My car's transmission is on the fritz, so it's in the shop and I'm working from home for at least today. Thank goodness I can even work from home, or things would be a lot more complicated. Anyways, that's just a bit of a vent. I've also decided that I might do little lore-esque prechapter bits for some extra flavor. Hope you guys enjoy them! I find them to be fun little thought experiments on how people might perceive the world I've created from within vs from my own perspective. Enjoy some crafting and some romance!
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We know that the spots that are caused by looking at a source of light are, in fact, damage of some sort to the eye. This is confirmed by the spots rapidly disappearing should someone be healed whilst experiencing them. But why? Is there a divinity within light, beyond what our mortal eyes can withstand? Is there some sort of invisible emanation that comes alongside the light that damages us in some way? The discovery of light damaging the eye has opened more questions for me than it has closed.
-Musings on the Relations of Light and Fire, by Jarwic Leftun
\***
Xander carefully opened the door, finding Gabrelle already asleep, and sat down on a chair. Maybe he could get that adaptive camouflage to work right on bright colors. Surely he had some colorful things in his inventory.
He did in fact have a few colorful things in his inventory, and he whiled the rest of the night away making small adjustments to the runic array that was embroidered into the cloth. He was satisfied before dawn, the cloth now performing as well with light colors as it had with darker colors. Now he just needed to make a cloak out of it. He briefly considered coating his armor with the array, but discarded it. There might be times where he’d want to be seen. Besides, a hooded cloak would better break up the outline of his figure, the ripples of fabric, especially if he were to crouch or lay prone, obscuring his outline even more. In little time at all, he had a long, deep hooded cloak of the color shifting, runed cloth in his hands. He stashed it in his inventory for now, as he had no particular need to sneak up on something right now. The rest of the time before dawn he spent silently sitting in the chair he’d chosen, trying to keep his thoughts to a minimum, just daydreaming. Night dreaming? He couldn’t sleep anymore, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try to let his mind wander.
As the dawn came and the sun began to shine through the window of the room, Gabrelle slowly awoke, once more finding Xander sitting in a chair rather than in bed.
“Mmf,” She grunted as she stretched. “Morning, Xander. You got back late.”
“Morning, yourself,” Xander said, turning his head to look at Gabrelle. “Yeah... Yeah, I guess I did.”
“What were you doing, anyway?” She asked, curious. “You didn’t mention that you’d be out late, just that you were going to go to see Valteria at her shop.”
“I uh... went on a date.”
“I knew it! ‘Comparing notes’ was a date!” Gabrelle exclaimed triumphantly.
“It was not!” Xander complained. “But we went to a tavern in the evening and it sort of... turned into a date on the way there.”
“Awhh, that’s so cute,” Gabrelle said. “Did it go well? Is she nice? Did you kiss?”
“I think it went well. We talked a lot about different projects and ideas we had. I also got to meet another [Godsmarked] - he owns the tavern we went to. I think she’s nice. Maybe a little shy. I think she’s gotten used to being treated differently by people. I don’t think she really believed that I wanted to go on a date with her, at first. ...And yes. We kissed.”
“Ooooh, look at you! You’re growing up so fast!” Gabrelle teased.
“Oh hush. I’m older than you!” Xander huffed, then returned to seriousness. “But ah, if I’m going to be dating someone... we need to have a conversation, Gabrelle.”
“We need to stop sleeping together?” Gabrelle quickly deduced before Xander could say it himself.
“Yeah... It doesn’t feel right, even though it’s just platonic between us. I don’t think I would appreciate being in Valteria’s situation and knowing that the person I was seeing was sleeping with someone else at night.”
“Well, I figured this would happen eventually,” Gabrelle said. “Either you or I were bound to find someone eventually. Don’t worry, I’m not upset. Don’t get me wrong, the snuggles were nice, but like I told you a while ago, I don’t have nearly as much trouble sleeping when I’m with the team.”
“Thanks for not being upset, Gabrelle.”
“You know this means you have to start paying for your own room, though, right?”
“Ah, shit, you’re right. I forgot.”
Xander left the room to allow Gabrelle some privacy to get dressed and meandered back down the stairs to see if any other members of the team were already up. Looking around, he spied Graffus eating breakfast at at table and moved to sit with the dwarf.
“Mornin’” Graffus greeted Xander through a mouthful of bread.
“Morning,” Xander greeted back.
“Glad to see you made it back, we were wondering if you’d be out all night,” Graffus told him, after swallowing his bread.
“I was out a bit late, I suppose. I let the time get away from me.” Xander said, not really wanted to be teased again about going out on a date. “So what are you planning to do today?”
“Bah, Frazay has roped me into helping her do research for the drakeling. So reading is what’s in store for me.” Graffus tore himself off another piece of bread from his plate and slathered it with jam. “You going to be going back to that [Tinker] you’ve been spending time with lately?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan. I’m supposed to learn more about converting mana types today, and also help her fix the suit of armor that I wrecked.”
“Welp,” Graffus said, now on his last piece of bread, “I hope ya learn something new. Never had much to do with [Tinker]s – not saying I dislike them, just that I haven’t had much experience with them – so it don’t make much sense to me. Using a hammer is about the only overlap in our professions.”
“I think your hammer is significantly larger than the one most [Tinker]s would use,” Xander chuckled. Thinking about what he should be doing before he headed to Valteria’s, he asked Graffus, “Hey, I might need to buy some monster parts or elemental cores, something like that, for practice. You know where I would go to find stuff like that?”
Graffus shrugged. “Dunno. My guess would be an alchemy and reagents shop. That’s generally what we’ve sold monster parts to that didn’t go to a smith or leatherworker.”
“Thanks, Graffus.”
The two of them chatted for a while longer, catching up on what each other had been doing. Graffus excused himself to finish getting ready for the day, saying he needed to tend to his beard, leaving Xander downstairs. Deciding to be productive and proactive, Xander stood as well and headed out of the inn to find an alchemy shop.
It wasn’t long before he found one, a familiar scene of an eclectic collection of powders, liquids, crystals, and strange organic things floating in jars inside the building. The proprietor was a dwarf, seated at a workbench. They were grinding something into a powder as Xander entered. He received a distracted greeting before the dwarf returned to his work.
Xander wandered about the shop for a few minutes, looking at the various materials throughout the shop. He identified what he thought might be an elemental core, a jagged piece of crystal looking material that seemed to have an inner flame. As for the monster parts in jars, Xander had no idea what was what. He finally felt he’d waited long enough and moved closer to the worktable that the dwarf was still sitting at, working away at the mortar and pestle.
“Excuse me,” Xander said, grabbing the shopkeep’s attention.
“Mm?” The dwarf said questioningly. “Can I help you find something?”
“I was wondering if you had any elemental cores. Something small, I just need one to practice with.”
“Aye, I’ve a few of them around the shop. You want something to practice with? So a relatively weak core, then – not all the small ones are weak. Do you need any particular type?” The dwarf stood up and stretched, moving to one of the shelves.
“Uhm no, just whatever is cost effective, I suppose.”
The alchemist rifled through the various bits and bobs on one of the shelves nearby before producing a small chip of what looked to be a semi-translucent stone. It was tinged slightly yellow with streaks of white. “This here is a chip off a lightning attuned core. Pretty weak, but it does still produce mana.”
Xander could see the dwarf’s arm hair standing up as if from static electicity as he held up the stone. “How much?” He asked.
“Twenty gold.”
Xander shrugged. Twenty gold wasn’t an issue for him anymore, and he didn’t feel like haggling. He always hated haggling. “Sure.” He fished out the coin and handed it over to the dwarf.
The dwarf handed over the stone to Xander and the pop of a static electric shock could be heard as a tiny arc passed between the two of them. The dwarf grunted and shook his hand. “Thanks for the business,” he told Xander. “Anything else you find yourself in need of?”
“Not at the moment, but thanks for asking.” Xander waved goodbye to the dwarf and pocketed the tiny elemental core. He continued down the street in the direction of Valteria’s shop, thinking about how he was going to undo the welding job he’d done on Valteria’s armor. He’d need her to guide his repair efforts.
Xander returned to the inn momentarily to grab one of his golems. He settled on Atlas for now, as it was the most basic of the humanoid forms he’d created. No extra arms or weird feet on him, no sir.
Arriving at the building that contained Valteria’s home and shop, Xander knocked before opening the door. “Morning,” he called out.
“Xander! Hello!” Valteria called out. She was at the same work bench she’d been at yesterday. Jarrett didn’t seem to be in the shop at the moment, as Xander wasn’t able to spot the man.
Commanding Atlas to follow him in and closing the door behind him, Xander started walking towards Valteria. “How’s it going?” He asked.
“Good, it’s going good,” Valteria responded as Xander brought a stool over to her workbench. “How about yourself?”
“Not bad. The upside of not sleeping is that I never struggle in the mornings now. I used to hate waking up.” Xander laughed. “I even ran an errand before I came here! Picked up this.” Xander fished around in his pocket until he found the small chip of elemental core and held it up for Valteria to see.
“Core?” She asked distractedly, staring at Atlas. She tore her eyes away and looked closely at the small crystalline stone. “Lightning attuned?”
“That’s what the [Alchemist] at the shop said,” Xander affirmed. “Said it was a very weak one, but that it did still produce mana.”
“Mmm, a good practice piece, then.”
“I thought it would be, too. Not that I know what to do with it, yet.”
“Well, how about this: I teach you to set the stone and make some conduit, and then you can help me fix my armor. All the glue has turned to dust by now, thank the gods.”
“Sounds fair enough. So, how do mana conduits work?”
“Well, the concept is simple enough. It’s a tube which conducts mana,” Valteria began to explain.
“Mmhm.” Xander nodded along.
“What you need is a setting – usually of silver, as it has good mana conductivity – which will be the first step of conduction, taking the mana from the stone. Simply wrapping the core in silver wire can work well enough, drawing in the mana that the core puts out through its surface, but for a more effecient setting, small holes are usually drilled into the core to set the wire into as well, giving more surface area to draw from.”
“So we care about the mana conductivity of the material, then? That makes sense, I just hadn’t thought about it. I actually did a little experiment with my rune work to test which fillings were the most conductive.”
“Oh really?” Valteria said, interested. “What were your results?”
“Well, gold and silver were high up there in conductivity, and probably make the most sense for someone who has to physically manipulate material without use of a skill – both for a core setting and for inlaying a rune – but I did find that sapphires and rubies were even more efficient at transferring mana than gold and silver.”
“Mmm... interesting. I’ve heard of gemstones being used in very high-grade settings, as well as various other exotic materials. I read an account of one [Mechanist] who used tubes of mercury to conduct mana, though the relative effectiveness compared to silver wasn’t mentioned.” Valteria cleared her throat. “Uhm, now, where was I? Right, basic settings. Once you have your core – or monster organ, if you’re going that route – you connect it to the conduit. Usually, this is also silver wiring. I like to braid several smaller wires together, personally. I find it to be sturdier and hold up to flexing better. From there, it needs to be tied into a device. Which is a topic for tomorrow.” Looking around the shop, Valteria seemed to identify something on one of the shelves nearby. “I have a core that you could watch me set, and then you could try setting your own, if you’d like.”
“That sounds good to me,” Xander said. “I always love to see a master as work,” he added, opting for a little flattery.
“Follow me, then.” Valteria said, standing up from her stool and waving for Xander to follow.
Xander followed Valteria as she walked over to the shelf she’d been looking at earlier and took a palm sized, bright green stone from it. “Nature attuned core,” She explained, holding it for Xander to see. “I’m told it was taken from some kind of moving tree.” Valteria then moved to another worktable, on which were several of what looked to be drill bits to Xander. There was also an apparatus that look like it was designed to hold the bits, which was confirmed for him when Valteria slotted one of the small drill heads into the device. “This thing,” Valteria said, waving the drill a little bit, “is a life saver. I used to have to drill holes with a hand cranked one. Worth every single coin I paid for it to get an enchanted one.” She turned a dial on one side of the handheld device, which Xander was coming to think of as a magic dremel tool, and it began to come to life, the drill bit beginning to spin with a quiet whirring sound.
“Neat.” Xander commented. He watched patiently as Valteria drilled a series of shallow holes in the stone, the distinct screeching of metal on stone echoing through the shop floor. “So where’s Jarrett today?” He asked.
“Oh, he has the day off today. He asked for it about a week ago, not sure what for, though,” Valteria said distractedly. Soon she was finished with the holes she was drilling into the core, and moved to another workbench. “Now we create a setting for the core. This is a fairly simple way of doing it, mind you, but it is effective.”
Xander watched as she took sections of pre-braided silver wire and fitted the ends into the holes she had drilled. Once each hole was filled with a section of wire, Valteria began to pull wire from a spool, wrapping the stone until it was completely covered with silver wire and binding the braided sections to the stone in the process. “There,” she said, setting the stone down on the workbench. “A perfectly serviceable setting."
“So, if I understand correctly, you coat the core in a mana conductive material – the more surface area, the better, hence the holes – to create a setting?”
“Mmhmm,” Valteria said, nodding.
“Seems fairly straighforward. And then you connect the silver wiring that’s wrapped around it to more wiring, and attach that to your device? Why the distance? Why not just connect the setting directly to the device?”
“You absolutely can, if space isn’t an issue. Technically, the connection between the mana battery and the device, even if it’s just a single point with no distance, is still referred to as a conduit, though, so it’s considered a three part creation.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Do you want to try making your own, now? I don’t mind lending you a little wire.”
“Sure, but I should be good on material, I can produce it with my skills. Doesn’t last without a source of mana, but I guess the core itself might provide enough. Think this little chip is a bit small to put holes in, though.”
Xander looked at the small piece of crystal in his hand. If he just need as much contact as possible with a mana conductive material, his best bet would be to embed it into a sapphire or ruby. He decided on ruby, for no particular reason. Still holding the chip of core in his hand, he concentrated on his [Creation] ability. Valteria watched, amazed, as a ruby began to take form and grow around the piece of core until it was completely coated in a thin layer of gemstone.
“So, you can just... make things?” Valteria asked, sounding jealous.
“Well, it costs mana, and anything I make that isn’t provided a source of mana that leaves my person disintegrates in a day, but, yes. I can just make things with my skills. But,” he added, cutting off Valteria’s complaint of unfairness, “I have never received a skill that actually lets me improve a material. Sure, I have runes, which generally makes up the difference, but I don’t have any skills that improve the things I make. So, if you made a mana battery, and I made a mana battery the same way with identical materials, yours is going to be better, I assume, because you have skills that passively improve the things that you make, am I right?”
“Okayyy,” Valteria huffed. “I guess that does make it a little less unfair. But ugh! It would be so nice not having to source materials.” She looked at the ruby with a piece of core set inside it that Xander had made. “Well, I guess that about does it for making a setting... I thought it might have taken you longer to make one. I guess we can move on to fixing my armor even sooner! It’ll be nice to have it up and moving again.”
“Sure, sure, we can do that. Where is it, anyway?” Xander asked, looking around the shop again like he somehow would have missed the eight foot tall suit of armor.
“It’s in a shed behind the house,” Valteria explained. “I have it on a hoist so I can work on it.”
“Ah, that would explain why I haven’t seen it around.”
Exiting the shop, stopping for Valteria to put a small ‘closed’ sign on the door, the two of them made their way around the building, where Xander saw the small shed that presumably held Valteria’s armor. It looked like it could just barely hold the armor and one person – two, if they were comfortable with each other – inside it.
“So this is where the magic happens?” Xander asked.
“If by ‘magic’ you mean maintenance and upgrades, then yes,” Valteria agreed. She opened the door of the shed, which comprised most of the front of the tiny little building, revealing her suit of armor, which was currently hanging from several chains attached to pulleys on the ceiling. Plates of armor were laying strewn about the suite, leaving the joints and inner workings more exposed.
Xander whistled, looking at the inner workings of the suit. He could see gears, cogs, and joints, and throughout the entirety of the armor were running filaments of silver wire, which he assumed were mana conduits running to and from elemental cores and the various mana powered aspects of the suit. “This thing really is impressive. Almost as impressive as the woman who made it,” he said.
Valteria giggled, “Stop it! You’re supposed to be fixing this mess, not flirting with me!”
“Awh, can’t I do both?” Xander asked, trying to sound as saccharine as possible.
“Mmm, I suppose that if you are sufficiently skilled at multitasking, I might allow it,” Valteria said in a mockingly thoughtful tone.
“Well, I just so happen to be an expert, so flirt away I shall,” Xander replied. “Now, how about the beauty in front of me shows me exactly where the other beauty in front of me needs some repairs?”
Valteria sighed at Xander’s antics, but he could see the slight flush in her face. “Well, you welded the wrist joints, elbows, and knees. They aren’t welded all the way round, it’s more like you smoothed over a portion of it like it was wet clay. So if you could just... put it back? Shape it back to how it was, that’s should be all that’s needed.”
“Pretty straightforward,” Xander said, standing behind Valteria as she pointed out each joint. He could see the misshapen parts where he’d slapped a weld onto the metal. He leaned over her and put his hands on the elbow joint that they were closest to and began to shape the metal back to its original form.
“You’re... very close,” Valteria murmured to him as he formed the metal.
“Would you like me not to be?” He asked, carefully.
Valteria was silent for a moment before answering, “No...” quietly.
Xander carefully shifted to be a little closer, but still not quite touching, as he moved on to the wrist joint of the same arm. The process itself was simple, but he was enjoying taking his time. As he finished the wrist, he turned to look at Valteria. He found himself looking right into her eyes, as she was staring back at him. Unable to resist the temptation he leaned in a little closer, gauging Valteria’s reaction. When she, too, leaned towards him, he closed the small gap between them, drawing her into another kiss. Valteria pressed herself against him, the shed hiding them from any prying eyes on the street, and let out a small noise as Xander squeezed her tight. She was breathing a little bit harder than before the kiss as they separated again.
Valteria let out a breath. “You’re… a really good kisser.”
“Yeah?” Xander said, pleased with himself. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
“And you’re a tease, looming over me like that in this tiny little shed,” Valteria continued. “Now you’ve got me all flustered, how am I supposed to work now?” She mock complained.
Xander was glad to see that Valteria was comfortable enough with him to joke like that. “Forgive me,” he said formally, making a deep bow, “How ever can I make it up to the lady?”
“Oh stop it, I will tolerate no bowing and scraping, even in jest,” Valteria said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder, as he was still holding the bow. “You can make it up to me by fixing the rest of these joints! And by taking me out to dinner?” She added, hopefully.
“I think that can be arranged,” Xander said. “Is there anywhere you have in mind? I will admit, I haven’t become very familiar with the local restaurant scene, what with my… dietary restrictions.”
“It doesn’t… make you feel bad to go out to a restaurant, does it?” Valteria asked softly, watching his face for a reaction.
“Nah, don’t worry,” Xander said, waving off the question with one hand. “It doesn’t bother me too much. Sure, I miss the taste of a good cut of steak, but I was never that into food. Eating was more of a thing I did because I had to, so I’m not completely devastated by the loss. And I can still get some vicarious enjoyment out of watching someone else enjoy their food. Really the worst part is awkwardly having to refuse ordering anything,” he said with a laugh.
“Alright, if you say so,” Valteria said, letting out a slight breath of relief. “I was just worried that it might be upsetting to you, is all. I know I would miss eating.” She paused for a moment, something clearly on her mind. “What do you miss? If you don’t mind my asking. I just… well, I’m curious what it’s like for you.”
“Mmm, in a lot of ways, life is still the same, and in other ways, I’m technically doing better than I was before. I’m incredibly resistant to damage now, even without my armor. I do miss sleeping, though. I try to give my mind a rest and just sort of daydream and let my thoughts wander or do some meditation during the nights, but it’s just not the same. Also means I’m the one that pulls guard duty through the night,” he grumbled. “Let’s see, what else, what else. Ah, right. I can’t smell anything. Or taste. I haven’t worked out how to recreate those senses, yet. Though no sense of smell can be handy sometimes, I suppose. I don’t know if you’ve done much merc work – you mentioned being surprised that I’m not just moonlighting – but uh… the smells that you encounter on a battlefield are… unpleasant. To say the least. It was weird not having a sense of touch either, but I’ve resolved that. It’s a little bit different than my previous, natural sense of touch, but I’ve become accustomed to it to the point that I don’t much think about the difference anymore. I think I’ve even got the density of receptors down in certain areas compared to others, so I'm more sensitive in some areas than others now, just like I used to be. I’m still immune to being tickled though, so don’t even think about it – that’s a fight you’ll lose.” Growing a bit more somber, Xander continued on. “I think… the biggest thing I miss is just the feeling that I fit in more. Now I always worry about being different, there’s that nagging fear that anyone I get to know well is going to reject me once they find out what I am. Like I’m secretly lying to everyone around me with this façade I have going on.”
Valteria nodded sadly. “I get that. I’ve been… rejected before, too. At least it happens or not right from the beginning for me. I get to know if they look down on me for being different immediately instead of fearing they might later down the road.”
“Yeah,” Xander said. “People can really suck sometimes. But at least I can just, like, not tell people what I am if I so chose. You, my teammates, and the guild, since it’s on my status sheet, are really the only people who know. I keep it pretty private. You can’t do that, so I think you probably have to deal with a lot worse than I do. Not that I’d want you to hide what or who you are,” he added. “I happen to be quite enamored with who you are,” he said, teasing a smile from Valteria’s sad face.
“Sorry to bring up such a dour topic,” Valteria apologized. “I didn’t think much on it before I asked.”
“No worries,” Xander told her. “Honestly, I think it’s good to be able to talk about it with someone. It’s healthy to be able to get you feelings out there. And it helps that I feel like you understand where I’m coming from with it, though from a slightly different perspective.”
“You’re surprisingly thoughtful sometimes,” Valteria said, only half teasing.
“Only sometimes?” Xander asked with a faux expression of hurt on his face. “By the way, you didn’t react much to my comment about moonlighting as a merc. Do you ever go on contracts?”
Valteria shrugged. “I certainly wouldn’t describe myself as a professional mercenary. Moonlighter is an apt descriptor, for me, I think. I have gone on a couple, here and there, mostly on kill contracts that would net me a core or organ that would be useful for my work.”
“Mm, that makes sense. I suppose it could be handy having access to the ability to take contracts that would give you access to specialty materials,” Xander said.
“It’s also good for business,” Valteria explained. “Mercs tend to like to buy from someone who has at least been out on a contract or two before.”
“Ah, that makes sense. What kind of things do you sell to mercenaries, anyways? I saw Jarrett with a crossbow yesterday, but I imagine you make other things, too.”
“Oh all kinds of little things. Portable, flameless heaters for cooking. Water purification sieves. Mm, let’s see… I’ve made a few custom order devices, too. One customer wanted to be able to shoot a jet of flame from their gauntlet, that was a fun one.”
“Ooh, that does sound fun… reminds me of my flamethrower.”
“Your flamethrower?”
“Yeah, it’s basically a big tank with a hose attached to it. At the end of the hose is a pump that causes the flammable liquid – I use dragon’s tar – to shoot out. Add a flame that the tar passes over and bam! You’ve got a giant stream of flame that will coat anything it hits with sticky, flammable tar,” Xander said, excitedly describing the device.
“That’s… impressive. And kind of horrifying,” Valteria responded.
“Mm… I guess you’re right. I mostly use it on giant spiders. Blugh,” Xander shuddered. “But yeah, I suppose it’s not the nicest of ways to go. Very effective for area denial, though. Ah, actually I have an idea for crossbow bolt head that would ignite when it shatters! We should make that sometime and see if it sells.”
“Hmm, I think that would draw some buyers. A flaming bolt head you didn’t have to light first could be desirable to certain buyers.”
“Put that on the list and we’ll get around to it sometime.”
“We have a list?” Valteria said confusedly.
“We should!” Xander said with a laugh. “Now let’s get the rest of these joints done.”
The repair of the other arm and the leg joints that Xander had locked into position during the tournament was a short affair. Looking over the bare metal frame of the armor still hanging from the ceiling, Xander clapped his hands together, mimicking dusting them off. “Good as new!” He exclaimed. Looking over to Valteria he asked concernedly, “It is good as new, right?”
Valteria had been staring at the armor as well, lost in thought about how she was going to improve it next. “Hmm? Oh, yes. It’s right as rain again, ready for use. Thank you, by the way. For fixing it,” She said awkwardly.
“Well I’m the one who broke it, so it’s only fair that I fix it. So what do you want to work on next?” Xander asked. “I could do some rune work for you. Orrr… we could kiss some more?”
Valteria flushed at the question, but didn’t immediately say no.
A few minutes later, she found herself on her tip toes and lightly pressed against the interior wall of the shed, her lips pressed against Xanders.
Once the two of them were done acting like teenagers parked in a secluded parking lot, they made their way back into the shop. Stepping inside and closing the door behind them, Valteria let out a breath. “I think… you are going to have to do a lot of rune work to make up for how much you just kissed me, Xander.”
“What, you didn’t like it?” He said with a raised eyebrow.
“I didn’t say that,” Valteria said with a smirk.

I saw somebody selling this secondhand computer on fb marketplace for only 350$
Processor - Intel (R) Xeom (R) 12 Core CPU E-2697 v2 3000 MHZ + good big cooler; Graphic card (GPU) - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8 GB +3 fans; SSD ADATA 128 GB + HDD WD 1TB; 32 GB DDR3 1600hz; Thermaltake 750w mATX - COOLER MASTERS TUF GAMING ALLIANCE (5 FANS)
I asked a friend of mine and he said that xeon cpu are not a good choice for gaming, but the sellers claim that he can run games at almost max setting and 60fps so I'm here asking for 3rd opinion. So far i only played on my xbox one and my expectations aren't very high as long as it will be at least as strong a the xbox series x i will be happy

So I've got cse core in vit vellore (cat 4) while i think i cud hv got cat 2 in cse chennai... is this difference rly worth it? Few say vellore is better n others say both r same (atleast placements wise) ... but i hv heard tht priority for placements is given to vellore students over chennai.. how far is it true, does the campus rly matter?? Given tht affordability is not a big prob just tht it shd be worth it..
wud be grt if someone studying in vit vellore/chennai or alumnus could elaborate on this

I had to chuckle at the title after all the shade that thrown at Vinfast last year for how terrible their car was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rET6cD7Y3-I
"Not a completely terrible car" isn't much of an endorsement. It looks like they fixed most of the worst problems from the 2023 model, but the thing seems like it's half-assed. Brand new EV with a vestigial, transmission tunnel hump?
Value seems poor at MSRP. but maybe they'll offer some big rebates/discounts to move units.

So, a couple friends wanted to start a 5E game with mostly beginners at DnD, DM included (all of them very experienced at other games, though). As a forever GM, this was a godsend, so I pushed to get in and we start setting up, nothing fancy, fighter, rogue, cleric (me) and wizard.
I tell the DM I can set my character on my own, and I'll just ask him to double check when I'm done and let him focus on the others, meaning I don't follow what they are doing.
We get started and something feels off about the wizard. Like he's throwing a lot of spells around. A lot a lot. DM doesn't seem to flinch, and nobody else seems unfazed. Hell, everyone's having quite a bit of fun, so I decide against asking questions. Things gets weirder when he starts casting Guiding Bolt. Raised eyebrow, but again, not worth making a scene.
A fair few sessions later, the wizard asks me to check over his sheet because he feels like his skill ratings are weird. Nothing too big, a couple mistakes here and there. Then we start talking spells and the story begins to unfold as we compare our classes.
So, what they understood from the book is that the Wizard gets a number of spells [slots] at each level, and there is no limit to the number of spells casts per day. I realize how hilariously busted that is, but tell him that "if everyone's fine with your kinda-sorta-homebrew, you have your fun" and suggest he picks Fireball as soon as he reaches lvl 5 (which he did, to the DM's deep dismay).
A few weeks later, we start talking Counterspell and it becoming very important later (also even more hilariously busted with no cast limit), and I start talking about upcasting, since it's so important there. He does mention that Guiding Bolt has upcasting rules, and he didn't understand how it worked.
So we bring up the upcasting problem to the DM, whose answer had me struggling to not explode in laughter. "Oh. Okay then, you can always use the max level you can use."
That man has no idea what he just started, and I'm going to be giggling on the sidelines watching the fireworks. The best part is that the Fighter and Rogue don't mind being overshadowed in combat, so everyone's actually having a hella lot of fun! And if something doesn't melt instantly, I'll be right there using very normal Cleric rules to create the opening for Mr Wizard to throw another overpowered spell in :)

*had to repost this here since it got deleted somewhere else sigh but this is my post, I am NOT karma farming o_O. I just really need to vent about this because I am just a girl worried for her older sister*
My older sister (25F) is going to be proposed to this Thursday by her unemployed boyfriend (25M). This dude (we will call him Frank) is atrocious and I honestly don't think he is good enough for my sister, this seems like a last resort/rebound since it seems like no one wants him. However, my sister has been wanting to be with him for about 3 years and after a lot of rejection she was losing hope until he asked her to be his girlfriend.
They have been dating for around 4-5 months and Frank plans on proposing to her this week, the day before my little sister has her high school graduation, which is just so infuriating because WHY of all weeks would you choose to propose this week?! AND he was thinking to do the proposal THE DAY OF THE GRADUATION but I advised him not to since my older sister would never forgive herself for taking the spotlight away from my little sister on her big day. So he settled to do it the day before which isn't better but I can't make him change the week lol.
And do not get me started on the ring he got my sister, he got it on Amazon as a last minute thing and tried to make an excuse about how hard it was to get something from California so fast so he had to settle for Amazon. Don't get me wrong Amazon has great rings, I have taken a look at some but he could've chose something that at least looks a little real or pretty?
I showed my mom the ring and she was a bit disappointed with how much effort he put into choosing the ring because my sister doesn't like rings that have large jewels on them, she likes simple and small. And this really made me question whether Frank even knows her well enough to be marrying her.
My parents said they are moving him in with my sister at her apartment next week, even though Frank has no job and the job my sister found for him might not work out. So my sister will be the main breadwinner and most likely the cook and clean for the apartment because he doesn't believe in men doing "all of that".
There are some things I am not going to go completely into but Frank has spoken to my mom in the rudest way possible, like he told my mother (the kindest and most hardworking woman I know) that she can't raise her kids right and he has told my little sister that she is insecure and a brat.
Sometimes he would shove my sister off of him with a disgusted look on his face when she is trying to be affectionate with him and my mom's side of the family (my uncles and aunts) thinks he is going to be "tough one" for my sister because:
1.he doesn't interact with ANYONE except my sister
2.always glued to his phone (especially at Christmas and other events with my family)
3.doesn't act like he likes our food lol
Sometimes my uncles and aunts bring up my boyfriend and appreciate how curious he is about our culture and always interacts with them/their kids. However, Frank does the bare minimum and just says "hi" then sits on his phone like a toddler and then makes my sister fetch him food and water.
If my sister and Frank live together, I am scared to get a call from her crying because he isn't helping her or she's too stressed. I feel like living together is a pretty big must before marriage, for instance, my bf and I are living together right now and even though sometimes it can be rough, we work through our arguments together.
I don't see Frank doing that because he has a huge ego and doesn't like to admit when he's in the wrong. He also lovesss to live a high end lifestyle when he can't afford it which is one of the many things I find so crazy. Like he loves eating out at fancy restaurants, especially with my parents because he would order the most expensive steak or meal since he knows he isn't paying for it ... but that seems rude, imo.
Anyways, I hope my older sister knows what she's doing because even though I have politely mentioned some concerns she's too in love with him to care how he treats my mother and other family members.
TL;DR My older sister (25F) is letting her unemployed fiance (25M) move in with her

(written as a "here is what me making a demand of you means and what it implies based on publicly available information" to a new player I made a demand of)
In Solium Infernum, there is an achievement for making demands of lower-ranking opponents. This is a game where kicking the little guy is the best play, and the sole consolation is that hiding among the crowd when people start tossing out killshots can leave a way out. People will take a lot from whoever's in last place.
To win Solium Infernum, you need prestige (you want prestige even if you don't win this way), so consider this 'Plan A'), or to kill everyone, or to take Pandemonium, big city in the center of the map. Attacking Pandy has consequences, including excluding you from prestige victory. expanded upon later.
I just made a Demand of Tribute of you. This cost me Prestige, and I am wagering on you accepting the demand. Deny the demand, keep the wagered prestige. If you accept my demand (give me any 3 pieces of tribute from your vault; at best, 3 pieces of tribute each worth 1) I will also gain my prestige wager back, plus a bonus. This is good for me, and a blow to you. Why would you ever accept, and why would I ever wager on you accepting?
This is because if you deny a Demand, the person who Made the demand (me) gets to declare a grievance; a Vendetta or a Praetor duel. Vendettas are bigger prestige wagers than demands, which means losing costs you a lot more. Important to note that both Vendettas and Duels have adjustable wagers, meaning you can go big or go home, or take a more incremental approach against someone you're less confident against.
Vendettas are usually a test of whether you can take Places of Power, Cantons (Tiles), or Legions from an enemy player within a set amount of time. The former two require proximity to send a Legion, the latter can be done with rituals that deal Legion damage (Destruction). Praetor duels are done with Praetors, officers that buff armies/do Duels. Duels do not require proximity, and are held in "the Arena". Each player sends a Praetor (or forefeits, a massive amount of prestige) to fight, one left standing (edited)
Winning a Praetor duel kills the other fiend's praetor, plus prestige. Shorter turn timers on Vendettas buff the prestige return, so short AND risky vendettas are worth a lot more than even a max Praetor duel wager (im pretty sure).
Vendettas can also have looong turn timers, putting you in a cold war state that is less favorable to either side's win.
Praetors have moves that rock paper scissor eachother, you each blindly select from public moves, add power of the move plus the Praetor's power in the top right corner, ties kill both. Winner takes all, unless u use the move that lets the Praetor escape if they lose (prestige still lost, pretty bleh trick)
You do not want to lose Praetor duels (especially to forfeiture) or Vendettas (big vendettas can swing games) Avoiding all this can be done by accepting the Demand.
It is a blow to accept it, but it is also less risky. To make an already long story shorter, I am omitting long term consequences, but please read about Blood Feuds in the encyclopedia. I don't want to lose vendettas or duels either, so you may infer that making a Demand implies one thinks they can win at a Praetor duel or Vendetta. Insults (another story) imply one thinks they can win both a duel or vendetta (not at the same time). I get to pick if it's a Duel or Vendetta on a Demand, so you should assume I'd pick whatever you'd like to happen the least.
Demands are preludes to war, or simple extortion. This is how wars start, and this is the sole means of getting into hostilities. There's no running ur unit into someones capital turn 6. Things take time, and you have a turn to decide if you want to accept a demand, or deny it, and all either choice entails.
By Turns: (if demand or insult accepted, wagers are returned with bonuses normally) Demand Made > Demand Delivered > Demand Denied > Duel > Demanding player chooses Praetor > Defending player chooses Praetor > choose moves > winner Demand Made > Demand Delivered > Demand Denied > Vendetta Claimed and Begins
So from the denial, consequences begin to arrive the turn after. You would have two hypothetical turns after denial to buy a Praetor for a duel on the third you'd select. It's one turn to try and guess what your opponents Vendetta terms are.

This is an update to my previous post: https://www.reddit.com/ManagedByNarcissists/comments/1cfqom2/my_nbosss_boss_is_addressing_complaints_about_ou?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Both NBoss and I are still employed. Nboss’s boss (I’ll call them Big Boss) had to postpone the meeting with us but addressed us last week. Unfortunately, they are not familiar with the intricacies of our jobs and said something that derailed the conversation from what I believe were valid criticisms.
Still, Big Boss awkwardly admitted that if there are not improvements in the coming months, their own and others’ jobs are on the line. They also said they have shielded certain people from that fate already. NBoss clearly recognized Big Boss was talking about them (it was so satisfying to see their face upon realization), and although Big Boss kept talking about us succeeding or failing as a united front, it became pretty apparent that it’s not us small fries at risk. The boss between Nboss and my position (who I’ll call Mid-Boss) took some level of accountability, acknowledging that Mid-Boss and NBoss are ultimately responsible and thus likely to be the ones on the chopping block. Of course, after the meeting NBoss got right to work trying to manipulate the situation using two minions to make the point that Big Boss doesn’t understand us (he doesn’t, but not for the reasons they claim).
Big Boss is scheduled to meet with the broader department soon. I’ve been considering reaching out to the consultant who has been working with us. They are a respected leader in our field working privately at the request of Big Boss, not a management consultant, which gives me a bit of hope that they may be effective in advising Big Boss to not say inflammatory, distracting things, and rather address the (valid) issues with precise language and specific examples. The situation is so tense that everyone is dreading it, so at least turning down the rhetoric might help? Is this a terrible idea?
Either way, I’m looking for other jobs but it’s quite a small field and not a great time to look. In the meantime, I’m laying low as best I can.

Synopsis:
Carlos was an ordinary software engineer on Earth, up until he died and found himself in a fantasy world of dungeons, magic, and adventure. This new world offers many fascinating possibilities, but it's unfortunate that the skills he spent much of his life developing will be useless because they don't have computers.
Wait, why does this spell incantation read like a computer program's source code? Magic is programming?
___
Here we go with book 2!
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Carlos lounged comfortably on one of the mayor's fancy sofas. At 23 years old with a healthy body he really didn't need cushioned upholstery, but he liked how it felt. Honestly, he was probably more comfortable with high quality furniture than someone of his relatively low-income background should be in this world. Spoiled by the mass production factories of modern Earth, I suppose. All of this stuff here is probably handmade. Er, make that definitely handmade. Unless they have magic factories I haven't heard about, or something. He mentally shrugged. There was no point trying to change his attitudes toward furniture now. While this world might have higher prices for a lot of things than he was used to, he was also a lot richer than he was used to thanks to having become a noble lord. People would expect him to treat fine furniture as cheap because of his station.
I might have the physical habits of a couch potato, but at least I don't look like one. Too skinny. Not as skinny as Amber, though. He smiled as he watched the young woman next to him on the sofa continue animatedly expounding on their recent adventures together. She was lanky, with few curves to speak of and spindly limbs, far from any conventional picture of feminine beauty. Her hair, a slightly lighter shade of brown than his own, was cropped short. He thought she was 18 or 19 years old, but wasn't sure. Have I really never asked her age before? ... Would that be a rude question here? Regardless of her age, she had grown her confidence a lot since their first meeting a few weeks ago. She'd found her footing in a new life that she'd seized with utter determination, and he saw no sign of the shyness that she'd first greeted him with. The way her potential was finally blooming was beautiful to watch.
Carlos turned his gaze to the sofa across from them and carefully held back from laughing at the expressions Trinlen was making as Amber wrapped up explaining the events and developments they'd gone through since their introduction to him at the Royal Mage Academy. Carlos had contributed a fair amount to the explanation at first, but Amber had taken to it with enthusiasm when she arrived, and he could tell she was enjoying it. The young man in front of them, newly graduated from said academy, was on the edge of his seat and leaning forward, hanging attentively on every word. His casual attire, plain and made of cheap materials, looked thoroughly out of place on the finely embroidered velvet of the sofa, but he'd shown no sign of even noticing the finery around him. Excitement warred for control of his face with surprise, disbelief, envy, and dismay.
Amber finished her impromptu monologue, and Trinlen slowly schooled his face into a neutral expression. His voice was tense and tightly controlled. "So... In short, you're telling me that in the mere two weeks since you met me, you discovered a mana-poaching conspiracy of nobles, were abducted right under the noses of two royal guards without them even noticing, absorbed mana so fast that you gained 6 levels in a day and a half - so unfair, by the way - somehow learned an obscure portal spell from just its name and description, found evidence of a conspiracy against the Crown, and personally met a princess." He paused, then threw his hands up as he wailed in frustration and disappointment. "And I missed it!?"
Carlos threw back his head and burst out laughing. He couldn't help it. Trinlen just sounded so much like a little kid who'd barely missed out on a candy store giving away its entire stock for free. It was such an incredible light-hearted contrast with how everyone else viewed these same events that the sheer ridiculousness of it was overwhelming. Amber joined the laughter a moment later, shaking her head in amused disbelief, and after a few more seconds Trinlen started chuckling too.
Carlos's laughter eventually trailed off, and he took a deep breath to settle down. "Thanks, Trinlen. It's been a very stressful two weeks, and laughing like that helped release a lot of it. Feels good. Anyway, what have you been up to? I thought you would take a whole month to graduate?"
"Technically I only said 'next month', not that it would be at the same point in the month. But yes, this is earlier than I expected. The normal graduation ceremony is still a week and a half away." Trinlen shrugged. "They didn't explain the reasons, but after what you said I'm guessing your meeting with the princess prompted her to do something. The vice headmaster called me to his office yesterday morning, a few teachers grilled me on my classwork, and they declared I'd passed my exams. Then they told me to pack because I'd be teleported to my new employers the next day, and here I am." He sighed. "Hmph. Now I won't get to humiliate Norla in front of the whole academy when she gives her speech." Then he perked up and grinned widely. "But it sounds like you two are going to be so much fun that I'll get over it in no time!"
"I'm not sure if I agree with your idea of fun, Trinlen, but if it motivates you to help us more then that's good enough for me." Carlos chuckled again. "Anyway, do you need some time to get settled in? You might need to think about lesson plans for us too. We don't need just catalogues of incantations to learn anymore, at least not for simple ones, but I believe you learned other things in the academy too. You mentioned creating your own spells, as I recall."
Trinlen nodded. "I did mention that, yes. I'm guessing your lack of need for a catalogue is because of your newfound ability to somehow pull entire incantations from thin air? You'll have to at least tell me about the limitations of that so I'll know what I still need to teach you, but yeah, there are other things. For one thing, there's your sloppy terminology! Why does no one outside of the academy care about properly distinguishing between the states of mana? Is it really that hard to understand that calling aether, mana, and essence all by the same term obscures your meaning and often causes confusion? Or are people so stupid that they can't even understand the difference?"
Carlos blinked and exchanged a look with Amber. His comprehension aid informed him about the distinction the instant Trinlen spoke the terms. That would have been nice to know earlier. The comprehension aid is a house secret, so we should let him explain. "At least for us, it's just ignorance. I don't think I've even heard the other two terms you mentioned, and certainly no one ever explained them. So, what is the difference?"
Trinlen paused, cocked his head for a moment, and slowly deflated after his impassioned rant. "Yeah, okay, that's fair. I don't think I ever heard about it before going to the academy either." He sat up straight. "Aether is what you've been calling ambient mana. It's thin like air, and it's everywhere. Its only use is converting it to mana or essence. Mana, using the term with proper precision, is thicker but still fluid like water. It exists primarily in people or creatures and is used as fuel to supply power for spells and magical effects. Essence is hard and solid. It is the material that soul structures are made of, as well as the forms of active spells and enchantments. Am I clear so far?"
Amber answered first. "Yes, I'm familiar with each of the forms you described. I have questions about more details - so many questions - but you should get properly settled in, and maybe eat lunch, before we really get down to it. Have you spoken with Mayor Stelras yet? Do you have lodging sorted out?"
"I went by his office first. He's having someone take my luggage to an inn. The Adventurer's Haven, I think? He said something about a 'low-value target' and having an empty suite already booked." Trinlen's eyes widened. "Waaait a minute. Is he putting me in the room you two were abducted from?"
Carlos shrugged. "Sounds like it."
"Nice! Think there'll be any evidence left of how it was done?"
"Haha! Probably not by this point, but you're welcome to look. Now go get unpacked, eat a meal, and start planning your lessons for us. I'm glad you're here, but we have some other things to do too."
Trinlen nodded and stood up. "Sure. I'll be back before you miss me."
Carlos waved as Trinlen sauntered out the door. He and Amber sat in companionable silence for a while as he felt the mana - or essence? - of Trinlen's soul moving off into the distance. "Well. That was interesting. It's good to have him, but I was expecting a bit more time to think and plan before he'd get here."
"Yeah." Amber stretched and then leaned back into the sofa's cushions, luxuriating in their soft firmness. "So, how much are we going to tell him? How useful will his knowledge even be for us, now that we have, what did you call it, the reference documentation? That bit about the states of mana is good to know, but is it really relevant and important, and how much more can there be that's not in the documentation?"
"Be careful talking about that out loud, remember?" Carlos relaxed and draped his arms across the sofa's back as he focused his mind on their mental bond through Purple, their friendly dungeon core. [On Earth, we made many languages similar to the language of incantations, and we had the reference documentation for all of them. We even published that documentation free for everyone to have. Teachers for those languages were still useful, and even critically important for many people. Having access to knowledge doesn't mean you automatically understand how to properly apply it. There may be related knowledge we have no idea even exists. There could be techniques and patterns for how to use the language that are simply outside the scope of the documentation. Perhaps most importantly, a teacher can use their experience to notice a student's mistakes and correct them before they become problems.]
[Hmm.] Amber bit her lip, thinking. [Like how I knew about making soul structures and synergies between them, but had no idea about the importance of being able to examine and fix them, I suppose.]
Carlos nodded. [Yeah. And that's a really simple example. I know some that are a lot more complex, though I'm not sure how many of them are even applicable for incantations. Inversion of control, dependency injection, factory patterns...] He shook his head. [Just the context knowledge needed to be able to fully understand those could take days or weeks to teach well enough for you to use them. I could maybe explain the basic ideas faster with some simplified analogies, but that would lose so many details that I doubt it would still be useful.]
Amber paused. [... Even my comprehension aid is baffled by the terms you just said. It translated the individual words that you said, but all I got for the phrases is a confusing jumble.] She chuckled. [Anyway, I concede the point. Trinlen will still be able to teach us important and useful things. We still need to decide what secrets to share with him.]
[A lot depends on how good he is at keeping secrets. We don't actually know him all that well yet. He's certainly fun, and he seems clever, but for assessing his integrity we're leaning pretty hard on just a janitor vouching for him.] Carlos frowned in thought. [In order for him to do his job, he needs to know that we can only "pull an entire incantation from thin air" if it's a simple one. He does not need to know the full details of help, however, and most certainly does not need to learn to use it himself. That secret is a very sensitive one, where even just letting too much knowledge of it spread would lose us a major advantage.]
[Definitely. No casting help where he can hear it, and don't say anything about it that's not directly relevant for his teaching, either. Not until he's earned our full trust.] Amber lapsed into silent consideration. [We should introduce him to Purple. We'll kind of have to at some point anyway, and the really valuable thing there is Purple himself, not just the knowledge of his existence.]
Carlos nodded. [True. I think that probably is the least sensitive of our house secrets, and being able to call him through a bond with Purple would be useful.] He chuckled. [And maybe his cleverness will end up producing some good ideas for Purple to use. See if he can find a more productive outlet than pranks for his creativity. And then... If he keeps that secret well enough for long enough, we can consider trusting him with more secrets.]
Amber sent back wordless agreement.
Carlos started sitting up, lifting himself out of the comfortable cushions. "Well, we should get some food ourselves, too. And maybe introduce Trinlen to everyone else along with Purple." He stood up and spotted a letter he'd set aside when Trinlen arrived. "Oh yeah, and what do you think we should do about Kindar?"
"Wait, what's this about Kindar?"
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Keshad Johnson saw his collegiate career end in the Sweet Sixteen with the Arizona Wildcats this year after a very successful season, helping the Wildcats earn a #2 seed and win the Pac 12 regular season. Johnson was a member and starter on San Diego State's Final Four team that made the championship in 2023 and played four years for the Aztecs before transferring to Arizona for his final season.
Johnson was a role player for San Diego State, two year starter but primarily a defender and play finisher. He wanted the opportunity to expand his role and he received that this season at Arizona.
Johnson is long, powerfully built 6'7 PF. Weighed at a very chiseled 224 pounds with a 6'11 wingspan at the combine. He has impressed so far with a 42 inch vertical and strong athletic numbers as well as displaying his versatility as a player on both ends: https://twitter.com/JonChep/status/1790163683806462145 https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/1790185163655356782 His stock appears to be on the rise during the draft process. He is a big time leaper in the open floor and with any time/space to load. He's fast in the open floor. He has a quick first step and is very mobile. He plays physically and isn't afraid of getting dirty. He uses his length to his advantage on both ends. Johnson's physical tools are at the heart of his intrigue as a prospect.
Johnson is a big time transition threat, lots of lobs throughout the season, a big time dunker that elevates with ease. Gets off the ground quickly and has a big time vertical. He runs the floor hard. He can even handle a bit in transition. He took it coast to coast a few times during the season.
Johnson isn't the best ballhandler overall, he doesn't have much in the way of advanced moves, he can get a bit uncoordinated at times when looking to do a little too much with his handle and he's not an isolation guy at all, but he is someone in the halfcourt and in transition that plays strong with the ball in a straight line. He's a good straight line driver off rips, he has a quick first step. His mobility aids him as a PnR roller. He makes himself presentable and available for ballhandlers in the PnR as a roller. His ability to elevate makes him a lob threat as a roller. His mobility allows him to fluidity get to the rim. He can finish with both hands. His length gives him good extension.
He's aggressive off rips on the perimeter. If he can't get past a defender off a closeout, he will use his strength to shed them and get to the rim. He's capable of hitting pull up jumpers from the midrange although he's not a great off-the-dribble shooter. He can beat switches against smalls down low in the post. His post game isn't advanced but he has good enough footwork and strength to take advantage of the mismatch.
He's a smart cutter and good at duck-ins and finding easy ways to score. He didn't get to the line a ton this season but that's in large part because he found easy ways to score down low; he had 49 dunks on the season. He's a good offensive rebounder with a nose for the ball, willing to pursue balls in the air, and able to grab balls in traffic. He tips quite a few balls out for his teammates and creates extra possessions, his length and elevation makes him a positive force as an offensive rebounder. Johnson isn't an elite finisher outside of dunks, as he doesn't have quite as much pop vertically when he can't load and he can be swallowed up at times because of size, I don't think he has elite touch, but he was a strong finisher overall. He does have a decent floater in his arsenal if not right at the rim.
Johnson shot 39% from 3 on the season and 41% in conference. He averaged 2.6 attempts per game. His form is OK but is also a bit on the square side. The mechanics are fine, and he's also a good midrange shooter. He's not an off the dribble guy and not as good when facing contests, but give him space and he will knock down the C&S 3 and 2. He even made a few 3's off screens. He shot 71% from the line and had never been a shooter before this year. People will have their questions about sustainability, I don't think he's a natural shooter, but he knocked shots down this year and he being someone who spread the floor and was a reliable C&S guy from the perimeter has really made him a far more attractive prospect.
Johnson sets good screens both on and off the ball, he's a space creator as a screen setter. His screen setting aids him as a PnR rollefinisher, as well as his ballhandlers. He's very fluid in peeling off the screen and rolling to the rim. He does ancillary things very well on the offensive end. He's also a solid passer. He averaged 1.8 assists and will make nifty passes and quick reads in a variety of ways. He finds cutters at the top of the key and FT line, he finds dump off guys and cutters when driving to the rim, he finds shooters off the roll. He will engage dribble handoffs and roll or pop and make shots or find the open teammate. He's not an advanced passer but makes good reads with good timing and good accuracy and has good vision as a passer. He's a good ball mover and functions well within the context of the team on the offensive end.
He also functions well as a team defender. He helps the helper, he's a good and sharp rotater, he deflects passes and keeps his hands up in trail positions and facing ballhandlers, he blocks quite a few shots from behind as a helper. He plays a pretty disciplined brand of defense. He's not someone who's gonna take big risks doubling down for example and straying off shooters, but he does have active hands as a defender and deflects passes with his length. He's really good at contesting shots both on the perimeter and the post. His length helps, he doesn't launch and take himself out of plays....he doesn't bite for fakes often and he can recover when he does. He's very good with verticality down low as a help defender. He's someone who's very good at remaining vertical and bothering and making it a lot more difficult for opponents to make shots around the rim.
Arizona switched a lot and though they had some miscommunications across the board, Johnson is good at executing switches quickly and he has the ability to hang on the perimeter, especially against small forwards on switches. He's a very good on ball defender against forwards overall; he doesn't give up ground, he's got excellent footwork, he's just too quick/strong/long for them to get around. He's a little less apt against guards...he doesn't have elite agility, double moves can catch him out. He's not quick enough laterally to stay with every guard/forward he sees. He has some impressive moments, and I still think he's fairly switchable because of his length if not an elite option down the lineup.
He is a good switch guy up the lineup....he plays strong in the post defensively. He won't be able to deal with every big man he comes across but he's gonna battle.
What makes him a good offensive rebounder also makes him a good defensive rebounder....his physicality, length, motor, and ability to carve out space and attack balls in the air.
Keshad Johnson had a breakout season as a 5th year senior for Arizona and displayed a versatile skill set on both ends of the floor that any team at the NBA level could use. He checks a lot of boxes. He's one of those guys who isn't the sexiest player but his motor, his intensity, his IQ, and ability to fit into a role and contribute in a variety of ways makes him someone whose stock is seemingly on the rise. What do you all think about Keshad Johnson? Thumbs Up, Down, or Across?
Note: Reposting after measurements/athletic testing numbers

Right now, the best way to defend your castle is to just completly fill your first floor of layers and layers of empty room so that it take an inside amount of time just to penetrate your castle because in the end,each wall has the same HP regardless of room size. What I think would be best would be to normalize the HP each wall have so that a big 5x5 empty room take the same amount of time to breach as a 5x5 honeycombed room. It would encourage people to build smarter and it would also allow people who like to build fancy castle to have a chance at defending their castle.

Looking for Co-Admin for New Subreddit: ChillNihilism
Hey everyone,
I recently created a subreddit called ChillNihilism. I think it’s a great name and fits my perspective on life, but I’m finding that I don’t really have the time to manage or promote it properly. Plus, I’m not entirely sure how to go about growing and maintaining a subreddit.
So, I’m reaching out here to see if anyone in the community is interested in joining as a co-admin. If you have experience moderating subreddits or are just passionate about the philosophy and think you can help make ChillNihilism a useful and engaging place, I’d love to hear from you.
Feel free to message me directly if you’re interested or if you have any suggestions on how to proceed. Let’s make this a cool space for like-minded individuals to connect and share their thoughts.
Thanks!
Ps1. I'm didn't expect it to be a big subreddit or anything, it just that it's good name and don't want to waste it Ps2. I think I can add others as an admin of the sub right? (I probably getting too old for this lol)

Hello, I'm a 23-year-old male in his 4th year of college and will soon graduate in the next three months. I'm writing this entry because my life for the past four years has been that of repeated cycles and familiar shame. On the outside, people see me as a pretty social guy who is active and has it all together. But on the inside, I feel like a mess.
I often experience periods in which I go through the same cycles. In these past years, however, I've picked up on more journaling, meditation, camping, and even have had therapy for short periods. All of these have been super helpful in helping me understand myself better and deal with daily problems. However, I feel like I return to the same cycle. I've come to realize that I carry with me a lot more shame and guilt than I expected.
T This cycle involved making some changes at the start, slowly falling off, and being disappointed that I fell off. It was almost like I knew this was going to happen, and I would repeat the process, saying, "This will be the time I actually change."
For context, I have a condition called auditory processing disorder, a hearing condition that can take on many forms. My issue at a young age was confusing sounds from each other. For example, my brain thought the letters R and L sounded identical. This led to me not being able to speak/utter a pronounceable word until I was 5, and I had to go to hearing therapy for nine years to learn how to speak correctly. I have a speech inducement now, but for the most part, I sound standard except for sometimes messing up. Either way, this has always made me feel self-conscious and inferior to others, especially when they would laugh or make fun of how I spoke. I've gotten over it for the most part, but it still annoys me. Hence, I carry a lot of shame with me.
I felt like my shame had only evolved more throughout the years with my body, my sexuality, my social standing, my habits, etc. For a while, I was a self-improvement junkie wanting to constantly be better for others, even if it meant sacrificing things I liked or was interested in for other people. For my body, it meant skipping meals so that my six-pack could be available; my sexuality meant not being curvy or big girls from fear of what others might think of me.
I have a hard time accepting myself for who I am, and pretty much every time I've tried to change my life has been out of shame. Very rarely has it been out of self-love or care, and it feels gratifying and right when I do make a change on that front. However, when it comes to things I would like to change, like my porn use, time management, and overcoming fears, I feel like that desire for change stems from shame. I don't know how to stop the cycles from repeating and how to build self-compassion/love properly. I would appreciate any advice or personal stories anyone has.

I'm not trying to sell a SaaS product, or any other type of service. Nor am I only looking for stories involving "big data." If you worked with an analyst with a handful of data in Excel, thats just as valid and valuable as pulling in someone who works with a data warehouse and fancy models.
I have 15 years experience working in industry delivering reporting, analysis and data science, and about 3 years as a professor teaching undergraduate data science. I've also done a small amount of consulting and training/data literacy work. My experience has been that there's a gap between people who work in the data-space and people who work in the business space.
In the business space, there are a lot of people who want better insights from the data they have, but don't have time or experience to do it themselves... But people in the data-space often lack the business understanding to deliver results that directly help the business unless they're micro-managed. There are many exceptions, but IME that has been the trend.
I'd love to hear some of what went well and what went wrong when you worked with an outside (or internal) data consultant/analyst/scientists/other helper. What was the project? Did they deliver something workable? How was the communication? What were the results? Did you continue to use the process/model after they had moved on?
I ask both as someone who is considering moving into this space, and as someone who works with aspiring data scientists and would like to teach them how to best work with business leaders.

IM BACK! with my second NAKED! party that can destroy honor mode with EASE!
if you just wanna see the videos and not read the guide just scroll down to the boss you wanna see and click the link
INTRO
you wanna sit back, relax, and let summons do the ass whooping for you? with ZERO equipment?! Then this party composition is for you! this naked build comes online in act 3 and requires learning a few scrolls, but after that, you won't need to use a single potion until the elder brain.
MYRKUL - https://youtu.be/dQoBNGeGxAE
to get to act 3 you gotta beat myrkul, so here is 4 naked tempest clerics making ketheric wonder if he should change gods again. just cast sanctuary, help aylin, then wet and call lightning. feats are alert and tough
ACT 3
alright for the summon build to come online you gotta get to level 12 first, kill and explore for xp
LEVELS
1 wizard, 11 life cleric (any cleric would do) feats alert and tough, stats 12 dex, 14 con, 16 wis, 16 int (you want 16 int so you have four wizard spell slots available)
SCROLLS NEEDED - buy at sorcerer sundries, always available
4x cloud of dagger scrolls, 4x haste scrolls, 4x summon elemental scrolls, 4x summon minor elemental scrolls, learn these scrolls and and prepare them, do long rests to restore stock
KEY CLERIC SPELLS
sanctuary- very important
aid - more hp for summons
planar ally - djinn, the best summon in the game!
insect plague - situational
heroes feast- A MUST for orin and cazador, fear and naseous. give up one djinn
THE COMBO!
1 activate turn based mode
2 cast 1 level 5 cloud of daggers near your target, 3 haste to 3 djinns, 4 santuary to party members, START BATTLE!
3 thunderwave, thunderwave, thunderwave pushing enemies to cloud of daggers, and thats pretty much it. you can push them out and then in again to trigger cloud of dagger damage multiple times.
THE BOSSES
VICONIA - https://youtu.be/w8m-jpc_FpY
big battle field, use insect plague
CAZADOR - https://youtu.be/kn9GjiKzN-g
oh look cazador turned himself into a BALL of mist so your djinns can play with him and pass him around, what a nice vampire, shame if the ball hits something sharp 🗡️🗡️🗡️
RAPHAEL - https://youtu.be/pcTiXNSWkME
unlimited summons thanks to pool, great for destroying pillars, using insect plague on this boss will break his ai, preventing him from doing certain actions like transforming and fireball
TITAN - https://youtu.be/cKx6iPaaDsw
yes, you can push the big boi bot with thunderwave.
GORTASH - https://youtu.be/M_2E6QMtgO4
unique strat! make him have a taste of his own medicine and set your own trap!
ORIN - https://youtu.be/EPMgijR_8UY
unique strat! don't wanna spoil the fun, watch vid instead.
ANSUR - https://youtu.be/jqo7S57WMW8
HILARIOUS! djinn is immune to lightning damage soooo... EZ PZ
ELDER BRAIN (red dragon killed) - https://youtu.be/oOttcbNJa98
i recommend using some potions for this one, its the final fight after all, should still be possible without thanks to divine intervention.
step by step

1. get 1 invisible potion, 1 flying potion, and a bunch of haste potions
2. respec 1 follower before riding boat
3. buy angelic slumber potion from lizard and level up one at a time to restore lizard stock
4. kill the mini absolute army, then use angelic slumber to replenish spell slots and summons
5. use fly and invisible potion to skip the stair fight
6. make djin(deva might be better here cause they have fly) and air myrmidon drink haste potions on their turn by opening group inventory and drinking haste potion, the unit name will show up.
7. kill dragon and everything
8. use the BONKERS skill called DIVINE INTERVENTION and full heal and restore all spell slots when needed.
9. kill elder brain.

gg zero equipment :)
next naked build is probably gonna be sorcerer, i'll probably make use of tadpoles on this one. should be fun.

Hello, I'm a 23-year-old male in his 4th year of college and will soon graduate in the next three months. I'm writing this entry because my life for the past four years has been that of repeated cycles and familiar shame. On the outside, people see me as a pretty social guy who is active and has it all together. But on the inside, I feel like a mess.
I often experience periods in which I go through the same cycles. In these past years, however, I've picked up on more journaling, meditation, psychedelics, camping, and even have had therapy for short periods. All of these have been super helpful in helping me understand myself better and deal with daily problems. However, I feel like I return to the same cycle. I've come to realize that I carry with me a lot more shame and guilt than I expected.
T This cycle involved making some changes at the start, slowly falling off, and being disappointed that I fell off. It was almost like I knew this was going to happen, and I would repeat the process, saying, "This will be the time I actually change."
For context, I have a condition called auditory processing disorder, a hearing condition that can take on many forms. My issue at a young age was confusing sounds from each other. For example, my brain thought the letters R and L sounded identical. This led to me not being able to speak/utter a pronounceable word until I was 5, and I had to go to hearing therapy for nine years to learn how to speak correctly. I have a speech inducement now, but for the most part, I sound standard except for sometimes messing up. Either way, this has always made me feel self-conscious and inferior to others, especially when they would laugh or make fun of how I spoke. I've gotten over it for the most part, but it still annoys me. Hence, I carry a lot of shame with me.
I felt like my shame had only evolved more throughout the years with my body, my sexuality, my social standing, my habits, etc. For a while, I was a self-improvement junkie wanting to constantly be better for others, even if it meant sacrificing things I liked or was interested in for other people. For my body, it meant skipping meals so that my six-pack could be available; my sexuality meant not being curvy or big girls from fear of what others might think of me.
I have a hard time accepting myself for who I am, and pretty much every time I've tried to change my life has been out of shame. Very rarely has it been out of self-love or care, and it feels gratifying and right when I do make a change on that front. However, when it comes to things I would like to change, like my porn use, time management, and overcoming fears, I feel like that desire for change stems from shame. I don't know how to stop the cycles from repeating and how to build self-compassion/love properly. I would appreciate any advice or personal stories anyone has.

N64 Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/n64-games-n64-console-sCri6E3
Let me know if you need pictures of any of the items listed below. Shipping is $5 flat for anything under one pound. I've got 400+ transactions on this board and accept payment via PayPal (F&F) or Venmo (F&F) only.
Consoles
GBA Indigo - $80 shipped
GBA SP (Silver CIB) - $120 shipped
Nintendo 2DS w/ charger - $85 shipped
Nintendo 3DS XL Pokemon X & Y Edition Console - $225 shipped
Nintendo 64 Console w/ hookups + OEM Controller - $90 shipped
Nintendo Wii Console (gamecube compatible) w/ hookups + Wii remote & numb chuck - $75 shipped
PS2 w/ hookups, OEM controller, OEM memory card - $100 shipped
Retron 5 Hyperkin (GBA/GBC/SNES/NES/Genesis) unused CIB - $120 shipped
Super Nintendo w/ hookups & OEM controller - $95 shipped
Xbox OG Console w/ hookups & OEM controller + Project Gotham Racing (CIB) - $100 Shipped
Controllers/Accessories
Gameboy OEM Clam Shells (lot of 32) - $75 shipped
Gamecube OEM Controller (Indigo) - $30 shipped
Gamecube OEM Wavebird Controller w/ receiver- $95 shipped
NES OEM 10-Cart Storage Case (3x avail) - $20 + shipping each
N64 OEM Expansion Pak - $50 shipped
N64 OEM Green Controller - $30 shipped
N64 Memory Card - $14 shipped
PS2 Logitech Wireless Controller (w/ dongle) - $35 shipped
PS2 OEM Memory Card- $14 shipped
Sega GameGear Super Wide Gear - $20 shipped
Wii U Wireless Controller (WUP-005) & charging cable - $35 shipped (2x avail)
N64 Games
007 GoldenEye - $25
007 World is Not Enough - $14
Army Men Sarge's Heroes - $15
Automobil Lamborghini - $8
Backstage Assault - $12
Banjo Kazooie - $25
Bass Hunter 64 - $8
Beetle Adventure Racing - $17
Charlies Blasts - $40
Diddy Kong Racing - $25
Doom 64 - $30
Extreme G Racing - $10
Forsaken 64 - $10
Gex 64 - $16
Iggy's Reckin' Balls - $20
Killer Instinct Gold - $30
Knockout Kings 2000 - $6
Magical Tetris Challenge - $20
Mario Kart - $40
Monster Truck Madness - $15
MRC Multi Championship Racing - $10
Namco Museum 64 - $12
Nascar 99 - $7
Nascar 2000 - $7
NBA In the Zone 98 - $5
NBA Live 99 (CIB) - $20
NBA Showtime - $12
Polaris Sno-Cross -$30
Pokemon Snap - $20
Quest 64 - $25
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing - $12
Ridge Racer 64 - $15
San Francisco Rush - $15
Starfox 64 - $25
Star Wars Episode 1 Racer - $10
South Park Chef's Luv Shack - $25
Supercross 2000 - $7
Super Mario 64 - $35
Super Smash Bros. - $40
Tetrisphere - $12
Top Gear Rally - $10
Turok Dinosaur Hunter - $12
Turok 2 Seeds of Evil - $12
Vigilante 8 - $21
Virtual Pool - $13
Waialae Country Club - $6
War Gods - $10
Wave Race (Player's Choice) - $15
WCW Backstage Assault - $11
WCW NWO Revenge - $11
Wheel of Fortune - $11
Zelda Ocarina of Time (label wear) - $30
N64 Manuals
1080 Snowboarding - $7
Duke Nukem Manual - $10
Flying Dragon Manual - $40
Rush Extreme Racing - $8
Silicon Valley Space Station Manual - $40
Supercross 2000 - $6
Tony Hawk Pro Skater - $6
Nintendo Gamecube Games (CIB unless noted)
ATV Quad Power Racing 2 - $10
The Hobbit - $24
Enter the Matrix - $13
Eternal Darkness - $90
Fifa 2003 - $6
Fifa Street 2 - $25
Finding Nemo - $8
F-Zero GX - $90
Gun (missing manual) - $10
Harry Potter Chambers of Secret - $12
Killer 7 - $65
Luigi's Mansion - $60
Madden 2003 - $5
Madden 2007 - $8
Mario Golf Toadstool Tour - $27
Mario Kart Double Dash - $75
Monopoly Party - $10
Monsters, Inc. Scream Arena - $7
Nascar Thunder 2003 - $7
Pikmin - $50
Power Rangers Dino Thunder - $8
Resident Evil - $25
Resident Evil 2 - $100
Resident Evil 4 - $30
Resident Evil Zero - $18
The Sims Bustin Out - $12
Smuggler's Run (missing manual) - $12
Sonic Adventure Battle 2 (missing manual) - $45
Spiderman 2 - $15
Spyro A Hero's Tail (missing manual) - $15
SSX Tricky - $28
Starfox Assault - $45 (CIB; some wear to cover art)
Super Mario Sunshine (missing manual) -$35
Super Smash Brothers Melee - $60
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger (missing manual) - $12
WWE Crush Hour - $27
WWE Day of Reckoning 2 (missing manual) - $25
Nintendo DS Games (cart only unless CIB noted)
Avatar The Game - $6
Bionicle Matoran Adventures - $6
Build-A-Bear Workshop (CIB) - $6
Carnival (CIB) - $6
Deal or No Deal - $5
Guitar Hero On Tour Bundle (CIB) - $25
Happy Feet - $4
Horsez (CIB) - $6
Hot Wheels Beat That - $6
Kung Fu Panda (CIB) - $6
Mario Party DS - $13
Mario Kart DS (loose) - $15
Mario Kart DS (CIB) - $18
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (CIB) - $10
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (CIB) - $10
Megaman Starforce Dragon - $85 shipped
Metroid Hunters First Hunt - $6
Nacho Libre - $15
Namco Museum DS - $8
Naruto Ninja Council 3 - $6
New Super Mario Bros. (CIB) -$22
Nickelodeon Team Umizoomi - $6
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney - $20
Picross 3D - $9
Ping Pals - $3
Planet Puzzle League - $10
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky (case & manual only, no game) - $55
Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia (cart only) - $30
Ratatouille - $5
Rayman DS - $10
Ridge Racer DS - $8
Shrek Superslam - $5
Spiderman 3 - $8
Star Wars II The Original Trilogy (LEGO) - $6
Super Money Ball Touch & Roll - $6
Transformers Animated - $11
Tron Evolution - $4
Zhu Zhu Pets - $3
Nintendo 3DS (cart only unless noted)
Animal Crossing: New Leaf (CIB) - $20
Lego Marvel Superheroes: Universe in Peril - $5
Mario Kart 7 - $12
Minecraft New Nintendo 3DS Edition - $18
Pilotwings Resort - $10
Pokemon X (CIB) - $30
Skylander Giants - $6
Skylander Swap Force - $16
Skylander Trap Team - $12
Super Mario Maker - $10
Super Smash Bros (CIB) - $15
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - $9
Wipeout: Create & Cash - $5
Wreck-it Ralph - $6
Yo-Kai Watch - $15
NES Games (cart only; unless noted)
8 Eyes - $11
A Boy and His Blob (cart, box, manual) - $40
Blades of Steel - $8
Bubble Bobble - $16
Burgertime - $15
Castlevania II Simon's Quest - $15
Castlevania III Dracula's Curse - $45
Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers (CIB) - $125
Contra - $40
Dick Tracy - $7
Double Dragon - $13
Donkey Kong 3 - $20
Dr. Mario - $10
Duck Tales - (cart & box) - $100
Excite Bike - $11
Faxanadu - $11
GI Joe: A Real American Hero - $75
Golf - $3
Legend of Zelda - $30
Mickey Mousecapade - $7
Mike Tyson's Punch-out - $40
Paperboy - $16
Punch-Out - $20
Rad Racer - $6
RBI Baseball 3 (cart & box) - $25
Robocop - $10
Rollerball - $8
Skate or Die 2 (cart & box) - $65
Spy Hunter - $5
Street Fighter 2010 - $15
Super Glove Ball - $7
Super Mario Bros. 2 - $20
Super Off-Road - $12
Super Team Games - $7
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II - The Arcade Game (cart & box) - $80
Tiger Heli - $8
Wall Street Kid (cart, box, registration card, poster) - $45
WWF Wrestlemania - $6
SNES Games (cart only)
Aladdin - $15
Castlevania IV - $45
Clue - $5
Earthbound - $350
F-Zero (Player's Choice) - $20
Jungle Strike - $9
Ken Griffey Jr Major League Baseball - $11
Kirby's Avalanche - $15
Lion King - $11
Mario Paint - $6
Mega Man X - $32
Mickey Mania - $13
Mortal Kombat - $13
Ms. Pacman - $9
NBA All-Star Challenge - $5
Pilot Wings - $10
Scooby Doo Mystery - $11
Starfox - $15
Super Adventure Island - $16
Super Baseball 2020 - $13
Super Ghouls N Ghosts - $23
Super Mario All-Stars - $25
Super Mario Kart - $40
Super Mario World - $20
Super Punch Out - $28
Top Player Tennis - $8
WWF Raw - $13
Zombies Ate My Neighbors - $30
GBA (cart only unless noted)
Aggravation/Sorry/Scrabble - $5
Barnyard - $8
Bratz - $4
Care Bears Care Quest (CIB) - $28
Cars - $5
Cars (CIB) - $16
Castlevania Double Pack - $85
Cho Makaimura R Super Ghouls N Ghost ( Japanese Import) - $95 Shipped
Crash Bandicoot 2 N-tranced - $10
Crash Huge Adventure - $11
Curious George (CIB) - $28
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 - $4
Disney Party - $10
Disney Princess (CIB) - $12
Donkey Kong Country (GBC/CIB) - $56
Dora Explorer's Pirate Pig's Treasure - $4
Dragon Ball Z Supersonic Warriors - $20
Elf - $10
ESPN Great Outdoor Games Bass 2002 - $5
F-14 Tomcat - $7
Finding Nemo - $5
Green Eggs & Ham (CIB) - $20
Incredibles (CIB) - $14
Kong 8th Wonder of the World - $5
Lost Vikings - $25
Madden 2005 - $5
Mario Kart Super Circuit (torn label) - $20
Metroid Zero Mission - $60
Monsters Inc - $4
Monster Jam Maximum Destruction - $6
Namco Museum - $6
Oddworld Munch's Oddysee - $12
Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl - $5
Pong Asterios Yar's Revenge - $4
Sonic Advance 3 - $25
Quad Desert Furty - $3
Shaun Palmers Pro Snowboarding (GBC/CIB) - $10
Shrek Swamp Kart Speedway - $5
Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron - $5
SpongeBob Battle for Bikini Bottom - $7
Spongebob Squarepants Super Sponge - $6
SSX 3 - $7
The Incredibles - $3
Thunder Alley - $5
Top Gear GT Championship - $10
Sony PSP (all CIB)
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - $15
Gurumin A Monstrous Adventure - $42
LocoRoco - $10
Mega Man Powered Up - $38
Parappa the Rapper - $27
Sega Genesis Collection - $17
PS1 Games (CIB unless noted)
007 Tomorrow Never Dies - $7
Action Bass - $6
Andretti Racing (GH) - $5
Ball Breakers (sealed) - $10
Bass Championship - $7
Battle Arena Toshinden (GH) - $14
Bust A-Move 4 - $17
Driver 2 (GH) - $10
Fighting Force - $20
IHRA Drag Racing - $5
Missile Command - $6
MLB 2001 - $9
MLB 2003 - $9
Nascar Heat (CIB) - $7
NBA Live 2000 - $8
NBA Shootout 98 - $9
NHL 98 - $8
NHL Faceoff 97 (GH) - $5
PlayStation Underground Jampack Fall 2001 - $9
Resident Evil 2 (DualShock Edition) - $65
Rocket Power Team Rocket Rescue - $7
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie - $12
Spongebob SquarePants Super Pants - $7
Syphon Filter 2 (GH) - $10
Tecmo Super Bowl - $20
Tiger Woods 99 - $8
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 - $12
Twisted Metal 2 (Greatest Hits) - $32
Toy Story 2 - $22
Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour - $20
World Cup 98 - $12
PS2 Games (CIB unless noted)
All-Star Baseball 2005 - $5
Ape Escape 2 - $48
Ape Escape 3 - $43
ATV Offroad Fury 2 - $6
Avatar the Last Airbender - $8
Batman Begins - $13
Batman Vengeance - $19
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Chaos Bleeds - $28
Burnout Revenge - $11
Burnout 3 Takedown - $13
Buzz the Mega Quiz - $12
Capcom Classics Collection Volume 2 - $13
Castlevania Lament of Innocence -$25
Corvette - $5
Crash Bandicoot The Wrath of the Cortex - $12
Crash Nitro Kart (GH) - $9
Crazy Taxi - $10
Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2 - $7
Dead to Rights - $6
Devil May Cry (GH) - $7
Enter the Matrix - $10
Eragon - $6
Family Feud - $5
Finding Nemo - $6
Fire Pro Wrestling Returns - $10
Ford Racing 3 - $5
Frogger the Great Quest - $7
Golden Compass - $5
GTA 3- $10
Gran Turismo 3 - $5
Godfather the Game - $14
Guitar Hero - $10
Guitar Hero Aerosmith - $7
Guitar Hero II - $7
Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock - $9
High Heat Major League Baseball 2004 - $5
Hot Wheels Velocity - $10
Hot Wheels World Race (missing manual) - $12
Hobbit - $10
Ice Age 2 The Meltdown - $7
Ironman - $6
Karaoke Revolution Party - $8
Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol - $5
Legends of Wrestling II - $12
Lego Star Wars The Original Trilogy - $6
Lego Star Wars The Video Game - $7
Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring - $10
Madden 2003 - $5
Madden 2004 - $5
Madden 2005 -$5
Madden 2007 - $5
Matt Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 - $10
Max Payne - $10
Metal Arms Glitch in the System - $16
Midway Arcade Treasures (1) - $12
Midway Arcade Treasures (2) - $12
MLB 07 the Show - $5
MLB Slugfest 2003 - $10
MLB Slugfest 2004 - $13
Namco Museum (GH) - $8
Nascar 2001 - $5
Nascar Thunder 2003 - $7
NBA Street - $12
Need for Speed Underground 2 (missing manual) - $20
NFL Blitz Pro - $10
NFL Street - $17
NFL Street 3 (missing manual) - $20
Onimusha 3 Demon Siege - $21
Pinball Hall of Fame - $5
Pirates - The Legend of Black Kat - $12
Power Rangers: Dino Thunder - $8
Reel Fishing III - $7
Resident Evil Code Veronica X - $13
Rise of Kasai - $8
Rocky - $11
Scarface the World is Yours - $45
Scooby Doo First Frights - $13
Sega Superstars - $10
Sega Superstar Tennis - $10
Shrek Superslam - $8
Simpson's Hit & Run (Greatest Hits) -$50
Spiderman - $10
Sprint Cars Road to Knoxville - $6
Spy Hunter - $7
Spy Hunter 2 (missing manual) - $7
Starsky & Hutch - $7
SSX - $7
SSX 3 - $9
SSX On Tour - $8
Superman Shadow of Apokolips - $14
Super Monkey Ball Adventure - $10
Summoner - $10
Taito Legends - $15
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battlenexus (missing manual) - $17
Teen Titans - $22
Theme Park Roller Coaster - $8
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 - $6
Thrillville - $6
Thrillville Off the Rails - $10
Time Crisis 3 - $23
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger - $11
Wheel of Fortune - $6
Virtua Fighter 4 (missing manual) - $6
Warriors of Might & Magic - $10
WWE Smackdown vs Raw - $11
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2007 (Sealed) - $45
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2007 - $17
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 - $10
WWE Smackdown Shut Your Mouth - $15
PS3
Band Hero - $6
Batman Arkham Asylum - $7
Battlefield 3 - $6
Call of Duty Advanced Warfare - $6
Call of Duty Ghosts - $6
Call of Duty Mordern Warfare 3 - $6
Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare - $7
Call of Juarez Bound in Blood - $9
Crysis 2 - $7
Dirt 2 - $12
Dirt 3 - $10
Driver San Francisco - $25
Enemy Territory Quake Wars - $9
Fifa Soccer 11 - $5
Fight Night Champion - $13
GTA IV Complete Edition - $25
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue - $8
Gran Turismo XL Edition - $11
Gran Turismo 6 - $19
Heavy Fire: Afghanistan - $10
Infamous - $6
Infamous 2 - $8
Killzone 2- $7
Killzone 3 - $7
Lego 3: Beyond Batman - $8
Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 - $7
Lego The Hobbit - $9
LittleBigPlanet - $9
Madden 2011 - $5
Metro: Last Night - $8
Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition - $12
MLB the Show 10 - $4
MLB the Show 11 - $4
Monster Jam Path of Destruction - $20
NCAA Football 11 - $9
Sports Champions - $5
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 [Masters Historic Edition] - $23
Transformers Fall of Cybertron - $35
Transformers Rise of the Dark Spark - $13
Virtua Tennis 3 - $6
WWE 2K16 - $12
PS Vita
Lumines Electronic Symphony - $16
Need for Speed Most Wanted - $20
Sly Cooper Collection - $50
Sega 32X (all cart only)
Primal Rage - $50
Virtua Fighter - $24
Virtua Racing - $20
Sega Dreamcast Games (disc & manual only***; do not have original cases unless noted CIB)
Centipede - $7
Plasma Sword Night of Bilstein - $50
Psychic Force 2012 - $25
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing - $12
Resident Evil Code Veronica (CIB) - $40
Rippin Riders - $5
Sega Bass Fishing - $8
Sega Rally 2 Championship - $12
Speed Devils - $15
Sword of Berserk: Gut's Rage (game only) - $65
Trick Style - $7
Zombie Revenge - $30
Sega Genesis (**CIB unless noted)
Aladdin (cart + manual) - $10
Double Dragon (cart & box) - $45
Game Genie (loose + booklet) - $20
Hard Drivin' (Missing Manual) - $15
John Madden Football (cart + manual) - $20
Lemmings (CIB) - $30
MERCS (cart & box) - $35
NBA Jam T.E. (CIB) - $20
Prime Time NFL Football starring Deon Sanders (cart +manual) - $9
Ren & Stimpy Show: Stimpy's Intervention (CIB) - $20
Road Rash II (CIB) - $22
Robocop 3 (CIB) - $40
Streets of Rage (cart only) - $22
Super Off-Road (CIB) - $30
WWF Super Wrestlemania (CIB) - $20
X-Men (cart + manual) - $15
Zero Tolerance (CIB) - $35
Sega Master System (CIB unless noted)
Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars - $28
California Games (missing manual) - $20
Choplifter - $18
Ghostbusters - $25
Great Baseball - $10
Monopoly - $10
Parlour Games - $10
Pro Wrestling - $14
Rocky - $17
Space Harrier (missing manual) - $18
Shinobi (includes map; missing manual) - $30
Xbox (all CIB)
MechAssault 2 Lone Wolf (Limited Edition) - $8
Project Gotham Racing - $6
Xbox 360 (CIB)
Assassin's Creed - $6
Assasin's Creed II - $6
Asssasin's Creed III - $6
Battlefield Hardline Deluxe Edition - $10
Battlefield 3 Limited Edition - $6
Bioshock - $7
Bioshock Infinite - $5
Call of Duty World at War - $9
Call of Juarez: Blood Bound - $10
Civilization Revolution - $6
CSI Hard Evidence - $9
Fifa Soccer 10 - $5
Fifa Work Cup South Africa 2010 - $5
Game of Thrones - $11
Gears of War - $9
Halo 4 - $5
Injustice Gods Among Us - $5
L.A. Noire - $7
Mass Effect - $5
Mass Effect 2 - $5
N3 Ninety-Nine Nights - $20
NBA 2K12 - $5
NHL 10 - $3
NHL 14 - $6
Saints Row 2 - $10
Saints Row The Third - $5
Skate 3 - $6
Star Trek Legacy - $18
Star Wars Kinect - $7
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007 - $5
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008 - $5
Top Spin 3 - $6
Walking Dead Survival Instinct - $8
Wheel of Fortune - $14
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire -$5
Nintendo Wii (all CIB unless noted)
Animal Crossing City Folk - $20 (includes inserts but missing manual)
Celebrity Sports Showdown - $6
Guitar Hero World Tour - $18
Little League World Series Baseball 2008 - $10
Madden 2013 - $14
Mario Kart Wii - $35
Mario Super Sluggers (disc only) - $25
Mario Strikers Charged (disc only) - $10
NBA Live 09 All-Play - $5
New Super Mario Bros - $25
Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz - $6
Super Smash Bros. Brawl - $20
Tony Hawk Downhill Jam - $5
Tony Hawk Shred Big Air - $5
Warioware Smooth Moves - $22
Wii Sports - $22
Wii Sports Resort - $30
Wheel of Fortune - $6
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 - $7