting me use elements from their fanfics in mine.
Thanks to u/Zyrian150, u/Saint-Andros, and u/Eager_Question for proofreading this chapter.
Today, I have 3 character updates for you. We get to see good things happen to Leena and Dani and we get another update on what Niit is up to as well as revisiting some old characters and introducing a new one. This chapter was my first in collaboration with u/Eager_Question. We are doing a crossover for the next few chapters of Tight Money. A huge thanks to them for entirely changing the trajectory of my plans for Niit and Leena. I'm excited for where this is going.
I love your comments so please tell me what you think so I can get better or if you have suggestions for future snippets of life on Venlil Prime you would like to see me cover, leave it in the comments.
First Previous
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Memory transcription subject: Leena, Human Refugee Host
Date [standardized human time]: November 7, 2136
The smell of delectable food woke me up before my alarm – a sweet scent with a hint of roasted vegetables. My stomach demanded a meal, and glancing at the clock, I could see that I had some time before the twins would wake. Eagerly walking to the kitchen, I saw Dani had placed out all manner of items on the counter. She stood in front of her ‘hot plate,’ stirring a steaming pot that emanated the delightful aroma.
“Good morning, sleepy head!”
“Good waking, Dani. What are you up to with all those fruits and jars?”
“Well, you remember how I told you I was going to make some chalk for the neighborhood kids? That’s what I am doing right now – I'm making colored chalk! It's a fun DIY project. You see…”
“That did not translate correctly. The translator said, ‘letters of the English alphabet ask for clarification.’”
“Oh, it is an acronym that stands for the English words, ‘do it yourself.’ A lot of humans are pretty handy and have the skills to make the things that most people buy from a store. Sometimes they make things to save money, some do it for the challenge to see if they can, some do it because they want to customize something, and a lot of people do it because they enjoy doing it.”
“Like you said at our meal, this last paw.”
“Yeah! First, I slice up these fruits and vegetables into thin slices and boil them in water for [10 minutes]. The boiling process helps extract the natural pigments from the foods. Once I've boiled the fruits, I strain the colored water and keep it aside.”
Dani reached for a strainer and gently poured the steaming water into another pot and put that on the ‘hot plate.’ She set the slices of fire fruit on a plate and took a tentative bite out of a slice. I followed suit and to my delight, the fruit had a new mellower flavor with a hint of sweetness. Looking over the counter while I snacked on the boiled slices of Firefruit I got a better look at the jars of colored water and a few with colored powders.
“Okay, I'm following so far,” I pointed to one of the powder jars. “What are the powders for?”
“I’m doing an experiment. I want to see if I can use the pigment water as is or if I have to bake it to remove even more of the moisture in order to get a good color. I’ve never used these vegetables before so I need to do some trial and error to get this right.”
Dani had received a small strayu forge a few days ago in the mail and was putting it to good use making all manner of things except strayu. Honestly, I had no idea you could do anything else with them. Humans think of the strangest things. The forge dinged alerting her that it was done with whatever it was doing. She pulled out a tray of shriveled up Firefruit slices and transferred them to an empty plate. Dani laid several more fresh Firefruit slices on the trays and began the process anew.
“Dehydrated slices make wonderful snacks. Now, I take plaster,” Dani scooped some white powder into a cheap plastic bowl and poured in two scoops of the colored water, “and mix it with the colored water we obtained earlier. The plaster acts as a base and helps give the chalk a solid form.”
“Dani, that's so clever! So, the colored water gives the plaster its colors?”
“Exactly! The colored water mixes with the plaster, and we end up with a mixture that has the desired colors. Oh, and while I'm doing this, I'm also pouring the mixture into these silicone molds.”
I watched as Dani mixed the blue water and white powder until it turned into a light blue soup. Dani poured the liquid into the cavities of the flexible trays and scrunched up her face the way she did when she was unhappy or thinking.
“Is something wrong?”
“Yeah, it is supposed to be a much deeper blue than this. I think I’ll have to find something else to make a better dye or try the powder method. Oh well, live and learn.”
Dani began to clean up just as my alarm went off, informing me that I needed to get the children ready and fed. When I came out of my room after feeding the twins and grooming their fur, Dani had finished cleaning the counter and sitting on the couch browsing on her tablet. She looked up as I sat down.
“You get your cast off today right?”
Peering at the clock on her tablet, “Yes, my appointment is in quarter a claw at the out-patient recovery facility. It is only a short ride away. Would you?” I passed the twins to Dani before I stood. “I need to get ready.”
“Come here little babies, let's play hide and peek-a-boo.”
A quick shower later and I returned to find Dani loading the twins into the stroller; still talking to them in her higher pitch and smiling. Nothing out of the ordinary about that but what was out of the ordinary was that Vissa and Tas were also showing their teeth. Not quite a smile but not for lack of trying. I wasn’t sure what to say about that. I didn’t want Dani to stop smiling at Vissa and Tas but that behavior worried me.
“Okay, we’re ready.” Dani reached in and tickled my children. When they were done laughing they ceased to show their teeth much to my relief.
“Dani, when I get the cast off and return this scooter, is there anything you would like to do? I would rather not go back home and sit down once I can walk again.”
Dani’s eyes sparkled at my suggestion. “I would love to see some of your museums and I read about these places where people can make communal art. Could you show me one of those?”
“I would love to.” I’m glad I can do something nice for you, after all you have done for me.
Memory transcription subject: Niit, Capitol Spaceport Logistics Coordinator
Date [standardized human time]: November 9, 2136
I was fortunate. Only three claws after I was fired from the spaceport a new job presented itself. It was a temporary job but it would give me time to find something permanent and help my job history. Getting fired looked worse than the contract ending. They had advertised that they needed someone to come in and finish a new facility. I wondered what happened to the last coordinator. I sent in my application, trying to highlight that I had some experience in procuring building materials for the maintenance of the spaceport hangars.
I was given an interview time for the following paw. That didn’t give me much time to prepare and the place was a bit out of the way. I had to take the train out to the outer ring of the Capital and then walk [20 minutes] more but at least it was easy to find; I could hear the construction a [kilometer] away. A yotul was outside watching the construction crews, obviously impressed with the advanced construction equipment.
“Excuse me,” I tried not to be respectful and not shout, “could you direct me to the project manager's office?”
The yotul looked at me and then pointed to a series of temporary buildings in the distance.
“The furthest of the temporary dwellings on the right," he said, "it has a label on the door.”
“Thank you.” I waved my tail goodbye.
I walked over to the white construction shelter the yotul indicated and raised my paw to knock when the door slid open and a large, dark gray venlil appeared in the doorway. I froze in surprise as he looked me up and down with his left eye.
“Are you Niit?”
“Y-y…” I flicked my ear in affirmation.
“Come in.”
The gray venlil stepped inside and motioned to a swivel chair opposite a desk near the door. I took the seat opposite him at the desk and he opened a file with my application on his datapad. The office was a mess of binders, tools, and open cases of energy snacks and drinks; I assumed for the crew. A large map of the block hung on the wall.
"You can call me Foreman Apec or just Foreman is fine too. I'm so glad you could come on such short notice, this project is rather urgent and our last coordinator was poached by one of those ghastly flesh factories they're building now."
The very mention of those atrocious places nearly caused me to lose my lunch. “I-I’m so sorry to hear that. Well, I can guarantee you that I will not be leaving to work in such a place.”
"That's wonderful to hear. Tell me more about your experience, how comfortable are you handling tight schedules?"
“Oh, very, when I worked at the Capital Spaceport I had to manage several tight repair schedules regularly.” I hope he didn’t call Director Cass. I doubt he would give me a positive reference.
"Wonderful to hear. Like I said, we're rather in a rush to get this all done as soon as we can. The good news is that human laborers can work for two, sometimes three claws a shift, so we should be able to manage."
He stated that so nonchalantly, waving his tail around like it wasn’t the most ludicrous thing.
“T-three claws? They can work that long? No,” he’s joking, “You are pulling my ear. There’s no way anyone can work that long.”
Foreman Apec leaned forward and lowered his voice conspiratorially.
"I could scarcely believe it myself! Between you and me, I believe they're what you'd call persistence predators, but they're all hush hush about such things, you know. Anyhow,” he sat back and resumed the interview questions. “You mentioned repairs–I assume for starships-- do you have any experience with buildings?"
Persistence predators? I’ll have to look that up later, focus!
“Some, yes. I managed the construction of hangars 17 and 18 two [years] ago and the repairs to some of the buildings when debris fell after the successful defense against the arxur earlier this [year].”
"Fantastic! And, of course, while the position does not require you to interact with many humans, it'll likely come up due to the nature of the project. Are you comfortable with that?"
“I’ll manage.” It’s only temporary and I have my secret weapon now. Let's see them crawl inside me now. Ha!
"You should be fine. Older fellows like myself seem to struggle much more than youngsters like you, and I have my first meal with a human every paw now! I'm afraid the compensation on the ad is as high as we can go due to the budget, is that also alright?"
He flicked his tail apologetically.
“Yes, I’m grateful for the opportunity to gain experience in construction and try something other than starship repair.”
"Fantastic. When can you start?"
“I can start immediately, thank you!”
"Well, then you're hired! I'll send you an information package as soon as I can, and you can start at the next claw. As I said, we are quite strapped for time."
I rose, my tail wagged with joy, “I won’t let you down. I’m eager to see what this place will look like when it’s finished.”
"As am I. The whole thing has been mired in secrecy. You'll have to sign an agreement when you accept the contract, it'll be in your information package."
A secrecy agreement? What are the humans building here? “Oh… mysterious.” I tried to wave my tail playfully.
"Yes indeed! We'll be able to talk all about it once you sign on officially, but suffice it to say that the building plans are different from any I've ever seen."
The foreman walked around the desk and opened the door to escort me out. As I left, I turned one last time to reply.
“Well, I am eager to talk with you about it next claw.”
"Wonderful. Go, read through the package. Rest up. You'll need it."
Memory transcription subject: Krin, Capitol Extermination Officer
Date [standardized human time]: November 9, 2136
Driving to another abandoned home, looking for another poor warto spawn for trespassing. Probably gonna have drugs too; they all do. Rigel was driving the truck and seemed rather quiet, well, more quiet than usual.
“This is wrong, Krin. Evicting someone from an abandoned house just feels wrong.”
Rigel you are naive and too emotional. These people have already left the herd and need to shape up.
“I get where you're comin' from, Rigel, but it's our job. Can't let folks squat in places that ain't theirs.”
We were headed to the poorer part of the city. Clean streets but smaller houses; some no bigger than an apartment. The homes had an artificial feel to them, lacking any sort of wood or stone, just fillcrete walls and plastic doors. The road was getting bumpier with potholes in the rubber asphalt and frayed edges. The paint was nearly gone in some places and sunbleached in others.
“But it's rough out there, Krin. The economy's tanking, folks are losing their jobs, the banks aren’t making allowances…. Is throwing someone out really the answer?
For herd’s sake, “Look, Rigel, I feel for 'em, I do. But ya gotta think bigger. This squattin' stuff leads to more crime, drugs, theft, vandalism, urban decay. Ain't good for nobody. It’s a breeding ground for predator disease.”
“I get that, but it's hard not to sympathize. People are struggling. Maybe we could help them instead of evicting them?”
You want to help them so much, go be a social worker and see how much help you can give these people. Social services were drowning. Everyone knew that but with less revenue from fees and taxes, agencies had to make cuts. Everyone just had to make do.
“Help 'em how? We ain't social workers, Rigel. We got our hands full already and the owners are breathing down our necks when they should've taken care of this mess in the first place!”
“I know, Krin, but it just doesn't sit right with me. Can't help but think there's a better way to handle this.”
“We can't solve all the world's problems, Rigel. Our job is to keep the peace, not save everyone. It's tough, but that's reality.” The simple reality that ain’t so simple anymore, stupid humans.
“I just wish we could do more, you know? Feel like we're caught between a cliff and a shadestalker.”
“Trust me, Rigel, I feel it too. But we can't change the system overnight. Gotta focus on what we can control and do our jobs. Besides, no point thinkin’ about it anymore, we’re here.”
I stopped the car and got out. Officer Rigel checked the front door and it swung open. We entered the house, announcing ourselves as we went, but saw no one. The place was rather clean for a squat. If it wasn’t for the makeshift bed in one of the rooms and the inflatable birthday pool in the bathroom with a stack of towels, we wouldn’t have even known there was a squatter here.
“Looks like we came all this way for nothing.” The frustration in Officer Rigels voice mirrored my own.
The water in this pool was almost gone, the towels were dry and we didn’t find any paraphernalia. Whoever had been here, was long gone.
“Yeah, let's call it in and go back to the office.”
We climbed back into the truck and pulled out of the driveway. As I drove us back to the guild, we passed a disheveled man. Is that our squatter? I slowed the car and looked in the mirror, from behind I could see he was wearing a dirty safety vest and carrying a trash stick. No, he’s not a squatter. Glad I’m not that guy though. Sanitation work is not for me.
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First Previous

So basically a little over a week and a half ago I started exhibiting signs of a UTI, but I brushed it off for a few days because I have suspected IC and I have flare ups every now and then. But after day 3 I was worried so I did an at home UTI test, I couldn’t really properly read the test results because my urine was discolored from taking AZO, so I went ahead and ordered antibiotics (Macrobid) and took those for 5 days.
After the last day of taking it my symptoms were still there, not nearly as bad but still there. So I decided to call my doctor and schedule an appointment. In the meantime I went and got some D-Mannose powder at the vitamin shop in my area and took it twice yesterday. Today my symptoms are better but I’m still urinating frequently. And I’m also noticing some slight pain in my right back area which has me paranoid about a kidney infection. I went to my doctors appointment and discussed all my concerns and he ran a urinalysis which came back negative for UTI but he didn’t run a culture test.
So now I’m wondering if I even had a UTI to begin with, and if it’s just IC? Also why is my back hurting? What the heck is going on?? The D-Mannose seems to be working though?

Inspiration finally came back. Starting to get to the main story soon. Please leave feedback. I write more as a play outline, but I am hoping to be able to write normally
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"Well, that went about as well as I could hope," Thomas mutters to himself as he crosses the marsh back to his broken building. Storming up the stairs, he does not bother taking off his muddy shoes. Seeing the pile of leaves and discarded skins he uses as a makeshift bed, he flops down face first.
"If I did the right thing, why do I feel like I am about to break down and throw up?!"
Mind racing, he plays back over what he said and did.
"Now that I am here, I have some saved dried food, I can gather water at the stream that feeds the marsh, I have many containers to carry water with so I won't have to go everyday. I should be able to hide here for a few days."
"What to do after that? I have burned the last bridge that I had, I am not important enough to hunt so I have that going for me, but now what?"
Looking up to the sky, he sees the stars, and with tears streaming down his face, begs the stars, "Why? ...Why?"
-----
"I never thought the runt had it in him to run away," the chief bellows.
"Don't talk about him like that!"
"Why son, it's true. Today was a day to celebrate you and the work you put into making that thing work. Sure it took a few weeks to build, but you managed to organize everyone to work on it. Calling out any specific person would make it seem like you are favouring them over any other."
"But without him, th-"
"No buts! You also managed to have him flee, and with the duel he lost, he can never return. In one day, you managed to do something I have been trying to do for years. That is worth celebrating!"
Ned stands up and storms out of the dome, rustling the plastic liner within the door on the way. He immediately runs into Katrina who is standing out there, seemingly waiting for him, and possibly eavesdropping.
"So am I to go after him and return with his ears? Or tongue?"
"Katrina! What are you saying?! Yes, he is as good as dead, but we don't need to kill him."
"This is why you will make a poor chief. No guts to follow through on promises"
"There was no promise. I did not even get to choose the combat!"
"Good thing, you probably would have allowed himself to defend what he said. Claiming all your work in setting up the pump and organizing the village"
"You really think I had the idea? I can barely sort people's problems and what the craftsworkers do might as well be magic! I know that I shouldn't touch the sharp bit or the hot thing, but that's it!"
"You don't have to know those things, you know how to delegate. So what if it was not your idea. It was still you who did the work to actually get it to happen"
Suddenly, one of the villagers runs in. "Master Ned, the pump's broke"
"What do you mean, 'the pump's broke'? It has only been a few hours since we started it, and it was tested for days before!"
"The handle turns, but no water comes up"
Ned storms off to the pump, followed by the villager and Katrina. He arrives at the pump, slips through the gathering crowd, and tries the handle. It is very loose, but the screw seems to spin.
"That does not make sense, it's loose, but I was here before the festival and it worked perfectly. I would even say it was stiff"
Katrina stands, and in a huff, exclaims "It must have been Thomas! I should have ended him when I had the chance!"
"No! Katrina! Come back here right now!"
"You're not the boss, and you're not my dad!!" Katrina shouts as she runs off into the forest, bow in hand and spear on back.
"Should we fix it?" "Can we fix it?" "I don't know", the crowd mumbles
Ned, thinking about what Katrina said before arriving at the pump, stands straight and shouts:
"All of you! We are going to fix this pump, not because it is easy, but because it is unknown. One of you snuck the plans to me, so one of you knows how it works. I want this info to be spread across all craftspeople and this pump deconstructed and repaired. Do I make myself clear?!"
"Yes!" Most of the crowd exclaims. Many of the younger craftsmen immediately start yanking the pump out of the creek bank to bring it back into the shop.
Ned, ready to head back, feels a hand on his shoulder, and sees that it is Nathaniel. The tall and lanky many with a wild eye stares at him. The rest of the crowd has eagerly wandered away. Nathaniel speaks, "Good for you to start looking to the past and future. I feel that my time is near, but may the sky guide you through the challenges ahead with the winds of change"
Ned, carefully brushing off the old man's hand, replies "...ok, sure... You've got a few more years left though."
-----
Early the next morning, Thomas awakes, confused and hungry. He quickly remembers what occured the day before. He quickly eats some of his stored pemmican and water he gathered. Now finding himself with a lot of spare time, and still needing to be incognito, he stays in the building and explores a few more of the rooms. Coming into one of the smaller rooms, he comes across another long rotted out pile of springs arranged in a rectangle, and another bookshelf. Seeing these books, his eyes light up and he quickly walks over to them, testing the floor on the way. Gently lifting one our of the case, he sees that they are damp, but in pretty good shape for being in an enclosed room with a rotted metal thing.
Leafing through, he sees that it is without pictures. Placing it gently on the floor, he opens another one, and in it,sees strange yet familar shapes of a spoon, archer and W. Studying them, he realizes this is a book of star pictures, 'constellations' as the book calls them. And is surprised to find that these stars are actually each a far away sun.
Hours pass, engrossed in the knowledge of space and distances of billions, he dozes off, surrounded by books, and sleeps calmly for the first time in years.
Several days later, he forces himself to eat some pemmican and now sick of it, decides to venture out into the marsh. Sneaking through the bushes on its edge to ensure no one sees him or hears him, he spies a small pile of food, and recognizes it as a standard lunch for the kids collecting nails. He checks his surroundings, and takes the bun, and some of the dried strawberries and hightails it back to the building.
Sitting down to enjoy his meal, he realizes that he stole from one of the kids he probably helped pull nails from the ground. Taking some of his pemmican, he brings it back to where the lunch is, and places it where he found the bun.
Seeing the amount of disturbed ground around the small pile of food, he quickly snaps a pine bough off and brushes over the footprints to hide his presence.
He returns to his house, nay his home, and reads, happy if a little guilty at the food gained, and more importantly, the knowledge of the stars that this book provides.

so a month and a half or more ago, i was rear-ended. i noticed very little damage to my car, & honestly, the girl who hit me came off a lot worse. but she said she wanted to file a claim, that she had full coverage & we'd get it sorted out. her insurance company(geico) contacted me later, answered all my questions, and told me i had three options: (1)let someone from geico estimate the cost of damages and cut me a check, (2)take the car to a repair shop, get their estimate, and get a check from geico for it, or (3)take my car to a geico-partnered collisions place & have everything done on-site, including a rental scheduled. the guy said 3 was the easiest option & that it would ENSURE my car gets repaired, so i just went with that.
i take my car in, & when i'm getting the rental, i have to pay a deposit & they ask me about insurance. they said they could put it on my parents' insurance policy if it was transferable, or i could pay like $12 or $17/day for coverage from enterprise. i tried contacting my dad(it's his policy) & asking him, but couldn't get an answer, so i said i'd pay two days' worth of coverage & figure it out later. around five days after, they contacted me & said they needed payment for those 5 days. it was like $80. i said okay, i'd pay for that up until that point. that's fine. i called back again later in the day, because i remember him mentioning my insurance may work. a woman said that if i got the rental covered by someone else's insurance because she hit my car, then her insurance should cover the coverage on the rental, too. the same day, i called geico to ask them(bc i also have geico) if i could use my policy in the event hers didn't work. they said yes. so i called enterprise and told them i didn't need the coverage anymore.
they keep saying they've tried to reach out to me multiple times, but i get a lot of spam calls so my phone typically stays on do not disturb, & they've left no messages. i got some emails, but i think the person was not understanding me at all, because he just kept repeating the same thing.
i just wanted clarification on how much i owed up until that point. i'm willing to pay that. i just wanted to know if because i've had valid and up-to-date collision & comprehensive the whole time, if i need to pay that whole first week, or if they expect me to pay the whole three & a half weeks' worth. if so, i just wanted to know how much.
but now, they're saying they've taken the damage waiver off the car, so any changes in condition, i will be billed for.
i'm literally not even old enough to rent a car myself. i only have this rental because i was rear-ended by someone else whose insurance covered it. now their emails are beginning to sound more threatening, but my insurance tells me that they should've stopped the billing as soon as i told them to.
i just don't know what to do or say, or even how all this operates. i just want my fucking car back. i didn't even anticipate my car being in the shop three and a half weeks, let alone needing a rental, much less one i had to pay so much for.

Hey BU fam, As I navigate my way through the pathways of our beloved campus, an intriguing thought struck me. Amidst our revered historical and modern buildings, it is often easy to overlook the potential green spaces lying untapped. As a committed (some might say, passionate) student of BU, I propose we leverage these spaces to cultivate an array of hearty, delicious, and eco-friendly vegetables.
Now, I'm not suggesting we plow down the George Sherman Union or the COM lawn. But, just envision this - a pleasant, sunny afternoon, students perched on benches, surrounded by a vibrant array of green beans, spinach, and tomatoes, casually discussing their subjects while basking in nature's glory. Sounds like a dream, doesn't it? A step like this would clearly reflect our commitment to sustainable living, reducing carbon footprints, and let's face it, there's a certain appeal to picking a fresh carrot right off your university's garden on your way to the class.
I'm aware we have a Farmer's Market around, but let's be real here, we all know that a lot of their stuff isn't even grown locally and all their seeds are outsourced from China. Of course, there may be some logistical challenges to address. We'll need the necessary equipment, seed stocks, and, naturally, prime spots of campus real estate to make this work. I'm thinking the lawn near Marsh Plaza, or perhaps Nickerson Field? I can practically see the tomatoes ripening already. Here's the kicker, though. To pull this off, we'd need some hard-core, dirt-under-the-fingernails types to run the show (not saying I'm not dedicated, but you know, my hands are pretty full). So, who's ready to get their hands dirty and turn BU into a farm-to-table hotspot? I'll cheer you on from the sidelines, folks, and gladly taste-test the produce!

So to get this started i(22M) wants to make an attempt on a shop owner's daughter(19F). Little background first. We grew up knowing we existed but never really had any form of conversation ever. I had 1 girlfriend before from age 16 to 19 until we decided to mutually breakup. Ever since then, i havent really tried getting into a relationship with anyone even tho others were interested. I usually shop there and one day before valentines she first initiated a conversation with me. I spoke to her and kinda hit it off really well. I like her personality more than anything. Ever since then i went to the shop nearly 3-4 times a week in order to talk to her at which point i always thought she was taken. I finally built up the courage to ask her if she has a BF and she said she has none and is waiting for the right person. Tbf tho im not 100% sure if she likes me or just being nice. What advise i can get from people in this sub about the situation?

Book cover
The Archipelago publishes every Wednesday. See the pinned comment for links to the contents.
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I tied the boat up to a small jetti, somewhat relieved Alessia couldn’t see the knot I hastily threw together, and pulled myself up onto the platform.
Already I could feel a degree of exhaustion. The short row to the shore had already eaten away at the atrophied muscles in my arms. Still, the impatience in my brain had won out. It needed exercise more than my body needed rest.
While I built up some reserves of energy, I took in my surroundings. I hoped to find an islander on a break, idly waiting by the sea, and who might want to talk about Vexids. But while the port didn’t seem busy, anyone I could see was engaged in a task. Porters carried textiles - mostly wool and cotton - off to waiting traders, sellers and buyers negotiated with the waiting boats down by the dock, but no one was stopped. Usually, beyond trade, ports were a place where you’d find those relaxing, finding peace in the coming and going of the waves. But here, there were none.
“Can I help you?” I turned to see a woman in her mid-thirties bounding towards me with almost excessive enthusiasm.
“Yes. I’m just visiting. I came on the large ship.” I tilted my head towards the Deer Drum boat, floating off the coast like an island of its own
“Ah excellent. Another from Deer Drum. Welcome. Can I introduce you to our island? Maybe give you a tour?” She grinned wide, as though pulling her own cheeks back with hooks.
The woman’s overt enthusiasm felt abrasive against my own lethargy. An ache ran across my back. “I would love to understand more.” The words felt stiff, my vocal chords still stretching into shape. “We may have to move slowly though, I’ve been recovering from an injury.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” the woman replied with the same tone and smile. “Well, if you want to learn more about the island, you’re in luck. My name is Endesha. My passion is sharing the island’s history with others, and I’m on my passion rotation right now. ”
“Passion rotation?”
“Yes. Are you familiar with our island at all?” She said, clasping her hands together by her stomach.
“Honestly, nothing. I know a couple of the islanders have been here. One girl in particular, fifteen years old.” I held up my hand out about Mirai’s height. “I hear she’s visited a lot and likes the place. But no idea beyond that.”
Endesha looked up, searching her memory. “Ah, yes. Mirai. Brilliant young woman. I’ve met her a few times. Fits right in here, a mind like that.” She said, pointing a finger. “Well, maybe we can walk to the town square, it’s only a short walk, and I’ll tell you a bit more about our history on our way.”
I nodded in agreement, and Endesha held up an arm to guide the way. She led me up through the town past beige stone structures till we arrived at a long, thin building. Inside I could hear the thrum of machines, the thudding so loud it threatened to topple the aged and cracked walls. Endesha pointed to an engraving; old eroded numbers that read 7-7-10.
“This is one of the oldest buildings in the work part of town. And it celebrates our most important rule.” Endesha looked at it with reverence. “When The Archipelago formed, those here felt that too many had died living wasteful lives, never doing what made them truly happy. And so beaame the law.” She began counting each point on her fingers. “Seven hours of work, our sacrifice to keeping the island running and ensuring we have food to eat. Seven hours to rest, eat and sleep.” She leaned in, her mouth grinning with delight. “And ten hours to chase our passions, and become the best people we can be.”
“You only work for seven hours? The other seventeen are all yours?”
“To be the best we can be.” She corrected me with a wagged finger. “The whole town is separated into three sectors. Here, near the harbour, is our industry, to the North we have the homes where people live and sleep, and to the east, is the true treasure of the island. The drive sector.” She turned and jolted with purpose, drawn eastwards by the sector’s mere mention. My legs strained to keep up, joints unsteady and unsure. “I’ve spent a fair amount of time pouring over the documents from the island’s founding and how they describe the old world. There are old descriptions of people watching moving pictures, or making men and women move with hand-held controllers just for fun. They use the term *to kill time*. Can you believe that? To kill time.”
I thought of the many times on Alessia’s boat, on a relatively still day, when I would simply sit on the edge, watching peaceful waves roll by. “I… I think we might still do that?”
“Not here.” Endesha said, her arms outstretched, allowing a broad chest to bellow the words out. “Tell me, Ferdinand. When are you happiest?”
“What?” I said, my feet almost tripping on the words.
“When do you feel happy?”
I tried to go through a list. The drunken walk back to our property on Talin Barier with Alessia. Singing songs with the Deer Drum crew. When Alessia gave me my room on the boat. So many came back to Alessia. Too many. “I’m not sure,” I said, still dodging the truth even to a stranger. “People maybe?”
“Even in the old world people spoke of having a calling. Something they wanted to do - not for glory or riches, but for the love of the task. Pursuing that is where happiness lies. Sure, you can be fine sitting about on a warm sunny day…” She waved an arm dismissively. “But real contentment lies in what drives us, what fascinates us. Don’t you agree?”
A small smile flickered across my lips as I remembered my own calling. While the chase of the Citadel on Kadear had been intoxicating, travelling the Archipelago had been more than a want. Happiness that lifted your chest as well as your lips. “I’m beginning to.”
Her already huge smile gained an extra lift at my agreement. “Then is it not the duty of this - or any island, to help you achieve those dreams? To push you to do what you are capable of.” She prodded my chest with a hard finger. “That is what those ten hours are for. To chase what drives you. To become what you are capable of. Not for the island, but for yourself.”
The conversation paused as the road widened out into a large town square. In the middle was a wooden stage made of varnished pine. It was low enough that you could step up to it with a good leap, but wide enough to hold a good thirty or forty people if required.
“We have a bit of a ritual that comes with those passions,” Endesha chuckled, staring at the platform. “I took a while to understand it, I had to go through pages and pages of correspondence among the island’s first council members. However, what they realised is that one of the most important parts of chasing your passions is to acknowledge them. To state your dreams aloud and not cower from them.”
It made sense. So many times I had stared at that map in my home in Kadear. But other than brief conversations with Thomas my wishes of travelling were hidden. Only external events brought that desire out of the darkness.
Endesha walked towards the stage. I could almost see the years of the residents who had taken to the stand in her eyes. “Between the ages of fifteen and sixteen, all residents come here to declare their passion in front of the island. I came here,” she pointed to each individual invisible attendee. “I told them I wanted to learn about the history of Vexids Receives and share it with visitors. And in attending, they told me that they would help me, push me in pursuit of that passion.” She turned to me, her smile reverential. “In a few weeks, the next group will take to that stage. And you can be certain I will be witness to their proclamations.”
I thought about what I would’ve said on such a stage. How much easier would my travels have been if I had had to declare that drive to my fellow islanders, and they in turn were duty bound to help me pursue it?
Endesha meanwhile was telling me about the history of the stage. The details of when it was first built and the repairs done to it over the years, and how it intertwined with the rest of the planned town. But the dates and minutia weren’t the reason for the smile on my face. It was the growing understanding of this place, and the freedom to give yourself not just to your island, or your own greed and vices, but to what called you.
It seemed to shake off some of the lethargy in my bones, and when Endesha asked if I wanted to continue on to the see the passion sector, I obliged.
We made our way east, as Endesha regaled me with the founders’ foresight in the layout. A series of workshops each in their own courtyard, their entrances facing inward. Each one had large wooden shutters at the back and front the entire width of the building save for a small doorway at the end. The lack of warmth in Winter was a price worth paying for the community the openness created.
We turned and entered into one of the courtyards as I was met with the output of people’s hobbies: the sound of sandpaper grated across wood, the tune of an accordion pushing notes through its pipes. I could smell the aroma of old books, in between the wafts of fresh paint.
The sights and sounds were a melody somehow borne of cacophony. No thread connected each space. Each room was home to a different activity. All the island did was give space for them to grow. And yet, the end result seemed harmonious.
I watched a woman placing red hot metal into a great furnace, while next door another folded dough, flour pluming into the air each time the bread hit the table.
Creaking metal snatched my attention. Atop one of the rooms to the left was a small windmill. Rusted iron blades oscillated with each rotation, but still it turned in the light breeze. From its base, a slew of cables ran down the roof disappearing through a hole near the edge. Looking into the shadowy room I could see two figures. A middle aged man, with curly balding hair, and a teenage girl.
“Mirai!” I called out.
Mirai looked up, two wires in one hand, and a tool in the other. “Ferdinand! You made it off the ship.”
“Eir finally let me go.”
Mirai put the wires down on a bench and pointed to the man behind her. “This is Charles. Charles, this is Ferdinand. He helped us move from Deer Drum.”
The man took off a pair of thick, leather gloves and reached out to shake my hand. His face was blotched, and there were a few wrinkles across his brow. But his cheeks were taut and youthful. “Good to meet you. Welcome to my electrical shop.”
“Charles does electrical engineering as his passion,” Mirai said, jumping in to add more information. “He’s built so many things. Small engines, toys… every workshop in this courtyard has electric lights now thanks to Charles.” She pointed to the bulb hanging from dangled wiring above.
“I’m no genius. But I’ve got pretty good over the years.” Charles said, thumbs tucked into the straps of his overalls.
Mirai continued. “He’s currently trying to get a windmill working. He could power the whole island off wind power alone.”
“It used to be a common form of electrical power in the old world,” Endesha added, stepping between us. “I believe there may be the odd island in the Archipelago where it exists, but it would be a serious boon to have it here.”
Charles grinned but bowed his head.
“Charles has been letting me help out for the past few days. Soldering cables, testing currents, that kind of thing,” Mirai beamed.
“She’s been a great help. Hard to try and fix the turbine on the roof and measure the currents down here at the same time,” Charles added with a chuckle.
“It’s amazing. I’ve been sitting on that boat for months just watching the oceans roll by,” Mirai stretched out the words so they were as boring as a flat, windless sea. “I designed that one fish net, but other than that I haven’t got to do anything. But, Ferdinand, I love this stuff.”
“I’m glad it’s going so well,” I smiled.
Suddenly she snapped her fingers. “Here, let me show you something.” She turned, leaping between tables, before returning with a series of wires that connected a lightbulb to a small metal box with a wooden handle. “I made this. Turn the handle.”
I looked at her hesitantly.
“Go on.”
It was only the width of my palm, but still, the small pole was hard to turn.
Mirai laughed. “Harder. You’ll have to go faster.”
My muscles were still wasted and weak from the Anmanion islands, and even this small chore was causing my arm to ache. However, for Mirai’s sake, I put in more effort, pushing past the resistance, until the wheel span faster and I saw a small flicker of light from the bulb. The spark invigorated me, and I cranked harder until a soft yellow glow from the bulb rose and dimmed with each shift of my arm. We all watched the light for a few seconds, until the stiffness in my wrist returned and I had to stop.
“Mirai, that’s amazing.” I smiled, shaking off the aches.
“I mean, it’s nothing compared to what Charles has done.” Mirai looked to the side, turning her cheeks. “But it’s a start.”
“It’s an excellent start,” I nodded.
The enthusiasm came back. “I just love this stuff so much. I wish I could do it forever.”
“You could,” Endesha interrupted.
All heads turned to her.
“Anyone can join Vexids Receives over the age of fifteen. It was one of the rules created by the island’s founders. All you have to do is declare your passion during the ceremony.”
I felt my teeth grit, watching this stranger so ignorant of Mirai and her world. Mirai’s face lit up. “When’s the next ceremony!?”
“About three weeks’ time.” Endesha replied, ignoring my grimace.
Mirai’s eyes glossed over, filled with an idyllic vision. “I can keep doing this? I can stay?”
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The Archipelago publishes every Wednesday. See the pinned comment for links to the contents.

Our Story:
My wife is originally from a small village in Cambodia near a mountain. At the top of the mountain is buddhist temple (Pagoda). Near that pagoda my wife learned to make incense. There are old ladies who make incense for the pagoda and that's how she learned.
Flash forward to the USA and she moved here with me in early 2020.. and she was making the incense during the pandemic. Just as something to keep herself busy for fun.
I thought it was so different and unique. Like, no perfume smells or stuff that is too strong / irritating my eyes and lungs. None of that. It just smelled natural and good.
She wanted to try American incense so I ordered a bunch of it and we agreed, the boxes it comes in are very pretty and unique but it all smells like... fake.. I don't know how to explain but most of it just smells like perfume or like chemicals. There were a few good ones.. mostly from Japan that smelled good.
I always told her she could do well if she sells online. But when her family struggled financially due to the pandemic... she decided to take my word for it and sell her natural hand made incense.
So, to raise extra funds to send to her family (along with money from my full time job, of course) she started the incense business. I do all the computer stuff. Setup the website... design the labels in Microsoft Publisher and such.
I think you have to have a niche. What makes this incense different than all of the other incense is that it contains no oil, chemicals, dyes, mold inhibitors, charcoal, wood waste, fillers, or other B.S.
I always say, she does for incense what farmers markets or the amish do for food. It's great for those who enjoy incense but it's even great for those who hate incense. For those who say incense makes their eyes water, itchy throat, coughing, and headaches because those are all natural reactions your body has to all those chemicals.
Here is her shop and we are happy to answer questions!
https://theworldmakesscents.etsy.com/
Advice:

1. Don't give up. We started very slow until last October and then it built up over time. Once you get "fans" of your products, you can see they will buy your stuff every couple of months. Take note of those customers who are your regulars. When we released a new type of incense, we sent those customers a sample for free. They really love that!! Cost us $5 for each sample if you include shipping but it was worth it!!
   
2. Write (with a pen) a personal thank you to each of your customers. Showing gratitude and spending 20 seconds on a customer can really help you connect with those people who want to connect with you.
   
3. The more products you have, the more you are going to sell. When we had only 2-3 incense cones to choose from.. we got few sales and each sale was like.. 1 box of incense. Once we had 10 different types of incense you can buy from us.. we got bigger sales and more often. Variety and offering free shipping when they spend $35 is huge.
   
4. Be ready to eat some costs. I had a customer buy $5 of sandalwood powder from me. She told me it was lost in the mail Of course, that's not my fault. But i sent her a new bag of sandalwood powder for free. She ended up giving me a shout out on her Instagram and now she is a regular customer who gives me 5-star reviews. Don't be greedy and especially in the beginning... you should be ready to lose a little money on a few sales. That's the price of doing good business.
   
5. Packaging counts. We started by printing really generic labels on little boxes. Not very exciting or fun to look at. But, when we took things seriously in October and designed labels.. man we really saw the sales go up. It's not just what you sell, it's how you present it!
   
6. Use Chat GPT to help re-write your product descriptions.
   
7. If you can, offer same day or next day shipping. I swear 1/4 of my 5-star reviews are about fast shipping. People really appreciate that if you can do it. Nobody wants to wait any more, sadly. Amazon and the like have set that bar higher.
   

I think BotW had some critical failings that bled into TotK. I'm going to point out what those failings are, and would legitimately like to know if anyone agrees with me on this matter.
This is not to say that I disliked BotW, it just isn't anywhere near on par with some of Nintendo's past Zelda titles as far as I'm concerned.
Note: there will be spoilers from BOTW, TotK, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, and Wind Waker, as well as some non-Zelda games that I think did a concept that could be used well in/blend well with future Zelda titles. I will be making a passing reference to Age of Calamity. I do not intend to go too deep into spoiler territory, so I'd say that there are mild, very mild, spoilers for, but mostly references to, all of the mentioned games.
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Failing 1: Background.
From what I can tell, BotW and TotK take place in a timeline where Demise was killed by the original hero rather than just sealed away prior to Hyrule's founding, meaning that the events of Skyward Sword and the timelines we're familiar with never took place. Then Ganondorf came into being in time to be present at Hyrule's founding and was sealed away by the Sages.
If that interpretation is inaccurate, please correct me.
I don't mind the concept of a new timeline. That's not the part that bugs me; it's the less abstract parts of the past where things begin to fall apart.
Specifically regarding the Champions. Especially Mipha.
They were Link's comrades-in-arms, yet the memories he recovers of them are just enough to get a glimpse of a fragment of their personalities and see something they could do with their powers.
Ironically, the one we see the most sides to is Revali, allegedly the least close to Link. We get to see a little more about their personalities in Age of Calamity, but still not really enough to call the Champions anything but side characters when they were supposed to be main characters.
They had to have hung out at least a little in their downtime; how else do you build trust between your fellows? Mipha, in particular, was canonically Link's bestie, so it's extremely odd that we only saw a couple of memories that had her in them.
The Champions are main characters, but get treated like side characters. They're pretty much entirely forgotten by TotK, which seems strange to me. Especially in Mipha's case, as she still had relatives living who remembered interacting with her.
This issue extends into the Sages of TotK, but it's not as glaring an issue.
The Sages in Ocarina of Time could be treated side characters because they WERE side characters. The main characters in OoT were Link and Navi. Zelda was a plot device but we didn't really get to know much about her, so I'd still call her a side character. Same goes for Ganondorf.
Link's past, however, is always something to be treated with care. Saria, Aryll, the Ordon children, and the other students at Skyloft's Knight Academy all got special attention paid to them because they were important to Link. Focusing solely on Zelda, without giving Link any personal motivation beyond duty, actually relegates Link to a side character in his own adventure!
The amnesiac route, unless special attention is paid to the player character's personal interests, makes the main story a chore. An example of a good amnesiac player character would be the Fateless One from Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (or Re-Reckoning, depending on which version you have). The Fateless One was endlessly curious, and every dialogue option involving the game's main antagonists makes it clear that the Fateless One has a vested interest in figuring out why they're being hunted.
Link, by contrast, asks some questions occasionally but mostly just goes, "oh, okay", and seems relatively uninterested in Hyrule's plight beyond duty. We have no incentive to care about the main story, because the most expression Link shows is a grin while cooking and the most he investigates regarding the happenings of Hyrule is during side quests.
If they wanted to do something markedly different with Link's origins, then they could have taken a page out of Dragon Age's book- let the player pick Link's background. Dragon Age: Origins, in particular, let the player play through a quest line exclusive to the origin that the player picked.
It would be very easy for Nintendo to implement something like that, too; have baby Link be washed up on a river bank for some reason and let the player pick from two or three options as to who finds him. This could result in different play styles, different starting regions, and even different questlines exclusive to a Link raised in a different environment.
For example, they could have a Link raised by thieves come back from a heist to find his entire gang has been arrested. They could have a Link raised by witches flee his coven because Ganondorf took over, wanting their magic for himself. A Link raised by mercenaries could become fascinated by Hyrule's knights and sneak out to watch them train, only to get in trouble when he's caught. Even more brazen an idea, a Link raised by monsters could start off as a genuine enemy of Hyrule and switch sides at some point- possibly due to a betrayal or new perspective.
Don't all of those possibilities sound interesting? They all give a solid personal reason for Link to begin his journey and individual questlines that, theoretically, the player could choose.
It would definitely be a departure from what we're used to with Zelda games, and depending on how well Nintendo pulled it off, a welcome one.
To summarize this first failing; pushing aside the supposed main characters and not making Link's past his own past (instead making it Zelda's past with Link in the background) lead to a main story that feels very impersonal to play through.
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Failing 2: World Structure
I'm just going to come out and say it: Nintendo had no business crafting an open world. While branching out can be a good thing, Nintendo went about it in a way that makes each replay less and less rewarding.
Large spaces in BotW and TotK serve no purpose, it takes forever to get places, and I'm sure almost all of us have wandered into an area that we weren't ready for and been killed instantly on multiple occasions. I'm going to elaborate on these in order.
Large, empty spaces are a recurring issue for open-world games. So much so that you will almost certainly walk past something interesting without realizing it, because in-depth investigation typically results in "I see a lot of grass". The best fix for this that I've seen in games I've played is something I'd call "Controlled Open-World". Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Wind Waker are good examples of this; you have to unlock an area first, but then you have free reign to do as you please. In Ocarina, I've actually left Dodongo Caverns in the middle and gotten the Zora Sapphire before the Goron Ruby, and the well in Kakariko can be completed as soon as you reach Kakariko as an adult and get your hands on the Song of Storms. Twilight Princess and Wind Waker are less likely to let you do things out of order, but their worlds are still remarkably open once you unlock certain items to access certain areas that you couldn't before.
Twilight Princess, in particular, has the best Hyrule Field in the series, with tons of nooks and crannies to discover things in but not enough to overwhelm.
The best example of Controlled Open-World I've seen in games I've played as a whole, however, is Dragon Age: Inquisition. You have a home base, and from that home base you fast travel to the different areas, none of which really feel empty the same way places like the average Hyrule Field do, with quests and things to discover. This setup also helps to add to how massive the world the Dragon Age games takes place in feels. Something like that would work wonderfully in a Zelda game; it could also let you explore, to some extent, some of the lands around Hyrule for more world building, should that route be taken.
That also would solve the taking forever to get places issue (another problem that plagues open-world gaming as a whole). It'd be one thing if we didn't have a quest log- that forces us to look around the area instead of pulling us towards a bright ping on the map- but with a quest log and quest markers you're constantly looking back at the map to see how much longer you have until you reach your destination.
While the "accidentally wandering into high-level areas" thing is fine for other games (Elden Ring, for example, was made by FromSoftware, so you expect to die even in areas you ARE ready for), Zelda games have a history of being fair. Some open-world games will level the entire world around the player's level in order to prevent wandering to your death.
That approach, however, would not work for Zelda games because Zelda games do not have a typical leveling system. Instead, work in prerequisites for certain areas or have certain enemies start spawning in the world after a set amount of story progression.
I should not have been able to approach a Lynel in BotW with four hearts on my first playthrough. They could have made a speedrun mode, unlocked after beating the game the first time so you know how it works, that allows for things like that, but being able to run into a Lynel that early on no matter what is not fair to the player, with how terrible the weapons you can get towards the beginning of the game are.
The player should be aware, through environmental cues if nothing else, that they are not ready for the area they're in. Whether they proceed or not afterwards is their choice, but there should be something to indicate a difficulty spike.
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Failing 3: Loot
The problem I have with the loot system of the most recent Zeldas is in the Spirit Orbs, Slate/Arm abilities, and Champion/Sage powers.
The issue I have with Spirit/Light Orbs is that I liked the Heart Piece system. You solve overworld or dungeon mini-puzzles or beat an enemy to get a Piece of Heart. I honestly don't know what possessed Nintendo to make Spirit Orbs serve as both Pieces of Heart and Pieces of Stamina. I don't dislike the shrines- I just think they should have had the Spirit Orbs do something else, which will be elaborated on in Failing 4, and then have the player solve overworld puzzles in order to increase Hearts and Stamina.
My issue with the Slate/Arm abilities is that there's no pacing. You start the game with everything you need. If you started off with basic stuff and then obtained more advanced applications later (say in TotK you started off being able to fuse wooden items to your weapons then later gained the ability to use stone, then metal, then monster parts), that would be fine. There, however, is only one ability that gets an upgrade (in the form of a secondary ability) throughout both games, which makes the Slate/Arm abilities, while insanely useful, a handout. I will admit that the Slate abilities were much less overpowered than the Arm abilities, but having to upgrade them would have made them feel like a reward to have.
The issue I have with the Champion/Sage powers is that they're generally much less useful than the Slate/Arm abilities (being much more situational, whereas the Slate/Arm abilities could be used anywhere to achieve almost anything), but they're the ones that you had to put in effort to get. The Sage powers in particular seem to be a downgrade to the Champion powers; Mipha's Grace was a literal lifesaver, for example, and Sidon's power pales in comparison. The Sages' avatars are an excellent concept, but their low attack rate means that the only one I've seen actually take out enemies is Tulin.
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Failing 4: Gameplay
This sounds more all-encompassing than it actually is. There are only a few aspects of gameplay that I actively dislike, but they are very different from one another so I can't put them all under a more narrow label.
The quickest dislike to explain would be food. While a good concept, and I do like crafting things, we are allowed so much food in BotW and TotK that it renders everything except one-hit-kills a non-issue. In previous titles, your limited supply of healing/magic meter meant that you had to be strategic about your approach to things and added a layer of tension that is just absent from most of BotW's encounters.
I'm not the first nor the last to complain about weapon durability. What Nintendo should have done here, aside from not having weapons (specifically the Master Sword) degrade at all, is add items to repair your weapons that can be found in chests or shops, or let Link unlock weapon schematics so he could build his own from raw materials.
Finally, combat. Oh boy. As far as combat goes, I'm of the opinion that the best system in the series belongs to Twilight Princess. There was a bit of versatility there, but the depth of swordsmanship that the Hero of Twilight unlocked put the rest to shame. The issue with BotW and TotK? There's no mastery.
Every weapon type has a single moveset, even if they "handle (slightly) differently". That's it; no special combos, no technique, nada. Just very simple moves. This makes combat in BotW and TotK very shallow; you can't pull out a dungeon item to change the tide of battle, because there are none. Most players rely on solely their weapon and a Champion/Sage power or two, with the really good players switching between their Slate/Arm abilities and their weapon with impeccable timing.
While I get that this is what Nintendo intended for us to do, Link not having more involved weapon usage is a huge waste.
Going back to the origins thing all the way back towards the beginning here, a different origin could work with differing weapon types- a warrior-raised Link could be our typical sword-and-shield hero, a thief-raised Link could wield a dagger in his off-hand (increased offensive potency, more precise parry timing), and a witch-raised Link could use a magic rod in his off-hand (increased attack potency and from a range, with more precise parry timing and reduced parry-stun window). Then again, Nintendo is probably never going to go for off-hand offense. Not for Link, anyway.
Going back to what I was saying about Spirit/Light Orbs, I think they should have been used to collect weapon skills. Maybe we could have found an ancient training hall and delivered the Orbs there in order to obtain extra combos with a weapon type of our choosing (or for bows, extra damage bonuses) or increased durability for whatever weapon type we desire that is available (or shields, even). This would have made combat a lot more enjoyable for me, and for others who like more in-depth battle systems, and generally speaking would make less of the overworld chests and puzzles missable because instead of just Korok seeds or shabby weapons, you could be missing a Piece of Heart or Piece of Stamina.
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Sorry that this was so long, but now that you've made it to the end, what are your thoughts?
Some of my points may seem contradictory to one another, but generally speaking, I'm saying that the execution of a lot of what BotW and TotK had just didn't mesh well with other mechanics or concepts.
Do you agree or disagree with what I have typed here?
Is there anything you think was a critical failing if BotW/TotK (save the final prize for seed collecting) that I did not mention here?