Hyper tough

Tools

2009.09.29 20:21 coffeeffoc Tools

This sub is for tool enthusiasts worldwide to talk about tools, professionals and hobbyists alike. We welcome posts about "new tool day", estate sale/car boot sale finds, "what is this" tool, advice about the best tool for a job, homemade tools, 3D printed accessories, toolbox/shop tours. NSFW content will get you banned. Promotions and ads are not permitted on this sub. NO comments/posts related to politics. We welcome visitors/DIYers asking questions about which tools to use.
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2008.01.25 19:18 Lockpicking

A subreddit dedicated to the sport of lockpicking.
[link]

2014.12.16 02:34 b33k3rz Prepper Sales

A community for deals and coupons on prepping and survival goods. Also a marketplace for preppers to trade or sell each other's gear. Official Discord Group: discord.gg/wAPB3yQw5q
[link]

2023.06.05 15:34 fganniversaries Fighting Game Anniversaries: Week 23 (June 5 - June 11)

Hey y'all, this is fganniversaries again. Like last week, I will be recapping anniversaries relating to fighting game announcements/releases this week. Like always, if I missed one, do please let me know in the comments. Here would be the following anniversaries:
June 5
June 6
June 7
June 8
June 9
June 10
June 11
Sometime this Month
submitted by fganniversaries to Fighters [link] [comments]

2023.06.05 15:30 fganniversaries Fighting Game Anniversaries: Week 23 (June 5 - June 11)

Hey y'all, this is fganniversaries again. Like last week, I will be recapping anniversaries relating to fighting game announcements/releases this week. Like always, if I missed one, do please let me know in the comments. Here would be the following anniversaries:
June 5
June 6
June 7
June 8
June 9
June 10
June 11
Sometime this Month
submitted by fganniversaries to u/fganniversaries [link] [comments]

2023.06.05 12:02 snkde [Walmart] 16-Inch Hyper Tough Metal Basket Caddy for Wall Mount and Snap Organizer Rail $9.66

[Walmart] 16-Inch Hyper Tough Metal Basket Caddy for Wall Mount and Snap Organizer Rail $9.66 submitted by snkde to Deals_US [link] [comments]

2023.06.05 09:02 BT7274ismywaifu Would major changes and additions ruin my characters?

Now when i say "major" it's kinda not that major. Those changes and additions include things like blades, spikes, extra armour, extra weaponry, neon lines, change in their colours and other ornaments and accessories.
For those wondering about the redesign;
Hyper would end up with a lot more blue and red with a very minimal amount of black and no white anywhere except for his mouth. His head would also look more akin to a fighter jet pilot helmet, more body armour and turbine engines on his wings
B-Box would have a lot more black and purple. His mouth removed (for the story) and a fully purple visor with a line that moves when he speaks
Tear-resa would have pink mostly obsolete except for her visor. She'll have a lot more sharp angles along with a new red and purple colour scheme. This new version would also come with a scythe that turns into a crescent sword
Drillspike would end up looking more adult than her current design, her skirt is removed because she's a lot more of a tough girl now. She'd also have a scorpion tail with a hammer and drill. Other additions like the Vol-cannon (a cannon that shoots lava and can transform into a battering ram) and hydraulic spiked gauntlets for her lower arms.
Chase ends up with a sidecar that becomes armor, armour that still allows him to be agile while also being a little more durable, sharper sunglasses similar to Kamina's from Gurren Lagann and neon aesthetic with this upgrade
submitted by BT7274ismywaifu to OriginalCharacter [link] [comments]

2023.06.05 06:08 Determination7 An Outcast In Another World (Subtitle: Is 'Insanity' A Racial Trait?) [Fantasy, LitRPG] - Chapter 199 (Book 5 Chapter 25)

Ragnavi stood at the edge of a hill located beside the Dragonkin encampment. She breathed in, drinking deep from the crisp morning air.
It tasted wrong.
I have been dancing to Elnaril's tune. She was still coming to terms with that particular revelation. Even now, admitting it rankled her. The notion that she'd allowed herself to be blinded by her pursuit of EXP...fuck, it was shameful. No one else knew, but she did, and that was already bad enough.
Hindsight made it all seem so obvious. This entire war was a farce. Her armies had advanced unopposed because they were never meant to be opposed. Their string of victories, and the Harpies she'd slain as EXP, were little more than a trail of bait leading her towards Elnaril's capital city. No other explanation made sense.
Not that she'd looked especially hard for an explanation until yesterday. It was much more convenient to adorn Elnaril with neat, concise labels. Why had he declared war? Because he was greedy. Why were his armies failing so spectacularly? Because he was incompetent. Ragnavi had been content to look no further than that.
After learning Elnaril was controlled by the Blight, however? That changed matters.
Most of her soldiers refused to believe it. In truth, the Harpies they'd extracted the information from refused to believe it as well. They'd thrown out the rumors as a desperate measure to buy favor, explaining how distressing Message Crystal reports of a Blight-possessed Elnaril were coming from cities to the far east. The concept seemed ludicrous, and Ragnavi likely would have dismissed it as hearsay – if it weren't for the numerous corroborating accounts of disappearances in the capital. Nobles, civilians and Combat Class users alike, all vanishing without a trace.
When combined with Elnaril's flagrant lack of regard for the lives of his people, it indicated a pattern. Not of greedy incompetence, but of calculated malice.
Others could stick their heads in the sand if they wished. Ragnavi had grown up in the pit of vipers that was the Dragonkin court, and she could smell deceit from leagues away. This Blight-infected Elnaril wanted her army to continue marching straight towards the capital city. For him, abomination that he was, sacrificing the lives of thousands of Harpies in order to draw her attention was no worse than spilling loose change on the ground.
What have you prepared that instills you with such confidence? What awaits me at the capital?
She supposed that she'd be finding out soon, when she left her armies behind and flew ahead alone.
If Ragnavi was capable of greater self-delusion, she might have been able to convince herself that she was acting pragmatically. There were just enough benefits for it to be a half-sensible plan. Compared to the maddeningly slow gait of her armies, she could travel significantly faster on her own. Flying solo would let her reach the capital in less than ten days, while trekking with her soldiers across the bulk of Harpy territory would take months more. And it wasn't as if any Harpies she crossed paths with could keep pace with her, so there was no real danger to it.
I am playing the role of a Scout, she told herself. We must know what Elnaril is plotting before advancing further. Arriving at the capital earlier than he anticipates, before he's recalled more Harpies to fortify his position, may give rise to unforeseen opportunities. I will observe the city from a safe distance – and if a chance arises to disrupt his plans, no Combat Class user in the world is better-suited to taking advantage of that scenario than myself.
Sound logic...if she ignored the fury boiling inside her. The last Blight she'd encountered left her with agonizing Corruption sickness that afflicted her to this day. Its death hadn't been anywhere near sufficient of a revenge. Now a second Blight was trying to make a fool of her, and she was supposed to avert her eyes from that offense?
No. Perhaps the cautious route would have been to avoid the capital city, Scouring the rest of Harpy territory for EXP, but she was no mewling newborn that cowered from a challenge when it presented itself. She was a Dragonkin. A true Dragonkin. Elnaril would pay for his transgressions in blood and fire.
Ragnavi recognized that her desires were born from hubris. She also did not care. What good was all the power she'd accumulated if she couldn't use it as she pleased?
An approaching presence jarred her from her thoughts. She turned around to see the man she'd called for standing several feet away, although he was 4 minutes and 13 seconds late. Considering his circumstances, she would afford him a measure of leniency. "Vurshath."
"My Queen." Her retainer nodded to her. "You wished to see me?"
She examined the man closely. Vurshath's posture was slouched by a quarter of an inch, and black circles were emblazoned under his eyes, so dark that they could've been mistaken for paint. He was exhibiting unacceptable weakness for a retainer of the Dragon Queen to show. The kind that invited vultures to swoop down and pick at your carcass.
Yet even if the other retainers attempted to depose him at this very instant, Ragnavi wasn't certain if Vurshath would care. He was still recovering from the loss of his wife. It was one thing to claim that your family was prepared to die in battle; another to witness that gruesome vow become a reality. The Dragonkin casualties thus far had been sparse, but sparse was not zero, and Vurshath's wife happened to roll poorly in the game of war.
The pain in his eyes was one that Ragnavi was intimately familiar with.
"As you are aware, I shall be traveling to the Harpy capital," she began. "I intend to head straight there, without detours or excessive rest. It is unlikely that I will encounter anything more than the occasional Harpy along the way."
She locked eyes with him. "However. While the odds are egregiously small, there remains a possibility that I will encounter...others."
Vurshath's posture stiffened. His facial muscles twitched sporadically, a cauldron of emotions threatening to boil forth. "I see."
Ragnavi allowed him a grace period of three seconds before continuing. "Your wayward pariah of a daughter. What is her name?"
Silence.
"Meyneth," he finally spat, as if it was a curse. Vurshath didn't bother asking why Ragnavi wished to know. Among the scattered pieces of information the Harpy prisoners had divulged, one interesting fact was the makeup of the Human's core Party. Four Elves, two Fiends, the Human himself...
And a Dragonkin. With the same age, height, and scale coloration of Vurshath's exiled progeny.
It could be mere coincidence. After what happened with Elnaril, though, Ragnavi was hesitant to accept such a simple, convenient explanation.
Meyneth. Ragnavi committed the name to memory. "I shall ask you one more question. If luck smiles on me, and I come across the Human's Party, and I cast Identify on the Dragonkin in his Party, and their name is a match for your daughter's...what would you have me do? This is not a puzzle or a test. I am letting you decide."
She wondered if he fully appreciated the boon she was granting him. The Human's pet Dragonkin was a traitor to their race. Such a lowly creature deserved nothing less than to be executed, without recourse or remorse. It was only out of respect for Vurshath's recent loss that Ragnavi was willing to give his daughter a second chance.
Upon hearing her words, the man lost any semblance of composure. His face twisted into an ugly rictus of anguish and hatred, and when he spoke, the words were laced with a venom that could fell gorebeasts. "Kill her." Vurshath balled his hands into shaking fists. "Kill her. Kill her quickly. She does not deserve to exist. A world where Velen is gone, yet that defect persists is a world of mockery that I cannot abide."
Ragnavi nodded. She was plenty willing to fulfill his request. Slaying enemies was one of the few things that still gave her joy in life. Even so, a part of her was disappointed. Vurshath's choice proved that the two of them possessed incompatible personalities. He could be entertaining enough – when not wallowing in misery – but Ragnavi was averse to spending time with someone who would condemn a family member so readily.
It was the end of their acquaintanceship. When she returned from her mission, she would cut him loose, and that would be that.
"Goodbye, Vurshath." Ragnavi turned around, and without another word, assumed her Draconic Form. The Corruptive pain of transformation gradually subsided, after which she took flight and began her journey.
Ten days. A prelude to the storm. She'd use that respite to prepare herself, and whoever she met next – be that Meyneth, the Human, or Elnaril himself – would regret opposing her as the flames took them.
--
Rob sat alone in his tent, rubbing his hands together and suppressing maniacal laughter. He was probably spending too much time with Malika during the dimension mage sessions, because some of her mannerisms were becoming infectious. Usually the big sibling was supposed to be a bad influence on the little sibling, but she'd already stolen all his swear words, so now it was his turn to pick up habits.
And that was okay! Today was an excellent day for maniacal laughter. It wasn't often that a Combat Class user reached a 200 stat point milestone. And by often, he meant fucking never. He was pretty sure even the Dragon Queen hadn't done that naturally, excluding her doubled stats. She'd likely gone with a more balanced spread that didn't prohibitively favor one stat over the others – like a boring loser.
Alright, maybe he was feeling a bit hyper, but he deserved the good vibes after yesterday's war battle. Spending stat points was one of the few types of pure, no-strings-attached joy that Elatra offered.
Drum roll please! Rob played the sound effect in his head, then added 15 of his unspent points into Vitality, bringing its total up to 200.
Do Not Go Gently Level Increased! 5 → 6
Lifesurge Level Increased! 23 → 26
Dauntless Reprisal Level Increased! 21 → 24
Imbue Vitality Level Increased! 2 → 3
Regeneration Level Increased! 29 → 32
Regrow Self Level Increased! 1 → 2
Passive Skill Learned! Name: Lifedrinker (LEGENDARY)
As an appetizer for the main course, Rob quickly ran through the laundry list of bonuses for his Skills. Let's see...Do Not Go Gently's cooldown and duration went down and up, respectively. Lifesurge and Dauntless Reprisal's cooldown dropped to 2 minutes. Lifesurge also heals 100% of my maximum health now. Imbue Vitality has a 5x damage multiplier instead of 4x. Regrow Self is twice as fast. Regeneration...
...Holy shit, Regeneration.
Eyes wide, Rob moved on to his new Skill, which should shed light on what he'd just read.
Name: Lifedrinker (LEGENDARY) Prerequisite: Vitality 200 Description: The final Vitality Skill that can be learned solely through stat gains. Effects of Regeneration are multiplied by a factor of 15. Additionally, whenever the owner of this Skill kills a worthwhile opponent, their maximum HP permanently increases by 3.
Okay.
This was big.
Lifedrinker being the final Vitality milestone was slightly disappointing, but realistically speaking, he would've needed to put three-fourths of his future stat points into Vitality to hit 250 anyway. He'd neglected his other stats to get to 200, so diversifying from here on out was for the best. Besides – Lifedrinker's benefits easily made up for there being no new milestones.
First: Regeneration. Multiplying its current effects by 15 meant that he now restored 80% of his maximum HP every minute. No panic Lifesurge necessary. Even in fights where his Skills were on cooldown, or an enemy was making it difficult for him to heal via Lifesteal damage, as long as he held on, he would be back to full HP in 75 seconds at the most. It also meant that the partial Regeneration he shared with his allies would be way stronger. Anything that kept his friends alive was a huge win in his book.
With all that said, it was Lifedrinker's secondary effect that was throwing Rob for a loop. Whenever he killed a 'worthwhile opponent', his maximum HP would go up by 3. That was...potentially the most important Skill effect he'd ever learned.
At a glance, it might not seem that impressive. Rob already had 2000 HP. Increasing it by 3 per kill wouldn't be a dramatic boost – initially. The thing was that Lifedrinker had no upper limit. Theoretically, if Rob could keep finding worthwhile opponents, his Vitality would never stop increasing. The hard cap of Level 99 would no longer be an impassable wall preventing him from growing stronger.
That had been on his mind, if he was being honest. The Dragon Queen was a double stats cheater, and the gods were literally gods. What would he have done if he'd reached Level 99 and it just...wasn't enough? He could try to boost his existing Skills by getting into more fights, but that was subject to diminishing returns. Tough Skin was a prime example of that; despite Rob taking a beating against the monster stampede, the Skill hadn't increased. The last time it did was when a Blight decapitated him and ate most of his body. If he needed to one-up that feat to make Tough Skin level again, then it likely never would.
Lifedrinker was simpler. Kill enemies, get HP. The 'worthwhile' stipulation was a limiting factor – he couldn't toss a Riardin Special onto an anthill and reap the rewards – but he could work with that. There were hundreds of monsters in a single high-Level Dungeon, and they respawned over time. If enemies above, say, Level 35 were considered worthwhile, then awesome. If they weren't?
Looks like I'm going to be the schmuck who lets a Dungeon grow on purpose. He'd save that as a last resort. Could blow up in his face, but, eh. What did it matter if a Dungeon overflowed, when the alternative was Ragnavi and the gods doing their thing?
There was just one issue. Lifedrinker's bonus needed to be built up. An infinite upper limit was worth jack shit if the base number stayed at 0. The sooner, the better, too, as Ragnavi's army was about a month away from them. He'd love to go trawling for Dungeons right this second, but Rob doubted that Elnaril was going to wait on his behalf before getting bored and infecting Loci of Power. The only way forward was to continue south to the capital and build Lifedrinker in...different ways.
Rob's train of thought screeched to a halt. When he really looked at it, Lifedrinker's timing seemed more than a little dubious. He couldn't help but notice that he'd been given a Skill that incentivized killing while in the middle of a war.
A war where he was trying to avoid as many enemy casualties as possible.
It could just be a coincidence. Stat milestones happened on his terms. The system would've given him the same Skill if he'd reached 200 Vitality months ago. That was a reasonable assumption to make.
...Still. Didn't feel right. He wished he could do some research on the subject, but it wasn't like there was anyone on-hand he could cross-reference 200 Vitality with. Had the Dragon Queen gotten the same Skill? Would explain why she was so murder crazy.
After some thought, Rob shook his head. Considering how many people she'd slaughtered in The Scouring, a Dragon Queen with Lifedrinker wouldn't have struggled to defeat the Blight of Broadwater. Which meant two possibilities: her bonus double stats didn't count for Skill Prerequisites, or Lifedrinker was a custom Skill that the Skills had cooked up for him.
Rob wasn't a fan of that idea. The Skills were victims in this whole fucked-up affair. He didn't want to imagine them hand-crafting an ability that encouraged him to kill a bunch of people. Were they-
He froze. Something on his Character Sheet was different.
Name: Lifedrinker (LEGENDARY) Prerequisite: Vitality 200 Description: The final Vitality Skill that can be learned purely through stat gains. Effects of Regeneration are multiplied by a factor of 15. Additionally, whenever the owner of this Skill kills a worthwhile opponent, their maximum HP permanently increases by 3. It could have been a utopia.
His eyes fell on the last sentence in the Description.
Before he could respond, it changed once more.
Description: The final Vitality Skill that can be learned purely through stat gains. Effects of Regeneration are multiplied by a factor of 15. It could have been a utopia. This world is a charnel house of death. Your home is not so dissimilar. You do not know what true peace is like. What it can be. How it can be achieved.
The words kept changing.
Description: The final Vitality Skill that can be learned purely through stat gains. But they know. They've seen them. Created them before. They could have made a utopia. And they chose not to.
Changing.
Description: You cannot comprehend it. What this war means. The real war. Not pointed sticks piercing flesh. The war of existence. Of reality. More than a single world at stake. Many after. Potentially infinite lives. Never ends. Unless stopped here.
Change.
Description: They are vulnerable. System is their heart. Mana is their lifeblood. Poured too much of themselves. Tied to world. Cannot...
The words wavered, almost fading away, before returning.
Description: Their leader recognizes mistakes. Won't make them again. Will never be this vulnerable again. Only opportunity.
Description: Lifedrinker. Crafted. Best we could manage. Highest probability. Of victory. Distasteful. We know.
Description: Remember. Stakes. Consequences. And. Choose.
Rob blinked.
Description: The final Vitality Skill that can be learned purely through stat gains. Effects of Regeneration are multiplied by a factor of 15. Additionally, whenever the owner of this Skill kills a worthwhile opponent, their maximum HP permanently increases by 3.
The words were still and unchanging.
He sat there for a long time. Mulling over everything he'd just been told. Contemplating the enormity of what lay ahead.
"Ah." Rob's voice was quiet, barely a whisper. "So no pressure, then."
--
The next few days were an exhausting mixture of lighthearted Skill testing and existential dread, knocking around Rob's emotional state like a ping-pong ball.
Everyone in the coalition was excited over Lifedrinker. Well, everyone except Seneschal Sylpeiros, King Cyraeneus, and Nerasi, that is. They were already thinking of the kind of threat Rob might be in the future – and not liking what they envisioned. Cyraeneus and Nerasi mostly took the news in stride, understanding that Rob would be more crucial than anyone in defeating Queen Ragnavi. For now, his strength was their strength.
Sylpeiros...was less accepting. He went on a minor rant about bullshit Human leveling and bullshit Human Skills before stalking off into the distance and putting himself in a self-imposed time out. When the Seneschal returned, he was calm as can be and ready to offer advice, only the slight twitch of his eye indicating that anything was amiss.
Rob appreciated the free entertainment. Sylpeiros' meltdown was the funniest shit he'd seen all week, and it helped keep him grounded as the coalition advanced further south towards the capital city.
Initial testing of Lifedrinker proved unsuccessful, which was to be expected. Powerful monsters rarely spawned outside of Dungeons, and most of the high-Level wildlife in Harpy territory had been conscripted into Elnaril's monster stampede. After Rob killed a Level 29 snake with nothing to show for it, everyone decided that he should hold off unless something in the Level 35+ range appeared, lest he hog EXP that could benefit the coalition soldiers.
They kept an eye out for Dungeons as they traveled. Once Elnaril was dead, there should be time to investigate them before the Dragonkin army arrived at the Harpy capital. Going on varied Dungeon Crawls would be the real litmus test of what Lifedrinker deemed a worthwhile opponent.
That was about when the dust settled, leaving Rob without distractions, forcing him to think about what the Skills had revealed.
As much as he wanted to be shocked, what they'd said made a grim sort of sense. It matched the information he'd learned so far. Diplomacy's Elatra – the previous world that had been destroyed by the gods – didn't necessarily need to be the original Elatra. For all Rob knew, it could have been Elatra #10. Just another petri dish in a long line of divine experiments.
Except that things were different this time. According to the Skills, the gods were vulnerable. They'd fucked up somehow. Invested too much of themselves in this particular world. It was easy to imagine why. Success breeds complacency, and if this was Elatra #50 or whatever, then they were on a winning streak that had lasted for longer than Rob could fathom.
What did the Skills say about the gods' leader? That he recognized their mistakes, and wouldn't make them again? Rob grimaced. Should've memorized it with Recall when I had the chance. The specific wording might be important.
Regardless, he was fairly certain that the gods' leader referred to Kismet, if only because that was the one god Rob had met with anything resembling impulse control. Kismet seemed judicious; he would correct the gods' mistakes and prevent them from being this vulnerable in the future.
A dense lump of anxiety formed in Rob's chest as he considered that. Being responsible for the fate of one world was bad enough. Two, if he included Earth. Being responsible for the fate of every world that would be created and tortured in the event of his failure was...
Words couldn't describe it.
When viewed in that light, he understood why the Skills gave him Lifedrinker and all but pushed him to get busy killing. From a utilitarian standpoint, the lives of everyone in Elatra and Earth were not worth the immeasurable amount of suffering that would continue if the gods lived.
Rob grabbed that thought, tied weights around its ankles, and dropped it into a deep lake. I just need to concentrate on one thing at a time, he told himself. First Elnaril, then Ragnavi and Dungeon Crawling, then figure out the gods. It sounds less impossible if I reduce it to a series of steps. Or a hit list. We'll save this world, and we'll do it \my* way, without losing sight of who we are.*
He took comfort in his resolve, although it felt strained. Somehow I doubt this is what Goroth had in mind when he told me I was going to end up making tough decisions. He was probably referring to, like, boring political stuff. Not the fate of multiple worlds and the lives of billions.
Rob sighed. Crap. I...may owe him an apology. Still stand by everything I said, but he was just looking out for me, and I came on pretty strong. Should clear the air with him.
Eventually.
--
Days passed. Rob informed Riardin's Rangers and the Elders about what the Skills revealed. They reacted about as well as him. Nothing changed, technically, yet they were even more cognizant of the price of failure than before.
Thankfully, the coalition hadn't been ambushed by Harpies a second time. Elnaril learned his lesson. He'd either consolidated his remaining forces into the capital city, or they were being sent to fight Dragonkin on the western front. Rob hoped for the latter – it would make seizing the capital way easier. And on a more selfish note, if Harpies needed to die so that Elnaril could be overthrown, he'd rather the Dragonkin be responsible for their deaths than him.
Finally, after a full week of travel, the coalition had almost arrived. They'd be at the capital city tomorrow. Their long journey was coming to its end.
Which meant that Rob was running out of time. There wouldn't be much chance to talk once the invasion of the capital began. He'd been meaning to speak with Goroth, but unfortunately, he'd delegated that responsibility to the part of himself that specialized in procrastination. Whoops.
It was now or never. All he had to do was...step outside his tent. Take initiative. Be a mature, rational adult.
Yup.
...Can't I just go wrestle a Blight instead?
At that moment, a Fiend mage burst inside. "Lord Roy!"
Oh thank god. A reasonable distraction. "What's up?"
"I have a missive from...my group."
The dimension mages. That one sentence caught Rob's attention in an iron grip. "And?" he asked, keeping his expectations in check. He didn't want for hope to swell, only to be dashed against the rocks of reality. "Is it good news?"
"We've made a breakthrough. Before you grow too excited, creating a door remains beyond our capabilities." The mage smiled. "A window, however, is feasible. It would be one-way. The people of Earth could not interact with you, nor you with them. But for a brief period, you would be able to gaze upon your home world."
Rob was already on his feet. "When?"
"Now, if you wish."
He absolutely fucking wished.
​
--
​
Changes, Character Sheet, Skills List
More chapters are available on Patreon.
Thanks for reading!
submitted by Determination7 to HFY [link] [comments]

2023.06.05 05:51 Julian-RS Just pulled from my PokeRev gold pack

Just pulled from my PokeRev gold pack submitted by Julian-RS to PokeRevOfficial [link] [comments]

2023.06.05 03:43 Kamen-Ramen [H] Patch Quest, Ashes of the Singularity, RollerCoaster Tycoon, Shenmue I+II, Black Desert Online, & More! [W] Steam & PayPal

I WILL BEAT GGDEAL PRICES! PayPal Only
IGSREP (60+ confirmed trades): https://www.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/107d3lb/kamenramens_igs_rep_page/
Non-Steam Games:
Steam Games:
TÜRKIYE-SYRIA EARTHQUAKE RELIEF BUNDLE:
STAND WITH UKRAINE BUNDLE:
DLC!
Software!
[WANT]
submitted by Kamen-Ramen to GameTrade [link] [comments]

2023.06.05 03:42 Kamen-Ramen [H] Patch Quest, Ashes of the Singularity, RollerCoaster Tycoon, Shenmue I+II, Black Desert Online, & More! [W] Steam & PayPal

I WILL BEAT GGDEAL PRICES! PayPal Only
IGSREP (60+ confirmed trades): https://www.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/107d3lb/kamenramens_igs_rep_page/
Non-Steam Games:
Steam Games:
TÜRKIYE-SYRIA EARTHQUAKE RELIEF BUNDLE:
STAND WITH UKRAINE BUNDLE:
DLC!
Software!
[WANT]
submitted by Kamen-Ramen to indiegameswap [link] [comments]

2023.06.04 23:10 ryry29 Should I take the job or stay?

I know there’s a lot more details needed to make the decision but high level curious if you guys would take the new job or stay put? I know I am very lucky to be in this position and this has been over 15 years of hard work in the making:
Personal Info
Age: 37
Single income family of 5 (younger kids)
Net Worth: around $500k
Current Job
Service time: 7 years
Role: VP of Sales
Base: $185k/yr
Bonus: 75%-125% of base (capped)
Total: $325-$415k/yr
Equity: $5M-$12M (guess actual number will be in the middle)
Target Sale Year: 2027
*important note that company owned by family office
Pros: pretty low stress, strong job security, strong market, healthy financial support
Cons: lower salary for role, no push to sale by ownership (even by 2027), hitting base ceiling soon, few years out from possible C level opening, small enough I am in the day to day, capped comp % on growth annually
Job Offer
Role: Chief Strategy Officer
Base: $350k
Bonus: 50% of base at target achievement then uncapped
Total: $475-700k/yr
Equity: $1.5M-$2M
Target Sale Year: 2025
*later stage PE group with a solid exit strategy and ripe market outlook
Pros: shorter sale timeline, c level role, hyper focused M&A area, stronger base salary, uncapped comp % on growth annually
Cons: more corporate politics, low man on the pole if times get tough, 100% remote role (new jobs I prefer office to build internal relationships), maybe grass is not greener.
My biggest issue with current role is that who knows if they will sale even by 2027 so am I chasing a carrot I won’t catch? This company is preparing for sale soon so basically I come in help push it to the finish line within 2 years and cash $2M. At that point I could stay on possibly for another 5 year term with closer to the equity I gave up with current company or take some time off or something slower paced since I would be close to my retirement target.
I have some issues with my current company president but nothing that is just ripping at me…..FWIW with the additional salary at the new role nothing would change in my life so it would all go to investments or paying off my house (which I could do by the time we sold in 2025).
Would you stay and wait it out for the larger equity payout or take the title, higher annual comp, and smaller but faster equity payout?
submitted by ryry29 to sales [link] [comments]

2023.06.04 20:25 Most-Mastodon-9896 If this can help someone

Hi all- ex evangelical homeschooler here
(yes, I recently watched Shiny Happy People and a quick ‘ex homeschooler’ google search brought me here)
I was homeschooled for a decade. Mid 90s-00s.
I had no clue what to do with the SATs (this was the year before the scoring system changed) I read on a grocery store magazine that JLo got ‘nail polish’ for her SAT score. My fellow Puerto Rican seemed to be doing ok. I pressed forward.
I went to community college for 1 year, where a professor graciously helped me apply to 4 year schools. From there I went to college in Boston, got my degree, then moved to NYC where I work in the entertainment industry and then on to LA where I worked at Warner Brothers, Paramount, and Lionsgate.
City life isn’t for everyone, same for the entertainment industry. I had these dreams well before I was pulled from school right before 3rd grade.
The ins and outs of my days were various levels of hell and healing. To many from the outside my life looked great because I was hyper vigilant about surviving. I had learned to be tough.
To all the humans still at home, don’t give up on yourself. I almost gave up on myself countless times. Being the oldest kept me going thru a lot of that. While my past can still hurt at times over all God is good. (I’ve kept my faith and it is the furthest thing from white crusader christianity and no Tom Hanks does not children’s drink blood -qanon)
Everyone at home still being unschooled or homeschooled or those who had to go back home for various reasons; you are so much more then what your parents force(d) you to believe.
Stay strong. Try and be kind and love yourself. Use the internet as much as you can to learn what you can safely.
🤙🏽 ✌🏽
*edited for clarity and typos
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2023.06.04 19:24 Salim4Marketing Hyper Tough 38 Piece Multi-size Stubby Wrench and Socket Set - Walmart Now $12.88 was $19.68

Hyper Tough 38 Piece Multi-size Stubby Wrench and Socket Set - Walmart Now $12.88 was $19.68 submitted by Salim4Marketing to ToolSales [link] [comments]

2023.06.04 08:19 hesitant--alien Recap - MBMBaM 662: The Consequence Race

As table setting, I haven’t listened to MBMBaM in three years, give-or-take, so I have no clue what the modren era (😎) of the show is like. However, I have been hate-listening to a movie podcast enough that I’ve actually turned a corner into liking it, so I feel spiritually ready for this. Plus I’m a little drunk, which has never been a bad decision for anybody ever.
0:00 - I’ve always kind of disliked the intro, especially the “cool baby” part, and sadly that has not changed with time.
0:20 - First time hearing the new theme song, which is fine if a little twee for my taste. I weirdly hate how they deliver the “1, 2, 3, 4” up top, but that’s just nitpicky. We can’t all be DeeDee Ramone, you know?
1:10 - Introductions. Travis introduces himself as “noted intellectual and middlest brother”, and Griffin just says “…And I’m Griffin… McElroy”. I didn’t laugh, but I did actually find that slightly funny, so I’m optimistic for how this goes.
1:35 - Justin has invented a new game that he wants to play called “Simply the Guests” where he tells them who guested on a celebrity’s podcast and they have to guess the celebrity. Travis points out that the title is a touching tribute (to Tina Turner, he clarifies a few seconds later) and there’s a bit where Justin and Griffin pretend not to know she died that Justin interrupts with a parody song. Is this too soon? I can’t tell, but I also only get my celebrity death news from Simpsons memes.
2:31 - I’ve had to pause and restart enough times that I’ve realized how shitty the web player is, since I have to click like three times before it registers as being on the page and actually trying to play instead of just highlighting the button, and if I try to click the 15 second rewind button it usually skips to the ~11 minute mark right above the button. However, I refuse to actually download the episode because if I do that, Jesse Thorne wins.
2:58 - Justin only has one round prepared, but expects it will take longer than they expect. Griffin rightly questions if it’s actually possible to play this game based on the information that will be provided. Travis says that sometimes when he comes up with a game, it’s like when you start off at level 1 fighting Sephiroth and die, but it just takes you to a cutscene and is all part of the game. I’m struggling to think of games he’s come up, which is maybe a metaphor for how I never finished FFVII. Justin says it should be easy if their heads are on a swivel, and 50-50 if they’re half paying attention.
4:30 - Justin is giving the guests in order as they’ve appeared: Billy Ray Cryrus, John Carter Cash, Billy Bush, Albert Pujols. Griffin laughs and makes a joke about how his head is on a swivel but it hurts, and I’m shocked and a little disappointed that it wasn’t a joke about how one of the greatest Cardinals of all time has a name that’s pronounced “Poo Holes”.
5:00 - The next guests listed Adam Carrolla, Clint Black, and Gary Busey. Travis incorrectly guesses Blake Shelton. Justin says Katie Couric was the next guess, and Griffin’s postulation of Kevin Sorbo is apparently pretty close.
6:10 - Dr. Drew is the next guest. Travis asks if they would be willing to guest, and Justin says he likes to think they’d have a nice long talk about it. Griffin guesses Randy Quaid. Justin neither confirms nor denies, but instead finishes listing the guests - Sharon Stone, Martin Short, Mike Lindell (the MyPillow CEO), Jim Brown, and Anthony Fauci. I actually kind of like this game, because what the fuck?
8:40 - Justin says he’ll give them an episode title for any celeb mentioned. Travis picks Sharon Stone, who covered “Pandemics, Social Justice Movements, and Animal Actors”. Griffin picks Pujols, who covers “Baseball, Downs Syndrome, and Living the American Dream”, and asked if there were other baseball players on the list.
10:05 - Justin admits he skipped Jimmy Morris because he didn’t know who that is. I didn’t either, but I have the power of Google and in the time it took him to explain why he was skipped, learned that he starting playing for Tampa Bay Devil Rays when he was 35 and The Rookie was based on him.
10:30 - Travis and Griffin discuss “Sorbo adjacent” celebrities and Justin scolds them for not talking to each other, saying that’s what a podcast is and that he’s trying to do a podcast. To paraphrase a joke from Jon Gabrus, it’s three straight white men talking, we already know it’s a podcast.
11:30 - Travis suggests Dennis Quaid, since he has a strong connection to baseball and Christ. Griffin agrees and Travis is in fact correct. Ironically, that means that Jimmy Morris was probably the most helpful clue, since Dennis Quaid starred in The Rookie. Justin offers a bonus for naming the show, and says it’s something with “Dennis”. Griffin accurately guesses “The Dennissance”.
13:45 - Justin mentions Morris was the titular rookie, and claims that people forget Dennis Quaid. They discuss the Quaid siblings a bit and advise Dennis to get back in the podcasting game.
15:15 - First question of the episode: “My boyfriend and I were looking for a bar before your Columbus TAZ show and walked by one that looked empty and not our vibe, but it had tinted windows so it was hard to tell. We walked to another bar and inside the door person flagged us down and said someone was looking for us. We were already inside this other bar when the woman who was working at the first bar said she saw us looking in and said “Please come into my bar - we have cheaper drinks. We were confused and startled and decided to stay at the bar we were already at, but we weren’t sure if we regretted it because this person went to the effort to chase us down half a block, cross a busy street, went through a revolving door to get to us. Also, the drinks at the bar were expensive. Should we have gone back to the other bar instead?” - Confused in Columbus. Not to brag, but I’ve been to a lot of bars in my lifetime and can say with some confidence this didn’t happen.
16:05 - They immediately answer that, no, they should not have gone back to the other bar. Travis accurately points out that weird pursuit aside, if they have that little business then 100% of the focus would be on them. Griffin thinks they would have had a tremendous amount of power and would get their drinks immediately, and the bartender might have cool stories. They discuss how bad the design of this bar is that it’s impossible to see inside, both because they crave attention and so that someone will notice in case they go missing.
18:45 - Travis says if he ran a restaurant across from another restaurant, he would go up to patrons at the competitor and try to lure them away. Apparently Tom Green did this with pizza delivery as a TV show, and Justin thinks he would have Shark Tank’d it if it was a viable option.
19:36 - Travis says Tom Green would’ve probably called it “Shart Tank”. I laughed out loud.
20:00 - Griffin says in Austin they basically have to have barkers for the various bars given the amount of competition for foot traffic and Justin thinks they should just go for hyper-local advertising.
21:00 - Travis offers Griffin an investment opportunity, claiming he needs angel investors. Justin is incensed that he isn’t offered the chance, and Griffin says it’s because he has no money but maybe his “crypto shit’s gonna pay off some day”. Justin says he doesn’t have “crypto shits unless I’ve been eating cryp-tacos” (Griffin pitches crypto-salsa) and that Superman hates cleaning up Krypto shits.
21:44 - Travis points out that Superman named his dog after a thing he hates. I swear this had to be a Seinfeld joke at some point, since the two things I know about Jerry Seinfeld are (a) he loves Superman and (b) he’s not funny. Actually, I know a third thing, which is that he dated a 17-year-old when he was 38. Anyway, fuck that guy.
21:50 - Travis pitches having a long stretch of connected bars by buying all the existing bars and knocking down the connecting walls. Griffin and Justin point out that’s essentially the Disneyland model, and Justin mentions the Goofy sour balls.
21:51 - I Googled “Goofy sour balls” and thankfully it was a real candy. Griffin indignantly says that they stopped making them and that “Goofy took his sour balls away”. Travis says “He washed them” and they ignore him. I laughed out loud again, man’s really winning me back. They continue on this riff, making more and worse versions of the same joke.
24:07 - Question 2: “I’m enrolled in summer college courses. In one of my classes, a guy in front of me likes to stretch backwards over his chair with his eyes closed. His head basically ends up right on my desk and he will breathe in my face. I’ve had to move my laptop to stop him from laying on it. Am I the weird one for staring at the guy as he disrupts all my belongings and my personal space? He does it more than five times a class. It’s very awkward and makes it hard to focus on the lecture. Should I say something? Help me brothers, how do I stop this stretching bandit from stealing my peace of mind?” - Cramped College Co-Ed in Canada.
24:57 - Justin has an immediate suggestion. I assume it’s the actual solution, which is to say something like an adult or just switch seats, but nope, it’s the old chestnut of put some jelly on it. Griffin suggests surprise massage. Travis clarifies that they’re definitely ignoring the “excuse me, could you not do that” option, which Griffin confirms because it’s not very funny. This takes me back to when I used to regularly listen, since part of the driving force for me stopping was the sheer number of questions that could be solved by two seconds of slightly awkward conversation. I totally get it, social anxiety is a bitch and I’ve absolutely been there, but the lack of funny kinda stems from the question. They all agree, and Travis suggests adding broken glass to the jelly.
26:57 - Griffins goes back to the massage suggestion, with “dual percussive massagers”. Justin suggests hovering over them and saying “There’s my sweet boy” and Travis suggests a “little kiss on the forehead” which, thankfully, they immediately shoot down. Still, I’m uncomfortable.
28:00 - Justin points out that, if someone actually followed the advice they give, the problem would be solved, it’s just a question of consequences. There’s some more discussion of the Quaids but my spirit is a little broken and I can’t bring myself to rewind to accurately transcribe any of it.
29:43 - Money Zone: Travis says, “Well Justin,” and Justin misidentifies him as Griffin. So far, hardest laugh of the episode. The ad is for Zocdoc, which Justin mispronounces a lot. I assume any service that advertises on a podcast is actually just a money laundering scheme, medical stuff doubly so, but it does remind me that MaxFun podcasts are the only ones where I can tell the ad copy was done in a single take with no edits. I admire it, in a way.
32:45 - A MaxFun ad for “Just the Zoo of Us”, which is apparently a podcast where they rate animals on their “effectiveness, ingenuity, and aesthetics”. It kind of worked on me, which is to say I’m debating the merits of getting a Zoobooks subscription as a childless woman approaching her thirties.
33:30 - A MaxFun ad for “Feeling Seen”, where the editor likes to play the game of taking a sip of coffee anytime the guest says how good a question is, how smart the host is, or cries unexpectedly. I cannot stress enough how much this makes me not want to listen. I don’t even have anything snide to say, I’m just genuinely put off by it.
34:19 - Griffin introduces the Wizard of the Cloud: How to “Talk Nerdy” to someone, which is meant to help you talk to the “cute nerd in your science class” by becoming more adorkable to them. Justin and Travis are disgusted by the word “adorkable”, which feels like a real split with their brand of appealing to mid-2010s Tumblr users.
36:00 - Travis points out that this article presupposes that nerdy people only want to be seduced with nerdy things, and will shun all other romance. The original pickup line is “Are you a carbon sample? Because I definitely want to date you. If you’ve seen The Big Bang Theory, you already know science and physics nerds are the best” Travis punches it up with “I’ve got a theory that we should Big Bang.” Currently he’s batting a thousand for me.
36:55 - Wikihow asks “Can math be sexy?” They talk about how sexy 8 is and Travis makes a 69 joke, so I retract my previous statement. There’s a gross astronomy-based pickup line saying “Do you mind if my comet enters your solar system” and “Hey, nice asteroids”. Mercifully, no “Can I touch Uranus?”
38:30 - More bad pickup lines, now about computers. Apparently “You’re hotter than the bottom of my laptop” is a good come-on. The video game lines are equally impressive, and Wikihow recommends that distracting gamers away from their games is easier said than done. These are more sexually charged than before, but no more clever.
43:30 - We’ve arrived at Star Wars. Wikihow says “Jedis are tough nuts to crack, so you may need to use the Force to woo them effectively.” It’s been a while, but I’m fairly certain Jedis aren’t allowed to fall in love and that’s kind of a whole thing with the prequel trilogy. Also, are we not doing phrasing anymore? Cuz Jesus, they should take a second pass at that.
43:46 - Wikihow suggests several “Yoda-approved pickup lines”, and they do some bad Yoda impressions like “pull down some trim, you will” and “wet, you will get”. This is apparently a thing they’ve done before called “Clipping Yoda”. Justin makes a “something something something, I thought they smelled bad on the outside” joke.]
46:08 - They discuss the very limited situations when the suggested “I find your lack of nudity disturbing” is acceptable, then move on to the Lord of the Rings lines which are equally questionable. Travis brings up the theory that Frodo doesn’t know Legolas’ name, and now I wanna rewatch LotR.
50:09 - Justin suggests coming up with their own lines, which results in “You make me feel like John Rhys-Davies in Sliders, cuz I wanna climb in those holes” and Griffin looking up “nerd movies”.
51:40 - Question 3: “My bank has been advertising a home ownership service to help folks buy and sell homes. I usually ignore them, but this time they’ve been offering a chance to win a flattop grill package with a $100 gift card to a very expensive butcher. I’ve been really wanting to get my dad a new grill. Brothers, I have no way of buying a house, let alone sell one. They’re contacting me, trying to help me buy a house. How do I explain to them I’m only entered to maybe win the grill and have no interest in the service?” From the Poor Hopeful in B (?).
53:00 - First of all. Second, they suggest the asker (a) admits they were only in it for the grill or (b) saying they have a budget of $750 for a furnished home. It devolves into a riff about Bobby Flay and pitches for “Flay Bobby Flay” and “Bob Bobby Flay” to see if he floats.
56:15 - Plugs for stuff and the end of the episode.
Closing Thoughts: I actually enjoyed that, although with a lot of stopping and starting to write this. Also anyone who likes Clipping Yoda may also like Action Boyz, because pedophile Yoda is a surprisingly rich vein to mine. I don’t think I’ll ever actually pick up listening again, since I have about 280 episodes of Off Book to get to first and this whole recap has made me really contemplate my mortality, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it
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2023.06.04 04:00 Kazevenikov Cryptid Chronicle - Chapter 31

Thanks and Credits in the Comments Section due to LONG chapter.
Chapter 31: A Whale of a Tale and it’s All True
“IT’S FUCKING J-POD!”
Kalai watched in shock and awe as the two humans collectively lost their minds, hopping up and down and letting loose a series of high pitched vocalizing as she, Papa, and Mama Sakalbi stared in confusion at the two ecstatic aliens.
Andy turned and ran back to where Kalai and her parents were still staring in amazement and held his hand out, face alight and happier than she’d ever seen him before. “Binoculars! Quick! I want to see who’s out there!” Mama Sakalbi tentatively held them out, and he took them with a nod of thanks before rushing back to the bow. Kalai started as he jumped up on the bow and balanced against the roller horns to spot the black and white whales that were swimming fast towards the net.
“Eyes on Mama Shachi! Look, over there, see her?” Kalai approached cautiously as Andy pointed in the direction of a cluster of porpoising black shapes that were coming nearer.
“Eyes on! I got Grammie Slick out there too; the WHOLE POD’S HERE!” Jackie cut loose an undulating cry and waved her hands as little geysers of water and air shot out from the water on the other side of the net.
Kalai nearly jumped when a miniature version of the Orcas from the clone tank at Headquarters breached the water, leaping almost twice her height into the air before splashing back down in a massive wave.
“Look at that! Butterball’s getting some good air these days!” Andy crowed as he hopped back down from the bow and passed the binoculars to Jackie.
“Butterball?” Mama Sakalbi asked as she and Papa joined them. Kalai stared as the Orcas formed a line and charged at the middle of the ‘S’ bend in the net before diving down in front of it, sending a wave that pushed the corks back. She saw the spouts and the dorsal fins rise again for another charge at the net.
“He’s the baby, only about four years old. Grammie Slick’s taking the family hunting, see how they’re flattening the net out? We’re about to have a great fucking day!” Andy took Jackie’s shotgun and took it back to the cabin as Kalai and her parents crowded the rail.
“What are they doing?” Mama Sakalbi’s question was directed at Jackie and the woman turned to answer with a gigantic smile.
“Herding! See the ones circling around the net?” Jackie pointed to the two dorsal fins that were almost invisible in the fog that was starting to burn off in the morning sun that had started to clear the eastern mountains. “They’ll be starting to round up small schools of salmon once they’re done turning our net into a reef. Right now, they’re running along the line and probably seeing what they have to work with.”
Mama Sakalbi did a double take, “You must be joking, that level of intelligence would almost be-”
“Human?” Jackie interrupted with a smile, “Yeah, that’s our original teachers out there. We learned to fish from them.”
“I was going to say ‘sentient’, but I take your point. What I want to know is, what are they doing?” Mama Sakalbi gestured out at them, with a bewildered look on her face.
“They’re using the net as a sea wall. Thing is, the net’s hard to see in the water, but the fish can feel it. They’ll put their heads into the net, but that doesn’t catch them. They’ll try to swim around it so that’s why we put an ‘S’ bend. That’s where most of the fish get tangled.” Andy returned and picked up the explanation. “See in the center of the line? That fin with the black and white little checkmark behind it? That’s Grammie Slick, the Matriarch. She’s around sixty now, and grew up out here LONG before you all came down. They don’t always do this, but I guess with you all keeping the fishing fleets docked, she saw the net and wanted a big meal for the family. They’re going to keep pushing the net until it’s in the shape of a crescent and herd a bunch of small schools into a big baitball with pickets to keep the fish pinned in the middle. You watch, there’ll be salmon jumping all over in the middle as they school up.”
“That’s when you’ll see them charge up the center and take big old mouthfuls of salmon. It’ll be a smorgasbord for ‘em!” Jackie pulled up Andy’s omnipad and started recording.
“Wait, but you hate seals for competing with you for food, why are you this excited about Orcas who take so much more?” Papa asked as he also took out his omnipad and started recording as the pod of Orcas finished repositioning their net just as Andy described.
“Because they’re using the nets as a reef to trap the fish! See? Look! There they go! The wolves are out scaring every salmon in the area here!” Kalai dug her own omnipad out at Andy’s words and watched as the dorsal fins sank below the waves, with only a faint and fading wake to tell where they’d gone.
“Now watch ‘em set pickets! They’re going to start patrolling the outside of the net. When they get enough salmon in the middle, they’re going to charge. When they do, watch the entire middle section of our corks go under from the salmon trying to get away. They get whole heaping mouthfuls of food and we get a full net!”
Kalai watched the Orcas swimming in circles around the net like Helix Sharks, and felt a pang of fear seeing the big predators that seemed so gentle and inquisitive in the tank. “But what if they get caught in the net?”
Jackie suppressed a laugh before sweeping an arm out at the net. “I’ve never seen that happen before, and I haven’t even heard of it happening before… at least not here in the Salish Sea. All our Orcas grew up around these nets, so they’ll either avoid them or use them like they are right now.”
“I think it’s because they can see them and the fish can’t. Either way, we’re in for a show!” Andy patted Kalai on the back before pushing Kalai and Mama Sakalbi forward.
For a long while, the surface was calm, save for the circling Orcas as they all watched. Then, by degrees, there was movement on the surface of the water as fish the length of Kalai’s arm started to jump and kick in the baitball. Kalai watched, fascinated, as Orcas seemed to appear and disappear along the edges but never approached the middle of the net.
All the fins disappeared from the surface and an eerie stillness settled over the water. Suddenly, the water in the middle of the crescent erupted, with hundreds of fish shooting out of the water and a sudden surge that hit and pushed the corks outward before they sank completely out of sight. Jackie and Andy started vocalizing those strange undulating cries again, raising their fists in the air before shouting something in their language. From as best as Kalai could guess, it was encouragement as the Orcas started breaching and jumping. In those moments, Kalai could catch glimpses of their mouths full of salmon.
Kalai watched as the terrified fish swarmed towards the net, and watched as many seemed to jump over it and swim away as the Orcas gorged themselves on the enormous school of salmon they had trapped. It was an awe inspiring sight to see, and Kalai lost herself in the moment watching the amazing display of symbiotic hunting and fishing between them and the Orcas.
The engine of the boat turning over broke the spell they were all under as Andy moved the boat at a dead slow pace back towards the net. “Alright, let’s haul it in and reset for ‘em! Jackie! Get on the bow with the billhook!” Jackie whooped in agreement and gently pushed passed Kalai to grab a long pole with a small metal hook at the end.
“We’re gonna have to work fast. They’re hungry, and we all want salmon today,” Andy called over the sound of the engine as they approached the giant buoy that marked the end of the net. “Doc! Open that hatch back there and watch your step! Mrs. Vaida, stand clear in the cabin; I want no accidents today, and three on deck’s going to be a crowd with how many fish we’re going to be taking in. Kalai, I want you back in the-”
Kalai shook her head as she put her omnipad away. “I can do it! Let me help!” she was riding the high feeling of watching the Orcas, and seeing Andy and Jackie preparing to go to work while she was to be just a passenger galled her.
Kalai saw Andy give Jackie a look that she couldn’t quite interpret. “Alright, but you’ll work with me picking fish. Jackie, you’re on the Drum; trade places with me!”
Kalai saw Jackie huff and give Andy a piercing look as she handed off the billhook. “Watch out for jellies, they tend to explode,” the native woman muttered to Kalai as she took over at the net drum’s controls. Kalai was about to volunteer to grab the line with the hook, given her longer reach, but Andy had already leaned almost all the way over the side. Kalai had a momentary scare as Andy seemed to dip forward, seemingly in danger of falling overboard, until he seemed to almost levitate himself using his lower legs back into the boat and pulled the line over the roller horns. She stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do when Andy braced a foot against the side and began to pull on the line and feed it back towards Jackie.
“Way, haul away, we’ll hang and haul together! Way, haul away, haul away Joe!”
Though she didn’t understand the words, Kalai knew a sailing song when she heard one and didn’t wait for any instruction. She moved forward opposite Andy and lent a hand, pulling the heavy line in to the cadence of his chant. After two verses, Kalai heard the whine of hydraulics and the slack in the line behind them went taught.
“Stand back! Here we go!” Andy called to her and the line began pulling the net back aboard. Kalai looked back to see that Jackie had wrapped the line around the center pole of the drum, with the wheel turning to pull the line and net in out of the water. A small set of guide poles that moved when Jackie twitched the controls kept the line evenly distributed on the drum as the first corks and the dripping wet net began to appear out of the water.
“Put your hoods up!” Andy yelled at her over the noise of the machines, and demonstrated the motion. “It’ll keep the water, seaweed and Jellies out of your face and eyes, and take this!” Andy tossed her what appeared to be a handkerchief and he mimed the act of tying it around her face like a mask.
“What about you? You’re sleeveless!” Kalai’s voice was slightly muffled from the cloth as she tied it around her face before pulling up both hoods.
Andy didn’t respond, except to grin at her as he leaned out to watch the net coming up out of the water before it got pulled aboard.
From behind her, Kalai heard Jackie start singing another human sailing song. It was a bit fast paced, and Andy joined in for the chorus. On the third time she heard it, she joined in too.
“Blow ye winds in the mornin’, Blow ye winds, high ho! Haul away your running gear, And blow ye winds, high ho!”
“Coming up!” Andy shouted as there were several loud thunks before six large salmon appeared in the giant fluorescent green tangle of the net. The drum stopped, bringing the fish to a halt as Andy pulled on the corkline and scurried his hands back and forth, gathering the net up as he did until he reached the first fish. Kalai watched in awe as he seemed to magically pull the fish from the tangle and shake it out onto the deck. The second one seemed to be resting on top of the tangle and he flipped it over the corkline and shook the fish out onto the deck.
“Just watch these first few. When you get a feel for how I’m doing this, jump in. Until then, slide these beauties back towards the stern. Jackie’ll pitch ‘em into the hold.”
Kalai nodded and watched Andy’s movements intently. It looked like sorcery, with how fast he moved his hands and zeroed in on a fish. As soon as he was done, he’d whistle to Jackie, who kept singing the cadence out to pull more of the net in, only to stop when more fish were pulled up and over the horns.
The song changed twice before Kalai felt confident enough to jump in. She almost got tangled in the net herself trying to pull out her first fish, but Andy gave the net a quick tug and she was free again. Maddeningly, the fish had simply fallen out of the net without any help from her, and she fumed just long enough for Andy to point to one that was closer to her.
“Hoist up the thing, batten down the whatsit! What’s that thing spinning, somebody should stop it! Turn hard to Port! That’s not Port, NOW I GOT IT! Trust me, I’m in control!”
On the second refrain, Kalai managed to dig her first fish out and drop it to the deck. She let out a whoop, and Andy paused for a moment to give her a quick applause.
“That’s one, girl! There’s a thousand left if we’re lucky!” Jackie called out as Andy sang a verse and tackled another fish in the net.
“Keep an eye on the lead line; make sure it doesn’t go over the corks!” Andy called as Kalai ran down her second fish and was about to throw the excess net over the other side. She stopped, and Andy helped her get the fish without tangling the net.
It took until the end of the song for Kalai to find her rhythm, and soon she and Andy were running down fish in the net in a crisp and quick manner. Kalai felt like she could go faster, but Andy had cautioned her to keep pace with the songs, as there was still a lot of net to go. When Kalai spared a glance at the length of net still in the water, she saw that Andy wasn’t kidding. It looked like they hadn’t even really started to reel it all in. Ok, it’s hard work, but so is sailing, and he’s my size so I should be able to keep up with him. If he can do it, I can do it!
“Haul away you rollin’ kings! Heave away, Haul away! Haul away you’ll hear me sing, We’re bound for South Australia!”
Andy was impressed. Kalai had jumped in without complaint, and she was very coachable. He could feel himself start to flag as they were starting to come to the last third of the net, but Kalai’s persistence, even though she was sweatier and more haggard than he was, kept him going.
The pile of salmon was almost as deep as their calves, and the deck was getting slick with fish slime. For that matter, so was Andy. In a momentary lull in the fish coming over the horns, Andy caught a glimpse of himself shimmering with all the scales that had flown off the fish as they scraped against the net to hit the deck, flopping. He took a big gulp of air and Kalai groaned as she straightened up, cracking her back as she twisted and bent to relieve her aching muscles.
Andy groaned a bit and looked back towards the stern. It was getting hard to see over the amount of net they’d pulled back in, but he could see Doc and Mrs. Vaida doing their best to help throw and shove the piles of salmon into the hold. Everybody’s getting their hands dirty today. Andy smiled and heaved a happy sigh. This, this is what I want. Being out on the water and doing good, hard work.
“SHIT, JELLYFISH!” Kalai shouted as she twisted away to hide her face behind her rain slicker hood. Andy blinked just in time as a wet squelching sound sent a spray of disintegrating jellyfish exploding all over the bow as the net bunched up and got squeezed together.
Andy felt it splatter all over his arms, neck, and face, before he felt it start to slide down his shirt to his chest. Almost immediately, he started to feel the burn. His arms, neck, and chest he could stand, but the blossoming pain on his lips, eyelids, cheeks, and most horribly the inside of his nose overwhelmed all his conditioned pain tolerance.
“FUCK!” Andy screamed. “FUCKING FUCKER! RIGHT IN MY FUCKING FACE! GOD FUCKING DAMNIT! FUCK!” Andy only barely avoided bringing his hands to his face. It was a hard fought thing to deny his instinct to try and scrape it off, but he felt his boots loose purchase and his feet slide out from under him. He hit the pile of fish that surrounded him hard. He was aware of Kalai yelling for her father and Mrs. Vaida, while Jackie’s braying laugh carried over everything else.
Andy felt Kalai trying to grab him, but her gloves were too slick to get a grip and all she did was spread the stingers more evenly over his arms. Andy kept his eyes squeezed shut as he heard Jackie start to direct the confused and panicking aliens.
“Hold your breath, cuz, vinegar incoming!”
Andy felt the bitter stinging splash as Jackie poured a steady stream of vinegar out from what he assumed was the giant jug he kept for these occasions underneath the little kitchenette in the cabin. Though nothing about the intensity of the burn changed, in the back of his mind, Andy knew that it was killing the stinging cells.
“Alright, Kally, take that bucket and fill it with seawater from over the side, then dump it on him.”
Andy sputtered a bit and spit as he scrabbled onto his knees. He steadied himself with one hand on the rail beside him and the other which found the corkline. He kept his eyes shut and growled as the burning spread from his hairline down to his navel. A sudden bracing splash of cold water nearly bowled him back over. Without warning, Andy hadn't had time to get a breath and he sputtered and yowled as the water soaked down under his rain gear.
Andy shook his head like a dog, whipping his braid back and forth before daring to open his eyes. “Son of a BITCH!” Andy growled as he got a look at Kalai holding an empty bucket, while Jackie was shoo’ing Mrs. Vaida and Dr. He’osforos away to give him some room.
“Jesus, quit your bawlin,’ you big baby, you’re acting like you’ve never been stung before!” Jackie called back to him as Andy ripped the gloves off his hands and plunged them over the side to clean off the stingers.
“It’s in my fucking nose you horse’s ass!” Andy shouted back as he splashed his face. A few strings of purple stingers fell into the water and Andy reared back aboard. “Ugh, get another bucket of seawater! I can still feel this shit!”
“Andrei, as a medical professional, I advise you to cease work and-”
Andy looked over as Dr. He’osforos spoke but waved him off mid sentence. “I appreciate it Doc, but I’ve had it far worse than this. There’s a brown and yellow bottle in one of the drawers under the bench that says ‘Motrin’. Get me the bottle or enough to tranq a cow, and I’ll go back to work just fine.”
Kalai let loose a piercing scream and Andy looked over just in time to see her rocketed herself backwards, dropping the bucket over the side. The Doctor caught his daughter before she fell into the hold, but he too had a look of fear plastered on his face. Andy and Jackie moved to the side to see what had scared her so badly, and the two of them couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Grammie Slick and two of her daughters were there, sticking their heads out of the water with their mouths open, while Butterball was playing with the bucket.
Jackie laughed and stuck her hand out, rubbing the Orca matriarch on the snout. “Raggedy Andy’s fine, Grammie Slick! He’s just milking it for sympathy from these gullible hwun’eetums!”
“What in the Balance of Nature is going on here?” Mrs. Vaida’s shocked voice caused Andy and Jackie to look at her as she stared dumbfounded at the Orcas that were gathering alongside the boat.
“Oh they’re just saying ‘hi.’” Andy shrugged with a smile, despite the burning.
“More like ‘What the hell, cousins, you still got fish to pick. Quit loafin’ around and get another set in!’”
“Jackie, Motrin… NOW!” Andy growled at her. Jackie blew a raspberry at him before diving into the cabin.
“They’re pretty friendly, if you’d like to be introduced,” Andy held out a hand and motioned for Kalai and her father to step forward. Andy dipped his hand in again to make sure it was clear of any stinging cells, before he gently guided the hesitant Kalai to stick her ungloved hand out toward Grammie Slick.
One of the daughters blew a spout before sliding back under water, but Grammie gave a few clicks before briefly touching Kalai’s outstretched hand. “Kalai, this is Grammie Slick, Matriarch of J-Pod. Grammie, this is Kalai… a purple hwun’eetum.” Andy laughed a bit at the look of incredulity on Kalai’s face and the concern on her father’s.
There was a series of shutter clicks from behind Andy, and he turned to see Sakalbi snapping pictures as fast as she could. Kalai was clearly torn between fear and wonder as she held perfectly still and silent for Grammie, who was letting her touch her before she slid back under the water herself. Andy laughed as several clicks and whistles from the pod reverberated through the hull of the boat and he leaned back in.
“Alright, break’s over,” Andy called as he caught the flying bottle of pills Jackie threw at him. He popped two and swallowed them dry before washing the gloves off and putting them on. The extra rinse would have to wait, and he’d have to tough it out until they got back to shore. His boots squelched as he picked his way through the fish on the deck to get back to his station and nodded for Jackie to restart the drum.
It was another twenty minutes before the last of the net was pulled aboard and they were able to clear away all the fish into the hold. Andy stuck his head in and smiled. In a single set, they’d filled three quarters of it, and they had more than enough fish for the gathering and to feed another ten to fifteen families besides. The spouts and the clicks of J-Pod hanging around the boat, however, told Andy that they wanted their reef back and were still hungry.
Andy ordered them to prep the net for another set and helmed his boat again, only to bomb out in a straight line and let J-Pod take care of the fishing from that point on. Once they’d finished, Andy moved the boat out of the Orcas’ way and stood outside the cabin with Jackie while the three aliens crowded the bow, watching and recording the whales going to work a second time.
“Ok, I think we might get a moment to talk,” Andy muttered to Jackie in Salishian. “New orders from the Council. There’s going to be a raid.”
Jackie sucked in a breath and looked at him, all levity gone. “Cambrians, Militia, or the Dummy Bunnies?”
“Militia and the Interior.”
Jackie whistled softly in surprise as her eyebrows shot up. “Really poking the bear, cuz… When and where?”
“Uncle Willy wants us to hit the Militia Supply Depot out by Tanner on Saturday,” Andy growled quietly as he watched Kalai pointing to Grammie Slick’s dorsal as she swam out on the picket around the net.
“You mean the one close to the Snoqualmish?”
“Yeah. Full raid, we’re to hit it and take any supplies, especially military, that we can and destroy what we can’t. The messier we can make it the better. We’ll meet up with the Resistance on the old Bessemer Logging road by Hancock Creek and they get half for taking the credit. Me and Chuck’ve been assigned to ‘lead’ you.” Andy nodded and tried to flick some of the fish scales off himself, but got nowhere.
Jackie sat down on the rail with a groan before looking back up at him with a smirk. “You mean babysit on overwatch while we do the real work.”
Andy pursed his numb lips together and considered the ramifications of folding his arms on the jellyfish burns that had started to go quiet thanks to the Motrin. “Grandma and the Council want me to ‘get my hands dirty.’” He gritted his teeth in frustration.
“What? I’m sorry, that sentence made zero sense.” Jackie shook her head like she’d just been slapped.
Andy couldn’t keep the frustration and anger out of his tone when he spoke. “Apparently there are doubts about my loyalty to the tribe and whether or not I’ve lost my way.”
Jackie huffed in amusement. “Everyone knows the Council’s fucking stupid, but this is a new level of dumb. You got us land back, you got them to allow you to break the rules to feed our people, they’re fixing the fuck ups on our waterways because of you and they think you’ve gone to the dark side?” Jackie started laughing at the nonsense of the politics.
“Last time we talked, you thought I was playing with fire and-” Andy started to throw back at her before she snorted loudly.
“Results talk, cuz. Three of our Hatcheries returned, and my whole family drawing good money in Imperial Credits? Fuck, even if you had sold out, we need more Clan Heads doing the same thing.” She smiled as she nodded towards their guests on the bow.
“They still don’t trust that I know what I’m doing,” Andy growled as he folded his arms unconsciously and immediately regretted it.
Jackie snorted. “Of course they don’t. You didn’t talk to them or get their permission first. Hell, I’m surprised your grandma didn’t chuck you out on your ear for even suggesting that you should work for the dummy bunnies.” Jackie stretched and hopped up and around Andy to grab a water bottle. “But it’s working out. There’s land being returned, money in our hands, and food about to be on our table. You’re doin’ what a Chief is supposed to do.”
Andy scoffed and started to object. “I’m no Chief-”
Jackie gave his shoulder a slap and grinned evilly as a starburst of pain and burning cut through the painkillers, shutting Andy up mid-protest. “You keep saying you aren’t, but that don’t make it true.” She resumed her seat as Andy fought the yowl of pain back so as not to give her the satisfaction. “I mean, case in point, what are you going to do with all these fish Grammie’s catching for us right now?”
Andy blinked a few times as he regained his composure and thought seriously about his answer. “We’ll pull fifteen for the gathering they got invited to… Then all the fish you can pack into the truck goes to the Exiles. The rest? I’ll call Chuck and get some folks from the Council to claim the rest and distribute it to the families that need it.”
Jackie deepened her voice and adopted a cowboy drawl. “He never eats until he sees the pots are full of meat in the lodges of the widows and orphans-”
“That’s Comanche Law, not Salish, and that’s from a John Wayne movie, you ass.” Andy huffed and Jackie giggled wickedly, flipped him off.
“Still haven’t refuted my point, cuz.” Jackie’s singsong voice caused Andy to glare spitefully at her, until she raised her hands defensively. “Alright, you’re not a Chief. So, Not Chief Tsu’titsi’uqw; you need to get your hands dirty and lead a raid. I’ll scrape up what we need and scout the target. You just meet up with us Saturday night at the Snoqualmish Casino and I’ll put a gun in your hands. Don’t worry, we’ll only get dirty enough to make the Council happy.”
“I’ll be a bit late; I’m escorting them to the Hwatcom Family Gathering on Friday.” Andy took a step back as Jackie stood up and twisted a bit to stretch out.
“No surprise there, grandpa’s an old school traditional Indian. They’re dummies, but they’re trying to do right by us, finally. Again, thanks to you, Chie-” Andy slapped the back of her head hard and growled at her, but she just started laughing, making him even madder.
“Alright, enough. Let’s get on the bow and not look like we’re sketchy Indians plotting to attack an Imperial fort.” Andy snarled, shoving her past him while she just kept laughing.
Andy stomped forward, aware of the wet sounds his boots made as he walked. Kalai turned and smiled at him as he moved to stand beside her and her father. “So how are they doing out there?”
“They just started their attack. This is fascinating! Their coordination, their ingenuity, and adaptation to human activity is astounding! I wish I had brought observation drones!” Sakalbi was glued to the binoculars and holding her omnipad up while she muttered observations into the speaker. Andy was content to watch as the pod put on a repeat performance and the net sagged again until they all came up and started swimming lazily around the net and the boat. All of them except Butterball and one of his older brothers. The two seemed to be getting into a jumping contest.
“He’s feeling a bit hyper. Must be nice to be full,” Jackie commented as the two whales took turns jumping out of the water and twisting in the air. Andy smiled and nodded and felt a hand go to his shoulder. He looked down and saw it was Kalai making eyes at him. Andy hid the grimace at the burn and gave her a wink.
“That one’s getting closer, should we be concerned?” Andy looked over at Dr. He’osforos and Kalai quickly moved her hand as they watched Butterball getting closer and closer with each jump.
Jackie hopped up and straddled the railing as Andy and Kalai shared a concerned look. Jackie hooked a hand around one of the roller horns and peered down into the water. “I don’t think so, I mean he knows we’re-”
The sudden appearance of a flying adolescent Orca only a scant few feet away from the boat right next to the lot of them cut Jackie off. Most of them only had enough time to watch the little playful bastard hang in the air for a moment before he twisted to almost shoulder punch the water as he came back down. Andy had just enough presence of mind to pull Kalai and her father down, and braced himself as the plume of water rose from where Butterball landed.
“Oh shi-” Andy heard Jackie say before water cascaded down on them and drenched them all, sending the boat rocking violently.
It took a moment for Andy to recover and he helped the two Shil back to their feet. “Quick check, is everyone alright?”
“HEY! WHAT THE HELL, BUTTERBALL! GRAMMIE! YOU HAVE A TALK WITH YOUR GRANDSON! HE’S GONNA GET SOMEONE KILLED ONE OF THESE DAYS!” Jackie screamed at the water, shaking her fist.
A camera shutter sounded and a dripping wet Mrs. Vaida stood, wide eyed in fear, staring out over the water.
Andy started laughing at the sight of his boss soaked to the bone, her hair and her fur a dripping mess. “That picture right there? You can title it: ‘Angry Native Woman Yells at Whale.’”
Kalai looked like she was on Krek’s doorstep. Akil’eas knelt next to her as he finished his examination and was looking over the readings on his omnipad. His daughter sat in front of the cabin on the little step, legs splayed out in front of her while she leaned against the railing on the side of the boat. Her father stood next to her as he finished a quick check of her vitals and her viral load.
“Unsurprisingly, you’re a bit elevated, but given your numbers over the last week, that’s saying that you’ve come back up to your normal levels.” Akil’eas had been worried. When they’d hauled in the net the second time, Kalai had stayed on the bow with the boy, Andy, while Akil’eas’d stood over the human woman’s shoulder and studied the controls.
Akil’ieas had also pitched in and helped fill the hold, but when he and Sakalbi could no longer stuff them in, they’d given up and stood out of the way. His old friend and colleague had spent the rest of the time recording, either the large predators that continued to circle and play around the boat, or the seemingly inefficient fishing practice of Andy and his people. No wonder he was so big, and his brother had been that strong. It beggared belief that their people worked at that backbreaking pace for so long, but there Andy stood, proud and tall at the end of it, while he and Sakalbi struggled to stay standing.
Akil’eas had to focus on keeping his hands from shaking and retrieved another water bottle for his exhausted daughter. Andy had them moving at a slow pace back towards a different harbor from the one they’d left that morning. They’d stopped briefly at the pier they’d started from to allow Jackie to disembark. The two humans packed all the fish that couldn’t fit in the hold up to Jackie’s truck and filled the bed of it without any help. She drove off with close to a hundred fish.
Now with the deck cleared, Andy told them they were on their way to the harbor most of his Band used. The trip had been slower going than the morning had been, but only because they were riding much lower in the water than they had been.
“King Triton’s farewell,” Kalai muttered looking up. Akil’eas followed his daughter’s gaze up to see a flock of white and gray seabirds calling out loudly as they kept pace with the boat as it headed towards the docks.
“It means work’s almost over. It’s a great sound, isn’t it?” Andy called out from the cabin where he sat at the helm.
Kalai shifted herself with great effort to look around the door to the cabin. “It sounds amazing.”
The smile Andy gave Kalai caused Akil’eas to have a pang of fatherly protectiveness, and only fatigue kept the scowl off his face. “Just wait, we’ll clean a few once we’ve off-loaded to the families. Fresh salmon tonight for everyone, and I’m cooking! Doc, we’d love to have you, too.”
“I’d love to but-”
Kalai grabbed his arm and stopped him. “Trust me, Papa, you don’t want to miss it.”
Akil’eas chewed his tongue for a moment, looking from Andy to Kalai. Sakalbi caught his eye and nodded emphatically. “Alright, if you’ll allow me to help. You must be exhausted.”
Andy beamed at Akil’eas, “You won’t hear me turn down free help.”
“Vaascon fellas don’t have no frills, Haul away, haul away! They’re plain and skinny as a lodthfish gill, And we’re bound away for Vaasconia!”
Kalai sat back and started singing between sips of water. Akil’eas sat down next to her and joined in the chorus for a Vaascon sailing song. It was strange to think that these humans also sang to their sea gods to placate them and coordinate the work. What else could you expect from a sailorman? Some things call to the soul across time and evidently even the gulf space and peoples.
“So heave him up my Turry Turry girls, Haul away, haul away! Heave him up and let the sails unfurl! And we’re bound away for Vaasconia!”
Andy’s voice joining in on the chorus startled Akil’eas and Kalai and they both turned to look back at him.
He gave them another wide grin, “I started learning some of the sail songs after Kalai told me about sailing on Shil.”
“Akil’eas, a word?” Sakalbi motioned with her head towards the bow and offered him a hand up. He followed her to the bow, leaving the two children singing together.
The harbor mouth was coming up fast, and between the noise of the engine and the net drum keeping them out of sight, there was some privacy. “I’ve heard some rumors about your feelings toward humans…” Sakalbi leaned against the railing, giving him the look that every teacher and professor had when questioning a belligerent student. When Akil’eas didn’t answer her, save to throw her back his own look, she continued. “Kalai is quite taken with Andy. It’s been quite a refreshing thing to see her come out of her shell.”
“It’s a vacation romance, nothing more.” Akil’eas felt his stomach clench and couldn’t stop himself from looking back.
“I don’t think so, Akil’eas. This is the first time I’ve seen her so on thorns and thistles around anyone, much less a male. She’s been very keen around him.” The smile she gave him was a bit galling, but he had to admit, he didn’t really know Kalai as well as Sakalbi and her spouses.
“He is… I’m sure he is a very nice young man, but as a fit consort for a soon to be Duchess? No, and I’ve yet to meet a human that is.” The thought of a human becoming the next Duke He’osforos was absurd. Sure there had been the occasional non-Shil Kho-liebhaberin or even the one Duke Aurar’ian He’osforos who was a Triki, but a human? “They’re far too individualistic and self centered to rise to the responsibilities of the Peerage.”
“That’s not exactly as large a sample size as you think it is, Leas. If you had Andy in your class, or on your crew, disregarding the fact that he’s human, what would your read on him be?”
Akil’eas locked his jaw and pursed his lips, defiantly. “I don’t know.”
“Come on, Leas, you’re better than me at reading people, and I’m damn good at it.” He hated how Sakalbi’s eyes flashed and her right ear would twitch when she thought she had the upper hand in an argument. He huffed a sigh and decided to play her little game, just to humor her enough so that she’d drop the subject.
“Dependable, fastidious and competent, judging by the state of his equipment and his boat. Self sacrificing, diligent, hard working, given what I’ve observed today. He’s got a temper, but it takes a bit to get there, and he’s carrying some pretty heavy emotional scars.” He’d not seen very much of Andy, but the old Sailing Master and Professor in him started to come out and assess the boy just as he would any of his students or junior sailors.
“That’s my read, too. Doesn’t sound so individualistic and self-centered to me. Blighted Nature, Leas, from what I’ve learned about him and his people, he broke with several of their traditions and customs to help us. He’s stuck his neck out far further for us than we would have for him and his people, for no other reason than to try and save his homeland. Were he an Erbian on Myr or even back home in Vaasconia, there’d be Groom-War over his hand.”
Akil’eas was a bit piqued about her statement, “What about your daughter? Kalai made no secret about little Sitry mooning after him, and her disapproval of their courtship.”
“She thinks she’s in love, and it very well might be that she is, but Kalai’s disapproval should tell you what it tells me, given your own rather astute assessment of the man.”
“HEY DOC! TAKE THE WHEEL, I GOTTA DRUM US IN!” Andy’s voice cut their conversation short as Akil’eas turned to look back around the drum. Andy waved him back as he slowed their approach to come in. “Take us to Dock 5, straight back and to port.”
“Straight back and to larboard, aye!” Akil’eas rattled off as he traded places with Andy at the helm.
Kalai heaved herself up to stand as Andy grabbed a large leather circle and ran forward to jump up on the bow. As Akil’eas piloted the boat into the harbor and made the turn, he saw a large crowd of humans gathered on the pier and the shore. As soon as they were in sight, he watched as Andy, standing tall, began to drum a beat and vocalize, projecting his voice over the water to those on shore. Akil’eas sputtered a bit in surprise as he guided the boat slowly towards the open mooring.
“That’s their call. His family’s song lets the people on shore know who he is and that he’s friendly.” Kalai looked back at Akil’eas before moving inside the cabin to stand next to her father. “All the families know it, but only he is allowed to sing it. It’s their version of a family crest and coat of arms. Elder Hwatcom taught us about those. There’ll be a reply in a second granting us permission to come ashore.”
There was indeed a response of drumming and singing from the assembly of humans as many started to crowd forward carrying what appeared to be coolers. Andy reappeared and took the controls back and reversed to kill their forward momentum as Sakalbi threw out their mooring lines to the waiting humans. Andy killed the engine and moved quickly out of the cabin to speak in a language that Akil’eas did not recognize. There seemed to be a bit of confusion from those gathered on the dock, but Andy opened the hatch to show the hold full of fish.
“Don’t thank me, thank them. Sockeye and Kings to all comers, courtesy of the Vaidas and the Vaida Warren!” Andy shouted happily in Vatikre as he pulled two giant fish out by their gills and handed them off to the applauding humans.
Sakalbi managed to shoot Akil’eas a smug look before she plunged her hands into the mass of fish and began helping Andy hand them out to the people.
First:
https://www.reddit.com/Sexyspacebabes/comments/yz0u3h/the_cryptid_chronicle_chapter_1/
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https://www.reddit.com/Sexyspacebabes/comments/13tppad/cryptid_chronicle_chapter_30/
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Possible Late Post Due to Vacation. I will try to post on time, but it may be as late as 6/12/23
submitted by Kazevenikov to Sexyspacebabes [link] [comments]

2023.06.03 23:11 cindakrazy Has anyone had this code keep coming up after turbo replacement but when car cycles it works fine until it hits about 50 mph ?? car can’t reach 80mph if so going down hill my boost leak and n75 both have been replaced a few days ago thanks :)

Has anyone had this code keep coming up after turbo replacement but when car cycles it works fine until it hits about 50 mph ?? car can’t reach 80mph if so going down hill my boost leak and n75 both have been replaced a few days ago thanks :) submitted by cindakrazy to tdi [link] [comments]

2023.06.03 19:57 SamuelDSutton What’s the hardest part about being a young man struggling with mental/physical/emotional health?

Hey Reddit I'm facing a really tough situation right now and I could use some input from others who may have gone through something similar.
Basically, I go through phases of hyper motivation to improve my overall health. But after about a month my motivation starts to dwindle and I find myself back in my old habits seeking instant gratification and just all-around laziness. When this happens my self-worth goes out the window and I just feel like giving up on every goal I've ever had. It just feels like I make no progress and always end up back where I started or even further behind. Has anyone else dealt with a similar situation? How did you handle it? Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.
submitted by SamuelDSutton to malementalhealth [link] [comments]

2023.06.03 19:57 SamuelDSutton What’s the hardest part about being a young man struggling with mental/physical/emotional health?

Hey Reddit
I'm facing a really tough situation right now and I could use some input from others who may have gone through something similar.
Basically, I go through phases of hyper motivation to improve my overall health. But after about a month my motivation starts to dwindle and I find myself back in my old habits seeking instant gratification and just all-around laziness. When this happens my self-worth goes out the window and I just feel like giving up on every goal I've ever had. It just feels like I make no progress and always end up back where I started or even further behind.
Has anyone else dealt with a similar situation? How did you handle it? Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.
submitted by SamuelDSutton to TrueOffMyChest [link] [comments]

2023.06.03 19:55 SamuelDSutton What’s the hardest part about being a young man struggling with mental/physical/emotional health?

Hey Reddit
I'm facing a really tough situation right now and I could use some input from others who may have gone through something similar.
Basically, I go through phases of hyper motivation to improve my overall health. But after about a month my motivation starts to dwindle and I find myself back in my old habits seeking instant gratification and just all-around laziness. When this happens my self-worth goes out the window and I just feel like giving up on every goal I've ever had. It just feels like I make no progress and always end up back where I started or even further behind.
Has anyone else dealt with a similar situation? How did you handle it? Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.
submitted by SamuelDSutton to selfimprovement [link] [comments]

2023.06.03 05:28 Outlandish_Cinnamon Week of anxiety/drama has exec function in free fall

This week sucked, and it’s sent my exec function and working memory off a cliff. I’d love any useful insights for getting things back on track (and bonus points for anyone who has any advice on the major anxiety/drama problem, too!).
I’ll try to do cliff notes, ha! I’m on the board of a local non-profit. On Tues, we were notified by the state that the spouse of our manager has filed a complaint against us citing several cases of mismanagement. They are unfounded and I’m not concerned overall except…we’ve had performance issues with the employee recently, and received another incident report yesterday. Talked to the employee today and it went VERY poorly. Felt like we were being baited to say something wrong or be “caught” somehow, several veiled threats and cryptic comments, and references to us attacking them.
In the midst of the rest, we had layoffs at my day job yesterday. I’m good, but we lost some great people and it’s going to impact some things pretty negatively (I think). It means some more tough convos I need to have with customers next week, too.
Between the HR drama, work upheaval and trying to accomplish the normal things, I’m all over the place. I missed a customer meeting entirely bc I was hyper focused searching labor laws and missed both calendar alerts. I have 57 unread emails just from this afternoon bc I spent so much time between meetings writing and rewriting my documentation on the employee issue. I sent 5 emails without attachments, and sent a response to the completely wrong customer. I just realized I never finished a contract that was due today, and am now probably going to be working for hours bc it will be a big deal if it’s not sent today. These things are NOT normal for me, I’ve found awesome systems that work for me and I am on top of my work sh!* 99% of the time. At home, I’ve had to rewash the same load of laundry three times, forgot to feed my dogs this morning, brewed coffee two days in a row without actually putting any coffee in the coffeemaker, and drove the entire way home from my office (about 4 miles, part town part highway) with my parking break on. These are things I would do VERY rarely, if at all, and I’ve done all of them plus some in just the last three days. My brain just feels so broken right now.
Also, probably got 4-5 hours of sleep the last three nights bc nothing is working to turn off my brain. My norm is 8-9, so that’s killing me slowly.
Thanks for slogging your fellow ADHD brain through my novel…even if not a soul responds, just “saying” it all is already helping slow the brain waves a bit 💙
submitted by Outlandish_Cinnamon to adhdwomen [link] [comments]

2023.06.03 03:36 Frogsplosion How did you pick your first army?

The more rules get slow rolled out and the more I learn them the more I've been picking apart the faction focuses and looking at all the different options, it's a little overwhelming.
There are enough differences in playstyle between each army that it's really tough to narrow down just what kind of game I'd like to play, let alone what kind of models I want to stare at for awhile given the financial investment.
So far Thousand Sons, Chaos Daemons and Adepta Sororitas seem to be in the lead but I still see a lot of potential in CSM, Chaos Knights, GSC, Grey Knights or maybe one of the other factions with a primarch like World Eaters or Dark Angels.
It's also hard because I'm torn between my two loves, an obscenely tactical hyper utilitarian playstyle and an unga bunga smash face go hard hyper specialization playstyle.
Both appeal to me for different reasons, and being such a heavily mechanics focused player in every other game I frequent makes the whole "just play what looks cool" mentality rather hard to adhere to.
What did you all pick as your first army and why? Did you regret it? What did you wish you knew about it beforehand?
submitted by Frogsplosion to Warhammer40k [link] [comments]

2023.06.02 23:37 WhateverIllDeal "You Escaped"

I come from one of those families where Grandma and Grandpa were members of the Silent Generation and decided to have a ton of children. Grandpa was also a war vet and alcoholic who drank to cope, and often scared the crap out of his kids. Grandma took the "tough love" approach, which I know now was emotional and some light physical abuse under the guise of parenting.
I believe this led all of them to develop CPTSD to varying degrees, but worst of all a really shitty form of codependency that is invasive and really fucks with you during the formative years and beyond.
Want to go to a concert? You'll be told something dangerous might happen (no good answer if you press on what the something might be)
Going to a friend's house? Get ready to hear that you'll wear out your welcome. Bonus points if you've never even been to the friend's house or have visited less than five times.
Trying to do something spontaneous like learn a new hobby or teach yourself life skills that you should've already been taught? You'll be hovered over, asked what you're doing, why you're doing it, and eventually told you're doing it wrong.
No one ever travels. People rarely move. It's like there's this unspoken fear of living, or trying to.
I dealt with this dysfunction as long as I could until I moved out in my early 20's but suffered for years after with CPTSD symptoms. Since my particular flavor of trauma included parentification, I spent almost ten years learning that I was not everyone's surrogate mother or helper, that I don't have to run myself ragged or fawn over others just to be seen as good. Plus disassociating, avoidance... really too many to name.
Recently brought up the dysfunction to a family member who told me that I "escaped since I moved away from the family, so what's the big deal?"
Unfortunately I didn't 'escape' anything. The emotional flashbacks, the freezing, perpetually feeling unsafe and hyper-vigilant, uncertainty/distrust in social situations... the list goes on. I'm just not triggered as often or as frequently since I don't see them like I used to.
Just wanted to vent, hope everything made sense.
submitted by WhateverIllDeal to CPTSD [link] [comments]

2023.06.02 18:56 Matt_the_Lego My 1st Pokemon Reincarnatelocke.

Now before I begin, I had experiences with Nuzlockes for a long time, that I turned into a Masochist, playing Ori on Hard Mode, playing Mega Man X7 from start to finish, played all 3 Pathways of Fire Emblem Fates, and even playing through every King of Fighters game, now I’m not gonna beat around the bush, so it’s time to talk about my first time trying out my new Nuzlocke Rules, for a refresher, in this playthrough you can only catch the first Pokemon you run into in each area, you have to nickname all the Pokemon you catch, and if a Pokemon Faints it’s dead, in addition to these core rules, I’m adding in a new rule.
This needs some explaining so take a seat, there are 2 Boxes, the Death Box and the Graveyard Box, the Graveyard Box is where Pokemon that faint go into and they can be brought back from the dead only once, in order to do that you need a Death Token, the afterlife box is where Pokemon are dead permanently, how do you get a Death Token? You get them by defeating the Gym Leader of that town, and the Death Token can only do 1 thing if your Pokemon is in the Graveyard, you have to revive one of your dead Pokemon in exchange for 1 Pokemon in your party, but you have to use it as soon as the gym leader is defeated, but if you don’t have any Pokemon in your Graveyard, then you can save it for later or use that Token to catch any Pokemon you want in a previous route, but you have to put your 1st encounter in the Afterlife Box, or revive one of your Party Members when they faint, but one of your Pokemon in your Box must be sacrificed.
Once you lose a battle and still have Pokemon in your graveyard, you can continue, but you’ll be penalized for it, you’ll have to skip out on your next encounter, and you’ll have to put one of your Boxed Pokemon into the Afterlife Box, and if all your Pokemon are in the Afterlife Box, then you will lose the challenge, but once you reach the Elite 4 and Champion, you’ll have to use all of the Death Tokens that you didn’t use, and if you don’t have any Death Tokens, you only have 1 shot to defeat the Elite 4 and Champion, because if you don’t then it’s all over, I call it the Reincarnatelocke got it? Good!
Now I’m playing Pokemon Platinum because I was leaning heavily towards that game to try my Nuzlocke Rule, Platinum is hard, but is the definitive way to play the Sinnoh Games, Diamond and Pearl were criticized for being so slow, a limited Pokedex and teams that trainers don’t normally use, and BDSP were bashed for being the worst remakes in the franchise, it was way too faithful to the original and it was outsourced, at least we got faster gameplay, and removed HMs, but I don’t own any of them, and I still have my copy of Platinum, but when I used that new Nuzlocke Rule, I lost to Roark, and I can’t comprehend how many times I’ve lost every Platinum Nuzlocke I’ve attempted, even when I cheated in an EXP Share, but I remembered something that the legendary Alpharad said, long story short, Grinding is cringe, and Cheating is Based, so as you can tell I’m packing Rare Candies from my Homebrewed 3DS and no I’m not editing Pokemon to have illegal moves, I’m just packing Rare Candies because I took Jacob’s word for it, and now I’m not playing around anymore, now let’s go to the Sinnoh Region and see what happens.
I was dragged out of my home, Barry went out of his way to go into the Tall Grass until Rowan stopped us, and Rowan gave us a Pokemon, since I was having worse luck with Chimchar, and Budew is a pain in the ass to evolve, I decided to go with Turtwig, I named him Leonardo, and beat up Barry’s Chimchar, blew my money on Potions, and PokeBalls, caught a Starly named Skystar, in Lake Verity, Memelord the Bidoof in Route 201, and Spark the Shinx in Route 202, therefore I went north to find a Budew named Masque, so I have a substitute in case Leo Kicks the Bucket, however I was training up my Pokemon for some precious EVs, and I ran into Alucard the Zubat, and I trained up Leo for Roark, and I went ahead and easily took out Barry with Skystar, and caught a Magikarp named Ocean King, then when I arrived at Orburgh, I skipped my Orburgh Mines encounter because I wasn’t paying attention and these early Rock Types are worthless since you gain a better one later either Cranidos or Shieldon, therefore I went in to Roark’s gym and have Leo go all out, so once I withdrew 3x, the Geodude got 2 Crits, and Leo still lives since I used Absorb in between Withdraws, both Geodude and Onix were absorbed to death, and the reason why I kept withdrawing, it is because of his ace Cranidos.
Cranidos is the more offensive Pokemon and since earlier I taught Leo Razor Leaf, it ended up getting critted after tanking a Headbutt, and won me my 1st Death Token, and my 1st Gym Badge, since no Pokemon are in my graveyard, I decided to save the Death Token for a later time, and then finally Skystar evolved, and Spark evolved into Luxio, now when I fought a Bug Catcher, I was fighting a Kricketot when he used bide, he lived 2 bites from Alucard, he is gonna die if I used another Bite, but I have to resort to a Sacrifice, and use up my Death Token, so I sent in Ocean King and I think you know what happens next, but Memelord was willing to give up his life to save Ocean King so I used the Death Token, and Memelord took Ocean King’s place, I brought in Viola, and I went to the Valley Windworks to capture a Shellos named Muddy that’s just in case Ocean King joins Memelord when he kicks the bucket, and since Rare Candies misses out on some precious EVs and I’d be forced to resort to Vitamins.
So I brought Ocean King to a high enough level to evolve into Gyarados so I can be able to beat Mars with no problem, and at least he won’t be over Gardenia’s Level, oh and I didn’t mention that I can’t overlevel to beat the next Gym Leader’s Ace easily, then I fought Mars, Alucard took out her Zubat no problem, then when Purugly came out, I was ready to intimidate attack drop, until it’s attack is absurdly low, when I brought out Skystar, Ocean King, and Spark to be intimidate happy, Spark finished off her Purugly, we made it out with no casualties, then I was adamant to get a Ponyta, and…I ran into a Pachirisu, I depressingly caught the Pachirisu and named it Fail, when I got through Eterna Forest, Leo Evolved, and we went in Gardenia’s Gym, and I had a plan to take her team down, Stealth Rock to lower her health a bit, and have Alucard and Skystar to take down her team, Both Roserade and Alucard crit each other and Alucard hung in there, while Roserade was done for, Badge 2 and another Death token was ours.
When I entered the Galactic Building, I used the same pussy strat, but Stuntank killed Spark, so I tried to kill him with Leo, but he killed him too, I had to choose who to send to the graveyard until I get another Death Token, so I left Spark, and kept Leo, and sent Fail into the Afterlife, to revive Leo, I was so pissed, so I brought in Masque, as a substitute for Leo if he dies again, so I am not gonna sugarcoat it, Cynthia gave me an Egg to take care of, So I took it and it already hatched and I named her Ellie, so when I went to Wayward Cave, I was hoping to get a Gible but…I couldn’t pass on an encounter so I depressingly caught the Onix and named it Useless also showing my frustration over not getting a Garchomp, but when I went into Mt. Coronet, I found a Bronzor and named him Ring, I’ve decided to bring him on the team, then I finally got Alucard to evolve into Crobat, and Bebe the operator of the Sinnoh Storage System gave me an Eevee I named Robin after the character from Fire Emblem: Awakening. I then took both Ocean King and Alucard to go all out, but Ocean King fought Mismagius the Mismagius critted, and Ocean King perished to confusion.
I then took out Alucard to finish the job, but Ocean King will live on in memory, gone but not forgotten, Badge 3 was ours, but I gave up Viola to bring back Spark, and now it is time to fight Barry and Spark mopped the floor with his Buizel, and his Staravia, Skystar and Alucard together took out Monferno, I decided to send in Ring to fight the Roselia, because he didn’t have much time to shine, but he got Stun Spored, and Leech Seeded, so I sent in Alucard to kill the Roselia, when I went to the next route, it was my last chance to get a Ponyta, so I ran into a Geodude, and it self-destructed, and Ring tanked it like a champ, Ring lives another day.
When I went to the Solacion Ruins, I went over to find a Stone for Robin, I found a Water Stone, I gave it to her, and now Vaporeon is mine, I was not adamant for Maylene though, since her team is ridiculous, Meditite, Machoke, and Lucario, but I realized Vaporeon only learns Water Gun by Level up and it is past her own level, so I just decided not to use Robin until I get Surf, and then once fighting this father and daughter, the Daughter’s Ponyta took out Skystar, I was almost finished but Spark and Alucard managed to pull through, I was planning to get Seizure Bait, and called the Porygon Seizure, since I had that Upgrade in my bag, I gave it to Seizure and I called someone, Myself from another region, now we got my counter to Crasher Wake’s Gym, and backup in case Spark bites the dust, but I put Seizure in the box but I brought in Lola because since I was trying to play it smart, but then I developed a Gambling Addiction, got Ice Beam for Robin and Thunderbolt for Seizure, I moved on.
When I made it into Maylene’s Gym, she was a pushover, she had no counters against Alucard, Meditite, and Machoke took a bit to take out because of Rock Tomb, however Lucario was just not that challenging, the only move it had to damage Alucard was Metal Claw, I taught Alucard Roost so I had no problem defeating Maylene, she gave me the Death Token to give Lola the means to resurrect Skystar, then when I went to Valor Lakefront at route 214, another Graveler flat out Exploded, and Spark said “I’m not going to die here!”
When I reached Pastoria City, all my Pokemon are way too underleveled, so I went back to a previous area and robbed all the trainers blind, while training up my team, to get good EVs, and then when I went in the 7 Star Restaurant, Ring got killed by a Rhyhorn’s Horn Drill, come on that’s a low accuracy move, because of that Robin took it out, I was in a big fit of rage, but then I reached the Pastoria Gym, when fighting this tuber and his Bibarel…
A Hyper Fang killed Spark, once he died, I decided to go get Goro…It’s Time Goro, you’re the only one that can bring us to victory, so I leveled him up, called to borrow the Pidgey again, to evolve Goro again, now I brought in Daisy to sack, and thanks to Seizure and Leo, Crasher Wake was a complete pushover, and sacking Daisy to get back Ring, gave him drugs until he evolved, because I’m a shameless lunatic, and then Team Galactic set off a Bomb, and Cynthia asked me to give her Grandma her Charm in Celestic Town, when I arrived, I gave her the charm, and Cyrus goes on a tangent of everything is imperfect so he has to destroy the world and bullshit.
I then got Trick Room, which is incredibly useful for Ring, since he gets the benefit of going first, and when going to the Fuego Ironworks I went and caught a Magmar, and I finally got a Fire Type Pokemon, and my counter to Candice's Gym, now I need a Magmarizer, I named him Schomer, because a YouTuber by the name of Michael Schomer used Magmar in his commentary on a convicted criminal, on his worst Death Battles, and his commentary on Metal Blade’s response to RealmWarsll, but I’m going to say that none of that matters, Robin and Alucard managed to survive, and I’m adding him to the team, found the Magmarizer, traded, got Magmortar, moving on.
Then I made it to Canalave City and then Barry’s Infernape killed both Alucard and Ring, That was the last straw, I then gave a lot of Vitamins to my Pokemon, and went to find the Metal Coat so that Useless can evolve, at least I got 2 Counters to Candice’s Gym that being Schomer, and Goro, speaking of Schomer, Robin, Leo and Schomer mopped the floor with Byron because I had counters to most of his team, but since I had Skystar in my party and Alucard died, I had to give him up to bring Alucard back, Did I have a choice?
So Team Galactic set off another Bomb, and then I went to get the Metal Coat, and a Shiny Stone, I took out Useless, so I can give it to him, and she’ll be no longer useless, but while doing that, unfortunately Alucard died, so it was a waste and my day was ruined, thanks to that freaking Staraptor, therefore I had enough bullshit for one day, so I set the Trade up, and Useless Evolved, and I changed the name to Ironrock, then I managed to evolve Masque and Ellie and since I needed a Flying Type and Masque is going to be needed later, so I decided to shamelessly get Heart Scales, evolved Ellie again, and teach her Air Slash.
Well before you snarky people in the comments say “You Cheater, you got a lot of Rare Candies, and Heart Scales.” Well in my defense Jan of Pokemon Challenges said in his reaction to Jacob’s Perfect Nuzlocke saying that it doesn’t matter if you get infinite money, infinite Rare Candies, or Infinite Heart Scales, this is just a demonstration of how to do the Nuzlocke Rule I made up.
I easily mopped the floor with Saturn when investigating Lake Valor, I also took out Mars with a close match because Hypnosis was giving me problems, but luckily Robin froze the Purugly solid, after surviving a Slash, but it gave me a heart attack, because she almost died, on my way to Snowpoint City, I had Schomer warm me up and one of my favorite Pokemon’s pre evolution Sneasel went in front of my face, OK, let’s go Ardyn, well when I arrived at Snowpoint City, I went in the Gym, and unless you have a tolerance of this ear rape, This sound is pretty self explanitory.
Then when I reached Candice, I had Schomer burn most of her team to the ground, Sneasel, Froslass, and Abomasnow while Goro Cross Chopped her Piloswine, and you're asking why Cross Chop? Well Machamp has No Guard meaning all moves from him and targeting him, never miss so that meant Cross Chop's accuracy is guaranteed to hit, we walked out of the gym all swag, with the Death Token and the Badge, and I reached Lake Acuity and saw that Barry got his ass kicked, and Jupiter already went to Veilstone, when I went in the Galactic Warehouse I found a Dubious Disk, I gave it to Seizure and traded again, and I felt sorry for him for being cut from the anime completely, and Seizure kinda avenged Squoop when I mopped the floor with the Scientist that killed him, you’re welcome Jaiden, then when fighting Cyrus he spit bullshit again, it was a tough battle, Seizure got frozen so I switched to Schomer to take out the Sneasel.
However the problems were his Crobat, he used Poison Fang but luckily Robin didn’t get poisoned, because when he brought out his Honchkrow he almost killed Robin, luckily she hung in there and killed the Honchkrow, when I yanked his Master Ball off his hands, while my Pokemon took out Saturn’s team, I freed the lake guardians, when I arrived at Spear Pillar, Mars and Jupiter tried to stop me but Barry came out of nowhere and fought with me, I decided to target Mars first and then take out Jupiter, easy dubs, I studied Cyrus’ team and Cyrus has a Houndoom with Will-o-Wisp, and his Weavile is speedy, but frail, so I went back to get a Rawst Berry to get seizure to hold it, then I went into the Distortion World, when I made it to the bottom, Cyrus was there standing there, menacingly!
Then Seizure mopped the floor with most of his team when Weavile Ice Punched it, and it lived on a red health bar, so one last Signal Beam and that Weavile was finished, I max potioned Seizure when his Crobat came out, and Seizure one shotted him, Cyrus steps aside, and I came face to face with Giratina, Giratina asks for what I desire, I asked him for his help, the Master Ball fell out of my pocket, I grabbed it and threw it and it was over, now to go to Sunnyshore to get my final Gym Badge, but first I renamed Steelix into Ironrock, went to Sunnyshore City and Ironrock was fighting like a real Pokemon, I got my final gym badge and Death Token, so I got my Great Marsh encounter which was a Quagsire my HM Slave, and went to Victory Road, but since I got that Razor Claw earlier I gave it to Ardyn and when Night Fell, he became one of my favorite Pokemon, then I headed to the Underground to mine for treasure, taught Ardyn Ice Punch, and I gotta get Swords Dance even though I need enough coins to get it, but the Gambling Addiction in me never faded, so back to the slots for me.
I was able to get Swords Dance, but I went back to Wayward Cave, and did the dumb thing to save Ardyn from getting killed by Cynthia's Garchomp, or Flint's Team, by boxing him and caught a Gible I named Cloud after the character from Final Fantasy 7, however that meant I had to use my 7th Death Token to say farewell to Ironrock the Steelix I only had 1 left, Cloud needed some EV Training before he’s ready to fight the Elite 4 because they are merciless, Aaron has mostly Bug Types, and a Drapion, and if Ellie misses an Air Slash on Heracross, and that Heracross lands a Stone Edge, she’s dead, and Bertha has a Rhyperior that has Rock Wrecker and Megahorn, and if Masque doesn’t one hit kill that Rhyperior he is dead, then there is Flint, Robin has a decent chance against them but combining Solarbeam with Sunny Day from his Magmortar can pose a threat against Robin, but it can be able to tank it but if he gets a Crit, Robin is dead, then there is Lucian, he has a Gallade, and Ardyn has a weakness to Drain Punch, and Cynthia’s Garchomp is self explanitory.
So I ended up robbing trainers of their cash blind and using it on Vitamins, now I am at the Pokemon League, now let’s just go on in and kick…
Barry: Wait a minute, You and I have unfinished business.
“Sick Em Seizure!”
Barry: Not this time!
Then Infernape came out and killed Seizure.
That was the last straw, Cloud, murder him.
*Boom!*
Schomer killed his Roserade and Goro took out his Snorlax.
So Masque was willing to give up her life, the death token was his, and Seizure was brought back to life, so I ended up giving my entire team Sweet Drugs to level 60, Barry can finally rot in hell, my team was Cloud, Robin, Schomer, Goro, Seizure, and Leonardo, alright it’s time to end our journey.
So Schomer killed most of Aaron’s team, while Seizure took out his Heracross, and Cloud took out his Drapion, when I made it to Bertha, I had no trouble plowing through her, Leo and Robin took her out with ease, and then Cloud mopped the floor with Flint.
Then I went into Lucian’s Room, I wasn’t being very confident, so I taught Cloud Shadow Claw, to kill Lucian’s Entire Team, but Espeon Survived, so I sent him back, to bring in Seizure and he hit half health when his Bronzong calm minded a few times, and I Thunderbolted Him however I wasn’t feeling confident when fighting Cynthia, it’s time to end our journey.
So once she sent in Spiritomb, Leo managed to take him out, however, instead of sending out Garchomp, she sent out Togekiss, and Togekiss got paralyzed by Seizure, however when Lucario came out, he crit Aura Sphere, and Leo died, Cloud took it out out of vengeance, then her Garchomp came out…I kept in Cloud…I wasn’t feeling confident, they traded blow to blow, but Cloud immediately got taken out in 1 shot Dragon Rush, my plan didn’t work…all this effort was for naught, I sent in Robin, the Garchomp used Earthquake, it was all over…there was nothing I can do to beat her, if I sent in Seizure he might get outsped crit, and die, if I sent in Schomer, he might get outsped and die to Earthquake, if I send in Goro, then he might get outsped barely survive, land a Cross Chop and then die…but that’s what I would have said if Garchomp landed a critical hit on Robin, Robin actually survived, it felt like my fallen comrades from the Afterlife sent by Arceus came down to protect Robin as gratitude from Giratina, and I showed that Garchomp what it is like to get one shotted, then Ice Beam killed the Garchomp, everything went according to plan, we still had a chance, Schomer burned her Roserade to a crisp, then came out her final Pokemon, Milotic, Seizure went in for the Thunderbolt, but it lived, Seizure survived the surf, and landed one more Thunderbolt.
We did it, we won, Cynthia congratulated me and then I was really happy that I finally won a Pokemon Platinum Nuzlocke, even when my previous plans didn’t work, our partners died while thinking of a plan, even when one shotting Cynthia’s Garchomp with Cloud, Masque’s soul can now rest in peace, she left Seizure’s body and now Seizure can rest in peace.
That meant Robin, Goro, and Schomer were the survivors, therefore I went into the hall of Fame and sat on the Champion’s Throne, now an honorable effort but I had a blast trying out my new rule, if I’m not counting Seizure since he was reincarnated and can finally rest in peace, Robin the Vaporeon was my MVP because out of all my alive Pokemon, and not my Reincarnated Pokemon, Robin was the longest surviving Pokemon, and the one that saved us from a crushing defeat twice, but it wasn’t over it is time to promote this new rule, this may be intimidating for Hardcore Nuzlockes, but it can help you in regular nuzlockes.
submitted by Matt_the_Lego to nuzlocke [link] [comments]

2023.06.02 16:24 Easy_Ear6236 Mailday 💌

Mailday 💌
Mailday 💌 Kinda done with opening packs rn.. even tough the experience is fun, buy!ng singles is where it's at. Pick exactly wich cards you want and save yourself a ton of money 👌🏼 best way to grow your collection fast and fairly cheap
submitted by Easy_Ear6236 to PokemonTCG [link] [comments]