I can not forgive myself for leaving a kitten that had found me. I was not looking for her when I heard her meows. I followed them. & she jumped down from the abandoned shed she was hiding in. I scooped her into my arms and brought her home. She was full of fleas and we found later when I brought her to the vet she had a broken leg ( healed by itself very nicely). We were in a developing nation. I was moving back to the states and decided to take her with me as I feared for her life with dogs surrounding the area and having seen horrible incidents that made me feel very differently about having outdoor cats (which I had indoor and outdoor cats my whole life). I bought a leash for her before our trip and never had her outside without it or without me supervising her. I planned to live with my sister, but I ended up leaving after 2 short weeks because we were not getting along and a trip to Europe had been on my mind for some time. (After a couple years of saving) I decided to leave this precious kitten who made me laugh, who trusted me instantly, followed me around, & knew she was safe with me, with my sister while I took a trip. I planned to return just before their lease was up within a month. Instead, my sister was called to pet sit at my parents house across the states on the east coast, somehow this kitten (who I named Bodega) was on this flight with her and I was now meeting Bodega here instead. My sister stayed for a week, left Bodega at my parents house where I would now be going to. Just a few days after my sister left she was hit by a car and my parents claimed she died on the scene, but they did not take her to a vet to confirm. I am upset for many reasons. I feel I failed her and never should have left her in the first place because I knew she was my responsibility. I wanted to be the one to keep her safe, I didn’t even like leaving her for short amounts of time, I never should have taken a trip so far away so soon. I can’t imagine thinking they mistook death for what could be similar to what shock looks like and then put her in a bag possibly alive. They said her eye popped out and her head may have been crushed a bit, but I read several survival stories where cats can recover from exactly this. I wish they had at least taken her to the vet, but it wouldn’t change how I feel toward myself. Knowing that this wouldn’t have happened if I stayed with her. I only had her for 2 months in my care, she passed about a month after. I was already missing her greatly and had a ticket to come home before she passed, but then I cancelled it because I found a workaway job. And then I got this news that she was hit by a car 10 days after. I wish if she had gotten out they had gone to get her. I wish so many things. I wish I could turn back the clock because she deserved so much better. She was pure love, so grateful and just wanted to be loved. She wanted to stop hiding and we were safe with each other. Why did I have to go on this trip? It wasn’t worth losing her.

I wanted to make the ultimate BG3 skill monkey, and this post is the best I’ve been able to come up with so far. I’m looking for feedback and any ideas I’ve overlooked.
[I try not to spoil anything with this post, but you may be able to infer some things from the names of abilities or items I mention, so proceed at your own risk, I guess]
This build gets proficiency in every single skill, expertise in 13 skills, and ends the game at 19 STR, 20 DEX, 8 CON (lol), 17 INT, 18 WIS, and 20 CHA, and can do it all while being a useful support character in combat (you’re going to want someone else in the party to be your carry). In addition, they can buff their own skill checks with Guidance or Enhance Ability, and get 1d10 Bardic Inspiration and/or Guidance or Enhance Ability from a party member. With this character, the vast majority of your consequential skill checks will be made at advantage with a +12 flat bonus and at least 2d4 added on top of that.
I make a few choices that may seem suboptimal at first glance, but I actually think are optimal because I value expertise very highly (this is basically an exercise in seeing how many skills I can get expertise in at once), but don’t value Reliable Talent as much. Scroll to the bottom of this post for my treatise on why Reliable Talent isn’t as good as Expertise in BG3.
If you prefer Reliable Talent, then a Githyanki Rogue 11/Cleric 1 will be a great skill monkey. But I posit herein that it will not be The Ultimate Skill Monkey. The Ultimate Skill Monkey would have Proficiency in every skill and Expertise in every skill possible, and only miss it on the least consequential skills.
How do I do it? With Knowledge Cleric 2, Rogue 6, Bard 4.

Ability Scores

Start 8, 16, 12, 8, 14, 16. As you get certain items, buffs, and feats you’ll respec to slowly dump that CON into other key stats. At the endgame you could use the CON necklace at the expense of your WIS.

Leveling Steps:

Level 1:

• Race: Rock Gnome (History proficiency and expertise). Don’t want to play a gnome? Well guess what, you’re going to be disguised 90% of the time anyway!
• Background: Urchin (Sleight of Hand and Stealth proficiency) [note: we pick this to avoid backgrounds that give WIS skills that would overlap with Knowledge of the Ages, and CHA skills that overlap with Illithid Expertise or the Actor feat]
• Class: Knowledge Cleric (Arcana and Religion proficiency and expertise, Insight and Persuasion proficiency, Guidance)

Proficiencies: Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Insight, Persuasion
Expertises: History, Arcana, Religion
Level 2:
Rogue 1 (Perception and Deception proficiency, Persuasion and Sleight of Hand expertise)
Proficiencies: Stealth, Insight, Perception, Deception
Expertises: History, Arcana, Religion, Sleight of Hand, Persuasion (bold means it just came off the proficiencies list because expertise got added)
Level 3:
Cleric 2: Knowledge of the Ages WIS (Animal Handling, Medicine, and Survival Proficiency)
You can use tricks to get the Shapeshifter’s Boon ring this early without risking the cow or Dammon in future acts (attack the cow with mage hand, then offer to bribe it to apologize, which opens up the trade window where you can buy the ring). I’d also recommend you get the Whispering Promise ring off Volo and start applying it with this character to buff your carry. You can also pick up the Warped Headband of Intellect, which amounts to a +4 to all INT-based skill checks for the rest of your career.
Proficiencies: Stealth, Insight, Perception, Deception, Animal Handling, Medicine, Survival
Expertises: History, Arcana, Religion, Sleight of Hand, Persuasion
Level 4:
Bard 1
Level 5:
Bard 2
Around now is when most people can get Hag’s Hair. With Hag’s Hair you can respec to re-optimize your key Ability Scores and eventually get DEX to 20, but if you want to save HH for your carry, you can also skip Khalid’s gift and just make your +2 WIS ASI into a +1DEX +1 WIS and accept the 1 point loss on WIS-based skill checks in the final build.
Level 6:
Lore Bard 3 (Acrobatics, Investigation, and Nature proficiency, and Insight and Perception Expertise, and you can now cast Enhance Ability)
If you haven’t already, go get The Graceful Cloth from Esther and put it on, for permanent +1 to your DEX skill checks and permanent advantage on them as well, for the rest of the game! You can also get the Club of Hill Giant Strength and Titanstring Bow now, which will simultaneously boost your Athletics checks by 5 and allow you to do competent attack damage when you’re done buffing your carries.
Proficiencies: Stealth, Deception, Animal Handling, Medicine, Survival, Acrobatics, Investigation, Nature
Expertises: History, Arcana, Religion, Sleight of Hand, Persuasion, Perception, Insight
Level 7:
Bard 4: feat: Actor (+1 CHA, Performance and Deception proficiency and expertise)
Respec to accommodate the +1 CHA and to replace Deception at Rogue 1 with Athletics
Proficiencies: Stealth, Animal Handling, Medicine, Survival, Acrobatics, Investigation, Nature, Athletics
Expertises: History, Arcana, Religion, Sleight of Hand, Persuasion, Perception, Insight, Deception, Performance
Level 8:
Rogue 2
Around now you’re getting into Act 3. Choose to become ugly so you get proficiency and expertise in Persuasion, Deception, and Intimidation, allowing you to respec out of those skills in your build (picking up redundant Medicine proficiency at Cleric 1 and Investigation expertise at Bard 3).
Proficiencies: Stealth, Animal Handling, Medicine, Survival, Acrobatics, Nature, Athletics
Expertises: History, Arcana, Religion, Sleight of Hand, Persuasion, Perception, Insight, Deception, Performance, Intimidation, Investigation
Level 9:
Rogue 3 (subclass doesn't matter to me, pick your favorite)
Around now you can get Khalid’s Gift, an amulet that can increase your WIS by 1. It’s not required, but if you want to really max your skil checks, it does allow you to break past another WIS threshold without giving up another important skill check ability score.
Level 10:
Rogue 4 (feat: +2 WIS, or stats of your choice)
Somewhere around now you’ll be ready to access The Mirror of Loss, which, with a little planning/respecccing/save scumming can get you +1 CHA and +2 to another stat. If you don’t/can’t scum or don’t want to put in the effort, you can adjust your ability scores down accordingly.
Level 11:
Rogue 5
Level 12:
Rogue 6 (Stealth and Acrobatics Expertise)
Proficiencies: Animal Handling, Medicine, Survival, Nature, Athletics (final count: 5)
Expertises: History, Arcana, Religion, Sleight of Hand, Persuasion, Perception, Insight, Deception, Performance, Intimidation, Investigation, Stealth, Acrobatics (final count: 13)

Gear:

Almost all of the gear is available in Act 1!

• Warped Headband of Intellect
• The Graceful Cloth (Esther)
• Shapeshifter’s Boon
• Whispering Promise
• Club of Hill Giant Strength
• Titanstring Bow
• Khalid’s Gift

Combat Strategy

There are a lot of options here, but I think the optimal thing is probably to either pre-cast or use your first action to cast Bless on 3 party members. Then on future turns use your BA to apply a weapon oil that will buff the fire damage from your Cleric, then use an Arrow of Many Targets to apply it (in less consequential fights you can conserve resources with a different weapon coating and cheaper trick arrow).
At any point in the fight, use Healing Word or just throw potions at people to apply Bless to the 4th party member with Whispering Promise, or to apply Bless to anyone without actually casting it.
Titanstring counting multiple times on trick arrows, plus sneak attack, and enemies will actually notice that you’re hitting them. And, more importantly, you're providing buffs that are relevant in combat throughout the game.

Party Comp:

Member 2: Monk
You may have noticed that while this Ultimate Skill Monkey covers an extraordinary range of skills and is competent in all of them, there are two skills I didn’t get expertise in that, from time to time, there will be pretty important checks you’ll want to pass, and often they’ll be passive: Athletics and Survival. You also need a strong carry to compensate for your relative combat weakness. Enter the overpowered Tavern Brawler Open Hand Monk/Thief.
Karlach and Wyll both start with Survival proficiency from their backgrounds and Athletics is a Rogue skill, allowing you to spend your 2x Expertise at Rogue 1 on Athletics and Survival.
Then use STR elixirs so you can pump WIS (which you’ll want to do by Act 3 anyway due to Boots of Uninhibited Kushigo), and now you’ve got someone who will spot every buried treasure and can turn valve wheels like a pro. Oh, and also does inconceivably devastating single-target damage.
Member 3: Bard
No skill monkey is complete without a separate bard to give them Bardic Inspiration. I prefer the 10/1/1 Swords Archer, but 10/2 SSB would be great too. Either one can do carry-level damage while abusing Band of the Mystic Scoundrel and Helm of Arcane Acuity to single-handedly trivialize any combat encounter. Can also cast Enhance Ability on you.
Member 4: Cleric
The only thing the team’s lacking is AoE damage, and someone to dump all the remaining caster, radorb, and reverb gear onto. Light Cleric 11/Storm Sorcerer 1 is my favorite option here, with Spirit Guardians applying gobs of debuffs, supplemented by fire spells that are buffed by oil your skill monkey can apply with their bow. I like the side benefits of Warding Flair, Aid, and other Cleric goodies here, but you could totally throw in a Sorcerer here, or swap to a lightning or ice variant with your skill monkey throwing water bottles on enemies as setup.
Thus ends the meat of the guide, thanks for reading and I’m looking forward to your feedback!
My Tiresome Treatise on Reliable Talent vs. Expertise in BG3
Reliable Talent is very good in a vacuum, but its value goes down substantially in the BG3 environment compared to tabletop.

• Inspiration exists: if you happen to get a low roll, you can use inspiration. Meanwhile, there’s no mechanic that allows you to pump up your maximum skill check that you aren’t already using (Guidance, SSB, BI).
• Enhance Ability: you can pretty much always have this up, and use it during dialogue. Advantage greatly diminishes the odds of a bad roll
• Similarly, you can add Guidance and Bardic Inspiration at will
• Also similarly, the more dice you roll, the less likely you are to get all 1s, and in BG3 you can add Guidance and Shapshifter’s Boon to every roll, plus potentially BI.
• Reliable Talent has a very high opportunity cost in BG3: compared to my build, to get Rogue 11, you have to give up 4 skill proficiencies and 3x expertise, as well as the ability to cast Enhance Ability yourself (or Disguise Self without having to swap your hat in and out): without Knowledge Cleric 2 you have to drop Rock Gnome for Githyanki, and you can’t take Bard 3. And that’s before considering actual combat utility of the builds.
• 55% of the time (at least) it does literally nothing. If you have advantage, which you will have most of the time, the odds of it doing anything at all dwindle to 20%. When it does do something, it will add +5 to a roll on average…which is just 1 more than expertise is guaranteed to add to every roll over proficiency alone. In practice, it’s better than expertise about 11% of the time.
  • Granted, those are the times you need it most, and when it’s at its best, it’s adding a whopping +9 to your roll.
  • But how often is it actually going to turn a failure into a success when expertise wouldn’t? If with proficiency you’re adding +8+2d4 to most skill checks, you still beat a DC10. If going for a DC 20, with expertise and 1s on the extra dice (6.25% chance), you’d have to roll below 6 twice (advantage) to fail, which is 9%. You have a 0.6% chance of that happening, and if did happen to you, it might be in another scenario where it didn’t end up mattering! But if you rolled average on the d4s, you’d have to hit below 3 twice (2.25% chance) . In that extremely unlikely event, use an Inspiration point. To put it in plain language: you have something like a 1/50 chance that RT will give you a success when Expertise would not on a DC20 check.
  • But what if the DC is very high? In that case, Expertise can cause success where RT would fail any time where a 10 on the die is still 1-4 short. If you’re only adding 13 on average to your roll, then you’d need a 17 to pass a DC30, while expertise brings that down to 13. With advantage you have a 36% chance to break 17, but a 51% chance to break 13. Forgive my napkin math, but that’s like 40% better odds, vs. the 11% chance RT will even be better than expertise, let alone the

To put it in plain language: in BG3, when the choice is between Expertise and Reliable Talent, Expertise is equal on DC10 checks and better on DC30 checks. On DC20s, you have something like a 1/50 chance that RT would save you when expertise would not. Do you think you can have an inspiration on hand for 1/50 of your consequential rolls?

🔥 Trading Extravaganza! 💼🚀
Hey fellow traders! 👋 I'm thrilled to announce a massive inventory worth $350,000 up for grabs, featuring 350 knives, gloves, and a treasure trove of skins! 💼💸
Whether you're buying, selling, or up for trades, I'm all in! Crypto, PayPal, skins, or cash - I'm open to all offers! 💳💰
skins + cash offers welcome too <3
Feel free to reach out on Steam or send your offers directly. Let's make some epic deals happen! 🎮💼
Steam Profile : https://steamcommunity.com/id/filimon-trade
Trade link : https://steamcommunity.com/tradeoffenew/?partner=169178735&token=NOaCmr8O
Ready for exciting trades! 🌟💼
feel free to send me your offer
Name Price B/O Tradability ★ M9 Bayonet Doppler (Sapphire) - FN - 11359.44 - -
★ Karambit Doppler (Black Pearl) - FN - 7681.26 - -
★ Butterfly Knife Doppler (Phase 2) - FN - 5056.31- Mon May 06 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Talon Knife Doppler (Sapphire) - FN - 4260.64 - -
★ Talon Knife Doppler (Sapphire) - FN - 4260.64 - -
★ Bayonet Gamma Doppler (Emerald) - FN - 4259.19 - -
★ StatTrak™ Butterfly Knife Doppler (Phase 2) - FN - 4186.29 - -
★ Sport Gloves Pandora's Box - WW - 4057.66- Mon May 06 2024 09:00:00 -
M4A4 Howl - FT - 3847.88 - -
★ Talon Knife Doppler (Sapphire) - MW - 3260.70 - -
★ Stiletto Knife Doppler (Ruby) - FN - 3147.56- Sun May 05 2024 09:00:00 -
AWP The Prince - MW - 2907.12 - -
★ Karambit Fade - FN - 2739.17 - -
★ StatTrak™ Flip Knife Gamma Doppler (Emerald) - FN - 2694.96 - -
★ Butterfly Knife Doppler (Phase 3) - FN - 2536.12 - -
★ Butterfly Knife Doppler (Phase 3) - FN - 2536.12 - -
★ StatTrak™ Karambit Fade - FN - 2492.78 - -
★ StatTrak™ Flip Knife Doppler (Sapphire) - FN - 2384.09- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Karambit Gamma Doppler (Phase 3) - FN - 2383.22 - -
AK-47 Gold Arabesque - FT - 2275.39 - -
★ Butterfly Knife Lore - MW - 2273.54 - -
AWP Medusa - FT - 2195.69 - -
★ StatTrak™ Karambit Gamma Doppler (Phase 4) - FN - 2144.81 - -
★ Hand Wraps Cobalt Skulls - FN - 2129.01 - -
★ Hand Wraps Cobalt Skulls - FN - 2129.01 - -
★ Specialist Gloves Crimson Kimono - FT - 2078.29- Thu May 09 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Karambit Gamma Doppler (Phase 4) - MW - 2009.52- Thu May 09 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Karambit Gamma Doppler (Phase 4) - MW - 2009.52 - -
★ Specialist Gloves Crimson Web - FN - 1969.44 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Fade - FN - 1949.30 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Gamma Doppler (Phase 4) - FN - 1947.06 - -
★ Karambit Doppler (Phase 2) - MW - 1925.95 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Doppler (Phase 2) - FN - 1840.46 - -
★ Butterfly Knife - - 1840.39- Mon May 06 2024 09:00:00 -
StatTrak™ AK-47 Fire Serpent - FT - 1811.54 - -
AWP Desert Hydra - FT - 1753.65- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
Souvenir AK-47 Gold Arabesque - BS - 1735.82- Sun May 05 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Butterfly Knife Crimson Web - MW - 1695.68- Thu May 09 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Skeleton Knife Fade - FN - 1664.51- Fri May 03 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Stiletto Knife Doppler (Black Pearl) - MW - 1605.58- Mon May 06 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Nomad Knife Crimson Web - FN - 1594.15 - -
★ Karambit Doppler (Phase 4) - FN - 1586.83 - -
★ Karambit Doppler (Phase 1) - FN - 1565.10- Mon May 06 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Karambit Doppler (Phase 1) - FN - 1565.10 - -
★ Karambit Doppler (Phase 1) - FN - 1565.10 - -
★ Karambit Marble Fade - FN - 1512.92- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Karambit Marble Fade - FN - 1512.92 - -
★ Huntsman Knife Doppler (Sapphire) - FN - 1476.84 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Doppler (Phase 4) - FN - 1463.78 - -
★ Driver Gloves King Snake - MW - 1404.08- Sun May 05 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Butterfly Knife Slaughter - FT - 1383.78- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
★ M9 Bayonet Marble Fade - FN - 1376.69- Sun May 05 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Butterfly Knife Lore - FT - 1323.21 - -
★ Butterfly Knife Lore - FT - 1323.21 - -
★ Butterfly Knife Lore - FT - 1323.21 - -
★ Falchion Knife Doppler (Black Pearl) - FN - 1304.29- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
★ M9 Bayonet Marble Fade - MW - 1297.84- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
★ M9 Bayonet Doppler (Phase 1) - FN - 1291.97 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Doppler (Phase 1) - FN - 1291.97 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Doppler (Phase 3) - FN - 1288.07- Fri May 10 2024 09:00:00 -
★ M9 Bayonet Doppler (Phase 3) - FN - 1288.07 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Doppler (Phase 3) - FN - 1288.07 - -
★ Talon Knife Fade - FN - 1275.38- Sat May 04 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Talon Knife Fade - FN - 1275.38 - -
★ StatTrak™ M9 Bayonet Doppler (Phase 4) - FN - 1275.31 - -
★ M9 Bayonet - - 1252.91 - -
★ M9 Bayonet - - 1252.91 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Slaughter - FN - 1207.85 - -
AK-47 Fire Serpent - MW - 1207.26 - -
AK-47 Fire Serpent - MW - 1207.26 - -
★ StatTrak™ M9 Bayonet Slaughter - FN - 1201.46 - -
★ Karambit Tiger Tooth - FN - 1188.42- Thu May 09 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Sport Gloves Arid - MW - 1172.19 - -
★ StatTrak™ Karambit Tiger Tooth - MW - 1159.44 - -
★ Karambit Autotronic - FT - 1140.59 - -
★ Karambit Autotronic - FT - 1140.59 - -
M4A4 Poseidon - FN - 1130.30 - -
★ Butterfly Knife Case Hardened - MW - 1111.03 - -
★ Bowie Knife Doppler (Ruby) - MW - 1099.73 - -
★ Karambit Blue Steel - FN - 1086.82 - -
★ Falchion Knife Doppler (Ruby) - FN - 1081.17- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
AWP Fade - FN - 1072.33- Mon May 06 2024 09:00:00 -
★ M9 Bayonet Autotronic - FT - 1069.44 - -
★ Skeleton Knife Crimson Web - MW - 1029.65 - -
★ StatTrak™ Talon Knife Doppler (Phase 1) - FN - 1029.00- Sun May 05 2024 09:00:00 -
Souvenir M4A4 Eye of Horus - MW - 1029.00 - -
★ StatTrak™ M9 Bayonet Tiger Tooth - FN - 1028.93- Thu May 09 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Butterfly Knife Bright Water - FN - 1021.03- Fri May 03 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Butterfly Knife Bright Water - FN - 1021.03 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Slaughter - MW - 1012.34 - -
★ Butterfly Knife Crimson Web - FT - 999.95 - -
★ Specialist Gloves Tiger Strike - MW - 991.11 - -
★ StatTrak™ Nomad Knife Fade - FN - 954.80 - -
Sticker Team Dignitas (Holo) Cologne 2014 - - 936.24 - -
★ Karambit Lore - FT - 924.50 - -
★ Karambit Lore - FT - 924.50 - -
★ Karambit Lore - FT - 924.50 - -
★ Karambit Lore - FT - 924.50 - -
★ Bayonet Gamma Doppler (Phase 4) - FN - 920.30- Mon May 06 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Butterfly Knife Forest DDPAT - FN - 911.61- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
AK-47 Fire Serpent - FT - 898.42- Mon May 06 2024 09:00:00 -
AK-47 Fire Serpent - FT - 898.42 - -
★ Butterfly Knife Freehand - FT - 886.97 - -
★ Butterfly Knife Freehand - FT - 886.97 - -
StatTrak™ M4A1-S Printstream - FN - 885.66 - -
★ Talon Knife Marble Fade - FN - 875.15 - -
★ Talon Knife Marble Fade - FN - 875.15 - -
★ StatTrak™ Talon Knife Marble Fade - FN - 871.68 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Slaughter - FT - 869.49 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Slaughter - FT - 869.49 - -
★ Falchion Knife Crimson Web - FN - 869.43- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
StatTrak™ AWP Lightning Strike - FN - 859.44 - -
★ Talon Knife Slaughter - FN - 847.83 - -
★ Flip Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 2) - FN - 846.38 - -
★ Stiletto Knife Fade - FN - 844.94 - -
★ Bayonet Fade - FN - 840.59- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
★ StatTrak™ Bayonet Fade - FN - 836.97 - -
★ Karambit Black Laminate - WW - 836.09- Sat May 04 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Butterfly Knife Ultraviolet - FT - 823.20 - -
★ Skeleton Knife Slaughter - MW - 821.60 - -
★ StatTrak™ Karambit Black Laminate - BS - 804.36 - -
★ Sport Gloves Slingshot - FT - 800.02 - -
★ Skeleton Knife - - 798.56 - -
★ Karambit Forest DDPAT - FN - 797.11- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Skeleton Knife Slaughter - FT - 790.52- Fri May 10 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Skeleton Knife Slaughter - FT - 790.52 - -
★ Skeleton Knife Crimson Web - FT - 786.96 - -
StatTrak™ AK-47 Vulcan - MW - 782.62- Fri May 03 2024 09:00:00 -
★ StatTrak™ Butterfly Knife Stained - FT - 781.17- Fri May 03 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Karambit Damascus Steel - FT - 770.08 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Blue Steel - MW - 762.33 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Black Laminate - WW - 753.64- Sat May 04 2024 09:00:00 -
AK-47 Vulcan - FN - 753.05 - -
★ Sport Gloves Amphibious - FT - 747.84 - -
★ Sport Gloves Amphibious - FT - 747.84 - -
★ Sport Gloves Amphibious - FT - 747.84 - -
★ Sport Gloves Amphibious - FT - 747.84 - -
★ StatTrak™ Karambit Damascus Steel - FT - 734.07 - -
M4A1-S Imminent Danger - FT - 721.32 - -
★ Karambit Bright Water - MW - 708.06 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Scorched - FN - 708.04- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Flip Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 3) - FN - 707.54- Fri May 03 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Flip Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 1) - FN - 707.11 - -
MAG-7 Cinquedea - MW - 694.93 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Crimson Web - FT - 691.25 - -
M4A4 Eye of Horus - FN - 684.36 - -
★ Karambit Stained - FT - 684.06 - -
★ StatTrak™ Bayonet Doppler (Phase 3) - FN - 678.27 - -
★ Bayonet Lore - MW - 674.57 - -
★ Karambit Freehand - FT - 671.75 - -
★ StatTrak™ M9 Bayonet Bright Water - FN - 664.50 - -
★ Kukri Knife - - 662.33 - -
★ Sport Gloves Nocts - MW - 659.43 - -
★ Classic Knife Fade - FN - 630.37- Tue May 07 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Classic Knife Fade - FN - 630.37 - -
★ Karambit Stained - WW - 627.54 - -
★ Butterfly Knife Boreal Forest - FT - 624.36 - -
★ Bayonet Slaughter - FN - 621.75 - -
★ Gut Knife Crimson Web - FN - 615.95- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Specialist Gloves Field Agent - MW - 613.55 - -
Sticker Titan (Holo) Katowice 2015 - - 604.36 - -
★ Ursus Knife Fade - FN - 601.09 - -
Desert Eagle Blaze - FN - 599.87- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
Desert Eagle Blaze - FN - 599.87- Mon May 06 2024 09:00:00 -
Desert Eagle Blaze - FN - 599.87 - -
M4A1-S Blue Phosphor - FN - 598.56- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
M4A1-S Blue Phosphor - FN - 598.56 - -
★ Karambit Night - BS - 592.47 - -
★ Driver Gloves Black Tie - MW - 584.79 - -
Souvenir M4A1-S Welcome to the Jungle - BS - 579.43 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Stained - FT - 568.12 - -
★ Specialist Gloves Emerald Web - WW - 563.41 - -
★ Ursus Knife Doppler (Phase 2) - FN - 563.05 - -
AWP Lightning Strike - MW - 562.68 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Freehand - FT - 561.96 - -
★ Bayonet Tiger Tooth - FN - 545.66 - -
★ Huntsman Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 2) - FN - 541.82 - -
★ Skeleton Knife Crimson Web - BS - 538.27 - -
★ Skeleton Knife Crimson Web - BS - 538.27 - -
★ Sport Gloves Scarlet Shamagh - MW - 534.71- Mon May 06 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Kukri Knife Stained - FN - 519.57 - -
★ Talon Knife Case Hardened - FT - 515.21 - -
★ Falchion Knife Doppler (Phase 2) - FN - 511.46 - -
★ Flip Knife Doppler (Phase 3) - FN - 504.86 - -
★ Navaja Knife Doppler (Sapphire) - FN - 492.77 - -
★ Talon Knife Blue Steel - MW - 492.69 - -
★ Ursus Knife Doppler (Phase 3) - FN - 487.98 - -
M4A1-S Icarus Fell - FN - 485.51 - -
★ StatTrak™ Bayonet Lore - FT - 475.37 - -
★ Paracord Knife Fade - FN - 469.50 - -
★ Skeleton Knife Stained - MW - 466.67- Sat May 04 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Huntsman Knife Fade - FN - 457.89 - -
AK-47 Vulcan - MW - 455.73- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
AK-47 Vulcan - MW - 455.73 - -
★ Flip Knife Slaughter - FN - 446.02 - -
★ Bowie Knife Doppler (Phase 2) - FN - 443.49 - -
★ Specialist Gloves Tiger Strike - FT - 439.07- Sun May 05 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Specialist Gloves Tiger Strike - FT - 439.07 - -
★ Sport Gloves Amphibious - BS - 434.65 - -
★ Sport Gloves Amphibious - BS - 434.65 - -
★ M9 Bayonet Boreal Forest - FT - 433.33 - -
★ StatTrak™ Huntsman Knife Slaughter - FN - 429.37 - -
★ Stiletto Knife - - 427.54- Fri May 03 2024 09:00:00 -
AK-47 Fuel Injector - FN - 423.84 - -
M4A1-S Printstream - FN - 420.29 - -
M4A1-S Printstream - FN - 420.29 - -
★ Skeleton Knife Stained - FT - 419.72 - -
SSG 08 Death Strike - BS - 418.49 - -
★ Nomad Knife Crimson Web - FT - 409.78- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Talon Knife Crimson Web - WW - 404.93 - -
AK-47 X-Ray - WW - 398.19- Sun May 05 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Flip Knife - - 379.86 - -
AUG Akihabara Accept - WW - 376.46 - -
AK-47 Case Hardened - FN - 373.92 - -
★ Falchion Knife Fade - FN - 372.04 - -
Sticker LGB eSports (Holo) Katowice 2015 - - 371.53 - -
★ Bayonet Freehand - FN - 368.70 - -
★ Driver Gloves King Snake - FT - 366.67- Sun May 05 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Driver Gloves King Snake - FT - 366.67 - -
★ Driver Gloves King Snake - FT - 366.67 - -
★ Huntsman Knife Marble Fade - MW - 362.18 - -
★ Stiletto Knife Crimson Web - FT - 360.58 - -
★ Huntsman Knife Marble Fade - FN - 357.98 - -
★ Bayonet Blue Steel - FT - 355.08 - -
★ Hand Wraps Cobalt Skulls - WW - 347.83- Wed May 08 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Talon Knife Ultraviolet - FT - 347.61- Fri May 03 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Specialist Gloves Mogul - MW - 346.31 - -
★ Moto Gloves Polygon - MW - 344.86 - -
★ Moto Gloves Polygon - MW - 344.86 - -
★ Hydra Gloves Emerald - FN - 344.42 - -
★ Sport Gloves Omega - WW - 343.19 - -
★ Huntsman Knife Lore - FN - 324.49 - -
★ Specialist Gloves Foundation - FT - 323.19- Thu May 09 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Ursus Knife Tiger Tooth - FN - 317.39 - -
Glock-18 Synth Leaf - MW - 317.25 - -
★ Stiletto Knife Case Hardened - WW - 310.15- Fri May 10 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Stiletto Knife Case Hardened - WW - 310.15 - -
★ Sport Gloves Scarlet Shamagh - FT - 298.26- Sun May 05 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Talon Knife Night Stripe - FT - 297.69- Thu May 09 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Specialist Gloves Marble Fade - FT - 294.93- Sun May 05 2024 09:00:00 -
Desert Eagle Emerald Jörmungandr - FN - 291.29 - -
Desert Eagle Emerald Jörmungandr - FN - 291.29 - -
AK-47 Case Hardened - MW - 288.41 - -
★ StatTrak™ Flip Knife Crimson Web - FT - 288.19- Thu May 09 2024 09:00:00 -
★ Stiletto Knife Damascus Steel - FT - 286.37 - -
★ Moto Gloves Turtle - MW - 285.30 - -
★ Driver Gloves Crimson Weave - FT - 282.61 - -
★ Flip Knife Case Hardened - MW - 281.75 - -
StatTrak™ Glock-18 Dragon Tattoo - FN - 275.23 - -
StatTrak™ AWP Wildfire - FN - 273.63 - -

Hi from the team at Saurian Era! We are a semi-realistic roleplay focused Path of Titans server. Interested in joining a server with deep lore focused on storytelling, nesting, family trees, territories, and in-depth dinosaur profiles? Check out our latest event, date TBD when the Utahraptor mod is added back (we're super excited). At the end of this post you'll find an invite to our Discord server.
—

Return of the Utahraptor

This current arc follows the last remains of the Suncrest Pack. Devastated by sickness that ravaged their home in the Savanna Grassland, their leader, Arrowroot, lead the last of his kin to a new home, where the remnants of the group would lay their final nests—four nests. Each female took time to love and care, trying to showcase some symbol of admiration to their babies, knowing completely that they would never live to see if the eggs would even hatch.
But life finds a way.
Each nest has a different theme to it, and mother. Check the end of the message to get information about how to enroll in the nest you want to be a part of.
Flower Ring
A nest surrounded by flowers, laid delicately by a silver and black female Utahraptor by the name of Minnow Shimmer. A sweet temperament, her former mate was a red and white male called Sun Bleed, who was protective over his mate until his last breath, keeping her body safe from scavengers until the sickness took him as well.
Current number of viable eggs: 4
Claws of Blood
Despite its dark name, this nest was made by a fiery red female named Sunchaser, youngest granddaughter of Arrowroot. She had an affinity for blood stones, believing them to be beautiful, as they resembled her feather colors. She, along with her mate Ash Wind, a gray male, carried stones from the nearby area, and laid them around the nest. They hoped the offspring would see them, and at least remember the color that resembled their mother.
Current number of viable eggs: 3
Moon Drop
She joined their pack shortly before the illness took it. Pure white in color, Stardust was rumored by members to be the reason the sickness came. But she remained pleasant, patient, and quiet. She formed a close friendship with Arrowroot in her time there. While no one knows who the father of her children are, she placed her nest between two trees, with a perfect view of the sky. She left the eggs with nothing but the ability to see the night sky.
Current number of viable eggs: 3
Royal Blood
Arrowroot was a handsome male in his time. Fiery colors with dark marks and white blazes, he carried the unique coloring of the Suncrest Ancestors with him. His mate, a brown female he stole from a rival pack when he was younger was simply called Mouse, a little thing. They grew together, raised many families together, but this would be their final that they would sadly not be able to continue this tradition with. They may not ever know what they were meant to be—the next generation of leaders for the Suncrest pack. Mouse stayed with her nest until her last breath, where Arrowroot carried her body off, and was never seen again himself.
Current number of viable eggs: 4
What path will you choose? Will this little pack remember their heritage—of what they use to be? Will a new alpha step up to reform the great Suncrest Pack? Or will they disperse, creating their own packs? What would happen, with all of these packs forming in the heart of an unfamiliar home? Who will come out the reigning champion of the forest?
—
Hopefully I've piqued your interest by now. Join our Discord by clicking this incredibly convenient link and take a look around. We look forward to seeing you! :)

Dominion is a community of like-minded adult players who want to experience vanilla Minecraft without the limitations of land claiming or over-the-top additions such as skills, abilities, RPG elements, and more. With a heavy focus on community and player interaction, we are the closest server for anybody seeking a true "hermitcraft-like" experience.
Over the last 4+ years, our community has blossomed into a wonderful group of kind hearted and dedicated individuals. At Dominion our community is and always will be our primary focus. We run weekly events, monthly competitions, organize enormous group projects/builds, let our players vote on all new changes/additions, and much much more.
To keep our server safe from players who seek to troll or grief, we employ a whitelist process that is reviewed by our dedicated staff team. If this post sounds like the right server for you, click the link below to visit our Discord server and create an application to join!

To apply, click HERE

LEARN MORE ON OUR WEBSITE!

dominionserver.net

OUR FOUNDING PHILOSOPHIES

This part is a little wordy I admit, but these are the fundamental 5 pillars that hold our server up and govern every decision we make. These will always be upheld and used to judge any potential additions or changes in Dominion's future.

The Vanilla Experience

Dominion is committed to preserving the vanilla Minecraft experience. We will never add any any plugins, datapacks, or otherwise which fundamentally make the game easier, harder, or different than vanilla. You will never see plugins such as mcMMO, Jobs, NPC's and similar on our server.
In addition, while Dominion does provide a Donator rank, this is purely for players who wish to give back and help fund the server. Donators do not and will not ever receive any benefits beyond a shiny yellow name.

Transparency

We believe that it is each player's right to know exactly how much money is raised though donations and how it is spent. In the spirit of this transparency, we release monthly updates on all expenses and donations.
We are also completely open about any community issues that may arise such as dismissal of staff, banning of influential players, and integrity changes to how the server functions. During these times, we allow for open discussion and provide insight into any decision making.

Community Voice

We pride ourselves on listening to our community. We welcome comments, critique, and honest opinions. Through that openness, we are able to continuously improve our server and community because of your feedback.
For all major changes or addition to our server, be it a new plugin, settings changes etc., we run a poll where every member of the community gets to cast a vote. Polled content/changes only take effect if the community votes at a majority 75% approval rating.

Playing Together

We founded Dominion on this major principle: Create a space for players to play together, not just be strangers in the same world. To help foster our close community, we run weekly events ranging from one off quick PVP maps to massive large scale build-athons.
For those who prefer more long-term collaboration, we have a dedicated space in our Discord for larger player ran projects such as modern city districts, gaming districts, special mega-farms, and more.

New Content Now

When a new update drops, it can be frustrating to wait for your favorite server to update so that you can enjoy all of the new and exciting content. We purposely run a lightweight, almost-vanilla server so that we can give you that new content as soon as physically possible!

To apply, click HERE

Hi everyone!
We're a small produce company that is looking to shake up the fruit juice market by raising the bar on freshness, quality and taste for our customers.
To help us create a new Logo and Visual Identity - we're seeking to hire a talented graphic designer to create a logo for our new fresh squeezed juice brand.
The right person for the job will have:

• Experience working Food / Beverage / Fresh & Natural products
• Ability to translate concepts into visual elements that are easily understood.
• Expertise in using symbolism and metaphors to represent brand values and product characteristics.
• Talent for thinking outside the box to create memorable and impactful designs

__________________________________________________________________
Project Overview:

• Brand Name: TBS (to be shared)
• Product: Fresh squeezed orange juice
• Brand Values: TBS
• Target Audience: Health-conscious individuals, families, fitness enthusiasts, and consumers who prefer fresh, natural products.

Design Requirements:

• Style: Modern, clean, and friendly. Avoid overly complex designs.
• Colors: Bright and vibrant colors like orange, yellow, and green.
• Typography: Clean and legible fonts that are approachable and contemporary.
• Iconography: Ex: hand squeezing an orange, juice droplets, or sun imagery to convey the "fresh squeezed" concept.
• Versatility: The logo should be scalable and work well in both color and black-and-white formats for labels, bottles, ads, and digital platforms.
• The Secret word is Green Beans

Deliverables:

• Primary logo (full color)
• Black and white version
• Logo variations (icon-only, wordmark)
• Color palette and typography guidelines

Budget: $200 - $600
Deadline: ASAP (open to your timeline)
To Apply:
Please fill out the form here >>> Form to Apply
Plan to submit:

• A link to your portfolio or previous logo designs
• Any initial thoughts or ideas for the logo design
• The secret word

We're excited to see your creativity and look forward to finding the perfect logo!
Thank you!

~First~
(Got up Early to talk about the CPAP machine and such. Only to be given an appointment on friday. So yeah, in trying to solve a sleep issue I’m giving myself more of one. Incidentally Friday will be late due to well, the CPAP retrieval and tutorial)
The Pirates
“So, they’re here.” Agenda says contently as she finishes feeding her fussiest little girl.
“Yep!” Jingay chirps happily as her freshly hatched little children are happily playing on the glowing, shimmering platform that her rattle has brought to life. She can’t do anything complicated, but a soft shiny platform for her little slithers to play around in? She can do that, but it takes some focus. The tiny fluffy child of Vuni is cuddling the strong Jungle Nagasha tail that wraps around her own tail.
“How formal a call do you think we should make?” Miles asks in an amused tone.
“Not especially, after all the babes ensure it will never be properly formal, they’re too happy and healthy.” Agenda notes.
“I blame you for that.” Miles says and Agenda laughs.
“If you don’t want the blame I’ll take it.” Vuni remarks.
“You’re just as guilty.” Miles says and Vuni laughs in response.
“What’s going to happen?” Jingay asks and Miles is pensive for a moment.
“I don’t know.” He notes as his hand gently rubs the handle of his revolver. The constant rubbing had necessitated him re-burning the names of his family back into it. “But no amount of waffling about will let me know. So if you don’t mind. I’ve been... getting something a little ready.”
“Is this what you’ve been sneaking around to do for the last three days?” Agenda asks.
“Something like that. It’s a bit of a treat I wanted to give you girls so... care to join me?” He offers.
“What have you done?”
“Me and the boys got together a great big feast so that we can all talk The Inevitable at once. It took a bit of doing, but when the boys and I get moving, we really get moving.”
“Are you including Red Squadron and Biran in that?”
“And a lot of cadets too. Markus gave them a proper mission in setting up the area.” He says.
“How is that a mission?”
“It involves deploying a military force to secure and prepare an area for higher ranking officers to approach and remain there for a time.” Miles says before offering his hand. “There’s plenty of space for all our little ones, and for all our allies. Give them all a big impression. How does that sound?”
“Well, if you’ve been planning this for days.”
“I have. All of us have.”
“Then I suppose we HAVE to show up, don’t we?” Agenda says in a luxurious tone. “I’ll get my coat.”
•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•
The hall that Miles leads them to is a massive refurbished hanger that has all kinds of carpets put down, tapestries hanging from the ceiling and tables upon tables of different treats of all sorts already out. The Undaunted Cadets are all rushing around putting down more meals and treats and between the richness of the carpets, the crystal bowls and platters and expensive drinks and foods. But the sort of... scrambled way it’s been put together by the cadets lends it an earnestness that bleeds through. More important though are numerous floating platforms where a child can be safely put down and be right beside their parent.
“Oh this is a treat. I haven’t even been one of you guys for long!” A four part harmony says as Moira walks in with little Liǔ Shù napping in the arms of the four bodies that didn’t speak. The toxic little girl not only has numerous of the protective pendents on her and woven into her clothing, but is in a dark jumper that lets her bright skin stand out as if for presentation.
“Well, as their novels say, all for one, and one for all.” A new voice says as a pair of Cannidors lead in their own family. More and more and more people pour in from all entrances, many in uniform, many of them her own girls. Some of them she barely recognizes. Every single one of them that notices her looking raises a glass, nods, salutes or somehow pays their respects to her.
Her little one squirms ever so and is softly comforted. For a moment there is almost a feeling of vertigo. There was a time where all this wasn’t even a dream of a dream. She could remember the feeling. How could she forget it? The sensation of something gripping your very mind and soul and stopping you from even thinking of disobeying. Then so long trying to get things right, trying to be in control of her own destiny, before finally achieving it and learning just how hard that was. How many sacrifices and concessions she made before what seemed to be one of her final concessions... turned out to be final in the best of ways.
“Alright! We have a connection to The Inevitable! Who wants to say hello to the next batch of humans in the galaxy?” Ryu calls out.
“My Lady?” Miles asks as he smiles up at her. She gives him a raised eyebrow at that.
“My lady is it? Well then, I better live up to it.” She says.
“Connect us!” She commands and there is a cheer through the room before a massive projector uses one of the tapestry covered walls as a screen. “Good Ship Inevitable! Can you hear me?”
“We can, you are on a friendly frequency.” A man of Asian Descent says sitting stiffly in his command chair. “I am Observer Wu, sent from Earth to conclusively determine what is going on outside our corner of the galaxy. Identify yourself please.”
“I am Duchess Agenda Lilpaw! I am the ruler of the Vucsa System an Undaunted World! I greet you, because I have long learned my lesson to stay on the good side of humans!”
“Have you now? If I’m not mistaken that is a fully grown human right next to you. You look like you could take him fairly easily.” Observer Wu says in an amused tone.
She looks down to Miles before shaking her head.
“I made that mistake once. My entire ship was not enough.” She says fondly before pulling him close. “Then I was offered a deal, and he used it to help make me a duchess. So you’ll forgive me if I think humans are a good thing to have around.”
“Did he now? I didn’t realize galactic conquest was the intent of The Dauntless and her crew.” Wu notes.
“Well, as one of the conquered, I would like to say I prefer this result. After all, being able to walk about the city without a bodyguard is a welcome change of pace.” Vuni says drawing attention to herself with a slight bow. “Ambassador Vuni Luxed at your service.”
“So this world prefers to be conquered?” Observer Wu asks.
“This world was a slum at it’s best. A hellscape at worst.” Mari Horny states as the Carib woman waves to the camera. “Mari Horny. I was here to witness it all. I’ve seen slaves freed, monsters hunted down no matter what kind of power or influence they have, be they person or beast. With them I’ve seen the children I worked so hard to protect grow stronger and thrive. Doom has come to this world time after time, and they met it each time. If you’re here to observe, then observe this room! Everyone here saved, aided or inspired by the people you’ve come to evaluate! There are ten pure blooded humans in this room, but beyond it is nearly a billion souls who will vouch for them from the first to last! And so will I!”
“No need to be so dramatic ma’am. I’m an observer, not a judge. I am here to see and hear without bias or illusions. Things are odd, and odd things have happened. The governments and officials back home need to understand clearly and without any doubt. So that is why I am here. There was confusion in the first message sent back. The second furthered the confusion due to multiple parties having separate interests. I have been tested, tried and guaranteed numerous concessions and payments for an utterly neutral perspective.”
“So your word is going to be how all is, then they decide if we committed treachery.” Franklin notes as he floats up with several bundles around him, many of them laughing. “Behold this then. My children. All healthy, with myself as the only human parent. My daughters take after their mothers, my son takes after me, but has his mother’s strength.”
“He is nearly transparent.” Observer Wu notes before Franklin gives the little boy a tickle and he flickers in and out of visibility while laughing. “Most interesting. This Vucsa world of yours, before I do my research upon it, is there something you would like to say about it?”
“This is a world on the edge of Wild Space. Which means that it’s often been used in the past as a place where experiments happened.” Miles says.
“Interesting. Such as?” Observer Wu asks.
“Such as my daughter here. I am Moira Octalliry, I will cut through the details and simply state that my anatomy allowed me to be experimented on a great deal.” She says and Observer Wu looks at her oddly.
“Are you one, or many?”
“I am one, but I am eight as one.” She says. “As is my daughter, I have named her Liǔ Shù. She was a piece of myself remade to produce a weapon. She and I were both rescued. I was forgotten in darkness for thousands of years, as was my daughter. Held in a single moment in time and left to rot.”
“And... is she a weapon?”
“I am told you have creatures similar to her new ability back on your homeworld.”
“We do? What is the name of this creature?”
“The Poison Dart Frog.” She says and Observer Wu’s eyebrows go up.
“Don’t forget about the fact that we fought off that robot witch!”
“Robot Witch?” Wu prompts.
“A weapon of war created by a very large, dangerous and expansive criminal family. A death robot known as Mother Massacre.” Moira says. “So consider that. Without them going... I don’t even know what to call it, I saw the contradicting orders, without them going sane for lack of a better term, I would still be in a slowly failing stasis capsule, buried and forgotten in the darkness.”
“And so, in summation, and from the mouths of those that clearly trust them what is your opinion of The Undaunted and the humans that make it up?”
“When I was brought to this world it was as a slave, my dignity ripped from me, my home destroyed and in less than a day I had my freedom, dignity and a new home.” One of the Erumenta that Agenda cannot recognize out of hand announces.
“And my own. My whole family, those that were enslaved are freed, those that were indoctrinated into that wretched way of life have been allowed time to recover.” Biran says grandly.
“They took me in.” A smaller voice says as Karim rises up. “I’m a Hlo’Shab. Death Born. I could have reasonably only expected to have my core shattered, or shunned for my entire life. Instead I have a home.”
“And... to be Death Born means what?”
“I am a Slohb. By blood I have only one true parent. I was broken off of them far too soon and they died as I survived. Death Born. Or... well, I don’t have blood but... you get the idea right?” Karim asks.
“I understand.” Observer Wu notes. “I have more calls incoming. Is there more from Vucsa for me to see or hear?”
“Over here!” A jubilant voice calls out and the room turns to see Hewhew standing on the shoulders of Heffer to tower over everyone with the Agela’s height added to his own. “Red Five calling it in! The Vucsa Defence Fleets fly fast and proud to keep our home safe!”
The crowd around him, pilots all, throw up their right arms and cheer along with Hewhew. “Welcome to the Galaxy Observer! We’re ten tons of awesome in a two pound bag! Let’s rock!”
Observer Wu smiles as he looks around. “I look forwards to discovering the truth of things.”
“That’s the fun part of the galaxy sir, it’s so absurd we don’t need to lie.” Miles states and Observer Wu turns back to him with a smirk.
“Well, we shall see, won’t we?” He asks. “Is there anything more?”
“I take it you’re not in the mood for a display of flight prowess? We’ve been working on a new routine.” Hewhew calls out.
“Perhaps later. I have numerous calls waiting.” Observer Wu states. “Now if you’ll excuse me...”
~First~ Last

Are all the rope craftsmen asleep? We can't sleep tonight. Yesterday, we observed a lot of "insider revelations" about JuZero on various social media platforms. After verification, it was found that the other party used illegal means to obtain our development materials, including some of our undisclosed character design concept drafts during character production. We are very sorry for this.
So, we made a decision that went against the past - rather than covering it up, it would be better to openly disclose it.
The "Virtual Idol (tentative name)" camp originally chose the idol camp because many students in the production team have a longing for idol culture. They believe that a group of positive and optimistic idols who convey love and dreams through hard-working performances are the ideal Something that brings strength to people.
Therefore, we hit it off internally and decided to start a new project: In this dreamy combination, there is a lead singer who wants to ignite everyone's enthusiasm with his singing, a performer who is born to be the focus of the stage, and a creator who is emotionally delicate and talented.
We are working hard on the planning of this new camp. After completing the final designs of the three idols, we plan to introduce them to you by building real virtual idols.
At that time, the little idols will personally participate in the live broadcast of Zero Zone Zero, and we will also launch more related projects such as character songs around them. We are confident that the little idols will be in the best condition to welcome everyone.
"Sons of Calydon" camp The content related to the new camp "Sons of Calydon" that was leaked this time was partly an attempt by the production team during the character design exploration process, and some of the content has now been abandoned. But what we want to tell you more is that some of the characters of "Sons of Calydon" will be available to you as soon as possible in the preview live broadcast of the public beta. We have also prepared many surprises by then. Ropesmiths, please be sure to pay attention to our subsequent official live broadcast. information (please allow us to make an inappropriate advertisement here).
Whether it is the "Sons of Calydon" or the "Virtual Idol" camp, they are content that everyone on the project team has devoted their enthusiasm and inspiration to, spent a lot of effort on, and are still creating. At this moment, the project team is still working hard to modify the areas where everyone has reported poor experience, and is also producing more fresh and interesting content. In fact, what we also want to say is that it will take a certain amount of time before the virtual idol camp is fully completed. time. In our opinion, compared to industrialization, the Zero Zone Project Team hopes to produce more exquisite and unique content through hand polishing, even if it takes more time.
It is not our intention to let everyone see our early creation products in advance in this way. It is a pity for us and the rope craftsmen. Finally, in the face of this never-ending struggle, we still have beautiful illusions. The original intention of the production team to create surprises will not change, nor will the purpose of letting rope craftsmen enjoy it. Because we want to believe that the new Ailidu we have built with all our efforts is still standing, and our ropemakers will gather here with great expectations.

Orlando Magic 2024 Off Season Guide
2024 Results
Record: 47-35 (1st in division, 5th in conference)
Playoffs: Defeated by Cleveland 4-3 in the first round
Notable awards/Nominations: Paolo Banchero (All Star), Jamaal Mosley (3rd in Coach of the Year Standings), Jalen Suggs (Votes for MIP and DPOY)
Season Review By most standards, the Orlando over-achieved and impressed in the 2023-2024 season. With most assuming that they would be around .500 and barely in the play ins before the season began, a solid 5th seed run and clear playoff run deep into the last round was above most considered they were capable. Paolo established himself as a clear 1st option while Jalen Suggs showed great improvement in his shooting and decision making. The Magis bench was possibly the biggest surprise of the season as a rare healthy season showed a benefit to depth.
Still, some things were disappointing in the season. Marcelle Fultz never really healed right or maybe at all and showed he still cannot provide spacing from the 3pt line. Franz, though he was able to score other ways, seen a drop I'm his 3pt% in what was considered a regression season. Cole Anthony, having started the season as a 6MOY candidate, ended the season mediocre at best and the team as a whole cooled down after a very hot start to the season.
All of these things considered, this season was considered a success. However, there were some clear holes shown to the front office that should help the magic, along with internal growth, continue to grow into a deep playoff team for years to come.
Cap Situation The Magic go into the Off Season with some of the highest cap space possibilities in the league. With 25m of free cap if they keep all players with options/free agency looming and a whopping 65m if they waive everyone for max space, the Magic could certainly be a major player in the off season. With very few big name stars to sign, this could be through facilitating a trade, or simply small moves betting on eternal growth. They have 11 players on contract (3 with non-guaranteed or club options) and sub par performances by some FAs such as Fultz and Harris. The magic are almost guaranteed to see some new faces, whether big names or small improvements.
Team Need While the Magic’s shooting woes were the elephant in the room, they were 14th in shooting after the all star break, which seemed like an upward trajectory for a young, growing team. Still, shooting and scoring should be a focus for any moves the Front Office might be looking at doing. Besides shooting, playmaking outside of Paolo is lacking and the depth at point guard is a big need. Thought the Magic had decent bigs this year, inside rebounding and overall defense outside of JI and WCJ is also a need. Outside of that, general vet presence in the young core could help the continual nominal growth of the young core.
Free Agent Targets With all this money, surely they will sign a big name right? Of course there are always big names that they could throw money at, but let's be real, LeBron isn't coming to Orlando (and is even recorded saying he'd rather retire). Paul George and Klay Thompson have been mentioned as some big fish, but the fact that these players would demand a big contract and do not fit the Magic's timeline makes these imperfect if not unlikely targets. Names like OG and Siakim are questionable fits with the looking stardom of Paolo and maybe Franz. Yet there are still some options.
Some of the bigger name options that are better fits are still questionable in other ways. While D'Angelo Russell seems perfect on paper, the Front office has made it obvious they are growing a culture here and Dlo certainly does not scream culture guy. Likewise, some names Like Beasley, who do what the Magic need though they aren't big names, just don't seem to fit the Magic high character requirements.
Now that we have the unlikely options out of the way, let's talk about more realistic options. Players like Malik Monk, Luke Kennard and Buddy Hield, while not a fancy, high dollar option, fit a clear need for Orlando and would be a more likely option. Other shooting options such as Gary Trent Jr and Cadwell-Pope could really help bolster the shooting woes of the magic. For the playmaking, Tyus Jones and Kyle Lowry (don't kill me magic fans) could add to the back court depth. IHart, Claxton (at least start a bidding war) and Jonas V could both be a benefit to the need of rebounding and depth at big men. A few more names that could be mentioned are Bruce Brown, Alec Burks, Monte Morris, De'Anthony Melton, Lonnie Walker. Really any names that can shoot, distribute the ball, or rebound while not having questionable locker room issues.
As for looming free agents, the Magic are likely to exercise the Team Option on Moe Wagner after a great year. Joe Ingles is questionable, but he was mostly a player coach and seemed to be a huge help to Mosely. They could look to re-sign players like Fultz and Gary Harris, but that would most likely come on a team friendly discount as neither were extremely impressive.
it should be noted that any signings or trades should heavily consider future finances. Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs will need an extension or new contract by next year and then Paolo the year after. This could result in max or close to max contracts for both Paolo and Franz and a decent sized contract (~20m) contract for Jalen. This should be considered in any future moves the magic make.
Trade Targets Everyone would like to think they have a shot at the big names, but for a team with the space the magic have and all future picks plus an extra few in their chamber, magic are sure to be connected to most trade rumors as the off season progresses. Names like Booker, Mitchell, and Trae will likely have the magic name in every headline. Though these are possibilities, with Paolo as the current future, none of these seem like good fits or likely to come to a considerably small market like Orlando.
Some not as big but still high caliber players that could be traded include Garland, Dejounte Murray, and Simons (yall know I feel). All have been rumored to move, fit a need while not needing the ball in their hand, and are obtainable targets. Some names that COULD be available but probably shouldn't be considered are Ingram, MPJ, Derozen, Bridges. These players look good on paper, but would be very questionable fits next to the current young core.
Some other less sexy, but still noteworthy names are Jarrett Allen, Alex Caruso, Marcus Smart, and any other smaller named guards and shooters or bigs who might be available. There aren't many limits to what the Magic COULD do, but there is a pretty sizable list as to what they SHOULDN'T do.
Draft Targets Picks: 18th and 47th in the NBA draft
With an already very young roster and two rookies drafted last year (one who mostly played in the Gleague), it seems unlikely that the Magic want to add MORE young players from a draft that lacks in truly game changing players. It feels like any trade the Magic might complete would include one if not both of these picks. Still, with looming contract extensions for rookies and some clear needs to fill, they could look to do so with cheaper future options.
If they do not trade the pick, the magic could look for the biggest upside swing with the 18th pick. Some names that could be interesting at this spot are Tristan Da Silva, DaRon Holmes, Kel’El Ware, Yves Missi, Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain. These players all fill a need the team has while keeping future cap flexibility.
Summary The truth is, the Magic have pretty much all options available and the cap space to make those options a reality. Their needs are clear, their options are vast, and their trajectory is rising. The Magic are in a great spot to make a huge leap this year, but what they do in the off season could make or break how far the team goes this year.

The Avengers, a team of Super Heroes who work intergalactically to fight crime, injustice, and anything else that may threaten peace. Lead commonly by Captain America. These people were a weird crowd... They're used to seeing a thing or two, but this? This is pretty new even for them! A new avenger recruit... but unorthodoxly recruited... more like drafted.
What does that mean? Well somehow some way I had been caught up in an incident, one to put someone far less skilled and powerful into the body of a competent soldier. Destroy them from the inside. Who had done it? Maybe it was Hydra, maybe seeking a bit of mischief and trickery it was Loki, perhaps it was the mad Titan... somehow. There was no real way of knowing, but what the Avengers and SHIELD did know... this anomaly and incidental hero had to be monitored closely... a no name like this could be someone very untrustworthy. Who could say.
Yes, so this is an odd plot. Basically, my character somehow ends up in the body of another Avenger... well I say Avenger but I really mean... Anyone in the Marvel universe. Doesn't have to be the MCU. Can be comics, games, earth's mightiest heroes, anything! I would end up in one of their bodies. So this can range from someone well known like Black Widow or She-Hulk to villains like Madame Hydra or Mystique. Hell it can be very obscure ones like Proxima Midnight, Maria Hill, Lady Sif. Another thing to worry about is... is my character really a good guy? They could work for Hydra or another evil faction. Or maybe they're just someone who got caught up in all of this! It all can depend on what we want!
Now who do you play? Well if you wanna play an OC that is fine, could play a shield operative or something of that sort. You could also play one of the avengers. Yeah that's a long shot for sure, not many people wanting to actually go along and play somethin like that. What's even less likely is playing GM, but it is an option. Now you could come up with something else you like... I wouldn't mind hearing it out, but I for sure want to do my plot. I may be willing to budge a bit on the story, like it can be with a different group or have the same general idea but with some new twists, but I would like to keep the same general idea, Yes this has to be said.
Now we have other things to discuss, will range from basic stuff to world building. The worldbuilding will include stuff like: How long have the avengers been a thing if we pick the Avengers? Who are the other team members? What notable events have happened? (Like has civil war happened yet? What about secret wars? Have they even been to space?) And how do we want this to progress? I have some ideas myself but would love to hear from you! And that's the main thing! Aside from the general idea of the plot, I'm pretty darn flexible! So let's hope we can come together and find something a bit... fun in this.
With that I do believe I am done with the preliminary explanations, sorry the story prompt bit was so short... the story really depends on who we choose for the body, the main villain for my character, who you wanna play... so many things to decide! And I think that's the fun part, right? So what do you say? Will you join me?

The following journal entries were written by Sonja Dorfmann, sister of the perpetrator in the days leading up to her running away from home and the murder of her parents and Paula Forst.
June 13, 2021
School is out for the summer! That means I have to endure six weeks at home with my awful family. On the plus side, I have enough time to work on my painting. It's something that I've been thinking about for most of the school year and I can't wait to turn it in to the art contest.
June 17, 2021
Lately, my older brother, Benedikt has been acting even more harsh towards me. He has always been such a bully towards me. And whenever he gets mad, he would either blame me for Mom leaving us when we were younger or take his anger out on me or anyone else for whatever problem he had going on. Sometimes I wish I could live with my older sister, Liesa and her girlfriend in America so that I wouldn't have to worry about everything.
June 18, 2021
I think my painting is nearly done. It describes a young girl surrounded by beautiful red flowers and a glass dome that are protecting her from the monsters that are trying to take her back. To me, I think the monsters represent my father through his drinking alcohol and hitting me when he gets drunk and my brother through berating me and also hitting me when he doesn't get what he wants. Once I finish painting this, I'll make sure to mail my painting and prove them wrong.
June 20, 2021
My older brother is a horrible person and an asshole. He not only looked through my journal, but he destroyed my painting. After that, he lied saying some animal broke into the house and tore it apart. But I know what really happened. So that evening, I sneaked into his room and went through his notebook. What I saw haunted me and even gave me nightmares. On every page, my brother wanted to kill me. But he didn't just want to kill me, he wanted to kill our parents, his former classmates, and a girl named Paula Forst.
I need to get out of here before he kills me first. But how? Then it came to me. I have to run away from home and live with Tante Irma. She's my mom's sister and she would be willing to take me in.
June 26, 2021
It's been a few days since I left home. I'm now staying with my aunt, Irma. When I first arrived, she gave me a hug saying how happy she was that I left this hellhole of a home I grew up in behind. She then told me that I can stay here for a few days. I opted to stay in the guest room as my two cousins were already asleep and they already have their own rooms. Now I'm looking forward to calling mom and telling her that I'm staying with Tante Irma. I hope she'll be relieved to know about this.
June 27, 2021
I tried calling Mom yesterday, but she hasn't picked up the phone. Maybe she's working an overtime shift at her new job in the hospital? I mused. But it wouldn't make sense. After all, the hospital would never allow Mom to take the night shift or even an overtime shift for that matter. I just hope she's okay.
July 2, 2021
Mom. She's dead. The police came to our house to tell me and Tante Irma the horrible news of what happened. Two adolescent boys entered the house where my dad and brother lived and found their dead bodies covered in bags. They then called the police who entered the backyard and found the bodies of my parents and Paula, the girl whose name I saw in the notebook. Not only that, but they arrested the one responsible for the murders: my own brother Benedikt.
I couldn't believe it.
My brother who treated me like trash is a murderer. And my parents are gone.
November 16, 2021
It's been four months since I last wrote in this journal. I just didn't have the time to do so what with the trial for the murder of my parents and going back to school. After the deaths of my parents, Tante Irma told me that I can stay with her for as long as I wanted. I gave her a big hug with tears streaming down my cheeks and said, "Thank you." I've been attending therapy and I still have nightmares about what happened.
But I'm getting better. Bit by little bit. I only hope to be a therapist so that I can help children like me who are going through terrible situations at home so that way they won't do the same horrible things my brother did.

Another day more bull shit
We never have any baggers anymore; she has our office staff being the baggers. Which means that they stand at Register 4 talking all day as the cashiers do everything besides push the carts out. I asked her today where her baggers were when I had not seen any in 2 hours "oh Tom and Jane are bagging/running the front/doing go backs etc etc both are CSS BOTH offered promotion to team leader today. Both are hard workers and deserve it, but still it seems stupid we cant seem to schedule our actaul baggers and end up having 5 registers with 2 css running around like chickens whose heads have been cut off.
I got screamed at yesterday by asshole customer who complained afterwards, today I was on register and the bags were stuck together fighting the bags longer then it took to bag the damn order of course the css/team leader were clear across the store chatting. Finally I yanked them off and doing so some fell on the ground where I didnt notice, replaced with a new stack which worked fine.
Some had hit the floor by where my stool was. I didnt notice right away because was just trying to get customers out the door we had no help and were getting backed up. Finally when I had a break I looked down and noticed it I had been stepping on the bags for about 1-1 and a half others and thought it has to be a sanitary issue and the bags are no good. I tossed what had hit the ground in my can.
About 90 minutes later the custodian came over and put them in his garbage. As he walked away the manager stopped him, yanked the bags out of his garbage can opened them up and asked where they came from then came over demanding "why are we wasting bags" me: they have been stepped ON, thats a sanitary issue and have been walked on. Boss: "well we can spray them in our cleaning chemicals and use them anyway" I am sorry but thats disgusting, you want to spray customers bags with chemicals, after they have been stepped and walked on and THEN put their food in them?.
Threatened me with a write up if it happens again, she opened all the bags which granted were around 20 stuck together in a small thing (I honestly didnt care when I gave up on the stuck together shit pile) handed them to another cashier to use them after being on the floor, walked, stepped on PUT in the cashiers garbage can and then the custodians garbage filled container to put food in without "sanitizing" the bag with chemicals.
That cant be sanitary, and in fact it makes me sick even thinking about it.

https://forms.gle/aEb79tY7NGuGojro9
[HIRING] Graphic Designer for Logo Design - Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice Brand
Hi everyone!
I'm looking to hire a talented graphic designer to create a logo for our new fresh squeezed juice brand. We're on a mission to provide a fresher, better tasting, and better quality option. Our brand aims to evoke feelings of freshness, health, and sunshine with every sip.
Some details reserved until we've reached an agreement on the project:
Project Overview:

• Brand Name: TBS (to be shared)
• Product: Fresh squeezed orange juice
• Brand Values: Freshness, Premium Qaulity, Vitality
• Target Audience: Health-conscious individuals, families, fitness enthusiasts, and consumers who prefer fresh, natural products.

Design Requirements:

• Style: Modern, clean, and friendly. Avoid overly complex designs.
• Colors: Bright and vibrant colors like orange, yellow, and green.
• Typography: Clean and legible fonts that are approachable and contemporary.
• Iconography: Consider elements like a hand squeezing an orange, juice droplets, or sun imagery to convey the "fresh squeezed" concept.
• Versatility: The logo should be scalable and work well in both color and black-and-white formats for labels, bottles, ads, and digital platforms.
• The Secret word is Green Beans

Deliverables:

• Primary logo (full color)
• Black and white version
• Logo variations (icon-only, wordmark)
• Color palette and typography guidelines

Budget: $200 - $500
Deadline: ASAP (open to your timeline)
To Apply:
Please fill out the form here >>> Form to Apply
Plan to submit:

• A link to your portfolio or previous logo designs
• Your estimated cost for the project
• Any initial thoughts or ideas for the logo design
• The secret word

We're excited to see your creativity and look forward to finding the perfect logo for Supreme Squeeze! Thank you!

So I got a cool story idea from the book I read, and here it is. I have it all pretty much figured so just looking for advice!
Title: Sleepover
A high school girls track team has a sleepover party after winning the state championship. The main character is a 15-16 year old girl named Ruby. The party is at her friend Blaine’s house. Suddenly, a girl begins acting strange and drugged, and she disappears. Everyone freaks of course, but can’t get a hold of the authorities because the cell signal has been intercepted and the car stolen. Alone, they try to make a plan and figure out what the heck is going on. More people disappear, romance is sparked, but all the while a subplot brews. Parker, Ruby‘s 14 year old brother, has found himself with the wrong crowd, and is selling illegal drugs and bootleg alcohol to high schoolers. A group of college students from the local university have recruited him as an inside man, basically. They need money to pay off their loans and other debts, and run a drug business and prostitution ring. The story also follows Parker through his rough year and his recruitment. Heath, the leader, along with Parker, are staking out the house, taking the girls and spiking the drinks.
The romance aspect of the story is between Ruby and a girl named Camilla, who has secretly had a crush on Ruby. They comfort each other through the night, and it develops into something more. I imagine this as a side plot, just for fun. I’ve never written a WLW love story though, so I would like tips.
PLOT TWIST:
Coming back from the restroom, Ruby sees her friend, Blaine, being taken. She looks at the attacker, and sees her brother. Devastated, she realised that she told her brother everything when he asked. Where the party was, when, who was coming. She calls everyone in, and they manage to fight him off and he flees. While everyone worries, Ruby runs out of the house to look for Parker. She finds him injured, shot by Heath, and bleeding out on the ground in a nearby alley. She is with him for his final moments, and he tells her everything. Enraged at the situation and mourning her brother, she looks where Parker said and finds Heath, the gang leader. She confronts him and eventually shoots him in the leg with his own gun. Ruby calls the police using his phone, and directs them to Blaine‘s house and Heath‘s hideout. They find most of the captured girls, and arrest the injured Heath. She returns to the house, and reunites with Camilla. However, Blaine was never found. Maybe that’s a story for another day…

for a pathetic 30 usd per share !! show me the REAL PRICE !!
you guys can remember that partial shares were sold for over 2500 usd each in darkpool?
they buy the shares in darkpool and sell them in lit exchanges.
the loss they realize is heavy but still nothing compared to the REAL losses..
only that you know what they were ready to pay back then!!
now that GME is over 30 i hope my brothers and sisters here DIAMOND HAND and double down !!
the game is still not over. at best team GME shareholder is now in lead .
a group of sophisticated people. not APES like they love to call us . they are the apes for thinking we are stupid enough to fall for their stupid article sh*tting about the company.
if your shocked about today... next week 240.000 contracts are ripe and if the holder are smart, they FORCE buy those shares and the market maker needs to deliver 24.000.000 shares..
i want to quote MR thomas peterffy( founder of ibkr) : if the share holder keep called the shares, the price would be in the THOUSANDS !!! so he KNEW those calls were sold UNHEDGED .
that was 3 years ago. so do not let them out for CHEAP.
there will NEVER be another chance like this again!!
thats why i bought today another 500 shares( at 28.6). i will do it again when the price is higher. if all shareholders buy the high and NOT wait for a dip, there wont be a dip because you buy away the shares away which the shorts need . THEY NEED IT DESPERATELY. Help fuel the rocket ship guys. make the moves even more violent.
it is not retail investors against big institutions.. its BIG INSTITUTIONS & RETAIL & RC & DFV against a small group of hedgefcks and kenny G
todays price action was a first sign of weakness of the hedgefunds betting against GME. because the smart ones leaving the sinking ship knowing next week the stupid ones need to hold the bag .

Posting to help myself process the climb and provide thoughts for others thinking about Denali unguided on minimal experience. Open to thoughts and critique from people who know what they're doing. I'm obliged to thank all those who provided their thoughts and guidance to me on this subreddit a year ago. Also, to the guidance from Steve House and the other guy in their YouTube Denali video.
TLDR: Did not summit, learned lots.
It was a great idea... We trained pretty hard in the flatlands... We bought lots of good gear... and some not so good..... We were optimistic.....And realistic, we thought....
But... man, oh man. Denali is BIG, Alaska is BIG. And Talkeetna felt very small after 24 hours.
First alert was assembling our food. We drop shipped almost all the food to our hotel in Anchorage. We got in about 9pm, got everything from the desk and walked over to Wal Mart for the rest. Started packing food into daily rations about 10pm. We thought that would take 30 minutes. Try close to four hours, confusion, second guessing ourselves and each other on quantities, days, recipes. Got to sleep much later than we thought. We both worried that we'd be tired, maybe too tired for when we were dropped off on the glacier the next afternoon. HAH!!
Met Gary the shuttle driver the next morning. Watch some other TRs on YouTube and you'll get to know Gary, friendly, outgoing with good info about Talkeetna. We arrive on time, go through check in and somehow we got bumped out of our Ranger meeting. Come back later and we'll still have time to get to our flight. Did I mention it's overcast with light rain? Go through the ranger meeting, head over to TAT to find that we're 76th and 77th on the waitlist with. "Come back tomorrow at 8am for an update." Two guys we met on the shuttle actually make the plane that day because they understood the process with TAT and were all set to go after the Ranger meeting. Guy at TAT checks us in and takes our $$. No other info is offered or asked for. We're aware we need sleds and wands but we guess they just go on the plane with us.
We find the TAT climbing hostel and are grateful to find two bunks in the same room. My buddy is, not germophobic, but he is right up to that line. We eat at a restaurant that night, figuring, hey, 7 climbers per flight, 11 flights, mid afternoon tomorrow right? We check in at TAT at 8am, they're making waffles and have actually great coffee. But they have no idea if there'll be any flights today. Wander back and forth from the hostel, through town to the airfield. This is day 2 of 16 days we've given ourselves to go up. At day 16, no matter where we are, we go down.
Day 3, repeat day 2 but now we're using the hostel kitchen. I'm cool with the level of hygiene because this is only a level or two beyond how I grew up, when things got chaotic. I'm impressed with my buddy's fortitude, and grateful because I don't want to pay for food when it's already been bought. We hear good news that afternoon about the weather. Buddy suggests we get an AirBnB for this night to get a good nights sleep and clean shower before we likely fly out the next day.
Day 4, the weather starts to clear and now there's real activity at the airfield. My buddy, who doesn't sit still well, joins a group of workers at the airfield digging a trench. I sit on the deck, breathing deeply and hoping we can get out today. Then we get word we're up soon. Then I ask, hey what about sleds and wands? Find out climbers should get this arranged right after check in and we scramble around getting this set up. I grab a sled without looking it over well. As we and our gear are being driven over, I see this sled has some serious cracks and swap for a better one 10 minutes before we fly out.
The flight up is amazing. The transition on the glacier is hectic, a short controversy about which mountain can belongs to who and we get off the landing strip quick. We find a spot to set our tent a fair ways up the hill and get to work melting water for dinner and the next day. Take my skis out in order to prep for tomorrow and find the front straps of my skins have torn and are irreparable. I walk around camp, find a guy who's leaving who sells me his skins for $50. Can't believe how lucky I am. I walk around and get pictures, bury, wand and gps tag our cache. I'm blown away, I'm alive in a way I've only experienced a few other times in my life. I'm excited to get going in the wee hours of day 5. Plenty of days left, right?
Get up and going on time. Feels so good to be hauling the sled, carrying the pack. Going down is helpful. Going on flat and climbing isn't bad. I am working harder than my buddy(MB) from here on. He's 20 years younger and places top 5 in regional ultras, I'm a caboose guy at these. Anyhow, I feel like I'm holding him up, like he's disappointed in our pace. We arrive at 8K camp 8 hours later. MB points out that successful groups do this in 6hrs. I'm reply I'm working at a pace that I believe gets me to 14K in good shape, and what else did you want to do today? Ends fine, we each accept where the other one's at. Set up camp, Denali Pizza (simple and awesome) for dinner. Melt water, pull out the gear, food we'll cache at about 9.5K tomorrow. Good day, amazing as clouds lift a bit and we see more terrain.
Day 6, realize we're not eating 2 bagels each per day. We've over planned with bagels and several other foods. Too much weight but unsure about how to move things around. Lighter packs, lighter sleds and the first real climb. We do good work, talk a bit to teams coming down, most not having summitted. Bury, wand and GPS tag our cache. Tie empty sleds to our packs and head down. When we get to the real down hill, it's trashy, flat light, and I'll own this: I was rattled being off balance with a bit more weight and bulk going down. Got in my head and took some time to descend. MB frustrated or just me in my head? Got back down, did camp work, napped, ate dinner.
Day 7, push up to 11K. Snow picking up and visibility still good. I'm slower than MB again, and even though this is a fact we're both well aware of since we talked about Denali 3 years ago, it's in my head and won't leave that I'm holding us back. We start up the first real climb into 11 camp. Wind blown snow is making wands hard to see, we're using his Garmin to verify the route. The skins I bought at the airfield don't cover the width of my skis at the tips and tails. As we're taking an aggressive elevation gain on switchbacks, I'm slipping more and more with less skin to snow contact. We crest the rise and hike through the camp to find a spot at the uphill end. We begin setting up camp. I mention looking forward to having a kitchen tent now that we'll be in the same place for 3 days. MB basically says, go ahead but I don't think we need that and I won't be part of digging it out or setting it up. I get started probing an area, setting the outline of the dig and then realize this will take me hours and give up. Dinner, melt water, discuss tomorrow's back hauling. I propose we boot down from 11 camp and put skis on at the base of the climb and MB seems okay with it.
Day 8, wake up to heavy snow. Dig out our enclosure and have breakfast. Put more food we didn't eat into the "carry forward bag" which is getting heavier by the meal. Dig out again, and again, and again. Mid-afternoon we start getting weather reports through garmin in-reach texts with a guy back home and from other teams and guides. Consensus in 6 more days of this but up to 48" per day. I run the math: 8+6=14. Hmmm: 16-14=2. Then I run the flights per day math and number of teams we've seen descending, number of teams likely to descend with this forecast. My math says we could be stuck here 6 days and at the airfield for that or more. All for 2 more possible days of ascent. MB disagrees and wants to wait it out. We walk through various scenarios and I hold firm. MB agrees we'll go down because we both agreed if one wanted to go down for any reason, that was that. MB is a guy who holds to his word in this and all aspects of life.
We pack up. Fast...and sloppy. We want to fly out tomorrow. I'm not excited anymore, I'm anxious and want off Denali. Not be in a tent for two weeks in snow. We boot down the hill below 11 camp, put on skis and find our cache at 9.5, combine stuff. I get my stuff packed well. We start down. The track is blown in and we are navigating entirely by Garmin, using the standard route. Not reversing our climb up, which followed the visible track and wands. Are we actually on safe snow? We're both thinking that question but not saying it out loud. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I'm in front setting the track so MB's sled has something to ride in. If he's in front, his sled tips over. He's calling directions to me for the route, "Left...more left...rightish... too far."
We head down the last hill into 8 camp. I allow my sled to be in front of me and steer it like reins on a horse. Snow plow, keep it slow and things are moving along fine for me. MB wipes out over and over. Repacks his sled and gets down the last 200 yards well. We ski right through 8 camp. Someone asks if we're headed down and then says that if we call in to the airfield from there, we're already in line. True or not, we're finishing this in one push. Visibility is still about 15 feet but now we have a track to follow. We're both cautious with the downs. Don't know if we need to let it rip to go up again or if there's a corner we need to be slow for. We get to the airfield in 9.5 hours. Dig up our cache and consolidate our gear.
MB decides he'd rather not cowboy camp with the fly and we set up the tent and go to sleep. Up at the appointed hour and get in the flight queue. The guy says he'll give us plenty of notice so we can take down our tent, IF we fly out today. I am now watching every cloud for signs of building or diminishing. A few planes fly in, circle and leave. We're napping on and off.
Then I hear the guy yelling, "that's your plane". It's being loaded. We're 200 yards away in our fully set up tent, pads and bags. FUCK, FUCK, FUCK. I go down and ask "what happened?" "I don't know, two guys snaked your flight." Talk a bit more about other stuff, what he's been reading, we're into some similar literature. He then guarantees we'll be on the next flight that comes in, whether today or tomorrow. I'm listening for airplanes full on now, just want to get down and be off the mountain.
We do get on a flight that day, get a hotel and move flights and shuttle to fly out of Anchorage tomorrow. I walk down by the river and call my wife. "Honey, this will sound weird, I need you to tell me I'm really off the mountain and not dreaming." This helps a lot.
We make all our connections and fly out, get back home the next day. If you got this far, thanks, I guess. It's cathartic to write all this down. I replay this trip or parts of it every couple weeks even now. MB and I did our repair work and still call, text, hang out, run together when I'm in town. I do not regret going one bit, yet not getting further up still hits me hard. My fears and reaction to niggling discomforts on the mountain tell me I'm weak.
If I did it again:

1. No skis on Denali for me. I'm a competent skier and can get down serious stuff out west without embarrassing myself. A pack and a sled skiing down through crud with low visibility? Snow shoes all...the...way.
   
2. 4 people, not two. Enough guys to set up a kitchen tent, split camp duties into smaller tasks. I need a place to spread out, talk, cook and eat in a comfortable position.
   

2A. Allow way more time, a month total.

1. Better conversations about pace and relative speed well before the trip.
   
2. We did ropes work, simulated crevasse rescue, camped out in -10F. More time winter camping and skinning in the woods together.
   
3. MB and I climbed Mt Adams. We summitted Rainier together unguided in 8/2022. Took a 3 day custom guided mountaineering class in 12/2021 to learn skills. Didn't go above 7K in the class. Handled our shit well for two days. Not enough time to really know what we're in for physically and work through team frictions about pace, leisure time, camp life. Maybe we could have climbed Rainier and Baker on the same trip? Maybe spend several days at Camp Muir and summit twice? Climb Rainier early season?
   
4. Guided if I try again? Maybe.
   

I read this back and the inner critic says, "I'm a whiny bitch", just like when I am thinking about it every couple weeks. If I go back it can't be about that, not trying to prove that voice wrong. If I go back...it'll be because of that alive feeling I got on the airfield glacier, to have it again, to avail myself of a second chance to live a dream.
Thanks for reading all this. Part confessional, part TR.
I feel better.

DANCING WITH THE STARS: THE PROS' MOST ICONIC QUOTES ✨

Day	Pro Dancer	Quote
1	Karina Smirnoff	"Is there any reason why your head looks like a pigeon?"
2	Valentin Chmerkovskiy	"Bro, you're one big wrong already."
3	Witney Carson	"What do you need, a snack?"
4	Anna Trebunskaya	"Some people say I'm a tough teacher. And I am."
5	Brandon Armstrong	"I was born in '94..."
6	Cheryl Burke	"So the name of the song is 'Call Me Irresponsible', remind you of anybody? I think it's perfect for you!"
7	Edyta Śliwińska	"I'm wearing so much clothes that I got tangled in it!"
8	Artem Chigvintsev	"Fine! I watched 'Fifty Shades of Grey'!"
9	Corky Ballas	"Now we're doing the Mambo which originated in the '40s!"...
10	Chelsie Hightower	"South America speaks Spanish?"
11	Derek Hough	"I'm rough, I'm tough, I'm Derek Hough."
12	Charlotte Jørgensen	"Get your heel up on your back foot, or I'll kill you."
13	Allison Holker	"Team Rallison!!!"
14	Julianne Hough	"I felt like you just had to phone it in so you could get back with Meryl."
15	Alec Mazo	"Josie is deceptively unfit."
16	Alan Bersten	"It's a little shaky in here!"
17	Jenna Johnson	"ADAM! WE GOTTA QUICKSTEP!!!"
18	Ashly DelGrosso-Costa	"It needs to be equal teamwork, and I can't play a tug-of-war anymore."
19	Gleb Savchenko	"You look like a dancer when you're not moving."
20	Kym Johnson-Herjavec	"I should never have made us try that stupid lift..."
21	Maksim Chmerkovskiy	"With all due respect, this is my show, I help make it what it is."
22	Lacey Schwimmer	"STEVE!!! How am I supposed to be in love with you if you keep farting all the time?!?!"
23	Mark Ballas	“And you said habede habeduh de de. Daba da dip bah da be. That’s what you said when I asked you."
24	Lindsay Arnold	"That salsa will get ya-every time!"
25	Louis Van Amstel	"I was jealous of Mark on Season 5, but I got the girl now!"
26	Koko Iwasaki	"You're a real Jersey party boy, and I need you to be a suave English gentleman for Bond Night."
27	Keo Motsepe	"If Len gives a 10, I'm gonna run down and kiss him!"
28	Peta Murgatroyd	Her scream after finding out that she and Tommy Chong had made the semi-finals.
29	Pasha Pashkov	"You don't know who I am, but I've been praying I get you!"
30	Sasha Farber	"If you wanna dance, you know it would be my honour. My main worrybis your health."
31	Jonathan Roberts	"Let's take a commercial break."
32	Daniella Karagach	"YEAH! OH SHIT!!!"
33	Dmitry Chaplin	"I feel like I'm cheating on Jewel with another partner."
34	Sharna Burgess	"I got to do the Backstreet Boys' move next to a Backstreet Boy, and I think it's kinda awesome!"
35	Tristan MacManus
36	Britt Stewart
37	Rylee Arnold
38	Tony Dovolani
39	Emma Slater

Welcome to DANCING WITH THE STARS: THE PROS' MOST ICONIC QUOTES ✨

A huge thank you to the lovely u/invader_holly who suggested the idea, and that I run this game here! 💕
How does it work?
Each day, I'll reshare this board. With each day is a new pro. Similarly to past games I've done like Dances of the Seasons, The Dancing with the Stars Alphabet, Favourite Dances Per Style, and The Pros' Most Memorable Dances, for every day, you can all comment a response. This time, the response would be a quote from the respective pro for that day! As with previous games, the comment with the most upvotes wins. At the end, I'll put together a video compilation together!
MAKE SURE THAT IF YOU WANT TO SUGGEST NUMEROUS QUOTES, DO THEM EACH IN A SEPERATE COMMENT. THE COMMENT WITH THE MOST UPVOTES WINS AND IS ADDED TO THE BOARD. IF POSSIBLE, PLEASE TRY AND ADD WHEN THE PRO SAYS THE QUOTE (SO I CAN FIND THE CLIP TO ADD TO THE VIDEO COMPILATION).
Yesterday's round was won by u/Alarming-Butterfly90 's suggestion!

DAY 35: TRISTAN MACMANUS

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jack. O Allan. I am an EFL tutor with twelve years of experience in the academic field. I have been assisting students in delivering assignments on time, ensuring the highest grades possible, and maintaining a track record while observing strict adherence to instructions and formatting guidelines.
In my line of work, I have collaborated with notable writing and assistance service providers such as Uvocorp, Writerbay, CourseHero, 4Writers, Chegg, Upwork, and Academia-Research, and, therefore, I confidently guarantee the quality of my work. Additionally, I help scholars check their projects through Copyscape and Turnitin, and to further ensure the authenticity of my work, every submission I make comes with a Plagiarism Report.
Hiring me is very simple and friendly. The step-by-step procedure is as follows:
Please send me an email at writers4hiretoday@gmail.com
Cut a deal with me ($15 per APA page)
Please send all the instructions and the deadline to my email.
Please sit back and relax as I do the job and deliver
Please review my work (Top-notch)
Pay after reviewing and ensuring it meets your standards and expectations.
Close the deal with a thank-you note and contact me again whenever you need more help : )
Feel free to contact me regarding academic papers such as essays, discussions, assignments, and homework. I also take over full classes and help with timed exams and quizzes.
I promise full confidentiality in all projects I undertake. My variable rates start at $15 per page. The price is the best. Trust me; this is the most customer-friendly service in the market because writing companies will charge you thrice the amount. My statement is evidence-based.
You may also want to follow my team and I.
Thank you for your time.

In today's digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for any business, regardless of size or industry. Your website acts as your digital storefront, a platform to connect with customers, showcase your products and services, and establish your brand identity. But before you can build a website, you need a foundation – a domain name.

What is a Domain Name?

Think of a domain name as your unique address on the internet. It's the name people type into their web browser to access your website. Just like a physical address helps customers find your brick-and-mortar store, a domain name helps potential customers find your online presence.

Why Buy a Domain Name with IM Solutions?

At IM Solutions, we understand the importance of a strong online foundation. That's why we offer a comprehensive domain registration service, making it easy for you to secure the perfect domain name for your business. Here's why you should consider buying your domain name with IM Solutions:

Expertise and Guidance: Choosing the right domain name is a crucial step. Our team of experts can guide you through the process, helping you select a name that is relevant, memorable, and easy to type.
Variety of Options: We offer a wide range of top-level domains (TLDs) to choose from, including the popular .com, .org, and .net. Additionally, we can help you explore country-specific TLDs like .eg for Egypt, allowing you to target a specific audience.
Affordability: We offer competitive pricing on domain registration, ensuring you get the best value for your investment.
Seamless Integration: We can seamlessly integrate your domain name registration with our web hosting services, providing a one-stop shop for all your website needs.
Ongoing Support: Our team is available to answer any questions you may have throughout the process and beyond.
What to Consider When Buying a Domain Name

Here are some key factors to keep in mind when selecting a domain name:

Relevance: Choose a name that is relevant to your business and reflects your brand.
Memorable: Make it easy for people to remember your domain name.
Keywords: Consider incorporating relevant keywords into your domain name to improve search engine optimization (SEO).
Length: Keep your domain name concise and easy to type.
Availability: Use a domain name availability checker to ensure the name you want is not already registered.
Benefits of Owning Your Domain Name

There are several advantages to owning your domain name, as opposed to using a free subdomain from a web hosting provider. Here are some key benefits:

Professionalism: A custom domain name projects a more professional image for your business.
Brand Control: You have complete control over your domain name and can manage it according to your needs.
Flexibility: You can easily switch web hosting providers without affecting your domain name.
SEO Benefits: Owning your domain name can give you a slight SEO advantage, especially if you incorporate relevant keywords.
Email Addresses: You can create professional email addresses that use your custom domain name (e.g., [email address removed]).
IM Solutions: Your Partner in Building Your Online Presence

At IM Solutions, we are committed to helping businesses succeed online. By providing a comprehensive domain registration service, coupled with our expert advice and support, we aim to be your one-stop shop for building a strong online presence.

Let's work together to find the perfect domain name for your business. Contact IM Solutions today and take the first step towards establishing your brand online!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be dead in the next 24 hours.
Whether that's the Costella family, or whatever this is, I'm not sure.
The police are taking forever, and part of me knows they're either refusing to believe me, or RC got them too.
I'm holed up on our school bus, so I've got nothing better to do.
I want to tell you about my team.
We met in our sophomore year.
Strangers standing outside the club room.
Levi was the freckled brunette who wouldn't stop talking about Game of Thrones.
Sunny, a pretty redhead, told him to shut up.
Tom, a sandy blonde, nodding his head to music corked in his ears.
I just wanted to be part of a club, and get away from my overbearing mother.
I won't say it was a perfect start. Our school was lacking in funding, so anyone could join, which made us more of a Quiz Club. I had some serious anxiety, so I stayed on the sidelines for a while, watching, rather than taking part.
It's not like we actually talked to each other initially. The first few weeks, we played Jeopardy, and attempted to find more members to cement us as an official Academic Decathlon club.
Unfortunately, though, it was just the four of us.
Which made it extremely hard for us to be taken seriously.
According to Google, Academic Decathlon teams were made up of nine members, placed by their GPA.
Our principal laughed at us, but he did let us become official.
Which was out of pity, I assumed.
The club was assembled, and we started meeting up after school.
Sort of.
Sunny barely showed up, and Levi didn't take anything seriously, preferring to spend the time telling us about his weird family turf-war.
Our principal dumped us in a tiny classroom with a resident rat living under the floorboards.
There was barely enough room to move, and the four of us crammed together for three hours was less than appealing.
Still, though, I wanted to be part of a club.
I had grown up with parents who were obsessed with board games, so I was pretty good at general knowledge questions. Our club room was too small for anything else but three desks (Sunny and I shared one) and a whiteboard we had to shove through the door.
But, again, we didn't start as an Academic club.
It was more akin to Story Time Club.
Arriving late on my third day, armed with quiz cards from home, I found Tom and Sunny completely mesmerised by Levi’s storytelling skills, drowned in shadow.
They didn't even turn the lights on.
I strictly remember squeezing next to Sunny, and hearing the words, “But there was so much blood all over the floor, and my Mom told me to go upstairs and hide under the bed…”
Sitting in front of them was Levi, perched on a desk, his legs swinging, a whiteboard marker between his teeth.
Sometimes he'd get up, and illustrate parts of his story.
It sucked that his drawings were all stick people.
I won't go into full details of his life, but Levi grew up as part of a family who had… interesting methods of making a living. I had seen the guy’s father multiple times when we hung out at his place, and, yeah, my friend’s family definitely had Soprano vibes.
Levi’s Draw My Life was nothing to do with the club, but it did bring us closer.
Even if, at that point, I was considering leaving.
But it's not like it was easy to walk away from these guys. It's like finding your soulmates. Levi wasn't the only one with an interesting life. Sunny Lang was an ex kpop trainee, who was kicked out for being too fat, which led her to develop a severe eating disorder, and a hatred for her own body.
Sunny explained her family were originally from Boston, her mother growing up in Korea.
She signed up for an idol agency focusing on creating a new girl group, and had gotten all the way to the final stages, before being kicked for her weight. Sunny told us her story with a smile, though there was a hollowness in her eyes I couldn't ignore. The other girls were judgemental bullies, and the idol diet and brutal regime almost killed her.
Sunny lived in a tiny apartment with 9 girls, who would tear each other apart for a chance to debut. Sunny said all the other girls debuted, and when we (not so patiently) asked for names, she shrugged, admitting she signed an NDA that prevented her spilling the beans.
What she did say, was the K-pop idol is a product, not a person– and are made and moulded into a product.
She had zero interest in throwing her humanity away to become a manufactured doll.
So, one of us was the son of an underground family, and the other was an ex idol.
Tom was an aspiring horror writer with a famous older step-brother.
His story times were usually, That one time I went to the Met Gala.
When it was my turn to reveal my story, I told them the only interesting thing about me.
I could smell when something bad was going to happen.
They laughed, but I was being serious.
When I was a kid, I smelled my mother’s brain tumor.
I remember it smelled like curdled milk.
I asked Mom why her head smelled of mouldy milk, and Mom laughed and said it was her shampoo.
It was actually a grade two tumor growing inside her brain.
Thankfully, the tumour was found quickly and removed.
Growing older, I became sensitive to smell. The little girl choking on the bus smelled of singed wood, and the old man crossing the road stunk of gasoline.
In the fourth grade, my classmate Alex Castor smelled of lemons all morning.
I sat behind him, choking on the stink all the way through class.
Ever since I met him, Alex had always smelled… off.
It was a distinct smell I could never understand, and as the days and months and years went by, that smell morphed into a subtle orangey musk that was so strong I had to cover my mouth and nose. Then, he smelled like lemons.
During Recess, I watched Alex fall off of the jungle gym, straight onto his head.
Alex Castor was dead before the paramedics arrived, my panicked teacher attempting CPR when his brains were leaking out of his ears.
The school claimed it was an accident, but Alex would have been fine if the jungle gym wasn't built on solid concrete.
I told my team members this, and Levi was sceptical.
“You can smell bad things?” He said, his lips curved around his milkshake straw. In the early days, we hung out in the local bar. It's not like we were allowed inside, but Levi could get us in anywhere.
I was squeezed between Tom and Sunny, while Levi took the seat opposite us. I couldn't help noticing our waitress was insisting on free milkshake refills, her frantic eyes glued to Levi.
I had zero idea why. Levi Costella was about as intimidating as a fruit fly.
Wearing a white shirt with a popped collar, a leather jacket thrown over the top, Levi was giving rebellious Harvard student, rather than son of a crime family.
Leaning forward, he raised a brow, clearly not believing me.
“So, you're like a stink psychic?”
I shrugged, sipping my own shake.
“Sure.”
I wasn't planning on telling him the club room smelled off on our first day.
Once we actually started the club, Levi surprised us as the smartest member, and getting to know him further, I came to the realization his family were infamous in our town.
However, his parents hid it well. Lucy and Michael Costella were the owners of a popular ramen store in our town, hiding under the facade of two successful business owners. The Costella’s were an attractive family.
Lucy was a sophisticated brunette with a lipstick smile, Michael, a handsome fluffy haired man who looked like he modelled glasses.
The two were fiercely protective over their youngest son, not so casually reminding us behind grinning smiles, that if anything happened to Levi, we would automatically be involved in the family.
I mean, they did laugh and say, “We’re joking! Look at your little faces!” when Sunny went deathly pale. But there was definitely truth behind their words.
Being Levi’s friend was… challenging at first.
Tom and I were in his room studying for finals, and an alarm went off, flooding Levi’s room in red light.
I had zero idea where it was coming from, but it locked all the doors and windows, forcing the Costella residence into temporary lockdown. Levi didn't seem fazed, casually mentioning his parents were taking care of it.
He had a whiteboard set up in his room, and was standing in front of it, cramming all of our textbook notes into one easily digestible drawing.
Levi wasn't just smart.
He was Ivy League smart, so we had struck gold with him.
His family were questionable, and yes, sometimes I did fear for my life, but as the more time we spent at his house, the Costella household became a second home. We got used to the alarms.
I just brought along ear plugs.
I wish I was writing this post about Levi’s family, and sure, they are a factor in what is going on right now, but I want to preface this by saying the events below involve the 2024 scholastic decathlon final in our town with the school’s listed:
Starbrook High School.
Ratcliffe High School.
Please note, the incident that took place last night was immediately covered up, and all phone footage was destroyed. Our town is mostly out of the way, and does not show up on Google searches.
We also have our own version of the academic decathlon, which is a more town-level competition, due to lacking funds. The four of us were desperate to start competing with our schools.
So, we started taking things a little more seriously.
We got a coach.
Mr Hanes, who was hesitant at first.
In his words, “You will hate me as your coach.”
He started by recruiting more members, announcing, “If you want to be taken seriously as an actual club, then I'll be taking the reins from now on.”
He did, and with our teachers guidance (and sometimes brutal honesty), we reached a level where we could start competing with other school’s in town. Now, none of us knew this, but Mr Hanes was obsessed with winning.
So, club meetings were twisted into two hour study sessions with no talking, followed by Mr Hanes Jeaprody, which was Jeaprody, without the actual fun.
We were quizzed multiple times, answer cards and practise questions quite literally thrown directly in our faces.
I hate to admit this (I really hate to admit this) but Mr Hanes’s tactics worked. Sure, we had been mildly brainwashed by our slightly unhinged coach, but with Levi Costella, we destroyed our competitors. Like I said, our town held their own version of the academic scholastic decathlon, but it was pretty much the same, with some changes.
Ten subjects. Language and Literature, Math, Social Science, Economics, Art, Music, Interview, Speech, and Essay.
Unlike the official Decathlon, ours was more like a game show, with the ability to be knocked out if a team member answers a question wrong. Whoever answers the most questions correctly wins. Team meet ups were either tests, study sessions, or quizzing each other.
Which leads me to last night.
The finals were held in the reigning champions, Ratcliffe High School’s, auditorium.
And we were about to win our town’s Scholastic Decathlon 2024 Championships.
Well…I was knocked out in the music section. Standing next to my coach who I was sure was going to asphyxiate from excitement, I could smell the sudden potent stink of lemon. I tried to ignore it at first, but the more questions my team were answering correctly, the smell got worse, suffocating my senses.
This wasn't just lemon. The stink was like a burning, singing smell trickling into my nose and the back of my throat.
It was stronger than what Alex smelled like.
This was suffocating, drowning my thoughts.
“Are you okay, Cassandra?”
Mr Hanes nudged me when a Ratcliffe girl was struggling to answer a question, only for Sunny to jump in with the answer. “You look quite pale.”
I nodded, forcing a smile.
My gaze was on the Ratcliffe coach, a scary looking blonde woman, whispering in one of her student’s ears.
The Ratcliffe kid freaked me out. He was way too tall, dark blonde hair, and bulging eyes I swear were not blinking.
His gaze was glued to Levi, who wore a smug grin.
There was a smaller girl next to the Ratcliffe kid, a Macbook balanced on her knee. Every so often, he leaned into her, the two of them in deep conversation.
“I'm just nervous.”
I jumped when Ratcliffe scored a point, their side erupting into cheers.
During the break, we had a mini team meeting.
Sunny rushed to the bathroom to freshen up, and I noticed a Ratcliffe girl with a bouncing ponytail following her.
Ignoring our coach’s speech, I joined the two girls in the corridor, that lemony scent hanging thick in the air.
I caught them in an awkward position.
The Ratcliffe girl had her fingers pinched between the material of Sunny’s dark blue shirt bearing our school’s name.
Sunny looked confused, her lips parted like she was going to yell.
Ponytail dropped her hand, suddenly, with a nervous laugh. “Oh! I'm so, so, sorry,” she gushed. “You had, like, the biggest spider crawling on your back.”
Sunny caught my eye, shooting me a reassuring smile.
“Thanks.” She made sure to keep her distance. “Uh, where's your bathroom?”
The Ratcliffe girl nodded down the hallway. “It's just down there. I'm going there too if you want me to show you?”
Sunny motioned for me to go back to the auditorium. “Uh, sure! That'd be great!”
I did try to follow them, only for Sunny to cough loudly.
I took the hint, reluctantly heading back into the auditorium.
My team was hyping each other up, Levi in the centre, sweating through his team shirt. He ran a trembling hand through his hair. “I can't do this,” He groaned. “Ratcliffe High is known to play dirty, man. They're unbeatable.”
“In what way do they play dirty?” I asked, joining them.
Levi gulped down water, shrugging.
“I dunno! They're already trying to distract me with the stink eye.” The boy narrowed his eyes at a grinning Ratcliffe kid who, after noticing our stares, jumped to his feet, waving at us.
“Hey guys!”
“That's Harry Cartwright, the son of the Cartwright family who tried to kill my parents in the third grade.” Levi mockingly waved back. “As you can see, their kid is a fucking sociopath.”
Huh. I wasn't expecting the smiley kid to be the mobster’s son.
Harry Cartwright was not what I expected.
Unlike his team members, he was the only one in casual clothing, a short sleeved white shirt and jeans, a pair of sunglasses perched on top of his head.
Tom went pale.
“Fuck.” He hissed. “He’s one of you? Then those bastards will have a reason to play dirty, right?”
Levi shrugged, averting his gaze. It was the first time I saw his eyes darken, like he was subtly telling the boy to back off.
“The Cartwright’s have been trying to buy our land for a while,” he muttered. “I wouldn't put it past them to use the Decathlon as a way to attack.”
“Attack?!” April, another member of our team, hissed. “Like, attack attack?”
Mr Hanes grabbed the boy, resting his hands on Levi’s shoulders. “Ignore them,” he said. “Hey. Look at me.”
Levi did, raising a brow.
“You're losing that spark in your eye, young man.”
“Spark?”
Our coach nodded. “Look at me, kid.”
Levi rolled his eyes. “I am looking at you, Mr Hanes.”
The man was shaking. I was guessing his whole career (or coaching career) was on the line.
“They know they're losing, Mr Costella.”
Hanes shook the boy, squeezing his shoulders. “You are being positive and Ratcliffe doesn't like that. They want you to be nervous. They want to make you second guess yourself and lose confidence. Don't let them get into your head.” he smiled, giving the boy a playful shove. “Kick their asses.”
“Exactly!”
I didn't realize Sunny was back from the bathroom.
The faint smell of lemons had followed her. I noticed a wet patch on her shirt collar, though she was quick to smile at me, admitting she'd spilled water down herself. Sunny wrapped her arms around Levi, squeezing him into a hug.
She hung on for a little too long, Tom dragging her away with a laugh. “Good luck, all right?” she backed away, ruffling his hair. “We’ve got this!”
When I hugged Levi good luck too, I had to resist covering my nose.
The smell of lemon was unbearable, just like fourth grade Alex.
But it wasn't as potent as earlier.
I vaguely remembered the smell starting to fade once Alex’s body was being carted away on a stretcher.
Following my captain through the crowd, I was right. The smell was less suffocating. Before he went back to the stage, I grabbed the back of his shirt.
The material was soaking wet.
“How are you so wet?” I said, swiping my hands on my shirt.
“Huh?”
I shook my head. “Never mind. Do you remember what I told you in sophomore year?”
Levi settled me with a confident, but nervous smile. “Thaaaat you're scared of clowns?”
“No. I mean the boy who smelled of lemons.” I gritted out.
Levi surprised me with a laugh. “What are you talking about?”
Something ice cold trickled down my spine.
Levi did know what I was talking about. He brought up my stink sense a day earlier in front of his parents, and I had to cover his mouth to shut him up.
Leaning close, I whispered in his ear. “You stink of rotten lemons.”
He nodded slowly, pulling away. “Uh… thanks?”
I bit back a hiss of frustration. “No, you don't understand what I'm saying–”
“Starbrooke High School,” The host announced. “Can all members please return to the stage.”
Levi held up his hand for a high five.
“Can we do this later?” He winked. “I'm kinda busy carrying this spelling-bee on my back right now.”
I nodded shakily, high fiving him, and letting him jump back onto the stage.
Before his words hit like a tidal wave, ice cold water slammed into me.
Spelling Bee?
Slowly making my way back to the stands, Levi’s mistake was circling around my head. He did win a spelling bee, but that was in middle school.
Thankfully, the smell of lemons was gone when I returned to my seat.
Mr Hanes handed me a soda. “Chill out, Cassandera, it's just a game.”
He could talk. The guy was on his fifth coffee.
Mr Hanes was not chilled out in the slightest.
Surprisingly, the event went well. I was half expecting my team to be crushed by the rafters, or caught in a blaze started in the crowd. But we were doing well. No, we were winning.
Reaching the climaxing round, Sunny choked against a smug Ratcliffe boy, joining me on the sidelines.
Levi answered the next question with a confident smile.
We were winning, but Ratcliffe could still catch up with a miracle.
The second to last question was to Ratcliffe, and it was general knowledge.
”Where on the human body would one find the *orbit?*
I knew the answer, and so did Levi, his lips breaking out into a smile when the Ratcliffe boy was hesitating, eyes wide.
Our school’s buzzer went off, Levi slamming his hand down.
Bzzz!
The host turned to our team. “Starbrooke, can I have your answer?”
Levi nodded, shooting our team a victory grin.
“It's…!“ He opened his mouth to answer, his jaw slackening suddenly.
The boy’s shoulders slumped.
“Uh… “
“Um…”
“Huhhhhh…”
Levi inclined his head, blinking, his eyes glazing over. There was a sudden, hollow vacancy that sent chills down my spine. It was like someone had reached into his skull, and yanked out his brain, leaving a shell in his place.
To my confusion, our team captain frowned at his buzzer like he'd never seen one before. He pressed it, exploding into child-like giggles.
Bzzz!
The audience laughed along nervously.
Tom nudged me. “What the fuck is he doing?”
Bzzz Bzzz Bzzz!
Levi’s entire body was slumped, his hand slamming down on the buzzer.
I caught something pooling down his chin.
“Is he… drooling?” I whispered.
Mr Hanes looked mildly horrified. “Has he been drinking?
“Levi?” Tom spluttered. “Drinking?!"
Whatever we were watching, however, was definitely influenced by… something.
Bzz. Bzz. Bzz. Bzz. Bzz!
“Young man, that is not a toy!”
The host wasn't amused. “Starbrooke High School, I need an answer from you,” He nodded to Levi, who was pressing the buzzer, his smile growing.
“Once again,” The host backed away, like Levi was contagious. “Where on the human body would one find the Orbit?”
Levi cocked his head, lips parted.
His gaze found the overhead lights, and he winced, his lips curling into a frown.
“Starbrooke High School!”
Levi jumped, tipping his head back and blowing a raspberry. “Palm tree?”
The audience laughed, and I started feeling nauseous.
Across from us, I could see the twist of a smirk on the Ratcliffe coach’s lips.
Bzzz! Levi slammed the buzzer again giggling.
“Starbrooke High School, if your team member continues to act like this, I will be forced to disqualify all members.”
Our captain stopped, gaze glued to the host, his hand creeping towards the buzzer, like it was a big red button.
The audience loved it, laughing like they were watching a sitcom.
“He wouldn't.” Tom whisper-shrieked.
The auditorium was silent for a moment, awaiting Starbrooke’s response.
Levi stuck out his tongue, slamming his hand down.
Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz–
When Tom dragged Levi away from his podium, a Ratcliffe girl hit her buzzer.
“Starbrooke High School, you are disqualified,” the host announced. “Ratcliffe High School, do you have an answer?”
It was Ponytail who nodded with a grin.
“The answer is the eye socket! The Orbit is part of the eye socket!”
“That is the correct answer.” The host was distracted, his eyes glued to Levi.
“Ratcliffe High School wins.”
Levi jumped when the Ratcliffe wide erupted into cheers.
His eyes were wide, clinging onto the buzzer for comfort.
Next to me, our coach looked like he was going to faint.
I barely noticed Ratcliffe’s victory, too busy watching our team captain, who was Harvard bound, tipping his head back and smiling at the ceiling like a new-born baby. Tom dragged the stumbling boy over to me, his mouth twisted.
“This was Ratcliffe, right?” He hissed, shaking our captain, who was struggling, squirming in his grip.
“Did they put something in his drink?!” He prodded Levi. “Hey! What did they do to you?!”
Still, though, drugging his drink didn't make sense.
Levi never left the auditorium, and kept his water bottle with him the whole time.
How did they even manage to slip something into his drink in the first place?
Did I smell our competitors drugging him?
Sure, intentionally inebriating my teammate was morally wrong and illegal, but why could I smell lemon?
“I doubt it was Ratcliffe.” Sunny squeezed next to me. “I've been watching them. They're harmless.”
“Then how the fuck do we explain this to his parents?!” Tom whispered, grappling with Levi, who was fighting to get back to the buzzer.
When Tom let go of him, he dropped onto the floor, crawling over to his podium. It was like watching a child.
Who was determined to piss off the adults.
Levi jumped back to instead feet, his gaze was glued to the host, a smile curved on his lips, when he slammed the buzzer again.
Bzzz!
“Someone, please remove the Starbrooke boy from the stage!”
I was embarrassed, our whole team ducking our heads as our captain was forcibly removed from the podium.
Mr Hanes grabbed Levi, pulling him off of the stage.
I expected our coach to be mad at him, but I think the teacher was more worried, a phone pressed to his ear while he forced the boy into a sitting position.
No, I don't think it's influence from alcohol, I could hear his conversation.
Levi kept trying to get up, mesmerised by the buzzer. The teacher was firm but gentle. “Hey. Sit down, all right? Keep still.” He went back to his phone call, gently prying Levi’s eyes open.
From what I can see, there's nothing wrong. He's just kind of…
Mr Hanes swiped his own hands on his jeans. ... wet?
Team Ratcliffe came over to rub it in our faces, though I was still tuned into our coach’s hissed whispering.
Water? No, I don't think it's water. It smells… no, I haven't told his parents…
“You guys did awesome!” Ponytail's voice was sugary sweet. Too sugary.
She held the 2024 trophy, bearing a satisfied smile. I noticed the Ratcliffe members were surrounding Harry, like guards.
“Better luck next time, okay?” She held out her hand, her eyes twinkling.
“No hard feelings?”
“Control your dog.” Harry said, amused eyes flicking to Levi, who was once again sprinting back to the fucking buzzer. His eyes had visibly darkened, lips curled into a triumphant smile.
Harry Cartwright was watching Mr Hanes chase our team captain like it was his own personal entertainment.
I had to look away before I died of second hand embarrassment.
“What did you put in his drink?” Tom demanded. “Weed? Edibles?” the boy attempted to shove Harry, only to be pushed back. “What the fuck did you do to him?”
Harry’s smile didn't waver. “Like I said. Control your mut.”
When the Ratcliffe team walked away, our red faced coach struggling with Levi, who was behaving progressively more erratically, informed us we were longer welcome inside the school.
Tom suggested calling an ambulance, but our coach was hesitant.
We all knew who Levi’s family were.
On the way out, Tom matched my stride. He was frowning at our team captain struggling to walk.
The way he was acting was already eyebrow raising.
But walking at an angle and being unable to stand up straight was worrying.
“I don't think they drugged his drink.” Tom muttered.
We pushed through the doors out of the school, and I revelled in the cool night air grazing my cheek. “If they did, he would be acting out of it, right? So, what's the deal with him acting like–”
“A child.” I finished for him.
“Yeah.” Tom leaned closer. “Do you think this has something to do with their turf war?”
I slapped at a bug creeping across my cheek.
Levi fell over again, this time bursting into giggles.
“Almost definitely.”
Levi was right about Ratcliffe playing dirty. I didn't realize how dirty until we were on the losers bus home. Levi was in the seat next to me, and the kid hadn't moved since we left Ratcliffe, his eyes wide, lips pulled into a dazed grin.
Bzzz!
The noise startled me from slumber. I was drooling, my head pressed against the window. Outside, the sky was pitch dark, and squinting through the glass, I couldn't get a bearing on where we were. I thought I was hearing things, but when I sat up, I heard it again.
Bzzz!
It was close.
Leaning over the boy, I glimpsed a smear of scarlet on his headrest.
I choked on my next words.
“Tom.”
Tom was in front of me, listening to music.
He didn't reply, his head of dark blonde curls nodding to the beat.
“Levi.” I managed to get out. I prodded him, and his head lolled into his shoulder. “Hey. Can you… sit up?”
Bzzz! Bzzz!
When the boy didn't move, I gently grabbed his shoulders and pulled him forward myself, something contracting in my stomach.
I don't know how long it takes for your mind to fully register something, but my body was already reacting.
Levi’s seat was infested with bugs, eating their way through the upholstery. I was aware of my body moving back. I threw up, instantly, screaming into my hand.
The back of my best friend's skull resembled a deflated soccer ball, what was left of his brain leaking from his skull where a swarm of skittering bugs chewed their way through brain tissue, metallic legs scratching the curved, pearly white of the base if his skull.
Levi’s head hung, his body flopping into mine.
But his eyes were still open, lips still stretched into a smile.
Blood ran in thick rivulets from his nose and ears.
Bzzz!
I could see them, black writhing dots alive in his eyes, wriggling movement under his skin.
“Tom!”
I jumped up, stumbling into the aisle, my stomach heaving.
And it was only when I was on my knees, swiping bile from my lips, when I realized the others weren't reacting.
Tom wasn't moving.
I pulled an Airpod out of his ear, a long, slithering string of pink attached to the end.
There was a stray bug skittering across his hand, his face starting to twitch and writhe.
Moving back, I checked myself over, my hands shaking.
Head.
Shoulders.
Hair.
Clawing through it, my breath was stuck in my throat.
Arms.
Legs.
Feet.
Mr Hanes was slumped against the window, a reddish froth bubbling from his mouth.
Sunny.
I started towards the back of the bus, but all I had to see was her bowed head, half of her skull chewed through.
Sunny was in a far more deteriorated state, her face had been ripped through, a skeletal smile glinting in the dim.
The thick black smear on the window next to her was moving.
When I screamed for the driver to stop the bus, he ignored me.
If anything, he stamped on the gas.
I moved forward to shake him, before glimpsing a bug creeping down his face.
Calling 911, the operator laughed at me.
“Bugs are eating your friends.” He said. “Do you know the penalty for calling with bullshit pranks?”
The bus didn't stop, so I stayed at the front, while the bugs took over the back, eating through my teammates.
After four hours, I risked leaning over the seat next to Tom to check on Levi.
They were eating him.
Chewing all the way through skin, muscle and bone.
I tried to stop the bus, but the driver’s hands were tightly wrapped around the wheel.
Another hour, and blood was seeping down the aisle, crawling with bugs.
Levi was gone, and in his place, a buzzing skittering pile of bugs, that I thought were going to move to a second victim, maybe burrowing into the seats.
But, no.
These things began to tremble, replicating.
Building.
Slowly, nothing became static, and static became muscle.
Then bone.
Then flesh.
When a body began to slowly form, moulded from the dead boy, I stumbled back.
These things weren't eating Levi Costella.
They were rewriting him.
…
Edit: I'm still on the bus. I'm 99.9% sure that I'm infected with whatever this thing is. I can't stop fucking itching.
I keep picking them off me but they won't stop. This bus isn't going to stop until I'm like the others.
…
Edit 2:
I can feel them chewing into my skull. They're in my ears. I keep spitting them out. Please, someone get them off of me. Help me. I don't want to die at 17.
Edit 3:
Still alive. Still breathing. Maybe they're leaving me alone????? I think I'm okay. There is a pile of bugs at my feet, but they're crawling off of me.
Edit 4:
Levi really wants to go home. Like, he just told me he REALLY wants to go home. He's got a gift for his parents.
~~Edit 5 :) ~~
Levi is next to me right now, an odd smile on his face.
The bugs are not finished building him yet, but he'll be ready soon.
We will be ready soon.
Your son says hello! He is a wonderful boy, is he not?
Mr and Mrs Costella, I cannot wait for you to meet him.
He is our greatest achievement, and rest assured, you will give us what we want.
Warm regards.
The Cartwright's.

If you're interested in baby registry boxes but don't know which one to try or how to even sign up for them I have some info for you here! I got boxes/bags from Target, Walmart, Amazon, Hey Milestone, Babylist, and Similac and I'm still waiting for a box from Enfamil. I'm not an influencer or someone paid by these companies I just really like surprise boxes of stuff. I have pictures but I don't know how to add them. Anyway onto the lists.
Target:
How to get: This appears to have changed recently. According to target.com you join the Target Circle rewards, create a baby registry, add 10 items, and spend $10 from registry (either yourself of someone else). You have to pick up the bag in store with a barcode they give to you and it can be somewhat difficult to get since supplies are limited. When I did this in March all I had to do was create a registry and then go to the store to pick up the bag.
Items:
1 Philips Avent Natural Bottle
1 Dr Browns Anti-Colic Bottle
3 pack sample of Huggies Special Delivery Diapers
2 pack sample of Millie Moon Diapers
16 count sample of Huggies Natural Care wipes
10 count sample of Honest plant based wipes
10 count sample of Water Wipes
2 count sample of Lansinho breastmilk storage bags
2 count sample of Lansinho disposable nursing pads
1 count sample if Boogie Wipes
1 sample of Dreft scent booster for laundry
1 sample of Palmers stretch mark lotion
1 sample of Dapple bottle and dish soap
1 sample of Pedialyte
1 sample of Auqaphor baby ointment
1 sample bottle of Aveno baby wash and shampoo
1 sample tube of Triple Paste diaper rash cream
All coupons are through Target Circle rewards
Walmart:
How to Get: Sign up for a registry at Walmart. Click this link https://walmart.cesampling.com/babybox/soldout and fill out the form and it would be shipped to you for free. Unfortunately these boxes have been sold out since last year but maybe they will restock. I only got one because my OB’s office gave it to me at my first appointment. You’re not missing much by not getting one.
Items:
1 Dr Browns Anti-Colic Bottle
3 pack sample of Huggies Special Delivery Diapers
16 count sample pack of Huggies Natural Care Wipes
1 sample of Arm & Hammer baby laundry detergent
1 sample bottle of Johnson’s head to toe wash and shampoo
1 sample bottle of Aveno baby wash and shampoo
1 pack of milestone month cards
Insert cards (not coupons) for Gerber, WaterWipes, Liquid IV, Aquaphor, and Arm & Hammer
Amazon:
How to Get: Have an Amazon prime account. Create a baby registry. Add 10 items to your baby registry. Purchase $10 worth of items from registry (either yourself or someone else). Wait for the items to ship and then add the baby welcome box to your shopping cart. There should be a $35 coupon applied when you go to checkout.
1 Newborn Swaddle size 36in x 36in
1 Amazon Essentials 3-6 month onesie
1 Mam Anti-Colic Bottle and Pacifier set
1 Bessie's Best lactation cookie
2 count sample of Lansinho breastmilk storage bags
2 count sample of Lansinho disposable nursing pads
1 sample of Aquaphor baby ointment
1 sample of Palmers skin therapy oil
1 sample of Palmers stretch mark lotion
50% off coupon for Shutterfly
10% off coupon for Amazon Essentials (items must be from a list compiled by Amazon)
$20 off coupon for Tylenol Smart check digital ear scope
$200 off Factor meal delivery service
Inserts (not coupons) for Palmers, Aquaphor, Baby Breeza, Mam bottles/pacifers
A card booklet with ideas for the registry
Hey Milestone:
How to Get: Hey Milestone is not a registry. They make three different baby boxes you can choose from and you just pay shipping. If you’re considering multiple boxes it’s best to get them all at once because the shipping will be cheaper. Shipping for one was $12.99. I only got one, the pregnancy box, so I can't tell you what you may expect from the other two. Check them out here: https://www.heymilestone.com/
Items:
1 full size Boudreaux’s Butt Paste butt barrier
1 Herobility 5 oz bottle
1 sample pack of Bamba peanut butter puffs
1 Kudos diaper with 10% off coupon
1 Dr Browns pacifier
1 Nanobebe hospital go-bag kit (includes pacifier, 2 breastmilk bags, 2 nursing pads, 20% off coupon)
2 count sample of Lansinho breastmilk storage bags
2 count sample of Lansinho disposable nursing pads
1 Preggie Pop
1 Bessie’s Best lactation cookie
10 count sample pack of Zahler prenatal vitamins
1 sample of Bella B nipple butter
1 sample of Bella B cradle cap be gone shampoo
1 sample tube of Eucerin baby sunscreen
1 count sample of Jack n Jill baby gum and tooth wipes
1 nail file with info for Mother’s Milk Bank
10% off coupon for Boudreaux’s Butt Paste butt barrier from Amazon
$130 off good chop meat delivery
16 free meals from Hello Fresh
$1 Bamba snacks
1 insert for Forsite 350 genetic testing
Babylist:
How to Get: This one is by far the most involved process. Create a registry on Babylist. Enter in your baby’s due date, you address, and first and last name. Add three items from the Babylist shop. Add three items from other stores (you can do this by putting a plug-in from the website on Chrome or Firefox. More detailed instructions on the website). Complete 40% of your registry checklist (you can do this by just checking items off yourself). Spend $30 from your registry (either yourself of someone else). Once these things are done you can pay $8.95 for shipping or you can chose simple shipping and it’s free.
Items:
1 Herobility 5oz bottle
1 Philips Avent Naturel bottle
1 Monica and Andy baby hat
1 Small Story 0-3 month onesie and 20% off coupon
1 Parker bib with 15% off coupon and a chance to win $200 giveaway
1 Nanobebe first pacifier
2 pack sample of Kudos diapers with 10% off coupon
2 pack sample of Healthy Baby diapers
2 pack sample of Parasol diapers
10 count sample of Honest plant based wipes
10 count sample of Water Wipes
10 count pack of motif medial breastmilk bags and 15% off coupon
1 sample tube of Noodle & Boo body wash and shampoo
1 sample tube of Noodle and Boo lotion
1 Bessie’s Best lactation cookie
2 count sample of Lansinho breastmilk storage bags
2 count sample of Lansinho disposable nursing pads
1 sample of Wellements probiotic and $15 off coupon
1 sample tube of Aquaphor baby ointment
1 sample of Desitin
1 sample of Palmers skin therapy oil
1 sample of Palmers stretch mark lotion
1 sample of Bird&Be vitamins and 15% off coupon
1 sample bottle of Vivi & Bloom body wash and shampoo
2 samples of Triple Paste diaper rash ointment and $2 off coupon
Coupon for a free onesie from Oso and Me ($32 value)
Coupon for free 8x8 photo book from Shutterfly
Coupon for a free will from Trust & Will
Coupon for free Swaddle from Little Unicorn
1 insert for babylist health for information on free breast pumps
Similac
How to Get: Sign up to my Similac rewards at https://www.similac.com/rewards.html . It’s completely free. I do recommend using an email you rarely use though and don't put in your phone number.
Items:
1 7 oz can of Similac 360 Total Care formula
1 7 oz can of Similac 360 Total Care Sensitive formula
1 sample of Pedialyte
Coupon for 1 free session at JC Penny portraits and 1 free 8 x 10 print
Coupons for $50 off Similac formula (They will send more in the mail once you use these)
16 free meals from Hello Fresh
Coupon for 50% off Shutterly
Coupon for $20 off Lovevery play kits
Coupon for $3 off Pedialyte
A collection of 12 gift cards to places I’ve never heard of ranging from $60-$30
Enfamil:
How to get:
Sign up for Enfamil Beginnings at https://www.enfamil.com/baby-formula-coupons-samples/ . It’s completely free. I do recommend using an email you rarely use and don’t put in your phone number. I’m still waiting on my Wonder Box to come. They tend to ship close to your due date so I may get it soon.
Overall thoughts: I enjoyed the fun of going through the boxes to see what I got. The Walmart one is no great loss to anyone not able to get one. I was disappointed with the Amazon one because I expected it to be a bit better based on what others had gotten. Plus I didn’t get the Dude Wipes people were getting and I was looking forward to them lol. The Babylist box was the best of the bunch, which is good considering the hoops you have to jump through to get it. Hey Milestone was great for the butt paste and bottle alone. I was also really pleased with the Target bag. These are just the things I got and each box/bag may be different.