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Chapter 15: For What You’ve Tamed
“We’ve come a long way, Vikri. Let’s finish your story,” Rayner said as he sat down in the same chair, crossing his legs in the same way.; small consistencies that made the task of talking about my past seem a little more routine. “I understand you lost someone important to you that day.”
I shifted slightly where I sat. “Yeah,” I answered coarsely. I grabbed at the poncho hanging over my shoulders. I remembered what it felt like in my dreams. Radiant warmth always seemed to emanate from it. Not necessarily the poncho itself, but Tenga’s memory. I realized that as long as I had those, then he was still here in a way. I’d much rather have him here than his memory though.
Rayner nodded. “I know what that’s like,” he said in a near whisper.
I shook my head. “It’s not just that I lost him. I…I failed,” I rasped. “I could’ve saved him. Maybe if I’d gone back I could’ve gotten the equipment before the fire did. I was too afraid.”
Rayner nodded slowly. “And now you feel responsible.”
I remained silent as I clutched my tail on the couch beside me. Rayner already knew the answer. He pursed his lips. “Yeah…I know exactly how that feels.”
I looked up at him. For the first time, his eyes weren’t on me, but on the adjacent wall as he seemed to ponder something. “You think about all the things you could have done differently. Things that are so obvious in hindsight,” he sighed and adjusted his glasses. “If only it were that clear in the moment.” He looked up at me, clasping his hands together. “So walk me through what happened.”
I could still vividly remember the moment Tenga got shot. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. So quickly in fact, that it even took Tenga a moment to realize there was a hole in his torso. Minutes of continuous tension shattered with a hail of gunfire lasting less than a second. The echoes continued to howl through the mountains long after the bodies met the snow. My friend was fatally wounded, the snow around him dyed bright red with his blood. And I had to leave him.
The entire time I was in the belly of the federation destroyer with danger lurking around every corner, all I wanted to do was to get this done as quickly as possible and get back to him. I was enraged that they’d done this to him and to billions just like him.
“Tenga was all I thought about the entire time,” I croaked. “And I…I was willing to kill everyone onboard to get back to him, even if there was no way I ever could. I… did things I could never have imagined myself doing even just days ago. I tore a chunk out of my leg just to be able to get to the Krakotl pinning me down with a crowbar.” I inhaled deeply, staring down at my reflection in the water, recalling my bloodshot eyes in the reflection of the ship's monitor. The grimly colorful bloodstains in my fur from several different species.
Rayner nodded. “It was a desperate situation. Many don’t see themselves doing things like that until they’re put in a situation where it's necessary. A situation where it's do or die. No one can fault you for that, especially not with all that depended on you.”
“I guess I just…It’s just worrying knowing that there’s a part of me capable of that.”
The doctor tapped his pen on his notepad as he seemed to think for a moment. “Do you worry that you may have violent outbursts?”
I scoffed. “Well, the events of a few days ago provided good grounds for worry.”
Rayner nodded. “Aggression is common for PTSD victims. It can be difficult to manage intense emotions when your mind is already dealing with so much.
I shook my head. “That’s not the person I want to be.”
Rayner nodded. “I know Vikri. That’s why it's so crucial for you to talk about this stuff. The less all of this weighs on you, the better you’ll be able to control those emotions when they arise.”
He finished writing on his notepad before taking off his glasses and leaning forward slightly. “So what happened to Tenga?”
The question made my heart sink. My mind went quiet. The second hand of time sounded like the footsteps of a giant marching toward…something. My body seemed to go cold and numb. “He died…” I croaked, staring down at the table. That was the first time I’d admitted that to myself verbally in such a direct way. “And I tried so hard,” I choked, tears now streaming down my face. “I did everything in my power to save him. I even put Querek’s life in danger.”
I felt the heat. I could feel cold water dripping from my paws as the burning ship melted the frost accumulating in my fur. I remembered the terrifying hopelessness that gripped me as I gripped Querek and pushed him into the snow. He tried to sacrifice himself for Tenga. What if I had let him? Would it have even worked? Could Tenga accept that?
I recalled the story to Rayner, battling to keep my composure. “I…I watched him die,” I choked. “And I was furious. Reese had to pull me off of him. I wanted to do…something, anything, but…he told them not to bring him back. I think he…” I winced at the thought of him considering this. “I think he’d rather have died sacrificing himself over…going rabid.”
Silence perforated the room for what felt like several long minutes. Rayner sat with his legs crossed, his hand propped up against his mouth. He seemed to become lost in thought for a moment before speaking. “I know how that guilt feels,” he admitted quietly.
I looked at him, somewhat surprised. “You do?”
Rayner nodded, rubbing his hands together. “My son,” he said plainly, taking a long pause before he continued. “He and Jesse were very close as kids. Practically brothers.” He tapped on his clipboard with his pen. “I was…not so available in those days. I was a very different man than I am now. I was still in school. I was always busy, always stressed. I hadn't even considered becoming a therapist. I was deadset on becoming a neurosurgeon.” He scoffed at himself, his head gently shaking back and forth as his gaze grew distant. His delivery lacked that matter-of-fact candor I was so used to by now. He was much quieter; less animated. His eye contact was sporadic and he never stopped fidgeting with his pen. Everything about him seemed suddenly mired in an emotion that was difficult to read. That was when I saw everything we'd done over the past few days for what it really was. Rayner wasn't invincible. He never claimed to be. He was hurt; I could hear it in his voice. He wasn't a person reaching down into the mud and yanking me out by the nape of the neck. He was man covered in mud himself. He wasn't an untouchable hero. Merely a guide.
He continued as that realization struck me. “I loved him as much as a father could. But I was so busy that…well I wasn't there as much as I'd like to have been. That put a big strain on our relationship.” He removed his glasses and wiped the lenses a few times before he continued. “One night we got into an argument. He’d just gotten his license. He had an old beat-up car I'd bought him for his birthday,” he chuffed. “A teen’s first car is always…eccentric. Thought it was a great deal at the time.” He sighed and nodded slightly before continuing. “He left the house enraged, speeding down the road. After a few miles, he lost control, swerved off the road, and hit a tree head-on. The airbag never deployed. The car crumpled like a soda can.”
I stared at him, speechless as he concluded in a near-whisper. “He was declared dead at the scene.”
The room felt hollow for a few long seconds. I searched for a reply but couldn't fathom the right words to say. Fortunately, Rayner didn't stay silent for long. “Like you, I blamed myself for a long…long time.” He sighed. “And it nearly destroyed me.”
I stared at the floor, fidgeting with my tail. “How did you…overcome that?”
“Well it didn't happen overnight,” he replied, flashing a brief smile. “It takes time but, at some point, you have to carry on living. You have to continue loving.” His eyes creased slightly as he looked down at his own hands. “You have to keep loving,” he repeated in a low whisper.
Loud silence claimed the room again as his words sank in. He was right. It was either accept what happened or live like this forever. Looking at it that pragmatically, the choice seemed easy. Emotions are never so logical though. It wasn’t as if he relieved himself of that burden either, it was obvious he still carried it. It just…didn’t weigh as much now. Not because it got lighter, but because he got stronger. I eased into speaking again. “I…I'm sorry. About your son.”
Rayner nodded. “I'm sorry about your friend.”
We both stewed in silence for a minute before Rayner spoke up. “We’ll send you home today.”
“You…really think I’m ready?”
Rayner nodded slowly. “I think so. The medication seems to be working, you haven’t had any breakdowns since you’ve been here. You’ve gotten much better at discussing these things. I think you’re equipped to face this now.”
“...I’m afraid,” I croaked.
“Of what?” Rayner asked, leaning forward
“Of…seeing Lucky again. I'm doubting whether I even should. I was never prepared to be her master. I’m just a danger to her.”
“Vikri,” Rayner exhaled and leaned forward. “You made a mistake. We all do. But you have a responsibility to her. You should at least see her and face that mistake, or you’ll never have closure. What you decide after that is your choice, but I don’t think it’ll be as bad as you think.”
“I hope so,” I sighed.
Rayner clicked his pen and set his notepad aside. “We’ve made you some medication to take home, same stuff you've been taking. The plan is to keep lowering the dosage until you’re sleeping without it. We’ve made you some sheets with all the daily doses on them and when to take each one. It’s enough to last you two weeks, then once they’re out, you’ll come back here for another session, then if you need it, we’ll get you more and keep weaning you off them.”
He leaned forward, emphasizing his next words. “And I cannot recommend enough that you go to Jesse’s support group in between our meetings. Those will help you tremendously, I’m sure of it.”
I nodded. “I have his number. I’ll…I’ll give it a shot.”
“You won't regret it,” Rayner assured me. “Jesse was in the same chair as you not too long ago for similar reasons. He has knowledge from first-hand experience. I can vouch for him, he’s a great guy.” He inhaled. “Well, is there anything else Vikri? We won’t be seeing each other again for a while, so if there’s anything else, now’s the time to talk about it.”
I thought for a second. We’d covered almost everything. I’d never discussed those days in so much detail. It felt like being submerged in icy water. It was miserable at first, but over time it became easier, even comfortable. I’d relived so much pain over the last three days, but here at the end of the whole story, It felt less like a nightmare, and more like reality. “No, I don’t think so,” I finally replied.
“Then I’ll clear you to go home. Andrea is here, she’ll give you a ride, I’m sure. Here.” He reached over and handed me a small business card. “That has all my contact information on it. I’m usually here in my office until late at night, so feel free to call if you need anything. If the sedative gives you any issues at all, any side effects, make sure to call and let me know. We followed the recipe to a tee, but it’s wise to be cautious.”
A familiar silence flooded the room as Rayner and I seemed to, for the first time, have nothing left to say. Finally, the doctor spoke. “See you in two weeks, Vikri.”
///////////////////////////////
Golden strands of light danced between the digits of my paw as I moved it in front of the brilliant summer sun. An intense beacon of warmth floating in a sky as blue as Earth’s oceans. The rumble of Andy’s car occupied the air as we cruised down the highway. Vivri was sound asleep in the backseat. The gentle white noise and vibration seemed to knock her out cold. I watched the sunrays dance as I waved my paw in front of me, before turning it around. Several spots on my paw still had obvious scars. I even still had burn scars from the electrical systems aboard the crumbling Cardinal.
I curled my paw closed into a fist and rested my head against it, watching the lush, green mountains pass by in the distance. After three days I was set loose into the world once again, hopefully better armed than I was before. Even after all the weight I doffed from my shoulders in Rayner’s office, a crushing mass still rested on my chest. Lucky.
The weight only became heavier as the car slowed, and rounded a corner into the parking lot of a large animal hospital. Andy gently brought the car to a stop in a parking space in front of the entrance. Occasionally people would walk in and out with their pets, many of which were dogs on leashes.
Vivri stirred awake after we stopped. “Oh…We’re here,” she muttered nervously. “There’s…a lot more animals here than I was expecting.”
Andy chuckled. “It’s an animal hospital girl, there’s gonna be all kinds of critters here.”
I turned around to face her. “You don’t have to go in there. You and Andy can wait here.”
Andy scoffed. “You might wanna tell Rayner they screwed up those meds, ‘cause you’re delusional if you think I’m letting you go in there by yourself.”
“Well I don’t want her to be alone out here,” I argued.
“I’ll go in, just…stay close, please?” Vivri interjected.
I looked back at her, ears tilted. She was dead serious. I sighed and shook my head. “This is gonna be a disaster,” I groaned.
Andy opened her door. “I’ll wait with her in the lobby, you go talk to the vets. It’ll be fine.”
I looked back at Vivri one last time as Andy stepped out. “Alright, just stay away from the cats.” I opened my door and began stepping out into the summer air.
“C-cats?”
“Small felines. They're demons with mind control,” I replied just before closing the door.
Vivri scrambled out of the car and followed right on my heels. “Well don’t just leave me!” she squeaked.
I laughed. “I’m kidding. Well, mostly.”
Walking into the building, I realized that Lucky had been in a very similar place as me over the past three days. The lobby felt eerily similar to the one at the medical center. Everything went silent as Vivri and I walked in. Immediately I could feel dozens of eyes on us. Vivri hid close behind me as Andy gestured for me to follow her to the desk.
I doubted any of the humans there meant any harm, but dozens of binocular eyes snapping onto her in an instant had Vivri more unsettled than she already was. It didn’t help that several dogs were either on leashes or in carriers in the lobby, which were no doubt just as curious. I grabbed Viv’s paw. “They don't see many Venlil,” I whispered. “Just ignore them.”
I approached the desk with Vivri still hiding behind me. “E-excuse me?” I stuttered. The woman at the desk looked up, clearly caught off guard by two venlil standing before her. “O-oh! Excuse me, you must be Lucky’s owner, right?”
“Yeah. Vikri.” I could feel Vivri shivering behind me.
“I’ll let Doctor Gavin know you’re here.”
“Thanks,” I muttered before turning to Vivri. “Are you sure about this?” I whispered.
“Of course! It’s just for a few minutes, right?” Her body language gave an entirely different answer. She seemed like she might faint at any moment.
I looked up at Andy. “Keep her close, would you?”
Andy wrapped her arms over Viv’s shoulders. “Of course. I’ll keep little Vivi safe from all the big, bad puppy dogs and mean kitties,” she said in baby speak, twisting her side to side. She giggled. “We’ll be fine.” Her tone suddenly shifted as she locked eyes with me. “Will you?”
I stood there in silence for a moment. This entire time my heart felt unbearably heavy. Standing there, I felt nauseous. So much so that I made it a point to know exactly where the bathroom was when I walked in. The weight on my chest made breathing a laborious task. I heaved in a deep breath. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t know what’s going to happen in there but…I have to do this. For both of us.”
Andy exhaled and nodded, seemingly just as nervous for me. Right on cue, the door at the back of the room opened with a heavy click. “Vikri?” a male voice called out. An older gentleman in burgundy scrubs surveyed the room. It didn’t take long for him to find me. He nodded toward me as he adjusted his glasses. “Right this way, please.”
“We’ll be right here,” Andy whispered, her hands still resting around Viv’s shoulders, who agreed with a tail flick.
I nodded and walked toward the man, leaving the cozy waiting room behind, and entering a long, sterile hallway. The doctor’s shoes clicked against the tile as he walked just in front of me. The weight bearing down on my chest only got heavier with each step. After a few agonizing seconds, the man finally spoke up as he stopped outside a door. “I’m Doctor Gavin,” he said breathily, extending a hand. “I performed Lucky’s surgery.”
I took his hand with my paw, which he could no doubt tell was trembling by this point. “Vikri,” I choked. “S-so…How is she?”
“She’s good,” Gavin answered in a higher pitch. “She’s recovering remarkably fast. Really lived up to her name.” He opened the door and stepped through into a kennel area as he continued. “The bullet hit one of her ribs and shattered. A couple of fragments pierced her lung, one of them was just inches from her heart. There’re still a few very small ones lodged in her tissue, but we’d be doing more harm than good by trying to remove them. They shouldn’t cause any issues and come out on their own after some time, but we’ll keep track of them with x-rays.”
As he spoke we passed by kennels, some empty, some with dogs that barked or jumped up on the cage as we passed. I scoured each one for Lucky, my dread building with each one we passed. Suddenly, the doctor stopped in front of me. He inhaled deeply. “I should mention…Given the…circumstances of how she got these injuries, me and some staff will stay with you just in case she becomes aggressive. That’s not to say that I think she will,” he added hastily, “she’s been great with everyone here but…you know, just to be safe.”
“I get it,” I breathed. It made sense. If Lucky attacked me, it would be far more deadly than it would be for a human. And I was confident even a human wouldn’t last long against a half-wolf her size. Fittingly, a group of four humans were gathered at the end of the hallway, catchers in hand.
Time seemed to slow as I approached the pen. The staff members all looked over at me with the same anxious expression. I felt like a prisoner walking toward my judgment, and that perhaps it was me that belonged behind these cages. I swallowed and took a long, slow breath as Gavin opened the gate. He walked in ahead of me. “Hey there big girl,” he said in a chipper tone. I heard the familiar thumping of Lucky’s tail against the floor. Gavin chuckled to himself as the remaining four staff calmly and quietly filed into the pen. Once they were all inside, the final human leaned around the corner, looked me in the eyes for a long second, and nodded once.
A new reality awaited around that corner. My sentence was about to be read. It felt so cripplingly helpless; wanting so desperately to finally be reunited with my best friend, yet trembling at the thought of rounding a corner to run face-first into the consequences of my actions. I steeled myself one last time. I nodded back at the catcher and took slow, deliberate steps toward him. I finally rounded the corner, and for the first time since the incident, I saw Lucky.
She lay on a large, fabric bed, with food and water bowls close by. Her right front leg was bound in a cast, tied up close to her body. A large patch of fur had been shaved away around her chest and halfway up her neck. She seemed thinner than I remembered. It reminded me of the scared, hungry pup I’d met so long ago.
Her eyes tracked onto mine instantly, and I felt an ache that defied all imagination. The same gaze that would send almost any other Venlil scrambling down the hallway instead gripped some inner part of me in a cold, numb stasis. I couldn’t move. Part of me wanted to run to her and spill out how sorry I was. Another wanted to curl up on the floor right there and sob, returning to that familiar numbness that seemed akin to the ancient enemy of life itself. The cold. That bitterness that pierced through fur, through flesh, through bones, and any ideal held by the naive child that sat next to Tenga’s corpse that day. It ran through until there was nothing left.
Then, I felt a warmth as if someone had draped a blanket over me. I gripped my poncho around my shoulders, grabbing it tightly. I made a quiet promise to myself there and then. Not a promise to my sister, or my parents, or Andrea. Me. I wouldn’t lie down in the cold. Never again. One more hill.
“Hey Lucky,” I said, my voice coarse and breaking every syllable.
The silence was abruptly broken as Lucky, though seemingly frail, shot to her feet. Everyone in the room shifted, prepared for the worst. I didn’t dare move, but I could feel my heart pounding in my legs, my body preparing to bolt. The staff watched her carefully, their grip slightly tightened around their polls. Lucky made no sounds, only stared at me, her nostrils flaring as she gathered my scent. Her right front leg was useless, immobilized against her body. She shifted her footing to steady herself. Then I saw something that replaced fear with tears. She was shaking like a leaf, never taking her eyes off me. She could care less about the others. She was scared. Of me.
I felt myself fall off a ledge in a sensation I’d become all too familiar with over the last few weeks. Tears streamed down my face, my breath hitching as I brought my paws up to my face. I fell to my knees, the presence of the staff had become irrelevant. “I’m…I’m sorry,” I exhaled between gasps. “I’m so sorry.”
So there it was. My new reality. It wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but it was what I expected. I didn’t know what I’d do then, and I didn’t know now. Could I go on without Lucky? She was the one fortress in the turbulent seas of my broken mind. She was the one I could always count on. The one that I knew would always be there, no matter what. Now I was convinced she was terrified of me.
I sat there a shattered mess for a long moment, tumbling off that cliff and reaching out for anything to catch myself, but found nothing but jagged stones. I felt a hand on my shoulder, Doctor Gavin attempting to comfort me, I assumed. Until I felt something touch my knee. I looked up, thrown out of the spiral abruptly. Lucky was now just in front of me, licking my leg. I froze, confused. She gently laid down, careful of her bandaged leg as she rested her head on my leg, looking up at me. That was the same leg she’d broken months ago. Finally, I got it. “I hurt you, and you still loved me.”
A wave of relief rushed through me and I looked down at her, eyes glossy with tears. I bent down and rested my head against hers. I laughed, though it sounded more like a sob. For the first time in days, I felt whole again.
Lucky still loved me.
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Hello!
I hope we're all doing well!
We did relatively okay last time, with our secondary parlay landing clean! Everything else kinda fell apart, but I did a bit better than I feared i would have done.
Another rough fight night to predict here! Should be a fun event though.
Onwards to the predictions!
(c) - Champ
D/DWCS - Debut/Dana Whites' Contender Series
FLS - Fight Lose Streak
FWS - Fight Win Streak
NS - No Streak
(#x) - Rank in Division
x/3 - Confidence Levels
lets go!
Prelims
Women’s Strawweight
Emily Ducote (-275) (13-8-0, NS) v Vanessa Demopoulos (+220) (10-5-0, NS) - Oh look, a fight that’s probably going to go to the scorecards. Ducote is coming off a relatively strong win against Yoder, she was very capable of stuffing all of those takedown attempts coming her way and matching the tenacity of Yoder on the feet. Now, I am always a bit iffy when it comes to someone with a record like Ducotes’, but I do believe they (The UFC) didn’t quite build her up properly, giving her opponents like Godinez and Hill very early on in her UFC career. Ducote is a fairly well rounded fighter who does well on her feet, but most importantly, her grappling is relatively good, having been capable of defending the takedowns of Godinez, which isn’t a small feat since Godinez is well known for her wrestling capabilities. That ability to defend takedowns is massively important when dealing with someone like Demopoulos, whose main threat in most of her fights are her takedowns and grappling attacks. Ducote has fairly standard striking attacks for a well rounded MMA fighter, she is very quick on the feet and throws a lot of volume when she attacks, which could prove challenging to Demopoulos as she tries to enter range and initiate a takedown. Now, whilst Ducote has a lot of volume and speed to her strikes, she lacks in the “finishing” area, she doesn’t quite have the tenacity to finish her opponents, there’s no hurry. With that said though, she does have a bit of a familiar pattern of touching up her opponents until that right hand finds its mark, then she adds emphasis on that right-side punch. She has, however, one weird tendency to just stand there, staring, whilst in the pocket, with a rather square stance, and whilst that might help her with the offensive output, she is still standing there with minimal defences. That’s something that has contributed to her losses in the past and something that Demopoulos could possibly use as a way to find an entry for a takedown. Demopoulos is coming off a win against Murata, but it was a fairly unimpressive performance with Demopoulos getting taken down a lot, and although she looked fairly good on the feet with powerful single attacks, I don’t quite know how effective she is going to be against a volume-heavy fighter like Ducote. Demopoulos has a few tendencies as a fighter that are great, she is fairly active in the guard off her back, throwing up submissions very quickly, but the problem with that is nowadays if you can’t lock in a submission, then you are losing the fight, and I think if Demopoulos does pull guard, Ducote should have the ability to control her on the ground and avoid submissions. This is a very, very 50/50 fight in my opinion. Ducote has a slight advantage on the feet due to her speed and volume, but on the ground it’s looking like Demopoulos has the advantages there, as she does have great instinct on when to lock in a submission or shift the hips. The safest bet here is either o2.5 rounds or the fight going the distance, this isn’t a ML bet fight by any means in my opinion. As for my prediction, I am very split but i’m leaning towards Ducote to win this one, but it’s the slightest lean one can imagine.
Ducote via UD - (1/3)
Bantamweight
Alatengheili (+150) (16-9-2, NS) v Kleydson Rodrigues (-185) (8-3-0, NS) - This is a fascinating one. Alatengheili was scheduled to fight a month ago but it was cancelled due to an illness, so I fully expect him to fight again this week. The kinda good news about that is he doesn’t really need to have a big camp since he already had the conditioning and cardio from that other camp preparing for Victor Hugo. Alatengheili is a very aggressive and powerful fighter, everything he throws has so much speed and power behind it, and whilst there might not be a lot of volume behind those punches, he shouldn’t be underestimated on the feet because of his explosiveness. Alatengheili also uses that explosive power to wrestle, and he is fairly good on the ground, able to maintain a strong position at all times and just land heavy ground and pound. Alatengheili is powerful but he doesn’t display that power with reckless abandon, he tends to be a bit of a counter puncher, his hands are often low or loose, which lures his opponent in to strike, in which he then propels himself forward with a quick flurry of dangerous punches, then there’s a reset and he waits to lure his opponent in again. That’s his typical gameplan and it works a lot of the time, but I do think he might get exposed by one thing that Rodrigues could do, and that’s chop at the legs to remove or mitigate that explosiveness that Alatengheili relies on. Rodrigues on the other hand has not had as much experience nor octagon time that Alatengheili has had, but his style seems to be a bit of a challenge for Alatengheili, at least from what I can see. Rodrigues is very well rounded, he is very quick on the feet, but most of all, he doesn’t do anything too crazy to be lured into a potential counter-flurry by Alatengheili. Rodrigues loves to kick at range, he is so dynamic and can switch up the angles of the attacks so quickly that he could possibly just keep kicking Alatengheili until the fight is over, as long as he keeps a safe distance from a retaliatory attack. He is very quick at throwing out those kicks and I do think if he attacks the legs early enough he is going to be effective, as Gutierrez was when he fought Alatengheili. Alatengheili is going to have to mix it up in this fight to get ahead, he is going to have to rely heavily on his wrestling in order to get a win here, because we have seen that Rodrigues is mostly a kickboxestriker, and if Alatengheili can push a nasty pace and pressure (something he only does if he is successful with his counters or see’s his opponent is hurt), that completely removes Rodrigues’ ability to kick. However, the biggest danger with any sort of aggressive forward movement from Alatengheili is the ridiculous hand speed of Rodrigues, his boxing speed is ferocious and he doesn’t necessarily overthrow, everything is clean and tight, and given how open the defences are with Alatengheili, I do think a check left hook or an uppercut is going to be a highly effective tool that Rodrigues is going to utilise, especially if Alatengheili is going to look for takedowns. The focus and timing of Rodrigues is something that I really like also, he is so calm but intense in the cage, he sees a lot of his opponents attacks coming, and since Alatengheili’s actions are huge and relatively easy to read (as there is quite a wind up for it) Rodrigues should be able to avoid it or counter effectively. One major thing I want to point out here that makes me lean on Rodrigues even moreso is the striking inaccuracy of Alatengheili, he is a powerful fighter, i cannot state this enough, but it is thanks to that power and his willingness to throw down heavy punches that he often misses. I’m gonna list some stats, so bear with me… These are his striking accuracy stats from a handful of his recent fights, starting from the most recent to ones earlier in his career. Gutierrez with 28% Accuracy, Anheliger with 37%, Lopez with 30% and Kenney with 26%. This is why I emphasized before how important Alatengheili’s wrestling is going to be in this fight, because if you’re going to go up against a very tricky and accurate striker like Rodrigues, you cannot play that accuracy game and risk winging punches against him. With that said though, don’t count of Alatengheili here, his power and explosiveness are always going to be a problem and it should generally be a good idea to sprinkle a little bit of money on him, even moreso that he’s an underdog. My prediction for this fight is a long, drawn out Rodrigues win, but it’s a tough one because we haven’t quite seen that much greatness from Rodrigues.
Rodrigues via UD - (1/3)
Women’s Strawweight
Piera Rodriguez (-175) (9-1-0, NS) v Ariane Carnelossi (+145) (14-3-0, NS) - Normally, a lot of fights interest me, even the ones that don’t interest the vast majority of others… but this one? I have no feelings one way or the other about this one, it seems like a filler fight lol. Rodriguez is a relatively well rounded fighter coming off a tough loss against Gillian Robertson, and I mean, that kind of loss tends to come with the territory of wrestling a well known submission specialist, so I don’t exactly fault Rodriguez for losing in that way. There is very little doubt that Rodriguez is going to have a major advantage in the wrestling department, a lot of her fights involve her taking down her opponent, it's what she does exceptionally well and considering how dreadful Carnelossi’s takedown defence is, it is going to be Piera’s imperative to take down Carnelossi. The problem with Rodriguez is that she's a little bit one dimensional, she doesn’t do too well on the feet and Carnelossi does have very strong strikes, I mean, look at her, she’s absolutely a power puncher. Rodriguez is highly diverse with her striking, both in terms of range and variability of attack, she has excellent fundamentals with the boxing, landing combinations in the pocket and moving away, and one main thing she does extremely well is that jab, its a really long, lunging jab, and the reason why I point that out is because it somewhat masks the takedown, she uses that jab over and over, and because that motion to jab is almost similar to a level change, she doesn’t necessarily feint the jab to get to the level change/takedown position, but her opponents just think another jab is coming. This is going to be a great set up against Carnelossi, attack her with long, prodding jabs, and after a few of those, go for a level change, because its that long lunge that looks like a level change. To put it bluntly, anything to get a level change and a takedown will be highly effective against Carnelossi. Carnelossi is an interesting one to talk about because she had a fun start to her career with an extremely entertaining fight against Liang Na, but if you look closely, she is just a fun fighter, not a great one. Her punching power is probably her biggest asset, because everywhere else she absolutely is not worth talking about, and it’s that punching power that will be evident when she inevitably clips Rodriguez. Carnelossi is one dimensional, but boy is she scrappy and I don’t think Rodriguez can afford to get crazy with her on the feet, because Rodriguez will be hurt by something in the pocket, the smartest thing Rodriguez can ideally do is level change and absolutely remove the power from Carnelossi, and considering that Carnelossi’s power is generated from a very still-standing stance, it wouldn’t take much to take her off her feet. I got Rodriguez winning this one, it should hopefully be a fun fight.
Rodriguez via UD - (1/3)
Middleweight
Abus Magomedov (-250) (25-6-1, 2 FLS) v Warlley Alves (+205) (14-7-0, 3 FLS) - It kind of seems like they are setting Magomedov up for success here. Magomedov may have had a tough last two bouts, but considering the fact that he faced Strickland and Borralho, that’s ridiculous levels of competition for a newcomer. Magomedov had one major issue exposed when he fought Strickland and that was his cardio, everything else he looked absolutely incredible at, he has a lot of power in his hands, he’s long and dynamic with his attacks and he has great wrestling, but it was his cardio that made him fall apart. During his Borralho fight, despite losing that bout, those cardio issues didn’t seem as present, he has seemingly learnt to pace himself and he honestly looks to be a decent up and comer now that he’s facing slightly more adjusted competition instead of straight up killers. Magomedov has a massive, massive reach advantage over Alves, and that’s going to be prevalent when Magomedov lands those beautiful strikes at range. He does use his kicks alot, and alongside said kicks are a lot of knee feints, it's a bit odd to look at, it could just be him getting ready to check leg kicks or to feint a kick, but it's just one of those things that I can’t quite figure out. Anyway, Magomedov’s cardio is going to be in question again today, and whilst I did say that he seems to be mostly fine, or at least a bit better than when he fought Strickland, he still tends to overthrow a lot, there is no pitter patter of punches that you somewhat see, they’re all still big actions and those big actions cost him his cardio early on. The best way to kind of describe Magomedov, at least cardio wise, is a slightly more talented and skillful McKinney. My main concern is how exposed his face is to getting hit, all it would take is for Alves to rush in like a bull and throw some heavy overhand punches, make it very gritty in there and make Magomedov tired. That’s the only way I can kind of see Magomedov struggle a lot. Alves is an exceptionally quick starter, he is an absolute firecracker and if he can catch Magomedov early, that’s going to be absolutely massive given the size difference. Everything Alves throws comes with silly amounts of power, and he isn’t necessarily a headhunter, he chops at the legs and body occasionally, he’s quite diverse and I think those leg kicks are going to be problematic for Magomedov, considering Magomedov needs to push forward in order to get his combinations off. Alves is a tough, tough fighter, and whilst he is coming off a savage knockout by Aliskerov, I do think that Alves is still one dangerous fighter to take on, maybe not as technical as Borralho (to compare to Magomedov’s last opponent), but he is an absolute monster when it comes to aggression and that alone could exhaust Magomedov. However, the reach and movement of Magomedov is going to be a major challenge here. I am not completely counting out Alves here, I think he is being a bit underestimated here, but I just think Magomedov has a lot more tools in his arsenal that is going to be boosted by that reach advantage, and it does seem that Alves is fairly susceptible to down the pipe shots, something that Magomedov does well. Range and distance are going to be the main gameplan for Magomedov and his time I think. I got Magomedov winning this one, but i am not very confident in this one due to the volatility of Alves’ actions. He is a wild and fast starter so I expect that first round to be the most sketchiest.
Magomedov via KO R2 - (1/3)
Women’s Bantamweight
Tamires Vidal (+300) (7-2-0, NS) v Melissa Gatto (-410) (8-2-2, 2 FLS) - This is certainly an interesting one. Vidal is coming off a tough loss against Rendon, and it was a bit of a boring fight in all honesty, with Vidal being somewhat effective on the feet with big and powerful attacks, but ultimately succumbing to the wrestling of Rendon. I don’t see that much changing this time around since Gatto is a great wrestler and Vidal has clearly shown major defensive issues in the wrestling department, so to put it bluntly, it just seems like Vidal has a puncher's chance, and if she does land those punches, I do think the tides can change a little in her favour, but it would only take one takedown for Gatto to be in full control for the rest of that round. Outside of her loss to Rendon, Vidal looked fun against Pascual, then again, a lot of fighters of a reasonably low calibre can look good against Pascual, so I think that was one of those “set up for success” fights. Still, the aggression and threat of a knockdown/out from Vidal will be fairly prevalent during this fight. But that’s about it, shes a powerful striker and quite dynamic, but her takedown defence is going to be a problem. Gatto was scheduled to fight Dudakova a few weeks ago, however that fight fell off, which is probably good for Gatto coz she’s ready for a fight regardless, shes still somewhat fresh off camp and was going to probably employ the same strategy against Vidal that she would have against Dudakova, and that was to wrestle. Gatto’s wrestling has always been a bit of a highlight for her, she’s physically strong and is able to do well in advantageous positions, holding her opponents down and either landing ground and pound or just grinding them out, exhausting them for a large chunk of the round. Gatto is also very dangerous on the feet, she has deceptively quick and powerful punches which she uses to both damage her opponents but also as an opportunity to raise their guard so the level change is more easily accessible. No matter what way you cut this slice of cake, I think Gatto’s wrestling is going to be a major problem for Vidal, and Vidal’s only way to win this fight is to keep it standing and just brawl, make it look gritty in there and potentially freeze up Gatto’s ability to wrestle cleanly. I am leaning on Gatto to win this one, but that unpredictability of Vidal’s aggression is going to be a big factor here. No major bet advice here, it seems like there is a possibility of it going over 2.5 rounds, but that’s about it.
Gatto via UD - (1/3)
Light Heavyweight
Oumar Sy (D) (9-0-0, 9 FWS) v Tuco Tokkos (D) (10-3-0, 3 FWS) - ITS DOUBLE DEBUT TIME!!! These are getting rarer and rarer the more we see fighters from DWCS make their way to the UFC, so this is a fun little occasion. Sy is coming into this fight a little bit more prepared, at least physically and cardio wise, than his replacement opponent in Tokkos. Sy is coming off a string of beautiful fights on various promotions, but most importantly he’s been relatively tested on KSW, which is one of the better promotions to come out of the European world of MMA. Sy is a long and rangey fighter who has dangerous head kicks and dangerous wrestling skills that he uses really well, and whilst he has a massive reach advantage over his opponent, he doesn’t exactly strike in any traditional way, you don’t see him throw a lot of jabs, he mostly uses his reach to lock in takedowns (since it’s easier to lock in takedowns with longer arms), and the moment the fight goes to the ground, expect him to find a position to where he can reign down heavy ground and pound. I would love to see him strike a bit more, but most of his fights are him taking his opponents down and landing ground and pound, and if he does that against a replacement fighter in Tokkos, I expect him to dominate and completely shut down Tokkos since it would take preparation to get out of funky positions that Sy puts his opponents in, and I don’t know if Tokkos has that wrestling background to handle the larger and longer opponent in Sy properly on the ground. Tokkos seemingly came out of nowhere this last week, and that one thing that blasted me in the face was the record of his second most recent opponent, Brian Jackson. Dudes got a 1-7 record and Tokkos torched him (expectedly), that doesn’t bring a lot of confidence to me that a guy like Tokkos, coming from a relatively decent gym in Kill Cliff FC, takes on and fights someone like that. Tokkos is overall a decent fighter with some strong wins under his belt, but the main thing going against him here is preparation time, and whilst he does have a fair bit of experience under his belt, I just don’t think he’s ready for someone like Sy on short notice. Tokkos is a relatively well rounded fighter with great wrestling and decent striking, but i just think all of that is going to be possibly negated by the substantial reach advantage of Sy. This is a double debut though, and whilst I normally steer clear from calling someone new to the UFC a lock, I think the fact that Sy has had a full camp for… three fights (Bellato, Trocolli (both cancelled) and now Tokkos), I think he’s ready for this fight and ready for the UFC. He will be an optional lock, but still a 2/3 confidence pick, if that makes sense.
Sy via KO R1 (2/3)
Lightweight
Tom Nolan (-450) (6-1-0, NS) v Victor Martinez (+340) (13-5-0, NS) - Both fighters made their debut and lost in the same way, in the same round, so let’s call this a second attempt at a debut lol. Nolan made his debut against knockout artist Nikolas Motta, and honestly that is a dangerous fight for anyone to take, but it probably made sense to the matchmakers since both fighters are prolific knockout artists. Nolan does finish his opponents very quickly a lot of the time, and I do think he has a massive advantage on the feet against Martinez since Martinez isn’t exactly a big threat on the feet, and his inactivity over the past few years (or lack of solid activity at least) leaves some questions hanging in the air. Nolan has a reach and height advantage here, but the most prominent advantage will be with his reach where he can string together gorgeous straight combinations to decent effect, and that’s what he’s really known for, he’s got awesome boxing and he is very confident in his punching power. He is also relatively defensively sound for someone with his size because I have pointed out before that a lot of taller and longer fighters don’t shell up a lot or have a lot of defensive layers to their style, but Nolan is overall a fairly solid boxer both on the offence and defence, it’s just a shame he got fed to the wolf when he fought Motta. Nolan made the simple mistake when he fought Motta of being in the pocket without care, and i think those kinds of mistakes are easy enough to fix, and considering Martinez is not the same kind of threat on the feet compared to Motta, I do think that gives Nolan a bit more freedom to string together combinations and overall look great on the feet, as he was meant to be, since his whole career up until that loss to Motta has been him having gorgeous striking. Martinez is coming off a KO loss also, but it was by Jordan Leavitt, and that’s just a painful look on anyone's record to get knocked out by someone who is not known for his striking. Martinez is overall a good striker, he has very fast hands, but I have noticed one thing about him that I can see Nolan landing cleanly. Martinez has the tendency to leave his right hand far from a block position, its more of a parry position, in front of him instead of beside him, and he tends to lower that hand when taking a back step, and I cannot help but see the Southpaw striker in Nolan land that left hand to the chin of Martinez. Now, any sort of exchange between either fighter here is going to be a dangerous one for both parties, but that is where reach comes in, Nolan has a diverse boxing skillset and his long attacks allow him to carry power as much as anyone elses short hooks would. One major thing Martinez is going to have to be careful of is a knee up the middle by Nolan as Nolan’s height is going to allow that knee to come up to target without a major loss to momentum, and I mean, if Martinez got dropped by Rosales on DWCS, then by Leavitt, I just don’t know if he has the chin to withstand the battering that comes from Nolan. I got Nolan winning this one, but this is going to be a fantastic fight which isn’t likely to go the distance.
Nolan via KO R1 - (2/3)
Main Card
Women’s Strawweight
Angela Hill (#12) (-160) (16-13-0, NS) v Luana Pinheiro (#13) (+130) (11-2-0, NS) - This is a great fight. Hill is coming off a very strong win over Denise Gomes, and it was honestly such a brilliant performance by someone who a lot of people tend to ignore. Hill is an incredibly diverse fighter, she is tenacious on the feet, highly capable of stringing together strong combinations from all ranges, and as she closes the distance, she’s good at tying up her opponent in a clinch and landing awesome knees and elbows. This is all Hill and her cumulative experience in the Octagon against a wide range of different fighters and styles, and it’s clear to me that her preparation for a lot of her fights involve solid planning and back up plans, because whilst her record reflects a rough run through her career, her level of competition is insane. Hill isn’t a finisher though, but she is someone who can keep a ridiculous pace for three rounds, so I do think that she has the capabilities to overwhelm Pinheiro on the feet, especially since we just saw Ribas do the same thing a little over 5 months ago. Hill will have a striking advantage in this fight, she throws a lot of volume at high speed towards her opponent and they do land effectively, and with a slight edge in reach I do see her having a bit more success on the feet here especially since Pinheiro does not have a lot of head movement or striking defence. Pinheiro is a danger to Hill in the grappling department though, especially in those transitions from standing to ground, she utilises hip throws relatively well and could make this fight ugly on the ground, but I don’t think there is a major submission threat here, I think her style is predominantly control and ground and pound, both things that Hill has experience in dealing with, although she still will lose the round if Pinheiro executes her gameplan well. Pinheiro has power in her hands, she could potentially make Hill a little bit frozen and hesitant on the feet once Pinheiro lands that overhand right that Pinheiro loves to throw early, but she doesn’t throw it often enough to lead to a significant finish, she’s a very low volume, high impact striker and that could play in the favour of Hill if Hill’s volume walks Pinheiro back into the cage. Pinheiro could make this fight dangerous for Hill on the ground, but we have seen a few times now that Hill is very good at the basics of takedown defence, underhooks, whizzers (if i spelt that correctly) and quickly getting back to a standing position, she is not complacent on the ground or in that transition to the ground, and I think any sort of failed takedown attempt from Pinheiro is going to fuel Hill a lot more, since Pinheiro only has a few kinds of takedowns. This is a hard on to pick in all seriousness, I might get the prediction wrong, but I have a strong feeling that we are going to see this fight go over 2.5 rounds, or even hit the scorecards. As for the prediction, looking at this fight, I am kind of leaning on Hill here, because Pinheiro’s wins aren’t as significant as Hill’s wins, and i do think Pinheiro fades a little bit as the fight goes on.
Hill via UD - (1/3)
Bantamweight
Adrian Yanez (-350) (16-5-0, 2 FLS) v Vinicius Salvador (+275) (14-6-0, 2 FLS) - I love this fight. Yanez is coming off two painful back to back KO losses, whenever a young fighter comes into the UFC, tears through the division, then hits a losing skid, it’s always a concern to any fan or pundit. However, I do think that leg kick KO is anomalous to the UFC, it rarely happens and I don’t think Salvador is much of a leg kicker anyway so the threat isn’t there. However, I do want to add that the psychological factor of maybe getting leg kicked to oblivion is going to weigh heavy on Yanez’ mind, and I do wonder if Yanez has drilled checking leg kicks before. Now, Yanez is still a dangerous opponent for anyone to take, he still has incredibly technical MMA boxing, and that’s going to be on full display this weekend. Yanez is so fluid and yet tricky on the feet, he’s very good at gauging range and firing away from different angles, as well as timing his shots off his opponents striking attempts, everything involving striking exchanges will most likely be in the favour of Yanez, he thrives in that space and I do believe his experience and his wins prior to those two devastating losses are going to shine this weekend. My only concern about Yanez is his ability to not get carried away and show his chin too much, because whilst Salvador is yet to get a win in the UFC, he still has had some mild striking success against fighters like Altamirano and Vergara, and it wouldn’t take a lot for Salvador to find the chin of Yanez. Salvador is a very funky and unorthodox fighter, and whilst that always brings positive attention to him, I also think that has been a product of failure for him also since the more cleaner fighters outbox him, are generally a lot faster and just find their mark a bit quicker, if that makes sense? I mean, Salvador’s stance is fairly loose, his chin is in the air and his shell is rather loose, and that’s not good news, especially if he’s facing a vicious fighter like Yanez. Salvador thrives in chaotic fights though, he is awesome and making it dangerous and risky for his opponents to fight in the pocket, but his style emanates a lack of self preservation. He is a kill or be killed kind of fighter in my opinion, and I firmly believe that when he got dropped numerous times in that first round against Victor Altamirano, it only showed us, and any future opponent (via tape watch in prep) that he is very hittable, his head is right there and the only reason it wasn’t there for Vergara was due to the significant difference in height and reach. Salvador moving up to 135 could make him a lot more interesting in terms of being able to explode more often and having more power behind his punches, but I also think it means he is dealing with more harder hitting fighters, and with the accuracy and boxing skill set of Yanez, I just think Salvador is going to get outdone here. I got Yanez winning this one, but I am interested to see if Salvador has what it takes to win and upset a lot of parlays out there.
Yanez via KO R2 - (1/3)
Welterweight
Ramiz Brahimaj (+170) (10-4-0, NS) v Themba Gorimbo (-205) (12-4-0, 2 FWS) - Brahimaj is coming back after two tough years away, and the reason why it’s tough is because he has been dealing with a spinal injury, and boy do i empathise with that. Now, his injury is mostly C-Spine and shoulder area nerve damage, this is terrible for a fighter because it effectively eliminates your ability to comfortably strike, sprawl, wrestle, underhook/overhook stuff, everything that you see in a fighter typically comes from shoulder rotation and all that stuff, so for Brahimaj to be out for two years, dealing with all of that, does not give me a lot of confidence in him being 100% coming into this fight against Gorimbo. Brahimaj is a dangerous grappler who thrives on the ground, he is honestly only dangerous on the ground, but the problem is that Gorimbo is very good on the ground himself, at least good enough to know what is being set up, and it’s on the ground where Brahimaj has his only chance to win. Unfortunately for Brahimaj, it’s going to take some work to get the fight to the ground and Gorimbo is more than willing to keep the fight standing, so honestly, I just don’t think Brahimaj is going to be as well rounded or as effective as he needs to be in order to get a win here. Gorimbo is riding some momentum coming into this fight, as he is coming off a lightning quick KO over Pete Rodriguez, and I mean, Rodriguez sucks, he’s one of the worst fighters in the UFC and that KO means nothing in the grand scheme of things, it’s just an additional win on a record with barely any weight to it. Gorimbo is going to be a lot more confident in his boxing though since that win, that feeling of getting knockouts is an addictive one and I think he’s going to be using his incredible reach advantage to look to get another KO this weekend over the possibly rusty Brahimaj. Gorimbo is a very well rounded fighter who honestly has a lot of potential to be a star, he has excellent boxing, and honestly very good wrestling and grappling, and I do think if the fight does go to the ground, Gorimbo has the fight IQ to notice set ups coming, neutralize them and remain on top in control, landing ground and pound or just advancing to his own submission positions. The most likely scenario though is Gorimbo keeps this fight standing and overwhelms Brahimaj on the feet, because he probably wants to chase another KO since that feeling is notoriously addictive. I got Gorimbo winning this one, I can’t wait to see how far this man goes in his career.
Gorimbo via KO R1 - (2/3)
Co-Main Event
Welterweight
Khaos Williams (-125) (14-3-0, NS) v Carlston Harris (+105) (19-5-0, 2 FWS) - This feels like a classic Striker versus Grappler fight. Williams is a strong, powerful striker who is such a threat on the feet, especially early on when he wants to push a nasty pace and land those devastating punches. He is known for being a bully, crashing forward with crazy power and aggression. There is no clean technique coming from Williams, it is mostly wild, wild punches and he is confident in his ability to knock out his opponent, that’s what makes him a dangerous threat to his opponents, that confidence. The right hand is Williams best weapon, his right overhand or hook is going to be the one that knocks out Harris if it lands, but that’s all he is, a powerful right side puncher, and if Harris times a takedown well, all of that threat is gone. On the flip side, Harris is primarily a grappler with a solid grappling base, and whilst he has faced his fair share of dangerous strikers, I believe Williams’ power is something different. Now, Harris has the potential to take this fight to the ground, I know that according to UFC stats that Harris has an 80% takedown defence, but there has not been enough wrestling in his fights, by his opponents, to fully prove that his takedown defence is that great, it’s only been used sparingly against him since most of his fights are absolute wild exchanges and beautiful displays of violence on the feet. Williams' propensity to head hunt could lead to an opening for a level change by Harris, but it’s a risky thing to do because any punch that lands on Harris is going to hurt him, and considering the age factor here, its possible his chin isn’t going to hold up well against the power of Williams. Now, Harris was getting ragdolls and outwrestled by Wells when they fought, and whilst that isn’t a great look for Harris, I don’t think Williams has the wrestling capabilities that Wells has, so I think the main submission threat from Harris in this fight is going to come from the clinch, so guillotines and front head choke variants are going to be on the menu for Harris this weekend, it’s just a matter of if he gets into that position or if he gets his head blasted over and over by powerful punches from Williams. This is a dangerous fight to bet on if you’re thinking of Moneyline betting, it can easily go either way since both excel in their respective styles, the safest and smartest bet here in my opinion is that this fight doesn’t hit the judges scorecards. As for my prediction, I don’t think i’ll be getting this right due to the volatile nature of this match up, but…
Harris via Sub R2 - (1/3)
Main Event
Featherweight
Edson Barboza (#14) (+125) (24-11-0, 2 FWS) v Lerone Murphy (-150) (13-0-1, 5 FWS FWS) - Man this is a funky main event. Barboza is a legend of the sport, but most importantly, and perhaps most relevant to this write up, he is an old dog who can still hang with the toughest. His last two wins have been against Yusuff and Quarantillo, two very difficult fighters to take on at 145 and it’s his win over Yusuff that I want to highlight… Yusuff exploded in the first round, looked for that finish and Barboza survived and thrived throughout the rest of the fight, it was a beautiful display of heart, toughness, and adaptability, because that was not the first firefight that Barboza has been in, and considering his current opponent, it sure as shit won’t be his last. Barboza is well known for his outstanding kicks, but he’s also just overall a ridiculously dangerous striker. An understated aspect of his whole game though is his wrestling and grappling, he might not be looking for a lot of takedowns when he fights, but he is well versed on the ground, having taken down Yusuff 3 of 4 times in the final round of a high pace main event is testament to his cardio and conditioning, despite the concern surrounding his age. Barboza is going to be a true test on the feet for Murphy, and I think it’s going to be the toughest fight of his career. Murphy is coming off a string of strong victories in the UFC, with his most recent one being against Culibao, and I gotta say, Murphy is one of those dangerous prospects that we all should keep an eye on. Murphy is a rapidly improving fighter who adds weapons to his arsenal every single time he comes out. He was originally a boxer with outstanding punching power and speed, he was ridiculously slick on the feet, but after each fight he adds more kicks, more movement and wrestling, he has slowly become a very well rounded fighter, and this makes his upcoming bout against a very tested veteran who is still here to stay in Barboza incredibly fascinating. There is a slight catch to all of those additional things added into his arsenal though, and that’s each time something has been added, the next opponent has something else to prepare for. I firmly believe that Murphy’s rise to this position and to this fight is not from his outstanding skill level, but from his incredible repertoire of techniques he has acquired and learnt over his UFC career. Unpredictability is king when it comes to new fighters, we have seen new fighters add things to their game that have completely changed and accelerated their growth, and that’s exactly what we have seen for Murphy. Murphy has a wide variety of strong strikes he uses effortlessly, from standard boxing combinations to a very snappy high kick, to strong grappling and control on the ground, he hasn’t mastered any of these things, but since they are added along each and every time he fights, his opponents are rarely prepared. This is not going to be the case for Barboza, Barboza is very, very well rounded and well versed in almost every aspect of MMA. Ill keep this short. I got Barboza winning this one, but I am still going to be a fan of Murphy, regardless of result.
Barboza via UD - (1/3)
Primary Parlay: Ducote/Demopoulos o2.5 or GTD + (optional Gatto/Vidal o2.5 or GTD) + Nolan/Martinez ITD + Hill/Pinheiro o2.5 or GTD + Barboza/Murphy R3 Starts
Locks of the week: Optional Sy + Nolan + Gorimbo
Alt Bets: Alves KO R1, Pinheiro Sub R2 or 3, Williams KO R1, Murphy KO R1 2 or 3 (combo rounds)
And that's it!!!!
Prediction accuracy as of 2024: 64.6%
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Lets have a fun and friendly discussion down below about this weekends card!
I hope you all have an amazing day, look after yourselves, and enjoy this awesome event!

I use a Santander Edge which gives 1% cashback on everyday debit card purchases of groceries and fuel etc. If these payments are made via ApplePay will this count as a 'Debit card' spend? The cashback is a nice bonus of a couple quid at the end of the month but feels low compared to how much goes out.

My setup has an nvidia gpu as primary and amd gpu as secondary. I'm running on wayland with kwin_wayland running on the nvidia gpu. The displays are plugged into the nvidia gpu and vkcube.
The amd gpu does not seem to work for vulkan nor opengl games/programs.
vkcube-wayland, glxgears all work on the nvidia gpu.
vkcube and vkcube-wayland don't work on the amd gpu, with the below crashes:

❯ VK_ICD_FILENAMES=/usshare/vulkan/icd.d/radeon_icd.i686.json:/usshare/vulkan/icd.d/radeon_icd.x86_64.json vkcube Selected GPU 0: AMD Radeon RX 570 Series (RADV POLARIS10), type: DiscreteGpu zsh: segmentation fault (core dumped) VK_ICD_FILENAMES= vkcube ❯ vkcube --gpu_number 1 Selected GPU 1: AMD Radeon RX 570 Series (RADV POLARIS10), type: DiscreteGpu zsh: segmentation fault (core dumped) vkcube --gpu_number 1 

I'm not sure how to make glxgears run on the amd gpu.
Here are some vulkaninfo logs

❯ vulkaninfo --summary ========== VULKANINFO ========== Vulkan Instance Version: 1.3.279 Instance Extensions: count = 23 ------------------------------- VK_EXT_acquire_drm_display : extension revision 1 VK_EXT_acquire_xlib_display : extension revision 1 VK_EXT_debug_report : extension revision 10 VK_EXT_debug_utils : extension revision 2 VK_EXT_direct_mode_display : extension revision 1 VK_EXT_display_surface_counter : extension revision 1 VK_EXT_surface_maintenance1 : extension revision 1 VK_EXT_swapchain_colorspace : extension revision 4 VK_KHR_device_group_creation : extension revision 1 VK_KHR_display : extension revision 23 VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities : extension revision 1 VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities : extension revision 1 VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities : extension revision 1 VK_KHR_get_display_properties2 : extension revision 1 VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2 : extension revision 2 VK_KHR_get_surface_capabilities2 : extension revision 1 VK_KHR_portability_enumeration : extension revision 1 VK_KHR_surface : extension revision 25 VK_KHR_surface_protected_capabilities : extension revision 1 VK_KHR_wayland_surface : extension revision 6 VK_KHR_xcb_surface : extension revision 6 VK_KHR_xlib_surface : extension revision 6 VK_LUNARG_direct_driver_loading : extension revision 1 Instance Layers: count = 18 --------------------------- VK_LAYER_AEJS_DeviceChooserLayer Device chooser layer 1.3.0 version 1 VK_LAYER_FROG_gamescope_wsi_x86_64 Gamescope WSI (XWayland Bypass) Layer (x86_64) 1.3.221 version 1 VK_LAYER_INTEL_nullhw INTEL NULL HW 1.1.73 version 1 VK_LAYER_KHRONOS_validation Khronos Validation Layer 1.3.275 version 1 VK_LAYER_LFX_LatencyFleX LatencyFleX (TM) latency reduction middleware 1.3.0 version 1 VK_LAYER_MANGOAPP_overlay Mangoapp Layer 1.3.0 version 1 VK_LAYER_MANGOAPP_overlay Mangoapp Layer 1.3.0 version 1 VK_LAYER_MANGOHUD_overlay_x86 Vulkan Hud Overlay 1.3.0 version 1 VK_LAYER_MANGOHUD_overlay_x86_64 Vulkan Hud Overlay 1.3.0 version 1 VK_LAYER_MESA_device_select Linux device selection layer 1.3.211 version 1 VK_LAYER_MESA_overlay Mesa Overlay layer 1.3.211 version 1 VK_LAYER_NV_optimus NVIDIA Optimus layer 1.3.277 version 1 VK_LAYER_OBS_vkcapture_64 OBS Linux game capture 1.3.279 version 1 VK_LAYER_VALVE_steam_fossilize_32 Steam Pipeline Caching Layer 1.3.207 version 1 VK_LAYER_VALVE_steam_fossilize_64 Steam Pipeline Caching Layer 1.3.207 version 1 VK_LAYER_VALVE_steam_overlay_32 Steam Overlay Layer 1.3.207 version 1 VK_LAYER_VALVE_steam_overlay_64 Steam Overlay Layer 1.3.207 version 1 VK_LAYER_hdr_wsi WSI HDR Layer (x86_64) 1.3.221 version 1 Devices: ======== GPU0: apiVersion = 1.3.277 driverVersion = 550.78.0.0 vendorID = 0x10de deviceID = 0x1e84 deviceType = PHYSICAL_DEVICE_TYPE_DISCRETE_GPU deviceName = NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER driverID = DRIVER_ID_NVIDIA_PROPRIETARY driverName = NVIDIA driverInfo = 550.78 conformanceVersion = 1.3.7.2 GPU1: apiVersion = 1.3.274 driverVersion = 24.0.7 vendorID = 0x1002 deviceID = 0x67df deviceType = PHYSICAL_DEVICE_TYPE_DISCRETE_GPU deviceName = AMD Radeon RX 570 Series (RADV POLARIS10) driverID = DRIVER_ID_MESA_RADV driverName = radv driverInfo = Mesa 24.0.7-arch1.3 conformanceVersion = 1.2.7.1 

And here is glxinfo

❯ __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME= glxinfo grep "renderer string" OpenGL renderer string: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPEPCIe/SSE2 ❯ __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=mesa glxinfo grep "renderer string" glx: failed to create dri3 screen failed to load driver: nouveau OpenGL renderer string: llvmpipe (LLVM 17.0.6, 256 bits) ❯ __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=mesa MESA_LOADER_DRIVER_OVERRIDE=radeonsi glxinfo grep "renderer string" glx: failed to create dri3 screen failed to load driver: radeonsi OpenGL renderer string: llvmpipe (LLVM 17.0.6, 256 bits) 

Also, kwin is configured with

❯ echo $KWIN_DRM_DEVICES /dev/dri/card0:/dev/dri/card1 ❯ ls -lR /dev/dri/by-path /dev/dri/by-path: total 0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 May 15 15:59 pci-0000:05:00.0-card -> ../card1 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 May 15 15:59 pci-0000:05:00.0-render -> ../renderD129 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 May 15 15:58 pci-0000:0a:00.0-card -> ../card0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 May 15 15:58 pci-0000:0a:00.0-render -> ../renderD128 ❯ lspci grep VGA 05:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Ellesmere [Radeon RX 470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590] (rev ef) 0a:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation TU104 [GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER] (rev a1) 

When the amdgpu is used for kwin_wayland, both cards work, with the amd gpu rendering by default and I can switch to the nvidia gpu with prime-run.
However, I want to use the nvidia gpu as my primary gpu for VFIO, passing through the amd gpu into a macos vm. Also, the amd gpu doesn't seem to do 4k 144hz whilst my nvidia gpu does. I'm not expecting to play games at this resolution+refresh rate, but I do want my the desktop to be smooth with a high refresh rate and high resolution.

Hi,
I have a couple of questions. I am a sole proprietor for a while now and I am slowly thinking of moving my business to GK. My questions are following:

1. Would having a GK increase my credibility for private loans, especially given by banks? I am planning to get a larger loan in a future, but from what I've seen - sole proprietors are either not accepted or are treated as very risky clients, even if they have long business history. I don't have issues with stuff like Flat35, credit cards or "Jaccs". Just, from my understanding, banks rarely want to work with sole proprietors.
   1. If I was a director of GK, would that change anything?
   2. I also assume that the "work history" would be considered from the day I am hired by the GK and the years of being a sole proprietor would not be counted in, from banks perspective. Is that correct assumption?
2. Let's say I, as a sole proprietor, create an Online Service that starts earning money.
   1. How does the Online Service "transfer" works when I open a GK?
   2. Am I taxed as Sole Proprietor for the income generated by the Online Service up until the day I opened GK, and once the Online Service belongs to GK, the taxation moves there?
   3. Are there any negatives of starting the Online Service as a sole proprietor and move to GK once the service becomes profitable?

Thanks in advance!
EDIT: Fixed formatting

Hoping to believe this is the india we live in and nothing we can do about it.
So i am a med grad, appointed to do rural service, and preparing for post grad/neetpg.
Allow me to elaborate.
Finished 5y(+1covid) mbbs after fighting for revaluation in court. Started internship, ngl loved every minute of it. 6th year done. Fast forward 8months, State govt decides its election time, lets call med grads for rural service, its not like they are preparing for exams.
End up in remote/political place cause can't pay penalty of said bonded rural service, and fuck my marks cos of revaluation, should have just written supplementary exam and gotten better seat, but who knew marks mattered...and that too only final year...even entrance exams consider aggregate marks.
Realised how political the place is, somehow adjust and start study. Everyday sone new issue comes that i have to fight for. Fast forward 1 month, no sign of salaryleft home, parents, place of study. Exam gets postponed,fuck the national politics Start to question LIFE, even while doing life saving procedures at work.
Fast forward another month, no money, hesitate to ask parents, pretend i am getting good work experience Exam gets preponed, what in the world is happening ! Fast forward another month, tried finding out why no salary, turns out its too complicated and not in my hands, begged people at all hierarchy.
Slowest another month, been 6and half years, family pressure, peer pressure is getting to me. Where is my money? Whatever happened to my studies? Breaking news, new batch of juniors finished grad, they start preparing for neet. Nice new competition right? Wait and they cancelled so called compulsory rural service for them? They found a loophole ig
I should have just done btech, like my 3y younger cousin who has started earning and got a dream bike, huh!? I am not bright student ik should have made better choices instead of going with the flow when i got a med seat 6y 3month 26days and counting and asking parents for money on call now. Another admit card just dropped. Gotta go with the flow.
Ngl i didn't have money to pay exam fees. Maybe i should file rti and go deeper in the the government setup, or move to andaman and chill out( never done even alcohol in my life, should have started that when i had peer pressure)

Effect: Inverse the effect of surrounding jokers (immediate left and right)
Below is a list of how this joker would effect other jokers. I have bolded the changes to each effect to make it easier to see what is different.
I have italicized the effects that are only negative effects, I am not sure these effects should be included as a way to make this joker have downsides or not. On one hand its a cool idea because you need to manage the placement of this joker, but on the other hand this may be a very shallow complication to the gameplay of this joker and may not even be worthwhile. I would love to hear your opinions on this.
Also if there are (???) next to the effect I am unsure if this should be the inverted effect or not. The food items in particular I am unsure if they should get better over time instead of getting worse over time (and maybe if they do get better over time they should start as debuffs aka negative modifiers).
I will update this list with your ideas if they seem more cohesive or well thought out.
Also if anyone is interested in helping me turn this into a mod, please reach out. This idea is probably not going to leave my head until it gets implemented in some fashion. I have experience with coding and game development, but have never used love2d or looked into modding balatro)
Compatible Jokers (and new effect):

• All first page jokers would be negative mult or chips
• Half Joker(+20 mult if played hand contains 4+ cards)
• Joker Stencil (x1 mult for each filled Joker slot)
• Ceremonial Dagger (Generates a Joker to the right that costs the current mult to generate)???
• Banner (+30 chips for each discard used)
• Mystic Summit (+15 mult if no discards used)
• Raised Fist (Adds double the rank of the highest ranked card held as mult)???
• Abstract Joker (+3 mult for each empty Joker slot)
• Delayed Gratification ($2 per used discard)
• Pareidolia (No cards are considered face cards)
• Even Steven (Played cards with odd rank give +4 mult when scored)
• Odd Todd (Played cards with even rank give +31 chips)
• Scholar (Played aces give +20 mult and +4 chips when scored)??????????????
• Bussiness Card (Played non-face cards have a 1 in 2 chance to give $2 when scored)
• Ride the Bus (This Joker gains +1 mult per consecutive hand played with a scoring face card)
• Space Joker (1 in 4 chance to downgrade played poker hand)???
• Egg (Loses $3 of sell value at end of round)???
• Burglar (When blind is selected lose 3 hands and gain 3 discards)
• Blackboard (x3 mult if all cards held in hand are Diamonds or Hearts)
• Ice Cream (+100 chips +5 chips for every hand played)????????
• Blue Joker (+2 chips for every card used this round)
• Sixth Sense (If first hand of the round is a single 6, duplicate it and add it to hand)???
• Constellation (This Joker loses x0.1 mult for every time a planet card is used)???
• Hiker (Every played card permanently loses -5 Chips when scored)???
• Faceless Joker (Earn $5 when 3 or more non-face cards are discarded at the same time)
• Green Joker (-1 mult per hand played +1 mult per discard)
• Card Sharp (x3 mult if played poker hand has not already been played this round)
• Red Card (This Joker gains +3 mult when any booster pack is not skipped) [needs better wording]
• Vampire (Adds random enhancement to non-scoring cards in played hand)??????
• Hologram (This Joker gains x0.25 mult every time a playing card is removed from your deck)
• Vagabond (Create a tarot card if hand is played with $5 or more)
• Obelisk (This Joker gains x0.2 mult per consecutive hand played that is your most played hand) [probably too broken]
• Midas Mask (All played non-face cards become Gold cards when scored)
• Photograph (Last played face card gives x2 mult)???????
• Turtle Bean (+5 hand size increase by 1 every round)??????????????
• Erosion (+4 mult for each card above 52 in your full deck)
• Reserved Parking (Each non-face card held in hand has a 1 in 2 chance to give $1)
• Hallucination (1 in 2 chance to create a tarot card when any booster pack is skipped)
• Juggler (-1 hand size)
• Drunkard (-1 discard)
• Lucky Cat (This Joker gains x0.25 mult every time a lucky card is played and not triggered)??????
• Baseball card (Common and Rare Jokers each give x1.5 mult) [broken?]
• Trading Card (If first discard of round has only 1 card duplicate it and add it to hand)???
• Popcorn (+20 mult +4 mult per round played)????????
• Ramen (x2 mult gains x0.01 mult per card discarded)???????????
• Walkie Talkie (each played 10 or 4 gives +4 chips and +10 mult)???
• Castle (This Joker gains +3 chips per played [suit] card, suit changes every round)
• Smiley Face (Played non-face cards give +5 mult when scored)
• Campfire (This Joker gains x0.25 mult for each card bought, resets when Boss Blind is defeated)
• Acrobat (x3 mult on every hand besides the final hand)???
• Sock and Buskin (Retrigger all played non-face cards)
• Troubadour (-2 hand size, +1 hand each round)
• Certificate (When round begins add a random playing card with a random Enhancement to your hand)???
• Smeared Joker (Hearts and Spades count as the same suit. Diamonds and Clubs count as the same suit)???
• Throwback (x0.25 mult for each Blind selected this round)???
• Hanging Chad (Retrigger the Last card used in scoring 2 additional times)
• Glass Joker (This Joker gains x0.75 mult for every Glass Card played and not destroyed, loses x1.5 mult for every glass card destroyed)???
• Flower Pot (x3 mult if poker hand contains no suits) [I'm thinking all stone cards]???????
• Blueprint (Copies ability of Joker to Left) [This would be fun, but honestly confusing]?????
• Wee Joker (This Joker gains +8 Chips when each played 2 is not scored)???
• Merry Andy (-3 discards each round, +1 hand size)
• Oops! All 6s (Halves all listed probabilities (ex: 1 in 3 -> 1 in 6)
• Seeing Double (x2 mult if played hand does not have a scoring club card, but two still has at least two separate suits)??????
• Matador (Earn $8 upon completing boss blind without triggering its effects)???
• Hit the Road (This Joker gains x0.5 mult for every Jack in hand)
• Stuntman (-250 Chips, +2 hand size)???
• Brainstorm (Copies the ability of the Rightmost joker)???
• Shoot the Moon (Each played queen card gives +13 mult) [or maybe discard]???
• Driver's License (x3 mult if you have no enhanced cards in your full deck)
• Cartomancer (Create a tarot card when Blind is skipped)
• Astronomer (All Tarot cards and Arcana Packs in the shop are free)?????
• Burnt Joker (Upgrade the level of the first played poker hand each round) [broken?]??????
• Canio (This Joker gains x1 mult when a face card is added to your deck)???
• Triboulet (Held Kings and Queens each give x2 mult)???
• Yorick (This Joker gains x1 mult every 23 cards played)???
• Perkeo (Destroys 1 random consumable card in your possession at the end of the shop and generates a random planet, tarot, or spectral card)????????????????

Thank you for your time lol

[OC Intro: The game is modded to increase basic jobs cost, seasonal events are disabled. Much of the crash details are based on NASA/SP-2008-565 Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report recommendations especially Chapter 3 "Occupant Protection".]
The ship is without power, and Tightniks can't run the radar much without draining the batteries. He has only a few minutes of APU power left, goes over the best clearing he can find, and radars it. It varies by only a few feet from the aerodynamic glideslope there. He spots it out on the cameras and circles to go after that spot. He's only at two hundred feet now. With one hand on the stick, he uses the other to open the pressure equalization valve on the side hatch, then at one hundred feet, gets it undogged. Depending on how much damage he's going to get, it's less likely to be stuck closed and trap him. The dynamic vacuum this pulls in the cockpit rips most of the survival pack data cards from that rack and scatters them across the landscape. Crap, I'm gonna need those! Refocusing on surviving the next few seconds, he turns on the radar for the final approach, takes a last look around, then straight ahead at his forward camera and PFD, he clicks his HANS and shoulder strap locks in; after that, he can barely move, but that now is better than dying in this crash with a broken neck. He's a decent pilot and brings up the flare gently. Bringing up the alpha on this delta-winged ship, he balloons a little, but keeps the nose going up and restores a zero aerodynamic sink rate just above the highest terrain indicated by the radar altimeter. The ship bumps a little in the ground effect, and he can see the radar altitude cycling irregularly up and down about five feet at a time. Rougher than it looked from higher up! The body flap protecting the dead engines hits first, and the nose comes rapidly down. It hits, the screens go blank, and Tightniks is surrounded by airbags, some lifting his feet from the rudder petals and his hand from the control stick. It's blinding, it's disorienting, it's noisy, and, to his relief, it's long! It takes several seconds before the crashing cockpit stops moving. How many times did he flip over? Did he go sideways and roll? Am I rightside up? Are we really stopped on the ground? The airbags deflate, and he can move his arms. He gets his restraints loose and inspects himself. "Uck!" he says out loud (without the 'f'). No broken bones. His pressure suit can take his blood pressure. 116/81, pulse 112, blood oxygen 99 reads off on his left arm, I'll friggin' take it!
The ship is amazingly intact from what he can tell. He can't get any readings. The systems test meter seems to be working, but can't find any voltages anywhere. The ship seems to be completely dead. Behind him, 10 passenger seats are all surrounded by airbags and the back of the cabin ends in some sort of dirt-and-gravel and there's a bit of daylight seeping in around the edges. He was the only one on board, though, so their deployment was mostly academic (they might have stiffened the structure a little during the crash, but that's probably trivial.) Tightniks gets out of his spacesuit. The air on this planet is actually breathable. He gets the hatch open, steps outside and-
"A green shimmer erupts then disappears, and you hit the ground."
The human emerges from the glowing green mist and hits the ground. Groans. Pushes against that ground, trying to get back up. Where am I? What's my name? I remember nothing. Aren't babies born naked? He's got a dark blue button-down shirt on. A uniform? A shoulder patch. Gets up, looks around. I feel really heavy. I'm not that fat, am I? He picks up a small stone from the ground, this also feels heavier than it should. He rises to his feet and holds it out somewhat (he's unable to fully extend his arm) and lets it go. The stone hits the ground near his feet quickly and with remarkable speed. It's the gravity, it's greater than it is on- ...where am I from? This is- ...not my home planet? "Oooh..."
"Ka?" it says.
What is that? It's cute, at least.
It is not tame. He has no hope of catching it on foot. The creature seems to like the berries. Maybe if I gather some of those into one place and set some kind of trap...
33s: First trap.
I got one! The human lumbers up to the trap and gets the catch open. Do you bite? It doesn't matter much to me; I'm so friggin' screwed.
It doesn't. It looks at the human with a sense of wonder, actually. A blink and tilt of the head. Seems almost to be asking, Is it you? My purpose? My savior? Once out of the trap, which is totally wrecked, he has to make a new one from scratch, it follows him around like a imprinted hatchling bird.
Wiry little fella, you are. You're going to need some bulking up to do anything useful. The- ...'trimp', I guess... The trimp seems just barely able to feed itself. The human lets him into the broken ship's intact cabin, and it curls up comfortably in a passenger seat for a nap.
1m03s: Second trap.
"Apparently the Trimps breed if they're not working. Doesn't look pleasant."
What are they doing?
The trimps appear to be androgynous, and these two have paired off in the back of the ship. They're holding something carefully within a few hours, feeding it berries, grass, and- ...corundum.
Corundum?? Whatever that is, it isn't a baby.
1m35s: Third trap.
Only it IS a baby! The third trimp he trapped immediately joined the other two in raising it. They have a strange diet of food the human has found compatible with his own body, but they also eat rocks! They're careful to crush and sort aluminate minerals from silcate ones and only eat aluminate. Actually, they don't eat aluminate, they're only feeding it to the baby.
2m06s: Fourth trap.
All four are raising the same child, who is just starting to toddle. It seems these fellas have alumina or maybe even aluminum bones. The human takes a nap and wakes to find the first child grown up and they're starting to raise a second child, all five of them.
2m46s: Huts.
The human found a working bit of electronics. He calls it a pad, but maybe it's more like a smartphone. It has plans for two residential structures. The first, the smaller one, he can build right away, but the second one needs something called "drywall", and he has to figure out how to make that before he can build it. Huts and houses, apparently.
3m13s: 10 pop, full, first farmer.
The trimp he trained to farm and make paper took an incredible 50 units of food to get bulked up to do the work, and now it's not participating in rearing the child. But less than an hour after the trimp started farming and pulping, the child was out on its own, and the trimps did not start another. The ten seats on the ship were all full. Well, eleven counting the one up front that the human sleeps in. The pilot starts exploring the area.
3m28s: Battle.
Wait, what are you do-
The hostile roars and charges at the human, but one of his trimps jumps in front of him with a stick and they fight. It started right when the human got far enough away from the ship that the hostile non-trimps away from the ship began to regard him as leaving his own territory. After the trimp defeats the first enemy, it continues after other hostiles.
3m53s: Shield I in Z1c5.
The human is easily able to recover the loot in the territory cleared by the fighting trimp. Then he sees something glinting in the- That can't be! What the heck is that? It's a data card that fits his pad. It quite clearly regards trimp combat. He gets it loaded into his pad and studies it. I can do this, it just takes some wood. He returns to the ship to discover that they had already started on a new child before the fighter had even expired in battle. The human concentrates on his research.
4m38s: Mskel in Z1c11 defeated.
The remains of this one seem rather white and shiny. It's titanium! This enemy had titanium bones! He'll store them away. They'll be useful someday, I'm sure.
5m52s: Dagger I in Z1c20.
Where are these data cards coming from? The human wonders as he loads this one into his pad, It's for a weapon it calls a dagger. He blinks. I don't know what a dagger is. I'll take your word for it, data card. Needs metal. He has gathered some, but ore is plentiful. He can just dig and smelt it whenever he wants. For now, I'll continue researching.
6m18s: Arable in Z1c21.
It's an old cave that trimps like to live in. Why weren't they able to live there before? How could these friendly critters be confined to only the exact spot where THAT thing, he looks back where he came from, not remembering that he piloted the wrecked ship to its current resting place, crashed? This is really strange. I'll let them fill up this cave before advancing further. Wait, what about defenses? The hostiles never try to reclaim territory that they've lost, so he stops worrying about that fairly quickly.
8m22s: First hut is 0.3% first ever AP.
The trimps seem fairly easy to please in terms of living quarters. Two move into his first hut and start raising a child. The human has his tent, uniform, and the heater pilfered from his space suit. Not much of a mud fan.
9m59s: Miners in Z1c30.
Oh, what's on this data card? Sl3niw? Oh, I'm holding the pad upside down. Miners. I can teach trimps how to mine ores and smelt met- 200 units of food? Each job is getting more expensive to train a trimp for. He puts his bee nickels to his eyes and spots another data card probably 10 enemies away. "Sc"? Does that means science? I can teach trimps to do science??
13m57s: Scientists in Z1c40.
Due to the expense of training trimps, the human couldn't afford to build them shields until now, he's got Sh1-3 made for the fighter to capture the science training data card. 14m02s: One head went into that turtlimp shell, that of his fighter, but two came out: his fighter still has his head on, and he managed to get the turtlimp's head off. It rushes off after the deadly penguimp in the next cell. The shields are not doing all that much good, actually, but they're better than nothing. The human picks up and loads the science data card and- Holy runny sugar-free fudge crap! 1000 food units, but it'll endow them with the ability to speak. Good. I'm getting bored with no one to talk to.
14m28s: Bloodlust purchased and AutoFight enabled (that delay after getting it is an effect of jacking up the job cost.)
As the human buries this expired little trimp warrior, he comes to the sobering realization that he has more trimp graves in his growing trimp colony than he does live trimps. And yet they seem more hopeful now than before I got to know any of them. They seem to think I'm the solution to all their problems or- Those two look east somberly, then notice that he's watching them and smile back and wave at him. ...one problem that is specific, but very, very huge for them. [The only reason I say 'east' is because that's right on a map, and the game advances right across a row, then up. I might say 'northeast' on occasion for that reason.]
20m47s: Z1c73, Miners taken.
Are you my new mining foreman? The trimp who took to the mining training has dark brown fur that lays flat on its head. It's unusual in not having any bits that stick out from its head, ahoge or whatever. This one is relatively quiet, and while it has assimilated the mining and smelting knowledge, it needs to bulk up to do any mining. Smelting is relatively easy, and getting a strong natural draft going in a furnace is almost trivial with the increased gravity. This trimp builds furnaces like nothing. And likes to nap in holes it digs right on the spot; it's weird that way. [Puchim@s Yukipo, and furnaces are not explicit in Trimps.]
21m58s: Farming in Z1c80.
The resourcing "books" are not data cards but paper scrolls, apparently lost to the trimps. It seems that they were civilized in the recent past and some calamity swept over the planet to reduce them to this. Did I have something to do with it? Amnesia sucks harder than a Dyson- ...what's a Dyson? Whatever, it sucks. This disaster happening just before I crash in the only spot with trimps still alive would be a seriously crazy coincidence! Something is really, really wrong about all this. [The author has not sought or received product placement permission or fee from Dyson Technology Ltd. or any resellers of their stuff, just they literally suck balls and made my favorite vacuum cleaner.]
23m50s: Builder in Z1c90.
They've rescued an, I dunno, gelding trimp? It just started to build a shed around the piled lumber I left to build one. It's really slow compared to me, and just banged its thumb, but it is super cute with that long reddish head fur. That particular trimp is also fascinated with pink ribbons and likes to decorate its head fur with them. Because of its inherent inability to participate in rearing children, it isn't counted in the population. [Puchim@s Io, builder on the basis of Iori seen building in 1x10.]
26m02s: Zone 2, 44 pop, 5.5s RC with Z0/1.
It's some sort of tactical manual - tactical coordination. Coordination! He's starting to sort out some trimpese on the research he has done so far. It needs a lot of metal, so they won't be able to implement it for some time. Hopefully, they're still good one at a time, but these enemies seem to be getting bigger as we go along. Uh oh!
27m33s: Gym in Z2c5.
It's some sort of training dojo or sporting arena. The human examines the ruins, I think I can back-engineer drawings for this, get one built, and see what happens.
29m02s: 1g, 47 pop, 10.8s RC with Z1/2.
The two fighting trimps now with their gym and coordination are dodging and blocking enthusiastically, and making much faster ground against the bad guys then a little while ago when it was just one trimp fighting at a time and unable to avoid the enemy hitting back.
40m46s: Fresh turkimp in Z2c74, 63 pop, 7.9s RC, Sh1-10, Da1-5, Bo1-3, Ma1-3, Hm1-3, 6g.
Oh, wow, the laborers seem really hot after this turkimp. He cooks it up and tries a slice. It's really awesome! I have to work alongside his laboring trimps to share it, but I'm getting used to the gravity now. That scroll we found back in Z2c10 really helped. Trimps' techniques and appliances for handicapped individuals, and I'm really handicapped in this higher gravity. He joins the woodcutters with the turkimp; they're the most numerous resource laborer right now, building more gyms, enough that the block/dodge ability of the fighting trimps is almost caught up to the enemy's ability to cause damage.
43m15s: Zone 3, 63 pop, 7.9s RC with Z1/2.
I'm neglecting my science and trimp scientists are really expensive. Curiously, that grey-haired one can't speak all that well, only says "Tai" and "Shijou", but it can write and draw like nobody's business. It's the only scientist so far. [Puchim@s Takanya: Online references probably still claim that she can utter the first two syllables of any word, but she can actually utter only the first two kana syllables of someone's name, most often the given name of basis human Takane Shijou, who also has that habit. (All the utterances of the puchidoru are based on the speech foibles of their basis humans except maybe Piyopiyo, where I haven't seen anything match up so far.)]
47m32s: Finally, we can make drywall and houses. 59m30s: Z3c77, 94 pop, 7.8s RC.
Oh, those poor things are really struggling up at the front. These trimps are enthusiastic and know no fear, but I still feel like telling them to stop for a while. I don't have the heart to keep them from trying while they're still doing some damage.
1h05m24s: Zone 4, 107 pop, 9.3s RC with Z3/4. 1h15m26s: Zone 5, 120 pop, 8.2s RC with Z3/4.
"What is that?" the human asks. He has three scientists. His first does all the writing, but the other two can actually speak. One of them hops up on a rock spire beside the human to reach his eye level.
At the next ridge line, over the lowest and most passable gap in the terrain, this really mean looking hovering sausage monster.
"I dunno," the scientist trimp shrugs, "But it's making me hungry. Looks like a perfectly cooked frankfurter from here." [John Morell's dubious dirigibles.]
"Oh, yeah," the human nods, "that's a blimp."
"A blimp?" the trimp tilts its head quizzically at the human, "How could you know?"
"I wish I could tell you, little buddy," the human extends his arm braces to descend the pass on the side of the zone boundary in the boss enemy's direction, then grunts, "Let's go kill it."
1h16m11s: Z1c9, 120 pop, 10.3s RC with Z4/5. 1h33m34s: Zone 6, 151 pop, 7.4s RC with Z4/5.
1h33m54s: TP in Z1c3.
"What's this?" the human asks, having picked up the little square document with the curling corners.
"Oh," the hungry scientist looks at it, "It's a garden path, follow me."
"You want to lead me down the garden path?" the human says.
"Yeah," the scientist says.
"Are you kidding?" the human asks.
"No," says the other scientist, "We don't get human humor. Listen, these fighters can't go, let them wear themselves out here, then we'll take the next group through this garden."
"Okay," the human nods, watching two more trimps join the fray as he issues the Z5 coordination orders, "they're doing pretty well after all that block training research we just wrapped up." [That's a common artifact, even in normal games, Z5 Traintacular combines with many gyms, enough population to add several trainers, affording Blockmaster, which is expensive on a run zero, plus a break on Tion Z5, a 40% all-stat increase. I don't think Zach designed it into the game on purpose, it just worked out this way.]
1h34m07s: 151 pop, 10.5s RC with Z5/7. 1h37m44s: Drop from Z6c39, TP for 3.
"Now we have these access map frags we can use to route through the old trimpopoli," the scientist explains, "Atlimpis for food, Morimpa for gems, Everimp for metal, and Impazon for wood."
"What about the garden?" the human asks.
"Well, we got lucky with Tricky Paradise," the scientist says, "but you can randomize the route and maybe get lucky. What's with that look?"
"Somehow, I'm remembering 'frag' as something that blew up with deadly pieces," the human says. [Different video games - ones with better graphics and worse gameplay Ｏ(>▽<)Ｏ]
1h39m59s: Blues back up to the top on series I...
"Tai, Tai!" the first ever trimp scientist stops the human just before he upgrades the mace and dagger to Mk.6 and Mk. 8 respectively. It has a note for him.
"Why do you keep calling me that?" the human asks, "Do you think that's my name?"
"Shijou, Shijou," it nods as though to indicate, I KNOW it is. Then it proffers its note again. The human takes it and reads, "Don't upgrade the first row equipment right now."
"Why not?" the human asks.
"Shijou," it points at the end of the mapped route, where there's a scroll sticking out of the thistles.
2h24m07s: Zone 8, 224 pop, 12.2s RC with Z7/12.
"Your settlement is getting crowded, there's Trimps in the streets, and you're taking heat. You feel a sudden strong desire to create a map, though you're not quite sure how that would help."
2h49m10s: Zone 9, 357 pop, 9.5s RC with Z8/15.
"You can't shake the feeling that you've been here before. Déjà-vu?"
The trimps really seem to like the new high capacity mansions, and the village has rapidly expanded since they started building them.
"There's something familiar about this," the human says.
"Tai," the grey one that writes clings to his arm and shows him a note that says, "Don't give up now."
"We must persist," says the yellow one has found a foothold it can grab onto and grabs the human's shoulder gently, "If you give up to early, we'll never solve this. You'll be stuck here forever."
The human puts his hand over the trimp's paw on his shoulders, then looks at him, "I can die, too."
"No, you can't," the trimp says quietly, "Please don't test that, tall one."
"Death is just another path..." he remembers.
"Gan," the grey one squeaks. [That's the first two kana syllables of "Gandalf"]
"...one that we all must take," the human continues, "The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it-"
"A green mist," the yellow trimp interrupts, "flash of fire, we're all gone and our progress forgotten. The wandering stars return to that day, and you again crash that ship- ...a little better every time."
"Wait," the human looks around, "have I been here before?"
"I-" the yellow trimp tries in futility to share what little it knows, "...or... somebody got just a little coolant into the-"
"Into the what?"
"This side up," the grey one's note says.
"Into the that," the yellow one points at the note, "It really helped. You- ...I don't think we've ever had mansions before."
Well, of course they didn't have mansions before. That was one of my ship's data cards. How did it get way out here? Will anything start to make sense?
3h02m13s: Zone 10, 387 pop, 8.7s RC with Z8/15; '28s: 11.1s RC with Z9/19. 3h16m41s: Tough snimp after food book, L10 rand dept from lo-hi-med 118/25/96, 4 Items.
"That's twice our frags led us to gem-rich Moria," the human says.
"Morimpa," the new red trimp scientist corrects, there now being 5 scientists. [There'd be more if there were more turkimp.]
"The question is how do we use all these gems?" the human looks at the village zoning plans again, "I like those mansions and all, but they use hardly any gems compared to, well-" he gestures at the pile of over two dozen thousand gems they've gathered, "-that! And still a lot of wood and lumber."
"I think there's something," the yellow one sighs, "I wish I knew more."
Quite some time later, after they're done looting that route for equipment plans, the trimps are again advancing through Zone 10, and he hears it.
"Tai?" the grey one wonders.
"Where are you going?" the yellow one asks.
"To the farm," the human answers.
"Whatever for?" the red one seems exasperated.
"Shijou?" the grey one sighs, then looks at the fighting front. It's been around long enough to remember, "Shijou!"
"You guys already get so much to eat this doesn't do you much good," the human explains.
3h32m33s: L11 112/35/78 rand sea, dropped from Z11c6 with disband, 4.
"What's wrong?" the red one asks.
The human comforts one of the wounded. Once trimps start into a zone fight, they have to finish before they bleed out. He's really bothered making them desert in front of that second turkimp. "They had a lot left in them," he sighs, rubbing his eyes, "but we can't keep that much dead turkimp at once, we have to leave it alive to use up all of this one."
"Shijou," the grey one presents a note, "We need this map right away, anyway. Don't worry about it, Tightniks."
"Tightniks?" he looks at the grey one, "Is that me? How do you know?"
"Tai," the grey one points at the top of the human's left breast pocket.
"Ah, crud," the yellow one curls its tail around in front of itself as trimps do when they're embarrassed, "Is that really a name tag?"
The human hadn't even noticed it since the green flash blew up his memory as he was stepping out of the ship.
4h04m22s: Block (sub-8h AP is only 0.3%), taking it, 504 pop, 9.8s RC with Z10/24.
It's a pretty thick book about using shields for block instead of hit points. The pad has the stats analysis. Sh3-1 is only giving us 9% of our hit points. Turning to his trimp scientists, he says, "It seems to me to be worth it."
"Let's," the yellow one nods.
"Shijou," it hands him a note, "It scales badly, but that won't matter for a long time. I think there's a way to undo it before it matters."
"Doing it." The human takes out his pad and starts scanning.
4h29m05s: L14 rand moun 137/26/80 is really good for a lo-hi-med. 4h30m52s: Hotels.
"Ah," the yellow one says, "I knew there was something. That must be it."
5h08m09s: L15 lo-hi-hi rand gard 129/28/82 (just got explorers). 5h09m32s: Picked up Wall.
"Dam," the human says.
"Damn?" the red one chuckles.
"No," the human says, "Earthen wall dam; it's a thing that makes artificial lakes by holding rivers back."
"Lakes?" the yellow one asks, "Rivers?"
"Oh yeah," the human says, "This planet doesn't have enough rain for those..."
5h48m21: Leaving Wall from about c70 to fetch Tion Z15.
"You can't resume the map from the same point if you start another," the human reads the grey one's note.
"We can go back to the same point on that route if we hold there and finish Zone 15, right?" Tightniks asks.
"Shijou!" it seems to be saying yes.
"Yes," the yellow one adds, "but we're out of Series III upgrades, and you need a fresh map route to start up Series IV."
"We should be okay," Tightniks says, "but if we have to start it over, I don't see that being a big deal." As they advance through the rest of Zone 15, Tightniks resumes his usual duties at the research desk instead building and running traps like he was before.
The trimps seem hopeful at this decision.
5h49m10s: Fresh turkimp. 5h50m16s: Zone 16, 1071 pop, 13.4s RC with Z15/75, 13m43s turkimp (skel in c1.)
"Z:16 Seriously? Another Blimp so soon?"
"So," Tightniks lowers his bee nickels and looks at the red one, "is it going to be boss fights at the end of every zone from now on?"
"Hmm," the red trimp looks up past the human at some random rock spire or cloud.
"Well?" the human persists.
"Yup," he says.
"Hmph," Tightniks grabs a Sw3-1 of the rack and advances towards the front, "Before then, we have another Mister Titanium."
"What does he like about skeletimps?" the red one asks the grey one as the human marches off.
"Shijou?" the grey one seems just as confused by that.
"He's not going back to the ship, and he's not getting himself killed," the yellow one smiles, "so I'll take it."
5h58m32s...
"Hey guys, go for the mortar!" the human suggests to his 75 fighting trimps in the Wall's boss fight.
"I can tell from your bedtime stories that you're used to the artillery in that other place," the yellow one gripes, "but fighting works differently here, there's no artillery."
And the human instantly collapses laughing, the scientists a little worried he might have injured himself in the planet's severe gravity. But he's okay, at least physically, "Mortar is the stuff between the bricks, fellas. That's is a brickimp, right?"
5h59m18s: Wall, 1076 pop, 13.3s RC, 1% AP for sub-8h finish, first L16 roll good 156/35/84 moun, 10 for the metal.
Beyond the Wall was a more edenic section of the trimpolis ruins, doubling the production of the lumberjacks. The trimps are actually really happy with the mode of all of the laborers moving between the three big jobs, along with the turkimp, except for the foremen specialized at leading the job. It isn't enough to boost their productivity, but the human goes to them with trays of sandwiches.
6h06m52s: 50 map run 0.3% AP...
6h19m13s: Zone 17, 1141 pop, 16.0s RC with Z16/94, no turkimp.
"Z:17 You climb a large cliff and look out over the new Zone. Red dirt, scorched ground, and devastation. Is that a Dragimp flying around out there?!"
"Hmm," the human surveys the new zone with his bee nickels, "Looks like crap. Any ideas?"
"You're the idea man," the yellow one groans.
"Set the map flag," he puts his bee nickels away, "We'll run a depth for practice and to load up on gems for more hotels."
"Righto," the red one gets to work.
6h44m34s: First DCP. (Draglimp Care Package; I refuse to call it a tribute.)
"Oh," the human says, "It's tame now, so it brings back gems in exchange for food?" He looks at his gaping scientists, "That's what it looks like, huh? Guys? Yo!"
"Tai..." the grey one sighs.
Draglimp, the dragimp imprinted on Tightniks, lands beside the human, drops some gems at his feet, and accepts some scratching behind its horns before diving into the food bowl.
"You tamed a dragimp???" Grey's note says.
"Well," the yellow one huffs, "I guess that happened."
8h18m53s: L20 depth of 154/27/79.
"Mapping up here?" the red one half closes one eye and tilts his head.
"Yeah," the human says while fitting together the depth map fragments, "With the coordination book not right at the end, we have an extra mark of coordination to take advantage of. Let's take our housing up to 2000 or so, shall we?"
"Okay," the yellow one says from a pile of logs, "What's all the wood for?" They had been collecting it for days now.
"The series upgrades follow a rather specific pattern," Tightniks explains, "Just on the other side of this blimp is Zone 21, where we should be able to find the Shield series V, right?"
"Shijou!" the grey one nods.
8h56m17s: 1% AP for 100 map runs, leaving it, 1751 pop, 24.8s RC with Z20/232. 8h56m54s: Zone 21...
"Ooooookay," Tightniks growls, "There is something off about this thing."
"Shijou?" the grey one looks at the yellow one with concern about their human starship pilot friend.
The human stoops, picks up the little green gem on the ridge between Zone 20 and 21, looks at it, huffs, and asks, "Any idea where this comes from?"
"Err..." the red one seems hesitant to say, "I think you made it."
"Really?" the human huffs, "How could that be?" Then he tosses it at Red, "See if anything reacts to it. It might be radioactive, so we should take turns to minimize exposure."
"Really?" Red's holding it now, "What makes you say that?"
"Because I'm pissed off for no reason I can figure out," the human says, "I think it's coming from that."
"Frags," the red one says quickly, "I think it's arranging a route. You're good with maps," it tosses the gem to the grey scientist.
"Shijou," the grey one says hopefully, and has a map drawn within a few minutes. [Whether it looks like the one in Puchim@s 1x61 is anyone's guess. That one annoyed me as well as Chihya.]
9h02m37s: L21 moun first roll was a decent 160/26/84. 9h21m00s: Starting run 5 of that map...
Tightniks had taken his anger out on some food and wood to build about 8000 traps. Now he's leaning against a rock spire in his increasingly tattered uniform. A nap begins, perhaps unintentionally.
Wild trimps are examining the pile, finding it unwelcoming, and also finding no place in the town, just mill about. It looks like they want to help.
"Ku?" it's a blue trimp, probably a farmer waiting for stuff to grow, climbs up on the rock spire the human is leaning against, starts patting him on the head, "Ku. Ku ku." [Puchim@s Chihya.]
9h23m09s: Still working that lap...
Tightniks wakes up from that nap, and the grey one is standing there. "Shijou," it says with a note of concern, although not much of one. The note it holds says, "It wasn't me."
"Oh, what wasn't you, buddy?" He stretches out a bit, feeling somewhat refreshed. It feels like somebody washed his face and hair while he was sleeping.
The grey one is also holding a small mirror, apparently broken off from a larger mirror and with the sharp edges filed down to make the edges safe.
The human takes it from the grey trimp and holds it in front of his face to discover that somebody has bound up all his hair into about twenty little pigtails. He touches them with his other hand to confirm. "Eh, whatever." He hands the mirror back and goes back to sleep. [Puchim@s Koamimami.]
9h30m08s: The following run...
"He's not throwing stuff every which way yet," the yellow one whispers to the red one, watching the human snoozing with his pad on his knee.
"You remember that, too?" the red one asks.
"'Remember'?" the yellow one turns to face the red one, "I s'pose that's better than imagining it."
"I remember it, too," the grey one says via a playing card sized note.
"If we're stuck in a time loop," the yellow one sighs, "maybe this cycle will be different."
"Tai..." the grey one admires him for a moment. Then thumbs in the direction of the mountain, "Heh, Shijou!" it laughs.
9h35m58s: Run 8, c9 of that map.
The scientists nap and take notes, and meditate and take notes, and draw stuff. The grey one often storyboards for the other nine because it's the best at drawing stuff. They have come up with a list, and most probably "order" (they're debating whether their ranking means "order" (sequence of things happening over the various loops) or "frequency" (what proportion of previous loops they have happened in). But they've come up with this, from first (or perhaps most often) to most recent (or perhaps least often):
- The ship crashes (they're pretty sure that happens every loop) - The human builds huts - The human teaches some of his trimps to speak and do science - The human builds houses - The human makes maps - The human builds mansions - The human blows up and gets himself killed somewhere around Z17 to Z21, often on a dragimp - The human only recently/occasionally builds hotels - The human only recently/rarely tamed a dragimp - The human only recently/rarely maps the Dimension of Anger
They're all agreed that that they have never finished the Dimension of Anger. What they are not all agreed on is that they've never done this conference to figure out whether they're in a time loop or what that might mean. [See also Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Cause and Effect" ...which was sort of a time loop but they weren't going back in time. It's very interesting, but its meta makes no sense - no one ever went looking for the Bozeman in 80 years? No one who went looking for the Bozeman also got stuck? No one noticed the passage of time outside the little area of space where the not-quite-a-time-loop was happening? Errr... sci-fi writers, don't be half-assed about your time loops, lmao! Be like Harold Ramis- ...what am I saying?? (That would be Groundhog Day, which grafted a time loop into a romcom; there are no other sci-fi elements. But it was a full-blown time loop and not half-assed like "Cause and Effect".)]
9h54m06s: Dropped from Z21c95...
I think it would be a bad idea to bypass that green area, as much as I'd rather not face it. Both his domesticated trimps, which are breeding up a new group of fighters, and the wild trimps he has decided just now not to open the traps for, stare at him and point in that direction. He shoulders a huge Shield V-3 and grabs an Mace IV-2 as well and announces, "We're doing it." Thus equipped, he marches off into the Dimension of Anger.
10h27m53s: Taking Pi4-2; recently had taken Pa4-2...
The group at the front had expired, and the snimp in DoAc95 glares at the advancing colony of trimps, which had halted only because of it. It refuses to counterattack the vulnerable colony and its human, instead snorting and huffing, waiting for the next bunch of 232 fighting trimps to come in range.
Tightniks runs along the line of traps, releasing the recently tamed trimps, singing a song that he doesn't remember the meaning of, that he doesn't remember was crafted by an ethnically Chinese guy out of an African language, and later mastered by two caucasians over the internet before they ever met in person. "Baba yetu yetu uliye, mbinguni yetu yetu amina..." because it just happened to be stuck in his head. [Because the Doylian author decided on a whim to. Christopher Tin got it into Civilization IV and at the time (2010 July), I made the best video for it on YouTube, which got subsequently blown to shreds when Peter Hollens and Malukah re-recorded the song from scratch in their own voices and instruments in 2014, pity with no English translation, the purpose of my video.]
Noticing the last batch of metal he needs coming out of the furnace, he waves the waiting grey scientist to fire up the forge [to use the term properly and not as the game does], for it was time to wrap up the forging dies for the Spetum IV, Mark 2 pike heads.
"Shijou!" the grey one cheers, setting aside a snack that looks like maybe ramen, and starts jumping up and down on the bellows handle.
It takes a while for the human to chip out the tip in the two halves of the forging die, and then polish it, and then heat it up in the forge, and then quench it, inspect it, and put it into service crafting thousands of new pike heads for the fighting trimps.
But only one second passed on the map frame clock (10h27m54s) four cells behind that snimp, in the case being brooded over by this huge, and if it's honest, rather concerned megablimp.
10h35m45: Portal PB, 45 He, 4.247 He/hr, 1891 pop, 22.7s RC with Z20/232, no turkimp.
The last head of the map's boss monster goes limp as one of the fighting trimps' mace heads bounces of it, and the huge thing settles on its tail, resting on the package that seems to be the prize of this map. And there's a popping sound, and then something mechanical.
Is that a scroll compressor? Tightniks looks at the package. The deflating monster's lifting envelope material drapes over everything underneath it. "Red, Shijou!" he snaps and points, "roll up that side of it. Keep this part from sucking down on the extractor nozzle!"
All ten of the scientists jump in, literally, pushing the gas in the bag towards the compressor. Tightniks as well, rolling up the front.
Until he kicks, and nearly trips over, a smaller package that might be the explanation for the reason why the center of the monster's defense seemed to be a little away from the big package he could see. It's in the right place, he realizes. He gets it uncovered and reads stenciled-and-sprayed block letters on it:
"DT TIME PORTAL / THIS SIDE DOWN"
Perhaps the Dimension of Anger is so named because of the rage suddenly rising up in Tightniks' throat. It isn't so much as the free-floating aggression suddenly has an answer, there is definitely a fresh batch of rage and anger as he grips the nearest Mace IV, Mark 3 with both hands and gets it over his shoulder, its target obviously this object, anger at the realization he screams at the top of his lungs, "We are stuck in a mutha FAH-king time loop!!" His swing begins. [Tightniks almost never cusses, unlike Snugniks.]

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Hi all! This is a rather comprehensive guide for newcomers to PC gaming to help understand the relevant technologies when it comes to docks, peripherals, external storage and monitors. This should help navigate the sometimes conflicting and confusing advice online and enable you to make buying decisions based on your personal needs.

Cables, Power Delivery and 30W Turbo

(More info regarding cables under Data Transfer - Cables)
Cables and Power Delivery
All USB C to C cables built to spec are capable of providing 20V@3A for a maximum of 60W. For any higher power output, there are different protocols and the Ally uses the Power Delivery (PD) protocol which is common for laptops - If you already have a laptop with USB C charging, check to see if its charger supports PD charging since you could use its charger with the Ally and vice versa.
The PD protocol requires a handshake where the power source, whether it be a charger or power bank, communicates its different capabilities (eg. 15V @ 3A = 45W, 20V @ 3.25A = 65W, 20V @ 5A = 100W, etc.) and the device communicates what it can safely receive over the USB cable. This communication requires an E marker chip built into the USB C cable which allows the power source to deliver up to 48V @ 5A = 240W, although it is more common to find the older 20V @5 A = 100W cables. The E marker is also what allows you to plug in a high output PD charger to charge much lower powered devices without frying any components since the charger will keep to a safe/low power output until the E marker communicates the capabilities on both ends.
The Ally uses the 20V @ 3.25A (65W) PD power profile and any USB C to C cable with an E marker should work for the Ally as long as your charger or power bank can deliver the aforementioned 20V @ 3.25A.
Note: Sometimes cables just aren't built to spec and cheaper cables might not work as intended or fail quickly. The E marker chip malfunctioning is a primary reason why your charger and cable combination might suddenly stop working as intended and not deliver the 65W to the Ally even if it did earlier - in most situations, it might just drop to 20V @ 3A (60W).
30W Turbo requirements
As far as the ROG Ally is concerned,

• If a 20V @ 3.25A PD profile (or higher) is powering the device, the device will allow up to 30W to the GPU.
• If the Ally can't draw at least 20V @ 3.25A, it'll max out at 25W to the GPU.
• USB A to C cables simply cannot provide the higher output PD wattages. Some USB A to C cables (OnePlus/Oppo ones for instance) use proprietary pin layouts to achieve higher power output up to 100W but these are proprietary implementations and won't work with the Ally.
• PD charging requires a USB C to C cable (or PD chargers with attached cables like the original charger)

How to enable 30W Turbo
If you're connecting the power source directly to the Ally, i.e. not using a hub:

• The original charger works flawlessly as well as any similar ones from reputable laptop brands (HP, Lenovo, etc.) that use PD and have the 20V @ 3.25A profile as well.
• If you're using a power bank or charger with a removable cable, make sure it supports the same PD profile as mentioned above and use a USB C to C cable with an E marker. Any cable with an E marker should reliably provide at least 100W since the minimum spec is 20V @ 5A.

If you're connecting the Ally through a dock/hub:
This is where things get interesting. Without getting very technical, USB specifications are set by the USB Implementers Forum (USB IF). For docks and hubs, the specification states that USB devices should be able to draw power at the port with max power draw specified. For USB 3 devices, this max power draw is 5V @ 900 mA (4.5W at the port) and for USB 2 devices, this max draw is 5V @ 500 mA (2.5W). This is why most docks and hubs have their own power requirement, around 15W usually but may vary, so that power is reserved for the USB ports. Depending on the device connected, this power draw can vary - a portable spinning hard disk drive will draw more power than a dongle for a wireless mouse for instance. Insufficient power to the ports can manifest in many ways such as USB devices disconnecting and reconnecting, HDMI intermittently disconnecting, etc.
I haven't been able to test this so please take this section with a grain of salt - docks that support 30W Turbo with the original charger don't seem to meet the official USB IF specs since the dock must be exposing the Ally to the 20V @ 3.25A PD profile without reserving any power to the USB ports. I haven't been able to confirm this myself as all the docks and hubs I use reserve around 15W for the ports and require at least 80W+ PD to allow the 30W Turbo mode. Based on my digging online, it seems like some people have no issues using these docks while others have reliability issues such as the ones I described earlier.
To summarise, enabling 30W Turbo mode reliably on the Ally when connected to a dock or hub requires (should require?) the following:

• A charger or power bank capable of 80W or higher PD profiles since the hub should ideally be reserving power for itself to prevent issues on the ports (usually around 15W but can vary).
• Like earlier, if you're using a removable cable with a charger or power bank, make sure to use a USB C to C cable with an E marker chip.
• Potential option if you have a 100W power bank that supports PD passthrough - in this scenario you can plug in your original ROG Ally charger to the power bank (65W input to the power bank) and then connect your dock to the power bank (up to 100W to the dock). I can confirm it works with this power bank: https://www.amazon.ca/imuto-26800mAh-Portable-Charger-Charging/dp/B0BC7NJHCW

If you don't care about playing on 30W Turbo mode,
As mentioned earlier, all USB C to C cables should be capable of at least 60W. Using a charger with any lower PD profiles such as a 45W charger will not cause any damage or harm, you might just lose battery even with a charger connected but that's about it. I often use my 25W phone charger or even Nintendo Switch charger - reliable chargers will not damage your device.

Data Transfer

General info
Mbps, MB/s, Gbps and GB/s - there's a difference.
You'll often see the terms Mbps or MB/s (alternatively Gbps or GB/s) used to refer to USB speed, storage speed, internet speeds, etc. but it's important to note the difference.
Mbps = Megabits per second, MB/s = Megabytes per second
Gbps = Gigabits per second, GB/s = Gigabytes per second
Data transfer is usually measured in Megabits per second, Mbps (or Gigabits per second, Gbps). Your internet speed is a great example of this. Files and any storage in general is measured as Megabytes or Gigabytes. To work out file transfers in Megabytes or Gigabytes per second use the following:
8 bits make up 1 byte and 1 Gigabit = 1000 Megabits. To keep things confusing, 1 Gigabyte = 1024 Megabytes.
If your internet service provider is providing a 1 Gigabit connection it works out to 1000/8= 125 Megabytes per second, i.e. a file that is 250 Megabytes will take 2 seconds to download. (Note: real speeds will always be lower due to network overhead, congestion, distance to servers and a bunch of other factors.)
A breakdown for the things most relevant to the ROG Ally:

• USB 2 ports, cables and devices max out at 480 Mbps, ie 480/8 = 60 Megabytes per second. These shouldn't be used for file transfer since they're slow but work great for peripherals such as keyboards, mice, webcams, wireless dongles, etc. These devices tend to use very little bandwidth and won't saturate a USB 2 port.
• USB 3.0 ports, cables and devices max out at 5 Gbps (5000 Mbps), ie. 5000/8 = 625 Megabytes per second. Ports on most docks max out at these speeds.
• USB 3.1 (also known as 3.1 Gen 2 because USB naming convention is a hot mess...) ports, cables and devices max out at 10 Gbps (10000 Mbps), ie. 10000/8 =1250 Megabytes per second.

The Ally's USB C port is USB 3.1 Gen 2 with DP Alt mode so the max transfer speed you can get from the Ally is 10 Gbps. Ideally you should look for docks and cables that are capable of 10 Gbps.

• USB 3.1 Gen 2x2: 20 Gbps, ie. 2500 Megabytes per second. Although the Ally can't achieve these speeds, you might find enclosures or portable SSD's operating at these speed at comparable prices to 10 Gbps ones when on sale. Just worth keeping an eye out for.
• USB 4/Thunderbolt: up to 40 Gbps, ie. 5000 Megabytes per second. if you have a device capable of USB 4/Thunderbolt I would recommend looking into a Thunderbolt dock/hub but otherwise they are overkill for the Ally since the dock will operate at lower speeds and some USB 4/TB features in the dock won't work at all. These hubs and cables require in depth certification making them very reliable but also very expensive.

Other notable mentions:

• A functioning SD card slot in the Ally (UHS-II): maxes out at 312 Megabytes per second
• LAN (1 gigabit): 125 Megabytes per second
• LAN (2.5 gigabit): 312.5 Megabytes per second
• WiFi 5: Typically 866Mbps, ie. 108.25 Megabytes per second
• WiFi 6 (80 Mhz channels): Typically 1201 Mbps, ie. 150.125 Megabytes per second
• WiFi 6 (160 Mhz channels): Typically 2402 Mbps, ie. 300.25 Megabytes per second

WiFi 5 and 6 speeds are theoretically MUCH higher but this is what most people can expect from their routers to their device - including crappy ISP provided routers.
For LAN and WiFI, these are the speeds you can expect on your local network and NOT the speed your ISP provides to the internet. Your local network is what you are using when you stream in home from a PC or console to the Ally using something like Steam Link or Sunshine. Or if you access storage on your network (NAS, Plex server, Jellyfin, etc.)
Real speeds will always be lower across the board when you account for any overhead such as the Windows File system, background tasks, network overhead etc.
Data Transfer - Cables
Make sure you're using a cable that can match the speed of the device, ie. if you're connecting a USB 3.0 device, make sure the cable also supports USB 3.0 at least. Similarly, you need to use a 10Gbps USB cable to achieve 10Gbps data transfer speeds. Using higher spec cables should always work reliably with lower spec devices too, such as using a 10Gbps cable with a USB 2 device will just operate at USB 2 speeds.
NOTE: A cable containing an E marker chip does not necessarily mean it can do video or even USB 3.0 file speeds. The E marker chip is unrelated to data transfer capabilities. In general, most 100W E marker cables only work at USB 2 speeds if used for file transfer, unless they explicitly state other capabilities.
I've personally had great reliability with 240W E marker cables though and it's been much easier to find reliable cables that provide 10Gbps data transfer, 4K 60Hz video output and any level of PD required all through one cable. I suspect the reliability mainly comes from the more stringent certification process required for 240W PD. These cables can be chonky though.
Can games run from an SD card, external hard drive, external SSD or USB flash drive?
Short answer, yes.
Longer answer, yes, but keep the following in mind:

• For most games, you will see a difference in terms of load times taking longer when running from external storage - the game performance should be identical though. Games which explicitly state they need internal SSDs can also work from removable storage but your mileage may vary. Forza Motorsport for instance throws a warning message upon launch but you can safely ignore it without issue.
• Some launchers work better with removable storage for games. Steam, Epic Games and Ubisoft have all worked great for me but games from XBox have had issues with updates breaking game files. Most launchers will allow you to select removable media for storage though.
• The Ally might not recognize games that are installed on removable storage if the storage isn't plugged in when you turn the Ally on. Basically, if you're not seeing a game you have installed, shut down the Ally, connect the storage device to the Ally directly or through a dock and then turn the Ally back on. The games should reappear and be playable.

My advice would be to install any game you intend to play only while the Ally is connected to a dock on external storage devices, otherwise install them internally. For instance, I only play Ace Combat when I'm connected to my TV so it made sense to install it on external storage that is always connected to my dock and TV.
External storage - What should I use?

• Cheap option - If you have an old laptop, PC or console that you no longer use, consider reusing the internal HDD or SSD from those devices in an enclosure. The form factor and connectors vary so make sure to buy the correct one. Spinning hard drives will be slower and depending on age, might not be the most reliable so keep that in mind.
• Using an M.2 SSD in a 10Gbps enclosure. I personally prefer this method since you can find M.2 SSDs frequently going on sale and it allows you to reuse the drive internally in a future PC build. If you don't want to go this route though, you can look into external SSDs from the likes of reliable brands like SanDisk, Samsung, Western Digital, etc. which offer comparable speeds to M.2 SSDs in an enclosure.
• USB/USB C flash drives (thumb drives) - I personally only recommend using flash drives to move data rather than for storing data but no harm if you want to install games on them.
• SD/Micro SD Cards - I wouldn't recommend buying one given the Ally's SD slot issues BUT if you already bought one or have any cards laying around, consider using an external card reader to plug into your dock/hub or to the Ally directly. Read/write speeds vary based on the card and reader but keep in mind that the Steam Deck runs games off its SD card slot (UHS I) which only has a max speed of 104 Megabytes per second.

What's the best keyboard, mouse, controller for the Ally?
This will entirely depend on you - There are three main ways to connect and each has its pros and cons. The way you personally see these pros and cons will help you pick.
Wired devices:
Pros - lowest latency in most cases, no need to recharge devices.
Cons - need a dock to connect more than one device and you'll need to manage cables.
Bluetooth:
Pros - cable free, no need for a dock to connect to your devices.
Cons - some latency, need recharging/batteries, connectivity issues are common.
Wireless dongles:
Pros - cable free, lower latency than Bluetooth and some devices have latency comparable to wired performance.
Cons - still need a dock if you require more than one dongle, dongles often use 2.4Ghz protocols and might have crazy interference with poorly shielded devices around them.
Some devices will offer more than one way to connect - I've found them ideal for the Ally.
My peripherals (not recommendations per se, rather my use case since all were bought for an existing work from home/gaming PC setup)
Keyboards:

• Keychron K4 (V2): 3 devices over Bluetooth or wired. The Bluetooth has always been slow to connect with any device so I use it wired with my gaming PC. Otherwise, excellent mechanical keyboard.
• MX Keys Mini: 3 devices total over Bluetooth or Logi Bolt dongle. Very little input latency with the dongle but I stick to Bluetooth personally for the convenience. Much smaller than the Keychron K4 too and quicker to connect on BT so my go to for the Ally.

Mice:

• Logi M720 Triathlon - 3 devices total over Bluetooth or Logi Unifying receiver - Works perfectly regardless of using Bluetooth or the dongle. My go to for the Ally on Bluetooth for the convenience.
• Surface Arc Mouse - 1 device, Bluetooth. Overpriced and uncomfortable to use for long periods of time but it folds flat so I use it if I'm travelling with my Ally.
• Logi G502 SE - 1 device, Wired. Often regarded as one of the best wired gaming mice. I've used it with my gaming PC for about 4 - 5 years and have no complaints.

Controller:

• XBox Controller - Wired, Bluetooth or XBox USB adapter - pretty standard. The AUX port on the controller works if you're using the XBox USB adapter which is great.
• 8BitDo SN30 Pro - Wired, bluetooth. I believe the newer version has hall effect sticks. Triggers aren't analogue though - they are buttons.
• GameSir T4 Cyclone Pro - Wired, Bluetooth or Dongle. Hall effect sticks and triggers, lots of customizability, haptic triggers (only on Bluetooth mode though), gyro support - my go to for the Ally.

Displays

HDMI vs DisplayPort
Like any data cable, HDMI and DisplayPort carry data but in the form of audio/video data. DisplayPort can carry more of this information based on the most common version available, ie. DisplayPort 1.4 which supports up to 32.4Gbps. The most common version for HDMI is 2.0 which supports up to 18Gbps.
DisplayPort is preferred for gaming PCs generally since they are better at communicating capabilities such as FreeSync capabilities, HDR capabilities, etc. which is why most monitors use DisplayPort, especially modern ones.

• For TVs - Use HDMI
• For Monitors - Use DisplayPort if your monitor and dock both support it

DP Alt mode and USB C monitors
The Ally along with numerous phones and laptops support video out over USB C using what is known as DisplayPort Alt Mode (DP Alt Mode). This only works over USB C to USB C.
Some newer monitors support this and can be driven by just one USB C to USB C cable. They might also provide USB PD power.
Portable monitors also use DP Alt Mode to work over USB C. For HDMI, they use a standard HDMI to mini HDM and you need to plug in power when using HDMI. I haven't come across a dock that supports DP-Alt mode on its USB C ports making it impossible to drive a portable monitor over USB C with a dock (HDMI obviously will still work.)
Thunderbolt hubs may have USB C ports which allow DP Alt mode but in my experience they downgrade these ports to only USB 3 (without DP ALT mode) when connected to something that isn't Thunderbolt.
I only have experience with the Arzopa A1C (1920x1080, 60hz, 15.6 inch display) but here is my takeaway:

• Decent picture quality - think iPad level screen, better than what I was expecting frankly and same resolution as the Ally so I don't even change my settings.
• It was not mentioned anywhere in the manual/online but this does 50W PD passthrough. I plug in my charger to the monitor and use a USB C cable from the Ally and everything else I use is wireless. Pretty portable.
• Has an aux port if you want to plug in headphones/speakers to it directly.

Common misconceptions for anyone used to console gaming or new to PC gaming
(Note: The section below is only relevant to native resolution output without any frame gen or upscaling such as RSR, FSR, AFMF, etc.)
I've seen numerous posts asking "will this __inch monitor work?". Your physical screen size does not matter. The pixel count does. A 24inch 4K 60hz monitor will be just as hard for the Ally to run as a 60inch 4k 60hz TV.
For the Ally at its native 1920x1080 resolution at 120 frames per second, the GPU has to render 2,073,600 pixels, 120 times per second.
When you connect your Ally to a 4K 60Hz TV and try to output at your TVs native resolution of 3840x2160, the Ally has to process 8,294,400 pixels, 60 times per second.
Essentially, you will never get the same performance hooked up to a 4K TV at native resolution compared to running a game at the Ally's native 1080p resolution.
The same goes if you're looking at 3440x1440, 2560x1440 or any resolution when considering a monitor. In terms of "will it work with the Ally?" The answer is always "yes it will work" since the Ally is a PC, but adjust your game settings or your resolution accordingly.
Simply put, the higher the resolution (and frame rate), the more pixels the GPU needs to render, the bigger the performance hit.
I can put together a detailed AMD Adrenaline and general game settings guide if there's interest.

Things to keep in mind while buying a dock or hub:

• Form factor - If you want to use it with other devices consider getting a different form factor than the standard dock shape (the classic Steam Deck and ROG Ally dock where it sits with a non removable right angled USB C connector).
• Will my case work with it? Personal example - I put a JSAUX case on my Ally and it doesn't fit in my dock anymore. The case has a stand though so still fully functional but just doesn't look as "clean".
• Should ideally reserve power for the USB ports to avoid random issues.
• Be capable of 65W passthrough after reserving power to the dock.
• USB ports speed - ideally you should aim for a dock or hub featuring 10Gbps ports to use the max bandwidth of the Ally's port. Most docks and hubs max out at 5 Gbps however which is also adequate.
• Monitor support - consider if you would prefer one with DisplayPort or HDMI - few will have both. If you're mostly connecting to TVs, HDMI will be fine. If you have a monitor with FreeSync, ideally look for a dock with DisplayPort.
• Multi monitor - If you want to connect to multiple displays, you need one with multiple outputs since you will not be able to daisy chain docks. Keep an eye out to avoid DisplayLink however. It is NOT the same as DisplayPort - it drives video over USB 3 (USB 2 even) but involves compression and some other proprietary work happening on the dock - absolute non issue for productivity/office work but just not for gaming with its own overhead.
• Consider one that has a removable cable to host - being able to use your own cable length can be great but just make sure it meets specifications (E marker, video and USB 3.0 at least for it to be usable with a dock and the Ally)
• LAN port speed - most cap out at 1 gigabit but you might come across some with 2.5 gigabit ports.
• Consider if having an SD card slot or M.2 enclosure built into the dock/hub is something that you need.

My thoughts on the docks/hubs I own
All of them work pretty identically and offer 4K HDR, 30W Turbo, etc. when connected to a 100W PD charger. The ports are all USB 3.0 so max speed of 5Gbps. I’ve mentioned anything of note

• Aceele - https://www.amazon.ca/Docking-Compatible-Ethernet-1000Mbps-Charging/dp/B0CF57SZY5 - Has an On/Off button on the front for HDMI which can be handy. Works with the Nintendo Switch too surprisingly.
  
• Dockteck - https://www.dockteck.com/collections/usb-c-hub/products/usb-c-hub-ethernet-hdmi-6-in-1-usb-c-to-4k-60hz - Some strain on the USB port due to the form factor.
  
• Lionwei - https://lionweitech.com/products/usb-c-docking-station-dual-4k-hdmi-8-in-1 - Separate USB 2.0 port, dual HDMI and a removable cable. The cable out of the box stopped working after a month but the hub itself works great.
  

Other handy accessories

• Jsaux 90 degree USB C to C adapter - they come in a 2 pack and can be used at the same time to form a 180 degree adapter - https://jsaux.com/products/90-degree-right-angle-usb-c-male-to-usb-c-female-adapter
• Pluggable USB C extension cable with multimeter - reliably extend any USB C cable and check power draw - https://plugable.com/en-ca/products/usbc-meter3-1mf

Thanks for reading and hope it helps!

Hello everyone!
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If you have any questions feel free to dm me or leave a comment!.
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I have been getting into Digimon in a big way, and I've become interested in trying out the virtual pet side of things. Now, this is not a "what vpet do I get" post, I have already done my own research and have some interests; I have my eyes on the Digimon 20th, the Digimon X, the Vital Hero, and maybe even the upcoming Pendulum Virus Busters. However, before I jump into this aspect of the hobby, I do want to collude with some more experienced vpet collectors.

1. I work full time and have multiple different hobbies, interests, and obligations. Sometimes things just pass me by because I haven't had time to keep up with them. I know vpets require constant upkeep, as they are, well, digital pets. What I want to know is if I were to leave a vpet alone for weeks or months at a time, is that a deal breaker? I understand that if you disregard your pet for too long it will eventually die, but if that were to happen, can I just start anew and pick it back up? I don't think its possible to put it into "stasis" so I can just come back to it later, but if I just leave the thing for a while, will it make constant noise to try to get my attention or will it sort of back off after a while until I'm back into it?
   
2. Speaking of working full time, I'd like to have it along with me for work because I don't want to leave it idle for 8-10 hours at a time and it'll give me a little something to do between assignments. My only concern with this is how loud and distracting are these things, generally? I don't mind a little beep beep here and there, but I wouldn't want it to be going off and agitating anyone who happens to be in a nearby room or sitting near me as I'm working.
   
3. I mentioned that I have my eyes on about three to four different vpets, and it would be nice to collect each of them even just to have them as cool little items (in particular, one of the Digimon X pets just so happens to be my three favorite colors, so it feels like a lovely little accessory). How hard is it to juggle multiple vpets, and related to the first question, can I just put one aside for a bit while I focus on a different one? Let's say I get Digimon 20th and Digimon X. I start up Digimon 20th and get a little guy, I start training and caring for that, and after a few weeks or months I decide to put it down and pick up Digimon X, work on that for a little while for a change of pace. Then eventually I'll probably put that down and go to something else, or come back to Digimon 20th and maybe start a new guy? Is that possible? It feels like I wouldn't want to have multiple active vpets going, I already have enough trouble keeping track of stuff I'm already doing, unless people do it all the time?
   
4. Specifically about the Vital Hero, I know that one is a little more hands-off; less virtual pet, more exercise partner. I like the idea of wearing it during work and getting some steps in and seeing how my guy turns out. I also really like all the different dim cards and some of them really nail some cool aesthetics and have a LOT of Digimon I like, so I think it would be fun to go on a bit of a hobby journey to collect them. But while I like having it count my steps while I'm being active, I don't know if I'm looking to use it to springboard myself into a more active lifestyle, like I'm not really ready to dedicate time to exercising and going on walks just for the bracelet (I was just figuring I walk a lot at work so I'd get some use out of that). Does the Vital Hero require you to actively exercise and do routines to progress or is it okay to just count steps and do some mini games? Like how active does this thing expect me to be, because I could probably do some small things here and there, but I don't want to accidentally subscribe to a gym membership just so I can evolve an Agumon.
   

I think those are my biggest concerns and I'd love some input from more experienced collectors. If you have any insight on any or all of these, please don't hesitate to answer even if you're only weighing in on one, I'd still love to hear what you have to say. I appreciate the time you took to read all this!

Hello debt. I could really use some advice here.
Let me start out by saying I realize I screwed up. I grew up poor and have always lacked the financial intelligence that seems to come naturally to others. I also know that, until I learn to budget and save, paying off my CC debt is nothing more than a bandaid.
That said, I am struggling. I went back to school to pursue my dream career several years back. My wife, at the time, encouraged me to do so. Unfortunately, she filed for divorce a year later. I didn't want to give up on my dream, so I finished out the remaining 2.5 years of school by maxing my federal student loans and, later, credit cards.
I finished my bachelor's and masters, but I worked very little and depended largely on CCs for my families basic needs. Unfortunately, I found my passion in a career path that is not the most lucrative.
Here's the details of my situation:
Debt:
CC debt - $52,000
Student loans - $60,000
Mortgage - $125,000
Then...
Money in/out (monthly):
+$3800 - Take home (net) pay
+260 - Child support
-$400 - Utilities
-$1300 - Mortgage & HOA
-$160 - Car insurance
-$1400 - Min monthly CC payments
-250 - Gas
Remaining for food, kids, etc: $550
Important to mention, I have 4 (soon to be 3) dependents that live with me full time.
Thankfully, my career allows student loan forgiveness and with my salary and number of dependents, I am paying $0 and it counts toward the 120 payments til forgiveness. I also own my vehicles outright, so no car payments and I stick to liability only. I have a teenager on the insurance with me, which is why it is so high.
As you can see, I am barely scraping by. I bought a cheap Prius, which should reduce my monthly gas cost to $100 or so. That still only leaves $700 to pay for feed and cloth 5 people. I don't see how I will ever climb back out of this hole I have dug for myself.
I have an old 401k account from my previous factory job. It is currently sitting at about 65k. I could drain it and pay off the majority of my debt (65k-10% penalty-13k taxes=$45,500). This would allow me to eliminate ~$1200 in monthly payments.
The pros:
This would allow me to start finally saving money; for emergencies, college funds, retirement, etc. 27k of my CC debt is on cards that offer 0 interest balance transfers, so I could potentially pay half of my debt, balance transfer the other half, and use the minimum payments I was making to pay off another 25k over 18 months.
Cons:
I will have no retirement savings left. My current job offers a pension, but I don't know if I will work in a state position long enough to truly capitalize on it. I'm in my mid 30s, so that 64k will be ~200k by the time I retire, assuming a modest 5% annual growth.
I also lose out on the $7,830 for 2024, since my income will be too high. With taxes and penalty on the early withdrawal, I'm setting just over $27,000 on fire.
However, I'm already burning $12,000/year in interest right now. I am barely making a dent in the principle. In 6 years, I will have broken even, minus the interest lost. After 15 years of maxing out IRA contributions, I'll be in a better position for retirement anyway. I wouldn't be able to contribute anything to retirement with the CC debt I have now.
I know draining my 401k in my mid 30s is not normally a financially sound decision, but my math says I'll be better off financially in the long run IF I cut up my cards and avoid falling back into the same debt trap.
What do you say, my fiscally responsible brethren? Am I an idiot for even considering this, or is this a viable last resort?
Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any advice you might offer.
TLDR: 52k in CC debt, income too low to make more than min monthly payments. Considering draining my only retirement fund of 64k to be debt free.

I've had my CSR for 7 years and have never closed it. However I want the new sign up bonus that's out.
2 questions 1)Does Downgrading the card to CSP count as a closing a credit card then reopening? 2)How long do I have to wait after downgrading to CSP before upgrading to the CSR for the sign up bonus?

So im 22 years old from puerto rico. My mother and stepfather have a casino business here on the island so since a little kid theres always been casino stuff around. We had roulette tables on the living room, blackjack on the garage, craps table everything. My mom always growing up wanted us to stay away from gambling because she’s seen what it does to people, she talks about clients committing suicide back in the day so yea. However seems like i didnt get scared enough and i started my bj playing in 2021 when i turned 19. I had learned basic strategy almost completely thru the years and believe it or not playing gta. Bad losses at the start. Anyways started learning counting about 2 years ago end of 2022. Had some good runs and some bad ones, the most i had won was like 800. Stayed off for like 5 months, and 2 weeks ago i decided to go again on my bd, took 300 made $1100 profit. Then 2 days later made 500 profit. 2 days after that lost 200, 2 days after made 2300 profit, last week on monday or tuesday made 300, on mothers day made 800 and just yesterday made 3325 profit. Goddamn. I sent most of my winnings to my hysa. But damn is it a rush. Especially after a win. I play 6 decks 3:2 bj min bet 25 max 500 dealer stays soft 17. The highest i go usually is like 300. Now I’ve been practicing my counting on the tables but its gotten to a point where im literally winning every single hand so i lose count and just keep flat betting 200-300 (yesterday at least other days 50-100) until i lose then im out. Does anybody else do that? Where they just keep winning every single hand so they forget about the count and go crazy? I know that u shouldnt really try counting if youre an addict and like to gamble and i kind of have an addictive personality to anything new that i find exciting, so what i do to keep me from withdrawing money is i take only my max budget with me most of the time which is 500, i leave my cash at home and i take my wallet with no cards so i dont have the choice to go and withdraw a little more. Just wanted to share my story. And yes i know that every good run will come crashing down eventually. Wanted to let it out somewhere cause my mom freaks out everytime i tell her i was at the casino even when i make money (understandable really).🤞🏾

Hello. For some reason I have an issue with some of my code. I have a card that I made to display data but no matter what I cannot get rid of a small offset on the top of the parent container. I've tried expanded, cosntraints, intrinsic height, and no changes to the result. It seems like there's just a block or something I am missing in the code but for the life of me can't find. I wanted to get some exterrnal opinions and see if any other eyes could catch something I missed or suggest a change. I will post the code and then a link to see how the issue appears in the UI.
Link to see UI: https://imgur.com/a/QgqBPYw

body: Padding( padding: EdgeInsets.zero, child: StreamBuilder( stream: _eventStreamController.stream, builder: (BuildContext context, AsyncSnapshot snapshot) { if (snapshot.hasData && snapshot.data != null) { List events = snapshot.data!.docs; return ListView.builder( padding: const EdgeInsets.all(0), shrinkWrap: true, itemCount: events.length, itemBuilder: (context, index) { Map eventData = events[index].data() as Map; //STREAM BUILDER CODE BLOCK return Container( padding: const EdgeInsets.fromLTRB(0, 0, 1, 0), height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.5, width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width, margin: const EdgeInsets.all(15.0), decoration: BoxDecoration( border: Border.all(color: Colors.black), borderRadius: const BorderRadius.all(Radius.circular(20.0)), color: const Color.fromARGB(255, 70, 69, 69), ), child: ListTile( contentPadding: const EdgeInsets.fromLTRB(0, 0, 0, 8), title: Row( mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center, crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.center, children: [ Container( padding: const EdgeInsets.all(0), decoration: BoxDecoration( border: Border.all(color: Colors.black), borderRadius: const BorderRadius.only( topLeft: Radius.circular(20.0), bottomLeft: Radius.circular(20.0), ), color: const Color.fromARGB(255, 252, 252, 252), ), width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width * 0.2, height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.9, child: Column( children: [ SizedBox( height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.005, ), Text( DateFormat('MMM').format( (eventData['Event_date'] as Timestamp) .toDate()), // Example: 'FRI' style: const TextStyle( fontSize: 30, fontWeight: FontWeight.bold, ), ), const RotatedBox( quarterTurns: -4, child: Text( '-', style: TextStyle( fontSize: 30, ), ), ), RotatedBox( quarterTurns: -4, child: Text( DateFormat('dd').format( (eventData['Event_date'] as Timestamp) .toDate()), style: const TextStyle( fontSize: 30, fontWeight: FontWeight.bold, ), ), ), const RotatedBox( quarterTurns: -4, child: Text( '-', style: TextStyle( fontSize: 30, ), ), ), RotatedBox( quarterTurns: -4, child: Text( DateFormat('yyyy').format( (eventData['Event_date'] as Timestamp) .toDate()), style: const TextStyle( fontSize: 30, fontWeight: FontWeight.bold, ), ), ), const RotatedBox( quarterTurns: -4, child: Text( '-', style: TextStyle( fontSize: 30, ), ), ), const RotatedBox( quarterTurns: -4, child: Text( 'VAR', style: TextStyle( fontSize: 30, fontWeight: FontWeight.bold, ), ), ), const RotatedBox( quarterTurns: -4, child: Text( '-', style: TextStyle( fontSize: 30, ), ), ), RotatedBox( quarterTurns: -4, child: Icon( Icons.emoji_events, size: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width * 0.1, ), ), ], ), ), Flexible( child: Column( crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.start, mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.start, children: [ LayoutBuilder( builder: (context, constraints) { return Container( padding: const EdgeInsets.all(0), decoration: const BoxDecoration( borderRadius: BorderRadius.only( topRight: Radius.circular(20.0), ), ), height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.2, width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width * 1.0, child: FlutterMap( // ignore: prefer_const_constructors options: MapOptions( initialCenter: // ignore: prefer_const_constructors LatLng(51.509364, -0.128928), initialZoom: 11.2, ), children: [ TileLayer( urlTemplate: 'https://tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png', userAgentPackageName: 'com.example.app', ), ], ), ); }, ), SizedBox( height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.005, ), Row( children: [ const Icon( Icons.check_circle, color: Colors.green, ), SizedBox( width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width * 0.005, ), const Text( '1', style: TextStyle( fontSize: 20, color: Colors.white, ), ), SizedBox( height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.005, ), const Icon( Icons.cancel, color: Colors.red, ), SizedBox( height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.005, ), const Text( '0', style: TextStyle( fontSize: 20, color: Colors.white, ), ), ], ), SizedBox( height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.005, ), Row( children: [ const Icon( Icons.place, color: Colors.white, ), SizedBox( height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.005, ), Text( '${eventData['Event_location']}', // Example: 'mira mesa high school' style: const TextStyle( fontSize: 20, color: Colors.white, ), ), ], ), SizedBox( height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.005, ), Row( children: [ const Icon( Icons.departure_board, color: Colors.white, ), SizedBox( height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.005, ), Text( DateFormat('yyyy-MM-dd @ HH:mm').format( (eventData['Event_date'] as Timestamp) .toDate()), // Convert timestamp to DateTime style: const TextStyle( fontSize: 20, color: Colors.white, ), ), ], ), SizedBox( height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.005, ), Row( children: [ const Icon( Icons.event_busy, color: Colors.white, ), SizedBox( height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.005, ), Text( DateFormat('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm').format( (eventData['Event_end'] as Timestamp) .toDate()), // Convert style: const TextStyle( fontSize: 20, color: Colors.white, ), ), ], ), SizedBox( height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.005, ), Row( children: [ const Icon( Icons.work, color: Colors.white, ), SizedBox( height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.05, ), const Text( 'Uniform', style: TextStyle( fontSize: 20, color: Colors.white, ), ), ], ), SizedBox( height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.005, ), Row( children: [ const Icon( Icons.text_snippet, color: Colors.white, ), SizedBox( height: MediaQuery.of(context).size.height * 0.05, ), Text( '${eventData['Coach_notes']}', style: const TextStyle( fontSize: 20, color: Colors.white, ), ), ], ), ], ), ), ], ), )); }, ); } else { return const Center( child: CircularProgressIndicator(), // Placeholder while data is being fetched ); } }, ), ), 

I don't really know who to talk to about this so I figured I'll just write write a post and unfold my sorrow.
We only had like a month, but it felt like way more time passed. We did everything together and got attached really quickly (which, now that I think about it, might have been a part of the problem, since we rushed everything too much; like, I said "I love you" in the first week). I asked her twice if we were moving too fast and she said that it's fine everytime. I guess I should have known better than to believe that...
Things were kinda complicated from the start. My best friend was together with her best friend for 3 years and they broke up, so naturally she didn't like him. She also didn't like any of my other friends. I liked garlic, she didn't. I listen to rock music, she doesn't. But I figured these were just small things that don't matter that much if I just do anything in my power to support her and get her flowers, take her on dates, shower her with attention etc. And she genuinely seemed to like me for who I am.
But today I woke up to a break up text, saying that she can't be with me because certain things were making her uncomfortable. My friend group was obviously a problem, but she also said that she didn't like it when we had sex and she can't get over that, since it is very important for her. And guess what, I AGREE. It is also very important for me and I CANNOT understand why it was that bad. I really don't wanna make it sound like and excuse, but it felt bad from both sides... Especially the last time we did it. I felt the fact that she didn't want it and for me it felt more like a chore. Like, I forced myself to finish just to get it over with because it was just so awkward...
It really hit my self esteem because I've never had this problem. I'm pretty sure that there was a time when my ex from last year was staying with me only because of the fact that she liked having sex with me, even though we didn't get along very well anymore. Another girl from my hometown (with a very high body count) was bragging to her friends that I'm in her top 3. And now my ego is shot to hell... I feel unworthy to even masturbate. I don't even know how I'm going to have sex ever again, I feel very insecure about myself. I hate what I see in the mirror. Were the other girls just lying? My lengths is just above average and I've always thought sex was one of my strong suits but now.. I feel worthless.
She wasn't even rude, she said she still liked me and loves how well we get along. Which just makes me feel like the "good guy" stereotype...
I even started smoking again after I've quit for 3 years. I don't fucking know, sorry if the post is too long. Even writing this feels like I'm playing a victim card and it's making me feel like and excuse of a man..
Anyone got any advice before I go down a road of alcohol and titan gel / viagra usage?

I’m dealt a pair of 8’s against a dealer’s 4 so obviously I split. One hand I get (8,2) and the other I get (8,3) so I double down on the second hand and get a 4 but now the game not only doesn’t let me double the first hand, it won’t even let me hit it??
I’ve had a similar situation where I acted on the first hand first, which allowed me to then act on the second hand but still wouldn’t let me double. It’s broken.
Also, the game’s help menu has a section on blackjack where at the end it says different casinos use a different number of decks and shuffle with different frequencies and to pay attention to this for “advanced playing strategies” (card counting) But as far as I can tell, there’s no way to determine how many decks are being used or when the deck is being shuffled, so there’s no way to get a true count or even know when to reset the running count.

Welcome back to my running series of WWF PPV Reviews from a ‘blind’ perspective (I have no idea what’s going to happen; the results, the feuds or how good any of the matches will be). I have always heard stories of the attitude era and golden age but never watched it myself so I set myself to watching every single PPV event chronologically. I am also watching Wrestling Bios ‘reliving the war’ series to keep me updated inbetween the events with the feuds, and to get excited about upcoming matches.
Before I review the matches, based on the past few episodes of raw and last PPVs I’ll let you know, going into the event, which match I’m most excited for and which feud I’m most excited to see.
Is it even a question? Even though I haven’t watched wwf during this era I’ve heard stories of how fantastic Austin vs Bret hart at WM13 is, feud and match wise this is my most hyped match of the night.
WWF Wrestlemania 13 1997 Review
Four way Tag Team Elimination Match 1.75/5
Rocky Maivia vs Sultan 1.75/5
HHH vs Goldust 2.5/5
Vader & Mankind vs Owen Hart & Bulldog 2.5/5
Stone Cold vs Bret Hart 6/5
Nation of Domination vs LOD & Johnson 3/5
Undertaker vs Sycho sid 1.5/5
In the opener of the match I thought it was just an 8 man slug fest will pinfalls to eliminate each person as they all just start beating the sh*t out of each other but then they go back to the usual tag team corners, a little disappointing but let’s see what this match has got.
The godwins are growing on me… just a bit, not very much but a bit; spitting on people, dancin around like mad men they’re an okay watch from time to time I won’t lie. What happened to lafon and furnas in this match though? Did they just disappear? It felt like a blink and you’ll miss it I swear they didn’t even get in the match but maybe I’m crazy. In terms of an opener with tag teams this was an okay match it wasn’t anything special but it did its job. The headbangers did some cool aerial moves, trying to prove themselves was good to see but not too much to say. It was a little messy with teams literally eliminating themselves, but nothing botched.
It feels like there’s been next to no build up to this sultan rocky match, it was just thrown together as, in terms of main attractions, the wwf was still pretty thin.
The match gets going and rocky is firing on all four cylinders tonight, he’s improved extremely quickly from his first match, show boating, over hyping the smallest of moves he’s getting exciting to watch. The same however can’t really be said about sultan, as soon as he gets control the match really slows down and gets pretty boring (holding a chin lock for all eternity). Rock gets back in control and here we go, he’s really feeling it tonight and his moves are looking really clean, especially his punch exchanges. This match wasn’t really anything too special but it’s great to see Rocky starting to warm up in the WWF. Sultan and sheik assault Rocky after the match and oh my god the splash from the top rope looked so painful for Rocky 💀. Then Rocky’s dad comes out to help and we get a great crowed pop after rock and his dad both slam the iron sheik, this was actually a really cool moment; father and son in the ring. The crowd still isn’t behind Rocky all that much yet still, which is kinda surprising as his wrestling is good to watch but I suppose his character itself is a little bland.
Chyna and HHH come to the ring and the camera pans to a couple of fans signs “HHH + CHYNA WHO HAS THE WILLY” which were f***ing hilarious, the public is always on point. It’s also insane how massive Chyna is here, she actually looks bigger than triple H. You would not wanna walk past her down a dark alley.
Goldust and HHH actually had a really good match, everything they did looked really clean, it was fast paced, good wrestling shown and an okay feud to fuel the fire between them. This is the best I’ve seen Goldust in a while and HHH is really building his repertoire of moves up; They had some great chemistry as well and the crowd starts getting into the match towards the end, a stark contrast to previous events where it would almost be silence until the main event. The match ends with marlena being shoved into Chyna and being literally tossed around like a rag doll I’m surprised her head didn’t come off, triple H hits a pedigree and it’s 1 2 3 goodnight Goldust. There wasn’t anything crazy but I enjoyed watching this match, well paced, good physical moments including Goldust going face first from the top rope into the side of the ring which looked really good.
Mankind and Vader REALLY work as a concept for a team in the WWF during this era for me, very intimidating but also two great entertaining wrestlers. Mix them with Owen hart and bulldog and you’ve got a great match on your hands… right? Well turns out maybe not. The two teams didn’t particularly click well as they were both heel teams with no baby face. This being said they still put on a good show (my god bulldog is incredibly strong to hold mankind up like he did and then do the same to Vader!?) but it wasn’t anywhere near as good as it should’ve been on paper. That finish as well? Why… I don’t know why they’d book that finish in a wrestlemania event, a double count out? 😴. I still think it had its good moments and I did enjoy watching it but like I say it wasn’t nearly as good as it should’ve been.
Now… I’ve heard so much about this match with stone cold and Bret hart at WM13, so I did have high expectations going in, and with a fantastic build up, an iconic series of promos from either side I was hyped I was ready willing and able to sit back and enjoy whatever I was about to see.
I gotta say it exceeded every single expectation I had. The crowd from the first punch to the end submission was absolutely electric, they ate up every single second of this match and I can’t blame them it was awesome!!! This is now in my top 5 matches of all time, maybe even top 3, it had everything I could’ve asked for. No interference from anyone else no weird ending no stupid sh*t going on just two legends having a full on war at the biggest wrestling event of the year. I also love how Austin never tapped and literally passed out from the pain which was a really good booking choice to keep his character still looking really strong. We had blood we had chairs we had ring bells and fighting in the crowd I’m gushing about this match. It was perfectly paced as well even when it ‘slowed down’ it was entertaining. Some iconic images of stone cold in the shooting star press, face covered in blood. Absolutely flawless match and the best match I’ve seen so far in this era. The crowd ends up backing Steve Austin for his efforts and because Bret decided to continue the assault after the bell, finally hearing that deafening ‘Austin’ chant throughout the stadium was really cool. I can’t say enough, if you haven’t seen this match go and watch it right this second you’re in for a massive treat. And this match gets its own 6/5 rating which I think I’ll introduce for matches that are all time legendary matches, in my opinion, and they aren’t gunna come out often but I have to, the whole thing was simply in its own league. WOWOW!
I’m just finding it hard to put into words how entertaining this was I was glued to the screen. A brutal submission when Bret Hart is pulling Steve’s leg off almost outside the ring and Steve is in the ring had me wincing. Also Austin’s selling, and his hype between shots shouting at Bret and giving him the double trouble with his hands it’s all just so iconic, this match must truly have cemented Austin as a main eventer going forward.
This whole match just screamed Attitude era style match and I seriously believe this must have been extremely influential on the wwf going into the coming years. Having seen Austin’s matches in the future I have to say this has got to be one of if not his best technical wrestling match of all time, I can see both wrestlers being even bigger stars after this match it was that good. Top 3 all time favourite matches, wow, well done to both of them for this. Experiencing this for the first time was magical I can’t imagine watching it live or being there, I’m very jealous. It’s currently a Monday evening and I was shouting and on my feet and as I write this I’m pacing back and forth with glee. I’m gunna have to take a break before the next match 😂.
It’s a shame that hart vs Austin wasn’t the main event because there’s absolutely no way anyone could upstage up to the match we’ve just seen, but I’ll try to go into the next couple of matches not comparing it to the previous one.
The LOD vs NOD match was absolute chaos I was literally laughing because it was so fun to watch, I had no clue what was going on there was so much to look at and once again this was another attitude era style match. It was pretty entertaining. It felt a little experimental and I would’ve liked to have seen at least a little bit of wrestling but during the whole bout there was maybe 3 or 4 moves that weren’t hitting each other with trash cans, literally hanging each other with nooses, freezing with fire extinguisher it was nuts.
We’re really feeling the influence of ECW in this match and it was great to hear the crowd so alive and enjoying it, they were probably riding the high of the legendary match we’d just seen as well as me. This was the first time seeing LOD for me and it was great, the reminded me of the Dudley boyz which are my second favourite tag team of all time. But seeing weapons finally introduced into the wwf was amazing and I’m super excited to see future brawls I think this is all taking a huge leap in the right direction for making mid card matches more enjoyable. Post match LOD hits a double flying closeline and on two NOD members and it was a decently booked bout. Not the best but good fun.
Shawn Michaels makes his way to the ring and like him or not it’s always great to see Shawn at wrestlemania, and here we go I’m ready for a great main event, obviously knowing the streak I know the outcome but I’m excited to see what the two monsters of the WWF can do in the ring. Side note, it’s really cool seeing undertaker come to the ring in his vintage attire.
Bret hart comes to the ring just as the match is about to get underway to fully engage with his heel turn in the WWF and I think it felt… a little bit out of place but he gets hit with a power-bomb to the applause of the audience which was pretty satisfying. Let’s get into this massive main event match, and oh boy… the main event.
I was majorly disappointed at this main event especially after the matches we’d just seen it just did not hit at all for me. It never felt like it really got going even in the last part with undertaker kicking out of a tombstone piledriver to a big crowd pop… it just didn’t feel like a main event.
Dont get me wrong Sid’s character is cool and he plays it well but he just cannot perform on the big stage with the big players of the business. I don’t know how you can book such a perfect match like Bret and Austin and then have this as the main event. Bret shouldn’t have interfered either the undertaker did not need it at all. The coolest part of this match was the undertakers iconic celebration afterwards. Please don’t let Sid main event again, he had a great push and was fun to watch but he just can’t do these matches when the time calls for something of this magnitude. Very disappointing, very slow match, and I won’t lie probably the worst main event I’ve seen on my journey through this era. I also looked it up and apparently sid literally sh*t his pants during this match? I’d love to know if that’s true or not. But yeah that’s all I really have to say about this one, not much happened and there was an extremely tedious segment in the middle of the match where sid was going to the second ring rope and dropping a double fist on undertaker which seemed to go on for so long and it was just boring.
Overall the event was pretty decent but the main event really let it down. I won’t let that sour how amazing Bret vs Austin was though, they truly carried this event and elevated it majorly and it’s worth watching even if just for that one match. I enjoyed most of the mid card alongside that as well but with all the build up to such a let down, actually think the main event was the worst match of the night, and that’s coming from a massive undertaker fan.
Overall rating 3.25/5

Need validation if my understanding is sound. I have some form of cost reduction that reduces instant/sorcery cost by at least 4 (ie [[Mizzix of the Izmagus]]). I also have [[Storm-Kiln Artist]] and [[Urabrask]] in play.
I cast [[Finale of Revelation]] where X = 10. This triggers SKA and Urabrask. I let the triggers resolve refunding me essentially 2 mana. Then I cast [[Reiterate]] with buyback for free targeting the Finale, which refunds me 2 mana again. Reiterate resolving nets me one treasure from SKA's Magecraft, and bouncing the card back to my hand due to buyback. The copy of Finale resolves, I do what it says. After, I cast Reiterate again doing the same thing, tapping the 5 lands I just untapped in the process for 5 floating mana.
This would net me 5 x (cards left in deck/10) mana rounded down correct? Thats if I decide to draw my deck just before I deck out. Plus the mana and treasures I get from Urabrask and Magecraft triggers.
Although I understand it doesn't net me infinite mana my question mostly lied with the first paragraph rather than the semi-infinite on whether is it something I can do.
Another semi-related question I have is if I held priority after casting a spell, does the second spell I want to cast go on top of the cast triggers or does the triggers wait before I cast my second spell. For example, the situation I mentioned earlier where Finale with SKA and Urabrask, what if I wanted to Reiterate before the triggers. I'm guessing that is not how it works and my assumption is the former.
Another is due to the nature of it being a combo thats limited by how many cards in my deck, realistically its not possible for me to shortcut that I have infinite mana right? I'd have to actually count how much mana I have although most tables would rightfully scoop right then.
Thanks in advance!

"Plankton's Epiphany" Script

**Title Card: "Plankton's Epiphany"**
**Act 1: Introduction**
**Scene 1: Krusty Krab**
*SpongeBob is happily cooking Krabby Patties, and Mr. Krabs is counting money.*
**SpongeBob**: (singing) ♪ Flippin' patties, making dreams come true! ♪
**Mr. Krabs**: (laughing) Ah, another day of profits!
*Plankton peeks in from a window.*
**Plankton**: (determined) Today, I get that formula!
**Scene 2: Plankton’s Latest Attempt**
*Plankton uses a small robot to sneak into the Krusty Krab. It gets caught in a mousetrap.*
**Plankton**: (angry) Why does nothing ever work?!
**Scene 3: Plankton's Chum Bucket Laboratory**
*Plankton is at his desk, surrounded by failed plans to steal the Krabby Patty formula.*
**Plankton**: (frustrated) Another day, another failed attempt. How can I ever compete with that greedy crab?
*Karen the Computer appears on a screen.*
**Karen**: Plankton, you have a letter. It’s from Dr. Karen.
**Plankton**: Dr. Karen? My old college friend? (opens letter)
**Letter Voiceover**: "Dear Plankton, we're having a college reunion. Everyone has moved on and found their own path. I hope you can join us and share your successes. Best, Dr. Karen."
*Plankton's face shows a mix of nostalgia and sadness.*
**Plankton**: (sighs) Success... (crumples letter) What success?
**Act 2: Conflict and Realization**
**Scene 4: Plankton's Decision**
*Back at the Chum Bucket, Plankton is sitting alone.*
**Plankton**: (reflective) Maybe...maybe it's time to stop trying to steal the formula. Maybe I should create something of my own.
*Plankton starts sketching new recipe ideas.*
**Scene 5: Plankton’s Struggle**
*Plankton is in the kitchen, experimenting with different ingredients. Every attempt ends in disaster.*
**Plankton**: (frustrated) This is impossible! Why can’t I get it right?
*SpongeBob enters, holding a Krabby Patty.*
**SpongeBob**: Hi, Plankton! Need some help?
**Plankton**: (sighs) Sure, SpongeBob. I need all the help I can get.
**Scene 6: SpongeBob Helps**
*SpongeBob and Plankton work together in the kitchen. Plankton starts to enjoy the process.*
**SpongeBob**: (smiling) Cooking is all about love and creativity, Plankton. You can do it!
**Plankton**: (determined) You're right, SpongeBob. Let's try one more time.
**Act 3: Resolution**
**Scene 7: Plankton’s Success**
*Plankton creates a new, delicious recipe. SpongeBob takes a bite and smiles.*
**SpongeBob**: Plankton, this is amazing! You did it!
**Plankton**: (proudly) I did, didn't I? This is my own creation!
**Scene 8: Mr. Krabs’ Appreciation**
*Mr. Krabs enters the Chum Bucket.*
**Mr. Krabs**: (surprised) I heard you made somethin' special, Plankton. Let me try.
*Mr. Krabs tastes the new dish and nods appreciatively.*
**Mr. Krabs**: Well, I’ll be. This is pretty good. Good job, Plankton.
**Plankton**: (smiling) Thanks, Krabs. Maybe I don't need your formula after all.
**Closing**
**Scene 9: Plankton Reflects**
*Plankton stands outside the Chum Bucket, looking at the sunset.*
**Plankton**: (to himself) I’ve spent so long chasing someone else’s dream. It's time to build my own.
*SpongeBob joins him.*
**SpongeBob**: What are you thinking about, Plankton?
**Plankton**: Just that...maybe there's more to life than stealing that formula. Maybe I can make something great on my own.
*They both smile, looking forward to new beginnings.*
**End Title Card: "The End"**
**Lesson**: True success comes from originality and persistence, not from taking shortcuts.