I've been seeing a lot more of it here. A lot more. And I know that this is going to garner me a lot of ill-will. But I can't sit back and watch disinformation overrun a community as important as this one. So here goes nothing.
First, I have a question for the vaccine injured. Why can’t any of you point me to a single shred of evidence other than your lived experiences? Ever wonder why not a single immunologist has come out to champion your hypothesis? (Which, btw, more often reads like received fact than theory when you bring it up. You know, do you? Interesting, cause there is a lot we still don't know about SARS CoV-2. Interesting that this should be suddenly official, even in the absence of any scientific corroboration).
For years, people swore that ulcers were caused by stress. It made sense. It always seemed to be worse when they were stressed. They were wrong.
For decades, people swore that miasma - bad air - caused cholera. It often happened when the air was thick. It made a lot of sense. They were wrong.
For centuries, people swore that impiety was behind their illnesses. In Europe, they relied on prayer to get better. In the Americas, ritual sacrifices. It seemed to help. They were wrong.
Might you be wrong?
nO tHiS hAs tO bE vAcCiNe rELaTeD
Why?
Why must it be vaccine related? Why can’t it be due to an unbelievably infectious, often asymptomatic, bat-borne, immune-depleting and metabolism-dysregulating novel SARS coronavirus that 90% of everyone caught as of the onset of Omicron?
bEcAuSe mY sYmpToMs sHoWeD uP aFtEr gEtTiNg tHe jAb!!1!
Yes, that may very well be. And if you catch a common cold now, it will likely knock you clean out - that’s what SARS CoV-2 does. It hay-wires our immune system and causes mad inflammation.
aNd sO dOeS tHe vAcCinE!
Evidence or STFU. I mean it. What part of mRNA vaccines could even do that? Do you even know? I ask again: Any immunologists in the house to back you up? No. Wanna know why? Because it makes no physiological goddam sense!!!!
yOu’Re jUsT gAsLigHtiNg mE!
Sure, just like I gaslight Goop, Dr Oz, Dr Phil and bloodletting. This is not gaslighting, friend. This is calling out bullshit. There is a BIG difference.
I am not CLAIMING you aren’t sick. I’m not claiming your symptoms didn’t appear after your jab. If COVID messed up your immune system as much as it did mine, it isn't impossible that the vaccine might have triggered some dormant sequelae. We do not know. We do know that arteries stiffen and the brain is impaired after even mild COVID infections. You might not notice that immediately, if at all. So no, I'm not claiming the vaccine didn't put you in a bad spot. But I AM claiming that your need for your Long COVID to be entirely vaccine-induced is highly fucking suspect.
NOTHING in the medical literature even HINTS at the possibility of these vaccines being able to trigger LC - not without COVID first doing the very heavy lifting.
If I’m wrong? I'd be stunned, because it would mean we discovered some entirely new and unheard of pathway. It'd be revolutionary, tragic, counter to everything we know. Impossible? No. Highly unlikely? Uh, yeah. If I'm wrong, I'll owe you a sincere apology. But if you’re wrong? You’ve been contributing to the paranoid anti-science populism that’s been leading us off a cliff since Andrew Wakefield's fabrication about Autism.
Here's an article of interest for you, published a little over a month ago in that same tabloid rag Wakefield published his lies in, the Lancet: Confronting the evolution and expansion of anti-vaccine activism in the USA in the COVID-19 era00136-8/fulltext). It's important reading. Cause yeah, the Lancet published Wakefield's original sin. But they also retracted it. That last part is kind of important. It's called science. Half the world simply never got the memo.
The truth matters. I mean the ACTUAL truth. Not RFK Jr's ill-informed, uneducated gut feeling.
I get it, you’re angry. I’m angry too. WTF is this life I’ve been left with? This isn’t living! So yeah, if I thought some unscrupulous megacorps had willfully maimed me, I’d be on the warpath too. The US is broken in more ways than one. I get that too. I don't live there, but I can see how it's messing with you. You can't trust anyone anymore it seems. Especially not for-profit healthcare, for-profit politics, for-profit prisons - hell even your biggest Churches are for-profit. (But ooooooooh socialism. That's the real evil, right? I digress.)
I'd be angry too if I thought Bill Gates and Purdue Pharma had done this to me. But I’d need proof. Cause that’s how I roll. Not circumstantial evidence, not just a series of coincidences, not a plethora of official looking threads from "the ethical doctor" or that retired British nurse who passes himself off as an MD (because of his PhD in education) and speaks so well with his underlining of bullet-point print-outs while going off on unsubstantiated tangents (Ivermectin, anyone?)
No, I'd want Proof. With a capital P. Cause them be some mighty big claims with some mighty big implications you been making at every fucking chance you get.
Give me more than old wives tales. Give me mechanisms underlying your injury. Cause we're getting a pretty good idea of the mechanisms underlying mine, and the vaccine simply can't do that. Even at the best of times, these vaccines' efficiency wanes in a matter of weeks. But they crippled you? Damaged your endothelium? Really?! Really.
Give me some molecular biology. So far, all I see is your personal story, an army of Twitter trolls, a popular and well-orchestrated right-wing narrative, and a few rogue MDs who can’t point to a single shred of hard evidence. I see tarot cards. Not good enough.
We are at war. COVID is the enemy, NOT Moderna and Pfizer, slimy as they may be.
I got jabbed and boosted. I also got COVID. Guess which one fucked me up? Wait - don’t tell me. I already know what you’re going to say.
And it’s really starting to piss me off.
We are all Long haulers here. How we got here should matter less than how we get out. We can lynch the Wuhan lab techs and Moderna miscreants if and when it comes to light that there was an international conspiracy. But we have nothing to gain from that sort of conjecture now. Those doctors, researchers and pharmaceutical companies you so love to hate on? We’re gonna need their help if we’re to beat this thing. And I don't know about you, but getting healthy again supersedes everything else in my book.
It also requires trusting the science. It’s evolving, it’s imperfect, but it’s better than trusting in your horoscope to tell you what to expect. You're being played, friend. And not by tHe mEdiCaL eStAbLiShmEnT. They are late to the game and have been far too dogmatic regarding Long COVID, but there is a quantum leap between that and thinking that they know the vaccines are dangerous and are pushing them nonetheless. My partner outranks all of us, medically. She got jabbed, boosted. She's never had COVID. She's fine. Oh, and she also understands how vaccines work. Fundamentally. Deeply. Intimately. So yeah, I trust her 30 years and 50 000 hours of training more than your "dO yOuR oWn rEseArCh".
Do I also need to explain to you how the earth is not flat? Or do you still trust experts' take on that? Cause this is the same. Damn. Thing. This is like asking how climate change is a thing if it still snows in January. You're just indicating how out of your depth you are and making logical-sounding conclusions based on a faulty understanding of the underlying science. And more and more people are buying into it. To succeed, liars don't need to convince you of their lie, they only have to make you doubt the truth. FoxNews, Facebook and now Twitter broke America by profiting off of that business model. "Engagement", they call it. And nobody is pushing back.
You're being played alright, but it's by the same charlatans that feed the Q-Anon pedophile myth and Great Replacement dog whistle. They don't trust anybody, cause everybody's in on it. Right? Wrong. They're just pining for attention, cash, influence, petty power. At the expense of their hapless followers.
It's unfortunate that you find the timing of your onset suspect. I’ve been looking - hard - for credible evidence about what you claim. It's just not there. Educated guesses are welcome: there's a lot we still don't understand about this disease. But educated guesses require a minimum of education. You can’t just throw around the words “spike protein” and call it a day. There is no run-away replication from a vaccine. That’s not how they work.
bUt eVeN dR VaUngH sAiD
Was that before or after he charged you 1000$ for a treatment that's costing me 45$ based on readily available and entirely generic anticoagulant drugs? Before or after he said masks were crippling kids? I'm grateful he's making TT available to people. I'm not impressed by his ethics, lack of rigour, and sales pitch. No more than by IncellDX for that matter. Great business model. Important service. Highly questionable ethic$.
I'm on TT because of the science underlying it. It's still just a hunch, but a good one. So we're trying it. Vaccine injury though? That's not based on a hunch - it's based on rumour. Fear. Distrust. Lies.
That echo chamber is no different than any other hysteria - in the absence of understanding, we revert to superstition. And vaccine hesitancy is based on one incredibly damaging myth that is spinning out of control. Even here. And that worries me for the future. Vaccines are likely going to be our only way out of this pandemic. If it's sterilizing and not everyone needs to be jabbed to be safe? I'll care not at all that your paranoia made you put your life at risk. If it's one that requires a minimum amount of adoption to work? People are going to have to have a serious sit-down. I'm tired of other people's ignorance putting my loved ones at risk. *Insert obligatory reference to the Climate Crisis*. If everyone knew the science of what's coming (soon), they'd be a lot more motivated in acting, aggressively, immediately, collectively. The truth matters.
So yeah, this post is going to make a lot of suffering people angry. And that sucks. But it's a helluva lot better than just letting anti-science disinformation keep gaining ground, post by post, comment by comment. Someone has to fight back and scientists are always too incredulous to react: "do people actually believe this nonsense?" They do, Doc. They really do. And they've become too scared of the backlash to speak out.
Mods, you’re going to have to take a stand at some point. There are enough haunts for conspiracy nuts on Facebook, Twitter, Discord and Reddit. I came here for help. For moral support, for potential treatments, for peer review. By peers that have better judgement than to just assume a vaccine they don't understand is what plunged them into hell and then agitate against hard facts.
That misguided agitation does not bring me comfort. It makes me despair. Science is our only hope and here we have a growing segment of our community dismissing the science in the name of anecdote and political bias. You think the vaccine did this to you? You're entitled to your opinion. You're not entitled to spreading lies as though they were hard fact. At least have enough humility to qualify your broad statements with "I worry that" or "is this even possible".
To those activists who insist on doubling down, give me some valid authoritative medical evidence or STFU. I can be swayed, but not by rants and baseless supposition.
We’ve got some serious work to do and your misdirected rage is not helping.

Hi just this is my first post on this subreddit, I'm ready for umm, some hammers and angry rapid fan response. Anyways as a 30+ year old male, whole used to play Volleyball in his late teens and throughout my 20s, I'd say that Haikyuu is really bad for volleyball. Good exposure, bad everything else. I have to put a note here that I've only watch halfway through the first series almost to the end, I've just stopped as I heard the cliche, "lose ???? then go to nationals". Sure they have to market the new Molten's red and green and yellow and blue of Mikasa volleyballs somehow. They are signature balls everywhere now.
Anyways apart from it's "AoT no training arc" start. There's some gaping flaws in Haikyuu. Maybe anime this generation isn't made for us older folks. No side stories, no side characters to explore etc. Almost no slice of life added to a "sports" anime. Characters as bland as NPC meme. The MC looking like a curly redhead version of naruto minus the jumpsuit. Trust me I hate the bland Kirito archetype or the super japanese sociopath/sadist mad genius like Lelouch. Or the glasses guy, Uryu Ishida in bleach.
One caveat I hate is how the MC just suddenly learn to spike like some type of "Ultra Instinct". Also a HUGE HUGE flaw is he has the same "timing" for every spike. Just cuz you can draw anime like he's Michael Jordan or Lebron James doesn't mean it's good. Also having the same timing SHOULD make him vulnerable to blocks. I mean Imagine being a good spiker but can only hit 2-3 balls, not 1 balls? Or in this case fast 1 balls. You're so limited to the angle and attack vector. I mean if this was just high school or even post-high school club, any normal volleyball player after watching the MC spike 2-3 times would be able to block every ball of his. So in essence, the MC needs to learn different variety. As well as dinks, tips, swipes and cross court spike to "change it up". Imagine if you only got a killer cross cut spike, you're gonna get stuff everytime by someone who can get over the net.
No training arc really hits the nail in the coffin though, go back and watch older anime like Slam Dunk or Prince of Tennis. I know we're in global recession but you're gonna cut the "naruto Chunin Exams" arc. I mean Imagine the Naurto series without the first 3 arcs? At least do it sorta like a flashback like "Prince of Tennis" where the MC was already in the "World Championships" as a toddler lol.
Also the "love of the game" isn't well displayed like other sports anime. Take the passion from "Hikaru No Go", a spectral ghost plays chess and baffles the mind of a child prodigy. Then playing online and beating the world's best players"....Fast forward 20 years and in real life AI beats the world's best Go player. Then almost 7 years later, "A Human Amateur Beat a Top Go-Playing AI Using a Simple Trick". More notably the double encirclement/trap technique".
Also look at the immense side characters of the "Prince of Tennis" series. They got top schools, school rivals, street rivals. All to inspire and compete against. Even people with similar styles etc... I admit the era of Gintama and Dragonball Z and 2010s are over. Anime is only getting at most 13-26 series, but one would wish they could just make quality over quantity in the asian anime/donghua entertainment industry. Just look at Hollywood, getting subpar actors and crap plots and soon no one is gonna watch your S***T. I mean who wanna watch 100 Adam Sandler movies, it's like welfare for scrubs? When you can rewatch older films which stars Arnold or Sylvester Stallone . In essence there's no "street volleyball scene", where are the casual grass volleyball players? the beach goers? No super specialized libero or block expert? Anime doesn't even explain moves or strategy. It's like middle school soccer where everybody including the goalie chases after the ball. Aside from a few moves where are the "specials". No hook shot, no hovering move/air time. No dink expert. No back court king etc... I know blue lock came later but I heard it was created earlier in manga? Aside for it's ridicoulous plot it's a saving grace after Haikyuu and Kuroko's Basketball.
​
In Conclusion:
Overall in the spirit of trash anime, being 5/10. I rank Haikyuu as a 7/10 right behind, BOFURI and Ascendance of a Bookworm.

7/10

Cleaning your headset regularly will greatly increase its peak performance capability over a long time of using it. A VR headset is an investment after all, both in terms of money and time/energy. For something that you plan to continue using for years to come, do yourself a huge favor and make a habit of regularly cleaning your headset to guarantee it'll be working as well as it did on day one!
For starters, there are 3 essential items that every VR user should have in their kit:

1. The Lenspen - designed mostly for use with camera lenses, these little pens have a very fine brush on one end and a carbon sponge on the other: one side brushes dust and tiny particles away, while the other soaks up any sweat, oil, smudges or fingerprints left on the lens. No cleaners or moisture involved, so no residue or streaks - just perfectly clean lenses after a few swipes with the pen! Avoid the micro-tips though, and go with the regular sized ones.
2. Any decent electronics microfiber cloth will be worth its weight in gold for heavy VR users. Another tool in the kit focused mainly on keeping the lenses clean and clear, these cloths provide a quick easy option for getting a quick smudge off or what not. Works great in tandem with the lens pen, it can wipe up heavier smudges and fingerprints that the sensitive carbon tip of the lens pen may not be ale to on the first try.
3. The most contentious item of the three, but wipes are a must-have for most people. There's some debate about which wipes you should and shouldn't use on a VR headset, as the external plastic and silicone elements of the headset are sensitive to harsh chemicals and alcohol. I'd avoid using all-purpose cleaning wipes (Lysol, Clorox, etc.) and instead recommend fragrance-free makeup removal wipes. These are obviously skin-safe as opposed to all-purpose wipes, and will be much better for the silicone forehead pad and "curtain" element that goes around your eyes in terms of keeping the material soft and pliable. Harsh chemicals will make these black pieces turn grey and look "dusty", and also will stiffen them after continued use.

Another major tip that's mostly common sense but still always worth mentioning: NEVER leave your headset in direct sunlight! Make sure it's stored in a spot when not using it that is away from windows or anywhere that will expose it to direct sunlight. Regular room lighting is fine, but direct sunlight can severely damage the lenses of your headset and the sensitive optical technology directly behind them. Besides this, it can also cause yellowing of the white exterior plastic, and "bake" the silicone and stiffen it from UV exposure. As already mentioned, you really want to keep the soft parts of your headset protected and well-maintained: they're non-removable therefore non-replaceable, and they're already pretty fragile as it is, even without exposure to harsh chemicals or sunlight.
My last tip is a personal one that doesn't apply to people who've strung up their PSVR cord on the ceiling or in a similar management system. For those of us that play with the cord running the floor, keep that cord safe! One bad step on it and you'll be yanking your headset right off your head, or even worse, yanking the cord right out from its attachment to the headset. this unfortunately was a somewhat-common issue with PSVR1, with lots of support requests for disconnected cords from headsets. Keep in mind, this is a death sentence for your headset, totally non-repairable as far as Sony is concerned. All it takes to prevent this from happening to you is to simply tuck the cord into your waistband while playing. When you put your headset on, don't play with the cord running down your shoulder & chest in the front; instead, sling the cord over your shoulder so it's running down your back and tuck it into your waistband with enough slack on the cord to be able to swivel your head as far as you need. Problem solved! Now if you end up stepping on the cord, it will yank from your waistband instead of yanking directly on the headset - like those clips on old treadmills that automatically turned the speed down if the clip was yanked out.
I've been loving PSVR since its original inception and have been fortunate to avoid any issues throughout my time using PSVR 1 and 2, which I credit mainly to plain old good maintenance. If you like something, take care of it! I'm sharing this in hopes of others being able to enjoy PSVR with us for as long as possible. Being the most accessible format of VR available to most people, it's usually their starting point and they might not know some of these things. So, go forth with this info and keep having fun with your VR headset for as long as you can :)

Wife and I just bout a house in November of 2022. House was built in 2021 and only had one owner before. Our AC is only 2 years old from installation but we don't believe the previous owners maintained the unit.
We've had a repair company take a look when we noticed that there was a strange wooshing noise coming from the the inside unit when the system was not running. We also noticed that the return vent directly under the unit was "pouring" cold air.
Notes from the technician:

• 2 year old 4 ton electric upflow system
• Could not replicate issue or sound at this time but from the videos it sound like a metering device issue
• Another possibility is system stopped moving airflow but blower motor and capacitor were just replaced in April 2023
• Indoor coil was just replaced in April 2023 but looks like thermal expansion valve was not
• Installation fault no filter installed at indoor or outdoor system
• Any time refrigerant system is opened new filter drier must be installed
• Possibly system not evacuated correctly and non condensables are in refrigerant system
• Installation fault Thermal expansion valve sensing bulb not insulated
• System is low on refrigerant currently at 4 degrees SC system target is 10 degrees

Photos: https://imgur.com/a/yViqEi2
Wooshing Sound: https://on.soundcloud.com/mrPjm
Can anyone help determine the issue before I have to hope the tech repairs the right thing.

GONZO
Not sure If I am using the flair correctly, I'm not sure how to edit it to say what I want...? Any tips would be helpful..
Since I've begun reading some american literature, I am very fascinated with Hunter S Tompson, his work Fear and Loathing and his Style of writing.
To share my love of his work I am working on a book called "The Feathered Starfish" using his style or GONZO style journalism.
This work is 60% an auto biography if not more, most of the things you will read happened, the drugs consumed, the happenings, the psychosis induced meth stupors, the near death experiences, the memories, they are all real experiences coming from myself- Michael Worthy Duke, and my best homie Josh Carr.
I do add many quotes of Hunters into the book, just for fun, he'd a legend in my eyes.
I have just did my first revision of chapter one, and I will post it on reddit to gain some constructive criticism.
Any and all criticism is welcomed this is my first time writing anything.
Chapter 1: Aufbruch
In the desolate confines of a decrepit apartment in Buckhannon, West Virginia, Duke slouched over his grimy desk, a faint glimmer of hope piercing through the darkness that engulfed him. The rain pelted relentlessly against the windowpane. "I really hope this one does it, man, I don't know how much more of this shit I can take"- Duke whispered with a mix of desperation and anticipation. With trembling hands, he carefully emptied six stamps of fentanyl into the tarnished spoon. Carr, his weary companion, cast a skeptical gaze upon Duke "Well you're not going to die if that's what you want. It's just not how GOD or SATAN works, or maybe I'm thinking of manifestation. Either way, they're both going to make us suffer, I doubt we'll get off that easy, as much as I want it to end, you're just wasting good dope, but go ahead, I won't Narcan you this time"
"You know? You're right, that makes a lot of fuckin sense dude, it's like each time there's something in the way. I always thought it was the LORD SAVIOR, SATAN, or maybe one of his DEMONS hoping I would strike some sort of deal with them to get off of this godforsaken ride" Duke's hands moved with a mixture of determination and trepidation, crushing a few clonidine tablets into a fine powder, adding it to his lethal concoction. The raindrops continued their relentless assault on the window, their rhythmic patter a cruel symphony accompanying their dark ritual. As the orange powder melded with the white, Duke drew back the plunger of the syringe, his eyes fixed on the swirling fusion of drugs and vodka. The amber liquid, held the weight of his hopes and fears, this white-orange liquid could very well be his out. "That's not what I meant, though hat's off to you if it works," Carr says.
In the ethereal glow of uncertainty. Duke's heart raced as he prepared to plunge into the abyss, the needle poised to deliver a bittersweet release. The rain outside intensified, its melancholic symphony matching the intensity of their clandestine act. As the raindrops continued their melancholic descent, Duke pressed the needle against his skin, the moment of truth inching closer. The world held its breath, suspended in the eerie stillness before the storm. The needle was dull and has been used many times before, but Duke hopes this will be the last time. He pressed, and with hesitation, it severed the skin between this world and the world unknown. He pressed on the plunger and as the toxic elixir coursed through Duke's veins, time seemed to distort, stretching into an abyss of darkness. His consciousness is on the verge of oblivion, teetering between life and death. A kaleidoscope of vivid hallucinations painted his mind, a swirling maelstrom of distorted images and fragmented thoughts of fear, abandonment, lost love, and the unforgettable regret of his life so far.
Hours turned into eternity as Duke slipped into a state of unconsciousness, surrendering to the unforgiving embrace of his drug-induced slumber. The world outside carried on, oblivious to his internal struggle.
When Duke fatefully awoke, his surroundings were shrouded in a haze. The dim light filtering through the tattered curtains cast a somber glow over the room, revealing the remnants of his despair. His body ached with a dull ache, each pulse a testament to his fragile existence.
A sharp knock on the door shattered the fragile silence, jolting Duke from his dazed state. His heart raced, the sound reverberating through his chest like a war drum. Slowly, he reached behind the couch and grabbed a pistol, he then stumbled towards the door, uncertainty gripping his every step.
Carr remained peacefully asleep on the sofa, unaware of the potential danger that lay ahead. If the stranger turned out to be a threat, Carr would have to confront the aftermath and dispose of the bodies. Meanwhile, Duke envisioned a scenario where he would paint his doorstep red. In this grim scenario, Duke's action would likely be repeated twice, burdening Carr with the task of disposing of not one, but two bodies upon waking up.
Duke muttered something like "How the fuck did you evoke second-stage manic psychosis on a goddamn Tuesday morning at 7:32 AM? Incredible," Duke grumbled under his breath. His grip tightened around the cold, steel frame of his .357 Magnum-Rhino, resting firmly at chest level, as he cautiously flipped open the peephole. With a deliberate motion, he placed his index finger on the trigger, a well-spoken prayer escaping his lips. "Oh, twisted universe, In this blurry dance between life and death, my words resound: To the enemy of the state lurking beyond this door, I offer this plea. Reveal thyself, if foe you be, let your presence be known, As adrenaline courses through my veins, May my aim find purpose, In this grotesque theater of existence, may the forces that guide us grant me strength in this dark hour, Should the door reveal an adversary, may my aim be swift and true, Grant me the resolve to protect what I hold dear, Yet let mercy temper my actions, even in fear. May peace find us all, in this realm or beyond."
As his heart raced and his vision blurred, he stood firm, bracing himself for any sign of movement. Suddenly, a thunderous knock shattered the silence, echoing like a gunshot. Startled, Duke's instincts took over as he pulled the trigger, blasting a hole through the door. Convinced he had vanquished his adversary, he hastily returned to the living room. In a corner, wild-eyed and gripping an Avtomat Kalashnikova, stood Carr, poised to unleash a barrage of bullets upon Duke's entry. With a swift stop at the coffee table, Duke muttered, "Weird heroes and mold-breaking champions exist as living proof to those who need it that the tyranny of 'the rat race' is not yet final."
In that intense moment, Duke proceeded to lay out two substantial lines of schneef, while Carr discarded the AK, preparing for their habitual morning routine.
Schneef takes the lead, followed by the ritualistic sipping of coffee with a few swigs of dirt-poor vodka or rum followed by another round of Schneef. As the haze thickens, They indulge in a flurry of cigarettes, punctuated by yet more Schneef. Duke then meticulously prepares a 1-0z plastic med cup, a concoction of SOMAs, a 100mg Ghost, and a dose of 40mg Adderall. And then, a 3.5-gram blunt of the finest, high-grade cannabis. A choice between PurplePunch #1, GratefulXChemdog #6, or an obscure local strain only known as BaileyRidge.
With his morning muscle relaxant held loosely in his lips, Duke leisurely strolls towards a weathered shelf adorned with cherished relics. Each plastic circle, steaming with echoes of bygone eras. In a deliberate gesture, his hand reaches out and retrieves a Stevie Ray Vaughan vinyl record, the album "Texas Flood". Duke places the disc upon the turntable, maneuvering the needle to land on the tenth and final track, titled "Lenny."
In the sounds of crackling vinyl and bluesy vibrations, Duke and Carr find a quiet moment, merging the intoxication of sound with their morning ritual. The melodic tendrils of "Lenny" intertwine with the smoke-filled air, creating a harmonious sanctuary within the confines of their dwelling.
Carr begins, his voice etching with concern, "Duke, you know I love you dog, willing to go any length for you. But there's a real possibility that one day you might mistake an innocent stranger at our door for something else entirely." Duke, frustrated by the untimely disturbance, retorts, "Damn it, it's 7 AM on a Tuesday morning. Who the hell would be knocking like an undercover agent if they weren't an enemy of the state?" Carr counters with a hint of humor, "Well, maybe it's just some friendly girl scouts trying to sell us cookies? Or perhaps the postman delivering a parcel?" Duke scoffs, as he brandishes a rattle crafted from turtle shells, wearing a Booger Mask made up of wood and hornets nests. Duke's deep connection to his Native American heritage is evident, as these artifacts are believed to possess the power to repel evil spirits.
Carr, chewing on a mouthful of pepperoni roll, springs to his feet and marches toward the door, eyeing Duke as he sets fire to some sage and palo santo, engulfing the space in smoke. Duke traversed the apartment with purposeful strides, occasionally stopping to shake his turtle shell rattle and speak to the Great Spirit. Meanwhile, Carr reaches the door, peering through the gaping hole in their door.
To his surprise, there are no dead undercover agents, no bloody girl scouts scattered amuck, nor fallen postal workers. Stepping outside, Carr scans the surroundings, his gaze darting left and right. With a sudden surge of curiosity, he sprints toward the mailbox, chirping birds echoing in his ears. The alluring scent of fresh grass beckons him, and he wonders why they don't venture out more often, even just to bask in the scent of blooming flowers. Reaching the mailbox, he momentarily forgets his purpose.
A bird chirps once more, its call now transformed into unmistakable human words, "Post." Carr offers a nod of gratitude before tearing open the mailbox, revealing a vibrant yellow letter adorned with a starfish-shaped white wax seal. Hesitation grips him, recognizing that this could be the perfect weapon to subvert him into an unwitting insurgent—its contents potentially laced with deadly anthrax, capable of bringing an end to both his and Duke's tumultuous existence. Yet, deep down, the knowledge that they have been flirting with death for what feels like an eternity seizes his hesitation. With anticipation, Carr seizes the letter, a glimmer of defiance in his eyes, and heads back toward the door. Before retreating, he tosses a ball of bread to the friendly bird that aided him, a small token of gratitude.
Inside the apartment, Carr's voice breaks the silence, "Looks like we've received some mail. You lucky bastard, you better thank the Great Spirit that you didn't blast a hole in the mailman. You know, if you witness someone offing a postal worker, and then turn in some sort of evidence to help with the arrest and conviction for their murder, there's a $100,000 reward waiting for you." Duke chuckles and with a hint of mischief says, "Oh, come on now. You wouldn't have ratted me out for 100 grand, would you? Is that all I'm worth? Although I must admit, that kind of cash does sound tempting." A grin spreads across Duke's face. "How about this: We order something to be delivered to the unsuspecting folks down the road. I'll take aim with my hunting rifle and wait for the mailman wearing a camouflage ghillie suit, while you capture the entire spectacle on camera. We'll scoop up the reward money and ride into the wind. What do you say?"
The room's energy takes a sudden 180-degree turn as Duke witnesses Carr's eyes widening. Duke, his paranoia deeply ingrained with thoughts of the enemy of the state, mutters "Who the fuck is it? Burn after reading, always. No exceptions. I don't care if it's a letter from my dead mother." Carr responds, "Dude, it's Allicent." Duke's heart skips a beat as memories of the girl who got away rushed to his intoxicated mind. His eyes well up with tears as he stammers, "Not a funny joke, not funny at all." He hastily prepares three consecutive lines of schneef on the coffee table. "She's been missing for four damn years. The last time we spoke, she despised me, despised us. She wanted nothing to do with us ever again."
Allicent was a vision of perfection, encapsulating everything desirable in a woman. Endlessly driven, she possessed an insatiable thirst for adventure. Her smile radiated warmth, except when met with condescension. She was a genius—a basement chemist, mycologist, historian, free-thinker, a natural-born leader amongst so much more. Her beauty was unparalleled, captivating anyone with her deep blue eyes, flowing blonde hair adorned with random braids, and forgotten dreadlocks. Painted with hand-drawn sacred geometry tattoos, her flawless body was a canvas of her own expression. She effortlessly glided through life, this woman could gracefully execute a gazelle flip off a half-pipe and then lay down a wicked bassline on a head full of acid. In their eyes, she embodied the true essence of beauty.
Their minds raveling in disbelief, An unopened letter from Alicent clutched tightly in Dukes hands as he Loomed over the worn wooden desk. His fingers traced the edges, his eyes scanning over the envelope that bore the familiar flourish of Alicent's handwriting... A cigarette hung loosely from his lips, its smoke twisting upwards in the gloom of the room. He scanned the room, his eyes shadowed under the heavy weight of exhaustion and intoxication. Carr sprawled across the ragged sofa, a joint lazily balanced between his fingers as he rustled his nostril trying to clear the ketamine out of it.
An oppressive silence clung to the room, disturbed only by the ramblings of the TV. The voice of 'Gonzo' from "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" echoed through the air, "Jesus, did you see what GOD just did to us, man?" They had been sitting like this for what seemed like an eternity, suspended between anticipation and apprehension, caught in the throes of a drug-induced stupor.
Finally, breaking the silence, Carr exhaled a cloud of smoke, its pungent scent blending with the stale odor of spilled beer and unwashed clothes. He ran a hand through his unkept hair and glanced at Duke with a mix of impatience and curiosity. "So, are we gonna read it or just fuckin' stare at it all day?" he drawled, nodding towards the letter on the table.
Duke blinked, emerging from his daze, and cautiously tore open the envelope, revealing Alicent's familiar handwriting sprawled across the pages. Alicent's familiar handwriting sprawled across the pages, each word etching a growing unease into their hearts.
"The pursuit of happiness..." Duke muttered, reading Alicent's message aloud. Her words painted a vivid picture of a place far removed from the choking grasp of the modern world, a commune nestled amidst nature's bounty. She spoke of the hills of the feathered starfish, a place of tranquility and kinship, a sanctuary from the greed and hatred that plagued society — this was a stark contrast to their own reality.
Yet, amidst her words of contentment, a chilling reference to the "day of the light" sent a shiver down their spines. Alicent's words held an ominous undertone, her tales of happiness tainted with the subtle hint of finality.
Turning over the letter, Duke's gaze fell upon a picture of Alicent, standing on a mountain with rolling hills in the background, dotted with tepees and yurts, bathed in the soft hues of a setting sun sprawled behind her. Her face held a serenity they had never seen, a serenity that seemed to belong to a world far removed from theirs.
Carr leaned over to study the picture. "This place...It doesn't look like anything I've seen before. Where the fuck is she?" he mused, his fingers tracing over the photograph. A deep frown etched itself onto his face as he fell into deep thought.
Duke sat back, his gaze shifting between a typewriter in the corner of the apartment and the picture of Allicent, "The edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over." a tale of a voyage into the unknown. He could feel it in his bones, the gnawing curiosity, the deep-seated desire to uncover the truth of where she was and why she decided to write to them after so many years. His gaze fell onto the typewriter, each key echoing "A man who procrastinates in his choosing will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance."
A sense of determination replaced Duke's initial bewilderment. He stood, moving towards an old gun safe, he quickly dials in 0 4 1 9 0 4 1 9, an old suitcase was tucked beneath boxes of ammunition and firearms.
"We had 9 grams of schneef, 120 European Cadillacs, a vial of JORs long lost #5, a knee-high tank of nitrous oxide, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... and also a quarter of opium, a ball of speed, 2 oz of mushrooms, enough weed to serve the east coast, and a zip lock bag of substances we were either too high or didn't care enough to label. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.”
Carr nodded, stubbing out his joint in the ash-tray. His eyes held a spark of determination, his usually laid-back demeanor was replaced with a newfound sense of purpose. The impending journey already stirring his usually placid demeanor. They knew what they were signing up for, the journey wouldn't be a walk in the park, but Alicent was worth the ride.
As the day began to fade, they started packing. The room was soon filled with the buzzing of zippers and rustling fabric, each item selected for their journey. The once quiet room now bursting with anticipation. Their adventure had begun, but will their determination to DIE fade away as they start this new journey? Will the promise of reuniting with Allicent be enough for them to go on one more day?
Duke paused, his eyes scanning the room, its walls painted with stories of disturning happenings and shenanigans. Among the clutter and graffiti, a worn-out green balloon caught his eye, its faded letters spelling out the haunting words, "RIP Mya...."
A twisted grin curled on Duke's lips as he muttered to Carr, his voice with a hint of madness. "Fuck, man, Remember when you found this in the woods?"
A smirk tugged at Carr's lips. He ran his fingers through his hair before letting out a big sigh, his eyes reflecting a hellish nostalgia. He let out a deep sigh, releasing a cloud of smoke that hung heavy in the air. The memory stirred within him. "Are you joking? I'll never forget that night," Carr began, his voice tremoring with blend of fascination and dread. "I recall being up for days on meth after a witch performed some black magick on me, I heard the loudest crash I've ever heard, almost like a god-damn plane crashed in the woods 35 feet away. I walked into the woods letting curiosity get the best of me.
Duke leaned in, his eyes wide with anticipation yet again even though this was the hundredth time he had heard this story. Carr continued, his voice dropping to a low, ominous tone. "I then saw a bright flash of green light in the distance, but as I got close enough to see what it was it was only that damnned busted balloon on the ground that said "RIP Mya" an 8yr old girl who had passed away. Carr's voice trembled as he recounted the aftermath. "The next day, fate took a hellish turn. Mya, my faithful companion, died without reason or explanation. And then, my young cousin, only eight years old, whispered something that sent me into full-blown psychosis...you shoud've taken the witch seriously, this is just the beginning, when you hear 3 knocks, just know the devil will be waiting"
They shared a nervous laugh, then collectively thought this was somewhat nice reminiscing in their hellish nature, yet hoping this new adventure would bring positive memories to replace all of the dark ones that brim their minds.
Duke turned back to their suitcase, and popped it open to reveal a secret compartment. There, tucked between 2 firearms, was a small amber jar, containing some of the most sought-after cocaine in the world. Miss Pinks's Cocaine, Duke was only 14 when he was able to navigate the Dream Market, Oasis, Hansa, Alphabay, many DarkNet markets on the web, to secure some of the most wanted drugs known to man.
Now this is not your ordinary schneef, this is genuine staghorn, not your cheap knockoff stepped-on monticorn staghorn, this schneef was carefully manufactured in a top-of-the-line German laboratory. Miss Pink uses the finest cocoa leaves, she makes small batches to ensure quality, and most of all, using anhydrous acetone, she washes each batch of these nose beers 15 times. Then an additional 5 times with chloroform. It is truly a testament to the dope feind, this is 98% pure, with a 2% cut of Vitamin B12, to, ya know balance shit out, you gotta take your vitamins.
With practiced ease, Duke poured a small mound onto the glass top of the coffee table. Using a battered ID card, he carefully shaped two neat lines. Carr watched, tapping his fingernails at the speed of sound against the table, Duke has only brought this stuff out once before, who knows when he will again. The illicit substance represented more than just a chemical high—it was their means of escape, a vehicle of dissociation and derealization they so desperately needed.
"Carr," Duke began, offering him the rolled-up Benjamin, "To old times, and to the journey ahead if we end up dying- at least we fed the head."
With a nod, Carr accepted the note, leaning over the table. He snorted the first line, the sharp sensation sending a shudder through him. After a brief moment, he screams "Jesus Christ this shit is jet fuel!" he passed the note back to Duke, who quickly followed suit.
Duke rips the line with ease, then swabbed the remaining powder for some scoobysnax. Carr, who is now blaring techno and dancing says "Bro we should start a go-fund-me, or go build a school in Nepal, fuck I just want to run, Do you think I could outrun an emu? I heard they can run like 30 MPH, I think I could run 30 MPH, idk man I would probably need better shoes-, Duke interrupts and says "Dude you are literally yakked out huh" - "I'm literally yakkychan" -"I'm the lead singer of the yak street boys" they both laugh for a while and lit up a cigarette.
This buzz coursing through their veins, its effects immediate and potent. An electrifying energy pulsed within them, and their senses heightened. They exchanged a look of understanding.
Hours passed as they packed the remainder of their essentials, the room now resonating with the focused hum of their preparations. With every item tucked away into their suitcase, they were a step closer to finding Allicent and the hills of the Feathered Starfish.
As Duke loaded the last of their belongings, he took one last glance around their apartment. The battered furniture, the stained carpets, the spilled beers and unwashed cloths, the dirty needles scattered everywhere. – it was a melancholic farewell to a past that had shackled them for too long. It was time for a fresh start, time to go in a new direction for once and for all and leave this version of themselves behind.
They stood at the precipice of an extraordinary journey, their hearts fluttering with a mix of anxiety and excitement. As the dusk painted the sky with hues of purple and red, they packed up their belongings into Hallii, Dukes' 1991 Mercedes-Benz 420 SEL, they gassed her up and took her down Route 50 towards OHIO blasting the song "KoKo by E.VAX".
To be Continued...

Since I've begun reading some american literature, I am very fascinated with Hunter S Tompson, his work Fear and Loathing and his Style of writing.
To share my love of his work I am working on a book called "The Feathered Starfish" using his style or GONZO style journalism.
This work is 60% an auto biography if not more, most of the things you will read happened, the drugs consumed, the happenings, the psychosis induced meth stupors, the near death experiences, the memories, they are all real experiences coming from myself- Michael Worthy Duke, and my best homie Josh Carr.
I do add many quotes of Hunters into the book, just for fun, he'd a legend in my eyes.
I have just did my first revision of chapter one, and I will post it on reddit to gain some constructive criticism.
Any and all criticism is welcomed this is my first time writing anything.
Chapter 1: Aufbruch
In the desolate confines of a decrepit apartment in Buckhannon, West Virginia, Duke slouched over his grimy desk, a faint glimmer of hope piercing through the darkness that engulfed him. The rain pelted relentlessly against the windowpane. "I really hope this one does it, man, I don't know how much more of this shit I can take"- Duke whispered with a mix of desperation and anticipation. With trembling hands, he carefully emptied six stamps of fentanyl into the tarnished spoon. Carr, his weary companion, cast a skeptical gaze upon Duke "Well you're not going to die if that's what you want. It's just not how GOD or SATAN works, or maybe I'm thinking of manifestation. Either way, they're both going to make us suffer, I doubt we'll get off that easy, as much as I want it to end, you're just wasting good dope, but go ahead, I won't Narcan you this time"
"You know? You're right, that makes a lot of fuckin sense dude, it's like each time there's something in the way. I always thought it was the LORD SAVIOR, SATAN, or maybe one of his DEMONS hoping I would strike some sort of deal with them to get off of this godforsaken ride" Duke's hands moved with a mixture of determination and trepidation, crushing a few clonidine tablets into a fine powder, adding it to his lethal concoction. The raindrops continued their relentless assault on the window, their rhythmic patter a cruel symphony accompanying their dark ritual. As the orange powder melded with the white, Duke drew back the plunger of the syringe, his eyes fixed on the swirling fusion of drugs and vodka. The amber liquid, held the weight of his hopes and fears, this white-orange liquid could very well be his out. "That's not what I meant, though hat's off to you if it works," Carr says.
In the ethereal glow of uncertainty. Duke's heart raced as he prepared to plunge into the abyss, the needle poised to deliver a bittersweet release. The rain outside intensified, its melancholic symphony matching the intensity of their clandestine act. As the raindrops continued their melancholic descent, Duke pressed the needle against his skin, the moment of truth inching closer. The world held its breath, suspended in the eerie stillness before the storm. The needle was dull and has been used many times before, but Duke hopes this will be the last time. He pressed, and with hesitation, it severed the skin between this world and the world unknown. He pressed on the plunger and as the toxic elixir coursed through Duke's veins, time seemed to distort, stretching into an abyss of darkness. His consciousness is on the verge of oblivion, teetering between life and death. A kaleidoscope of vivid hallucinations painted his mind, a swirling maelstrom of distorted images and fragmented thoughts of fear, abandonment, lost love, and the unforgettable regret of his life so far.
Hours turned into eternity as Duke slipped into a state of unconsciousness, surrendering to the unforgiving embrace of his drug-induced slumber. The world outside carried on, oblivious to his internal struggle.
When Duke fatefully awoke, his surroundings were shrouded in a haze. The dim light filtering through the tattered curtains cast a somber glow over the room, revealing the remnants of his despair. His body ached with a dull ache, each pulse a testament to his fragile existence.
A sharp knock on the door shattered the fragile silence, jolting Duke from his dazed state. His heart raced, the sound reverberating through his chest like a war drum. Slowly, he reached behind the couch and grabbed a pistol, he then stumbled towards the door, uncertainty gripping his every step.
Carr remained peacefully asleep on the sofa, unaware of the potential danger that lay ahead. If the stranger turned out to be a threat, Carr would have to confront the aftermath and dispose of the bodies. Meanwhile, Duke envisioned a scenario where he would paint his doorstep red. In this grim scenario, Duke's action would likely be repeated twice, burdening Carr with the task of disposing of not one, but two bodies upon waking up.
Duke muttered something like "How the fuck did you evoke second-stage manic psychosis on a goddamn Tuesday morning at 7:32 AM? Incredible," Duke grumbled under his breath. His grip tightened around the cold, steel frame of his .357 Magnum-Rhino, resting firmly at chest level, as he cautiously flipped open the peephole. With a deliberate motion, he placed his index finger on the trigger, a well-spoken prayer escaping his lips. "Oh, twisted universe, In this blurry dance between life and death, my words resound: To the enemy of the state lurking beyond this door, I offer this plea. Reveal thyself, if foe you be, let your presence be known, As adrenaline courses through my veins, May my aim find purpose, In this grotesque theater of existence, may the forces that guide us grant me strength in this dark hour, Should the door reveal an adversary, may my aim be swift and true, Grant me the resolve to protect what I hold dear, Yet let mercy temper my actions, even in fear. May peace find us all, in this realm or beyond."
As his heart raced and his vision blurred, he stood firm, bracing himself for any sign of movement. Suddenly, a thunderous knock shattered the silence, echoing like a gunshot. Startled, Duke's instincts took over as he pulled the trigger, blasting a hole through the door. Convinced he had vanquished his adversary, he hastily returned to the living room. In a corner, wild-eyed and gripping an Avtomat Kalashnikova, stood Carr, poised to unleash a barrage of bullets upon Duke's entry. With a swift stop at the coffee table, Duke muttered, "Weird heroes and mold-breaking champions exist as living proof to those who need it that the tyranny of 'the rat race' is not yet final."
In that intense moment, Duke proceeded to lay out two substantial lines of schneef, while Carr discarded the AK, preparing for their habitual morning routine.
Schneef takes the lead, followed by the ritualistic sipping of coffee with a few swigs of dirt-poor vodka or rum followed by another round of Schneef. As the haze thickens, They indulge in a flurry of cigarettes, punctuated by yet more Schneef. Duke then meticulously prepares a 1-0z plastic med cup, a concoction of SOMAs, a 100mg Ghost, and a dose of 40mg Adderall. And then, a 3.5-gram blunt of the finest, high-grade cannabis. A choice between PurplePunch #1, GratefulXChemdog #6, or an obscure local strain only known as BaileyRidge.
With his morning muscle relaxant held loosely in his lips, Duke leisurely strolls towards a weathered shelf adorned with cherished relics. Each plastic circle, steaming with echoes of bygone eras. In a deliberate gesture, his hand reaches out and retrieves a Stevie Ray Vaughan vinyl record, the album "Texas Flood". Duke places the disc upon the turntable, maneuvering the needle to land on the tenth and final track, titled "Lenny."
In the sounds of crackling vinyl and bluesy vibrations, Duke and Carr find a quiet moment, merging the intoxication of sound with their morning ritual. The melodic tendrils of "Lenny" intertwine with the smoke-filled air, creating a harmonious sanctuary within the confines of their dwelling.
Carr begins, his voice etching with concern, "Duke, you know I love you dog, willing to go any length for you. But there's a real possibility that one day you might mistake an innocent stranger at our door for something else entirely." Duke, frustrated by the untimely disturbance, retorts, "Damn it, it's 7 AM on a Tuesday morning. Who the hell would be knocking like an undercover agent if they weren't an enemy of the state?" Carr counters with a hint of humor, "Well, maybe it's just some friendly girl scouts trying to sell us cookies? Or perhaps the postman delivering a parcel?" Duke scoffs, as he brandishes a rattle crafted from turtle shells, wearing a Booger Mask made up of wood and hornets nests. Duke's deep connection to his Native American heritage is evident, as these artifacts are believed to possess the power to repel evil spirits.
Carr, chewing on a mouthful of pepperoni roll, springs to his feet and marches toward the door, eyeing Duke as he sets fire to some sage and palo santo, engulfing the space in smoke. Duke traversed the apartment with purposeful strides, occasionally stopping to shake his turtle shell rattle and speak to the Great Spirit. Meanwhile, Carr reaches the door, peering through the gaping hole in their door.
To his surprise, there are no dead undercover agents, no bloody girl scouts scattered amuck, nor fallen postal workers. Stepping outside, Carr scans the surroundings, his gaze darting left and right. With a sudden surge of curiosity, he sprints toward the mailbox, chirping birds echoing in his ears. The alluring scent of fresh grass beckons him, and he wonders why they don't venture out more often, even just to bask in the scent of blooming flowers. Reaching the mailbox, he momentarily forgets his purpose.
A bird chirps once more, its call now transformed into unmistakable human words, "Post." Carr offers a nod of gratitude before tearing open the mailbox, revealing a vibrant yellow letter adorned with a starfish-shaped white wax seal. Hesitation grips him, recognizing that this could be the perfect weapon to subvert him into an unwitting insurgent—its contents potentially laced with deadly anthrax, capable of bringing an end to both his and Duke's tumultuous existence. Yet, deep down, the knowledge that they have been flirting with death for what feels like an eternity seizes his hesitation. With anticipation, Carr seizes the letter, a glimmer of defiance in his eyes, and heads back toward the door. Before retreating, he tosses a ball of bread to the friendly bird that aided him, a small token of gratitude.
Inside the apartment, Carr's voice breaks the silence, "Looks like we've received some mail. You lucky bastard, you better thank the Great Spirit that you didn't blast a hole in the mailman. You know, if you witness someone offing a postal worker, and then turn in some sort of evidence to help with the arrest and conviction for their murder, there's a $100,000 reward waiting for you." Duke chuckles and with a hint of mischief says, "Oh, come on now. You wouldn't have ratted me out for 100 grand, would you? Is that all I'm worth? Although I must admit, that kind of cash does sound tempting." A grin spreads across Duke's face. "How about this: We order something to be delivered to the unsuspecting folks down the road. I'll take aim with my hunting rifle and wait for the mailman wearing a camouflage ghillie suit, while you capture the entire spectacle on camera. We'll scoop up the reward money and ride into the wind. What do you say?"
The room's energy takes a sudden 180-degree turn as Duke witnesses Carr's eyes widening. Duke, his paranoia deeply ingrained with thoughts of the enemy of the state, mutters "Who the fuck is it? Burn after reading, always. No exceptions. I don't care if it's a letter from my dead mother." Carr responds, "Dude, it's Allicent." Duke's heart skips a beat as memories of the girl who got away rushed to his intoxicated mind. His eyes well up with tears as he stammers, "Not a funny joke, not funny at all." He hastily prepares three consecutive lines of schneef on the coffee table. "She's been missing for four damn years. The last time we spoke, she despised me, despised us. She wanted nothing to do with us ever again."
Allicent was a vision of perfection, encapsulating everything desirable in a woman. Endlessly driven, she possessed an insatiable thirst for adventure. Her smile radiated warmth, except when met with condescension. She was a genius—a basement chemist, mycologist, historian, free-thinker, a natural-born leader amongst so much more. Her beauty was unparalleled, captivating anyone with her deep blue eyes, flowing blonde hair adorned with random braids, and forgotten dreadlocks. Painted with hand-drawn sacred geometry tattoos, her flawless body was a canvas of her own expression. She effortlessly glided through life, this woman could gracefully execute a gazelle flip off a half-pipe and then lay down a wicked bassline on a head full of acid. In their eyes, she embodied the true essence of beauty.
Their minds raveling in disbelief, An unopened letter from Alicent clutched tightly in Dukes hands as he Loomed over the worn wooden desk. His fingers traced the edges, his eyes scanning over the envelope that bore the familiar flourish of Alicent's handwriting... A cigarette hung loosely from his lips, its smoke twisting upwards in the gloom of the room. He scanned the room, his eyes shadowed under the heavy weight of exhaustion and intoxication. Carr sprawled across the ragged sofa, a joint lazily balanced between his fingers as he rustled his nostril trying to clear the ketamine out of it.
An oppressive silence clung to the room, disturbed only by the ramblings of the TV. The voice of 'Gonzo' from "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" echoed through the air, "Jesus, did you see what GOD just did to us, man?" They had been sitting like this for what seemed like an eternity, suspended between anticipation and apprehension, caught in the throes of a drug-induced stupor.
Finally, breaking the silence, Carr exhaled a cloud of smoke, its pungent scent blending with the stale odor of spilled beer and unwashed clothes. He ran a hand through his unkept hair and glanced at Duke with a mix of impatience and curiosity. "So, are we gonna read it or just fuckin' stare at it all day?" he drawled, nodding towards the letter on the table.
Duke blinked, emerging from his daze, and cautiously tore open the envelope, revealing Alicent's familiar handwriting sprawled across the pages. Alicent's familiar handwriting sprawled across the pages, each word etching a growing unease into their hearts.
"The pursuit of happiness..." Duke muttered, reading Alicent's message aloud. Her words painted a vivid picture of a place far removed from the choking grasp of the modern world, a commune nestled amidst nature's bounty. She spoke of the hills of the feathered starfish, a place of tranquility and kinship, a sanctuary from the greed and hatred that plagued society — this was a stark contrast to their own reality.
Yet, amidst her words of contentment, a chilling reference to the "day of the light" sent a shiver down their spines. Alicent's words held an ominous undertone, her tales of happiness tainted with the subtle hint of finality.
Turning over the letter, Duke's gaze fell upon a picture of Alicent, standing on a mountain with rolling hills in the background, dotted with tepees and yurts, bathed in the soft hues of a setting sun sprawled behind her. Her face held a serenity they had never seen, a serenity that seemed to belong to a world far removed from theirs.
Carr leaned over to study the picture. "This place...It doesn't look like anything I've seen before. Where the fuck is she?" he mused, his fingers tracing over the photograph. A deep frown etched itself onto his face as he fell into deep thought.
Duke sat back, his gaze shifting between a typewriter in the corner of the apartment and the picture of Allicent, "The edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over." a tale of a voyage into the unknown. He could feel it in his bones, the gnawing curiosity, the deep-seated desire to uncover the truth of where she was and why she decided to write to them after so many years. His gaze fell onto the typewriter, each key echoing "A man who procrastinates in his choosing will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance."
A sense of determination replaced Duke's initial bewilderment. He stood, moving towards an old gun safe, he quickly dials in 0 4 1 9 0 4 1 9, an old suitcase was tucked beneath boxes of ammunition and firearms.
"We had 9 grams of schneef, 120 European Cadillacs, a vial of JORs long lost #5, a knee-high tank of nitrous oxide, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... and also a quarter of opium, a ball of speed, 2 oz of mushrooms, enough weed to serve the east coast, and a zip lock bag of substances we were either too high or didn't care enough to label. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.”
Carr nodded, stubbing out his joint in the ash-tray. His eyes held a spark of determination, his usually laid-back demeanor was replaced with a newfound sense of purpose. The impending journey already stirring his usually placid demeanor. They knew what they were signing up for, the journey wouldn't be a walk in the park, but Alicent was worth the ride.
As the day began to fade, they started packing. The room was soon filled with the buzzing of zippers and rustling fabric, each item selected for their journey. The once quiet room now bursting with anticipation. Their adventure had begun, but will their determination to DIE fade away as they start this new journey? Will the promise of reuniting with Allicent be enough for them to go on one more day?
Duke paused, his eyes scanning the room, its walls painted with stories of disturning happenings and shenanigans. Among the clutter and graffiti, a worn-out green balloon caught his eye, its faded letters spelling out the haunting words, "RIP Mya...."
A twisted grin curled on Duke's lips as he muttered to Carr, his voice with a hint of madness. "Fuck, man, Remember when you found this in the woods?"
A smirk tugged at Carr's lips. He ran his fingers through his hair before letting out a big sigh, his eyes reflecting a hellish nostalgia. He let out a deep sigh, releasing a cloud of smoke that hung heavy in the air. The memory stirred within him. "Are you joking? I'll never forget that night," Carr began, his voice tremoring with blend of fascination and dread. "I recall being up for days on meth after a witch performed some black magick on me, I heard the loudest crash I've ever heard, almost like a god-damn plane crashed in the woods 35 feet away. I walked into the woods letting curiosity get the best of me.
Duke leaned in, his eyes wide with anticipation yet again even though this was the hundredth time he had heard this story. Carr continued, his voice dropping to a low, ominous tone. "I then saw a bright flash of green light in the distance, but as I got close enough to see what it was it was only that damnned busted balloon on the ground that said "RIP Mya" an 8yr old girl who had passed away. Carr's voice trembled as he recounted the aftermath. "The next day, fate took a hellish turn. Mya, my faithful companion, died without reason or explanation. And then, my young cousin, only eight years old, whispered something that sent me into full-blown psychosis...you shoud've taken the witch seriously, this is just the beginning, when you hear 3 knocks, just know the devil will be waiting"
They shared a nervous laugh, then collectively thought this was somewhat nice reminiscing in their hellish nature, yet hoping this new adventure would bring positive memories to replace all of the dark ones that brim their minds.
Duke turned back to their suitcase, and popped it open to reveal a secret compartment. There, tucked between 2 firearms, was a small amber jar, containing some of the most sought-after cocaine in the world. Miss Pinks's Cocaine, Duke was only 14 when he was able to navigate the Dream Market, Oasis, Hansa, Alphabay, many DarkNet markets on the web, to secure some of the most wanted drugs known to man.
Now this is not your ordinary schneef, this is genuine staghorn, not your cheap knockoff stepped-on monticorn staghorn, this schneef was carefully manufactured in a top-of-the-line German laboratory. Miss Pink uses the finest cocoa leaves, she makes small batches to ensure quality, and most of all, using anhydrous acetone, she washes each batch of these nose beers 15 times. Then an additional 5 times with chloroform. It is truly a testament to the dope feind, this is 98% pure, with a 2% cut of Vitamin B12, to, ya know balance shit out, you gotta take your vitamins.
With practiced ease, Duke poured a small mound onto the glass top of the coffee table. Using a battered ID card, he carefully shaped two neat lines. Carr watched, tapping his fingernails at the speed of sound against the table, Duke has only brought this stuff out once before, who knows when he will again. The illicit substance represented more than just a chemical high—it was their means of escape, a vehicle of dissociation and derealization they so desperately needed.
"Carr," Duke began, offering him the rolled-up Benjamin, "To old times, and to the journey ahead if we end up dying- at least we fed the head."
With a nod, Carr accepted the note, leaning over the table. He snorted the first line, the sharp sensation sending a shudder through him. After a brief moment, he screams "Jesus Christ this shit is jet fuel!" he passed the note back to Duke, who quickly followed suit.
Duke rips the line with ease, then swabbed the remaining powder for some scoobysnax. Carr, who is now blaring techno and dancing says "Bro we should start a go-fund-me, or go build a school in Nepal, fuck I just want to run, Do you think I could outrun an emu? I heard they can run like 30 MPH, I think I could run 30 MPH, idk man I would probably need better shoes-, Duke interrupts and says "Dude you are literally yakked out huh" - "I'm literally yakkychan" -"I'm the lead singer of the yak street boys" they both laugh for a while and lit up a cigarette.
This buzz coursing through their veins, its effects immediate and potent. An electrifying energy pulsed within them, and their senses heightened. They exchanged a look of understanding.
Hours passed as they packed the remainder of their essentials, the room now resonating with the focused hum of their preparations. With every item tucked away into their suitcase, they were a step closer to finding Allicent and the hills of the Feathered Starfish.
As Duke loaded the last of their belongings, he took one last glance around their apartment. The battered furniture, the stained carpets, the spilled beers and unwashed cloths, the dirty needles scattered everywhere. – it was a melancholic farewell to a past that had shackled them for too long. It was time for a fresh start, time to go in a new direction for once and for all and leave this version of themselves behind.
They stood at the precipice of an extraordinary journey, their hearts fluttering with a mix of anxiety and excitement. As the dusk painted the sky with hues of purple and red, they packed up their belongings into Hallii, Dukes' 1991 Mercedes-Benz 420 SEL, they gassed her up and took her down Route 50 towards OHIO blasting the song "KoKo by E.VAX".
To be Continued...

Everything listed is tested and working.All cart games are loose unless noted All disc based games are CIB unless noted.Game will ship USPS first class. More expensive items will ship priority. Please message me for combined shipping.Note: Will be adding more soon!NintendoNES* Millipede CIB $30* Pinball Quest CIB $35* Wrath of the Black Manta $5
Super Nintendo SNESConsoles / Controllers* OEM Controller CIB $60Games* Super Metroid $70
Nintendo 64* Army Men Sarge's Heroes (game and manual) $20* Blast Corps (game and manual) $25* Namco Museum $7* Ridge Racer 64 $12* Super Mario 64 $35* Tarzan $15* The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask (game and box, missing manual, excellent) $160
GameCube* LEGO Star Wars (disc only) $5* Lego Star Wars II The Original Trilogy (disc only) $5* Shrek 2 (disc only) $5* Shrek Superslam (disc only) $5* Spider-Man 2 (disc only) $5* Tak 2 The Staff of Dreams (disc only) $5
WiiConsoles / Controllers* Wii White Consoles + AV and Power Cords (x7) $50 EachGames* Big Brain Academy Wii Degree $5* Cabela's Survival Shadows of Katmai $5* Def Jam Rapstar $5* Geometry Wars Galaxies $8* Ghost Squad $8* Hasbro Family Game Night 2 $6* Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga $6* Mario Kart Wii $26*Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games $10**My Word Coach $5* New Super Mario Bros Wii (x2) $20 each* Nights Journey of Dreams $10 each* No More Heroes $15* Okami $10* Rayman Raving Rabbids $5* Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 $5* Rock Band $10* Rock Band 2 $10* Samurai Warriors 3 $10* Samurai Warriors Katana $10* Super Mario Galaxy $15* Wii Sports Resort $30
Wii UConsoles / Controllers* OEM GameCube Controller Adapter $40Games* Captain Toad Treasure Tracker Amiibo Bundle NEW $50* Paper Mario Color Splash NEW $90* Yoshi's Wooly World Pink Amiibo Bundle NEW $80
Nintendo SwitchConsoles / Controllers* Blue and Red Joycon Console CIB $220Games* Just Dance 2019 $15* Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate NEW (x2) $20 each* Super Smash Bros Ultimate $36
GameBoy* Bart Simpson Escape from Camp Deadly $10* Bomberman GB (Box and Manual only) $50* Double Dragon $15* Double Dragon II The Revenge $15* Earthworm Jim $15* Gauntlet II $15* Home Alone $5* Metroid 2 Return of Samus $32* Pipe Dream $5* RoboCop $12* Tetris $10GameBoy Color
Console
GameBoy Color Atomic Purple (works, needs new speaker) $65
Games* Aladdin (Game and box, missing manual) $60* Gex Enter the Gecko CIB $45* Powerpuff Girls Bad Mojo Jojo CIB $25* Spider-Man $10* The Simpsons Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror $15GameBoy Advance* Risk / Battleship / Clue 3 pack cart $5* Stuntman $5* Texas Hold Em Poker $5* Top Gun Firestorm $5* Yu-Gi-Oh Ultimate MastersNintendo DS* Battleship NEW $10* Bejeweled 3 $5* Brain Age $5* Club Penguin Elite Penguin Force $5* Flash Focus Vision Training $5* Garfield's Fun Fest (cart only) $5* Ghostbusters The Video Game (cart only) $5* Gremlins Gizmo NEW $20* Lego Batman 2 (cart only) $5* Lego Battles Ninjago (cart only) $5* Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 (cart only) $5* Lego Indiana Jones (cart only) $5* Lego Lord of the Rings (cart only) $5* Lego Marvel Super Heroes (cart only) $5* Lego Star Wars the Complete Sage (cart only) $8* Lego Star Wars III The Clone Wars $5* Mario Cart DS CIB (x2) $15 each* My Amusement Park (cart only) $5* My Word Coach $5* Namco Museum $7* Paws and Claws Dogs and Cats Best Friends (cart only) $5* Petz Hamsterz Life 2 (cart only) $5* SimCity $10* Spectrobes (cart only) $5* SpongeBob SquarePants Yellow Avenger (cart only) $5* SpongeBob SquarePants Plankton's Robotic Revenge (cart only) $5* SpongeBob's Boating Bash (cart only) $5* Trash Packs (cart only) $5* Ultimate Spider-Man (cart only) $13* UNO 52 (cart only) $5* Wall-E $5* Wario Ware DIY NEW (small tear in cellophane) $35* Zuma's Revenge $10
Nintendo 3DS* Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion (cart only) $10* Disney Magical World (cart only) $10* Goosebumps The Game (cart only) $5* Hyrule Warriors Legends NEW $50* Lego Batman 3 Beyond Gotham (cart only) $5* Lego Legends of Chima Lava's Journey (cart only) $5* Lego Ninjago Nindroids (cart only) $5* Lego Ninjago Shadow of Ronin (cart only) $5* Mario & Luigi Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr's Journey NEW $85* Mario Party The Top 100 (cart only) $15* Regular Show in 8-Bit Land $15* Snoopy's Grand Adventure (cart only) $5* Steel Diver $5* The Sums 3 Pets (cart only) $20* Wario Ware Gold NEW $60
Amiibo* Sephiroth NEW $25* Kazyua NEW $15
SEGASega SaturnConsoles* Sega Saturn Model 2 Console ( installed TerraonionMODE + 2TB Sandisk SSD w/ full console library) $600Games* Alien Trilogy (disc only) $35* Christmas Nights Into Dreams $70* Daytona USA (disc only) $10* Mr. Bones $120* Myst $20* Myst (disc only) $10* NHL 97 (disc only) $5* Nights into Dreams (3D Control Pad Bundle, includes controller + all inserts) $150* Panzer Dragoon $75* Panzer Dragoon II Zwei $120* Panzer Dragoon Saga $1,050* Road Rash (disc only) $25* Sonic 3D Blast (disc only) $25* Virtua Cop (disc only) $5**Virtua Fighter 2 (disc only) $7
PlayStationPlayStation 2Consoles* Black Fat Model (x2) $60 eachPlayStation 3* AC/DC Live Rock Band Track Pack $7* Air Conflicts Pacific Carriers $10* Asura's Wrath (missing manual) $40*Atelier Ayesha The Alchemist of Dusk $25* Atelier Escha & Logy Alchemists of the Dusk Sky $25* Atelier Meruru The Apprentice of Arland $22* Atelier Rorona The Alchemist of Arland NEW $30* Band Hero $7* Beowulf The Game $7* BlazBlue Continuum Shift NEW $15* Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway $6* Buzz! Quiz TV $10* Call of Duty Black Ops II NEW $30* Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 game + steelbook $15* Catherine NEW $25* Civilization Revolution $10* Conflict Denied Ops $7* Dark Sector $7* Dead Space 2 $13* Defiance $5* Dragon's Dogma $7* Enchanted Arms $15* Eternal Sonata NEW $35* Eye of Judgement PS EYE Camera Bundle $65* EyePet $5* EyePet & Friends $5* FaceBreaker $10* Final Fantasy XIII-2 NEW $25* Guardians of Middle Earth (case and insert only, game was bought with a code)* Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock $12* Kingdom of Amalur Reckoning $8* Kung Fu Rider $5* Last Rebellion $30* Leisure Suit Larry Box Office Bust $20* Lost DImension NEW $90* Lost Via Domus $8* MAG $5* MLB 07 $5* Madden NFL 10 $5* Madden NFL 11 $5* Madden NFL 13 $5* Medieval Moves Deadmund's Quest $5* Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 $7* Record of Agarest War 2 $20* RockBand $20* Rocksmith $15* Sacred 3 $10* SingStar $10* Sorcery $5* Sports Champions $5* Star Trek NEW $10* Start the Party $5* The Club $6* Trinity Souls of Zill O'll $50* Wonderbook Book of Spells $10PlayStation 4* Agents of Mayhem $5* Batman Arkham VR NEW $15* Battleborn $5* Call of Duty WWII Valor Collection NEW $50* Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled NEW $20* Evolve $5* Extinction $5* Jak II Limited Run $90 + T-shirt $50* Lord of The Rings Middle Earth Shadow of War NEW (x3) $10 Each* Rayman Legends (PlayStation Hits) NEW $15* Shenmue 3 + Steelbook NEW $30
PlayStation 5* Among Us Impostor Edition NEW $35PSPConsoles
* PSP 1000 console (loose disk tray, still working) $50Games* Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII (UMD Only) $10* Darkstalkers Chronicle The Chaos Tower $20* Dynasty Warriors (UMD Only) $5* EyePet $5* Final Fantasy Tactics The War of the Lions (UMD Only) (x2) $10 each* God of War Chains of Olympus $20* Iron Man (UMD Only) $5* MLB 09 THe Show (UMD Only) $5* MVP Baseball (UMD Only) $5* Madden 2006 (UMD Only) $5* Madden 2008 (UMD Only) $5* Marvel Nemesis Rise of the Imperfects (UMD Only) $7* NBA Live 2008 (UMD Only) $5* Neopets Petpet Adventures The Wand of Wishin (UMD Only) $10* Rapala Trophies (UMD Only) $5* Ridge Racer (UMD Only) $7* Sonic Rivals (UMD Only) $10* SpongeBob SquarePants The Yellow Avenger $10* Star Wars Battlefront Renegade Squadron (UMD Only) $7* Syphon Filter Dark Mirror (UMD Only) $5* Syphon Filter Logan's Shadow / Killzone Liberation Dual Pack NEW $20* Untold Legends Brotherhood of the Blade $8* Untold Legends Brotherhood of the Blade (UMD ONLY) $5* Untold Legends The Warriors Code (UMD Only) $5PS Vita* Hot Shots Golf World Invitational (cart only) $10* Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 $10* Lego Marvel Super Heroes Universe in Peril $10* Lego Marvel's Avengers $17* PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale $15* Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed (cart only) $20
XboxOriginalAMF Bowling $5Batman Dark Tomorrow $18Big Mutha Truckers $6Big Mutha Truckers 2 $6Blackstone Magic and Steel $42Castlevania Curse of Darkness $23Codename Kids Next Door Operation VIDEOGAME $10Conflict Desert Storm $5Conflict Vietnam $5Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure $20Dr. Muto $10Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone $54Kingdom Under Fire Heroes $8NHL2K6 NEW $10Need For Speed Carbon $7Need for Speed Underground $10Need for Speed Underground 2 $15PGR $5PGR 2 $5Scaler $10Shark Tale $5Star Wars KOTOR $10Tron 2.0 Killer App $12Test Drive off Road Wide Open $7The Hobbit $10Tiger Woods 2004 $4Top Gear RPM Tuning $7Totaled $9WWE Raw 2 $20Whiplash $15Worms 3D $10Zapper $10

Hey fellow AI anxiety warriors,
I came across an eye-opening article on Forbes today that highlights a staggering prediction: around 300 million jobs could potentially be replaced by AI in the coming years. It's a thought that may have crossed our minds at some point: the fear of our livelihoods being disrupted by advancing technology. But should we let this news leave us paralyzed with worry, or is there more to consider?
While the rise of AI brings undeniable changes to the workforce, it's crucial to approach this topic with a balanced perspective. Let's delve deeper into the implications together and explore if there's truly a reason for us to bother.

1. The Changing Landscape: The workforce has always evolved alongside technological advancements. From the industrial revolution to the digital age, we've witnessed transformations in jobs and industries. AI is simply the next step in this ongoing evolution.
2. The Human Touch: Despite AI's potential to automate certain tasks, there are aspects of work that remain uniquely human. Our capacity for creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and complex problem-solving are qualities that AI struggles to replicate fully.
3. Creating New Opportunities: While some jobs may be automated, new opportunities are also emerging. AI technology itself requires skilled professionals to develop, implement, and maintain it. We have the chance to upskill ourselves and find our place in this evolving landscape.
4. Collaboration and Adaptation: Rather than viewing AI as an adversary, we can embrace it as a collaborator. By understanding how AI can complement our skills and augment our work, we can focus on collaborative efforts that leverage the best of both human and artificial intelligence.
5. Mindful Engagement: Maintaining a mindful approach to AI is crucial. It's essential to stay informed, understand the implications, and actively participate in shaping the future. By educating ourselves and engaging in discussions like this, we can find opportunities to drive positive change.

So, my fellow AI anxiety warriors, let's come together in this community to share our concerns, insights, and experiences. The future may seem uncertain, but with our collective wisdom and support, we can navigate this evolving landscape with resilience and purpose.
Share your thoughts: How do you feel about Forbes' prediction? Does it make you more determined to take action, or has it sparked more anxiety? Let's discuss and support one another on this journey of embracing the potential of AI while maintaining our well-being and purpose.
Remember, we're stronger together!
Keep calm and stay mindful,
Arnaud

"I said to call them now, yeah! Fennel's really hur- I said stop her! WAIT!" "Hey, we've got our own here to look after, screw this shit, this job is fuckin' hexed, man!" "Back to the van, anyone who can make it!" "Get downstairs, fast!" One of the few leaders among the mob soldiers and scum present had tried to maintain order, but their boss had not stopped trying to get free and reach Kari's body. She'd almost made it, but they caught up and managed to hold her back. "BOSS! Boss, Fez is almost here, we can still tie her up and get outta here, just wait a little while!" Her snarling growl rose to higher pitch as she tried to tug free, spittle flicking from her muzzle in a mad rage, clutching at the socket she used to see out of. The stinging, horrible stinging had lit her entire skull up with a fury-painted hunger to reach Kari's prone body. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY! If she's still alive... haaa, god... if she's alive somehow, we pig stick her until she's coughin' up chunks of her FUCKIN' heart, then we saw off the head... aaah, and get the fuck out of here! FUCK the reward, she... aaagh god.. let me go, I can DO THIS! S-sstop..." The remaining men tried to calm her down and help somehow, blood running freely from the heavy scratches and gouges inflicted. Kari's still body seemed to still be breathing a little and Fennel pulled her buck knife out, still breathless with anger as she stepped close on shaky legs. "Pity... guess I gotta unzip you a bit, wake you up so you can watch this... just take ONE of your eyes real slow and make sure you stay awake, THEN we... then we put out the other one, slice off your limbs and just... haaa.. just let the steets chew on your for a while." A clatter drew their attentions away from the prone woman, a corner of the unfinished lobby looking darker than it should. "Whoever's there, fuck off or die- in fact, no, just shoot this fucker." Said the leader goon, and the others pulled their pistols and fired into the corner until they needed reloading. In this moment, they caught sight of a pair of white eyes look out at them from the inky shadows, and then, a deep rattling voice with a single word as a being of pure midnight stepped closer, holding its arms up. "Burn." All at one, flames of alabaster like blank shapes in reality leapt up all over the place, shocking the assembled criminals and raising the heat to oven intensity. "Oh no! NO!" and more shots were taken, to no avail as they trailed off widely, the entity speaking in a terrible volume. "BEHOLD, ITHOTU, RUIN OF ALEXANDRIA, SON OF THE SCOURGE OF EDEN. ALL WILL BE CONSUMED AND GODS WORK SHALL BE ASHES!" it roared and released a blood-shattering howl, floating forward as the colorless flames leapt up higher. "RUN! grab the boss and run, hurry!" "NO! I have to kill her not... she.." Fennel's remaining vision swam suddenly and she tipped forward, almost falling facedown into the white blaze wreathing the unconscious assassin. From nowhere, Fez had appeared and had caught her body to hold her back, pointing to their rear to indicate an escape route. He managed to pick her up and fireman-carry her bloody body out, all while she tried to wake up, climb off the man she loved, and leap knife-first onto the snow leopard so that shadowed demon could drag them both down to Hell. They were out into the two escape trucks and the wolf's car, all which promptly took off towards the north to find the safehouse. The black being wreathed in flames stepped closer, peeking out of the window hole for a moment before turning and absorbing all the fire into its body with a long exhale of effort and collapse of its own onto hand and knees. Shape and coloration returned to its form; hooded jacket and denim pants with weathered shoes. "Good grief, that was close...", it said as it pulled the hood it wore back to reveal the mask-like pattern and bright yellow eyes of Tom Blackberry. Before anything else, he hurried over to Kari's body and looked over it with his mage sight, his grimace looking worse as he marked trouble spots. "What the hell are you made of, Tracy?" he thought aloud, checking problem areas thoroughly before even thinking of moving her. It was when he saw below her rib cage that he saw it, the seperation and wicked angle it held. "Oh no... oh shit.. Uhh... I gotta get you out of here and fast." he muttered and crouched low to get his arms under her. She wasn't heavy, but it was still a body and Tom grunted with effort before getting her up into his arms without too much jostling, marching out to a featureless parking area with nothing but trees and the fencing surrounding that. The raccoon knew that the police or worse would be here any minute, any second. Tom carefully laid her back down and climbed inside his mind to enact a strong and complex magic. "Dammit, only one thing for it... sorry, Tracy, you can kill me later for this." he said as he suffused magic to his fingertip, a sparkling blue energy gathering there, cupping her head with the other. He exhaled and closed his eyes, concentrating on the visual in his head, the memory of spotting her earlier, where she'd possibly looked and, most importantly, came from. Dream-fasting was not a dangerous magic, but required focus, and Tom often lacked this when times were dire. He inhaled sharply and touched her temple, closing his eyes to see more than anyone could.
A tidal wave of memories seized his body all at once and tumbled him violently thru a riptide of dizzying emotions. There were houses, stairwells, people, adults, groups of other children, physical trauma, firework emotions exploding wild across Tom's mind as it struggled to reach the surface. He felt elation, thrills, bitter regrets, passionate excitement from many kinds of first times, sadness at many things, outward and inwards. The positivity brought his own mind clarity enough to further his dive to memories more recent, but he found himself off the weightless crash of water and was now standing in a warehouse, looking around and smelling. A distant lit panel seemed to hold something he was thinking about needing, and he moved to hurry, only to encounter a slick surface and fall onto his back. He got up fast, blinking on his mage sight, only to gasp and take in the whole room. Blood, dead people, knives, guns, bullets and casings, all of them heaped into a humanoid shape sitting with in an easy repose, the head veiled in shadows or stains, impossible to tell. Tom ran for it as fast as he could, looking ahead now to see an old house his mind refused to recognize no matter how he tried. They were in there, he had to save them, he knew it. The massive corpse golem began reaching for him, emitting a low hollow scream that was growing louder. Tom was much shorter now, but he reached the Door, stumbling into the hallway that led to his main garden. A giant hand tore thru the unseen ceiling and groped madly for him. He cried out and crawled out of the way, running towards his own room as the howling sound grew so loud, it began to hurt.. the door wouldn't open! He slammed into it again and again, still in the form of a little raccoon boy, tears filling his eyes as the hand barreled towards him, and then CLICK! it opened, and he dove inside to land face first onto cold earth and grass, amidst tall trees now. He turned and saw the hand of the slain and the half-built apartment complex, and two people in the distance, one looking right at him--
Tom's eyes slowly stopped shining sky-blue and slowly eased back to yellow. He had fallen asleep sitting up, and felt the dried tears at his cheeks. He turned to look at the unconscious snow leopard. "Sky and stars... just who are you, Kari?" he said, the memories fresh as yesterday in his mind. It would wear off within a day, but he had bigger things to worry about. A quick frisking of her person found the car keys and, even better, her phone. The raccoon hesitated for a moment before turning it on and sighed in relief. No lock, plenty of power, and a 5G connection of all things. He pocketed these things, and lifted Kari up now, his mind and senses still shaking off the somatic connection of the magic. He closed one eye and concentrated on two things: his own appearance, and the direction he'd seen, only backwards. The car was quickly located and the feline woman was carefully laid across the seats. After some tight securing over her body with the seatbelts, he climbed in, adjusted the seat, and started the Harper up, trying to calmly set things up with the phone. He cleared his throat and licked at dry lips before hitting the Tekster icon. "Ok, Tekster, go home." No response, so Tom waited and tried again. "Tekster, home." he said emphatically. Still no reaction, and the panic was prickling at the back of his throat now. "Tekster, navigate home! Tekster, respond." Silence, the kind that crushes the will to live, but he calmed down and looked closer. It was the right icon, the mic was showing a wavelength. "Tekster." The wavelength wiggled mutely and Tom furrowed his brow. "Hold on, I didn't... oh WAIT a second!" he barked, going to the small top menu. It was set on silent, and he changed it to full volume while setting his own impatient growl even higher. "You are certifiable, you know that?" the raccoon shouted at the knocked-out assassin in the back seat, "You're CERTIFIABLE! TEKSTER, TAKE ME HOME, FOR FUCKS SAKE." [Okay, finding directions for.. Nome.. Alaska, Twin Lakes. Would you like me to--] The angered yelling and hollering was muted by the windows, but still fairly audible to the indifferent would outside of car as it pulled off down the access road and towards the marked destination. It was almost an hour later that he'd managed the six mile trip into the forest and up the special path, somehow managing to find her house, park the car, and begin to carefully extract her. Her breath wasn't coming as fast now, and Tom laid a palm gently to her chest. The pulse was faint, far apart, and lessening. Fear chased adrenaline thru his body, and the limp woman now seemed nearly weightless in his grasp "We gotta get you upstairs, get these wounds looked at!" he said aloud, not caring if she woke now, "Stay with me, Kari, you're almost home safe!" And, with one firm push against the opened door, they were inside and he was heading upstairs one foot at a time, nearly cratering the floor with each heavy efforted step.
Time seemed to creep by in her mind, an anaesthetic tiptoe of seconds into minutes into hours, and incremental moments beyond. She had been dreaming off and on about things; flying, swimming, feeling like she was stoned, or when the time she got lost when the house was being negotiated on... fleeting visuals of her parents. It was a strange world she was occupying, pieces of everything she'd known, all while her body felt stiff and itchy as she moved. It was sometime around remembering her school that she became aware of the effervescent sound of an electric guitar playing somewhere. She went peeked into Gulliman's classroom, only to find it wasn't there anymore, replaced instead by long, comforting fields of tall grass, its color that relaxing darker shade of green. She walked out into it, feeling as though strands of her were being snagged on the vegetation and drifting out of her, pleasantly pulling away who she was to replace it with the snow leopard as she currently felt. Her clothes and pelt peeled away, leaving a skinless nightmare of a living visual of the bodily systems to come up next to the source of the shapeless music. Tom turned at looked her up and down, grinning a little as he kept playing "Hm, nice gastrocnemiusi, good tone." he said. "Well, of course they are, I don't do lunges for nothing." she replied, looking at her own hands for a bit, and the curious motion of the muscles and bones and ligaments. Each pulse of her heart was tangible all over her body. "Am I dead?" Kari asked after a moment. Tom shook his head, switching to block chords. "No, you are asleep, but when you wake up, it'll all come back to you." Kari sat down, looking over the grass peacefully for a minute or so, but she suddenly got back and started looking around. "Wait a minute, I got knocked out! I fell-- the fight! I have to wake up." "And you will, right after you promise me something." She silently looked him over for a moment. "Promise what? I have to go, they're... I THINK THEY'RE IN MY HOUSE!" she shouted, checking her body for a weapon. "Oh shit, I-- KARI JUST PROMISE YOU WO-Ohhhh!" She had already vanished, and the dream began to fade all at once. Tom rubbed his face with a tired sigh, feeling himself melting back into reality beyond. "She's gonna be mad." he said plainly, leaving the place behind for now.
Her eyes snapped open and she felt like three people were sitting on her. Sight rapidly adjusted to the semi-darkness of the room, only lit from the banker's lamp on her desk, and she looked around to only see the raccoon, waving placidly at her and sitting in her chair. "What's happening? How did I get here, why can I barely move, was it a stun gun or something? I hit the ground and blacked out, what happened to- mnnhh?!" Tom had pressed a finger to her lips with a soft shushing sound in an attempt to ease her nerves, but she locked eyes on his and let out a guttural growl. "I will bite it OFF." "Okay! Right, sorry, that was to calm you down, just a bit to recollect, is it working?" "Nooo!" she fired back incredulously, still trying to move. Kari paused suddenly and checked under her sheet to notice only the barest details her body could offer, and her temper redlined again. "OHHH, you are DEAD MEAT, asshole! C'mere, get... I swear, you'll- nggh!" the assassin tried again and again to move more than her hands and head, but it was like her limbs and torso weighed a ton each; she could barely flex her fingers to make a fist, though she dearly wished to use one and then some. "Look, you, I'm gonna work up the strength to get back up and vivisectify you, so before that happens, you'd better start explaining, it will make an exquisite epitaph, I'm sure." The bloodlust coming off her was nearly suffocating and Tom cleared his throat a bit to bide time on where to start. Finally, he exhaled and tried to sum up. "Without getting too into it, I can use magic." he said in plain tones. Kari sneered, laying her head back down. "Great, I've been immobilized by a hippie." "No no, I mean it, here-", and Tom snapped his fingers to produce a single ball of flame as big as a cherry and in the flickering shape of a teardrop. Kari's eyes widened, then began to scan his arm. "Alright, I seen this bit before, where's the fuel line and the mechanism." "Kari, it's the real deal, I could make one much bigger, but this room of yours is... well, it's a mess!" He wasn't wrong. She strained again and again, trying to sit up, but Tom talked her down. "Easy there, you're gonna have to stay in bed for another nite or so." "Anoth-- what? When was that battle, how long has it been." "About a day and a half. I've been healing your body after it was rather grievously brutalized in that fight." Her head started to swim at all the details and updates, but one fact poked out in her mind. "...how did you learn my real name." she demanded, rather than asked. Tom held up his left hand, the aura of dark blue magic covering it in backlit neon indigo. "Do you remember when you passed out from the impact?" "I'm starting to, yeah. I went down rough and must've rang my bell pretty hard to get taken out of the fight." Tom got up to move around the room. "Well, in addition to probing gently into your memories to find your keys and home, I was awash in many other memories, and that was the name people called you." The more she heard, the less it made sense. She tried to give the right questions a press, experiencing her own brain whirlwind. "We'll leave the trust issue for later, when I can make sure of it physically, but why not just shake me awake, it's not hard." Tom closed his eyes, opening them again to reveal the yellow shafts of light from his mage-sight, getting an honest gasp of surprise from her. "Sorry, I'll just-" Blink. "-turn those off. I have special sight that allows me to see many things, including thru flesh." "But not clothes?" she asked, her ear flicking angrily. "... well, I can, okay? I'd never think of abusing that side of the power." "Heaven forbid." she grunted, losing a bit of the anger, but still irritated and deeply confused, "So, why the eyes?" "You looked like someone ran you over with a bus and there was this big tear in your clothes anyways, I saw the body armor." Her mind went back to the question. "And this has to do with you not wanting to jostle me to wake me up HOW?" she asked in mild sarcasm. "I was getting to that," he replied, lacing his fingers and leaning elbows on his knees with another exhale, "See... in order to apply my healing magic, I've had to learn baseline understanding of some bodily systems- cardiovascular, muscle, skeletal, basic shit." Kari was watching him with more attention now, still unbelieving about magic really existing. "Go on." she said, since he was seeming hesitant. "Well, 4th lumbar had pretty much nearly separated in the impact, along with hairline fracturing along the 6th and 7th. Kari, you couldn't move or feel anything I'd have done to wake you up because *you couldn't move or feel anything,* at least below your neck." The air went very still for the moment, the snow leopard staring at the fan above slowly rotating. Part of her training had involved electroshock doses to make the most of a partially paralyzed situation, but that sensation was different from when she'd fallen. She'd felt encased, latent motion in her muscles instantly become zero, a wide-awake bodily slumber. It sank in slowly at first, then pushed in hard all the way. She had been paralyzed, from the neck down, almost a brain in a jar. She would've been taken by those gangers by now, buried under horrible experiences before facing execution by the Bear himself. She felt a touch of hyperventilation coming on, but managed to calm her pulse and breathing. "So, that is what you are trying to fix in me, with your healing magic?" she asked finally. Tom nodded, looking up from staring at the floor for a while. "I mean, it's practically all done, and it was careful, gradual, continous work, almost six hours of it total, with two and half being near-continuous." He didn't mean to yawn here, but he did. "Luckily, your skull was fine, just had a contusion from where you thwacked it. See, neuro damage is wh-" "I'm sorry to cut you off, but you said your name was Hugo when we first met, that can't have been your real name." Tom's ears wiggled a little in confusion, then shrugged with a smile. "Well, I could say the same for you, Tracy. No, my name's Tom, Tom Blackberry, but my middle name IS Hugo." "Tom, there's a wastepaper basket by my desk," she began, scooching up into a sitting position slowly, miraculously to the biomancers eyes, "Take the bag out of it, put in the one below it, and bring it here quickly.. I'm going to be sick." He darted over to follow these instructions fast, and was back in record time with the lined bucket. "Here, think you can hold this yourself?" he inquired encouragingly. Kari knit her brow for a moment and began to lift her arms, both feeling like they were weighed down with 50 lbs. of unmixed concrete. They slowly raised, zombie-like, and accepted the container just in time as her breathing hitched and she vomited raggedly into it, pausing a moment before heaving again and laying back limply, handing it back to him slowly. "Okay... okay, I think that's got it, I don't feel sick anymore." She went on to ask for a water bottle on her desk to gargle and rinse her mouth out before deflating completely. "That's all I've got, sorry." "Hey, no no, you've made remarkable time in recuperating. I can keep healing you a little more tonite, once I get this removed." and he carefully held up the basket. "Downstairs, kitchen, under the counter by the fridge," the snow leopard instructed, "And bring up a can of Purple Burpler with you, my stomach is doing flip-flops." "Sure thing, be right back." These instructions were followed too, and he brought two sodas instead, backing into the room. "Here, hope you don't mind-- ooh." Kari was completely passed out, snoring lightly with her head turned at an odd angle. The raccoon grinned a little and went to get her situated, then took a seat in the office chair to keep a vigil on her, just in case. It was almost 4 by the time he finally fell asleep, and when this happened, Kari's eye flashed open and she nimbly, silently got out of the bed and tiptoed carefully to a second backpack she had hidden. "I hope he isn't mad about this." she wished quietly, pulling a roll of Kong Tape and glancing at him over her shoulder, "But if he's seen my memories, then he knows I can't take chances."
​
end of chapter 2.

Planning a trip to the PNW for our family and could use some advice on where to target. It will be 2 adults and 2 children, depending on if it's this year or the future the kids would be 2 and 5. Length of trip is a little bit flexible, but wouldn't be more than a week. We would be looking to explore the city/cities a bit, especially if there are kid centric activities (zoo/aquarium, children's museum, etc). A big part of what we are looking for is the outdoors piece, hiking in the rainforests, finding waterfalls, seeing local wildlife, I don't think anyone is sad to see a whale...
Based on flight availability we would likely be flying in/out of Portland and would be getting a rental car. We typically prefer AirBnB type accommodations when traveling with our kids, would be open to renting a cabin or something along those lines as well. Kids do pretty well on car rides, so traveling between Portland and Seattle isn't a major concern, but we definitely don't want to spend our whole trip in the car either!
Any input or ideas on where to base our trip or how to split the time is super appreciated. Thanks!

We recently moved into a new apartment on the 15th of May. Since moving in we have discovered numerous issues and they are not easy issues to deal with. This is a 2/2 and I’m paying $1275 a month for it.
To start off, the air conditioner barely blows out of two rooms and doesn’t blow out of the other rooms at all. It will not get the apartment under 79 degree F, so sleeping and just sitting in the apartment has been quite miserable. The unit is also running constantly to just keep it at 79 so we can even inhabit the building. I know this is going to cause me to have a high electric bill. The unit needs to be completely replaced as the a/c unit is ancient. We have heard nothing from our landlord about a timeline for this getting replaced and it’s causing me and my boyfriend to struggle sleeping because it’s so hot, even with all the windows open at night. It’s Florida it’s hot.
We also have discovered a pretty bad termite infestation in the kitchen. I can clean the droppings and wings out of the cabinets and drawers and sweep the floors clean and the next day it will look like I didn’t even clean. Allegedly the place was treated for termites in early March and the landlord said that it should be improving but it isn’t. The termite wings have now appeared on my entertainment center in our living room so I’m concerned that they are going to start ruining my furniture cause the landlord did not make sure that the infestation was gone before we moved in. She said she has called for pest control but we have no update on when they are coming either.
The communication on these issues has been very lacking as two guys randomly showed up one morning to look at the ac unit and we were not expecting them. It’s been very difficult to be excited and happy about our new apartment it’s all of these major issues going on. The landlord had not lived there or been to the unit only the contractor they hired to renovate the unit has been there since they left in February so they did not know about they ac not working until we moved in and we’re miserable.
Basically I just want to know if this would be a valid reason to ask for a discount on rent this month?

Obviously, spoilers on the entire game here. For context, I have been playing Zelda since 2014 with Twilight Princess as my first game. Since then I have played Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, Link's Awakening, and I am about halfway through Ocarina of Time. Because of my obvious bias towards more traditional 3D Zelda games (I enjoyed Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess the most) I will try to be as impartial as possible.
I tried so hard to like this game. I had my doubts at the beginning, but after watching the new trailer it sold me on the game. I didn't like some aspects of Breath of the Wild, but after seeing the new enemies and hopefully a return to a more traditional zelda game that people missed while keeping the awesome open world of Breath of the Wild I really thought it was going to be great. And some parts of it were, but some parts of it I did not like.
Firstly, I would like to congratulate Nintendo because the physics relating to the Ultrahand mechanic blew everyone away, including me, and it is clear that Tears of the Kingdom has some of the best physics and building of any video game out there. The amount of creativity that has sprung from this game is mindblowing, and I don't think any of us expected for there to be simply so much to do. Not only are there almost 30 devices you can obtain each with their own unique purpose, you can also combine them with almost anything you can find in the game. Want to make a stupidly long bridge that can get you around the temple of time at the start of the game? Why not? Want to skip the main puzzle in the shrine by haphazardly building a flying machine that just barely makes it to the end? Go right ahead. Ultrahand allows for so much creativity and makes the new shrines ten times more enjoyable than the ones in Breath of the Wild. Because of this, there is an infinite amount of replayability in this game and the community will always be finding new things to do with this. Judging from how you all pushed Breath of the Wild to its limits, I can't wait to see what will be done in this game. Ultrahand gets a 20/10.
Additionally, Fuse and Recall are also insanely fun and useful abilities that add so much to the game. While I miss the Stasis rune in particular, Recall and Ultrahand can be used in a similar way if done correctly, and it's so much more satisfying when you do it correctly. While Recall doesn't have as many uses as Fuse and Ultrahand, the game still finds great ways to use it, such as sending a Stone Talus' boulders back at it, or knocking those horrible Horriblins down from the cave ceiling. Additionally, I am extremely happy with how Nintendo fixed Durability with the Fuse mechanic. While the durability annoyed me less than some of the others who played Breath of the Wild, my main complaint was wasting several of my good weapons on an enemy like a Silver Bokoblin or Lynel that had a huge healthbar, and only getting one (or sometimes none) good weapons in return. However, with the guarantee that you will usually be able to get an equally powerful or sometimes even better weapon after killing an enemy by fusing their horns to any random "sturdy stick", I don't hesitate to fight Silver enemies or Lynels anymore and I feel much more free to do so. Both of these abilites get a 10/10.
My third compliment goes to the game's shrines. I disliked Breath of the Wild's shrines. I found them tedious and annoying to do, and often skipped them or looked up the answers online. Especially when your only reward was a piece of heart or tiny fraction of a stamina wheel, I just clicked on them to save them as a travel checkpoint and moved on. Even their design was ugly to me. However, the new shrines are much better. While they are easier than Breath of the Wild's shrines, the rewards are a little less lucrative to balance it out and they are so much more fun to do because of how they creatively use the new abilites and allow for a multitude of different ways to solve problems. Many people do not like the "Proving Grounds" shrines, but I absolutely love them because they are a real challenge and I don't have to worry about losing 50 bomb arrows or several good weapons for a "Guardian Sword ++" and some ancient screws. Even if I die five times trying to complete them, I still have fun. And aesthetically they are so much better, the look of the temple, the texture of the lights of blessing, even the music feels a lot less claustrophobic and drab like the ones in Breath of the Wild did. 9/10.
Fourthly, the Great Sky Island was absolutely amazing and I loved every second of it. It felt just like it did when I played Breath of the Wild for the first time, being plunged into an unknown and untouched environment and having to learn the mechanics of this new game. The Zonai Constructs don't carry the same fear level as Guardians did, but they were still cool enemies to fight with drops that were actually helpful unlike the Ancient Screws and Springs which only became helpful late-game. I obviously can't go through every part of the island, but the parts I enjoyed the best were crossing the huge lake to the west, climbing the snowy mountain to get to a shrine where I unsuccessfully attempted to craft a hovercraft out of logs, going on Minecarts around the island, and fusing random crap to sticks to make the most ridiculous weapons possible. 9/10.
My last compliment goes to the introduction of Gloom into the game. When it is first introduced, the Gloom is absolutely frightening, and plunging into the depths for the first time was beyond scary. Malice was an annoying obstacle that you just jumped across until you got to where you needed to be and ate a few foods, but you are forced to avoid the Gloom in this game because you know that it will be catastrophic if you walk in it for too long because the only cure is an extremely rare flower that can only be found in the sky. I just wish that the lightroots either weren't so common, or didn't heal your healthbar, because it kind of subtracted the fear aspect a little bit. The way it actually destroyed your heart containers in the final battle against Ganondorf instead of rendering them unusable for a little while was another surprise I did not expect, and killing the Demon Dragon with a single heart was the best moment of the game for me. 8/10.
Some other minor things I liked:
• Gleeoks are amazing bosses, better than any of the bosses in Breath of the Wild OR Tears of the Kingdom apart from the Ganondorf fight, easy 10/10
• While the Wind Temple wasn't my favorite, I did enjoy the Rito Village quest in the beginning and the leadup to the Wind Temple where you flew with Tulin to the very top. 9/10.
• Pizza?! I loved the introduction of Tomatoes and Cheese into the game! Shame you couldn't do more with them. 7/10.
• The Master Kohga battles were very good. While he was still easy to kill once he was stunned, it is another instance of Ultrahand and Link's other new abilities putting a creative and spicy twist on an old fight. Autobuild was also a lifesaver. 9/10.
• The second stage of the Ganondorf bossfight was probably the most fun I've had with a boss since Twilight Princess. It felt actually challenging in a way that could only be compared to the Gleeok Battles. It was so hard to even get a single hit into his massive healthbar when he could dodge more than 90% of your shots and destroy your health bar. Probably shouldn't have gone in without upgrading any of my armor but doing that was so tedious :p 20/10.
Now that I've talked about what was great about Tears of the Kingdom, here is the stuff I disliked about the game. While I think that the people who call this game an "overpriced DLC" are not arguing in good faith, I can see their point. Much of Breath of the Wild's structure was carried over into Tears of the Kingdom and it felt like I was redoing the same things I did in the old game, just with a new texture and a slightly different story.
Because of how insanely complicated it must have been to put Ultrahand in the game, it was clear that that was what Nintendo spent most of their time on when making Tears of the Kingdom, going for a more creative approach rather than a return to the traditional like I had hoped. And while this was a perfectly valid thing to do that clearly made a lot of people happy, it just wasn't what I wanted, and the final trailers for the game feel like they were marketing a different game than they were actually selling. When they went above and beyond with Link's new abilities, it left other aspects of the game such as combat, story, gameplay, and the structure of the game itself lacking and awfully familiar, if not the same, as Breath of the Wild.
Now that I've talked about what was great about Tears of the Kingdom, here is the stuff I disliked about the game. While I think that the people who call this game an "overpriced DLC" are not arguing in good faith, I can see their point. Much of Breath of the Wild's structure was carried over into Tears of the Kingdom and it felt like I was redoing the same things I did in the old game, just with a new texture and a slightly different story.
Because of how insanely complicated it must have been to put Ultrahand in the game, it was clear that that was what Nintendo spent most of their time on when making Tears of the Kingdom, going for a more creative approach rather than a return to the traditional like I had hoped. And while this was a perfectly valid thing to do that clearly made a lot of people happy, it just wasn't what I wanted, and the final trailers for the game feel like they were marketing a different game than they were actually selling. When they went above and beyond with Link's new abilities, it left other aspects of the game such as combat, story, gameplay, and the structure of the game itself lacking and awfully familiar, if not the same, as Breath of the Wild.
My biggest issue with this game is the story. I disliked almost every part of it. We start out with a very solid intro scene where we meet shriveled Ganondorf and Zelda disappears. Then we see her disappear as she steals our half of a master sword at the end of the Great Sky Island. However, the game then leads us into a wild goose chase to find Zelda for almost the entire game until near the end when we go inside Hyrule Castle. This was fine in Skyward Sword because Zelda was much more likable and it only took up half of the game. I felt like "I have to save Zelda. I have to." in SS and in Tears of the Kingdom I was like "Let's just get this over already." Additionally, the Upheaval which is apparently the placeholder of the Calamity in BOTW just feels like not a threat at all. The castle rose into the air and a few meteors came down and crashed into Kakariko village. The mud in the water doesn't seem to be affecting the Zora much at all, the Gerudo seem relatively unharmed by the Gibdos, only retreating into an underground bunker, and we have almost no time to see how the rock roast affects the Gorons before Yunobo is saved. The only place where I felt any sense of urgency was in Rito Village where the town was starving and abandoned the children to their fate because they're the worst parents ever or something. I enjoyed saving Rito village. The others not so much. And let's not even talk about the Sages. 3/4 of them we had already interacted with heavily in the previous games, which was another reason I liked the Rito quest so much. Yunobo is still as weak and annoying as ever, nothing has changed with Riju, and Sidon is so boring and lifeless comparing to the other game. As we go into the dungeons we have four conversations that are, quite literally, copy and pasted into each one voiced by the blandest sages ever.
"Come, Come" (Random Sage)
"Did you hear that voice?" (Yunobo, Sidon, Riju, Tulin)
and when we get to the end of the dungeon
"X, I am your ancestor from a long time ago. I was the sage of x. Descendant you make me proud. The monster you killed tried to stop you from obtaining my secret stone. Once upon a time there was a great war where the Demon King tried to kill us and Rauru gave us all secret stones but he was too strong so Rauru sacrificed himself to seal him away. And then Zelda appeared to me and told me that it was the duty of the x to aid you Link."
"So it's my duty to... help you? Now take my scary ghost form with a useless ability (besides tulin) to follow you around the rest of your journey!"
These cutscenes weren't disappointing. I hated them. As a person who loves the story so much they never skip a single cutscene these I physically couldn't watch. Everything about them was awful. The completely dry, lifeless, unneccesary sages which don't even have a name or a face and talk like NPCs or someone from an awful anime episode and say the exact same thing four times over, the empty void we are surrounded in, the cutscene we have to watch four times over, the robotic responses that come from the sages, everything about it was horrible and it feels like Nintendo was trying to reinsert the champions in the game but these are such a worse downgrade from them. At the end of the game I was like "ok... I give this a 7/10" and then the horrible after-credits scene with the four sages came in where they repeated the robotic speech from one of the memories and if that was supposed to be a meaningful scene it certainly was not.
Zelda's sacrifice probably would have meant so much more to me if the rest of the story hadn't frustrated me so much. But it feels like it meant nothing since the Demon King is such a non-threat compared to Calamity Ganon. Calamity Ganon devastated Hyrule, destroying most of the villages and probably killing half of the people there, and murdering 4 of the best characters in Zelda history who meant so much to their people that statues were built for them. In comparison, Ganondorf levitated a castle in the air and added some poo to Zora's domain. It ruins Zelda's moment so much because it would have been so beautiful if it felt like she was sacrificing herself for something meaningful. It frustrates me to no end because Ganondorf was a villain I was so hyped about and he's shriveled about 90% of the game and only appears three times, once in the beginning, once as a vision in Hyrule Castle, and once at the end, and only one of them is fully revived Ganondorf. In fact, we only see this version of Ganondorf for a third of the final bossfight. We need more Ganondorf! At least add a sixth dungeon to the game below Hyrule Castle where Ganondorf appears after, or maybe he appears before we get the Master Sword. We just needed more of Ganondorf and more of him being a threat to Hyrule.
Another complaint are the sages. I already stated that three out of the four sages had already been fleshed out in a previous game and not much was added to their personalities this time around. Why couldn't we have gotten new people? Maybe make Muzu a sage, we always like having an old man around, or give Barta/Bullaria some importance for the Gerudo and hand over the torch to one of those young Gorons that always follow Yunobo around. It would have been so much fun to have new characters. The sages add absolutely nothing to the experience of this game besides showing up in the awful cutscenes and it just feels like they're trying to repeat what they had in the last game. If they're going to do that, at least do it with someone new so it doesn't feel like I have to replay the game again. We already helped these people with their character growth in the last game. We know that Riju is insecure about her place as the Gerudo chief, and we helped her be more respected after retriveing the Thunder Helm and calming Naboris. We know that Sidon feels a sense of duty to his domain after what happened to his sister, and we spend time with him getting shock arrows, obtaining the Zora armor, and travelling around Lanayru with him until we got to Zora's domain. We helped Yunobo gain his confidence after he accompained us by firing himself at Rudania. These characters went through almost no development except for Tulin (again showing what Nintendo did right with Rito Village) because he's a new character.
Finally, the memories. Why did there have to be memories again. It would have been such an easy shift from Breath of the Wild, to give us a new main quest. While I was not a big fan of the time travel arc that Zelda went through, it was still workable, but there was no reason to have these stupid memories again. We saw so much of past Ganon and so little of present Ganon. I don't care what happened to the Goat Man and how the Kingdom of Hyrule was formed. Half of those memories were not essential to the plot and were just filler content. In particular, the one with Mineru just spoils Zelda's sacrifice altogether. Mineru as a whole just feels like such an annoying character and I would have much rathered a sheikah sage or even a korok.
While I criticize much of this game for remaining the same as BOTW, the story was one of the only aspects where it was a clear downgrade. So much of what was shown in the trailers hyped this game to be an impactful, story-filled game and many of these scenes are from memories, which I absolutely hate, and one of the scenes with Ganondorf wasn't even in the actual game, just a scene melded together from a memory and the speech at the end!
And why on earth did they call them secret stones. It was so cringe. It felt like something I would hear from a ten year old's cartoon show and I don't know why they insisted calling them that when we have a much better name for them that is in the TITLE OF THE GAME.
All in all, the story gets a 2/10.
Another issue I have with this game is Ascend and how it affects our experience in the dungeons. I liked the Lightning Temple, the Fire Temple and Wind Temple were okay, and the Water Temple was just plain awful. I saw a post about someone complaining about the puzzles in TOTK being too hard and I saw someone respond "If they think these puzzles are hard, I can't imagine them playing Twilight Princess." And I wholeheartedly believe that. While I'm not trying to make this review a comparison to Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, games which are completely different from this one, the puzzles in this game were either super easy or required us to do something that no one would have thought of. I was stuck in the Lightning Temple on two different points, one where the mirrors seemed to reflect to nothing in particular (what you had to do was grab a spare mirror from another room and fuse it to the statue so that it would face the right way which was a random solution that I didn't expect but I actually enjoyed) and another where I had no idea how to get to the last terminal and I looked around for 20 minutes until I looked it up online and found that I ascended into a place I wasn't supposed to and I actually had to teleport out of the temple to a nearby shrine, travel back to the temple on foot, go through another entrance I hadn't gone through, go through a really long tunnel to get to the terminal I should have gone to first. In a game which prioritizes open world exploration and being able to do anything you wanted, this haphazard "linearity" inside the lightning temple really ruined the experience of a dungeon I otherwise enjoyed. Which leads me to my point on Ascend. While Recall, Fuse, and Ultrahand add to this game in so many amazing and dynamic ways, Ascend just feels like something they added because they needed a fourth ability and a way to get out of caves. It allows so many dungeons to be cheesed and using it in the Lightning Temple made the experience so much more complicated than it needed to be. Apart from caves, every other place where you needed to use ascend could have been done with Revali's gale (rest in peace) or a bonfire + hylian pine cone, or any of the other devices that came with ultrahand.
The uses made for it in the Great Sky Island and in other places felt forced and the developers could have easily come up with another creative way to do this without ascend. I just wish that Ascend and Autobuild were disabled inside temples because it would have made things so much better. The companions also make the temples much more annoying because half the time all you're doing is waiting for Riju or Sidon to stop standing in a random corner and walk up to you. Especially in the Water Temple where your ability was on a time limit, this was especially annoying. The Water and Wind Temples felt like big sky islands and not dungeons. The Snowpeak Ruins in Twilight Princess and the Sandship in Skyward Sword are both excellent examples about how to turn something unconventional into an excellent dungeon, but these temples fail in so many ways. Not only is it so easy to get around the entire dungeon with a paraglider and Tulin that makes it possible to complete the dungeon in under 30 minutes on your first playthrough, the puzzles were so easy and the Wind Temple's boss in particular was so easy to kill despite it looking so fearsome. The Mud Octorok was actually a great boss that I have no complaints about, but the rest of the temple was really awful, with most of the puzzles simply being chalked up to "redirect this floating water bubble somewhere else so you can get to a terminal." The terminal thing returning was also something that was a huge letdown. There was no reason to continue it from Breath of the Wild, especially when the Divine Beast dungeons were such a huge complaint, when they could have added a system of small keys, miniboss, maybe even a new ultrahand ability similar to the ones we got from the sages to replace having a companion with you that you would be able to use across the dungeon. This would have turned the Lightning Temple from a 7/10 dungeon to an easy 9/10 or even 10/10 and would have improved my outlook on the other dungeons a lot more, particularly the fire temple, which was so great aesthetically but the gameplay and puzzles simply were not. While I liked the Lightning Temple and to a lesser extent the Fire Temple and the bossfights were much better, I found myself enjoying the Divine Beasts more than the Wind and Water Temples, and many of the bosses were such pushovers. The dungeons in this game get a 4/10.
I have a number of other smaller complaints. First is that I really wished there were more food and armor options. A return to the "meat skewers" and "fried wild greens" let me down a bit as I was hoping for more variance on food, especially after they added new items like stambulbs and tomatoes that I thought would replace the existing items. I mean, we had a whole sidequest dedicated to discovering Cheese and there's only three recipes for it! (as far as I know) Additionally, I wouldn't have been upset if they gave us the same effects for armor as before, just with a new name and texture. Like maybe they could have slightly updated the look of the Hylian set like they did with the Champion's tunic, or we could have the full Sheikah uniform instead of the Stealth armor, or a Lightning Helmet that actually looked different instead of one that reused the exact same texture as the thunder helm. New monsters such as Horriblins, Aerocudas, and Boss Bokoblins added some great new fights to the game, and I wouldn't have even cared if they reused the same enemies, but the way they attack is the exact same as in Breath of the Wild, which left the combat a little predictable and I was able to kill a Gloom Lynel first try. The only battles that really challenged me were against the Gleeoks, one of the best bosses in all of Zelda history.
My last issue with this game is that I really don't understand what vibe they were going for. Majora's Mask was twisted and disturbing. Twilight Princess was dark and gloomy. Skyward Sword was bright and hopeful. Breath of the Wild was free and really emphasized nature. But with Tears of the Kingdom, they really seem to be doing five things at once and accomplishing none of them. They try to put an emphasis on the creative aspect by adding things like Zonai Tech to the beginning and adding new technologies like the batteries, factories, skyview towers, and other. Then they also try to make this game dark and scary by introducing some horrifying things like chasms, gloom hands, and underground areas. They made the game seem bright and sunny like Skyward Sword in the beginning with the Great Sky Island and the bright yellow color palette. Then they also try to keep the open-world aspect of Breath of the Wild by keeping this massive open world, but with nothing to do inside it since we've already seen most of the stuff in this game's nature areas apart from the new caves. I don't understand what the developers were trying to make this game feel like, and it feels like they tried to do too many things at once and failed to flesh out all of them. I would have loved to see a restored Hyrule that we could explore and I would have also loved to have a nature-filled world like in BOTW with new plants, foods, caves, animals, and areas to explore, but the Hyrule in TOTK seems like a haphazard mixture of both.
There's no incentive to explore this time around with only 3-4 new plants and animals in the overworld and only a few caves that only have Brightbloom seeds, bomb flowers, and bubblefrogs. I love the caves, but they seem a bit same-y over time and I have no intention to find them all. I can't even ride around Hyrule on a horse like in BOTW or in a car like the developers seem to want us to do because I run into those stupid Zonai rocks that are littered around every 5 seconds for no particular reason. All they do is make transportation annoying and I wonder why they went through the effort to put all of the sky island materials on the overworld by these ugly rocks instead of actually having more sky islands like we wanted. The Great Sky Island was undoubtedly the most solid part of Tears of the Kingdom's Hyrule, so why did they deincentivise sky exploration by having most of the sky materials on these fallen rocks?
All in all, Nintendo outdid themselves with the coding in this game, especially putting a massive title like this on the six-year-old Nintendo Switch. However, it was clear that they spent most of their time coding in these new mechanics and the writers clearly phoned in this time around with the worst story and dialogue I have seen in any Zelda game so far. Maybe putting in a completely new game on Breath of the Wild's massive world was too much to ask, but so much of Tears of the Kingdom either directly copies Breath of the Wild (four dungeons in the exact same lands, the exact same food, combat, armor, and people) or takes the same structure and retextures it (four terminals in a dungeon, memories, shrines, a quest to rebuild a village from scratch, "champions" that pass on their abilities to their successors, and those cursed Korok seeds) that I really found no reason to play this game after 100 hours because there was nothing new left to do besides a multitude of side quests that I didn't feel like doing because I had no attachment to this Hyrule like I did in Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Link's Awakening, and Breath of the Wild. Maybe I would have liked it more if I was a new player and hadn't played BOTW before, but the amount of content that was unnecessarily copied from the last game into this one really ruined the experience for me. All in all, this Zelda is a C+ for me, a 6.5/10. While it was more fun than the linear and small world of Link's Awakening, it couldn't compare with the story aspect of Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword or the feel of Breath of the Wild.
TLDR: While Nintendo went above and beyond with the new Ultrahand, Fuse, and Recall mechanics, it ultimately wasn't enough for me to save a game that had an extremely lacking story, underwhelming content and dungeons, and a multitude of side quests that was basically repeating everything you had done in 2017. If you're going to argue with me in the comments, please actually read the whole thing first.

We recently moved into a new apartment on the 15th of May. Since moving in we have discovered numerous issues and they are not easy issues to deal with. This is a 2/2 and I’m paying $1275 a month for it.
To start off, the air conditioner barely blows out of two rooms and doesn’t blow out of the other rooms at all. It will not get the apartment under 79 degree F, so sleeping and just sitting in the apartment has been quite miserable. The unit is also running constantly to just keep it at 79 so we can even inhabit the building. I know this is going to cause me to have a high electric bill. The unit needs to be completely replaced as the a/c unit is ancient. We have heard nothing from our landlord about a timeline for this getting replaced and it’s causing me and my boyfriend to struggle sleeping because it’s so hot, even with all the windows open at night. It’s Florida it’s hot.
We also have discovered a pretty bad termite infestation in the kitchen. I can clean the droppings and wings out of the cabinets and drawers and sweep the floors clean and the next day it will look like I didn’t even clean. Allegedly the place was treated for termites in early March and the landlord said that it should be improving but it isn’t. The termite wings have now appeared on my entertainment center in our living room so I’m concerned that they are going to start ruining my furniture cause the landlord did not make sure that the infestation was gone before we moved in. She said she has called for pest control but we have no update on when they are coming either.
The communication on these issues has been very lacking as two guys randomly showed up one morning to look at the ac unit and we were not expecting them. It’s been very difficult to be excited and happy about our new apartment it’s all of these major issues going on. The landlord had not lived there or been to the unit only the contractor they hired to renovate the unit has been there since they left in February so they did not know about they ac not working until we moved in and we’re miserable.
Basically I just want to know if this would be a valid reason to ask for a discount on rent this month?

01 here, bike is backfiring pretty bad but only on deceleration between 2-3k ish rpm. No problems at idle, acceleration, or cruising, just when I let off the gas. Rebuilt the carb and replaced the air cut off valve thinking that would fix it but doesn't seem to have made a difference. I do have an aftermarket exhaust with about a nickel sized hole in the side from a flying rock. Not sure if that could be my problem. Any suggestions appreciated.

Obviously, spoilers on the entire game here. For context, I have been playing Zelda since 2014 with Twilight Princess as my first game. Since then I have played Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, Link's Awakening, and I am about halfway through Ocarina of Time. Because of my obvious bias towards more traditional 3D Zelda games (I enjoyed Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess the most) I will try to be as impartial as possible.
I tried so hard to like this game. I had my doubts at the beginning, but after watching the new trailer it sold me on the game. I didn't like some aspects of Breath of the Wild, but after seeing the new enemies and hopefully a return to a more traditional zelda game that people missed while keeping the awesome open world of Breath of the Wild I really thought it was going to be great. And some parts of it were, but some parts of it I did not like.
Firstly, I would like to congratulate Nintendo because the physics relating to the Ultrahand mechanic blew everyone away, including me, and it is clear that Tears of the Kingdom has some of the best physics and building of any video game out there. The amount of creativity that has sprung from this game is mindblowing, and I don't think any of us expected for there to be simply so much to do. Not only are there almost 30 devices you can obtain each with their own unique purpose, you can also combine them with almost anything you can find in the game. Want to make a stupidly long bridge that can get you around the temple of time at the start of the game? Why not? Want to skip the main puzzle in the shrine by haphazardly building a flying machine that just barely makes it to the end? Go right ahead. Ultrahand allows for so much creativity and makes the new shrines ten times more enjoyable than the ones in Breath of the Wild. Because of this, there is an infinite amount of replayability in this game and the community will always be finding new things to do with this. Judging from how you all pushed Breath of the Wild to its limits, I can't wait to see what will be done in this game. Ultrahand gets a 20/10.
Additionally, Fuse and Recall are also insanely fun and useful abilities that add so much to the game. While I miss the Stasis rune in particular, Recall and Ultrahand can be used in a similar way if done correctly, and it's so much more satisfying when you do it correctly. While Recall doesn't have as many uses as Fuse and Ultrahand, the game still finds great ways to use it, such as sending a Stone Talus' boulders back at it, or knocking those horrible Horriblins down from the cave ceiling. Additionally, I am extremely happy with how Nintendo fixed Durability with the Fuse mechanic. While the durability annoyed me less than some of the others who played Breath of the Wild, my main complaint was wasting several of my good weapons on an enemy like a Silver Bokoblin or Lynel that had a huge healthbar, and only getting one (or sometimes none) good weapons in return. However, with the guarantee that you will usually be able to get an equally powerful or sometimes even better weapon after killing an enemy by fusing their horns to any random "sturdy stick", I don't hesitate to fight Silver enemies or Lynels anymore and I feel much more free to do so. Both of these abilites get a 10/10.
My third compliment goes to the game's shrines. I disliked Breath of the Wild's shrines. I found them tedious and annoying to do, and often skipped them or looked up the answers online. Especially when your only reward was a piece of heart or tiny fraction of a stamina wheel, I just clicked on them to save them as a travel checkpoint and moved on. Even their design was ugly to me. However, the new shrines are much better. While they are easier than Breath of the Wild's shrines, the rewards are a little less lucrative to balance it out and they are so much more fun to do because of how they creatively use the new abilites and allow for a multitude of different ways to solve problems. Many people do not like the "Proving Grounds" shrines, but I absolutely love them because they are a real challenge and I don't have to worry about losing 50 bomb arrows or several good weapons for a "Guardian Sword ++" and some ancient screws. Even if I die five times trying to complete them, I still have fun. And aesthetically they are so much better, the look of the temple, the texture of the lights of blessing, even the music feels a lot less claustrophobic and drab like the ones in Breath of the Wild did.
Fourthly, the Great Sky Island was absolutely amazing and I loved every second of it. It felt just like it did when I played Breath of the Wild for the first time, being plunged into an unknown and untouched environment and having to learn the mechanics of this new game. The Zonai Constructs don't carry the same fear level as Guardians did, but they were still cool enemies to fight with drops that were actually helpful unlike the Ancient Screws and Springs which only became helpful late-game. I obviously can't go through every part of the island, but the parts I enjoyed the best were crossing the huge lake to the west, climbing the snowy mountain to get to a shrine where I unsuccessfully attempted to craft a hovercraft out of logs, going on Minecarts around the island, and fusing random crap to sticks to make the most ridiculous weapons possible.
My last compliment goes to the introduction of Gloom into the game. When it is first introduced, the Gloom is absolutely frightening, and plunging into the depths for the first time was beyond scary. Malice was an annoying obstacle that you just jumped across until you got to where you needed to be and ate a few foods, but you are forced to avoid the Gloom in this game because you know that it will be catastrophic if you walk in it for too long because the only cure is an extremely rare flower that can only be found in the sky. I just wish that the lightroots either weren't so common, or didn't heal your healthbar, because it kind of subtracted the fear aspect a little bit. The way it actually destroyed your heart containers in the final battle against Ganondorf instead of rendering them unusable for a little while was another surprise I did not expect, and killing the Demon Dragon with a single heart was the best moment of the game for me.
Some other minor things I liked:

• Gleeoks are amazing bosses, better than any of the bosses in Breath of the Wild OR Tears of the Kingdom apart from the Ganondorf fight, easy 10/10
• While the Wind Temple wasn't my favorite, I did enjoy the Rito Village quest in the beginning and the leadup to the Wind Temple where you flew with Tulin to the very top. 9/10.
• Pizza?! I loved the introduction of Tomatoes and Cheese into the game! Shame you couldn't do more with them. 7/10.
• The Master Kohga battles were very good. While he was still easy to kill once he was stunned, it is another instance of Ultrahand and Link's other new abilities putting a creative and spicy twist on an old fight. Autobuild was also a lifesaver. 9/10.
• The second stage of the Ganondorf bossfight was probably the most fun I've had with a boss since Twilight Princess. It felt actually challenging in a way that could only be compared to the Gleeok Battles. It was so hard to even get a single hit into his massive healthbar when he could dodge more than 90% of your shots and destroy your health bar. Probably shouldn't have gone in without upgrading any of my armor but doing that was so tedious :p 20/10.

Now that I've talked about what was great about Tears of the Kingdom, here is the stuff I disliked about the game. While I think that the people who call this game an "overpriced DLC" are not arguing in good faith, I can see their point. Much of Breath of the Wild's structure was carried over into Tears of the Kingdom and it felt like I was redoing the same things I did in the old game, just with a new texture and a slightly different story.
Because of how insanely complicated it must have been to put Ultrahand in the game, it was clear that that was what Nintendo spent most of their time on when making Tears of the Kingdom, going for a more creative approach rather than a return to the traditional like I had hoped. And while this was a perfectly valid thing to do that clearly made a lot of people happy, it just wasn't what I wanted, and the final trailers for the game feel like they were marketing a different game than they were actually selling. When they went above and beyond with Link's new abilities, it left other aspects of the game such as combat, story, gameplay, and the structure of the game itself lacking and awfully familiar, if not the same, as Breath of the Wild.
My biggest issue with this game is the story. I disliked almost every part of it. We start out with a very solid intro scene where we meet shriveled Ganondorf and Zelda disappears. Then we see her disappear as she steals our half of a master sword at the end of the Great Sky Island. However, the game then leads us into a wild goose chase to find Zelda for almost the entire game until near the end when we go inside Hyrule Castle. This was fine in Skyward Sword because Zelda was much more likable and it only took up half of the game. I felt like "I have to save Zelda. I have to." in SS and in Tears of the Kingdom I was like "Let's just get this over already." Additionally, the Upheaval which is apparently the placeholder of the Calamity in BOTW just feels like not a threat at all. The castle rose into the air and a few meteors came down and crashed into Kakariko village. The mud in the water doesn't seem to be affecting the Zora much at all, the Gerudo seem relatively unharmed by the Gibdos, only retreating into an underground bunker, and we have almost no time to see how the rock roast affects the Gorons before Yunobo is saved. The only place where I felt any sense of urgency was in Rito Village where the town was starving and abandoned the children to their fate because they're the worst parents ever or something. I enjoyed saving Rito village. The others not so much. And let's not even talk about the Sages. 3/4 of them we had already interacted with heavily in the previous games, which was another reason I liked the Rito quest so much. Yunobo is still as weak and annoying as ever, nothing has changed with Riju, and Sidon is so boring and lifeless comparing to the other game. As we go into the dungeons we have four conversations that are, quite literally, copy and pasted into each one voiced by the blandest sages ever.
"Come, Come" (Random Sage)
"Did you hear that voice?" (Yunobo, Sidon, Riju, Tulin)
and when we get to the end of the dungeon
"X, I am your ancestor from a long time ago. I was the sage of x. Descendant you make me proud. The monster you killed tried to stop you from obtaining my secret stone. Once upon a time there was a great war where the Demon King tried to kill us and Rauru gave us all secret stones but he was too strong so Rauru sacrificed himself to seal him away. And then Zelda appeared to me and told me that it was the duty of the x to aid you Link."
"So it's my duty to... help you? Now take my scary ghost form with a useless ability (besides tulin) to follow you around the rest of your journey!"
These cutscenes weren't disappointing. I hated them. As a person who loves the story so much they never skip a single cutscene these I physically couldn't watch. Everything about them was awful. The completely dry, lifeless, unneccesary sages which don't even have a name or a face and talk like NPCs or someone from an awful anime episode and say the exact same thing four times over, the empty void we are surrounded in, the cutscene we have to watch four times over, the robotic responses that come from the sages, everything about it was horrible and it feels like Nintendo was trying to reinsert the champions in the game but these are such a worse downgrade from them. At the end of the game I was like "ok... I give this a 7/10" and then the horrible after-credits scene with the four sages came in where they repeated the robotic speech from one of the memories and if that was supposed to be a meaningful scene it certainly was not.
Zelda's sacrifice probably would have meant so much more to me if the rest of the story hadn't frustrated me so much. But it feels like it meant nothing since the Demon King is such a non-threat compared to Calamity Ganon. Calamity Ganon devastated Hyrule, destroying most of the villages and probably killing half of the people there, and murdering 4 of the best characters in Zelda history who meant so much to their people that statues were built for them. In comparison, Ganondorf levitated a castle in the air and added some poo to Zora's domain. It ruins Zelda's moment so much because it would have been so beautiful if it felt like she was sacrificing herself for something meaningful. It frustrates me to no end because Ganondorf was a villain I was so hyped about and he's shriveled about 90% of the game and only appears three times, once in the beginning, once as a vision in Hyrule Castle, and once at the end, and only one of them is fully revived Ganondorf. In fact, we only see this version of Ganondorf for a third of the final bossfight. We need more Ganondorf! At least add a sixth dungeon to the game below Hyrule Castle where Ganondorf appears after, or maybe he appears before we get the Master Sword. We just needed more of Ganondorf and more of him being a threat to Hyrule.
Another complaint are the sages. I already stated that three out of the four sages had already been fleshed out in a previous game and not much was added to their personalities this time around. Why couldn't we have gotten new people? Maybe make Muzu a sage, we always like having an old man around, or give Barta/Bullaria some importance for the Gerudo and hand over the torch to one of those young Gorons that always follow Yunobo around. It would have been so much fun to have new characters. The sages add absolutely nothing to the experience of this game besides showing up in the awful cutscenes and it just feels like they're trying to repeat what they had in the last game. If they're going to do that, at least do it with someone new so it doesn't feel like I have to replay the game again. We already helped these people with their character growth in the last game. We know that Riju is insecure about her place as the Gerudo chief, and we helped her be more respected after retriveing the Thunder Helm and calming Naboris. We know that Sidon feels a sense of duty to his domain after what happened to his sister, and we spend time with him getting shock arrows, obtaining the Zora armor, and travelling around Lanayru with him until we got to Zora's domain. We helped Yunobo gain his confidence after he accompained us by firing himself at Rudania. These characters went through almost no development except for Tulin (again showing what Nintendo did right with Rito Village) because he's a new character.
Finally, the memories. Why did there have to be memories again. It would have been such an easy shift from Breath of the Wild, to give us a new main quest. While I was not a big fan of the time travel arc that Zelda went through, it was still workable, but there was no reason to have these stupid memories again. We saw so much of past Ganon and so little of present Ganon. I don't care what happened to the Goat Man and how the Kingdom of Hyrule was formed. Half of those memories were not essential to the plot and were just filler content. In particular, the one with Mineru just spoils Zelda's sacrifice altogether. Mineru as a whole just feels like such an annoying character and I would have much rathered a sheikah sage or even a korok.
While I criticize much of this game for remaining the same as BOTW, the story was one of the only aspects where it was a clear downgrade. So much of what was shown in the trailers hyped this game to be an impactful, story-filled game and many of these scenes are from memories, which I absolutely hate, and one of the scenes with Ganondorf wasn't even in the actual game, just a scene melded together from a memory and the speech at the end!
Another issue I have with this game is Ascend and how it affects our experience in the dungeons. I liked the Lightning Temple, the Fire Temple and Wind Temple were okay, and the Water Temple was just plain awful. I saw a post about someone complaining about the puzzles in TOTK being too hard and I saw someone respond "If they think these puzzles are hard, I can't imagine them playing Twilight Princess." And I wholeheartedly believe that. While I'm not trying to make this review a comparison to Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, games which are completely different from this one, the puzzles in this game were either super easy or required us to do something that no one would have thought of. I was stuck in the Lightning Temple on two different points, one where the mirrors seemed to reflect to nothing in particular (what you had to do was grab a spare mirror from another room and fuse it to the statue so that it would face the right way which was a random solution that I didn't expect but I actually enjoyed) and another where I had no idea how to get to the last terminal and I looked around for 20 minutes until I looked it up online and found that I ascended into a place I wasn't supposed to and I actually had to teleport out of the temple to a nearby shrine, travel back to the temple on foot, go through another entrance I hadn't gone through, go through a really long tunnel to get to the terminal I should have gone to first. In a game which prioritizes open world exploration and being able to do anything you wanted, this haphazard "linearity" inside the lightning temple really ruined the experience of a dungeon I otherwise enjoyed. Which leads me to my point on Ascend. While Recall, Fuse, and Ultrahand add to this game in so many amazing and dynamic ways, Ascend just feels like something they added because they needed a fourth ability and a way to get out of caves. It allows so many dungeons to be cheesed and using it in the Lightning Temple made the experience so much more complicated than it needed to be. Apart from caves, every other place where you needed to use ascend could have been done with Revali's gale (rest in peace) or a bonfire + hylian pine cone, or any of the other devices that came with ultrahand. The uses made for it in the Great Sky Island and in other places felt forced and the developers could have easily come up with another creative way to do this without ascend. I just wish that Ascend and Autobuild were disabled inside temples because it would have made things so much better. The companions also make the temples much more annoying because half the time all you're doing is waiting for Riju or Sidon to stop standing in a random corner and walk up to you. Especially in the Water Temple where your ability was on a time limit, this was especially annoying. The Water and Wind Temples felt like big sky islands and not dungeons. The Snowpeak Ruins in Twilight Princess and the Sandship in Skyward Sword are both excellent examples about how to turn something unconventional into an excellent dungeon, but these temples fail in so many ways. Not only is it so easy to get around the entire dungeon with a paraglider and Tulin that makes it possible to complete the dungeon in under 30 minutes on your first playthrough, the puzzles were so easy and the Wind Temple's boss in particular was so easy to kill despite it looking so fearsome. The Mud Octorok was actually a great boss that I have no complaints about, but the rest of the temple was really awful, with most of the puzzles simply being chalked up to "redirect this floating water bubble somewhere else so you can get to a terminal." The terminal thing returning was also something that was a huge letdown. There was no reason to continue it from Breath of the Wild, especially when the Divine Beast dungeons were such a huge complaint, when they could have added a system of small keys, miniboss, maybe even a new ultrahand ability similar to the ones we got from the sages to replace having a companion with you that you would be able to use across the dungeon. This would have turned the Lightning Temple from a 7/10 dungeon to an easy 9/10 or even 10/10 and would have improved my outlook on the other dungeons a lot more, particularly the fire temple, which was so great aesthetically but the gameplay and puzzles simply were not. While I liked the Lightning Temple and to a lesser extent the Fire Temple and the bossfights were much better, I found myself enjoying the Divine Beasts more than the Wind and Water Temples, and many of the bosses were such pushovers. The dungeons in this game get a 4/10.
I have a number of other smaller complaints. First is that I really wished there were more food and armor options. A return to the "meat skewers" and "fried wild greens" let me down a bit as I was hoping for more variance on food, especially after they added new items like stambulbs and tomatoes that I thought would replace the existing items. I mean, we had a whole sidequest dedicated to discovering Cheese and there's only three recipes for it! (as far as I know) Additionally, I wouldn't have been upset if they gave us the same effects for armor as before, just with a new name and texture. Like maybe they could have slightly updated the look of the Hylian set like they did with the Champion's tunic, or we could have the full Sheikah uniform instead of the Stealth armor, or a Lightning Helmet that actually looked different instead of one that reused the exact same texture as the thunder helm. New monsters such as Horriblins, Aerocudas, and Boss Bokoblins added some great new fights to the game, and I wouldn't have even cared if they reused the same enemies, but the way they attack is the exact same as in Breath of the Wild, which left the combat a little predictable and I was able to kill a Gloom Lynel first try. The only battles that really challenged me were against the Gleeoks, one of the best bosses in all of Zelda history.
My last issue with this game is that I really don't understand what vibe they were going for. Majora's Mask was twisted and disturbing. Twilight Princess was dark and gloomy. Skyward Sword was bright and hopeful. Breath of the Wild was free and really emphasized nature. But with Tears of the Kingdom, they really seem to be doing five things at once and accomplishing none of them. They try to put an emphasis on the creative aspect by adding things like Zonai Tech to the beginning and adding new technologies like the batteries, factories, skyview towers, and other. Then they also try to make this game dark and scary by introducing some horrifying things like chasms, gloom hands, and underground areas. They made the game seem bright and sunny like Skyward Sword in the beginning with the Great Sky Island and the bright yellow color palette. Then they also try to keep the open-world aspect of Breath of the Wild by keeping this massive open world, but with nothing to do inside it since we've already seen most of the stuff in this game's nature areas apart from the new caves. I don't understand what the developers were trying to make this game feel like, and it feels like they tried to do too many things at once and failed to flesh out all of them. I would have loved to see a restored Hyrule that we could explore and I would have also loved to have a nature-filled world like in BOTW with new plants, foods, caves, animals, and areas to explore, but the Hyrule in TOTK seems like a haphazard mixture of both.
There's no incentive to explore this time around with only 3-4 new plants and animals in the overworld and only a few caves that only have Brightbloom seeds, bomb flowers, and bubblefrogs. I love the caves, but they seem a bit same-y over time and I have no intention to find them all. I can't even ride around Hyrule on a horse like in BOTW or in a car like the developers seem to want us to do because I run into those stupid Zonai rocks that are littered around every 5 seconds for no particular reason. All they do is make transportation annoying and I wonder why they went through the effort to put all of the sky island materials on the overworld by these ugly rocks instead of actually having more sky islands like we wanted. The Great Sky Island was undoubtedly the most solid part of Tears of the Kingdom's Hyrule, so why did they deincentivise sky exploration by having most of the sky materials on these fallen rocks?
All in all, Nintendo outdid themselves with the coding in this game, especially putting a massive title like this on the six-year-old Nintendo Switch. However, it was clear that they spent most of their time coding in these new mechanics and the writers clearly phoned in this time around with the worst story and dialogue I have seen in any Zelda game so far. Maybe putting in a completely new game on Breath of the Wild's massive world was too much to ask, but so much of Tears of the Kingdom either directly copies Breath of the Wild (four dungeons in the exact same lands, the exact same food, combat, armor, and people) or takes the same structure and retextures it (four terminals in a dungeon, memories, shrines, a quest to rebuild a village from scratch, "champions" that pass on their abilities to their successors, and those cursed Korok seeds) that I really found no reason to play this game after 100 hours because there was nothing new left to do besides a multitude of side quests that I didn't feel like doing because I had no attachment to this Hyrule like I did in Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Link's Awakening, and Breath of the Wild. Maybe I would have liked it more if I was a new player and hadn't played BOTW before, but the amount of content that was unnecessarily copied from the last game into this one really ruined the experience for me. All in all, this Zelda is a C+ for me, a 6.5/10. While it was more fun than the linear and small world of Link's Awakening, it couldn't compare with the story aspect of Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword or the feel of Breath of the Wild.
TLDR: While Nintendo went above and beyond with the new Ultrahand, Fuse, and Recall mechanics, it ultimately wasn't enough for me to save a game that had an extremely lacking story, underwhelming content and dungeons, and a multitude of side quests that was basically repeating everything you had done in 2017. If you're going to argue with me in the comments, please actually read the whole thing first.

Tl;Dr - should/can I replace a 2015 PSU fan, or buy new? Planning on upgrading CPU/Mobo/ram soon.
Hello,
My EVGA 600B 80+ bronze PSU has been having noise issues over the past year or so. The fan makes a rattling whinning sound on start up that I've been able to fix by 1. Securing the fan and 2. Blasting air into the vents to clear out dust. I've done this twice in the past year, but it's happening more frequently.
The PSU is from 2015, so i know it's getting old. I think 600 watts is enough for my next upgrade in the next few months (7700x, b650 Mobo, 32gb ddr5, keeping 5700xt gpu). Should I just get a new PSU or is the fan easy enough to replace?