Hi All!
I literally never post on anything ever but my newly acquired knowledge can hopefully help someone! I recently got an internship that required a mouth swab. A government internship. I was shitting absolute bricks because my girlfriend and I probably smoke 7gs a week (sometimes more sometimes less obv), breakfast, lunch and dinner like it’s a lot. Everywhere tells you different things on how long THC stays in your saliva, how far swabs go back blah blah. It’s very fucking confusing. So, I did a little bit of everything and passed with flying colors. Here’s what I did:

• Stopped smoking for roughly 36 hours
• Chugged 3 of the huge gateroades (the 64 oz. ones) probably not necessary
• Scrubbed every inch of my mouth. I’m talking gums, cheeks, roof of your mouth, under your tongue, the part in the very back of your mouth where your jaw connects. everywhere. I brushed 3 times the day before and twice the day of.
• I used the blue listerine with alc everytime i brushed however it will stain the swab blue day of but it didn’t bother the person who did mine. (Some people say it’s good to use the gold one to avoid that!)
• I flossed everytime I brushed On the day of I:
• I brushed, flossed, listerine before i left my place. On the way I did listerine once more before picking up a bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide. Pulled into the parking deck of where my test was gonna be and swished some listerine and then the peroxide. The peroxide is gross but it’s worth it I promise!!! I also popped a few altoids in before I walked in. Probably sat for 10 mins, put the swab in and held it between my teeth (saw that tip somewhere!!). It did take a while for enough moisture to collect but it worked!!

Good luck!!!

I'm a transfer student coming from a CC . I thought I had my AA degree completed and was ready to transfer. Turns out, I do not have it completed. I spoke with my university advisor and she told me to speak with my CC advisor and get her to sign a form stating my gen education credits would be completed by fall 2023. My gen education credits will not be completed by fall 2023 if I fail my summer courses. I decided to fill out a deferral form for spring 2024. Haven't heard back anything about this form. I think I made a rash decision when I applied to university and when I filled out the deferral form. I am now realizing that university is not my best option. I think staying at my CC and getting a BAS is the best for me financially and for my commute. So after I spoke with my advisor, the university site let me register for classes. I registered for one class in the fall of 2023. I now can't drop this class because I have advising holds and some other finalization. Says I need to pay the $700. How can I drop this class and withdraw completely? Do I have to drop the class if I withdraw completely?

This spring I had a Mitsubishi heat pump system installed. It operates with a central ducted air handler replacing an old furnace. In the spring it worked fine. Now, as the temperatures are increasing, it does not seem to be cooling the house well at all.
I have the thermostat set to 72 and this does not change. I have attached two images here: https://www.imgur.com/a/pIq2nw4
As you can see, when the house warms in the morning the temperature rises to almost 78°. At first, the energy usage increases indicating that the inverter is ramping up, drops and stays static much below what the specs say it should be consuming. It also clearly isn't cooling the house adequately.
Because this is a new install, if it has to do with some misunderstanding in how these units work or should I call the contractor back out?

This is a shitty post to say the least, lol, but just wanted to seek advice/suggestions from other bottoms/vers guys about their fiber regimens/routines.
Curious what everyones fiber routine is. I recently started taking whole psyllium husks (previously used Costco pills), and also trying to incorporate more natural fiber through food into my diet. I'm looking to be able to more spontaneous with my husband sexually, and was hoping this would aide in that. However, my stools feel looser and I'm not getting the ghost wipe everyone pro ports. .
Currently this is my intake:

• In the morning I have a bowl of Raisin Bran - 1 serving (6 fiber); followed by a glass of water
• Lunch is hit or miss, but usually a sandwich with whole wheat bread (6 grams)
  • If I don't have a fiber rich lunch, or less that 1-2g of fiber, I follow my meal with 1 tablespoon of whole psyllium husks (Yerba Prima, 4.5g per tablespoon)
• After dinner, which usually has a veggie or salad or whole grain with it, I always follow with another tablespoon of WSH (same as above).

I am aware of the water intake and always follow it with 8oz of water (usually probably 16oz). I also stay pretty hydrated, drinking my water bottle (24oz) 2-4 times a day.
My thoughts are:

• Too much fiber between food and supplement
  • Should I stop the Raisin Bran or lower the serving?
  • Or continue and skip the WPH after lunch, or do 1/2 a serving?
• I've read so many that recommend whole husks over the powder. Could the whole husks be causing this? Should I try to grind them into a powder? Or is this a myth?
• Or could it be that I am not giving the husks enough time to absorb water?

Just curious what others regimens are. I understand all of our bodies are different too. With the exception of the fiber rich breakfast, and eating breakfast more regularly, my diet has not changed much. When I took the pills, I never ran into too many issues. I was just tired of how many I had to take. It's also more cost effective for the WPH rather than the pills.
Thanks, bros!

It is said that wars are not necessarily won by the boots on the ground, but moreso the men behind their leader. The palm-greasers and rumour mongers, the flagbearers and back-stabbers; the them who do the moving and shaking from backrooms and smoking parlors. The ones with tongues that dangle heavily over others in office, like a proverbial sword of Damocles.
We'll be taking a look at four games that let you crawl into such skin; games where you're not winning by having more dudes or bigger guns, but where you're instead trying to outmanoeuvre the other players while silently (or publicly) trying to exert your influence over the winner. Let's get started!
So why these games? All these games have the players influence a central board on which units are represented and interacted with which do not belong to the players. That also usually means that players can interact with most of or all the pieces on the board, rather than only the pieces that belong to them as a player. They also all feature area control to some extent, where you are trying to determine the winning faction in specific areas in order to determine who wins overall.
The interesting thing for these games, to me at least, is that all of them (at least to some extent) necessitate players trying to figure out what the other player's plans are. They're a little abstract in that sense, as you see players move pieces around to work towards plans that often don't immediately reveal themselves. The key difference with something like chess though, besides not being a two-player head to head duel, is the fact that players can have overlapping goals. Determining to what degree you're more successfully accomplishing this shared incentive is key, as these games usually allow you to pivot in some sense - you need to be able to figure out if your plan of sticking with faction A is going to pan out, or if it's better to abandon ship and start working towards empowering faction B. This idea, the idea of factional alliances that can shift, is key to these games. It's what differentiates them from something like a social deduction game - your team usually isn't static until you've invested too deeply.
Now that we have set up that thematic and mechanical framework, let's take a look at the games!
Turncoats Turncoats is probably the lightest of these four games. Played on a cloth board that can be cinched shut into a bag of holding, Turncoats (by design) has something ancient to it, like it was recently rediscovered after having been played for hundreds of years. This game has quite a bit of similarities with The King is Dead, but there's enough differences (luckily) to consider them apart from each other.
You start the game with eight stones in your grippy little paw that represent your influence with the four factions on the board. Each turn, you can use those stones to do one of four actions, three of which affect the board by either introducing new pieces, removing pieces or by moving pieces from one space to another. The fourth space has you draw a stone from the bag, and returning one from your hand to the bag. Once all players consecutively draw and return a stone on their turn, the game ends and you score.
In a bit of genius (again, similarly to The King is Dead), empowering a faction's position on the board means you'll have to reduce your influence with that faction. Moving pieces to a stronger position costs you one of the srones in your hand, weakening your score at the end of the game. That means that you've theoretically got only eight chances to affect the board, although you've got fewer than that in practice. It turns the game into this tight little game of chicken where you're redrawing stones maybe a little earlier than you should in order to bait your opponent into investing resources that they can't really miss, hoping that instead they won't also be satisfied with the state of the board. It's a game where you've got to reflect and wonder how lucky this punk really feels.
Even if this game's presentation help make the game feel ancient, it's also made the game feel the most abstract. While the inclusion of specific symbology and the map geography help make the game approach feeling like a kind of war game, I can't help but occasionally zoom out and realize that I'm just shuffling glass beads on a piece of cloth rather than set in motion wheels within wheels from my Machiavellian ivory tower. Plus, the tie-breakers in this game are crushing. I've won more than one game because my opponent had mis-remembered one of the many tie-breakers, and that never feels good. For being the lightest and leanest of these four games, it somehow does not end up being the cleanest. That said, it is really great and I love supporting a small designer who puts these games together by hand.
Of these four games, Turncoats is the game I feel most comfortable springing on a group of people who play few or no games. Yes, the ties get a little messy sometimes, but it's easy enough to digest while being beautiful, tactile and direct. Plus, I've seen zero other games that look like this and that has to count for something.
The King is Dead, 2nd ed. The King is Dead is our next step up in rules weight from Turncoats. Still small, still pretty lean, but now we have eight small contests and a hand of cards rather than one big struggle and a hand of beads. And we've even got a narrative hook - we're trying to influence who gets to be the next king of England! Will it be a Briton, a Scot, a Welshman or a Frenchman?
You start a game of the King is Dead by giving each player an identical set of cards to play, along with two public cubes in one of the three colours in the game (red for Britons, blue for Scots and yellow for the Welsh). You then shuffle a set of eight cards and deal then along the board to see in what order you will be resolving the necessary power struggles to see who will be the king! On your turn, you can either play one of the cards in your hand (all but one of which will influence the distribution of cubes on the board, while the remaining one changes the order in which you resolve power struggles) or pass. When all players pass, you resolve the contested region by looking to see which of the three factions is most powerful. If there's a winner, you place a disk of that colour in that region - it's now locked and worth one point of influence for that colour at the end of the game. If there's a tie, you instead place a black foreign invasion disk in that region, indicating that the French are using the discord in that region to make inroads into conquering the island! When all power struggles are done, you either look to see who has the most cubes of the most powerful faction in front of them, or whoever has the most sets of cubes in all three colours in front of them if the French invaded. And there's a bunch of tie-breakers too, more on that later.
So right off the bat, this game touches on a lot of similar mechanics as Turncoats, especially when it comes to taking actions. Both games have you sacrificing your win potential in one way in order to ensure you'll be able to win at all. In this game it's because of a rule I haven't talked about yet - whenever you play a card, you also take a cube off the board and add it to your court. Being tied to played cards means that nobody will ever have more than ten, as you'll never play more than eight cards in a game (and you of course start with two in yourp court), making every choice in this game deliciously agonizing.
And that agony is where the game distinguishes itself. You only have eight chances to affect the game, and (except for one action) those will all be different. This means you'll want to pass as often as possible, but you also don't want to give the whole game over to your opponents as they will just sculpt the game to goozle you as badly as they can. This dynamic usually forces players into a position where they are biding their time for certain power struggles that look like they're never going to go their way while playing a flurry of cards on a struggle that looks like it's the key to their kingdom. This tension is exacerbated by the fact that each player's hand is identical (in the regular game), meaning that you would know exactly what they could do next if only you had paid more attention.
Compared to Turncoats, this game has a more clearly defined feel of politics. That's partially aided by the artwork and graphic design, and partially by the theme. The game feels historic in its presentation and execution, but immersion is aided by the fact that this conflict has shown up in popular culture as well; people who don't know the War of the Roses can just transpose Game of Thrones onto this game and get exactly the same feeling out of it. There's also more political manoeuvring here because your affiliations are public. True motives are secret and people pivot HARD when the faction they were secretly gunning for gets locked out of contention. It's a much more... I don't necessarily want to say stressful, but definitely more high-pressured experience. It's the rare type of game where you get given the choice to not act on your turn and even that feels awful.
That said, there is some criticism to be levied against it as well. The early turns of The King is Dead, while being consequential, don't always feel like they matter. It's much easier to watch the board develop early on and base your strategy on that, even if in practice you need to make every card count which leads to situations where people feel locked into the late game without really understanding what they could have done differently. This is also the most tactical of all the games on here. That's not a problem for me personally, but I've played with people who hated this game because things would always change too quickly for them to make any actual plans. And lastly - the tie-breakers. More than once has a player lost a game at my table because they misunderstood the tie-breaker, and I can't seem to find a way to teach it without ambiguity. It sucks to see someone play a blinder only for them to realize they were playing to a different set of rules from the rest of the players. For a game that's so svelt and clean otherwise, this particular bit of messiness sticks out like a sore thumb.
That said though, The King is Dead is a very easy recommendation. Not as accessible to true beginners as Turncoats, The King is Dead is still really accessible and filled with good, agonizing decisions. It's a classic in my eyes, very easy to recommend.
A War of Whispers Taking a step up in both difficulty and size, we arrive at A War of Whispers! Another game of political manipulation, this game explicitly casts you and your compatriots as the wormtongues in this fight for power. Five factions, a circular board, clever cardplay and plenty of intrigue to be found.
As stated, you'll be playing the role of advisors to five nations who are at war. At the start of each round, you all place two advisors on spaces that correspond to different actions you can take with each of the five factions. These can include rallying troops, combat, movement or some other action that comes with a unique spin put on it by each of the factions. The goal here is to influence the board in such a way that the factions you care about have a strong board presence while the ones you don't care about have a small one, seeing that each faction scores you points. These points range from four points for each area they control to minus one point for each area they control. Most points at the end of the game wins!
Truthfully I enjoy A War of Whispers the least of these four games, even if it does do some very clever things. The action selection mechanism is very clever and has a fun push-your-luck element to it. All the actions are resolved in a set order (as indicated on the boarder around the board), and each time you reach an action that has a player's marker on it they get to do that action. However, if there are unchosen actions to the left of their marker, they get to do those actions as well. This leads to some fun jockeying of positions when choosing actions, and blocking other players is a big part of this game. The asymmetric factions are cool, although they're a bit of a double-edged sword.
The cool thing about each of the factions is that they're all good at specific things. One faction is good at fighting or mobilizing, one is good at mustering and another has action cards that make them powerful at wrestling control of fortifications from a faction's greedy hands. The problem that I run into here is that factions that take their turn earlier in the resolution phase are inherently weaker than those who act later, as the factions that act later can see how the dust settles before having to act. This wouldn't necessarily be a problem of players get to place their own bets at the start of the game, but these are instead placed randomly. The thing I like about both Turncoats, The King is Dead and Pax Pamir (which we'll talk about next) is that you have a very high degree of control over who you're supporting, but this is not the case here. Players do have an opportunity to swap their faction tokens (controlling how they want to score those factions at the end of the game), but that isn't free - you can only swap tokens you haven't revealed, and you can only swap unrevealed tokens.
Thematically it makes a lot of sense to make swapping tokens (and therefore allegiances) be costly - the game of politics bears a heavy price. My problem is that this isn't fun. Putting it bluntly, this game is hard enough as is. It's difficult to suss out exactly what your opponents are doing (seeing that there's now five factions to contend with), and this system makes improvising very difficult. So, this makes it entirely possible that other players will just kneecap you for the entire game or for you to be dealt a set of tokens that will just never win. It's frustrating is what I'm saying. A War of Whispers does a lot of very cool things, but as a game of factional politics I don't like the fact that it just sometimes offers you setups that you can't win and then punishes you for trying to get out of it. But, to be fair, that could be the side of me that's much more tactically rather than strategically-minded speaking.
And that's probably important to say: I flourish much more in tactical games rather than purely (or primarily) strategic ones. And that important to note, because A War of Whispers does give you a lot to strategize with. You get to see the actions your opponents are taking before you take yours, and table-talk is actively encouraged. There's also no hidden info except for the limited number of cards that players have in their hands (most of which do the same things if they belong to a specific faction) and combat is deterministic. This means that players who are able to plan ahead and band together with other players will have a much better time with this than I've had so far. Plus, choosing the right moment to swap tokens is most definitely key to doing well - it can even provide some delicious drama when done especially timely. I just feel that this game isn't necessarily one that I will gravitate to in the future. I'd much rather play this next game if given the chance.
Pax Pamir - 2nd edition And we end on the heaviest and (in my opinion) prettiest of these four games, Pax Pamir. Although The King is Dead is arguably about real-world history, Pax Pamir is the only one of these games that genuinely feels historic. Based on The Great Game, Pax Pamir explicitly aims to model a real-life political conflict. With that comes a lot of baggage; historical, cultural and ludological all at once. Pax Pamir is the hardest game in this list by far, and will also be the most abstractly discussed by force of necessity.
In Pax Pamir, you play an Afghani tribe during the time of The Great Game, a time period where Afghanistan was thrown into a power struggle between Russia, England and itself. You publicly ally your tribe with one of these three factions at the start of the game, hoping to position yourself favourably when one of the game's dominance checks rolls around. Pamir has a card market that forms the engine that the game runs on - it is both its engine and its enigma. The core of the game is simple though; players get twicely buy a card from the market (a Pax-series staple) or play a card from their hand. Played cards come equipped with symbols that can trigger when the card is played or as an action on your turn. These actions tend to affect the board by placing your tribes on regions, neutral blocks that either represent roads or armies of the faction you support, or by giving you some much needed spending money. There's a lot more going on in this game, much more than I can really do justice in this paragraph, but suffice it to say that the cards are where the magic happens in Pax Pamir.
But what about the politics? Pax Pamir, like The King is Dead, has you wear your allegiance on your sleeve. It's emblazoned on your cards, it's smacked on your player wheel and it is pinned on the prizes you've killed to curry favour with local and foreign warlords alike. It's a game about politicking in slow motion, almost; there's a much bigger sense of audiences and of greasing palms than in the other games. Part of that is due to length, of course, but it's also because most big plays in Pax Pamir don't happen out of nowhere. They're stemming from parts being put into place until the moment where the jaws snap shut; it happens slowly then suddenly all at once.
That said, this game really is about politics. It's also the only one of the games on this list where politicking with your opponents is even somewhat of a viable option. Bribing other players is as much of a thing as waving a tax is an incentive to do what someone wants. A single coin really can make all the difference in an economy as tight as Pax Pamir, so talking to the table is essential. By the same token, pivoting is a real option here as well. Allegiances can be discarded like dirty laundry when the tides of war turn, with as much or as little drama as is necessary. It can be as simple as letting a new alliance join your court, or as dramatic as an assassination attempt on someone in your own court. Where switching allegiances felt utilitarian (or sometimes even futilistic) in the other games I've talked about, here it feels both frivolous and monumental. Frivolous because it's potentially both temporary and easy, and monumental because it warps the remaining landscape around it nonetheless. It's a fascinating look at what foreign bonds and geopolitics actually look like.
Having said that, Pax Pamir is genuinely not for everyone. It is the hardest sell on this list, I feel, both in terms of cost and rules weight. While I personally feel that the product is worth the price, it really isn't cheap. That's mostly important if you don't have a group that's willing to put in the muscle for something that's genuinely hard. The game can't fare on looks alone; if your gaming group gets glassy eyes at the notion of considering the consequences of shifts in political climates, this is not for you. Then there's the difficulty. I've played Pax Pamir about eight times, and I'm only sure I've played it correctly, like, twice. Most of those were solo, so it's not too bad, but that's still not great considering the time I'm asking other people to invest in this. Playing improperly is much less of a problem if what you're playing is quick; people are much less willing to forgive that when they just lost a three hour game because you forgot that losing your political cards in a region also means you remove all your tribes from that region. It's an investment is what I'm saying, and one I can't promise will pay off.
Having said that, Pax Pamir is great. It's not my favourite Pax game (that would currently be Pax Renaissance), but it is one of my favourite solo games and arguably the best of these four games if your group can deal with actual, genuine and tremendous weight.
So what would I like you to take away from this? If the idea of playing a party outside of a power struggle who influences the outcome appeals to you, there's a bunch of options for you to choose from! If you want something relatively light, portable, beautiful and unique, get Turncoats. If you want something quick, tense, more classical in design yet still accessible, get The King is Dead. If you want something medium-weight, strategic and are willing to ride the waves of outragious fortune, get A War of Whispers. And if you want something heavy, singular, beautiful and truly historic, get Pax Pamir.
That's my TED talk, thank you for reading.
Other notes I think it's only fair of me to state that I've played A War of Whispers the least of all these games. All the others I've played, like, at least seven times, but I've only played AWoW twice. I just don't really like it all that much, but I do want to be transparent in why that is.
Some of these games might be hard to find at retailers, but you can get them on the websites of either the publisher or the designer. Turncoats, as far as I know, is only really available on Milda Mathilda's website. She uses a Google Form to process orders, which seems insane to me but works for her, and I had to wait about six months for my copy. That said, I feel it was most definitely worth the wait.
If you have any titles of this ilk that you think I should try, let me know! I've obviously missed games, but I'm always interested in trying new things of this ilk.
Lastly, I make no apologies for the reference I used when talking about Pamir. They were the right words in the right place.

I decided to start playing in person again (last played on the playground 15 years ago in primary school) and attend my first locals and the Ghoti archetype has caught my interest. My goal is to synchro summon Deep Beyond as fast as possible to nuke the field so I can have free reign on my next turn.
Here is what I have so far,

Main Deck:

Nibiru, the Primal Being x2
The Winged Dragon of Ra - Sphere Mode x1
Eanoc, Sentry of the Ghoti x1
Snopios, Shade of the Ghoti x3
Abyss Shark x3
Lifeless Leaffish x3
Ixeep, Omen of the Ghoti x2
Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring x2
Zep, Ruby of the Ghoti x3
Shif, Fairy of the Ghoti x2
Paces, Light of the Ghoti x3
Beautunaful Princess x1
Effect Veiler x3
Harpie's Feather Duster x1
Piri Reis Map x2
Terraforming x1
The Most Distant, Deepest Depths x3
Ghoti Fury x1
Solemn Strike x3
​

Extra Deck:

Ghoti of the Deep Beyond x3
White Aura Whale x1
Guoglim, Spear of the Ghoti x3
Askaan, the Bicorned Ghoti x3
White Aura Monoceros x1
White Aura Dolphin x1
Arionpos, Serpent of the Ghoti x3
​

• I'm struggling as to what splash/generic cards I can add in like Ash to keep up with the meta (I've been gone for quite some time, I last played YGO when Master Duel just launched and I used Sharks and Generaider)
• I struggle with ratios.
• I plan on entering my locals some time soon and have purchased the following cards so far (These were available locally to me in my country South Africa)

Eanoc, Sentry of the Ghoti x3
Ixeep, Omen of the Ghoti x3
Shif, Fairy of the Ghoti x3
Snopios, Shade of the Ghoti x3
Askaan, the Bicorned Ghoti x3
Ghoti Fury x2
These were relatively cheap, hence mostly buying 3 of each as I like to collect cards as well

• I understand getting cards like Ash, Nibiru and Beautunaful may be a bit more difficult to get my hands on, so feel free to suggest alternatives
• What alternate strategies can I use as my win con besides rushing Deep Beyond?

​
Thanks in advance

***If you don’t want to read the background skip to the “stats summary/situation” section, thanks in advance for reading :)
Background: I did my undergrad (finished spring 2023) in biochemistry and finished with honors (3.68) and took my mcat last August. Unfortunately, leading up to my exam my whole life turned upside down. I lost my car, lost my dorm due to finances, and since my family was so far away, I became homeless for 6 months. There was a lot more but I’ll spare the details. Anyways I’m AAMC practice FLs I was scoring 515 but, I became so withdrawn that on the day of my exam last august I got a 504(cars I sucked in and bio I just froze up a lot despite that on practices I was scoring 131-132 consistently, everything Else was really good). I decided to retake my mcat this June 29th and since then my life has made a big change for the better. I have stable housing, car, money, a relationship with a girl who makes me complete and supports me. My practices are in the 518-520 range for this month thus far
Stats summary: major: Biochem honors GPA: 3.68 MCAT2022: 504 MCAT2023: To be decided but hopefully much better Extracurriculars: 1500+ hours EMS, 2000+ hours research, 1 year Cancer bio and intro bio TAing, 3 years working as a barber, 112 hours shadowing
Situation: now that I’m going into this mcat the scores release July 31st… should I apply august and if so would I have a chance? Would it only do me more harm if I try reapplying next cycle? Should I take some time to boost my app. Any advice even if it’s a bit untraditional, will be super appreciated.

VFC 416A5 AEG Siegetek Build
Fully built and fully functional gearbox and rifle. Comes as is, missing a few external parts (might be able to find the trigger guard, for example).
Parts list:

• Laylax Heat Gradation outer barrel
• Magpul UBR GEN.2 Stock (real, modified to fit)
• Siegetek 13:1 Gearset
• SHS Air Seal Assembly
• BCA Nozzle
• Guarder Tappet Plate + BCA Reinforced Tappet Plate Spring
• ASG CNC Ultimate 30K High Torque Motor
• MAXX PDI Rhop Barrel Group
• Jefftron Leviathan (Microswitch ver.)

Looking for $700, shipping extra. EMT only.
https://imgur.com/a/ZWx0zIO
​
VFC 416A5 AEG
BNIB, never used. Thinning down collection of builds that I wanted to do but will never get to.
Comes with original packaging, mag, manual, etc.
Looking for $600 OBO, shipping extra. EMT only.
https://imgur.com/a/87Ly451
​
VFC MPX-K
Lightly used, fully functional.
Has a Warhead Black Brushless 37K motor installed and is wired to Deans.
Comes as pictured with Maple Leaf P.E.W. Modular Suppressor and 4 mags (3 not pictured, like new never used). Box and extra (stronger) spring included on request.
Looking for $700 OBO, shipping extra. EMT only.
https://imgur.com/a/Wb3VD3V
​
VFC Licensed HK UMP45
BNIB, never used. Bolt catch pin and spring is missing. Doesn't usually affect function, but sometimes the bolt catch can walk itself loose (doesn't fall off though). You can probably email VFC directly to get replacement parts, or find them online maybe from WGC shop or something. Too lazy to fix.
Comes with original box, manual, and one mag.
Looking for $400, shipping extra. EMT only.
https://imgur.com/a/tJbreGI
​
VFC Licensed Glock 17 Gen 4
Only tested for function, never used otherwise. Outer barrel is damaged from orange tip removal but gun is fully functioning otherwise.
Comes with one green gas magazine and box plus manual.
Looking for $200, shipping extra. EMT only.
https://imgur.com/a/NhALrsH
​
VFC Licensed HK VP9
Only tested for function, never used otherwise. One of the hopup screws is stripped, but otherwise gun is fully functional.
Comes with one magazine and box plus manual.
Looking for $200, shipping extra. EMT only.
https://imgur.com/a/AvhS7Qt
​
WE F226 SEAL (P226)
Lightly used. Double action sometimes doesn't work, but otherwise everything else is functional. Comes with one magazine and box.
Looking for $140 OBO, shipping extra. EMT only.
https://imgur.com/a/81AsziY
​
Warhead Industries Black CNC Ultra-High Speed Brushless Motor (Long shaft)
Lightly used, fully functional. Pinion installed, shaft spring included. Perfect for all your speedy builds and/or 7.4v shenanigans.
Looking for $150 OBO, shipping extra. EMT only.
https://imgur.com/a/rxGvhDf
​
Holosun AEMS Green Dot
BNIB, never used. Comes with all original parts and packaging. Battery already installed and is fully functional.
Looking for $500, shipping extra. EMT only.
https://imgur.com/a/TN9gYR3
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Vortex Viper 6 MOA Red Dot
Mounted only, never used. Comes with box and picatinny/weaver mount.
Looking for $250, shipping extra. EMT only.
https://imgur.com/a/W9amrs8
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Unity Tactical TAPS (Flashlight/Laser)
Real Unity Tactical TAPS for your flashlight/laser unit combo. 9" version in Black. Lightly used but fully functional.
Looking for $200 OBO, shipping extra. EMT only.
https://imgur.com/a/pyrNk1k
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No trades, located in Waterloo.

What is the Ideam amount of strawberries to plant in the first spring? Considering the amount of money you could make in 2 weeks.

Hii, I don't know kung tamang subreddit ba pag tatanongan ko but bahala na! lol
Kuha lang po sana ako ng suggestions/ideas/recipes/recommendations nyo po on meals for breakfast, hopefully with link videos on youtube po(so i can practice)
I'm 18(m) po, I can cook fried rice or garlic rice, so I'm thinking of ulam babagay sa fried rice but I'm open for any suggestions nyo po:)
Introverted ako and this is my first date in my life, so I have no experience(⁠๑⁠•⁠﹏⁠•⁠) and actually first date din namin and maybe the last kasi mag-aaral na siya in Germany. kaya gusto ko siyang ipagluto:)
kaya I want something a bit more unusual thats why I'm here or should I just stick to basic hotdogs and eggs?
Thank you po!
first time ko mag write/type nang ganito kaya if may mistakes or clarifications just tell me thanks:>

Day 1:
Few of the tributes got much sleep that night. The parties all throughout the Capitol did not end until dawn, and the noise could be heard in the accommodation building. Vannery and Carton ate breakfast slowly, like zombies. They were subsequently taken to the holding rooms. Organza wished Carton good luck before accompanying Vannery in her cell. She kept trying to reassure her as she put on her beige shorts and t-shirt. The young girl attached her hair with a purple ribbon that had been provided and climbed into the glass tube. Organza hugged her one last time, feeling her tears soaking her shoulder.
It was Platonia Travers who accompanied Carton. She muttered to herself about the outfit choice for this year. She tried to be cold to the boy, but she accepted to help him tie the purple ribbon to his wrist. He gave her a sad smile : “I probably won’t come back, but it’s nice to know that everyone in the Capitol isn’t heartless.” Platonia stood, mute, as the boy’s platform started to rise. She couldn’t keep the tears in this time.
A few cells over, the atmosphere was as morose. Alexandra had finally deigned to discuss their strategy with Delta. She accepted his plan of staying on the sidelines while he ran to the cornucopia. Still, he looked at her suspiciously and hounded her about working together for the whole breakfast. Halifax gave Delta one last pill to combat the morphling withdrawal, assuring him that the only symptoms he would experience were a mild headache and maybe some stiffness. He subsequently accompanied him to his holding room while Sean Callahan went with Alexandra.
Halifax took advantage of being alone with his mentee : “You shouldn’t trust her. I know these kinds of girls. They look harmless, but they’ll stab you in the back as soon as you let down your guard.”
“But-but…”
“You like her, huh ? Too bad, she doesn’t. So, man up and move on !”
Delta did not know what else to say. He climbed into the glass tube in silence, his brows forming a single black line over his dark eyes.
In the next holding room, another conversation was happening. “You don’t plan on allying with Delta, do you ?” asked Sean Callahan. Alexandra looked away coyly. “ I have other plans… With Angelo, we have an agreement.”
The mentor sighed, but he did not criticize the girl. He just told her to be prudent. You couldn’t trust careers. Alexandra nodded then flinched as the glass tube started descending from the ceiling.
The first thing she noticed as she rose into the arena was the noise. She hadn’t even emerged that she could hear a cacophony of bird songs. It was almost deafening, and she covered her ears before protecting her eyes from the sunlight.
The racket made Delta’s headache intensify. He first looked to his sides ; Hattie (3) cowered on the left while Angelo (2), on the right, was focusing on the cornucopia. This year, it had been made out of a thin weave of golden metal, almost like a very shiny basket. After this zoom on the cornucopia, the cameras started moving around to show off the arena. The tributes stood in the clearing of a dense rainforest. The terrain was relatively flat, with a few creeks and an explosion of colorful flowers. The main attraction of it was the birds, however, as thousands of them fluttered about, sang, and screamed.
As Carton looked around for his allies, Head Gamemaker Vishwa welcomed the tributes and wished the odds to be ever in their favor before starting the 30 seconds countdown. With Borea (5) and the girl from 10 to his sides, he didn’t feel safe. He finally found what he was looking for, but he didn’t like that his allies were so spread out. He made eye contact with Rivage and Vannery but was unable to see Sardine, who stood on the opposite side of the cornucopia.
Vannery caught sight of her district partner, as well as Sardine. She gave them a small wave, but made the mistake of looking to her left, where Perfecto (1) was sneering at her. Georges (N), on the other side, was just as intimidating. Instead, she looked straight ahead. As the countdown reached ten, she spotted a coil of rope on the outside of the cornucopia.
Delta had been pondering, unsure if it was worth entering the bloodbath. Alexandra, who happened to be just two podiums over, winked at him. She then pointed to the cornucopia. He understood. At that moment, the countdown reached zero. He sprinted to the center of the clearing, expecting her to follow, but she stayed on her podium.
On later replays, it was shown that Alexandra was winking at Angelo and not her district partner. As the boy from 2 sprinted forth to the cornucopia, the girl waited for a few seconds. She moved only when most of the other tributes were too occupied and grabbed a knife as well as a small bag of food. Angelo acted like he helped the other career tributes in order to pick up weapons and supplies, but as soon as they were occupied, he joined Alexandra. The pair was actually one of the first to leave the clearing, not counting Circuit (3) and the pair from 10 who had run away immediately.
When Vannery realized that she was running side to side with Perfecto (1), she immediately changed course and ran to Carton. She had to give up on the rope but managed to pick a water bottle off of the corpse of the boy from 9, who had just been stabbed by Glare (9).
If the career pack didn’t notice the disappearance of one of theirs, it wasn’t the case for Delta. When he saw his district partner escape with Angelo, he became enraged. He tried to exit the cornucopia. Fraxen then attacked him to try and steal his backpack. Delta threw him to the ground and punched him so hard it broke his neck. Now he had lost trace of Alexandra. As the fighting started to die down, he ran in a random direction.
Carton had dodged one of Glare’s knives and grabbed a bag of food and an unwieldy lance before Vannery and Rivage joined him. The trio heard Sardine scream from the other side of the cornucopia. Carton wanted to go and help her, but a second gargled wail convinced him that they couldn’t do anything else, especially since Proserpina (2) had now retrieved her axe from Sardine’s chest. As they left, they could hear the crunching of Ora’s neck (12) at the hands of Georges (N).
Meanwhile, Alexandra and Angelo were already far away, giggling at each other. It was only after Perfecto had stabbed Hattie (3) to death that the career pack noticed Angelo’s absence, but they didn’t seem bothered by it.
Delta was halfway to the perimeter when the five bloodbath cannons sounded. He was still seething, and the running helped him calm down. Eventually, he collapsed on the side of and old mossy tree, out of breath. Once he was a little better, he explored his surroundings. The big tree had a hole in his roots where Delta could fit, although it was a squeeze. He decided to stay there for now and used moss to hide himself. He also put some in his ears, which helped with his headache.
Carton, Rivage and Vannery had been running in the opposite direction. They wanted to put the most distance between themselves and the other tributes. They stopped long after the bloodbath cannons had sounded. They set up camp a few hundred feet away from the Northern part of the perimeter, next to a creek. Carton helped Rivage to take inventory. He had the lance, Rivage had gotten a trident, and between the three of them they had enough food to last two days at most. The bottle Vannery had taken was only half full, but the water of the creek was clear and drinkable.
The trio decided to stay put. Vannery and Carton would work on a shelter while Rivage fished for their dinner, as they had agreed to during training. In the early afternoon, they heard hurried footsteps coming their way. The boys readied their weapon, protecting Vannery between the two of us. Circuit (3) came running into their little encampment, which took him by surprise. He skidded to a halt and turned around as quickly as he’d arrived, leaving the trio dumbfounded.
Angelo and Alexandra had quite enough supplies to last a while. He held a sword in his hand and an “emergency axe” strapped to his back, while Alexandra held two knives. At first, they wanted to get away from the careers, but Alexandra eventually convinced Angelo to follow them from afar. They weren’t really hard to track, their bickering could be heard over the constant chatter of the birds. The noise also covered them. Proserpina, Glare and Perfecto were circling around the central clearing, slowly moving away from it. In the late afternoon, they discovered Forger (12) who was lying unconscious. He had received a deep wound during the bloodbath and was now at the mercy of the other tributes. Proserpina killed him.
The subsequent cannon surprised Vannery. She had climbed on top of a tree to get a view of the arena, and the sudden sound almost made her loose her grip. She didn’t fall, but while reaching her hand for a hold, she grabbed something warm and spherical. It crumbled and a viscous liquid dripped onto her finger. She looked up. She had inadvertently grabbed an egg from a nest. She was silent a moment, and a bright purple starling looked at her. “Oh no !” she whispered to herself. The bird screamed louder than she thought possible. Then it attacked.
All the birds in a radius of 50 feet coalesced into a multicolored tornado. Vannery fell to the ground, fortunately not hurting herself on the way down, and a feathery mass started clawing and pecking at her. They also attacked Carton and Rivage, who had been chilling at a distance. They batted the volatiles away, trying not to get scratched. Vannery managed to get up and run to the makeshift tent they had built. She picked up Carton’s lance and swung it, hitting some of the birds. She swung a second time and hit the metallic water bottle with a resounding CLANG! It seemed to stun the birds, but Vannery was too busy keeping them out of her face. Carton, however, noticed their reaction to the noise. He shouted loudly and flailed his arms : “Make noise ! They don’t like noise !”. Just his screaming was enough though. Eventually, the three tributes managed to drive the mutts out by hitting their weapons against rocks and the water bottle and screaming as loud as they could.
Delta also had an encounter with some angry birds. Those were red, with a long curvy beak and fearsome talons, but he managed to kill them all with a big branch he used as a bat. He then ate them, cooked over a small fire. Argus berated him for building a fire that could alert the other tributes to his location. However, the “Aviary Jungle” as it had been baptized by Urania Whimsiwick herself, was way too dense for anyone to see the smoke.
As the sun started to set, Delta squeezed himself back into his root hole, being careful to camouflage himself with moss. He held his branch in front of him just in case. An hour later, two cannons sounded in quick succession. They belonged to the pair from 10, who had had the great idea of making an omelet. The flock did not appreciate that…
When the sun started to set, Angelo suggested he and Alexandra find a place to sleep, preferably away from the career pack. She agreed, so they stopped following. They looked for a safe spot in the light of the dusk, eventually settling on the middle of a tight thicket. It was complicated to get inside, but the small space was comfortable, and the pair even had a view of the darkening sky. They ate some food then laid down, hand in hand. “Your district partner doesn’t seem to mind that you ditched her” joked Alexandra.
“I don’t think she cares. Maybe they believe I’m dead. But they’re not looking for us at least.”
“I think Delta is, though. You should have seen his face when he saw us. I almost feel bad about leading him on.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get rid of him if he isn’t dead yet.”
“I’m sure he’s feeling the same thing”, responded Alexandra before going to sleep. Angelo kept the first watch.
In another section of the arena, Carton took the first watch. He had spent the remaining hours of daylight cleaning his wounds, along with Rivage and Vannery. The two of them slept, hoping to feel better the next day.
A little before midnight, Rivage awoke. He came to sit next to Carton, and the boys talked about their families, their school. Suddenly, a cannon sounded. It belonged to Ulma (7), who had stumbled upon Quinoa’s (9) camp by accident. The younger girl had not hesitated to stab a pointy branch in Ulma’s throat. This cannon prompted Carton to go to sleep, Rivage taking second watch.
At midnight, the hymn of Panem resounded in the arena and the portraits of the 9 fallen appeared in the sky : Hattie (3), Sardine (4), Fraxen and Ulma (7), the boy (9), both (10), Ora and Forger (12). This left 17 tributes after an eventful and interesting day.
Day 2:
Delta didn’t sleep much that night. The uncomfortable position coupled with a strong headache meant that he was up before the sunrise. As the first hints of blue appeared to the east, Delta got up. He needed to occupy his mind. The moss had stuck to his clothes, and he decided to take advantage of it. He caked his face and hands in mud and used it to stick more moss to his clothes. Urania commented that he looked like a green Orang-utang, which prompted laughter in the Capitol. Once he was fully camouflaged, he started roaming the arena. Stealthily at first, but as the sun rose and the birds started their cacophony as well, he allowed himself to move a little faster.
Alexandra and her district partner had spent a restful night. As she awoke, she was surprised to be cuddling with Angelo. Her rousing awakened him, and he turned around to look at her, puzzled. “I guess you’re the little spoon”, she joked. They ate cereal bars in awkward silence. Soon, the voices of the career pack walking in their direction prompted the pair to hide. Proserpina and Perfecto were loudly arguing about someone stealing their water bottles. Unbeknownst to them, it had been Glare who had hidden them in her own bag.
As they moved away from her, Alexandra suggested they follow the trio like the day before. Angelo thought it was a safe strategy as long as they kept their distances. They made their way out of the thorny thicket and followed. A few minutes later, a scream warned them that something was going on. It was Glare (1). She’d walked into a trap laid by Georges the day before and was now hanging upside down from a rope. Perfecto started to help her, but the stolen bottles fell from her bag, along with a few hidden knives and more food. Instead of killing her, as Perfecto wanted to do, Proserpina convinced him to leave her there. She screamed and screamed. Proserpina and Perfecto left her there wiggling. Before Alexandra and Angelo could arrive, the thin rope holding up Glare by the ankle snapped. She fell headfirst on the ground and her cannon sounded. Alexandra winced, but Angelo told her that it was better this way, since you could survive for many hours hanging this way. Then another cannon sounded.
Delta had been unsuccessful for a few hours. He had avoided a couple of poorly made traps and fought off a flock of tiny yellow canaries but had been unable to find another tribute. Eventually, he decided to change tactics. He found a path that clearly looked like it was in use and hid in proximity. His ambush eventually worked. Lavandine (11) walked past him, clutching a meagre stick in her pale hands. She didn’t even notice him getting up and following her, his branch raised. Many viewers thought it looked cartoonish, the tiny girl, followed by a big man with a club, not noticing anything. Glare’s cannon gave him the signal he expected, and he swung at her head. Lavandine flew and crashed into a patch of ferns. Her head was bloody, but she was still alive. Delta walked up to her in order to finish what he had started. The cameras cut to another group of tributes.
For the whole morning, Vannery, Rivage and Carton had been staying put. They foraged, fished, and built rudimentary spears just in case. Vannery climbed trees, very carefully in order not to disturb any more birds, so she could spot any tributes. Eventually she did, a little after midday. The pair from district 5 was heading their way. They were armed.
Vannery transmitted the information to the boys, who debated leaving or fighting. “Let’s fight !” said Vannery. There were 3 of them against 2, and they had weapons. Carton had his lance, Rivage his trident, and her… a spear and a rock would do the trick. So, they waited for what felt like a century. As soon as Borea and Zapp entered their field of vision, they attacked. The pair was surprised, but not enough to let themselves be killed that easily. Borea shouted at Zapp to run while she fended of Rivage’s trident with her sword. She had wrapped metal coil all around her arms, as she had seen on one of the older games. They clashed for an instant, enough time for her to disarm him, and then she ran too. On the way, she threw an egg she’d hidden in her pocket to the group. A flock of angry sparrows was the distraction the pair from 5 needed to escape.
Proserpina and Perfecto seemed to have made up a little and were now actively hunting. Still, they weren’t aware of the couple _ the “double A couple” as they were now called in the Capitol _ following them from afar. They dared not speak, but the looks they shared meant a lot more. They say love makes you blind, and maybe that’s why Alexandra didn’t see the orange and turquoise pheasant she walked on. It screamed and ran away, catching the attention of Proserpina. She turned around and shouted, “I knew it !” before charging at Angelo and her ally. Her first axe hit a tree a few inches above Alexandra’s head. She was hesitant to fight a career, but Angelo had already jumped into the fray and was now battling his district partner. So, she ran at Perfecto, who was lagging behind. He quickly turned around and sprinted when Proserpina’s cannon sounded. Angelo had managed to stab her in the gut. The look of betrayal was still printed on her face as the hovercraft claw took her away.
The pair was unsure if they needed to pursue the boy from 1, as Angelo assured that he was an “ego-inflated wimp” . Instead, they rifled through the bag Proserpina had dropped and decided to rest a little. They could have stayed there longer if it hadn’t been for the fire…
After getting rid of the birds, the trio decided to keep following Zapp and Borea (5) in order to get their supplies. Vannery managed to track them thanks to their footprints and the trail of broken branches. They found them quite quickly. Indeed, the gamemakers had decided to trigger a forest fire in order to move the tributes around a little. This explained why they had seen so many birds flying away. The pair from 5, however, had found themselves cornered on three sides by the flames, and the last side was where Carton and his allies arrived from.
Rivage thrusted his trident straight into Borea’s back, sounding her cannon. Carton’s lance, however, flew past Zapp and into the fiery inferno. The boy from 4 barely had the time to pick up his trident before a tree fell, smashing into the boy from 5 and sounding his cannon. As other trees started to creak and groan, Vannery led the boys back to the creek, where she believed the water would keep them safe.
Delta ran as soon as he smelled smoke. He ended up in a small clearing in the Southern part of the arena. As the grass quickly burned, he jumped into the flames. Many viewers gasped, thinking he had just killed himself, but he just ran a few seconds then stopped. Argus explained that the fire had been controlled in a way that it burned quickly and extinguished itself just as fast. From his spot of scorched earth, Delta was safe for now. From the sky descended a small silver parachute bearing the number 6. It contained a water bottle and some aspirin. Delta was the only one to use this strategy successfully. A few minutes after him, Circuit (3), who was shorter and weaker, tried. He fell face first into the fire and did not get up, his cannon sounding a few moments later.
Angelo and Alexandra were some of the closest to the central clearing, so it was after the three cannons that the fire reached them. They ran. Angelo was practically flying but the fire was catching up to Alexandra. Another tree cracked. It crashed onto the girl, pinning her legs to the ground. Thankfully, it was a much younger tree, and it did not cause her much more damage. For an instant, Alexandra thought the boy from 2 would just keep running. That he would be glad to get rid of yet another opponent. But he turned around. He used his axe as a lever, bending it in the process, to get the girl free. Then he picked her up onto his back and ran again. Angelo was not a very muscular tribute, but he proved to be quite a strong one.
Neither Carton, nor his allies had suffered any injury thanks to Vannery’s quick thinking. The creek was wide enough to protect them from the flames, and they avoided any falling branch. Quinoa (9) had had the same idea. She internally debated reaching the small group, but eventually decided not to. In the late afternoon, it started to rain, revealing that many of the trees and plants of the forest were actually fireproof. It was much sparser now, but the rain cleaned off the soot and, soon enough, the forest was green again.
Rivage, Vannery and Carton huddled together. They stayed that way for the whole evening, until Carton took the first watch while the other two went to sleep.
Delta was almost unharmed too, apart from a few minor burns on his ankles. The aspirin had taken effect, and for once in a long time, he felt totally clear headed. He hoped his district partner had died today.
The fire had changed the landscape quite a lot. What used to be a lush jungle was now less green. The ground was visible in most places, and the humidity levels had gone down. The sky was more visible. It also meant that the traps set by Georges and Odette (N) on the first day were either destroyed or very conspicuous. The boy from 6 avoided them all.
Delta found a pond where he cleaned himself from the soot and the half-charred moss. The fresh water also soothed his burns. He ended up settling close by, between two fallen trees.
Angelo and Alexandra, however, had suffered many burns. Fortunately, as they were setting camp and trying to remove their singed clothes, a silver parachute descended over them. It contained two containers of oil, as well as a blanket and a note from Angelo’s mentors, which he did not show to Alexandra. It would later be revealed that it scolded him for keeping his plan of betraying the career pack secret. The oil was perfumed and designed to almost instantly heal burns. It worked a charm. As the massaging continued, the two tributes started to get more and more steamy. They were intimate that night.
While they were busy, the portraits of the fallen appeared in the sky. The second day of the games had seen the loss of Glare (1), Proserpina (2), Circuit (3), Borea and Zapp (5), and Lavandine (11). This left only 11 tributes for the third day, with better odds now that a few strong tributes were gone.
Day 3:
On the morning of the third day, an announcement was made by Head Gamemaker Vishwa. She informed the tributes that a feast would be held at noon, three hours from now. The 11 surviving boys and girls would find supplies they desperately needed there. She then wished everyone a glorious day and the dampened sound of the birdsongs came back in full force.
The announcement awoke Delta, but he decided not to go to the Feast. He still had food and a source of water nearby, as well as his heavy branch. A real weapon would have been nice, but he didn’t feel safe going to the central clearing. Instead, he decided to just sleep more. He only woke up again when the first cannon sounded.
As for the couple, they were lost in bliss. Their show from the previous night had to be censored, although it was available for those who had enough “connections”. Let’s just say that it was quite memorable, and cemented Angelo and Alexandra’s place as favorites. They got ready after a long cuddling session, grabbing their bags and their weapons and heading to the cornucopia. They arrived with minutes to spare. Actually, they were the last tributes to arrive.
Vannery had been the first on site, scouting for other tributes. Once she had been sure the coast was clear, she had signaled to Rivage and Carton that they could come. They hid in the bushes nearby; this area having been spared from the fires. Little by little, other tributes started to arrive. Kumquat (11) hid behind a tree, Perfecto (1) stood in the open, Odette and Georges (N) huddled together.
As Quinoa (9) and the “Double A couple” finally arrived, the cornucopia started receding into the ground. It reappeared at once, and a bell rang.
Vannery stayed behind. She watched all the tributes run to the center where laid 8 numbered bags, including Carton and Rivage. The fighting raged in the cornucopia. Her allies attacked Alexandra and Angelo, as Kumquat escaped with his bag. Quinoa (9) almost got out, but Perfecto (1) caught her by the ponytail and stabbed her in the throat, sounding her cannon. He then picked up her bag in addition to his.
Alexandra and Angelo fought side to side, covering each other. She scared Odette (N) away, while he pushed back against Rivage. The boy from 4 tried to hit Alexandra again, but her ally caught the trident and almost tore it out of Rivage’s hands. Instead of trying again, he attacked Georges. The trident hit him in the back and sounded his cannon a few seconds later. Angelo took advantage of this distraction to slash at Carton with his sword, causing the boy from 8 to bleed out.
Vannery screamed and ran out of her hiding place, almost colliding with Odette (N) on the way. Rivage grabbed the district 4 and district 8 bags in one hand, and Vannery’s arm in the other, and they ran away together. The young girl cried and struggled to keep up the pace. She wanted to go back, but Carton’s cannon sounded, ruining her hopes.
Angelo and Alexandra were the last tributes to get their bags. One of Perfecto’s knives punctured Alexandra’s. The pair turned back, giving Kumquat (11) enough time to flee. They chased Perfecto into the woods. He was quick, however, and they had a hard time gaining on him.
The following hours were very quiet, boring, even, so Urania and Argus invited a few guests to discuss the bloodbath and the tributes’ different strategies. It was only in the late afternoon that Delta deigned getting up. He was well rested. He ate what remained of his food and started camouflaging himself once again in order to hunt. The tributes were now very spread out, however, and it appeared that Delta was in an area devoid of them. He walked until it got too dark to continue, before letting out a scream of rage. His sudden outburst scared some resting birds. They flew away and hit Kumquat (11) square in the face as he was in the process of climbing up one of the taller trees. The surprise caused him to lose his grip and he fell to his death a few feet away from Delta, his Feast bag laying next to him. Suddenly, Delta laughed and thanked the birds. He emptied the contents of the bag, glad to find some fresh food and water. He settled right there for the night.
Angelo and Alexandra eventually gave up on hunting Perfecto. Every time they thought they heard him; it turned out to be another bird. He was nowhere to be found. The pair settled down near a creek, right where Carton and his allies had camped earlier, in order to clean themselves. It was another spectacle to behold. The couple played in the fresh water, wearing only their underwear, and at one point, Alexandra winked at one of the cameras. This resulted in the appearance of a sponsor gift a few seconds later. She caught it and opened it discreetly once she was dressed again. She checked that Angelo was busy with the campfire before peeking inside. There was a water bottle and a tiny, sheathed stiletto knife, about two inches long. There was also a note that said : “You will only get one chance” – S. She acted nonchalant, thanked her sponsor for the water, and hid the knife in her sock. She took the first watch, jumping when a cannon sounded.
Since they had come back from the Feast, Vannery felt that Rivage was acting strange. He kept pacing and muttering to himself and seemed unhappy even though they had received enough supplies to last five more days in the arena at least. They found another place to sleep, Vannery built a new shelter. As she was about to go to sleep, Rivage approached her, trident in hand. He didn’t speak, so she asked him what he wanted. “I’m sorr-“ he started. Vannery interrupted him : “Behind you !”.
He spun around and threw his trident. It caught Perfecto in the head, sounding his cannon before he had hit the ground. He had been sneaking up behind Rivage with a knife in both hands, but Vannery had a keen eye. Rivage seemed to deflate. He cleaned up his weapon and went to sleep. Vannery tried to ask him what he wanted to tell her, but he didn’t answer. Instead, she took the first watch.
At midnight, five portraits appeared in the sky : Perfecto (1), Carton (8), Quinoa (9), Kumquat (11) and Georges (N). The six remaining tributes were spread out around the arena : Rivage and Vannery to the East, Angelo and Alexandra to the North, Odette (N) in the South and Delta to the West.
Day 4:
The sound of a cannon startled Delta out of his slumber. He was feeling well rested and decided to head to the cornucopia with just his branch and a knife he had taken from Kumquat. With only 5 remaining tributes, he knew that the showdown was about to take place and was about as excited as the viewers in the Capitol for it to happen. On the way, he stumbled upon a suspicious mound of leaves. He almost let it be, until he saw two feet poking out of it. As he bent down to look at it, a sharp pain entered his shoulder blade. By pure reflex, he swung his club backwards, hitting a barefoot Odette (N) in the forehead. She stumbled backwards, clutching her knife, and tripped on a rock. Delta jumped onto her, planting his knee in her stomach, and stabbed her with her own knife. He added it to his “collection”.
The atmosphere between Alexandra and Angelo had been quite tense since they’d woken up. They hadn’t slept so well. When the first cannon sounded, they set out to get to the cornucopia, and by the time the second cannon echoed throughout the arena, they were in position. “We’ll fight together, right ?” asked Alexandra. Angelo nodded solemnly : “Until there’s no one else. I’m so glad I got to meet you.”
“Me too… Too bad one of us will have to die.”
As she said those words, a twig cracked in a nearby bush.
The first cannon had shocked the viewers quite a bit. As Rivage finished his watch, he looked at Vannery, asleep next to him. He murmured “I’m sorry”, so low that it had to be subtitled. Then he plunged his trident in her throat. Before leaving, Rivage let out the longest sigh of relief.
Alexandra climbed onto the cornucopia, hiding herself, a length of rope held tight between her hands. She waited as Rivage entered the clearing. He was focused on Angelo. Delta appeared a few seconds later, on the other side of the cornucopia. He walked under it, oblivious to the girl awaiting him. As Angelo charged Rivage with his sword, Alexandra lowered the rope. Delta let out a choked growl as she pulled. He was much stronger, however. With one labored step, he yanked her off the roof. The rope was still around his neck, but his hands were now around Alexandra’s. Nevertheless, she held on to the rope, using it to hold him at bay. Just before she fell unconscious, she kicked him in the groin. She let out a few coughs, before grabbing the two ends of the rope again and pulling Delta against one of the steel columns of the cornucopia. Delta tried to stab her, but she was behind him, and he was quickly loosing consciousness. With one last brutal pull, the rope crushed his windpipe.
Alexandra watched Angelo dispose of Rivage with one final feint of his sword, and his cannon sounded at the same time as Delta’s.
Silence fell on the clearing. Even the birds had shut up. The couple was breathing heavily. They hugged tight. Something glinted in Alexandra’s hand. She almost reached Angelo’s neck when he gripped her wrist. He smiled, but his eyes were full of sorrow. “I had to try at least !” she half-laughed, half-whimpered. He sat her down and hugged her once again. She told him that he deserved to win. That he was a good man. He took his swords and gently stabbed Alexandra in the heart. She barely cried as he looked into her eyes. A cannon sounded. The last one. Jahani Vishwa announced Angelo Clearfell, of district 2, as the victor of the 119th Hunger Games. He had to be forcefully removed form Alexandra’s corpse in order to be retrieved.
Aftermath:
The games took an immense toll on Angelo, who was unable to speak for more than a month. Even when he had gotten the use of his words back, he fell into a lengthy depression. His interview with Urania Whimsiwick and Argus Brown had to be cut short as soon as they mentioned Alexandra.
After that, he remained alone in his home of the Victor’s village. He received no guests and did not act as a mentor the following years. The other victors of his district described him as “disillusioned” and “a killjoy”. The situation stayed the same until his disappearance two years later.

After retrieving Maga-Z from Kokichi's desk drawer, Kokichi and Himiko snuck over to Miu and Kaede's room. The door was slightly ajar, so they could peek in and see who was inside. Kaede wasn't there, but Miu was. She was on her bed, talking on the phone.
​
"So, what'cha doin' tonight?" they heard her say in a seductive voice. "Workin' on a car, huh? How about you work on me for a little while, hmmm? Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you? I know you would." Kokichi and Himiko looked at each other, sticking their tongues out in disgust. They figured she was talking to Kazuichi, her boyfriend that they paired Miu up with. "The twins? Oh, they're doin' alright," Miu said, squeezing her chest. "They're just as...big, and juicy, and bouncy as ever! Hmhmhm!" Kokichi and Himiko rolled their eyes and facepalmed. "I'll see ya tonight," Miu continued. "Can't wa-aaiiit! Byyyeee." She hung up the phone and squealed giddily. She sighed happily as she stood up and walked towards her door. Kokichi and Himiko quickly hid behind the wall and watched her exit her room and bounce away downstairs.
​
"Wh-What do you think they're going to do tonight?" Himiko asked.
​
"If we're lucky, kill each other," Kokichi muttered. "Let's go, HimiCocoa Bean! We've got work to do!" He took Himiko's hand in his and led her to Miu's closet, where the elevator to her lab was located. Kokichi flipped the light switch in the closet, which activated the elevator. They descended down and down until they reached Miu's lab. It was filled to the brim with Miu's inventions, both big and small.
​
"There's so much stuff down here," Himiko said. "Where do we start?"

"Well, we definitely need something with high electrical power," Kokichi said. "Something we can use as a defibrillator."
​
"A what?" Himiko asked.
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"A defibrillator is a device that shoots electrical pulses to the heart to make it start up again," Kokichi explained.
​
"Ohhh...I understand," Himiko replied. "Well...I don't see anything like that, but maybe those can help us feel more like scientists." Himiko pointed over to some lab coats. Kokichi grinned impishly.
​
"Nee-heehee...mad scientists, to be more exact!" he said. Together, he and Himiko rushed over to the lab coats and put them on. They also put on some gloves, goggles, and lab boots. "Much better!" Kokichi said. He turned to give Himiko a high five. "Let's get to work, Monkey Buns!"
​
"Nyeh...you got it, Panta Bear!" Himiko replied. They went off in search to find some type of defibrillator that would help bring Maga-Z back to life.
​
"Heeey! Maybe that could work!" Kokichi said, pointing to a metal bed with straps on it. "That's the type of bed that Frankenstein's monster lies down on when Doctor Frankenstein revived him, remember?"
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"Yeah!" Himiko said. "But...where's all the electrical stuff? Aren't there supposed to be, like...cable wires, or something?" Kokichi looked around him. He noticed that beneath the bed was a circular platform that seemed to detach from the rest of the floor.

"Maybe it has something to do with this?" Kokichi asked, tapping on the platform with his foot. He looked up and noticed a green button. "I bet that lifts the platform!"
​
"Why would it do that?" Himiko asked. "And where are we even going to find a defib...u...lator, or whatever?" Kokichi was about to shrug, when he suddenly heard a faint rumbling outside. A devious smile spread across his face.
​
"I think I may have the answer to both your questions, Himiko," he said before rushing over to the green button and pressing it. As he suspected, the platform began lifting up off the ground. It ascended through a circular passageway all the way up to a drafty, dimly-lit room filled with more mechanical devices filled with various buttons and switches, and strange narrow and bubble-shaped tubes that seemed to twist and turn in every direction. A lever labeled "rooftop" stood right next to them.
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"What is this place?" Himiko asked.
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"It's probably the attic," Kokichi replied, looking around the large room.
​
"Okay, so the platform takes us up here, but...how are we gonna fire up all these electrical devices?" Himiko wondered. The rumbling sound above them grew even louder. Kokichi smiled at her as he reached for the rooftop lever and pulled it. The roof above them slid open to reveal dark clouds looming over them. They felt the wind pick up and rush wildly through their hair. They could see the clouds sparkle as lightning flickered across them like a switch.
​
"That's how!" Kokichi answered as another rumble of thunder bellowed above them. He then pointed at a lightning rod on the side of the roof. "See that lightning rod? The lightning will hit it, send the electricity through that cable, and fire up all these devices! Then, after we connect these other electrical cables with the devices and to Maga-Z, we should be able to revive him by turning on the defibrillator power switch!" Himiko felt a rush of excitement course through her veins.
​
"Nyeh...you think it might work?!" she asked. Kokichi gave her a mischievous smile.
​
"Only one way to find out," he said. Immediately, Kokichi and Himiko got to work by hooking up the electrical cables to Maga-Z and the devices. The lightning struck the lightning rod and sent volts of electricity flowing through the cable that attached the rod to the electrical devices, causing the room to come to life with mechanical whirring and lights.
​
"It's working!! It's working!!" Kokichi shouted with glee like a mad scientist as wind rushed through his hair and the storm grew more intense. "We need more lightning!! More!! MORE!!! MWA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!" More lightning struck the rod, which gave the electrical devices so much power the lights from the machines flickered as they grew brighter. "YEEESSSSS!!! YEEESSSS!!!" Kokichi shouted. He turned to Himiko. "Now, Himiko...THROW THE SWITCH!!!"
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"Yeessss, maaaasteeerrr," Himiko replied in an Igor-like voice. She turned the defibrillator power switch on, which sent large amounts of voltage coursing through the electrical cables to Maga-Z's body. Maga-Z's body contorted, twisting every which way. His body was twitching and writhing violently as the electricity coursed through his dead body.
​
"Liiiiive...LIIIIIIIIVE!!! YOU MUST LIIIIIIIVE!!!" Kokichi screamed at Maga-Z. The power of the electricity was so intense that the electrical cables attached to Maga-Z's body flew off. "Himiko...relinquish the switch!" Kokichi ordered dramatically.
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"Yeeeessss, maaaasteeeerrrr," Himiko said with a bow and turned off the defibrillator power switch. As she did, the storm above subsided, with only a gentle breeze now blowing with the occasional rumble of thunder in the dark clouds above. Kokichi and Himiko lifted their goggles to see the results. Maga-Z laid there, still and silent. They waited for a few more seconds, waiting for the little hamster to awaken, but he remained unresponsive. They slumped their shoulders with disappointment.
​
"Nyeh...maybe it didn't work,' Himiko whispered softly.
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"Crap," Kokichi muttered. They were about to call it quits, when suddenly, they heard tiny squeaking. Their eyes flickered with excitement as they saw Maga-Z spring back to life and rub his face with his tiny paws.
​
"MWA-HAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! IT'S ALIVE!!!" Kokichi laughed maniacally. "IT'S ALIIIIIVE!!!"

Hi all.
I've got an issue with an armourer works HX2001 Hi-Capa.
Basically, the hammer is unreliable. The gun fires if cocked from the slide but very rarely from just the hammer. This has recently caught me out in a game and it's a bit annoying.
Deep in the mag well, I can see the valve plunger part which should retract into the back of the grip, above the hammer spring housing but it never really retracts from just cocking the hammer. If I slam a mag in hard enough or knock the gun hard enough, it does pop away.
Might also be worth noting that I have no half cock position with this gun either.
​
Any assistance is much appreciated!

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Things are happening!
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The new album is well underway :) Sorry it’s been so long since our last email, things have been pretty busy in our personal lives over the last year (in case you didn’t know, Britt and Scott had a baby girl last October!) So we wanted to reach out and just give you a little update on what’s going on in the world of UTA! We took 2022 off from touring to write a new album, as it can be really hard to focus on new music when you’re constantly having to stay in shape to play live. By December we had ten demos that we were happy with and scheduled studio time for the spring. We rented a studio on Vancouver Island and stayed in an airbnb together (with a six month old as well haha!) for the entire month of April so we could stay distraction-free. We wrapped tracking on April 31st but Brittney did a few more solo sessions in May to record some harmonies and a few vocal lines that were missed. The tracks are now in the insanely talented and highly capable hands of Jacob Hansen, who will be taking on the mixing and mastering duties for us once again. During our time on the island we also did a photo shoot with our favourite photographer, Shimon Karmel, and shot a performance video with the boys over at RuneGate Studio; we can’t wait for you to see all their hard work and should be posting sneak peeks soon! In case you are wondering, yes this will be a concept record, and no it does not follow the story from Apex & Abyss. This is an entirely new world with new characters and we think you’re really going to like it! Brittney will be sure to do her Track-By-Track videos to explain the story like always, but we’d love to hear what you think the next album is going to be about ;) We are waiting on a release date from Napalm but we think you’ll get your first taste of singles this fall. Make sure to follow us on Instagram so you don’t miss out on the announcement!
INSTAGRAM
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We also wanted to let you all know that we just happened to find 50 copies of our Explorers EP on the shelves at IndieMerch that had mistakenly been archived! We got them shipped up to us and will be holding a lottery to give everyone a fair chance to get their hands on a copy. Make sure to join our Discord channel as we will be announcing how to enter the lottery on there before posting it anywhere else!
DISCORD
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Lastly, we just wanted to thank you all so much for your patience and support over the last couple of years. A lot of you had tickets to our shows that were cancelled in 2021 and we want you to know that we haven’t forgotten about you! We are working on eastern Canadian dates as well as dates in Europe to coincide with the release of the new album. We are also starting to confirm festivals for next summer and should begin announcing those shortly. Touring is going to be different for us now that Scott and Britt have a kid, but they promise they are going to make it work somehow, someway ;) Can’t wait to see you all on the road very soon! Keep in touch! UTA \m/