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Best CRM Software?
2024.05.15 12:49 warnullD Best CRM Software?
Whether you're a small business or a large enterprise, the right CRM can transform how you interact with clients, track sales, and boost your overall efficiency. I’ve been looking at a lot of posts on CRMs on and off Reddit but have failed to find a detailed guide.
Did a lot of research to find a CRM for my own organization so I thought why not share all that research to help some of you. So I’m doing this post to review the top CRM options like Pipedrive and Freshshales.
Would love feedback on whether this helped you and I’ll consider doing more of these if they turn out to be actually valuable.
Add-ons:
Pros:
Pros:
Quick implementation time (around 18 days)
Sales Hub Professional:
Pros:
Store and manage contacts, track interactions, and keep all customer information in one place.
Pros:
Nimble offers two pricing plans:
Nimble CRM combines contact management, social media, sales intelligence, and marketing automation for relationship insights. It integrates productivity apps to consolidate contacts, communications, calendars, and data from social media. This helps small businesses manage contacts and relevant individuals in one platform, avoiding app switching. Nimble supports thousands of small to mid-sized businesses in nurturing relationships across email, social networks, and over 90 cloud-based apps.
Pros:
The best CRM software, such as Pipedrive and HubSpot, integrates seamlessly with existing systems, offers robust features for managing customer relationships, and provides insightful analytics to drive sales and marketing strategies. Choosing the right CRM can significantly enhance customer engagement and streamline business operations.
submitted by warnullD to software [link] [comments]
Did a lot of research to find a CRM for my own organization so I thought why not share all that research to help some of you. So I’m doing this post to review the top CRM options like Pipedrive and Freshshales.
Would love feedback on whether this helped you and I’ll consider doing more of these if they turn out to be actually valuable.
5 Best CRM Software Picked for 2024
- Pipedrive - Starting at $12
- Freshsales - Free for upto 3 users
- HubSpot - Starting at $90
- Zoho CRM - Starting at $14
- Nimble - Starting at $24.90
Pipedrive - Best CRM Software Overall
Pricing:- Essential: $14/seat/month (billed monthly) or $12/seat/month (billed annually)
- Advanced: $29/seat/month (billed monthly) or $24/seat/month (billed annually)
- Professional: $59/seat/month (billed monthly) or $49/seat/month (billed annually)
- Power: $69/seat/month (billed monthly) or $59/seat/month (billed annually)
- Enterprise: $99/seat/month (billed monthly) or $79/seat/month (billed annually)
Add-ons:
- LeadBooster: $32.50/month (annual) or $39/month (monthly)
- Web Visitors: $41/month (annual) or $49/month (monthly)
- Campaigns: $13.33/month (annual) or $16/month (monthly)
- Smart Docs: $32.50/month (annual) or $39/month (monthly) when added to an Essential or Advanced subscription
- Projects: $6.70/usemonth (annual) or $8/usemonth (monthly)
Pros:
- Unlimited and customizable sales pipelines
- Sales assistant powered by machine learning included with all plans
- API access for extensive customization
- Workflow automation in most plans
- Autofill contact information feature in premium plans
- Built-in telephony feature in most plans
- No free plan option
- Limited custom fields and reporting in most plans
- Phone support only available with the highest-tier plan
- Sales-focused CRM with customizable sales pipelines
- Automations to reduce manual tasks
- Intuitive platform with a minimalistic layout
- AI assistance to reduce data entry
- Kanban-style board for drag-and-drop lead management
- Customizable data fields
- Customizable chatbot for capturing leads on websites
- Easy chatbot setup via the “Leadbooster” section
- List view to earmark leads based on buying likelihood
- Integrates with over 400 third-party apps, including Zapier, Zoom, Calendly, and Leadfeeder
Freshsales - Best for AI-powered Sales Features
Pricing:- Free plan for up to 3 users
- Annually billed, Growth is $9/usemonth, Pro is $39/usemonth, and Enterprise is $59/usemonth.
- Monthly billed, Growth is $11/usemonth, Pro is $47/usemonth, and Enterprise is $71/usemonth.
Pros:
- Includes a forever-free plan
- Offers affordable paid plans
- Allows lead contact via chat, email, and phone on all plans
- AI-powered lead scoring available in all paid plans
- Features various automation options
- Provides customizable dashboards and reports
- Customer support needs improvement
- Support is only available on weekdays
- The free plan does not include reporting features
Quick implementation time (around 18 days)
- Extensive customization options
- Ability to add and track custom fields
- Define workflows and set specific rules for data entry and management
- Create custom activities, fields, groups, and modules
- Capture website visitors as leads
- Track deals and predict revenue
- Create detailed reports on sales activities and key metrics
- Real-time insights for data-driven decisions
- Range of integrations with popular third-party tools and platforms
HubSpot - Best CRM for Sales, Marketing & Services
Pricing:Sales Hub Professional:
- $100/mo/seat (Pay Monthly, Commit annually)
- $90/mo/seat (Pay Upfront, Commit annually, BEST VALUE)
- $150/mo/seat
Pros:
- The core CRM software is free.
- Provides real-time notifications of lead behavior.
- Allows personalized email sequences for both leads and existing customers.
- Per-user plans can be costly for small businesses.
- Limited to one email per contact.
Store and manage contacts, track interactions, and keep all customer information in one place.
- Visualize and manage your sales pipeline, track deals, and forecast revenue.
- Track leads from the first interaction to close, with detailed timelines of their activity.
- Integrate with your email to log and track communication, schedule emails, and use email templates.
- Generate detailed reports on sales activities, productivity, and performance to make data-driven decisions.
- Automate marketing tasks such as email campaigns, social media posts, and lead nurturing workflows.
- Use live chat and chatbots to engage with website visitors and provide instant support.
Zoho CRM - Best for Automation & Small Businesses
Pricing:- Standard: $20/user monthly, $14/usemonth annually
- Professional: $35/user monthly, $23/usemonth annually
- Enterprise: $50/user monthly, $40/usemonth annually
- Ultimate: $65/user monthly, $52/usemonth annually
Pros:
- Offers a free plan
- Affordable pricing options
- Automation features available on all plans
- Multiple integration options
- User-friendly interface
- Mobile app available
- 30- to 45-day money-back guarantee
- AI features only in higher-tier plans
- Limited custom fields
- No integrations available with the free plan
- Automate routine tasks, manage leads, deals, and contacts, and create optimized workflows.
- Customize the CRM interface with a drag-and-drop editor.
- Define and manage sales processes, set processing rules, and review data quality.
- Create and visualize customer journeys, and coordinate actions across departments.
- Generate reports, create dashboards, and analyze trends.
- Forecast sales, manage territories, and use gamification.
- Use AI assistant Zia for lead and deal prediction, voice assistance, and macro suggestions.
- Tailor layouts, components, views, and filters, and support global selling.
- Create groups, share updates, and leave notes for teammates.
Nimble - Best for a Simple Pricing Structure
Pricing:Nimble offers two pricing plans:
- $29.90 per seat/month
- $24.90 per seat/month, billed annually
Nimble CRM combines contact management, social media, sales intelligence, and marketing automation for relationship insights. It integrates productivity apps to consolidate contacts, communications, calendars, and data from social media. This helps small businesses manage contacts and relevant individuals in one platform, avoiding app switching. Nimble supports thousands of small to mid-sized businesses in nurturing relationships across email, social networks, and over 90 cloud-based apps.
Pros:
- Single-tier pricing structure
- 14-day free trial
- Sales prospecting tools
- Doesn’t offer multiple tiers
- Limit on contact records
- Limit on group messaging
- Identify, build, and nurture relationships
- Manage leads, track deals, and forecast revenue
- Access and manage contacts from Gmail, Outlook, and social media
- Use custom web forms to capture leads
- Access CRM information from mobile apps
- Visual workflows and deal pipelines for opportunity management
- Integrate with over 100 partners for lead capture, email marketing, and more
- Generate in-depth sales performance reports
What Is CRM Software?
CRM software is a tool for managing sales pipelines and customer relationships. It helps businesses track interactions with leads and customers, moving them through stages of the sales process. CRM systems provide visual pipelines, stage-specific actions, and features like reporting dashboards, workflow automation, and document management. The right CRM depends on your business’s specific sales process and needs.How do I choose a CRM for my business?
To choose a CRM for your business, start by assessing your specific needs. Then, find CRM software that offers the features you require. Consider the pricing, customer service, and ease of use to determine its overall value for the cost.Are there free CRMs available?
Yes, many CRMs offer a free tier, but these are often basic and may lack the necessary features. However, they are useful for testing the product and evaluating its user interface.
The best CRM software, such as Pipedrive and HubSpot, integrates seamlessly with existing systems, offers robust features for managing customer relationships, and provides insightful analytics to drive sales and marketing strategies. Choosing the right CRM can significantly enhance customer engagement and streamline business operations.
2024.05.15 11:38 crono972 Final Review Before doing a mistake - Upgrade MFFPC to SFFPC
Hello, I got a 2k budget, am I making a mistake here ?
I want a quiet beefy pc for work and a little gaming on the side, I'm almost sure on the first build, but I would like confirmation before doing a mistake
PCPartPicker Part List
I was hesitating with this build :
PCPartPicker Part List
submitted by crono972 to buildapc [link] [comments]
I want a quiet beefy pc for work and a little gaming on the side, I'm almost sure on the first build, but I would like confirmation before doing a mistake
PCPartPicker Part List
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor | €381.94 @ TopAchat |
| CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 chromax.black 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler | €59.90 @ Amazon France |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte B650I AORUS ULTRA Mini ITX AM5 Motherboard | €320.98 @ Alternate |
| Memory | G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory | €278.98 @ Alternate |
| Storage | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | Purchased For €0.00 |
| Storage | Samsung 990 Pro w/Heatsink 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | Purchased For €0.00 |
| Video Card | ASRock Challenger OC Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card | €559.98 @ Alternate |
| Case | Fractal Design Terra Mini ITX Desktop Case | €198.28 @ Amazon France |
| Power Supply | Corsair SF750 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply | €175.94 @ TopAchat |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | €1976.00 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-05-15 11:34 CEST+0200 |
PCPartPicker Part List
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-14700F 2.1 GHz 20-Core Processor | €404.98 @ Cdiscount |
| CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-L9i-17xx chromax.black 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler | €59.90 @ Amazon France |
| Motherboard | MSI MPG Z790I EDGE WIFI Mini ITX LGA1700 Motherboard | €385.00 @ Amazon France |
| Memory | G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory | €278.98 @ Alternate |
| Storage | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | Purchased For €0.00 |
| Storage | Samsung 990 Pro w/Heatsink 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | Purchased For €0.00 |
| Video Card | Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB Video Card | €495.94 @ TopAchat |
| Case | Fractal Design Terra Mini ITX Desktop Case | €198.28 @ Amazon France |
| Power Supply | Corsair SF750 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply | €175.94 @ TopAchat |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | €1999.02 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-05-15 11:35 CEST+0200 |
2024.05.15 11:23 AdQueasy4367 How to Create a Dropshipping Business: A Step-by-Step Guide
The dropshipping business model has become a popular way for aspiring entrepreneurs to start an e-commerce store without the hassle of inventory management. If you’re looking to launch your own dropshipping business, this guide will walk you through the essential steps to get started. For more info you can visit halla-systems.kr website.
submitted by AdQueasy4367 to business_charm [link] [comments]
1. Research and Choose a Niche
The first step in creating a dropshipping business is to identify a niche. A niche is a specific segment of the market that you will target with your products. Choosing the right niche is crucial for your success.- Identify Market Trends: Use tools like Google Trends, social media platforms, and e-commerce marketplaces to find trending products.
- Evaluate Competition: Analyze your competitors to understand the market landscape. Look for niches that are not overly saturated.
- Consider Profit Margins: Focus on products with good profit margins. Avoid niches with low-cost, low-margin products.
2. Conduct Market Research
Once you’ve selected a niche, conduct thorough market research to validate your choice. Understand your target audience, their needs, and preferences. Look for opportunities to offer unique value through your products.3. Find Reliable Suppliers
Your suppliers are critical to your dropshipping business's success. They provide the products and handle the fulfillment process, so it’s important to choose them wisely.- Use Supplier Directories: Websites like AliExpress, Oberlo, and SaleHoo offer extensive directories of dropshipping suppliers.
- Check Reviews and Ratings: Look for suppliers with positive feedback and high ratings from other dropshippers.
- Communicate Directly: Reach out to potential suppliers to gauge their responsiveness and reliability.
4. Build Your Online Store
Creating a professional and user-friendly online store is essential. Choose an e-commerce platform that suits your needs and budget.- Select an E-commerce Platform: Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce are popular choices for dropshipping businesses.
- Design Your Store: Use themes and templates to design an attractive and functional website. Focus on creating a seamless user experience.
- Add Products: Import products from your chosen suppliers. Ensure each product listing includes high-quality images, detailed descriptions, and accurate pricing.
5. Set Up Payment Processing
To start accepting payments, set up a payment gateway. Choose a reliable and secure option to ensure smooth transactions.- Popular Payment Gateways: PayPal, Stripe, and Square are widely used and trusted by online businesses.
- Ensure Security: Implement SSL certificates to encrypt data and protect customer information.
6. Develop a Marketing Strategy
A strong marketing strategy is vital for driving traffic to your store and converting visitors into customers.- Utilize Social Media: Create profiles on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Share engaging content and interact with your audience.
- Invest in Paid Advertising: Use Google Ads and social media ads to reach a broader audience. Target your ads based on demographics and interests.
- Content Marketing: Start a blog or create video content related to your niche. Provide valuable information to attract and engage potential customers.
- Email Marketing: Build an email list and send newsletters with product updates, promotions, and valuable content.
7. Optimize for SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) helps your store rank higher in search engine results, driving organic traffic to your website.- Keyword Research: Use tools like Google Keyword Planner to identify relevant keywords for your niche.
- On-Page SEO: Optimize your product pages, blog posts, and website content with targeted keywords.
- Build Backlinks: Acquire backlinks from reputable websites to improve your store’s authority and search engine ranking.
8. Set Up Customer Service
Providing excellent customer service is key to building trust and loyalty with your customers.- Offer Multiple Support Channels: Provide customer support through email, live chat, and social media.
- Create an FAQ Page: Address common questions and issues to reduce the volume of support inquiries.
- Respond Promptly: Ensure timely responses to customer inquiries and resolve issues efficiently.
9. Launch Your Store
Once everything is set up, it’s time to launch your store. Announce your launch on social media, through email, and with promotional offers to attract initial customers.10. Monitor and Optimize
After launching, continuously monitor your store’s performance and look for ways to improve.- Track Key Metrics: Use tools like Google Analytics to track traffic, conversion rates, and sales.
- Collect Customer Feedback: Encourage customers to leave reviews and provide feedback on their shopping experience.
- Make Data-Driven Decisions: Use insights from your metrics and feedback to optimize your marketing strategies, product offerings, and customer service.
Conclusion
Starting a dropshipping business involves careful planning and execution. By following these steps—choosing a niche, conducting market research, finding reliable suppliers, building an online store, setting up payment processing, developing a marketing strategy, optimizing for SEO, setting up customer service, launching your store, and continuously monitoring and optimizing—you can create a successful dropshipping business. With dedication and effort, you can thrive in the competitive world of e-commerce.2024.05.15 10:34 aranciniii first PC
hey guys!! I am looking to get my first PC and have a max budget of around $1500 AUD not incl monitor, keyboard etc. I've watched a bunch of yt videos and played around on pcpartpicker and came up with whats below. I honestly know nothing about PC building & want to try and get something pretty cheap that will let me run games like fortnite, sims 3 & 4, phasmophobia, minecraft, stardew and other steam games. I also like to mod my games pretty heavily so want something that can handle my mods haha.
please lmk what I should change and if everything is compatible with eachother!! Thank you !
[PCPartPicker Part List](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/qjfbgB)
TypeItemPrice
:----:----:----
**CPU** [AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/g94BD3/amd-ryzen-5-5600x-37-ghz-6-core-processor-100-100000065box) $199.00 @ Computer Alliance
**CPU Cooler** [Vetroo V240 52 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/qpnypg/vetroo-v240-52-cfm-liquid-cpu-cooler-vt-aio-v240-wt) $89.99 @ Amazon Australia
**Motherboard** [MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/kRTzK8/msi-b450m-pro-vdh-max-micro-atx-am4-motherboard-b450m-pro-vdh-max) $109.00 @ Centre Com
**Memory** [Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/vfDJ7P/corsair-vengeance-rgb-pro-16gb-2-x-8gb-ddr4-3200-memory-cmw16gx4m2c3200c16w) $79.00 @ Computer Alliance
**Storage** [Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/Zxw7YJ/samsung-970-evo-plus-1-tb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-mz-v7s1t0bam) $176.00 @ Device Deal
**Video Card** [MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X 12G GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/pD8bt6/msi-geforce-rtx-3060-ventus-2x-12g-geforce-rtx-3060-12gb-12-gb-video-card-rtx3060ventus2x12goc) $429.00 @ Computer Alliance
**Case** [Montech AIR 100 ARGB MicroATX Mid Tower Case](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/wvmmP6/montech-air-100-argb-microatx-mid-tower-case-air-100-argb-white) $99.00 @ PCCaseGear
**Power Supply** [Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/YRJp99/corsair-rm750e-2023-750-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-cp-9020262-na) $139.00 @ Centre Com
*Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts*
**Total** **$1319.99**
Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2024-05-15 18:25 AEST+1000
submitted by aranciniii to buildmeapc [link] [comments]
please lmk what I should change and if everything is compatible with eachother!! Thank you !
[PCPartPicker Part List](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/qjfbgB)
TypeItemPrice
:----:----:----
**CPU** [AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/g94BD3/amd-ryzen-5-5600x-37-ghz-6-core-processor-100-100000065box) $199.00 @ Computer Alliance
**CPU Cooler** [Vetroo V240 52 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/qpnypg/vetroo-v240-52-cfm-liquid-cpu-cooler-vt-aio-v240-wt) $89.99 @ Amazon Australia
**Motherboard** [MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/kRTzK8/msi-b450m-pro-vdh-max-micro-atx-am4-motherboard-b450m-pro-vdh-max) $109.00 @ Centre Com
**Memory** [Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/vfDJ7P/corsair-vengeance-rgb-pro-16gb-2-x-8gb-ddr4-3200-memory-cmw16gx4m2c3200c16w) $79.00 @ Computer Alliance
**Storage** [Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/Zxw7YJ/samsung-970-evo-plus-1-tb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-mz-v7s1t0bam) $176.00 @ Device Deal
**Video Card** [MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X 12G GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/pD8bt6/msi-geforce-rtx-3060-ventus-2x-12g-geforce-rtx-3060-12gb-12-gb-video-card-rtx3060ventus2x12goc) $429.00 @ Computer Alliance
**Case** [Montech AIR 100 ARGB MicroATX Mid Tower Case](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/wvmmP6/montech-air-100-argb-microatx-mid-tower-case-air-100-argb-white) $99.00 @ PCCaseGear
**Power Supply** [Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/YRJp99/corsair-rm750e-2023-750-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-cp-9020262-na) $139.00 @ Centre Com
*Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts*
**Total** **$1319.99**
Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2024-05-15 18:25 AEST+1000
2024.05.15 10:23 Slayers_Picks UFC Fight Night: Barboza v Murphy Fight Predictions!
Hello!
I hope we're all doing well!
We did relatively okay last time, with our secondary parlay landing clean! Everything else kinda fell apart, but I did a bit better than I feared i would have done.
Another rough fight night to predict here! Should be a fun event though.
Onwards to the predictions!
(c) - Champ
D/DWCS - Debut/Dana Whites' Contender Series
FLS - Fight Lose Streak
FWS - Fight Win Streak
NS - No Streak
(#x) - Rank in Division
x/3 - Confidence Levels
lets go!
Prelims
Women’s Strawweight
Emily Ducote (-275) (13-8-0, NS) v Vanessa Demopoulos (+220) (10-5-0, NS) - Oh look, a fight that’s probably going to go to the scorecards. Ducote is coming off a relatively strong win against Yoder, she was very capable of stuffing all of those takedown attempts coming her way and matching the tenacity of Yoder on the feet. Now, I am always a bit iffy when it comes to someone with a record like Ducotes’, but I do believe they (The UFC) didn’t quite build her up properly, giving her opponents like Godinez and Hill very early on in her UFC career. Ducote is a fairly well rounded fighter who does well on her feet, but most importantly, her grappling is relatively good, having been capable of defending the takedowns of Godinez, which isn’t a small feat since Godinez is well known for her wrestling capabilities. That ability to defend takedowns is massively important when dealing with someone like Demopoulos, whose main threat in most of her fights are her takedowns and grappling attacks. Ducote has fairly standard striking attacks for a well rounded MMA fighter, she is very quick on the feet and throws a lot of volume when she attacks, which could prove challenging to Demopoulos as she tries to enter range and initiate a takedown. Now, whilst Ducote has a lot of volume and speed to her strikes, she lacks in the “finishing” area, she doesn’t quite have the tenacity to finish her opponents, there’s no hurry. With that said though, she does have a bit of a familiar pattern of touching up her opponents until that right hand finds its mark, then she adds emphasis on that right-side punch. She has, however, one weird tendency to just stand there, staring, whilst in the pocket, with a rather square stance, and whilst that might help her with the offensive output, she is still standing there with minimal defences. That’s something that has contributed to her losses in the past and something that Demopoulos could possibly use as a way to find an entry for a takedown. Demopoulos is coming off a win against Murata, but it was a fairly unimpressive performance with Demopoulos getting taken down a lot, and although she looked fairly good on the feet with powerful single attacks, I don’t quite know how effective she is going to be against a volume-heavy fighter like Ducote. Demopoulos has a few tendencies as a fighter that are great, she is fairly active in the guard off her back, throwing up submissions very quickly, but the problem with that is nowadays if you can’t lock in a submission, then you are losing the fight, and I think if Demopoulos does pull guard, Ducote should have the ability to control her on the ground and avoid submissions. This is a very, very 50/50 fight in my opinion. Ducote has a slight advantage on the feet due to her speed and volume, but on the ground it’s looking like Demopoulos has the advantages there, as she does have great instinct on when to lock in a submission or shift the hips. The safest bet here is either o2.5 rounds or the fight going the distance, this isn’t a ML bet fight by any means in my opinion. As for my prediction, I am very split but i’m leaning towards Ducote to win this one, but it’s the slightest lean one can imagine.
Ducote via UD - (1/3)
Bantamweight
Alatengheili (+150) (16-9-2, NS) v Kleydson Rodrigues (-185) (8-3-0, NS) - This is a fascinating one. Alatengheili was scheduled to fight a month ago but it was cancelled due to an illness, so I fully expect him to fight again this week. The kinda good news about that is he doesn’t really need to have a big camp since he already had the conditioning and cardio from that other camp preparing for Victor Hugo. Alatengheili is a very aggressive and powerful fighter, everything he throws has so much speed and power behind it, and whilst there might not be a lot of volume behind those punches, he shouldn’t be underestimated on the feet because of his explosiveness. Alatengheili also uses that explosive power to wrestle, and he is fairly good on the ground, able to maintain a strong position at all times and just land heavy ground and pound. Alatengheili is powerful but he doesn’t display that power with reckless abandon, he tends to be a bit of a counter puncher, his hands are often low or loose, which lures his opponent in to strike, in which he then propels himself forward with a quick flurry of dangerous punches, then there’s a reset and he waits to lure his opponent in again. That’s his typical gameplan and it works a lot of the time, but I do think he might get exposed by one thing that Rodrigues could do, and that’s chop at the legs to remove or mitigate that explosiveness that Alatengheili relies on. Rodrigues on the other hand has not had as much experience nor octagon time that Alatengheili has had, but his style seems to be a bit of a challenge for Alatengheili, at least from what I can see. Rodrigues is very well rounded, he is very quick on the feet, but most of all, he doesn’t do anything too crazy to be lured into a potential counter-flurry by Alatengheili. Rodrigues loves to kick at range, he is so dynamic and can switch up the angles of the attacks so quickly that he could possibly just keep kicking Alatengheili until the fight is over, as long as he keeps a safe distance from a retaliatory attack. He is very quick at throwing out those kicks and I do think if he attacks the legs early enough he is going to be effective, as Gutierrez was when he fought Alatengheili. Alatengheili is going to have to mix it up in this fight to get ahead, he is going to have to rely heavily on his wrestling in order to get a win here, because we have seen that Rodrigues is mostly a kickboxestriker, and if Alatengheili can push a nasty pace and pressure (something he only does if he is successful with his counters or see’s his opponent is hurt), that completely removes Rodrigues’ ability to kick. However, the biggest danger with any sort of aggressive forward movement from Alatengheili is the ridiculous hand speed of Rodrigues, his boxing speed is ferocious and he doesn’t necessarily overthrow, everything is clean and tight, and given how open the defences are with Alatengheili, I do think a check left hook or an uppercut is going to be a highly effective tool that Rodrigues is going to utilise, especially if Alatengheili is going to look for takedowns. The focus and timing of Rodrigues is something that I really like also, he is so calm but intense in the cage, he sees a lot of his opponents attacks coming, and since Alatengheili’s actions are huge and relatively easy to read (as there is quite a wind up for it) Rodrigues should be able to avoid it or counter effectively. One major thing I want to point out here that makes me lean on Rodrigues even moreso is the striking inaccuracy of Alatengheili, he is a powerful fighter, i cannot state this enough, but it is thanks to that power and his willingness to throw down heavy punches that he often misses. I’m gonna list some stats, so bear with me… These are his striking accuracy stats from a handful of his recent fights, starting from the most recent to ones earlier in his career. Gutierrez with 28% Accuracy, Anheliger with 37%, Lopez with 30% and Kenney with 26%. This is why I emphasized before how important Alatengheili’s wrestling is going to be in this fight, because if you’re going to go up against a very tricky and accurate striker like Rodrigues, you cannot play that accuracy game and risk winging punches against him. With that said though, don’t count of Alatengheili here, his power and explosiveness are always going to be a problem and it should generally be a good idea to sprinkle a little bit of money on him, even moreso that he’s an underdog. My prediction for this fight is a long, drawn out Rodrigues win, but it’s a tough one because we haven’t quite seen that much greatness from Rodrigues.
Rodrigues via UD - (1/3)
Women’s Strawweight
Piera Rodriguez (-175) (9-1-0, NS) v Ariane Carnelossi (+145) (14-3-0, NS) - Normally, a lot of fights interest me, even the ones that don’t interest the vast majority of others… but this one? I have no feelings one way or the other about this one, it seems like a filler fight lol. Rodriguez is a relatively well rounded fighter coming off a tough loss against Gillian Robertson, and I mean, that kind of loss tends to come with the territory of wrestling a well known submission specialist, so I don’t exactly fault Rodriguez for losing in that way. There is very little doubt that Rodriguez is going to have a major advantage in the wrestling department, a lot of her fights involve her taking down her opponent, it's what she does exceptionally well and considering how dreadful Carnelossi’s takedown defence is, it is going to be Piera’s imperative to take down Carnelossi. The problem with Rodriguez is that she's a little bit one dimensional, she doesn’t do too well on the feet and Carnelossi does have very strong strikes, I mean, look at her, she’s absolutely a power puncher. Rodriguez is highly diverse with her striking, both in terms of range and variability of attack, she has excellent fundamentals with the boxing, landing combinations in the pocket and moving away, and one main thing she does extremely well is that jab, its a really long, lunging jab, and the reason why I point that out is because it somewhat masks the takedown, she uses that jab over and over, and because that motion to jab is almost similar to a level change, she doesn’t necessarily feint the jab to get to the level change/takedown position, but her opponents just think another jab is coming. This is going to be a great set up against Carnelossi, attack her with long, prodding jabs, and after a few of those, go for a level change, because its that long lunge that looks like a level change. To put it bluntly, anything to get a level change and a takedown will be highly effective against Carnelossi. Carnelossi is an interesting one to talk about because she had a fun start to her career with an extremely entertaining fight against Liang Na, but if you look closely, she is just a fun fighter, not a great one. Her punching power is probably her biggest asset, because everywhere else she absolutely is not worth talking about, and it’s that punching power that will be evident when she inevitably clips Rodriguez. Carnelossi is one dimensional, but boy is she scrappy and I don’t think Rodriguez can afford to get crazy with her on the feet, because Rodriguez will be hurt by something in the pocket, the smartest thing Rodriguez can ideally do is level change and absolutely remove the power from Carnelossi, and considering that Carnelossi’s power is generated from a very still-standing stance, it wouldn’t take much to take her off her feet. I got Rodriguez winning this one, it should hopefully be a fun fight.
Rodriguez via UD - (1/3)
Middleweight
Abus Magomedov (-250) (25-6-1, 2 FLS) v Warlley Alves (+205) (14-7-0, 3 FLS) - It kind of seems like they are setting Magomedov up for success here. Magomedov may have had a tough last two bouts, but considering the fact that he faced Strickland and Borralho, that’s ridiculous levels of competition for a newcomer. Magomedov had one major issue exposed when he fought Strickland and that was his cardio, everything else he looked absolutely incredible at, he has a lot of power in his hands, he’s long and dynamic with his attacks and he has great wrestling, but it was his cardio that made him fall apart. During his Borralho fight, despite losing that bout, those cardio issues didn’t seem as present, he has seemingly learnt to pace himself and he honestly looks to be a decent up and comer now that he’s facing slightly more adjusted competition instead of straight up killers. Magomedov has a massive, massive reach advantage over Alves, and that’s going to be prevalent when Magomedov lands those beautiful strikes at range. He does use his kicks alot, and alongside said kicks are a lot of knee feints, it's a bit odd to look at, it could just be him getting ready to check leg kicks or to feint a kick, but it's just one of those things that I can’t quite figure out. Anyway, Magomedov’s cardio is going to be in question again today, and whilst I did say that he seems to be mostly fine, or at least a bit better than when he fought Strickland, he still tends to overthrow a lot, there is no pitter patter of punches that you somewhat see, they’re all still big actions and those big actions cost him his cardio early on. The best way to kind of describe Magomedov, at least cardio wise, is a slightly more talented and skillful McKinney. My main concern is how exposed his face is to getting hit, all it would take is for Alves to rush in like a bull and throw some heavy overhand punches, make it very gritty in there and make Magomedov tired. That’s the only way I can kind of see Magomedov struggle a lot. Alves is an exceptionally quick starter, he is an absolute firecracker and if he can catch Magomedov early, that’s going to be absolutely massive given the size difference. Everything Alves throws comes with silly amounts of power, and he isn’t necessarily a headhunter, he chops at the legs and body occasionally, he’s quite diverse and I think those leg kicks are going to be problematic for Magomedov, considering Magomedov needs to push forward in order to get his combinations off. Alves is a tough, tough fighter, and whilst he is coming off a savage knockout by Aliskerov, I do think that Alves is still one dangerous fighter to take on, maybe not as technical as Borralho (to compare to Magomedov’s last opponent), but he is an absolute monster when it comes to aggression and that alone could exhaust Magomedov. However, the reach and movement of Magomedov is going to be a major challenge here. I am not completely counting out Alves here, I think he is being a bit underestimated here, but I just think Magomedov has a lot more tools in his arsenal that is going to be boosted by that reach advantage, and it does seem that Alves is fairly susceptible to down the pipe shots, something that Magomedov does well. Range and distance are going to be the main gameplan for Magomedov and his time I think. I got Magomedov winning this one, but i am not very confident in this one due to the volatility of Alves’ actions. He is a wild and fast starter so I expect that first round to be the most sketchiest.
Magomedov via KO R2 - (1/3)
Women’s Bantamweight
Tamires Vidal (+300) (7-2-0, NS) v Melissa Gatto (-410) (8-2-2, 2 FLS) - This is certainly an interesting one. Vidal is coming off a tough loss against Rendon, and it was a bit of a boring fight in all honesty, with Vidal being somewhat effective on the feet with big and powerful attacks, but ultimately succumbing to the wrestling of Rendon. I don’t see that much changing this time around since Gatto is a great wrestler and Vidal has clearly shown major defensive issues in the wrestling department, so to put it bluntly, it just seems like Vidal has a puncher's chance, and if she does land those punches, I do think the tides can change a little in her favour, but it would only take one takedown for Gatto to be in full control for the rest of that round. Outside of her loss to Rendon, Vidal looked fun against Pascual, then again, a lot of fighters of a reasonably low calibre can look good against Pascual, so I think that was one of those “set up for success” fights. Still, the aggression and threat of a knockdown/out from Vidal will be fairly prevalent during this fight. But that’s about it, shes a powerful striker and quite dynamic, but her takedown defence is going to be a problem. Gatto was scheduled to fight Dudakova a few weeks ago, however that fight fell off, which is probably good for Gatto coz she’s ready for a fight regardless, shes still somewhat fresh off camp and was going to probably employ the same strategy against Vidal that she would have against Dudakova, and that was to wrestle. Gatto’s wrestling has always been a bit of a highlight for her, she’s physically strong and is able to do well in advantageous positions, holding her opponents down and either landing ground and pound or just grinding them out, exhausting them for a large chunk of the round. Gatto is also very dangerous on the feet, she has deceptively quick and powerful punches which she uses to both damage her opponents but also as an opportunity to raise their guard so the level change is more easily accessible. No matter what way you cut this slice of cake, I think Gatto’s wrestling is going to be a major problem for Vidal, and Vidal’s only way to win this fight is to keep it standing and just brawl, make it look gritty in there and potentially freeze up Gatto’s ability to wrestle cleanly. I am leaning on Gatto to win this one, but that unpredictability of Vidal’s aggression is going to be a big factor here. No major bet advice here, it seems like there is a possibility of it going over 2.5 rounds, but that’s about it.
Gatto via UD - (1/3)
Light Heavyweight
Oumar Sy (D) (9-0-0, 9 FWS) v Tuco Tokkos (D) (10-3-0, 3 FWS) - ITS DOUBLE DEBUT TIME!!! These are getting rarer and rarer the more we see fighters from DWCS make their way to the UFC, so this is a fun little occasion. Sy is coming into this fight a little bit more prepared, at least physically and cardio wise, than his replacement opponent in Tokkos. Sy is coming off a string of beautiful fights on various promotions, but most importantly he’s been relatively tested on KSW, which is one of the better promotions to come out of the European world of MMA. Sy is a long and rangey fighter who has dangerous head kicks and dangerous wrestling skills that he uses really well, and whilst he has a massive reach advantage over his opponent, he doesn’t exactly strike in any traditional way, you don’t see him throw a lot of jabs, he mostly uses his reach to lock in takedowns (since it’s easier to lock in takedowns with longer arms), and the moment the fight goes to the ground, expect him to find a position to where he can reign down heavy ground and pound. I would love to see him strike a bit more, but most of his fights are him taking his opponents down and landing ground and pound, and if he does that against a replacement fighter in Tokkos, I expect him to dominate and completely shut down Tokkos since it would take preparation to get out of funky positions that Sy puts his opponents in, and I don’t know if Tokkos has that wrestling background to handle the larger and longer opponent in Sy properly on the ground. Tokkos seemingly came out of nowhere this last week, and that one thing that blasted me in the face was the record of his second most recent opponent, Brian Jackson. Dudes got a 1-7 record and Tokkos torched him (expectedly), that doesn’t bring a lot of confidence to me that a guy like Tokkos, coming from a relatively decent gym in Kill Cliff FC, takes on and fights someone like that. Tokkos is overall a decent fighter with some strong wins under his belt, but the main thing going against him here is preparation time, and whilst he does have a fair bit of experience under his belt, I just don’t think he’s ready for someone like Sy on short notice. Tokkos is a relatively well rounded fighter with great wrestling and decent striking, but i just think all of that is going to be possibly negated by the substantial reach advantage of Sy. This is a double debut though, and whilst I normally steer clear from calling someone new to the UFC a lock, I think the fact that Sy has had a full camp for… three fights (Bellato, Trocolli (both cancelled) and now Tokkos), I think he’s ready for this fight and ready for the UFC. He will be an optional lock, but still a 2/3 confidence pick, if that makes sense.
Sy via KO R1 (2/3)
Lightweight
Tom Nolan (-450) (6-1-0, NS) v Victor Martinez (+340) (13-5-0, NS) - Both fighters made their debut and lost in the same way, in the same round, so let’s call this a second attempt at a debut lol. Nolan made his debut against knockout artist Nikolas Motta, and honestly that is a dangerous fight for anyone to take, but it probably made sense to the matchmakers since both fighters are prolific knockout artists. Nolan does finish his opponents very quickly a lot of the time, and I do think he has a massive advantage on the feet against Martinez since Martinez isn’t exactly a big threat on the feet, and his inactivity over the past few years (or lack of solid activity at least) leaves some questions hanging in the air. Nolan has a reach and height advantage here, but the most prominent advantage will be with his reach where he can string together gorgeous straight combinations to decent effect, and that’s what he’s really known for, he’s got awesome boxing and he is very confident in his punching power. He is also relatively defensively sound for someone with his size because I have pointed out before that a lot of taller and longer fighters don’t shell up a lot or have a lot of defensive layers to their style, but Nolan is overall a fairly solid boxer both on the offence and defence, it’s just a shame he got fed to the wolf when he fought Motta. Nolan made the simple mistake when he fought Motta of being in the pocket without care, and i think those kinds of mistakes are easy enough to fix, and considering Martinez is not the same kind of threat on the feet compared to Motta, I do think that gives Nolan a bit more freedom to string together combinations and overall look great on the feet, as he was meant to be, since his whole career up until that loss to Motta has been him having gorgeous striking. Martinez is coming off a KO loss also, but it was by Jordan Leavitt, and that’s just a painful look on anyone's record to get knocked out by someone who is not known for his striking. Martinez is overall a good striker, he has very fast hands, but I have noticed one thing about him that I can see Nolan landing cleanly. Martinez has the tendency to leave his right hand far from a block position, its more of a parry position, in front of him instead of beside him, and he tends to lower that hand when taking a back step, and I cannot help but see the Southpaw striker in Nolan land that left hand to the chin of Martinez. Now, any sort of exchange between either fighter here is going to be a dangerous one for both parties, but that is where reach comes in, Nolan has a diverse boxing skillset and his long attacks allow him to carry power as much as anyone elses short hooks would. One major thing Martinez is going to have to be careful of is a knee up the middle by Nolan as Nolan’s height is going to allow that knee to come up to target without a major loss to momentum, and I mean, if Martinez got dropped by Rosales on DWCS, then by Leavitt, I just don’t know if he has the chin to withstand the battering that comes from Nolan. I got Nolan winning this one, but this is going to be a fantastic fight which isn’t likely to go the distance.
Nolan via KO R1 - (2/3)
Main Card
Women’s Strawweight
Angela Hill (#12) (-160) (16-13-0, NS) v Luana Pinheiro (#13) (+130) (11-2-0, NS) - This is a great fight. Hill is coming off a very strong win over Denise Gomes, and it was honestly such a brilliant performance by someone who a lot of people tend to ignore. Hill is an incredibly diverse fighter, she is tenacious on the feet, highly capable of stringing together strong combinations from all ranges, and as she closes the distance, she’s good at tying up her opponent in a clinch and landing awesome knees and elbows. This is all Hill and her cumulative experience in the Octagon against a wide range of different fighters and styles, and it’s clear to me that her preparation for a lot of her fights involve solid planning and back up plans, because whilst her record reflects a rough run through her career, her level of competition is insane. Hill isn’t a finisher though, but she is someone who can keep a ridiculous pace for three rounds, so I do think that she has the capabilities to overwhelm Pinheiro on the feet, especially since we just saw Ribas do the same thing a little over 5 months ago. Hill will have a striking advantage in this fight, she throws a lot of volume at high speed towards her opponent and they do land effectively, and with a slight edge in reach I do see her having a bit more success on the feet here especially since Pinheiro does not have a lot of head movement or striking defence. Pinheiro is a danger to Hill in the grappling department though, especially in those transitions from standing to ground, she utilises hip throws relatively well and could make this fight ugly on the ground, but I don’t think there is a major submission threat here, I think her style is predominantly control and ground and pound, both things that Hill has experience in dealing with, although she still will lose the round if Pinheiro executes her gameplan well. Pinheiro has power in her hands, she could potentially make Hill a little bit frozen and hesitant on the feet once Pinheiro lands that overhand right that Pinheiro loves to throw early, but she doesn’t throw it often enough to lead to a significant finish, she’s a very low volume, high impact striker and that could play in the favour of Hill if Hill’s volume walks Pinheiro back into the cage. Pinheiro could make this fight dangerous for Hill on the ground, but we have seen a few times now that Hill is very good at the basics of takedown defence, underhooks, whizzers (if i spelt that correctly) and quickly getting back to a standing position, she is not complacent on the ground or in that transition to the ground, and I think any sort of failed takedown attempt from Pinheiro is going to fuel Hill a lot more, since Pinheiro only has a few kinds of takedowns. This is a hard on to pick in all seriousness, I might get the prediction wrong, but I have a strong feeling that we are going to see this fight go over 2.5 rounds, or even hit the scorecards. As for the prediction, looking at this fight, I am kind of leaning on Hill here, because Pinheiro’s wins aren’t as significant as Hill’s wins, and i do think Pinheiro fades a little bit as the fight goes on.
Hill via UD - (1/3)
Bantamweight
Adrian Yanez (-350) (16-5-0, 2 FLS) v Vinicius Salvador (+275) (14-6-0, 2 FLS) - I love this fight. Yanez is coming off two painful back to back KO losses, whenever a young fighter comes into the UFC, tears through the division, then hits a losing skid, it’s always a concern to any fan or pundit. However, I do think that leg kick KO is anomalous to the UFC, it rarely happens and I don’t think Salvador is much of a leg kicker anyway so the threat isn’t there. However, I do want to add that the psychological factor of maybe getting leg kicked to oblivion is going to weigh heavy on Yanez’ mind, and I do wonder if Yanez has drilled checking leg kicks before. Now, Yanez is still a dangerous opponent for anyone to take, he still has incredibly technical MMA boxing, and that’s going to be on full display this weekend. Yanez is so fluid and yet tricky on the feet, he’s very good at gauging range and firing away from different angles, as well as timing his shots off his opponents striking attempts, everything involving striking exchanges will most likely be in the favour of Yanez, he thrives in that space and I do believe his experience and his wins prior to those two devastating losses are going to shine this weekend. My only concern about Yanez is his ability to not get carried away and show his chin too much, because whilst Salvador is yet to get a win in the UFC, he still has had some mild striking success against fighters like Altamirano and Vergara, and it wouldn’t take a lot for Salvador to find the chin of Yanez. Salvador is a very funky and unorthodox fighter, and whilst that always brings positive attention to him, I also think that has been a product of failure for him also since the more cleaner fighters outbox him, are generally a lot faster and just find their mark a bit quicker, if that makes sense? I mean, Salvador’s stance is fairly loose, his chin is in the air and his shell is rather loose, and that’s not good news, especially if he’s facing a vicious fighter like Yanez. Salvador thrives in chaotic fights though, he is awesome and making it dangerous and risky for his opponents to fight in the pocket, but his style emanates a lack of self preservation. He is a kill or be killed kind of fighter in my opinion, and I firmly believe that when he got dropped numerous times in that first round against Victor Altamirano, it only showed us, and any future opponent (via tape watch in prep) that he is very hittable, his head is right there and the only reason it wasn’t there for Vergara was due to the significant difference in height and reach. Salvador moving up to 135 could make him a lot more interesting in terms of being able to explode more often and having more power behind his punches, but I also think it means he is dealing with more harder hitting fighters, and with the accuracy and boxing skill set of Yanez, I just think Salvador is going to get outdone here. I got Yanez winning this one, but I am interested to see if Salvador has what it takes to win and upset a lot of parlays out there.
Yanez via KO R2 - (1/3)
Welterweight
Ramiz Brahimaj (+170) (10-4-0, NS) v Themba Gorimbo (-205) (12-4-0, 2 FWS) - Brahimaj is coming back after two tough years away, and the reason why it’s tough is because he has been dealing with a spinal injury, and boy do i empathise with that. Now, his injury is mostly C-Spine and shoulder area nerve damage, this is terrible for a fighter because it effectively eliminates your ability to comfortably strike, sprawl, wrestle, underhook/overhook stuff, everything that you see in a fighter typically comes from shoulder rotation and all that stuff, so for Brahimaj to be out for two years, dealing with all of that, does not give me a lot of confidence in him being 100% coming into this fight against Gorimbo. Brahimaj is a dangerous grappler who thrives on the ground, he is honestly only dangerous on the ground, but the problem is that Gorimbo is very good on the ground himself, at least good enough to know what is being set up, and it’s on the ground where Brahimaj has his only chance to win. Unfortunately for Brahimaj, it’s going to take some work to get the fight to the ground and Gorimbo is more than willing to keep the fight standing, so honestly, I just don’t think Brahimaj is going to be as well rounded or as effective as he needs to be in order to get a win here. Gorimbo is riding some momentum coming into this fight, as he is coming off a lightning quick KO over Pete Rodriguez, and I mean, Rodriguez sucks, he’s one of the worst fighters in the UFC and that KO means nothing in the grand scheme of things, it’s just an additional win on a record with barely any weight to it. Gorimbo is going to be a lot more confident in his boxing though since that win, that feeling of getting knockouts is an addictive one and I think he’s going to be using his incredible reach advantage to look to get another KO this weekend over the possibly rusty Brahimaj. Gorimbo is a very well rounded fighter who honestly has a lot of potential to be a star, he has excellent boxing, and honestly very good wrestling and grappling, and I do think if the fight does go to the ground, Gorimbo has the fight IQ to notice set ups coming, neutralize them and remain on top in control, landing ground and pound or just advancing to his own submission positions. The most likely scenario though is Gorimbo keeps this fight standing and overwhelms Brahimaj on the feet, because he probably wants to chase another KO since that feeling is notoriously addictive. I got Gorimbo winning this one, I can’t wait to see how far this man goes in his career.
Gorimbo via KO R1 - (2/3)
Co-Main Event
Welterweight
Khaos Williams (-125) (14-3-0, NS) v Carlston Harris (+105) (19-5-0, 2 FWS) - This feels like a classic Striker versus Grappler fight. Williams is a strong, powerful striker who is such a threat on the feet, especially early on when he wants to push a nasty pace and land those devastating punches. He is known for being a bully, crashing forward with crazy power and aggression. There is no clean technique coming from Williams, it is mostly wild, wild punches and he is confident in his ability to knock out his opponent, that’s what makes him a dangerous threat to his opponents, that confidence. The right hand is Williams best weapon, his right overhand or hook is going to be the one that knocks out Harris if it lands, but that’s all he is, a powerful right side puncher, and if Harris times a takedown well, all of that threat is gone. On the flip side, Harris is primarily a grappler with a solid grappling base, and whilst he has faced his fair share of dangerous strikers, I believe Williams’ power is something different. Now, Harris has the potential to take this fight to the ground, I know that according to UFC stats that Harris has an 80% takedown defence, but there has not been enough wrestling in his fights, by his opponents, to fully prove that his takedown defence is that great, it’s only been used sparingly against him since most of his fights are absolute wild exchanges and beautiful displays of violence on the feet. Williams' propensity to head hunt could lead to an opening for a level change by Harris, but it’s a risky thing to do because any punch that lands on Harris is going to hurt him, and considering the age factor here, its possible his chin isn’t going to hold up well against the power of Williams. Now, Harris was getting ragdolls and outwrestled by Wells when they fought, and whilst that isn’t a great look for Harris, I don’t think Williams has the wrestling capabilities that Wells has, so I think the main submission threat from Harris in this fight is going to come from the clinch, so guillotines and front head choke variants are going to be on the menu for Harris this weekend, it’s just a matter of if he gets into that position or if he gets his head blasted over and over by powerful punches from Williams. This is a dangerous fight to bet on if you’re thinking of Moneyline betting, it can easily go either way since both excel in their respective styles, the safest and smartest bet here in my opinion is that this fight doesn’t hit the judges scorecards. As for my prediction, I don’t think i’ll be getting this right due to the volatile nature of this match up, but…
Harris via Sub R2 - (1/3)
Main Event
Featherweight
Edson Barboza (#14) (+125) (24-11-0, 2 FWS) v Lerone Murphy (-150) (13-0-1, 5 FWS FWS) - Man this is a funky main event. Barboza is a legend of the sport, but most importantly, and perhaps most relevant to this write up, he is an old dog who can still hang with the toughest. His last two wins have been against Yusuff and Quarantillo, two very difficult fighters to take on at 145 and it’s his win over Yusuff that I want to highlight… Yusuff exploded in the first round, looked for that finish and Barboza survived and thrived throughout the rest of the fight, it was a beautiful display of heart, toughness, and adaptability, because that was not the first firefight that Barboza has been in, and considering his current opponent, it sure as shit won’t be his last. Barboza is well known for his outstanding kicks, but he’s also just overall a ridiculously dangerous striker. An understated aspect of his whole game though is his wrestling and grappling, he might not be looking for a lot of takedowns when he fights, but he is well versed on the ground, having taken down Yusuff 3 of 4 times in the final round of a high pace main event is testament to his cardio and conditioning, despite the concern surrounding his age. Barboza is going to be a true test on the feet for Murphy, and I think it’s going to be the toughest fight of his career. Murphy is coming off a string of strong victories in the UFC, with his most recent one being against Culibao, and I gotta say, Murphy is one of those dangerous prospects that we all should keep an eye on. Murphy is a rapidly improving fighter who adds weapons to his arsenal every single time he comes out. He was originally a boxer with outstanding punching power and speed, he was ridiculously slick on the feet, but after each fight he adds more kicks, more movement and wrestling, he has slowly become a very well rounded fighter, and this makes his upcoming bout against a very tested veteran who is still here to stay in Barboza incredibly fascinating. There is a slight catch to all of those additional things added into his arsenal though, and that’s each time something has been added, the next opponent has something else to prepare for. I firmly believe that Murphy’s rise to this position and to this fight is not from his outstanding skill level, but from his incredible repertoire of techniques he has acquired and learnt over his UFC career. Unpredictability is king when it comes to new fighters, we have seen new fighters add things to their game that have completely changed and accelerated their growth, and that’s exactly what we have seen for Murphy. Murphy has a wide variety of strong strikes he uses effortlessly, from standard boxing combinations to a very snappy high kick, to strong grappling and control on the ground, he hasn’t mastered any of these things, but since they are added along each and every time he fights, his opponents are rarely prepared. This is not going to be the case for Barboza, Barboza is very, very well rounded and well versed in almost every aspect of MMA. Ill keep this short. I got Barboza winning this one, but I am still going to be a fan of Murphy, regardless of result.
Barboza via UD - (1/3)
Primary Parlay: Ducote/Demopoulos o2.5 or GTD + (optional Gatto/Vidal o2.5 or GTD) + Nolan/Martinez ITD + Hill/Pinheiro o2.5 or GTD + Barboza/Murphy R3 Starts
Locks of the week: Optional Sy + Nolan + Gorimbo
Alt Bets: Alves KO R1, Pinheiro Sub R2 or 3, Williams KO R1, Murphy KO R1 2 or 3 (combo rounds)
And that's it!!!!
Prediction accuracy as of 2024: 64.6%
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Lets have a fun and friendly discussion down below about this weekends card!
I hope you all have an amazing day, look after yourselves, and enjoy this awesome event!
submitted by Slayers_Picks to MMAbetting [link] [comments]
I hope we're all doing well!
We did relatively okay last time, with our secondary parlay landing clean! Everything else kinda fell apart, but I did a bit better than I feared i would have done.
Another rough fight night to predict here! Should be a fun event though.
Onwards to the predictions!
(c) - Champ
D/DWCS - Debut/Dana Whites' Contender Series
FLS - Fight Lose Streak
FWS - Fight Win Streak
NS - No Streak
(#x) - Rank in Division
x/3 - Confidence Levels
lets go!
Prelims
Women’s Strawweight
Emily Ducote (-275) (13-8-0, NS) v Vanessa Demopoulos (+220) (10-5-0, NS) - Oh look, a fight that’s probably going to go to the scorecards. Ducote is coming off a relatively strong win against Yoder, she was very capable of stuffing all of those takedown attempts coming her way and matching the tenacity of Yoder on the feet. Now, I am always a bit iffy when it comes to someone with a record like Ducotes’, but I do believe they (The UFC) didn’t quite build her up properly, giving her opponents like Godinez and Hill very early on in her UFC career. Ducote is a fairly well rounded fighter who does well on her feet, but most importantly, her grappling is relatively good, having been capable of defending the takedowns of Godinez, which isn’t a small feat since Godinez is well known for her wrestling capabilities. That ability to defend takedowns is massively important when dealing with someone like Demopoulos, whose main threat in most of her fights are her takedowns and grappling attacks. Ducote has fairly standard striking attacks for a well rounded MMA fighter, she is very quick on the feet and throws a lot of volume when she attacks, which could prove challenging to Demopoulos as she tries to enter range and initiate a takedown. Now, whilst Ducote has a lot of volume and speed to her strikes, she lacks in the “finishing” area, she doesn’t quite have the tenacity to finish her opponents, there’s no hurry. With that said though, she does have a bit of a familiar pattern of touching up her opponents until that right hand finds its mark, then she adds emphasis on that right-side punch. She has, however, one weird tendency to just stand there, staring, whilst in the pocket, with a rather square stance, and whilst that might help her with the offensive output, she is still standing there with minimal defences. That’s something that has contributed to her losses in the past and something that Demopoulos could possibly use as a way to find an entry for a takedown. Demopoulos is coming off a win against Murata, but it was a fairly unimpressive performance with Demopoulos getting taken down a lot, and although she looked fairly good on the feet with powerful single attacks, I don’t quite know how effective she is going to be against a volume-heavy fighter like Ducote. Demopoulos has a few tendencies as a fighter that are great, she is fairly active in the guard off her back, throwing up submissions very quickly, but the problem with that is nowadays if you can’t lock in a submission, then you are losing the fight, and I think if Demopoulos does pull guard, Ducote should have the ability to control her on the ground and avoid submissions. This is a very, very 50/50 fight in my opinion. Ducote has a slight advantage on the feet due to her speed and volume, but on the ground it’s looking like Demopoulos has the advantages there, as she does have great instinct on when to lock in a submission or shift the hips. The safest bet here is either o2.5 rounds or the fight going the distance, this isn’t a ML bet fight by any means in my opinion. As for my prediction, I am very split but i’m leaning towards Ducote to win this one, but it’s the slightest lean one can imagine.
Ducote via UD - (1/3)
Bantamweight
Alatengheili (+150) (16-9-2, NS) v Kleydson Rodrigues (-185) (8-3-0, NS) - This is a fascinating one. Alatengheili was scheduled to fight a month ago but it was cancelled due to an illness, so I fully expect him to fight again this week. The kinda good news about that is he doesn’t really need to have a big camp since he already had the conditioning and cardio from that other camp preparing for Victor Hugo. Alatengheili is a very aggressive and powerful fighter, everything he throws has so much speed and power behind it, and whilst there might not be a lot of volume behind those punches, he shouldn’t be underestimated on the feet because of his explosiveness. Alatengheili also uses that explosive power to wrestle, and he is fairly good on the ground, able to maintain a strong position at all times and just land heavy ground and pound. Alatengheili is powerful but he doesn’t display that power with reckless abandon, he tends to be a bit of a counter puncher, his hands are often low or loose, which lures his opponent in to strike, in which he then propels himself forward with a quick flurry of dangerous punches, then there’s a reset and he waits to lure his opponent in again. That’s his typical gameplan and it works a lot of the time, but I do think he might get exposed by one thing that Rodrigues could do, and that’s chop at the legs to remove or mitigate that explosiveness that Alatengheili relies on. Rodrigues on the other hand has not had as much experience nor octagon time that Alatengheili has had, but his style seems to be a bit of a challenge for Alatengheili, at least from what I can see. Rodrigues is very well rounded, he is very quick on the feet, but most of all, he doesn’t do anything too crazy to be lured into a potential counter-flurry by Alatengheili. Rodrigues loves to kick at range, he is so dynamic and can switch up the angles of the attacks so quickly that he could possibly just keep kicking Alatengheili until the fight is over, as long as he keeps a safe distance from a retaliatory attack. He is very quick at throwing out those kicks and I do think if he attacks the legs early enough he is going to be effective, as Gutierrez was when he fought Alatengheili. Alatengheili is going to have to mix it up in this fight to get ahead, he is going to have to rely heavily on his wrestling in order to get a win here, because we have seen that Rodrigues is mostly a kickboxestriker, and if Alatengheili can push a nasty pace and pressure (something he only does if he is successful with his counters or see’s his opponent is hurt), that completely removes Rodrigues’ ability to kick. However, the biggest danger with any sort of aggressive forward movement from Alatengheili is the ridiculous hand speed of Rodrigues, his boxing speed is ferocious and he doesn’t necessarily overthrow, everything is clean and tight, and given how open the defences are with Alatengheili, I do think a check left hook or an uppercut is going to be a highly effective tool that Rodrigues is going to utilise, especially if Alatengheili is going to look for takedowns. The focus and timing of Rodrigues is something that I really like also, he is so calm but intense in the cage, he sees a lot of his opponents attacks coming, and since Alatengheili’s actions are huge and relatively easy to read (as there is quite a wind up for it) Rodrigues should be able to avoid it or counter effectively. One major thing I want to point out here that makes me lean on Rodrigues even moreso is the striking inaccuracy of Alatengheili, he is a powerful fighter, i cannot state this enough, but it is thanks to that power and his willingness to throw down heavy punches that he often misses. I’m gonna list some stats, so bear with me… These are his striking accuracy stats from a handful of his recent fights, starting from the most recent to ones earlier in his career. Gutierrez with 28% Accuracy, Anheliger with 37%, Lopez with 30% and Kenney with 26%. This is why I emphasized before how important Alatengheili’s wrestling is going to be in this fight, because if you’re going to go up against a very tricky and accurate striker like Rodrigues, you cannot play that accuracy game and risk winging punches against him. With that said though, don’t count of Alatengheili here, his power and explosiveness are always going to be a problem and it should generally be a good idea to sprinkle a little bit of money on him, even moreso that he’s an underdog. My prediction for this fight is a long, drawn out Rodrigues win, but it’s a tough one because we haven’t quite seen that much greatness from Rodrigues.
Rodrigues via UD - (1/3)
Women’s Strawweight
Piera Rodriguez (-175) (9-1-0, NS) v Ariane Carnelossi (+145) (14-3-0, NS) - Normally, a lot of fights interest me, even the ones that don’t interest the vast majority of others… but this one? I have no feelings one way or the other about this one, it seems like a filler fight lol. Rodriguez is a relatively well rounded fighter coming off a tough loss against Gillian Robertson, and I mean, that kind of loss tends to come with the territory of wrestling a well known submission specialist, so I don’t exactly fault Rodriguez for losing in that way. There is very little doubt that Rodriguez is going to have a major advantage in the wrestling department, a lot of her fights involve her taking down her opponent, it's what she does exceptionally well and considering how dreadful Carnelossi’s takedown defence is, it is going to be Piera’s imperative to take down Carnelossi. The problem with Rodriguez is that she's a little bit one dimensional, she doesn’t do too well on the feet and Carnelossi does have very strong strikes, I mean, look at her, she’s absolutely a power puncher. Rodriguez is highly diverse with her striking, both in terms of range and variability of attack, she has excellent fundamentals with the boxing, landing combinations in the pocket and moving away, and one main thing she does extremely well is that jab, its a really long, lunging jab, and the reason why I point that out is because it somewhat masks the takedown, she uses that jab over and over, and because that motion to jab is almost similar to a level change, she doesn’t necessarily feint the jab to get to the level change/takedown position, but her opponents just think another jab is coming. This is going to be a great set up against Carnelossi, attack her with long, prodding jabs, and after a few of those, go for a level change, because its that long lunge that looks like a level change. To put it bluntly, anything to get a level change and a takedown will be highly effective against Carnelossi. Carnelossi is an interesting one to talk about because she had a fun start to her career with an extremely entertaining fight against Liang Na, but if you look closely, she is just a fun fighter, not a great one. Her punching power is probably her biggest asset, because everywhere else she absolutely is not worth talking about, and it’s that punching power that will be evident when she inevitably clips Rodriguez. Carnelossi is one dimensional, but boy is she scrappy and I don’t think Rodriguez can afford to get crazy with her on the feet, because Rodriguez will be hurt by something in the pocket, the smartest thing Rodriguez can ideally do is level change and absolutely remove the power from Carnelossi, and considering that Carnelossi’s power is generated from a very still-standing stance, it wouldn’t take much to take her off her feet. I got Rodriguez winning this one, it should hopefully be a fun fight.
Rodriguez via UD - (1/3)
Middleweight
Abus Magomedov (-250) (25-6-1, 2 FLS) v Warlley Alves (+205) (14-7-0, 3 FLS) - It kind of seems like they are setting Magomedov up for success here. Magomedov may have had a tough last two bouts, but considering the fact that he faced Strickland and Borralho, that’s ridiculous levels of competition for a newcomer. Magomedov had one major issue exposed when he fought Strickland and that was his cardio, everything else he looked absolutely incredible at, he has a lot of power in his hands, he’s long and dynamic with his attacks and he has great wrestling, but it was his cardio that made him fall apart. During his Borralho fight, despite losing that bout, those cardio issues didn’t seem as present, he has seemingly learnt to pace himself and he honestly looks to be a decent up and comer now that he’s facing slightly more adjusted competition instead of straight up killers. Magomedov has a massive, massive reach advantage over Alves, and that’s going to be prevalent when Magomedov lands those beautiful strikes at range. He does use his kicks alot, and alongside said kicks are a lot of knee feints, it's a bit odd to look at, it could just be him getting ready to check leg kicks or to feint a kick, but it's just one of those things that I can’t quite figure out. Anyway, Magomedov’s cardio is going to be in question again today, and whilst I did say that he seems to be mostly fine, or at least a bit better than when he fought Strickland, he still tends to overthrow a lot, there is no pitter patter of punches that you somewhat see, they’re all still big actions and those big actions cost him his cardio early on. The best way to kind of describe Magomedov, at least cardio wise, is a slightly more talented and skillful McKinney. My main concern is how exposed his face is to getting hit, all it would take is for Alves to rush in like a bull and throw some heavy overhand punches, make it very gritty in there and make Magomedov tired. That’s the only way I can kind of see Magomedov struggle a lot. Alves is an exceptionally quick starter, he is an absolute firecracker and if he can catch Magomedov early, that’s going to be absolutely massive given the size difference. Everything Alves throws comes with silly amounts of power, and he isn’t necessarily a headhunter, he chops at the legs and body occasionally, he’s quite diverse and I think those leg kicks are going to be problematic for Magomedov, considering Magomedov needs to push forward in order to get his combinations off. Alves is a tough, tough fighter, and whilst he is coming off a savage knockout by Aliskerov, I do think that Alves is still one dangerous fighter to take on, maybe not as technical as Borralho (to compare to Magomedov’s last opponent), but he is an absolute monster when it comes to aggression and that alone could exhaust Magomedov. However, the reach and movement of Magomedov is going to be a major challenge here. I am not completely counting out Alves here, I think he is being a bit underestimated here, but I just think Magomedov has a lot more tools in his arsenal that is going to be boosted by that reach advantage, and it does seem that Alves is fairly susceptible to down the pipe shots, something that Magomedov does well. Range and distance are going to be the main gameplan for Magomedov and his time I think. I got Magomedov winning this one, but i am not very confident in this one due to the volatility of Alves’ actions. He is a wild and fast starter so I expect that first round to be the most sketchiest.
Magomedov via KO R2 - (1/3)
Women’s Bantamweight
Tamires Vidal (+300) (7-2-0, NS) v Melissa Gatto (-410) (8-2-2, 2 FLS) - This is certainly an interesting one. Vidal is coming off a tough loss against Rendon, and it was a bit of a boring fight in all honesty, with Vidal being somewhat effective on the feet with big and powerful attacks, but ultimately succumbing to the wrestling of Rendon. I don’t see that much changing this time around since Gatto is a great wrestler and Vidal has clearly shown major defensive issues in the wrestling department, so to put it bluntly, it just seems like Vidal has a puncher's chance, and if she does land those punches, I do think the tides can change a little in her favour, but it would only take one takedown for Gatto to be in full control for the rest of that round. Outside of her loss to Rendon, Vidal looked fun against Pascual, then again, a lot of fighters of a reasonably low calibre can look good against Pascual, so I think that was one of those “set up for success” fights. Still, the aggression and threat of a knockdown/out from Vidal will be fairly prevalent during this fight. But that’s about it, shes a powerful striker and quite dynamic, but her takedown defence is going to be a problem. Gatto was scheduled to fight Dudakova a few weeks ago, however that fight fell off, which is probably good for Gatto coz she’s ready for a fight regardless, shes still somewhat fresh off camp and was going to probably employ the same strategy against Vidal that she would have against Dudakova, and that was to wrestle. Gatto’s wrestling has always been a bit of a highlight for her, she’s physically strong and is able to do well in advantageous positions, holding her opponents down and either landing ground and pound or just grinding them out, exhausting them for a large chunk of the round. Gatto is also very dangerous on the feet, she has deceptively quick and powerful punches which she uses to both damage her opponents but also as an opportunity to raise their guard so the level change is more easily accessible. No matter what way you cut this slice of cake, I think Gatto’s wrestling is going to be a major problem for Vidal, and Vidal’s only way to win this fight is to keep it standing and just brawl, make it look gritty in there and potentially freeze up Gatto’s ability to wrestle cleanly. I am leaning on Gatto to win this one, but that unpredictability of Vidal’s aggression is going to be a big factor here. No major bet advice here, it seems like there is a possibility of it going over 2.5 rounds, but that’s about it.
Gatto via UD - (1/3)
Light Heavyweight
Oumar Sy (D) (9-0-0, 9 FWS) v Tuco Tokkos (D) (10-3-0, 3 FWS) - ITS DOUBLE DEBUT TIME!!! These are getting rarer and rarer the more we see fighters from DWCS make their way to the UFC, so this is a fun little occasion. Sy is coming into this fight a little bit more prepared, at least physically and cardio wise, than his replacement opponent in Tokkos. Sy is coming off a string of beautiful fights on various promotions, but most importantly he’s been relatively tested on KSW, which is one of the better promotions to come out of the European world of MMA. Sy is a long and rangey fighter who has dangerous head kicks and dangerous wrestling skills that he uses really well, and whilst he has a massive reach advantage over his opponent, he doesn’t exactly strike in any traditional way, you don’t see him throw a lot of jabs, he mostly uses his reach to lock in takedowns (since it’s easier to lock in takedowns with longer arms), and the moment the fight goes to the ground, expect him to find a position to where he can reign down heavy ground and pound. I would love to see him strike a bit more, but most of his fights are him taking his opponents down and landing ground and pound, and if he does that against a replacement fighter in Tokkos, I expect him to dominate and completely shut down Tokkos since it would take preparation to get out of funky positions that Sy puts his opponents in, and I don’t know if Tokkos has that wrestling background to handle the larger and longer opponent in Sy properly on the ground. Tokkos seemingly came out of nowhere this last week, and that one thing that blasted me in the face was the record of his second most recent opponent, Brian Jackson. Dudes got a 1-7 record and Tokkos torched him (expectedly), that doesn’t bring a lot of confidence to me that a guy like Tokkos, coming from a relatively decent gym in Kill Cliff FC, takes on and fights someone like that. Tokkos is overall a decent fighter with some strong wins under his belt, but the main thing going against him here is preparation time, and whilst he does have a fair bit of experience under his belt, I just don’t think he’s ready for someone like Sy on short notice. Tokkos is a relatively well rounded fighter with great wrestling and decent striking, but i just think all of that is going to be possibly negated by the substantial reach advantage of Sy. This is a double debut though, and whilst I normally steer clear from calling someone new to the UFC a lock, I think the fact that Sy has had a full camp for… three fights (Bellato, Trocolli (both cancelled) and now Tokkos), I think he’s ready for this fight and ready for the UFC. He will be an optional lock, but still a 2/3 confidence pick, if that makes sense.
Sy via KO R1 (2/3)
Lightweight
Tom Nolan (-450) (6-1-0, NS) v Victor Martinez (+340) (13-5-0, NS) - Both fighters made their debut and lost in the same way, in the same round, so let’s call this a second attempt at a debut lol. Nolan made his debut against knockout artist Nikolas Motta, and honestly that is a dangerous fight for anyone to take, but it probably made sense to the matchmakers since both fighters are prolific knockout artists. Nolan does finish his opponents very quickly a lot of the time, and I do think he has a massive advantage on the feet against Martinez since Martinez isn’t exactly a big threat on the feet, and his inactivity over the past few years (or lack of solid activity at least) leaves some questions hanging in the air. Nolan has a reach and height advantage here, but the most prominent advantage will be with his reach where he can string together gorgeous straight combinations to decent effect, and that’s what he’s really known for, he’s got awesome boxing and he is very confident in his punching power. He is also relatively defensively sound for someone with his size because I have pointed out before that a lot of taller and longer fighters don’t shell up a lot or have a lot of defensive layers to their style, but Nolan is overall a fairly solid boxer both on the offence and defence, it’s just a shame he got fed to the wolf when he fought Motta. Nolan made the simple mistake when he fought Motta of being in the pocket without care, and i think those kinds of mistakes are easy enough to fix, and considering Martinez is not the same kind of threat on the feet compared to Motta, I do think that gives Nolan a bit more freedom to string together combinations and overall look great on the feet, as he was meant to be, since his whole career up until that loss to Motta has been him having gorgeous striking. Martinez is coming off a KO loss also, but it was by Jordan Leavitt, and that’s just a painful look on anyone's record to get knocked out by someone who is not known for his striking. Martinez is overall a good striker, he has very fast hands, but I have noticed one thing about him that I can see Nolan landing cleanly. Martinez has the tendency to leave his right hand far from a block position, its more of a parry position, in front of him instead of beside him, and he tends to lower that hand when taking a back step, and I cannot help but see the Southpaw striker in Nolan land that left hand to the chin of Martinez. Now, any sort of exchange between either fighter here is going to be a dangerous one for both parties, but that is where reach comes in, Nolan has a diverse boxing skillset and his long attacks allow him to carry power as much as anyone elses short hooks would. One major thing Martinez is going to have to be careful of is a knee up the middle by Nolan as Nolan’s height is going to allow that knee to come up to target without a major loss to momentum, and I mean, if Martinez got dropped by Rosales on DWCS, then by Leavitt, I just don’t know if he has the chin to withstand the battering that comes from Nolan. I got Nolan winning this one, but this is going to be a fantastic fight which isn’t likely to go the distance.
Nolan via KO R1 - (2/3)
Main Card
Women’s Strawweight
Angela Hill (#12) (-160) (16-13-0, NS) v Luana Pinheiro (#13) (+130) (11-2-0, NS) - This is a great fight. Hill is coming off a very strong win over Denise Gomes, and it was honestly such a brilliant performance by someone who a lot of people tend to ignore. Hill is an incredibly diverse fighter, she is tenacious on the feet, highly capable of stringing together strong combinations from all ranges, and as she closes the distance, she’s good at tying up her opponent in a clinch and landing awesome knees and elbows. This is all Hill and her cumulative experience in the Octagon against a wide range of different fighters and styles, and it’s clear to me that her preparation for a lot of her fights involve solid planning and back up plans, because whilst her record reflects a rough run through her career, her level of competition is insane. Hill isn’t a finisher though, but she is someone who can keep a ridiculous pace for three rounds, so I do think that she has the capabilities to overwhelm Pinheiro on the feet, especially since we just saw Ribas do the same thing a little over 5 months ago. Hill will have a striking advantage in this fight, she throws a lot of volume at high speed towards her opponent and they do land effectively, and with a slight edge in reach I do see her having a bit more success on the feet here especially since Pinheiro does not have a lot of head movement or striking defence. Pinheiro is a danger to Hill in the grappling department though, especially in those transitions from standing to ground, she utilises hip throws relatively well and could make this fight ugly on the ground, but I don’t think there is a major submission threat here, I think her style is predominantly control and ground and pound, both things that Hill has experience in dealing with, although she still will lose the round if Pinheiro executes her gameplan well. Pinheiro has power in her hands, she could potentially make Hill a little bit frozen and hesitant on the feet once Pinheiro lands that overhand right that Pinheiro loves to throw early, but she doesn’t throw it often enough to lead to a significant finish, she’s a very low volume, high impact striker and that could play in the favour of Hill if Hill’s volume walks Pinheiro back into the cage. Pinheiro could make this fight dangerous for Hill on the ground, but we have seen a few times now that Hill is very good at the basics of takedown defence, underhooks, whizzers (if i spelt that correctly) and quickly getting back to a standing position, she is not complacent on the ground or in that transition to the ground, and I think any sort of failed takedown attempt from Pinheiro is going to fuel Hill a lot more, since Pinheiro only has a few kinds of takedowns. This is a hard on to pick in all seriousness, I might get the prediction wrong, but I have a strong feeling that we are going to see this fight go over 2.5 rounds, or even hit the scorecards. As for the prediction, looking at this fight, I am kind of leaning on Hill here, because Pinheiro’s wins aren’t as significant as Hill’s wins, and i do think Pinheiro fades a little bit as the fight goes on.
Hill via UD - (1/3)
Bantamweight
Adrian Yanez (-350) (16-5-0, 2 FLS) v Vinicius Salvador (+275) (14-6-0, 2 FLS) - I love this fight. Yanez is coming off two painful back to back KO losses, whenever a young fighter comes into the UFC, tears through the division, then hits a losing skid, it’s always a concern to any fan or pundit. However, I do think that leg kick KO is anomalous to the UFC, it rarely happens and I don’t think Salvador is much of a leg kicker anyway so the threat isn’t there. However, I do want to add that the psychological factor of maybe getting leg kicked to oblivion is going to weigh heavy on Yanez’ mind, and I do wonder if Yanez has drilled checking leg kicks before. Now, Yanez is still a dangerous opponent for anyone to take, he still has incredibly technical MMA boxing, and that’s going to be on full display this weekend. Yanez is so fluid and yet tricky on the feet, he’s very good at gauging range and firing away from different angles, as well as timing his shots off his opponents striking attempts, everything involving striking exchanges will most likely be in the favour of Yanez, he thrives in that space and I do believe his experience and his wins prior to those two devastating losses are going to shine this weekend. My only concern about Yanez is his ability to not get carried away and show his chin too much, because whilst Salvador is yet to get a win in the UFC, he still has had some mild striking success against fighters like Altamirano and Vergara, and it wouldn’t take a lot for Salvador to find the chin of Yanez. Salvador is a very funky and unorthodox fighter, and whilst that always brings positive attention to him, I also think that has been a product of failure for him also since the more cleaner fighters outbox him, are generally a lot faster and just find their mark a bit quicker, if that makes sense? I mean, Salvador’s stance is fairly loose, his chin is in the air and his shell is rather loose, and that’s not good news, especially if he’s facing a vicious fighter like Yanez. Salvador thrives in chaotic fights though, he is awesome and making it dangerous and risky for his opponents to fight in the pocket, but his style emanates a lack of self preservation. He is a kill or be killed kind of fighter in my opinion, and I firmly believe that when he got dropped numerous times in that first round against Victor Altamirano, it only showed us, and any future opponent (via tape watch in prep) that he is very hittable, his head is right there and the only reason it wasn’t there for Vergara was due to the significant difference in height and reach. Salvador moving up to 135 could make him a lot more interesting in terms of being able to explode more often and having more power behind his punches, but I also think it means he is dealing with more harder hitting fighters, and with the accuracy and boxing skill set of Yanez, I just think Salvador is going to get outdone here. I got Yanez winning this one, but I am interested to see if Salvador has what it takes to win and upset a lot of parlays out there.
Yanez via KO R2 - (1/3)
Welterweight
Ramiz Brahimaj (+170) (10-4-0, NS) v Themba Gorimbo (-205) (12-4-0, 2 FWS) - Brahimaj is coming back after two tough years away, and the reason why it’s tough is because he has been dealing with a spinal injury, and boy do i empathise with that. Now, his injury is mostly C-Spine and shoulder area nerve damage, this is terrible for a fighter because it effectively eliminates your ability to comfortably strike, sprawl, wrestle, underhook/overhook stuff, everything that you see in a fighter typically comes from shoulder rotation and all that stuff, so for Brahimaj to be out for two years, dealing with all of that, does not give me a lot of confidence in him being 100% coming into this fight against Gorimbo. Brahimaj is a dangerous grappler who thrives on the ground, he is honestly only dangerous on the ground, but the problem is that Gorimbo is very good on the ground himself, at least good enough to know what is being set up, and it’s on the ground where Brahimaj has his only chance to win. Unfortunately for Brahimaj, it’s going to take some work to get the fight to the ground and Gorimbo is more than willing to keep the fight standing, so honestly, I just don’t think Brahimaj is going to be as well rounded or as effective as he needs to be in order to get a win here. Gorimbo is riding some momentum coming into this fight, as he is coming off a lightning quick KO over Pete Rodriguez, and I mean, Rodriguez sucks, he’s one of the worst fighters in the UFC and that KO means nothing in the grand scheme of things, it’s just an additional win on a record with barely any weight to it. Gorimbo is going to be a lot more confident in his boxing though since that win, that feeling of getting knockouts is an addictive one and I think he’s going to be using his incredible reach advantage to look to get another KO this weekend over the possibly rusty Brahimaj. Gorimbo is a very well rounded fighter who honestly has a lot of potential to be a star, he has excellent boxing, and honestly very good wrestling and grappling, and I do think if the fight does go to the ground, Gorimbo has the fight IQ to notice set ups coming, neutralize them and remain on top in control, landing ground and pound or just advancing to his own submission positions. The most likely scenario though is Gorimbo keeps this fight standing and overwhelms Brahimaj on the feet, because he probably wants to chase another KO since that feeling is notoriously addictive. I got Gorimbo winning this one, I can’t wait to see how far this man goes in his career.
Gorimbo via KO R1 - (2/3)
Co-Main Event
Welterweight
Khaos Williams (-125) (14-3-0, NS) v Carlston Harris (+105) (19-5-0, 2 FWS) - This feels like a classic Striker versus Grappler fight. Williams is a strong, powerful striker who is such a threat on the feet, especially early on when he wants to push a nasty pace and land those devastating punches. He is known for being a bully, crashing forward with crazy power and aggression. There is no clean technique coming from Williams, it is mostly wild, wild punches and he is confident in his ability to knock out his opponent, that’s what makes him a dangerous threat to his opponents, that confidence. The right hand is Williams best weapon, his right overhand or hook is going to be the one that knocks out Harris if it lands, but that’s all he is, a powerful right side puncher, and if Harris times a takedown well, all of that threat is gone. On the flip side, Harris is primarily a grappler with a solid grappling base, and whilst he has faced his fair share of dangerous strikers, I believe Williams’ power is something different. Now, Harris has the potential to take this fight to the ground, I know that according to UFC stats that Harris has an 80% takedown defence, but there has not been enough wrestling in his fights, by his opponents, to fully prove that his takedown defence is that great, it’s only been used sparingly against him since most of his fights are absolute wild exchanges and beautiful displays of violence on the feet. Williams' propensity to head hunt could lead to an opening for a level change by Harris, but it’s a risky thing to do because any punch that lands on Harris is going to hurt him, and considering the age factor here, its possible his chin isn’t going to hold up well against the power of Williams. Now, Harris was getting ragdolls and outwrestled by Wells when they fought, and whilst that isn’t a great look for Harris, I don’t think Williams has the wrestling capabilities that Wells has, so I think the main submission threat from Harris in this fight is going to come from the clinch, so guillotines and front head choke variants are going to be on the menu for Harris this weekend, it’s just a matter of if he gets into that position or if he gets his head blasted over and over by powerful punches from Williams. This is a dangerous fight to bet on if you’re thinking of Moneyline betting, it can easily go either way since both excel in their respective styles, the safest and smartest bet here in my opinion is that this fight doesn’t hit the judges scorecards. As for my prediction, I don’t think i’ll be getting this right due to the volatile nature of this match up, but…
Harris via Sub R2 - (1/3)
Main Event
Featherweight
Edson Barboza (#14) (+125) (24-11-0, 2 FWS) v Lerone Murphy (-150) (13-0-1, 5 FWS FWS) - Man this is a funky main event. Barboza is a legend of the sport, but most importantly, and perhaps most relevant to this write up, he is an old dog who can still hang with the toughest. His last two wins have been against Yusuff and Quarantillo, two very difficult fighters to take on at 145 and it’s his win over Yusuff that I want to highlight… Yusuff exploded in the first round, looked for that finish and Barboza survived and thrived throughout the rest of the fight, it was a beautiful display of heart, toughness, and adaptability, because that was not the first firefight that Barboza has been in, and considering his current opponent, it sure as shit won’t be his last. Barboza is well known for his outstanding kicks, but he’s also just overall a ridiculously dangerous striker. An understated aspect of his whole game though is his wrestling and grappling, he might not be looking for a lot of takedowns when he fights, but he is well versed on the ground, having taken down Yusuff 3 of 4 times in the final round of a high pace main event is testament to his cardio and conditioning, despite the concern surrounding his age. Barboza is going to be a true test on the feet for Murphy, and I think it’s going to be the toughest fight of his career. Murphy is coming off a string of strong victories in the UFC, with his most recent one being against Culibao, and I gotta say, Murphy is one of those dangerous prospects that we all should keep an eye on. Murphy is a rapidly improving fighter who adds weapons to his arsenal every single time he comes out. He was originally a boxer with outstanding punching power and speed, he was ridiculously slick on the feet, but after each fight he adds more kicks, more movement and wrestling, he has slowly become a very well rounded fighter, and this makes his upcoming bout against a very tested veteran who is still here to stay in Barboza incredibly fascinating. There is a slight catch to all of those additional things added into his arsenal though, and that’s each time something has been added, the next opponent has something else to prepare for. I firmly believe that Murphy’s rise to this position and to this fight is not from his outstanding skill level, but from his incredible repertoire of techniques he has acquired and learnt over his UFC career. Unpredictability is king when it comes to new fighters, we have seen new fighters add things to their game that have completely changed and accelerated their growth, and that’s exactly what we have seen for Murphy. Murphy has a wide variety of strong strikes he uses effortlessly, from standard boxing combinations to a very snappy high kick, to strong grappling and control on the ground, he hasn’t mastered any of these things, but since they are added along each and every time he fights, his opponents are rarely prepared. This is not going to be the case for Barboza, Barboza is very, very well rounded and well versed in almost every aspect of MMA. Ill keep this short. I got Barboza winning this one, but I am still going to be a fan of Murphy, regardless of result.
Barboza via UD - (1/3)
Primary Parlay: Ducote/Demopoulos o2.5 or GTD + (optional Gatto/Vidal o2.5 or GTD) + Nolan/Martinez ITD + Hill/Pinheiro o2.5 or GTD + Barboza/Murphy R3 Starts
Locks of the week: Optional Sy + Nolan + Gorimbo
Alt Bets: Alves KO R1, Pinheiro Sub R2 or 3, Williams KO R1, Murphy KO R1 2 or 3 (combo rounds)
And that's it!!!!
Prediction accuracy as of 2024: 64.6%
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Lets have a fun and friendly discussion down below about this weekends card!
I hope you all have an amazing day, look after yourselves, and enjoy this awesome event!
2024.05.15 09:49 Lp1-is-holy Anyone got any recommendations for this load order?
So right now I am playing through Fo4 again, on PS5 this time, and decided to role play because I am an adult now. Right now I have the following load order, does anyone have recommendations on the order itself, any additions (I am constantly adding, but I started another new play-through because needing x5 damage for a raider with the same armor as the next is dumb imo.) I will number the order and add my explanations in parentheses. Feel free to comment or DM any responses, I’m open to improving my game!
Here is the load order I have:
submitted by Lp1-is-holy to Fallout4modsps4 [link] [comments]
Here is the load order I have:
- Unoff. Patch (Helps the game ofc)
- Arm. And Wep. Keywords (Req. for UCO)
- USO Base Game (more base building options)
- UCO Base Game (more clothing)
- Quick Start (Damn the family, I’m a Marine)
- The Commonwealth Minutemen Arm. (I felt like the Minutemen could use a “buff” bc Democracy, and aside from my issues with Preston’s dumb self)
- [PS4] STS (I hate Bethesda “bushes”)
- Sandman’s Power Gen. Tweaks (slight tweak to power output on gen.s)
- c6k - More Scrap from Junk (simple help when actually building and not needing a cheat room for materials)
- See-Through-Scopes (better x2.5 and x4 reflex sights)
- UCO Season Pass (DLC additions to UCO)
- USO Season Pass (DLC additions to USO
- [PS4] Simple Settlers (makes everyone a named person and changed outfits)
- All Settlements Extended (more horizontal room for building)
- Minuteman Watchtowers (200 years passed, shouldn’t there be some sort of militaristic remnant other than pre-war?)
- [PS4] Realistic Gore and Dismemberment (shooting off someone’s arms and watching them run has never been more fun, but the keep attacking until dead so not OP)
- Choose Your Own Perks (lets me craft “starter” armors and weapons, while “level-restricting” myself to late game crafting)
- 1st Person Animation Tweaks (weapon down when not firing)
- Apocalyptic Fallout Baby (omg this makes this game so different. Tbf, I haven’t even played an hour with it, but I highly recommend.)
- Pip-Boy Flashlight (Brighter) (My only issue is that the light effect is a screen effect, so it is radial to your screen rather than connected to your pip-boy. Definitely recommended for horror effect/darkening mods)
- [PS4/5] USO Next Gen Compatibility Patch (from author of USO/UCO, rec. at bottom of load order)
- Enhanced Lights and FX (I adding this and Apoc. Fall. Baby at the same time, so I am unsure which has the most effect, but this heavily increases the darkness in unlit areas so that the flashlight mod can shine)
2024.05.15 09:32 Tejmouse New PC Stutters horribly In games
The main issue is despite building what I thought was a mid/higher end PC, I am facing great stuttering problems in games. For Elden ring and cyberpunk for example, my fps drops to around 30 regularly, and 15 on occasion.
Build list:
Previously tried solutions:
Update Bios
Update chipset drivers
Update Nvidia graphics card drivers
Select max number of processors in system configuration
Select 4070ti card for global settings in Nvidia control panel
Select unlimted shaders cache in Nvidia control panel
Turn on Image Scaling in Nvidia control panel
Re-install windows
enable XMP in Bios
I've sunk a good chunk of money into this so I'd really like to get more than 30fps stable on this system, otherwise I just would've bought a cheaper pre-built.
Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to help me!
submitted by Tejmouse to buildapc [link] [comments]
Build list:
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor | $185.00 @ Newegg |
| Motherboard | ASRock B650 Steel Legend WiFi ATX AM5 Motherboard | - |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory | $113.99 @ Amazon |
| Storage | Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | $169.99 @ Amazon |
| Video Card | MSI VENTUS 3X OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB Video Card | $781.33 @ Amazon |
| Case | Fractal Design North ATX Mid Tower Case | $139.99 @ Amazon |
| Power Supply | Corsair RM750x (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | $99.99 @ Amazon |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $1490.29 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-05-15 03:21 EDT-0400 |
Update Bios
Update chipset drivers
Update Nvidia graphics card drivers
Select max number of processors in system configuration
Select 4070ti card for global settings in Nvidia control panel
Select unlimted shaders cache in Nvidia control panel
Turn on Image Scaling in Nvidia control panel
Re-install windows
enable XMP in Bios
I've sunk a good chunk of money into this so I'd really like to get more than 30fps stable on this system, otherwise I just would've bought a cheaper pre-built.
Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to help me!
2024.05.15 09:17 Ornella-D40 Accel Entertainment Q2FY23 Report
 | Accel, headquartered in the United States, operates as a decentralized gaming operator. The company's focus lies in the installation, supervision, and maintenance of gaming terminals and redemption devices. These machines not only distribute winnings but also provide ATM functionalities, in addition to a range of other amusement devices. Positioned strategically, these are found in authorized non-casino locations like restaurants, bars, taverns, convenience stores, liquor stores, truck stops, and grocery stores. submitted by Ornella-D40 to data40 [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/fdn036vqij0d1.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d76841781c13213208739071e0b237a9f259fe8 Q2FY23 Highlights
Gaming and Financial Technology Solution Segments of Accel EntertainmentGaming SegmentThe gaming segment encompasses the supply, setup, and upkeep of video gaming terminals (VGTs) in bars, dining establishments, and other authorized locations. Key Elements:
In the financial sector, offerings encompass services and technologies aimed at streamlining financial flows, transactional processes, and enhancing reporting capabilities. Key Elements:
Business OutlookThe company remains committed to optimizing its cost structure while upholding exceptional service standards. Expansion plans through 2024 face regulatory hurdles, particularly in Missouri, Indiana, and Chicago, where gambling legalization seems improbable in the near future. A glimmer of hope arises in North Carolina, where legislative changes might open avenues for expansion.Despite these regulatory challenges, Accel Entertainment anticipates leveraging the synergies from the Century acquisition to reinforce its market presence and bolster revenue in existing markets. This integration is poised to propel expansion efforts in the upcoming years, establishing a robust groundwork for sustained growth. Accel Entertainment is exploring further growth prospects in Nebraska, underscoring its dedication to cultivating new markets and diversifying its geographic reach. With strategic initiatives, synergistic endeavors, and a forward-thinking approach to market development, the company remains primed for expansion. Final ThoughtsAccel Entertainment's Q2FY23 report highlights its resilient performance amidst a challenging regulatory environment. Despite facing hurdles in specific markets, the company's strategic emphasis on cost efficiency and top-tier service has set the stage for enduring growth. Leveraging continuous synergies from recent acquisitions and precise expansion strategies, Accel Entertainment stands strongly poised to seize emerging prospects and provide shareholder value in the upcoming quarters. |
2024.05.15 08:50 UstroyDestroy AI Advancements: Groq Incs Efficient Inference Engine, Googles Gemini Era, and Anthropics Expansion to Europe
startups #release #update #leaders #tool #vc #science #paper #hardware #event #api #feature #major_players #bigtech #opensource #opinions #scheduled
Anthropic's AI assistant, Claude, is now available in Europe, including on the App Store, offering instant answers and assistance with deep work tasks [1][2]. Greg Brockman demonstrated a concept of GPT-4o for customer service, expressing gratitude to his co-founder, Ilya, for their work on OpenAI [3][4][5]. Andrej Karpathy humorously suggests that the "killer app" of Large Language Models (LLMs) is Scarlett Johansson, not math [6].Yann LeCun emphasizes the importance of safer AI being better AI, with objectives, including safety guardrails, driving AI systems [8]. He also highlights that entropy minimization leads to improved out-of-distribution performance [9]. NVIDIA and Dell are partnering to transform enterprises at Dell Technologies World, showcasing the latest innovations in AI, multicloud, and edge computing [10]. NVIDIA AI also announced the optimization of AI-powered applications like Google Gemma 2 and PaliGemma with NVIDIA TensorRT-LLM [11].
Google DeepMind's latest advancements were shared at Google IO, including the Gemini model 1.5 Flash, Project Astra, the Veo video model, and Imagen 3 [12][13][14]. Metalware, a startup from Y Combinator's S23 batch, prioritized data quality over quantity to build a foundation model with less compute [15]. Nabla Bio, a startup founded by scientists from Harvard Medical School, has raised $26M in Series A funding and formed partnerships with pharmaceutical companies for AI antibody design [16].
Groq Inc introduces the Groq LPU™ Inference Engine, which is claimed to run GenAI models 10 times more efficiently than GPU solutions [17]. They are targeting June for a certain project or release and will be participating in the NYSE Tech Summit SF [18][19]. Groq Inc's Chief Tech Evangelist, @lifebypixels, will be participating in an event tomorrow at 11:30 PT [21]. Vectorizeio has chosen Groq Inc as their default LLM for their launch [22]. Groq Inc is currently in private beta but will be planning to make their product available to the public soon [23].
The CEO of Groq Inc, Jonathan Ross, believes that advancements in AI will create more jobs than there are people to fill them, citing the Jevons Paradox [24]. Groq Inc will be introducing paid tier rates next month [26]. Groq Inc's new intern created a demo comparing Gemma 7B and ChatGPT 4 Turbo controlling two Ken characters in a retro game [27]. Groq Inc has been praised by researchers like Andrew Ng for their fast-working chips that can advance generative AI [28].
The Google I/O 2024 developer conference will feature product news and innovations from Google [29]. Google AI's Infinite Wonderland is a lab session where artists use StyleDrop, a fine-tuning technique on Imagen 2, to create infinite images reimagining Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in unique styles [31][32][33][34][35]. Google has announced that AI Overviews will start rolling out to users in the U.S. today, with plans to expand to more countries in the near future [36].
Google has introduced Gemini 1.5 Flash, a lighter-weight model optimized for tasks requiring low latency and cost efficiency [37]. Google's Project Astra, a prototype by Google DeepMind, aims to investigate the potential of a universal AI agent in enhancing daily life [38]. Google has introduced Imagen 3, which is Google DeepMind's most advanced image generation model [39]. Google has introduced Veo, a new generative video model developed by Google DeepMind [40]. Google Workspace has upgraded to the Gemini 1.5 Pro model for its side panel, allowing for a longer context window and more advanced reasoning [41].
Google has introduced a new model called PaliGemma, which is the first vision-language open model in their Gemma family [43]. Google has announced Gemma 2, their next generation of models which will include a 27B parameter instance [44]. Google utilized AlphaGo from Google DeepMind to create a new method called "AI-Assisted Red Teaming" to enhance agents' red teaming skills [45]. Google introduced SynthID last year to add imperceptible watermarks to AI-generated images and audio [46]. Google has introduced LearnLM, a new family of models based on Gemini and fine-tuned for learning [48].
The Gemini era has been introduced by Google, bringing AI advancements to various tools and products [50]. Sundar Pichai shared updates on Google's AI advancements and the Gemini era at Google I/O 2024 [51]. Gemini Nano will be integrated into Chrome Desktop client starting in Chrome 126 [52]. Google introduced updates across the Gemini family of models, including the new lighter-weight model 1.5 Flash [53].
1. Anthropic @anthropicai https://twitter.com/anthropicai/status/1790260887905091757
2. Anthropic @anthropicai https://twitter.com/anthropicai/status/1790260889050071242
3. Greg Brockman @gdb https://twitter.com/gdb/status/1790277577007046993
4. Greg Brockman @gdb https://twitter.com/gdb/status/1790280704305303637
5. Greg Brockman @gdb https://twitter.com/gdb/status/1790519014562898012
6. Andrej Karpathy @karpathy https://twitter.com/karpathy/status/1790373216537502106
7. a16z @a16z https://twitter.com/a16z/status/1790430799390458341
8. Yann LeCun @ylecun https://twitter.com/ylecun/status/1790350459233771695
9. Yann LeCun @ylecun https://twitter.com/ylecun/status/1790523417839722903
10. NVIDIA AI @NVIDIAAI https://twitter.com/NVIDIAAI/status/1790396656128594261
11. NVIDIA AI @NVIDIAAI https://twitter.com/NVIDIAAI/status/1790494566123962645
12. Demis Hassabis @demishassabis https://twitter.com/demishassabis/status/1790455766161428816
13. Demis Hassabis @demishassabis https://twitter.com/demishassabis/status/1790460100186107947
14. Demis Hassabis @demishassabis https://twitter.com/demishassabis/status/1790466241267957845
15. Y Combinator @ycombinator https://twitter.com/ycombinatostatus/1790450906015650233
16. Y Combinator @ycombinator https://twitter.com/ycombinatostatus/1790470890167402524
17. Groq Inc @GroqInc https://twitter.com/GroqInc/status/1790371990324248823
18. Groq Inc @GroqInc https://twitter.com/GroqInc/status/1790379852933329058
19. Groq Inc @GroqInc https://twitter.com/GroqInc/status/1790440337858572594
20. Groq Inc @GroqInc https://twitter.com/GroqInc/status/1790456044243808562
21. Groq Inc @GroqInc https://twitter.com/GroqInc/status/1790470487078031535
22. Groq Inc @GroqInc https://twitter.com/GroqInc/status/1790475385987334189
23. Groq Inc @GroqInc https://twitter.com/GroqInc/status/1790476899279634595
24. Groq Inc @GroqInc https://twitter.com/GroqInc/status/1790489009484968307
25. Groq Inc @GroqInc https://twitter.com/GroqInc/status/1790501563796271516
26. Groq Inc @GroqInc https://twitter.com/GroqInc/status/1790503856235020345
27. Groq Inc @GroqInc https://twitter.com/GroqInc/status/1790530402840400042
28. Groq Inc @GroqInc https://twitter.com/GroqInc/status/1790530530225569999
29. Google AI @googleai https://twitter.com/googleai/status/1790415282751651868
30. Google AI @googleai https://twitter.com/googleai/status/1790460587274654071
31. Google AI @googleai https://twitter.com/googleai/status/1790482726472048971
32. Google AI @googleai https://twitter.com/googleai/status/1790482971956224340
33. Google AI @googleai https://twitter.com/googleai/status/1790484575187059074
34. Google AI @googleai https://twitter.com/googleai/status/1790487259294097844
35. Google AI @googleai https://twitter.com/googleai/status/1790487531210858671
36. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790428396775719053
37. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790432952767115432
38. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790433789811753460
39. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790434730623537280
40. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790435689495945479
41. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790441491338264973
42. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790451222169735664
43. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790451427464085563
44. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790452314278412554
45. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790452610714992930
46. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790453029243703658
47. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790453185112379680
48. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790453655054827679
49. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790453969778528403
50. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790455194485981275
51. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790461936271818842
52. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790488785483927580
53. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790495545733079487
54. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790512050512224468
55. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790525496121270319
56. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790526213305274812
57. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790526402158031338
58. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790526648745443752
59. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790526782866702459
60. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790526875770532228
61. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790532716259074178
62. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790532794663178436
63. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790532851844128961
64. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790548761204167107
65. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790548876597805448
66. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790549111445307514
67. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790554248045891942
68. Google @google https://twitter.com/google/status/1790554287887577439
69. Andrew Ng @AndrewYNg https://twitter.com/AndrewYNg/status/1790500978279776450
70. Sam Altman @sama https://twitter.com/sama/status/1790518031640347056
71. Sam Altman @sama https://twitter.com/sama/status/1790518321881985365
72. NVIDIA AI Developer @NVIDIAAIDev https://twitter.com/NVIDIAAIDev/status/1790426935543165272
73. NVIDIA AI Developer @NVIDIAAIDev https://twitter.com/NVIDIAAIDev/status/1790502330586005822
74. NVIDIA AI Developer @NVIDIAAIDev https://twitter.com/NVIDIAAIDev/status/1790525074572718106
75. NVIDIA AI Developer @NVIDIAAIDev https://twitter.com/NVIDIAAIDev/status/1790562234533638619
76. NVIDIA AI Developer @NVIDIAAIDev https://twitter.com/NVIDIAAIDev/status/1790563475279818881
2024.05.15 08:37 Asleep-Mycologist333 Photoshop Express v13.8.48 MOD APK (Premium Unlocked)
 | https://preview.redd.it/s31xrfjhcj0d1.png?width=512&format=png&auto=webp&s=85f47ba16dc8efd2af63109560863988f7f281a1 submitted by Asleep-Mycologist333 to Modifiedmods [link] [comments]
👆👆👆👆Download Link👆👆👆👆 https://t.me/official_modyolo FLAWLESS PHOTO ENHANCEMENT FOR PICTURE-PERFECT IMAGESComing from the famous developer Adobe, Photoshop Express Photo Editor will be an effective tool for you when it brings completely impressive editing experiences with full features. You can completely edit colors through impressive effects and filters that make each image editing application unique. At the same time, you can also remove unnecessary elements to make your face more beautiful and increase sophistication for others. Alternatively, if you don’t know where to start, let AI assist you in many functions, and a touch will start the editing process and send you the results instantly.
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2024.05.15 08:20 Furystorm [WTS] Furystorm's boutique™ (⌐ ͡■ ͜ʖ ͡■) Galaxy's Finest (⌐ ͡■ ͜ʖ ͡■) ✪ Game packages (SQ42 & LTI & starter) ✪ Banu Cube/Tholo ✪ LTI Pioneer, Orion, Carrack, Merchantman, Hull A/B/C/D/E, Vindicator, others ★ Rare CCUs (upgrades) ★ Combo packs ★ Vanguard BUKs ★ Modules/Flairs/Weapons/Armor ★
- ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ### 👽👽👽 Welcome to Furystorm's boutique ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 👽👽👽
New players - use this code (STAR-MRG5-2TBJ) on registration to get additional 5000 UEC for free!▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓
(Just click this link)
Currencies accepted: PayPal: [$] [€], Skrill (+10%): [€], Crypto(+5%): BTC, BCH, ETH, can take others
To make an order 📨 PM me via Reddit or via Discord (Furystorm#4218)
!!! Please use standard messages, not chat (notifications aren't working properly sometimes) !!!►1◄ REFERRAL SERVICE
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20 $ per eachInfo about rewards can be found here - https://robertsspaceindustries.com/referral-program
╔══════════════════╗
►2◄ SPECIAL OFFERS
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╰( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )つ──☆
Upgrades
| Item | Price, $ |
|---|---|
| Banu Tholo code | 80 |
| Banu Lockbox (Banu Cube) code | 100 |
| Mole to Merchantman | 199 |
| Starfarer Gemini to Merchantman | 189 |
| C2 Hercules to Carrack | 139 |
| Valkyrie to Carrack | 169 |
| Constellation Aquila to Orion | 219 |
| Starfarer Gemini to Hull D Upgrade | 109 |
| Constellation Andromeda to Hull C Upgrade | 139 |
| Anvil Terrapin to Hull C Upgrade | 179 |
| F7C-R Hornet Tracker to Constellation Taurus | 39 |
| Corsair to 400i Warbond Edition | 12 |
| Hull E to Polaris | 50 |
| Ship Upgrades - Drake Kraken Conversion Kit | 799 |
| PAINTS - PERSEUS - THUNDERCLOUD PAINT | 31 |
Stuff
| Item | Price, $ |
|---|---|
| CitizenCon 2951 Digital Goodies | 9 |
| Gemini LH86 Pistol - Voyager edition | 6 |
| Kruger P-72 Emerald | 105 |
| RSI VENTURE PATHFINDER ARM ARMOR | 10 |
| RSI VENTURE VOYAGER ARM ARMOR | 10 |
►4◄ GAME AND SHIP COMBO PACKAGES
╚═════════════════════════════════╝
| Package | Insurance | SC+SQ42 | Price, $ | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PACKAGE - 2943 WEEKEND WARRIOR - LTI | LTI | SC + SQ42 | 299 | F7C-M Super Hornet LTI pack |
| Package - Syulen Starter Pack | LTI | SC | 115 | Syulen LTI pack |
| Package - Aurora LN | 3MI | SC + SQ42 | 59 | Aurora LN (best aurora) Starter package |
| Mustang Alpha Starter | 3MI | SC | 55 | - |
| Anniversary 2017 Mustang Discount Starter | 5YI | No | 54 | - |
| Nox 2 pack | LTI | No | 121 | Nox + Nox Kue |
| Aopoa Nox 5 Pack | LTI | No | 242 | 4 Nox + 1 Nox Kue |
| Race Team Pack | LTI | No | 168 | X1 + NOX + Dragonfly Black |
| Origin X1 THREE-PACK | LTI | No | 174 | X1 Baseline + Velocity + Force |
| Entrepreneur pack | LTI | Yes | 683 | Prospector + Vulture + Vulcan + Hull B + Ursa Rover |
| The Tortoise and the Hurricane | LTI | No | 415 | Anvil Hurricane + Anvil Terrapin |
| Starfarer + Nox 2 pack | LTI | No | 431 | Starfarer + Nox + Nox Kue |
| Origin 600i Series Combo Pack | LTI | No | 977 | 600i Luxury + Exploration + Origin X1 |
| Scoundrel Pack | LTI | Yes | 788 | 7 Items, see picture |
| Aegis Wrecking Crew Pack | LTI | No | 1155 | Reclaimer + Vulcan + Eclipse + Avenger Warlock/Titan |
| Exotic Mega Pack | LTI | No | 1260 | Banu MM + Genesis Starliner + Khartu-al + other small ships |
| UEE Exploration 2948 Pack | LTI | Yes | 850 | Carrack, Terrapin, Freelancer DUR, Cyclone RN |
►5◄ LTI STANDALONE SHIPS
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CCU-d ships are upgraded from another ship. Also I have ships from original sale - they may come with different bonuses but are more expensive.
You can click on the price of original sale item to see it's contents.
| Ship manufacturer | Ship model | Insurance | Price (CCU-d), $ | Price (Original sale), $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aopoa (Xi'an) | Khartu-Al | LTI | 179 | - |
| - | Nox | LTI | - | 77 |
| - | Nox Kue | LTI | - | 77 |
| - | San'Tok.Yai | LTI | 231 | - |
| Aegis Dynamics | Avenger Titan | LTI | 74 | 100 |
| - | Avenger Titan Renegade | LTI | 95 | 111 |
| - | Avenger Stalker | LTI | 84 | - |
| - | Avenger Warlock | LTI | 100 | - |
| - | Eclipse | LTI | 305 | 333 |
| - | Gladius | LTI | 116 | - |
| - | Gladius Valiant | LTI | 132 | 147 |
| - | Hammerhead | LTI | 672 | 777 |
| - | Hammerhead Best in Show Edition | LTI | 746 | - |
| - | Nautilus | LTI | 672 | - |
| - | Reclaimer | LTI | 336 | 550 |
| - | Reclaimer Best in Show Edition | LTI | 429 | - |
| - | Redeemer | LTI | 333 | - |
| - | Retaliator Bomber | LTI | 284 | - |
| - | Sabre | LTI | 184 | 221 |
| - | Sabre Comet | LTI | 195 | - |
| - | Vanguard Warden | LTI | 263 | 357 |
| - | Vanguard Harbinger | LTI | 289 | - |
| - | Vanguard Sentinel | LTI | 268 | - |
| - | Vanguard Hoplite | LTI | 231 | 268 |
| - | Vulcan | LTI | 216 | 242 |
| ARGO Astronautics | MPUV Cargo | LTI | 74 | 84 |
| - | MPUV Personnel | LTI | - | 89 |
| Raft | LTI | 142 | - | |
| - | SRV | LTI | 165 | - |
| - | Mole | LTI | 321 | - |
| - | Combo Pack | LTI | - | 111 |
| Anvil Aerospace | Arrow | LTI | 95 | 137 |
| - | C8X Pisces Expedition | LTI | 69 | 79 |
| - | C8R Pisces | LTI | 84 | - |
| - | Carrack | LTI | 420 | - |
| - | Carrack W/C8X | LTI | 440 | - |
| - | Carrack Expedition | LTI | 447 | - |
| - | Carrack Expedition W/C8X | LTI | 468 | - |
| - | Crucible | LTI | 369 | 431 |
| - | F7C Hornet | LTI | 121 | - |
| - | F7C Hornet Wildfire | LTI | 189 | 210 |
| - | F7C-S Hornet Ghost | LTI | 140 | - |
| - | F7C-R Hornet Tracker | LTI | 155 | - |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet | LTI | 199 | 252 |
| - | F7C-M Hornet Heartseeker | LTI | 200 | - |
| - | Gladiator | LTI | 177 | 221 |
| - | Hawk | LTI | 116 | 132 |
| - | Hurricane | LTI | 210 | 231 |
| - | Terrapin | LTI | 231 | 263 |
| - | Valkyrie | LTI | 357 | - |
| - | Legionnaire | LTI | 132 | - |
| Banu | Merchantman | LTI | 399 | - |
| - | Defender | LTI | 226 | 237 |
| Consolidated outland | Mustang Beta | LTI | 95 | - |
| - | Mustang Gamma | LTI | 74 | - |
| - | Mustang Delta | LTI | 84 | - |
| - | Pioneer | LTI | - | 1499 |
| Crusader Industries | Ares Inferno | LTI | 252 | - |
| - | Ares Ion | LTI | 252 | - |
| - | Genesis Starliner | LTI | 357 | 578 |
| - | C2 Hercules | LTI | 368 | - |
| - | M2 Hercules | LTI | 483 | - |
| - | A2 Hercules | LTI | 735 | - |
| C1 Spirit | LTI | 137 | - | |
| E1 Spirit | LTI | 163 | - | |
| A1 Spirit | LTI | 210 | - | |
| - | Mercury Star Runner | LTI | 273 | - |
| Drake Interplanetary | Dragonfly Yellowjacket | LTI | - | 84 |
| - | Dragonfly Black | LTI | - | 84 |
| - | Dragonfly Ride Together Two-Pack | LTI | - | 126 |
| - | Buccaneer | LTI | 126 | 142 |
| - | Caterpillar | LTI | 336 | - |
| - | Caterpillar Best in Show Edition | LTI | 347 | - |
| - | Corsair | LTI | 263 | - |
| - | Cutlass Black | LTI | 126 | - |
| - | Cutlass Black Best in Show Edition (2949) | LTI | 137 | - |
| - | Cutlass Steel | LTI | 221 | - |
| - | Cutlass Red | LTI | 142 | - |
| - | Cutlass Blue | LTI | 168 | - |
| - | Herald | LTI | 111 | - |
| - | Vulture | LTI | 158 | - |
| Esperia | Vanduul Blade | LTI | 284 | 326 |
| - | Vanduul Glaive | LTI | 373 | - |
| - | Prowler | LTI | 399 | 510 |
| - | Talon | LTI | 132 | - |
| - | Talon Shrike | LTI | 132 | - |
| Gatac | Railen | LTI | 242 | - |
| Greycat Industrial | ROC | LTI | 77 | - |
| Kruger Intergalactic | P-72 Archimedes | LTI | - | 90 |
| - | P-72 Archimedes Emerald | LTI | - | 105 |
| Mirai | Fury | LTI | 69 | - |
| - | Fury MX | LTI | 69 | - |
| - | Fury LX | LTI | 69 | - |
| MISC | Endeavor BASE | LTI | 378 | - |
| - | Endeavor DISCOVERY-CLASS | LTI | - | 683 |
| - | Endeavor Master Set 2018 | LTI | - | 1399 |
| Expanse | LTI | 168 | - | |
| - | Freelancer | LTI | 121 | - |
| - | Freelancer DUR | LTI | 147 | - |
| - | Freelancer MAX | LTI | 163 | - |
| - | Freelancer MIS | LTI | 184 | - |
| - | HULL A | LTI | 99 | - |
| - | HULL B | LTI | 147 | - |
| - | HULL C | LTI | 357 | - |
| - | HULL D | LTI | 462 | - |
| - | Odyssey | LTI | 578 | - |
| - | Razor | LTI | 163 | 179 |
| - | Razor LX | LTI | 168 | - |
| - | Razor EX | LTI | 174 | - |
| - | Prospector | LTI | 163 | 179 |
| - | Reliant Kore (Mini Hauler) | LTI | 84 | 105 |
| - | Reliant Tana (Skirmisher) | LTI | 95 | - |
| - | Reliant Mako (News Van) | LTI | 121 | - |
| - | Reliant Sen (Researcher) | LTI | 105 | - |
| - | Starfarer | LTI | 315 | 399 |
| - | Starfarer Gemini | LTI | 347 | 452 |
| Origin Jumpworks | X1 Baseline | LTI | - | 69 |
| - | X1 Velocity | LTI | - | 74 |
| - | X1 Force | LTI | - | 79 |
| - | M50 | LTI | 121 | - |
| - | 85X | LTI | - | 79 |
| - | 100I | LTI | 74 | 95 |
| - | 125A | LTI | 79 | - |
| - | 135C | LTI | 84 | - |
| - | 300I | LTI | 77 | - |
| - | 315P | LTI | 77 | - |
| - | 325A | LTI | 93 | - |
| - | 350R | LTI | 137 | - |
| - | 400i | LTI | 265 | - |
| - | 600i Touring | LTI | 399 | 525 |
| - | 600i Exploration | LTI | 420 | 580 |
| RSI | Aurora CL | LTI | 74 | - |
| - | Apollo Triage | LTI | 268 | - |
| - | Apollo Medivac | LTI | 294 | - |
| - | Galaxy | LTI | 378 | - |
| - | Mantis | LTI | 168 | - |
| - | Perseus | LTI | 557 | - |
| - | Polaris | LTI | 735 | 999 |
| - | Constellation Taurus | LTI | 179 | - |
| - | Constellation Andromeda | LTI | 252 | 315 |
| - | Constellation Aquila | LTI | 321 | - |
| Zeus MK II MR | LTI | 205 | - | |
| Zeus MK II ES | LTI | 163 | - | |
| Zeus MK II CL | LTI | 163 | - | |
| - | Scorpius | LTI | 263 | - |
| - | Scorpius Antares | LTI | 252 | - |
| - | Orion | LTI | 489 | - |
►6◄ NON-LTI SHIPS & PACKAGES, COMMON
╚════════════════════════════════════╝
| Ship/Package | Insurance | Price, $ | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated Outland Mustang Alpha Vindicator | 6MI | 66 | Limited Vindicator version |
| Kruger P-72 Archimedes | 10YI | 55 | - |
| Kruger P-72 Archimedes | 6YI | 45 | - |
| Kruger P-52 Merlin | 6YI | 37 | - |
| RSI Aurora ES | 10YI | 37 | - |
| Argo MPUV 1C Cargo | 10YI | 53 | - |
| MISC Endeavor OLYMPIC-CLASS | 4YI | 578 | Endeavor with modules |
| RSI Constellation Phoenix | 10YI | 399 | - |
| RSI Constellation Phoenix | 6YI | 389 | - |
| Origin 890 Jump | 6MI | 1099 | - |
| Origin 890 Jump | 6YI | 1249 | - |
| Origin 890 Jump | 10YI | 1349 | - |
►7◄ PLANETARY VEHICLES & COMBO PACKAGES
╚══════════════════════════════════════════╝
| Vehicle | Insurance | Price (CCU-d), $ | Price (Concept), $ | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anvil Ballista | LTI | 153 | - | |
| Hoverquad | LTI | 74 | - | |
| Greycat PTV | 6YI | 27 | - | |
| Greycat PTV | 10YI | 37 | - | |
| Origin G12 | LTI | 84 | - | |
| Origin G12R | LTI | 84 | - | |
| Origin G12A | LTI | 90 | - | |
| Tumbril Cyclone | LTI | 74 | Base version | |
| Tumbril Cyclone-TR | LTI | 79 | With ground turret | |
| Tumbril Cyclone-RC | LTI | 79 | Speedster | |
| Tumbril Cyclone-AA | LTI | 95 | Anti-air + countermeasures | |
| Tumbril Cyclone-RN | LTI | 79 | Scout & Scan | |
| Tumbril Ranger RC | LTI | 105 | Racer | |
| Tumbril Ranger CV | LTI | 111 | Offroad | |
| Tumbril Ranger TR | LTI | 116 | With Gun | |
| Tumbril Nova | LTI | 126 | 132 | Tank |
| URSA Rover | 5YI | 63 | - | |
| URSA Rover | 10YI | 70 | ||
| Lynx | LTI | 79 | ||
| URSA Rover Fortuna | LTI | 79 | Limited green skin edition |
| Combo packs | Insurance | Price (Concept), $ | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offroad Vehicle Pack | LTI | 137 | Cyclone TR + URSA + Greycat PTV |
| Tumbril Cyclone Pack | LTI | 305 | All Cyclones |
| All-Terrain Vehicle Mega Pack | LTI | 473 | All Cyclones + Ursa + Lynx + Greycat |
| Air and Space Pack LTI | LTI | 315 | Terrapin + Cyclone AA |
| Ground Vehicle Pack VIP | LTI | 378 | Gragonfly + Nox + X1 + Ursa + Cyclone + Nova + bonus |
| Deluxe Ground Vehicle Pack VIP | LTI | 840 | A lot of items, check screenshot |
►8.1◄ MODULES, PODS, BATTLEFIELD UPGRADE KITS (BUKS), OTHER ITEMS
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════╝
| Module | Insurance | Price, $ |
|---|---|---|
| MISC Endeavor Modules (Pods) | - | - |
| BIODOME POD | 10YI | 126 |
| TELESCOPE ARRAY POD | 10YI | 153 |
| SUPERCOLLIDER POD | 10YI | 155 |
| SERVICE EQUIPMENT AND CREW POD | 10YI | 53 |
| GENERAL RESEARCH POD | 10YI | 72 |
| GENERAL SCIENCE POD | 10YI | 71 |
| FUEL POD | 10YI | 60 |
| MEDICAL BAY POD | 10YI | 105 |
| LANDING BAY | 10YI | 105 |
| RSI Galaxy Modules | ||
| Galaxy - Med Bay Module | 10YI | 116 |
| Galaxy - Refinery Module | 10YI | 126 |
| Galaxy - Cargo Module | 10YI | 95 |
| Aegis Vanguard battlefield upgrade kits | ||
| Harbinger battlefield upgrade kit | LTI | 140 |
| Sentinel battlefield upgrade kit | 6MI | 69 |
| Other stuff | ||
| Add-ons - Aegis Idris P after market kit | - | 294 |
►8.2 ◄ FPS WEAPONS, ARMOR, CLOTHES AND OTHER GEAR
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
| Module | Insurance | Price, $ |
|---|---|---|
| Overlord "Dust Storm" Armor Set | - | 11 |
| Overlord "Riptide" Armor Set | - | 11 |
| Overlord Helmets "Silent Strike" Pack | - | 8 |
| Overlord Helmets "Forces of Nature" Pack | - | 8 |
| Parasite Replica Helmet (Original) | - | 11 |
| Parasite Replica Helmet (Dark Birth) | - | 11 |
| Stegman's Cordimon "Voyager" Complete Outfit | - | 11 |
| Stegman's IndVest “Pathfinder” Complete Outfit | - | 11 |
| RSI MacFlex Rust Society full armor set (5 items) | - | 21 |
| RSI Venture Rust Society full armor set (5 items) | - | 32 |
| Mr. Refinement’s Cabinet of Rare & Exquisite Spirits | - | 11 |
| Life in the 'Verse Shirts Pack #1 | - | 5 |
| Life in the 'Verse Shirts Pack #2 | - | 5 |
| "Caudillo" Helmets Pack #1 by CC's Conversions | - | 10 |
| "Caudillo" Helmets Pack #2 by CC's Conversions | - | 10 |
| "Caudillo" Helmets Pack #3 by CC's Conversions | - | 10 |
| QuikFlarePro Pack | - | 5 |
| QuikFlarePro Pack Deluxe | - | 6 |
| Polar Vortex Collection | - | 7 |
| Cold Front Collection | - | 7 |
| UltiFlex FSK-8 "Mirage" Combat Knife | - | 5 |
| UltiFlex FSK-8 "Ghost" Combat Knife | - | 5 |
| Urban Collection by Element Authority | - | 11 |
| Adventurer Collection by Element Authority | - | 11 |
| Manaslu Rust Society Jacket | - | 8 |
| RSI Horizon Rust Society Helmet | - | 8 |
| RSI Beacon Rust Society Undersuit | - | 6 |
| Paladin helmet | - | 10 |
►9◄ CROSS-CHASSIS UPGRADES (CCUS), SHIPS
╚════════════════════════════════════════╝
IAE-insurance upgrades (adds IAE insurance (10 years) to your ship)
| Upgrade | Price, $ |
|---|---|
| Prospector to F7C-M Super Hornet | 50 |
| Vanguard Warden to Caterpillar | 60 |
| Target ship manufacturer | Target ship | Upgrade from | Price, $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aegis Dynamics | Avenger Titan Renegade | 325A | 18 |
| - | Avenger Warlock | 325A | 29 |
| - | Avenger Warlock | Arrow | 26 |
| - | Eclipse | Constellation Andromeda | 78 |
| - | Eclipse | Vanguard Sentinel | 37 |
| - | Eclipse | Vanguard Warden | 53 |
| - | Eclipse | Blade | 37 |
| - | Gladius Valiant | Gladius | 32 |
| - | Gladius Valiant | M50 | 23 |
| - | Hammerhead | Constellation Aquila | 483 |
| - | Hammerhead | 600i Touring | 357 |
| - | Hammerhead | 600i Explorer | 315 |
| - | Hammerhead | Merchantman | 131 |
| - | Hammerhead | Hull D | 341 |
| - | Hammerhead | Crucible | 446 |
| - | Hammerhead | Carrack | 278 |
| - | Hammerhead | Reclaimer | 383 |
| - | Hammerhead | Prowler | 351 |
| - | Hammerhead | Orion | 210 |
| - | Hammerhead | Glaive | 446 |
| - | Hammerhead | A2 Hercules | 52 |
| - | Nautilus | Constellation Aquila | 467 |
| - | Nautilus | Endeavor | 425 |
| - | Nautilus | Crucible | 425 |
| - | Nautilus | Genesis Starliner | 372 |
| - | Nautilus | M2 Hercules | 246 |
| - | Nautilus | Merchantman | 110 |
| - | Nautilus | 600i Explorer | 294 |
| - | Nautilus | 600i Touring | 336 |
| - | Nautilus | Orion | 189 |
| - | Nautilus | Prowler | 330 |
| - | Nautilus | Carrack | 278 |
| - | Nautilus | Reclaimer | 372 |
| - | Nautilus | Hull D | 320 |
| - | Nautilus | C2 Hercules | 372 |
| - | Nautilus | Valkyrie | 399 |
| - | Reclaimer | Constellation Aquila | 115 |
| - | Reclaimer | Starfarer Gemini | 84 |
| - | Reclaimer | Endeavor | 73 |
| - | Reclaimer | Crucible | 73 |
| - | Redeemer | Constellation Andromeda | 78 |
| - | Redeemer | Vanguard Hoplite | 84 |
| - | Redeemer | Mole | 26 |
| - | Retaliator Bomber | Constellation Andromeda | 57 |
| - | Retaliator Base | F7C-R Hornet Tracker | 25 |
| - | Sabre | Prospector | 31 |
| - | Sabre | Gladiator | 16 |
| - | Sabre Comet | Sabre | 31 |
| - | Sabre Comet | Freelancer MIS | 26 |
| - | Sabre Comet | Khartu-Al | 31 |
| - | Sabre Comet | F7C Hornet Wildfire | 23 |
| - | Sabre Comet | Gladiator | 35 |
| - | Sabre Comet | F7C-M Super Hornet | 20 |
| - | Vanguard Harbinger | Constellation Andromeda | 68 |
| - | Vanguard Harbinger | Retaliator Bomber | 31 |
| - | Vanguard Harbinger | Vanguard Sentinel | 26 |
| - | Vanguard Harbinger | Vanguard Hoplite | 73 |
| - | Vanguard Harbinger | Vanguard Warden | 42 |
| - | Vanguard Hoplite | Constellation Taurus | 59 |
| - | Vanguard Hoplite | San'Tok.Yai | 28 |
| - | Vanguard Hoplite | Defender | 28 |
| - | Vanguard Hoplite | Corsair | -3 |
| - | Vanguard Hoplite | F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker | 54 |
| - | Vanguard Hoplite | Hurricane | 54 |
| - | Vanguard Hoplite | Terrapin | 28 |
| - | Vanguard Sentinel | Constellation Andromeda | 52 |
| - | Vanguard Sentinel | Vanguard Warden | 31 |
| - | Vanguard Warden | Constellation Andromeda | 31 |
| - | Vanguard Warden | Vanguard Hoplite | 40 |
| - | Vulcan | Constellation Taurus | 25 |
| - | Vulcan | Prospector | 61 |
| Anvil Aerospace | Carrack | Constellation Aquila | 273 |
| - | Carrack | Mole | 320 |
| - | Carrack | M2 Hercules | 99 |
| - | Carrack | 600i Explorer | 147 |
| - | Carrack | 600i Touring | 189 |
| - | Carrack | Orion | 42 |
| - | Carrack | Prowler | 183 |
| - | Carrack | Reclaimer | 225 |
| - | Carrack | Genesis Starliner | 225 |
| - | Carrack | Valkyrie | 215 |
| - | Carrack | C2 Hercules | 189 |
| - | Carrack | Hull D | 178 |
| - | Carrack | Merchantman | -31 |
| - | Carrack | Endeavor | 283 |
| - | Carrack | Crucible | 283 |
| - | Carrack | Starfarer Gemini | 294 |
| - | Carrack W/C8X | Carrack | 55 |
| - | Carrack Expedition | Carrack | 60 |
| - | Carrack Expedition | Carrack W/C8X | 40 |
| - | Carrack Expedition W/C8X | Carrack | 80 |
| - | Carrack Expedition W/C8X | Carrack W/C8X | 73 |
| - | Carrack Expedition W/C8X | Carrack Expedition | 68 |
| - | Crucible | Starfarer Gemini | 26 |
| - | Crucible | Constellation Aquila | 99 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet | Prospector | 37 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet | Khartu-AL | 22 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet | F7C Hornet Wildfire | 16 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet | Gladiator | 27 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet | Freelancer MIS | 16 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet | Sabre | 22 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet | Razor EX | 37 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker | Constellation Taurus | 21 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker | Freelancer MAX | 63 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker | Prospector | 57 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker | Razor EX | 57 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker | Gladiator | 47 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker | Khartu-AL | 42 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker | Sabre | 42 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker | Sabre Comet | 26 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker | F7C Hornet Wildfire | 36 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker | Freelancer MIS | 36 |
| - | F7C Hornet Wildfire | Prospector | 31 |
| - | F7C Hornet Wildfire | Khartu-Al | 16 |
| - | F7C Hornet Wildfire | Gladiator | 22 |
| - | F7C Hornet Wildfire | Sabre | 16 |
| - | Gladiator | Prospector | 21 |
| - | Hawk | Gladius | 21 |
| - | Hurricane | Constellation Taurus | 22 |
| - | Hurricane | Prospector | 53 |
| - | Hurricane | Gladiator | 43 |
| - | Hurricane | F7C Hornet Wildfire | 32 |
| - | Hurricane | F7C-M Super Hornet | 27 |
| - | Hurricane | Freelancer MIS | 32 |
| - | Hurricane | Sabre | 37 |
| - | Hurricane | Sabre Comet | 22 |
| - | Hurricane | Khartu-Al | 37 |
| - | Terrapin | Prospector | 84 |
| - | Terrapin | Constellation Taurus | 44 |
| - | Terrapin | Freelancer MAX | 86 |
| - | Terrapin | F7C-M Super Hornet | 57 |
| - | Terrapin | Freelancer MIS | 63 |
| - | Terrapin | Vulcan | 36 |
| - | Terrapin | Gladiator | 73 |
| - | Terrapin | Khartu-Al | 65 |
| - | Terrapin | Sabre | 65 |
| - | Valkyrie | Constellation Aquila | 84 |
| - | Valkyrie | Endeavor | 42 |
| - | Valkyrie | Starfarer Gemini | 52 |
| - | Valkyrie | Crucible | 42 |
| - | Valkyrie | Glaive | 42 |
| Aopoa (Xi'an) | Khartu-Al | Prospector | 29 |
| - | Khartu-Al | Freelancer MAX | 31 |
| - | Nox | Aurora LN | 27 |
| - | Nox | Dragonfly Black | 15 |
| - | Nox | Dragonfly Yellowjacket | 15 |
| - | Nox | MPUV Cargo | 27 |
| - | Nox Kue | Aurora LN | 23 |
| - | Nox Kue | Dragonfly Black | 15 |
| - | Nox Kue | Dragonfly Yellowjacket | 15 |
| - | Nox Kue | Mustang Beta | 15 |
| - | Nox Kue | MPUV Personnel | 15 |
| - | Nox Kue | X1 Baseline | 15 |
| - | Nox Kue | MPUV Cargo | 22 |
| - | San'Tok.Yai | Constellation Taurus | 46 |
| - | San'Tok.Yai | Hurricane | 40 |
| - | San'Tok.Yai | Vulcan | 35 |
| ARGO Astronautics | MPUV Personnel | Aurora LN | 15 |
| - | MPUV Cargo | Mustang Alpha | 15 |
| - | SRV | F7C-R Hornet Tracker | 37 |
| - | SRV | Razor | 32 |
| Banu | Merchantman | Mole | 239 |
| - | Merchantman | Starfarer Gemini | 220 |
| - | Merchantman | Prowler | 231 |
| - | Merchantman | 600i Touring | 236 |
| - | Merchantman | 600i Explorer | 194 |
| - | Merchantman | Genesis Starliner | 273 |
| - | Defender | Constellation Taurus | 42 |
| - | Defender | Retaliator Base | 84 |
| - | Defender | Cutlass Blue | 57 |
| - | Defender | Freelancer MIS | 65 |
| - | Defender | Gladiator | 70 |
| - | Defender | Khartu-Al | 65 |
| - | Defender | Sabre | 65 |
| - | Defender | F7C Hornet Wildfire | 59 |
| - | Defender | F7C-M Super Hornet | 55 |
| Consolidated outland | Mustang Delta | Mustang Gamma | 22 |
| - | Mustang Delta | Avenger Stalker | 15 |
| Crusader Industries | Genesis Starliner | Constellation Aquila | 120 |
| - | Genesis Starliner | Endeavor | 73 |
| - | Ares Inferno | Constellation Andromeda | 26 |
| - | Ares Ion | Constellation Andromeda | 26 |
| - | A2 Hercules | 600i Touring | 341 |
| - | A2 Hercules | 600i Explorer | 299 |
| - | A2 Hercules | Carrack | 273 |
| - | A2 Hercules | Constellation Aquila | 472 |
| - | A2 Hercules | Crucible | 430 |
| - | A2 Hercules | Endeavor | 430 |
| - | A2 Hercules | Hull D | 325 |
| - | A2 Hercules | Merchantman | 115 |
| - | A2 Hercules | Orion | 194 |
| - | A2 Hercules | Prowler | 336 |
| - | A2 Hercules | Reclaimer | 378 |
| - | A2 Hercules | Starfarer Gemini | 451 |
| - | C2 Hercules | Constellation Aquila | 115 |
| - | C2 Hercules | Valkyrie | 47 |
| - | C2 Hercules | Crucible | 73 |
| - | C2 Hercules | Endeavor | 73 |
| - | C2 Hercules | Glaive | 73 |
| - | C2 Hercules | Starfarer Gemini | 84 |
| - | M2 Hercules | Constellation Aquila | 241 |
| - | M2 Hercules | 600i Touring | 110 |
| - | M2 Hercules | 600i Explorer | 68 |
| - | M2 Hercules | C2 Hercules | 147 |
| - | M2 Hercules | Crucible | 199 |
| - | M2 Hercules | Endeavor | 199 |
| - | M2 Hercules | Genesis Starliner | 147 |
| - | M2 Hercules | Hull D | 94 |
| - | M2 Hercules | Prowler | 105 |
| - | M2 Hercules | Reclaimer | 147 |
| - | M2 Hercules | Starfarer Gemini | 210 |
| - | Mercury Star Runner | Prospector | 120 |
| - | Mercury Star Runner | San'tok.yai | 52 |
| - | Mercury Star Runner | Defender | 52 |
| - | Mercury Star Runner | F7C Hornet Wildfire | 99 |
| - | Mercury Star Runner | F7C-M Super Hornet | 94 |
| - | Mercury Star Runner | Freelancer MIS | 99 |
| - | Mercury Star Runner | Hurricane | 78 |
| - | Mercury Star Runner | Khartu-Al | 105 |
| - | Mercury Star Runner | Razor EX | 120 |
| - | Mercury Star Runner | Sabre Comet | 89 |
| - | Mercury Star Runner | Sabre | 105 |
| - | Mercury Star Runner | Terrapin | 52 |
| - | Mercury Star Runner | Vulcan | 73 |
| Drake Interplanetary | Buccaneer | Cutlass Black | 21 |
| - | Caterpillar | Constellation Andromeda | 116 |
| - | Caterpillar | Constellation Aquila | 36 |
| - | Caterpillar | Retaliator Bomber | 78 |
| - | Caterpillar | Redeemer | 26 |
| - | Corsair | Prospector | 115 |
| - | Corsair | Constellation Taurus | 78 |
| - | Corsair | Freelancer MAX | 120 |
| - | Corsair | Freelancer MIS | 94 |
| - | Corsair | Sabre | 99 |
| - | Corsair | Sabre Comet | 84 |
| - | Corsair | Gladiator | 105 |
| - | Corsair | F7C-M Super Hornet | 89 |
| - | Corsair | F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker | 73 |
| - | Corsair | F7C Hornet Wildfire | 94 |
| - | Corsair | Vulcan | 68 |
| - | Corsair | Hurricane | 73 |
| - | Corsair | Razor EX | 115 |
| - | Corsair | Khartu-Al | 99 |
| - | Cutlass Black BIS | Gladius | 42 |
| - | Cutlass Blue | F7C-R Hornet Tracker | 47 |
| - | Cutlass Blue | Razor | 36 |
| - | Cutlass Blue | Prospector | 31 |
| - | Cutlass Steel | Constellation Taurus | 57 |
| - | Cutlass Steel | Railen | 21 |
| - | Cutlass Steel | San'tok.yai | 26 |
| - | Cutlass Steel | Defender | 26 |
| - | Cutlass Steel | Terrapin | 26 |
| - | Cutlass Steel | Corsair | -5 |
| - | Cutlass Steel | Vulcan | 47 |
| - | Cutlass Steel | Hurricane | 52 |
| - | Cutlass Steel | F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker | 52 |
| - | Dragonfly Black | Aurora LN | 15 |
| - | Dragonfly Black | MPUV Cargo | 15 |
| - | Herald | 325A | 26 |
| - | Herald | Avenger Titan Renegade | 21 |
| - | Vulture | Freelancer DUR | 45 |
| Esperia | Blade | Constellation Andromeda | 52 |
| - | Glaive | Constellation Aquila | 99 |
| - | Glaive | Starfarer Gemini | 63 |
| - | Talon | Gladius | 36 |
| - | Talon | Reliant Mako (News Van) | 31 |
| - | Talon Shrike | Gladius | 36 |
| - | Talon Shrike | Reliant Mako (News Van) | 31 |
| - | Prowler | Constellation Aquila | 162 |
| - | Prowler | Reclaimer | 68 |
| - | Prowler | Genesis Starliner | 68 |
| - | Prowler | Endeavor | 120 |
| - | Prowler | Crucible | 120 |
| - | Prowler | 600i Touring | 42 |
| MISC | Freelancer MIS | Prospector | 32 |
| - | Freelancer MIS | Freelancer MAX | 37 |
| - | Freelancer MIS | Gladiator | 22 |
| - | Freelancer MIS | Sabre | 16 |
| - | Freelancer MIS | Razor EX | 32 |
| - | Endeavor | Constellation Aquila | 84 |
| - | Endeavor | Starfarer Gemini | 52 |
| - | Hull A | 300I | 36 |
| - | Hull A | Mustang Gamma | 36 |
| - | Hull B | 325A | 94 |
| - | Hull C | Constellation Andromeda | 136 |
| - | Hull D | Constellation Aquila | 178 |
| - | Hull D | Starfarer Gemini | 157 |
| - | Razor | F7C-R Hornet Tracker | 15 |
| - | Razor LX | F7C-R Hornet Tracker | 21 |
| - | Razor LX | Razor | 15 |
| - | Razor EX | Freelancer MAX | 15 |
| - | Razor EX | SRV | 15 |
| - | Razor EX | Retaliator Base | 15 |
| - | Razor EX | Razor LX | 15 |
| - | Reliant Tana (Skirmisher) | 325a | 15 |
| - | Reliant Sen (Researcher) | Arrow | 21 |
| - | Reliant Mako (News Van) | Gladius | 15 |
| - | Starfarer | Constellation Andromeda | 76 |
| - | Starfarer | Vanguard Warden | 55 |
| - | Starfarer | Vanguard Harbinger | 24 |
| - | Starfarer | Vanguard Sentinel | 39 |
| - | Starfarer | Vanguard Hoplite | 81 |
| - | Starfarer | Blade | 39 |
| - | Starfarer | Retaliator Bomber | 39 |
| - | Starfarer | Apollo Medivac | 39 |
| - | Starfarer Gemini | Constellation Aquila | 63 |
| - | Starfarer Gemini | Mole | 47 |
| Origin Jumpworks | 350r | Freelancer | 28 |
| - | 350r | F7C Hornet | 28 |
| - | M50 | Gladius | 22 |
| - | 85X | Aurora CL | 15 |
| - | 100i | Dragonfly Black | 18 |
| - | 100i | Dragonfly Yellowjacket | 18 |
| - | 100i | MPUV Personnel | 22 |
| - | 100i | Mustang Beta | 22 |
| - | 100i | X1 Baseline | 22 |
| - | 125a | 100i | 22 |
| - | 125a | 85X | 19 |
| - | 125a | Avenger Titan | 14 |
| - | 125a | Ursa Rover | 19 |
| - | 125a | X1 Force | 19 |
| - | 135C | 100i | 27 |
| - | 135C | 125a | 15 |
| - | 135C | 300i | 19 |
| - | 135C | Cyclone | 19 |
| - | 135C | Mustang Gamma | 19 |
| - | X1 Baseline | Mustang Alpha | 21 |
| - | X1 Baseline | Aurora LN | 15 |
| - | X1 Baseline | MPUV Cargo | 15 |
| - | X1 Velocity | Mustang Beta | 15 |
| - | X1 Velocity | MPUV Personnel | 15 |
| - | X1 Velocity | X1 Baseline | 15 |
| - | X1 Force | Aurora CL | 15 |
| - | X1 Force | X1 Velocity | 15 |
| - | X1 Force | Nox | 15 |
| - | 600i Touring | Constellation Aquila | 152 |
| - | 600i Touring | Constellation Phoenix | 110 |
| - | 600i Touring | Reclaimer | 57 |
| - | 600i Touring | Starfarer Gemini | 120 |
| - | 600i Touring | Endeavor | 110 |
| - | 600i Touring | Crucible | 110 |
| - | 600i Touring | Eclipse | 162 |
| - | 600i Touring | Genesis Starliner | 57 |
| - | 600i Touring | C2 Hercules | 57 |
| - | 600i Explorer | 600i Touring | 63 |
| - | 600i Explorer | Constellation Aquila | 194 |
| - | 600i Explorer | Prowler | 57 |
| - | 600i Explorer | Genesis Starliner | 99 |
| - | 600i Explorer | Starfarer Gemini | 162 |
| - | 600i Explorer | Endeavor | 152 |
| - | 600i Explorer | Reclaimer | 99 |
| - | 600i Explorer | Crucible | 152 |
| - | 600i Explorer | Hull D | 47 |
| - | 600i Explorer | C2 Hercules | 99 |
| RSI | Apollo Triage | Constellation Andromeda | 23 |
| - | Apollo Triage | San'tok.yai | 44 |
| - | Apollo Medivac | Constellation Andromeda | 49 |
| - | Apollo Medivac | Vanguard Warden | 26 |
| - | Apollo Medivac | Apollo Triage | 36 |
| - | Apollo Medivac | Vanguard Hoplite | 52 |
| - | Constellation Taurus | F7C-R Hornet Tracker | 47 |
| - | Constellation Taurus | Razor | 42 |
| - | Mantis | F7C-R Hornet Tracker | 21 |
| - | Mantis | Vulture | 21 |
| - | Mantis | Razor | 15 |
| - | Mantis | Ballista | 21 |
| - | Perseus | Mole | 409 |
| - | Perseus | Carrack | 110 |
| - | Perseus | Carrack W/C8X | 89 |
| - | Perseus | Carrack Expedition | 84 |
| - | Perseus | Carrack Expedition W/C8X | 63 |
| - | Perseus | Merchantman | 57 |
| - | Perseus | Orion | 136 |
| - | Perseus | 600i Explorer | 241 |
| - | Perseus | M2 Hercules | 194 |
| - | Perseus | Hull D | 267 |
| - | Polaris | Constellation Aquila | 535 |
| - | Polaris | Perseus | 183 |
| - | Polaris | M2 Hercules | 357 |
| - | Polaris | Nautilus Solstice Edition | 149 |
| - | Polaris | Hammerhead | 149 |
| - | Polaris | Carrack | 367 |
| - | Polaris | Crucible | 499 |
| - | Polaris | Merchantman | 210 |
| - | Polaris | Orion | 257 |
| - | Orion | Constellation Aquila | 246 |
| - | Orion | Starfarer | 246 |
| - | Orion | 600i Touring | 194 |
| - | Orion | Reclaimer | 215 |
| - | Orion | Genesis Starliner | 215 |
| - | Orion | Prowler | 173 |
| - | Orion | M2 Hercules | 85 |
►10◄ CROSS-CHASSIS UPGRADES (CCUS), DOWNGRADE
╚════════════════════════════════════════╝
CCUs from more to less expensive ships
| Target ship manufacturer | Target ship | Upgrade from | Price, $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aegis Dynamics | Eclipse | Redeemer | 64 |
| - | Eclipse | Caterpillar | 17 |
| - | Vanguard Harbinger | Constellation Aquila | 17 |
| - | Vanguard Hoplite | Constellation Andromeda | 30 |
| - | Reclaimer | Hull D | 94 |
| - | Reclaimer | Merchantman | 78 |
| - | Vulcan | Defender | 26 |
| - | Vulcan | Terrapin | 15 |
| - | Sabre | Constellation Taurus | 32 |
| - | Sabre | Freelancer MIS | 16 |
| - | Sabre Comet | Constellation Taurus | 52 |
| - | Retaliator Bomber | Redeemer | 36 |
| - | Vanguard Harbinger | Redeemer | 57 |
| - | Vanguard Sentinel | Redeemer | 42 |
| - | Vanguard Warden | Redeemer | 26 |
| - | Vanguard Warden | Hull C | 26 |
| Anvil Aerospace | F7C-M Super Hornet | Constellation Taurus | 47 |
| - | F7C Hornet Wildfire | Constellation Taurus | 37 |
| - | Gladiator | Constellation Taurus | 26 |
| - | F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker | Defender | 21 |
| - | Hurricane | Defender | 21 |
| - | Gladiator | Constellation Taurus | 26 |
| - | Gladiator | Cutlass Blue | 28 |
| - | Valkyrie | Hull D | 42 |
| - | Valkyrie | Merchantman | 47 |
| - | Valkyrie | C2 Hercules | 31 |
| Aopoa (Xi'an) | Khartu-Al | Constellation Taurus | 31 |
| Consolidated outland | Mustang Delta | Hull A | 15 |
| Crusader Industries | Genesis Starliner | Hull D | 73 |
| - | Genesis Starliner | Merchantman | 73 |
| - | C2 Hercules | Hull D | 31 |
| - | C2 Hercules | Merchantman | 42 |
| - | M2 Hercules | Orion | 52 |
| Drake Interplanetary | Corsair | Defender | 42 |
| Esperia | Prowler | Merchantman | 120 |
| - | Prowler | Hull D | 105 |
| MISC | Freelancer MIS | Constellation Taurus | 37 |
| - | Freelancer MIS | Cutlass Blue | 37 |
| - | Razor | Freelancer MAX | 15 |
| - | Razor EX | Constellation Taurus | 15 |
| - | Razor EX | Cutlass Blue | 15 |
| - | Starfarer | Constellation Aquila | 37 |
| - | Starfarer | Caterpillar | 18 |
| Origin Jumpworks | 350r | Cutlass Red | 15 |
| - | 600i Touring | Hull D | 110 |
| - | 600i Touring | Prowler | 110 |
| - | 600i Explorer | Merchantman | 152 |
| - | 600i Explorer | Carrack | 99 |
| RSI | Apollo Triage | Mercury Star Runner | 42 |
| - | Orion | Carrack | 120 |
Click here to continue to 2nd part of the store
╚═══════════════════════════════╝
2024.05.15 07:50 Hescee Building first PC. Thoughts on list?
PCPartPicker Part List
submitted by Hescee to buildapc [link] [comments]
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor | €351.00 @ Amazon Italia |
| CPU Cooler | Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler | €39.90 @ Amazon Italia |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte B650 EAGLE AX ATX AM5 Motherboard | €176.79 @ Amazon Italia |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory | €131.99 @ Corsair |
| Storage | TEAMGROUP MP44L 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | €122.06 @ Amazon Italia |
| Video Card | Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 7900 XT 20 GB Video Card | €783.95 @ Amazon Italia |
| Case | Phanteks XT PRO ULTRA ATX Mid Tower Case | €74.90 @ Amazon Italia |
| Power Supply | Cooler Master MWE Gold V2 ATX3.0 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | €95.20 @ Amazon Italia |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | €1775.79 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-05-15 07:48 CEST+0200 |
2024.05.15 07:20 whiplash-willie Autel and 3.6 Pentastar Cam Data
TLDR: Trying to figure out which scan tool from Autel or others can show cam desired versus actual on 3.6 Pentastar.
Following up on some major seevice work at 171k miles on 2014 Wrangler 3.6 / auto and need some advice please:
Changed plugs, coils, injectors, oil cooler (dorman aluminum version) timing set (Melling) and cam phasers with new control valves (Standard Motor Products).
I don’t do this for a living but am definitely on the serious side of amateur / hobbiest. I’ve probably rebuilt to spec several dozen engines ranging from 1970’s Jaguars through FJ40’s lots of GM products in 4,6,8 cylinders, light truck and commercial diesels and powerstroke Diesels. I’ve never had a failure to start, run, or last. I have and followed factory service manual for the JK Jeep. I should have been able to do this!
Startup was rough but after a few attempts at cranking she bled the injectors and fired right up. Idles smoothly. Oil pressure 91-95 PSI cold and 25-30 hot at idle. Battery and alternator voltage good (don’t recall exact value). Within a 1/4 mile I was in limp mode with traction control and check wngine lights on. All of the codes are P000a-d. “Camshaft Slow Response”. Engine runs smooth through 5000+ rpm, but shifts are limited to 4th gear. So I drive to work 18 miles each way. Next day the lights go off and everything is golden. After 3-4 restarts, limp mode is back and wont go away!
Factory service manual says oil change, then replace pcm. Nope, not at those $$. I want to know what is wrong! So I do a bit of parts cannon…. New cam position sensors, although the fault seems to be on all 4 randomly. JSCAN only says “at least one fault has been counted in this position recently”. New crank position sensor. New cam VVT Solenoids. No Changes.
Then I start tracing grounds from the solenoids and get some intermittent high resistance. Ive had weird groundingg problems before, and I realized that my battery cable terminal negative side isnt clamping well. I can lift it off the post. The harness is generally crunchy and shitty from 10 years in desert heat, so I decided to re-do them.
Pulled the entire wiring harness off the engine and yanked the battery cables out. Replaced them with 2awg and bolt-down terminals. Continuity checked every ground terminal pin to pin. No fails. Same on the power side.
Fun side note, the 2014 Factory Wiring diagram has a major typo in showing incorrect ground terminal locations!
So, put that all back, pulled valve covers again, checked timing marks against youtube. It all seems right. I did not pull the timing cover again. I did clean the bits of metal powder off the camshaft tone rings with paper towel and brake clean. Restart engine. Starts instantly. Cam rattle for about 1 second, perfectly smooth idle. Same codes within 45 seconds.
So, i need a scan tool. Factory service manual says to check desired versus actual cam and crank positions. My old scan tool was PC based AutoEnginuity, but I hate the PC aspect and the subscription lapsed about 8 years ago. So im looking at Autel, but overwhelmed by all the options with very little info.
Can anyone tell me what level of Autel can show that live position versus desired position? Should I look elsewhere?
Mechanically, can you tell me if it is possible to overtorque an oil control valve? I keep wondering if the cam phasers could be dragging because they might be too tight? But if you grab the cam with a wrench, it moves easily and moves the phaser, so the lock pins are seated.
Cost isn’t a huge concern, especially if I can find a tool with longevity, but I cant use it for work, so it wont pay back / trying to avoid the Snap-off-in-you van. I can go a long way into trying to squeeze another 150k miles out of this rig before I lay down for a new Jeep at $75k plus!
Thank you for any and all advice and ideas. Brainstorming will help and I’m grateful for it.
submitted by whiplash-willie to MechanicAdvice [link] [comments]
Following up on some major seevice work at 171k miles on 2014 Wrangler 3.6 / auto and need some advice please:
Changed plugs, coils, injectors, oil cooler (dorman aluminum version) timing set (Melling) and cam phasers with new control valves (Standard Motor Products).
I don’t do this for a living but am definitely on the serious side of amateur / hobbiest. I’ve probably rebuilt to spec several dozen engines ranging from 1970’s Jaguars through FJ40’s lots of GM products in 4,6,8 cylinders, light truck and commercial diesels and powerstroke Diesels. I’ve never had a failure to start, run, or last. I have and followed factory service manual for the JK Jeep. I should have been able to do this!
Startup was rough but after a few attempts at cranking she bled the injectors and fired right up. Idles smoothly. Oil pressure 91-95 PSI cold and 25-30 hot at idle. Battery and alternator voltage good (don’t recall exact value). Within a 1/4 mile I was in limp mode with traction control and check wngine lights on. All of the codes are P000a-d. “Camshaft Slow Response”. Engine runs smooth through 5000+ rpm, but shifts are limited to 4th gear. So I drive to work 18 miles each way. Next day the lights go off and everything is golden. After 3-4 restarts, limp mode is back and wont go away!
Factory service manual says oil change, then replace pcm. Nope, not at those $$. I want to know what is wrong! So I do a bit of parts cannon…. New cam position sensors, although the fault seems to be on all 4 randomly. JSCAN only says “at least one fault has been counted in this position recently”. New crank position sensor. New cam VVT Solenoids. No Changes.
Then I start tracing grounds from the solenoids and get some intermittent high resistance. Ive had weird groundingg problems before, and I realized that my battery cable terminal negative side isnt clamping well. I can lift it off the post. The harness is generally crunchy and shitty from 10 years in desert heat, so I decided to re-do them.
Pulled the entire wiring harness off the engine and yanked the battery cables out. Replaced them with 2awg and bolt-down terminals. Continuity checked every ground terminal pin to pin. No fails. Same on the power side.
Fun side note, the 2014 Factory Wiring diagram has a major typo in showing incorrect ground terminal locations!
So, put that all back, pulled valve covers again, checked timing marks against youtube. It all seems right. I did not pull the timing cover again. I did clean the bits of metal powder off the camshaft tone rings with paper towel and brake clean. Restart engine. Starts instantly. Cam rattle for about 1 second, perfectly smooth idle. Same codes within 45 seconds.
So, i need a scan tool. Factory service manual says to check desired versus actual cam and crank positions. My old scan tool was PC based AutoEnginuity, but I hate the PC aspect and the subscription lapsed about 8 years ago. So im looking at Autel, but overwhelmed by all the options with very little info.
Can anyone tell me what level of Autel can show that live position versus desired position? Should I look elsewhere?
Mechanically, can you tell me if it is possible to overtorque an oil control valve? I keep wondering if the cam phasers could be dragging because they might be too tight? But if you grab the cam with a wrench, it moves easily and moves the phaser, so the lock pins are seated.
Cost isn’t a huge concern, especially if I can find a tool with longevity, but I cant use it for work, so it wont pay back / trying to avoid the Snap-off-in-you van. I can go a long way into trying to squeeze another 150k miles out of this rig before I lay down for a new Jeep at $75k plus!
Thank you for any and all advice and ideas. Brainstorming will help and I’m grateful for it.
2024.05.15 07:01 DocWatson42 The List of Lists/The Master List
My lists are always being updated and expanded when new information comes in—what did I miss or am I unaware of (even if the thread predates my membership in Reddit), and what needs correction? Even (especially) if I get a subreddit or date wrong. (Note that, other than the quotation marks, the thread titles are "sic". I only change the quotation marks to match the standard usage (double to single, etc.) when I add my own quotation marks around the threads' titles.)
The lists are in absolute ascending chronological order by the posting date, and if need be the time of the initial post, down to the minute (or second, if required—there are several examples of this). The dates are in DD MMMM YYYY format per personal preference, and times are in US Eastern Time ("ET") since that's how they appear to me, and I'm not going to go to the trouble of converting to another time zone. They are also in twenty-four hour format, as that's what I prefer, and it saves the trouble and confusion of a.m. and p.m. Where the same user posts the same request to different subreddits, I note the user's name in order to indicate that I am aware of the duplication.
Thread lengths: longish (50–99 posts)/long (100–199 posts)/very long (200–299 posts)/extremely long (300–399 posts)/huge (400+ posts) (though not all threads are this strictly classified, especially ones before mid?-2023, though I am updating shorter lists as I repost them); they are in lower case to prevent their confusion with the name "Long" and are the first notation after a thread's information.
See also The List of Lists/The Master List of recommendation lists.
submitted by DocWatson42 to Recommend_A_Book [link] [comments]
The lists are in absolute ascending chronological order by the posting date, and if need be the time of the initial post, down to the minute (or second, if required—there are several examples of this). The dates are in DD MMMM YYYY format per personal preference, and times are in US Eastern Time ("ET") since that's how they appear to me, and I'm not going to go to the trouble of converting to another time zone. They are also in twenty-four hour format, as that's what I prefer, and it saves the trouble and confusion of a.m. and p.m. Where the same user posts the same request to different subreddits, I note the user's name in order to indicate that I am aware of the duplication.
Thread lengths: longish (50–99 posts)/long (100–199 posts)/very long (200–299 posts)/extremely long (300–399 posts)/huge (400+ posts) (though not all threads are this strictly classified, especially ones before mid?-2023, though I am updating shorter lists as I repost them); they are in lower case to prevent their confusion with the name "Long" and are the first notation after a thread's information.
See also The List of Lists/The Master List of recommendation lists.
- "Good military sci fi books or series like Starship Troopers or Old Man's War." (scifi; 8 July 2013)—extremely long
- "Space Naval Combat Suggestions?" (printSF; March 2014)
- "Medieval/fantasy war" (booksuggestions; August 2021)
- "Series similar to Jack Campbell's The Lost Fleet or William R. Forschtens Lost Regiment?" (printSF; 1 February 2022)
- "looking for recommendations" (printSF; 7 April 2022)
- "Looking for books about Modern military against magic" (printSF; 13 April 2022)
- "military scifi without the alpha male b.s ?" (printSF; 25 April 2022)—very long
- "Books about training kids for war?" (printSF; 15 May 2022)
- "any good post-apocalyptic military stories?" (printSF; 16 May 2022)—longish
- "Smart military leaders in fiction?" (Fantasy; 8 June 2022)—extremely long
- "Thalassocracy SF?" (printSF; 21 June 2022; i.e. maritime/naval)
- "Looking for military SF that features a siege" (printSF; 22 June 2022)
- "Stories about conflict between Dwarves & Humans?" (Fantasy; 9 July 2022)
- "Military fantasy suggestion rome/dark ages, little to no religion" (Fantasy; 13 July 2022)
- "Any military sci-fi by people who understand the military? Preferable Stand-alone." (printSF; 21:01 ET, 23 July 2022)—longish; standalone works
- "Any good fantasy books about army building or leading an army?" (Fantasy; 16:45 ET, 23 July 2022)
- "Glen Cook Appreciation Club" (Fantasy; 2–3 August 2022; three-post subthread)
- "Military Sci fi but i read most of the well known ones :S" (booksuggestions; 27 July 2022)
- "Read a Man in a Powered Suit Series and Can't Remember the Title or Author." (printSF; 09:34 ET, 4 August 2022)—powered armor
- "Fantasy book with magic and large-scale medieval war in a realistic-ish setting." (OPost archive) (Fantasy; 18:34 ET, 4 August 2022)
- "Books where mc is a new recruit" (Fantasy; 6 August 2022)
- "Space war book with ships based on purpose, not size?" (printSF; 10 August 2022)
- "Military Sci-Fi recommendations?" (scifi; 16 August 2022)—longish
- "Recommendations for Mercs/mechs/power armor" (printSF; 17 August 2022)
- "Series with a human-dwarf war?" (Fantasy; 24 August 2022)
- "What's the best space-ship battle you've ever read?" (printSF; 08:50 ET, 25 August 2022)—very long
- "Unconventional military sci-fi?" (printSF; 10:18 ET, 25 August 2022)—long
- "Any near-future military science fiction that doesn't involve aliens?" (OPost archive) (printSF; 27 August 2022)
- "Anything out there that portrays realistic military life?" (Fantasy; 18:34 ET, 4 September 2022)—long
- "What are the best fictional military units?" (Fantasy; 01:17 ET, 4 September 2022)—huge
- "MilSF for my dad undergoing chemo" (printSF; 20 September 2022)—long
- "Looking for Military Sci-Fi that isn’t totally mindless or really problematic" (printSF; 17 October 2022)—long
- "Sci-Fi/Fantasy War Novels?" (booksuggestions; 17 October 2022)—long
- "Fantasy series with well-written battles and impressive/unexpected tactics and war strategies?" (Fantasy; 30 November 2022)
- "SF story recommendations" (printSF; 06:35 ET, 2 January 2023)—"epic space battles, especially big fleet vs fleet combat"
- "Recommendations for military fantasy" (Fantasy; 12:52 ET, 2 January 2023)—very long
- "ship to ship battles" (printSF; 7 January 2023)—longish
- "Looking for some heroic military scifi" (suggestmeabook; 10 January 2023)
- "Culture or Xeelee with action" (printSF; 11 January 2023)
- "Communist Military Scifi?" (printSF; 13 January 2023)—long
- "Military sci-fi recommendations? (Star Wars, Halo, other alternate sci-fi universes)" (booksuggestions; 19 January 2023)—longish
- "SciFi books like Red Storm Rising and Team Yankee" (printSF; 21 January 2023)
- "Military Sci-Book Recommendedations? (Other than Starship Troopers as I've already read it)" (scifi; 24 January 2023)—huge
- "Military SciFi Books Recommendations" (scifi; 0:18 ET, 6 February 2023)—long
- "Best military and military themed fantasy series written by authors who have actually seen combat?" (Fantasy; 09:53 ET, 6 February 2023)—long
- "Hard SF about the very early days of a space Navy?" (printSF; 28 February 2023)
- "What to read - I'm a bit lost" (printSF; 1 March 2023)
- "Books with good battle scenes?" (suggestmeabook; 1 March 2023)
- "Military SciFi where two human factions fight against each other, but with both factions being relatable to" (suggestmeabook; 06:31 ET, 12 March 2023)
- "Are there any modern WW3 books?" (printSF; 22:27 ET, 12 March 2023)
- "Mil Sci-Fi with common Gigaton weapons" (printSF; 22:27 ET, 12 March 2023)
- "Military SciFi recommendations?" (printSF; 12 April 2023)—long
- "Looking for a Sci-fi fantasy book very similar to the Gears of war series" (booksuggestions; 27 April 2023)
- "Mil Sci fi with horror elements." (printSF; 30 April 2023)—longish
- "Fantasy-Based Military Books?" (suggestmeabook; 6 May 2023)
- "Looking for specific kind of military fantasy" (Fantasy; 11 May 2023)—World War II or similar
- "Searching for an alien invasion book mil sci-fi where the humans are willing to fight dirty." (printSF; 18 May 2023)—longish
- "Interesting(?) space battles" (scifi; 19 May 2023)
- "Looking for military SF, but not..." (printSF; 23 May 2023)—longish
- "Military fantasy recommendations" (Fantasy; 24 May 2023)—longish
- "Best reluctant military leader in fantasy?" (Fantasy; 12:59 ET, 4 June 2023)—very long
- "Space opera and/or military sci-fi that have an emphasis on the emotional impacts of the conflict." (printSF; 16:13 ET, 4 June 2023)
- "Looking for some light military sci-fi or fantasy recs." (printSF; 20 June 2023)—longish
- "Fantasy books with charismastic, genius leaders like Napoleon?" (booksuggestions; 23:35 ET, 20 June 2023)—u\Hiretsuna_Ketsuruki
- "Fantasy books with charismastic, genius leaders like Napoleon?" (suggestmeabook; 23:34 ET, 20 June 2023)—u\Hiretsuna_Ketsuruki
- "[REC] Fantasy books with charismastic, genius leaders like Napoleon?" (Fantasy; 23:38 ET, 20 June 2023)—u\Hiretsuna_Ketsuruki
- "Any good books like the Mass Effect series?" (printSF; 22 June 2023)—long
- "Recent events of the western world notwithstanding, what are some of the best rebellions in fantasy?" (Fantasy; 24 June 2023)
- "Any WW1/WW2 inspired fantasy recommendations?" (Fantasy; 25 June 2023)
- "Books Where Following The Chain of Command Is a Good Thing" (printSF; 8 July 2023)—longish
- "Looking for a Sci-Fi book where Humans are at war with terrifying aliens" (printSF; 11 July 2023)
- "Story about rebellion or overthrowing an empire like Andor?" (Fantasy; 16 July 2023)
- "Hopeless War books?" (printSF; 31 July 2023)
- "Recently blew through the Honor Harrington series and loved it. Looking for similar." (printSF; 1 August 2023)—longish
- "Book Advice: Looking for military sci-fi" (scifi; 1 August 2023)—longish
- "Looking for military SF with marines inspired by Roman legions" (scifi; 1 August 2023)—identification request
- "I've finished Shadow Campaigns, Powdermage + Sequel, Guns of the Dawn, any suggestions for what to read next?" (Fantasy; 8 August 2023)
- "Military Book Recs" (scifi; 9 August 2023)
- "I want to get into reading again! Suggest me some good rebellion stories please!" (suggestmeabook; 27 August 2023)
- "Military/general sci-fi with tragic themes or tones?" (printSF; 29 August 2023)
- "Stories (preferably on KU) where humanity genocides back" (printSF; 10 September 2023)
- "Looking for a book example of realistic space battles" (scifi; 27 October 2023)—extremely long
- "Best Fantasy Series with brilliant strategist/military general MC?" (Fantasy; 6 February 2024)—very long
- "How would you do war against a post scarcity civilization?" (scifi; 25 February 2024)—long
- "Books with a war against extragalactic invaders" (printSF; 20 March 2024)
- "Standalone military sf book" (printSF; 26 March 2024)
- "Books about human rebellion after Earth has been conquered by extra terrestrials?" (printSF; 25 March 2024)—extremely long
- "Need book recommendations" (printSF; 14 Ma7 2024)
- "Military Scifi fans, what do you want to see more/less of in the genre?" (printSF; 25 February 2024)—longish; discussion
- "What are your favourite battles in Sci-Fi across any media?" (scifi; 04:55 ET, 8 May 2024)—huge; u\UniversalEnergy55; discussion
- "What are your favourite battles in Sci-Fi across any media?" (sciencefiction; 04:57 ET, 8 May 2024)—u\UniversalEnergy55; discussion
2024.05.15 06:47 Lazy-Blacksmith7973 First time building a PC. Any changes I should make?
PCPartPicker Part List
submitted by Lazy-Blacksmith7973 to buildapc [link] [comments]
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor | $185.00 @ Newegg |
| CPU Cooler | Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler | $35.90 @ Amazon |
| Motherboard | MSI PRO B650M-P Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard | $119.99 @ Amazon |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory | $113.99 @ Amazon |
| Storage | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | $97.50 @ Amazon |
| Video Card | MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X 12G GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card | $288.00 @ Amazon |
| Case | Fractal Design North ATX Mid Tower Case | $139.99 @ Amazon |
| Power Supply | Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | $99.99 @ Amazon |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit | $109.99 @ Amazon |
| Monitor | Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ 27.0" 2560 x 1440 165 Hz Monitor | $299.89 @ Amazon |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $1490.24 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-05-15 00:45 EDT-0400 |
2024.05.15 06:43 ultmeche The Best Home Office Set Up - 16 Essentials
 | Since a ton of people have been questioning me about the best home office setup, I thought it’d be fair to share what mine was. This is what’s worked for me throughout starting my business and it can also work for you. As both an Engineer and Business Owner, I work long hours and I attribute being able to do so due to some of these high quality products. submitted by ultmeche to ultmeche [link] [comments] These are what I find to be the best products regarding home office set up. https://preview.redd.it/pw29mii6si0d1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3f70d3c7eef9f8b6cd1ee991a0019b5af69d0cba
Apple 2023 MacBook Pro Laptop M3 Pro ChipA Macbook is GOAT’ed. Sleek hardware, a very reputable brand, and a high quality product. MacBooks have lasted me on average 6+ years so although it can be a big initial investment, the ROI can be very positive.Pros:
Apple USB-C to USB AdapterSay what you want about Apple, yes, it is a great business move for them as a company to design components that you’ll need to purchase to adapt basic devices such as webcams, microphones, and monitors.You’ll need to get a pair or two of these Apple USB-C to USB Adapters. Pros:
LG 32GN650-B Ultragear Gaming Monitor 32”I like to use the LG 32GN650B Ultragear as my primary monitor, set up horizontally. Great resolution, refresh rate, and able to be used for gaming purposes, but I like to use it as my everyday monitor.Pros:
SAMSUNG 28” Odyssey G70B Series 4K UHD Gaming MonitorI just recently added a secondary monitor in a vertical configuration and it is a game changer. Highly recommend to add a second monitor in a vertical configuration if you are able to do so. This makes daily computer usage 10X more efficient. I love to have multiple tabs and windows up when I browse the computer. It’s nice to have a monitor dedicated to one thing such as reading news or emails and using my main monitor for work.Combine the power of multiple monitors with meetings and it’s a complete game changer. Having one screen dedicated for screen sharing and another for documents or notes makes having Zoom or Teams Meetings at work much easier. Extremely happy with my purchase of the Samsung 28″ Odyssey G70B – great refresh rate and resolution, looks absolutely beautiful. Pros:
Logitech Brio 4K Webcam, Ultra 4K HD Video CallingAs a business owner, I truly invest top dollar to for higher quality goods so that I can perform higher quality work. A 4K webcam is a game changer when it comes to sales calls, presentations, demos, or client meetings. If you’re using an older MacBook, chances are the webcam on isn’t that good, and you’ll need to pair it with something like the Logitech Brio if you want higher quality resolution.It’s 100% worth if you can afford the investment and will have you perform and look more presentable in meetings. So worth. Pros:
Logitech for Creators Blue Yeti USB MicrophoneThe Logitech Blue Yeti Mic is paramount for Gaming, Streaming, Podcasting, Twitch, YouTube, Discord, and recording for PC and Mac. An excellent microphone to use especially for YouTube Videos, Streaming, Webinars, and sales calls.Pros:
Blue Yeti Microphone StandA microphone stand is 100% necessary for convenience and ergonomic purposes. The default stand a microphone will come with will have your back hunched or in an awkward position. Invest in a stand that allows you a flexible microphone position.Pros:
Bose QuietComfort 35 Series 2 Gaming Headset – Noise Cancelling HeadphonesThe Bose QuietComforts are a great pair of noise cancelling headphones to use for working or traveling. I even chose to opt to get the Gaming Headset option because I do like to game from time to time – it’s a great way to unwind and have some fun with friends. This headset can easily be pair to a device such as a Playstation controller and allows for optimal sound. High quality sound is needed when you will need to rely on peripheral hearing in video games.But all things work related, this is a great headset to use for deep, focused work. Does really great in blocking out ambient noise and helps focus for tasks such as writing emails, documents, and listening to important voice recordings or memos. Pros:
Bose Soundlink RevolveTo get some louder and higher quality sound, I pair my MacBook with the Bose Soundlink Revolve. Great to listen to podcasts, videos, and even provides enough sound for house parties. The bass and sound quality of the Bose Soundlink Revolve is amazing and the product has lasted me quite a few years.Pros:
Logitech MX Master 3SThis is the META when it comes to wireless mouses. The mouse is designed in such a shape that it is extremely comfortable for me to place my hand on it for usage. Almost zero problems from chronic mouse usage, especially with long hours of work per day. The MX3 mouse is bluetooth pair-able with up to 3 devices, has both horizontal and vertical scrolling, and adjustments on scrolling increments.Pros:
Logitech MX Keys MiniThe Logitech Mini Keyboard is an extremely slim and minimalist keyboard great to use for regular or business computer usage. It is extremely easy to type on, very convenient to carry around, and a great performing device altogether. Just like the Logitech MX3 Mouse, this keyboard allows pairing of up to 3 devices – great if you have multiple devices around the home. I chose to get the Logitech Mini Keyboard without the number pad due to how convenient and flexible it will be able to be carried around. This device does not disappoint, especially if you want to go the digital nomad route.Pros:
VIVO Height Adjustable Standing DeskI bought into the standing desk craze a few years back, but I personally don’t utilize the standing option very often. Standing desks are a great option if you do not allocate much time towards physical exercise. I personally exercise quite often and find that if I use the standing desk too often, I get tired and can’t focus as much. Results will vary.The VIVO standing desk is a great and budget friendly option if you are looking for a standing desk, but don’t want to break the bank. The advantage of the VIVO standing desk is that it allows for a hand rotating mechanism to adjust the height of the desk, instead of relying on linear actuators. What I really enjoy about standing desks is the ability to set the desk at the perfect height relative to where my arm positioning will be. This also allows me to work long hours without getting much pain. If you’re dealing with any type of pain at all regarding working, it’s very likely your office set up. Pros:
Herman Miller Aeron Chair Fully AdjustableThe Herman Miller Aaron Chair is one of the OG GOAT’s when it comes to ergonomic chairs. I love my fully adjustable Herman Miller – I’m able to sit for long hours and deal with zero back pain. The mesh that the chair provides also keeps the chair extremely cool and I don’t need to worry about the seat or the back pad heating up.Pros:
Samsonite Classic Leather BackpackSure Samsonite isn’t Gucci, but they do provide decent quality leather backpacks at an affordable cost. I was able to get this at a lower cost during the beginning of the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic as the demand for traveling plummeted. This backpack has held up in decent shape through regular usage such as bringing materials from home to work or to the coffee shop.Work great for short business trips as there is plenty of room to pack clothes, laptop, toiletries, and other miscellaneous items. The Samson Leather Backpack is a quality item and will last for a long period of time. No issues so far with my backpack. Pros:
Canon PIXMA TR4720 PrinterWhat good is having the best home office setup without a printer? Even though the world is becoming more digital, you will still need to rely on printing documents out and sending them from time to time. The Canon PIXMA TR4720 is a basic printer that meets the need for printing out some items for work or business.Pros:
Check Price of Canon PIXMA TR4720 on Amazon Philipps 3 Outlet Surge Protector Extension CubeLet’s not forget, with a beauty best home office setup, you will have a ton of cords that you will need to be plugging into. A Phillips Extension cube is a really great option for that. I chose to get the cubed option to avoid the extra cords and what not that an extension cord provides. Keeps things relatively clean and allows the plug in of multiple devices such as your laptop, monitor, chargers, printers, and everything else I covered regarding the best home office setup.Pros:
Closing Thoughts on the Best Home Office SetupI work long hours and it’s imperative to have high quality office products that make the best home office setup so that I can perform and deliver optimally. I know some of the items can be expensive, but it definitely is an investment towards long term business output. There are multiple options available for the devices I show, but this is the set up that I currently use to date.If you can’t afford higher quality products yet, don’t worry, just keep grinding and build skillsets such that you can increase your salary and afford higher quality goods. I’ve come a long way when it comes to being able to afford higher quality goods and I attribute it to the skillsets that I have built over the years. |
2024.05.15 06:33 HeadOfSpectre The Deepest Abyss
“Ready to make history, baby?”
I looked over toward Sheila as she stood on the gangplank leading up to The Burger. I still couldn’t believe she named our research ship ‘The Burger’... emotional relevance be damned.
“It's not exactly history,” I corrected.
“Oh come on! If your survey is right, this trench might run even deeper than the Challenger Deep, and you’re gonna be the first person to explore it! How is that not exciting?”
“Might be deeper, we only have a limited amount of topological data. And even if it is deeper, we’re talking only a few hundred feet at most, it’s really not that im-”
Sheila silenced me with a kiss.
“Nerd.” She teased, and I found myself too flustered to reply. After five years of marriage, she still could leave me speechless with just a kiss. God… how did someone like me end up with a woman like that?
Then again, how did someone like me end up where I was in general? It was honestly a little overwhelming. Standing on the dock, getting ready to board that ship and join the ranks of Jacques Piccard and James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron) as one of the few people to take a manned submersible down to the deepest parts of the ocean. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared too. Diving down that deep could easily be a one way trip if even the slightest thing went wrong. My submarine would be experiencing between 600 to 1100 atmospheres of pressure and while we’d tested it over and over again to make sure it would actually be up for the challenge, there was still a lingering iota of doubt in the back of my mind. All that needed to go wrong was one little thing, and that would be it for me.
The scariest part is that I probably wouldn’t even know what had happened… I’d simply be gone… and Sheila would be alone. The thought of that caused a momentary spike of panic in my chest that almost made me want to call this whole thing off.
Almost.
But, then I felt her hand close around mine. I looked up into her bright blue eyes, and saw her gentle smile.
“You’re gonna be okay, hun,” She promised. “You and your team have been running the numbers, right? It’s gonna go just fine!”
I nodded slowly.
“It’s gonna go fine…” I repeated, before she leaned in to kiss me, and gently pulled me by the wrist up onto the deck of the Burger.
She was probably right.
It probably would be fine.
Probably…
The trench I’d be exploring was a fairly recent discovery, located south of Greenland, in a vast stretch of water situated directly between Newfoundland and Iceland. It’d been uncovered during a topological survey in the area, and my team had taken an interest in investigating it further. At minimum, it was believed to descend to about 35,000 feet deep (over 10,000 meters), although the current theory was that it might have run even deeper. Determining the exact depth of the yet unnamed chasm was just one of the intents of our dive. The rest was studying the organisms that might be found down there, and how they might have differed from the ones found in other deep ocean trenches (some variation being expected given the isolated environment they were developing in.)
I had to admit, it would be exciting to see what new life might have developed in a place such as this, especially if it ran even deeper than our predictions… and that excitement was enough to make me chase the fear of the risks out of my mind, even if it was only briefly. While Sheila went to make sure we were ready to embark, I caught myself wandering out toward the rear of the ship where my submarine, The Tempura, waited for me. Did this submarine deserve a better name than The Tempura? Probably. But, this was my project, so I got to name it and since Burger was already taken, Tempura was the next best name I had. I liked to think that the subs namesake might approve… if she hadn’t died fifteen years ago. Shrimp don’t live very long.
As the ship began to depart, I caught myself reminiscing on how I’d ended up here… it really was all because of those damn shrimp, wasn’t it? Well… maybe not all because of the shrimp. But they were certainly part of it. Back when I was a lot younger, I never really gave much of a shit about anything at all. I guess I did have a thing for the ocean… the great, romantic vastness of it. The sense of adventure that it beckoned with. The endless mysteries that lay within its dark depths. I used to read about it all the time when I was a kid and I especially loved the classic adventures: Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and Melville’s Moby Dick… but that love was just confined to my books. I didn’t really have any interest in actually going out and seeing the ocean. Hell, the idea of going to a beach and standing in the sun with my toes in the sand seemed miserable to me. I was happier (although calling myself happy might’ve been a little disingenuous) alone in my room, enjoying the company of books as opposed to people.
Then came the shrimp.
One of my online friends kept them as a hobby. He used to post pictures of his tanks all the time, and I always thought they looked kinda cool. He said that if I was interested in them, I should try keeping some for myself, and during a particularly bad bout of depression, I figured that maybe it might be worth a shot. So, I bought a cheap tank and some cheap decorations, bought myself some shrimp… and promptly watched them die over the next few weeks. That… that bothered me. I don’t know why but… it really bothered me. I’m still not entirely sure how to describe what it was that I was feeling. Guilt? Defeat? Shame? Here I was, trying to set up a habitat for these creatures just to have something to do to keep the suicidal ideation at bay, and I’d failed almost right out of the gate.
Was I just that bad? Was I just that much of a failure? Was this just going to go to shit just like everything else in my life did, because I was just such an abysmal piece of shit who barely deserved the life she had? Had I just not tried hard enough? Was I too apathetic? What had happened? What went wrong?
It bothered me.
It bothered me enough that I made up my mind to just dump the remaining shrimp down the toilet and toss everything. Forget about it. Move on. End of story. But… that wasn’t fair, was it? The shrimp didn’t all deserve to die just because I couldn’t be bothered, did they? Sure, they were just shrimp, but they were alive too, just like me. They deserved to be alive.
I owed it to them to try and keep them alive, didn’t I?
So… I didn’t dump the shrimp.
Instead, I started doing some reading. Started looking into what I was doing wrong and how to do it all better. I actually got really into it and a few months later, I had a nice planted tank. Looking back, it was amateur shit… but it made me happy. I’d even picked out names for my two favorite shrimp. Burger and Tempura. They’d been the last survivors of my original batch, and they were the ones I ended up caring about the most. Caring for Burger and Tempura gave me a purpose. It became an obsession… and that little obsession drove me to finally start turning my life around.
Like I said, shrimp don’t live for very long. Burger and Tempura were long dead by the time I graduated with a degree in Marine Biology. But they were the ones who inspired me to finally get my life in order. Hell, the shrimp were half the reason that I met Sheila. She was something of an aquarium fanatic too… we’d met on a forum, and gotten to talking. I found out that she just so happened to be studying Marine Biology at another school, and we bonded pretty quickly after that. After graduation, I moved to California to be with her and after that, the rest is history. She was my rock. She was the one who always pushed me to be the best possible version of myself… and I loved her more than I ever knew I could love someone.
A glance back at the shore, fading into the distance tore me out of my reminiscing, and I shifted my focus to the present, going over The Tempura to perform some quick checks. My colleagues and I would be checking and rechecking the submarine over the next two days as we made our way toward the dive spot. Considering the danger that descending that deep posed, I didn’t want to take a single unnecessary risk.
I had too much to live for, after all.
***
The day of the dive, I couldn’t notice how excited the rest of the crew seemed… well… Sheila’s usual crew seemed excited. I guess to them, this was just another research expedition, no different than the ones Sheila usually took this ship out on. Lately her research had been focused on the analysis and study of whale calls. Her recent voyages had involved following their pods, recording their calls and playing them back to see how the whales reacted. It was fascinating stuff, but my research was admittedly a lot different than that.
My obsession had drawn me to the denizens of the deep sea. I’d used The Burger for expeditions before, although none of them had been on quite the same scale as this one. Up until today, the most ambitious thing I’d done was send down unmanned submersibles with cameras. Those submersibles had typically returned. We had lost a few early on due to technical glitches, but the past few years had been blissfully uneventful. Logically, this dive would probably be uneventful as well. But it was still hard to get the jitters out of my head.
My team and I did the final checks necessary to make sure that The Tempura was good to go, before setting up the crane to begin lifting it up. In less than an hour, I’d be inside of that thing, descending to the darkest depths of the ocean.
It didn’t feel real.
I felt Sheila’s hand on my shoulder, and looked over at her.
“Moment of truth, huh?” She asked. She probably meant it to sound encouraging, but it just sounded ominous.
“Moment of truth…” I replied.
“You’re gonna be okay, honey. I know you will.”
She reached out to gently squeeze my hand and gave me a reassuring smile that I meekly returned.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be okay,” I agreed, although there was an element of a lie in it. Statistically, yes. It probably WOULD be okay. But there was that lingering anxiety in the back of my mind that just wouldn’t go away. I looked quietly out at the submarine before me and couldn’t shake the thought that it sort of looked like a giant coffin. Unconsciously, I found myself squeezing Sheila’s hand tighter than normal. She just held me close and pressed a kiss to the top of my head, before gently rubbing my back.
“You’ll be okay,” She promised.
“Dr. Jenner, we’re ready for you.” I heard one of my colleagues say.
Moment of truth.
I took one last look at Sheila, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips for luck. She smiled at me, and I smiled back anxiously at her before heading over toward the submarine.
The crew helped me enter the cockpit and get myself situated inside. The cockpit of the Tempura was fairly cramped and not particularly comfortable. Space and comfort aren’t really luxuries you can afford in a submarine like this. The instruments I needed took up a lot of space, leaving little room for me in there… and I am not a very big person.
Once I was inside, they sealed the hatch. Then the diagnostics checks began.
“Grayson, can you hear us in there?” I heard Sheila say through the radio.
“Loud and clear,” I replied.
“Great. We’ll keep in constant radio contact, just to monitor the signal. In the meanwhile, how’s everything looking in there?”
“Green across the board so far,” I said, although I hadn’t finished running all my final checks yet. Ultimately, nothing was out of place.
This submarine was as good to go as it was going to get.
“I’m all good in here,” I said once I was done. “You can drop me when you’re ready.”
“You got it, honey. Let’s get you in the water, run one final round of tests and start lowering you down.”
A short while later, I felt the submarine begin to move as the crane lifted it off the deck and lowered it into the water. The Tempura honestly resembled its namesake in a way, being long and cigar shaped, only vertically oriented instead of horizontally oriented. We’d admittedly taken more than a few design cues from James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenger. Why fix what isn’t broken, after all?
Once I was in the water, a 1000 pound releasable ballast weight would cause the submarine to sink. Releasing that weight was also my ticket back to the surface, and I could either trigger it from inside the cockpit, or, in the event that the release failed for any reason, it would trigger automatically after roughly 12 hours of exposure to salt water.
Ideally, this would be the first of a number of dives I’d be undertaking… and if all went according to plan, the Tempura could be the first of many similar submarines that would allow other researchers to safely and effectively descend to extreme depths. If all went well, this could be a massive leap forward for researchers like me, allowing us to better explore the deepest depths of the Hadal Zone and learn all we could about the ecosystems down there via direct observation.
If all went well.
If.
Through the viewport, I watched as I was lowered into the ocean. A few of the other crew members had donned diving gear to escort me down, and after they did their final checks and I did mine, we were fully ready to go.
“All’s green across the board,” I said into the radio. “You can start my descent.”
“I hear you, honey,” Sheila replied. “We’re letting you go. Have fun down there.”
“Yeah, I’ll try…” I said quietly as finally, my submarine began its descent.
I took a deep breath, and told myself again that everything would go fine. We had checked everything on this submarine. We’d tested it rigorously. I wouldn’t have allowed myself to set foot inside of it if I hadn’t personally assured that it was safe. But anxiety never really goes away, does it? The crew couldn’t accompany me far. After only a few meters, they fell behind me as I sank deeper and deeper into the infinite, empty blue of the ocean. Soon after, the tether was released.
I was officially on my own.
“60 feet,” I heard Sheila say over the radio. “How are you doing in there?”
“Good,” I replied. “Doing… doing good.”
The submarine continued to descend. Through the viewport, I could see a few stray fish, but nothing particularly eye catching. I almost felt alone down there… almost…
“120 feet…” Sheila said.
“Still doing good,” I replied.
The descent continued, as the waters slowly grew darker and darker.
“400 feet…”
Everything around me just kept getting darker and darker. Only a fraction of the light from the sun ever reached these depths… and I’d be lying if I said that darkness didn’t feel a little… oppressive.
“800 feet… still feeling good?”
“Yeah, still feeling good…” I said, although it was a bit of a lie. If anything, I was second guessing all of this, but I wasn’t about to say that out loud.
“1000 feet… still good?”
“Still good…” I murmured. “I hear you loud and clear.”
Deeper… deeper… deeper.
“1500 feet…”
Three miles. I was three miles away from home. Three miles away from Sheila.
“2000 feet…”
Still a ways to go.
“3000 feet…”
By this point, it was fully dark outside of my cockpit. Outside, all I could see was inky darkness. Even the submarine’s lights didn’t really cut through it. And the kicker? Relatively speaking, I wasn’t that deep. Fishing trawlers reached deeper than this. Better to conserve power until I was at the bottom. My descent continued.
“6000 feet… still good?”
“Still good…”
The check ins were becoming less frequent. My descent still continued… deeper… deeper… deeper. By now, I’d entered the Hadal Zone. But there was still so much deeper o go.
“8000 feet…”
This was past the depths that most whales would dive to… and I still had a ways to go.
“10,000 feet.”
This was close to where the ocean floor usually bottomed out… and yet there was still so much further to go. No. I was really only a third of the way there. How long had it been?Not much had happened beyond my descent and a few sightings out of my viewport, but time had been passing. A glance at my watch confirmed it’d been almost an hour since I’d started to sink… and I knew I wasn’t even close to the bottom yet. The submarine continued to descend, sinking ever deeper as I dropped into an infinite darkness that few had ever dared to witness.
“15,000 feet.”
This check in came later than the others. At this point, Sheila and the crew must have figured that no news was good news, and they were right. I just continued to sink peacefully, down into the crushing depths of the ocean.
These were the depths that one might normally find deep sea fish… and yet I was going somewhere even deeper than that.
“20,000 feet…”
So close…
I continued to sink.
“25,000 feet.”
Soon… and finally…
“30,000 feet. You still doing alright, honey?”
“Yeah… yeah, I’m doing good,” I assured her. I was so close…
By this point, my real work had begun. I’d engaged the lights and begun documenting what little I could see using the on board cameras. Granted, there wasn’t much life at these depths and what little there was, was scarcely documented. Most of what was down here consisted of invertebrates and microscopic life that seemed to float past my viewport.
The light seemed to draw a few creatures in search of food. Small, hardy things that resembled shrimp.
“How’s it looking, Grayson?”
“Dark,” I said, half joking. “We’ve got some life… shrimp. They’re translucent. Can’t get a great look at them… but we’ll see what the cameras pick up.”
“They’ve recognized you as a friend,” Sheila said. I could almost see the smile on her lips as she said it.
“Yeah…” I replied, “Tempura sent them a message, told them I’d be down. How am I looking on depth?”
“35,000 feet… you seeing a bottom yet?”
“No… not that I would until I was there.”
“Damn… how deep does this go?”
“It can’t go that deep…” I murmured, although I really wasn’t so sure about that.
The submarine continued to sink…
36,000 feet…
37,000 feet…
38,000 feet… and then finally, just past the 39,000 foot mark, I finally saw solid ground below me.
Looking through my viewport, I could see a familiar dark brown diatomaceous sludge, covering the seafloor. Microscopic life, likely similar to what had been observed in other deep sea trenches, such as the Challenger Deep.
I needed to gather a sample.
As my submarine reached the bottom, I extended the mechanical arms, pressed flat against the surface of the Tempura, and opened the collection port near the bottom of the ship. Slowly, I sifted some of the sludge into the port. My disturbance of the seafloor kicked up a cloud of the microbial colony, and I could’ve sworn I saw something wiggling through the debris. A pale, white thing, perhaps some sort of sea cucumber? I hastily angled my submarines camera to try and catch a glimpse of it, before returning to my collection. Even in this forlorn place, there was still so much to see! And here I was… completely forgetting my fear as the excitement took hold of me! Few people had ever been down to these unfathomable depths… and yet here I was.
It didn’t feel real but it was! I had reached the deepest part of the ocean!
“How’s it going down there?” I heard Sheila ask. Her voice was a little garbled. The connection down here was faltering.
“It’s beautiful…” I said. “I can’t wait for you to see it!”
“I’ll bet…”
“I’m going to do a sweep of the area, see what samples I can gather,” I said. “What’s my time right now?”
“Three hours. You’ve got nine before your connection to the weight deteriorates and you start to ascend.”
“I’ll make the most of it,” I said. The plan was only to stay down there for six hours, and I didn’t want to push that limit. Life support would only last me for so long, and one little error was all it would take for the ungodly pressure down here to crush me.
I began to move the submarine. Mobility was limited. This thing wasn’t built to travel far. But I still had some limited movement. I recorded all that I could, filming the shrimp that investigated my light, and the things that slithered and crawled through the muck, likely feeding on the carpet of single celled organisms that populated these depths.
The first two hours were… well… I hesitate to call them uneventful, they were actually very fascinating, but little of note happened beyond my recording of a few specimens.
Midway through the third hour though, as I was reaching one of the rock walls of the abyss, I noticed something just above the edge of my viewport swimming away from the light. I could’ve sworn I saw slender, pale tentacles of some sort. Was that a squid? Were there squid down this deep? I wasn’t aware of any species of known squid who could reach these depths… but in this unknown place, what use was the known?
I moved my light and my camera to try and catch another glimpse of it, but whatever it was, it seemed to be gone. Maybe I’d see another one. I still had plenty of time.
“You made a noise. What’d you see?” Sheila asked.
“Something big… I think,” I said.
“Down there? Like a fish?”
“Squid. You wouldn’t find any vertebrates down this deep… the pressure would crush their bones.”
“Jeez…”
I didn’t reply to that, still searching for the thing I’d seen. I shone my light up along the walls of the chasm and angled my camera up as far as it would go. I could see a few volcanic vents, spewing dark clouds into the darkness, and more diatoms. But not much else. Strange invertebrates crawled along the walls. Small creatures, no bigger than an inch long. Related to isopods, perhaps? If I could collect one as a sample, I would have… although taking any of those back to the surface would surely kill them. They were built to live under the impossible pressure of these depths. Taking them to the surface would rip them apart.
I went back to my research, and it wasn’t long until I saw something in the darkness, just on the edge of where my flashlight reached. Trailing white tendrils, snaking their way through the darkness. My eyes narrowed as I moved the submarine forward, trying to catch whatever it was in the light. I saw the shape move, its body turning… I saw its tendrils unfurling. Whatever this was, it was big. It was almost as big as The Tempura… although it was also slender. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought I was looking at some sort of floating debris, but this far down? No. And debris wouldn’t move like that.
This had to be a deepsea squid… or perhaps some other type of cephalopod? Something that preyed upon the various invertebrates down here, perhaps? It seemed to float, just out of sight for a bit, as I tried to get closer. I angled up my light to get a better look at it. The light seemed to shine through it, like some sort of ghost… but I did manage to get a look at it.
Although that look…
That single look made me freeze up.
This things slender tendrils certainly resembled a cephalopod of some sort, but the rest of it… the rest of it looked like something else entirely. Its body was thin, emaciated and translucent, yet despite that it still had characteristics that almost seemed… human. It wasn’t human! Not by any stretch of imagination, but the resemblance was there. It almost reminded me of an exhibit I’d seen in a museum once, depicting a preserved, fully removed human nervous system. I could see a similar shape in its translucent body. Its head seemed almost human as well… albeit with no eyes, and a lamprey like mouth I could only describe as fleshy yet crablike.
Still, despite having no eyes I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was looking at me. And that was when I felt something hit the submarine.
I felt a sudden jolt of panic in my chest. For a moment, I thought that the pressure had started to crush me, but no… no, everything was still fine. Something had just hit me. But what? It didn’t take long before I got my answer.
Another pale creature floated past my viewport, swirling gracefully in the cold dark waters. I watched it for a moment with wide eyes, before noticing its ‘head’ turning slightly toward me. Then, almost instantly, it launched itself at the submarine, darting toward me with blinding speed.
I heard a distinct THUD as its body collided with me, and I could see its pale tendrils pressing against the viewport, twisting and writhing violently. It was trying to attack me. The first creature that I’d seen lunged as well, pounding on my submarine with another THUD. And moments later, I could hear more impacts against the hull. There were more of them… and they did not like having me down there.
“What’s going on?” Sheila asked.
“Somebody doesn’t like me…” I said. “One of the animals down here… some kind of squid, it’s just started attacking the hull.”
“How bad is the damage?”
“Not sure… could be nothing, could be-”
I felt the submarine shake as I tried to move it. The thrusters that pushed me forward weren't responding. Had something gotten caught in it? One of the creatures perhaps?
“Grayson?!” Sheila asked.
“Lost propulsion…” I said. “Fuck… I can’t move.”
“Then drop the weight and come up!”
“No, it’s fine, there’s no other damage, I can still use the port and starboard thrusters to-”
“Grayson!”
I paused. There was genuine panic in her voice… enough to make me realize that even if these things stood little chance of actually breaching the hull, taking the risk would be a fatal mistake.
“I’m on my way up…” I finally said, before reaching out to disengage the ballast weights.
Immediately, I felt myself beginning to rise, although the tentacles clinging to my viewport didn’t disappear.
“We’ve got you…” Sheila said. “Rising up to 38,000 feet.”
The submarine continued to rise, but the creatures clinging to me went nowhere. In fact… I was sure I could see more of them. More pale shapes coming up through the darkness, and these ones filled me with dread. I thought I had been looking at some sort of eerie undiscovered life. But seeing what was coming up toward me now… I knew that I was looking at so much more. The creatures swimming up toward me through the darkness carried weapons… makeshift stone spears and daggers. Primitive tools… but tools all the same.
Signs that these were more than just undiscovered animals.
Much. Much more.
The word: ‘Mermaids’ crossed through my mind, but these were something far different than the ones I’d heard of in folklore. These looked like they’d swam out of the depths of hell itself. Boneless pale tendrils reached for me… and they were getting closer. The pale shapes reached my submarine as I rose higher. I kept praying to whatever God may be listening that the dropping pressure would force them off. The air in a submarine is pressurized, so during normal operation, there should have been no danger of decompression sickness for me.
For them… well… normally I’d feel a little guilty about subjecting an undiscovered species of deep sea mermaids to the horrors of the Bends. But given my circumstances, I didn’t have a lot of other options.
They didn’t let go, though.
They should have. But they didn’t.
What were these things?
I saw a splayed hand press against my viewport. Or… it somewhat resembled a hand. It had suckers on it, like a tentacle and the ‘fingers’ curled open like tentacles. The creature crawled over my viewport, clinging to The Tempura as it rose, and I could see the folds of its crablike mouth opening and pressing against the glass. I could see some sort of bile rising up through its translucent throat, before it secreted it all over my viewport. Was it trying to digest me? Was that how these things fed? How strong were its stomach acids? Were they strong enough to-
The window cracked.
My heart skipped a beat.
“No… no, no no…”
“Grayson, what’s wrong?!”
“They cracked the window… S-Sheila they… oh God… oh fuck, they just…”
“THEY DID WHAT?”
“It’s secreting some sort of enzyme… it’s on the window, it’s… FUCK… I’m gonna die… I’m gonna die… I’m gonna die…”
“You’re not gonna die, baby! Just… just keep ascending, okay? You’re at 30,000 feet… just keep going…”
I nodded, and kept on rising, although the question of whether or not the rest of the creatures were trying to digest the other parts of my submarine floated through my mind. How much damage could The Tempura take before it imploded? How much longer did I have? The submarine still continued to rise… 25,000 feet… almost halfway home… almost… almost.
The creature outside of my viewport slithered along the glass, searching for a better area to try and digest. Past him, I noticed a few of his companions dropping off. Maybe the change in pressure finally was getting to them?
From the corner of my eye, I suddenly noticed a flashing light. A warning. The hydraulics on one of the Tempura’s arms were shot… what else was damaged?
I checked my oxygen levels. 32%.
I should’ve had at least 14 hours of air. I’d only been down there for about 6 hours… I shouldn’t have been this low.
31%.
No… no, no, no, no… they’d damaged the air tanks!
30%.
29%
“20,000 feet!” Sheila said. “You still with me, baby?”
“Y-yeah…” I said. I didn’t mention my air situation. I didn’t need to worry her further.
The submarine continued its ascent.
15,000 feet.
24%. I was running out of time.
The creatures still clung to the Tempura. How had the pressure change not killed them yet? My oxygen was dropping faster than before. I was hemorrhaging air. Another crack formed across my viewport. I let out a little, involuntary gasp before trying to force myself to stop hyperventilating.
“Grayson, what was that?”
“I-it’s fine…” I stammered, “It’s fine!”
“Grayson what the hell is going on down there?!”
“They’re still on the submarine… they’re still…” I paused, looking at my oxygen levels. “19%...”
“19% of what? Grayson what’s going on!”
I paused.
18%.
“Air… I’m… I’m losing air…”
“That’s fine, you’re going to make it!” She said, although I heard her voice cracking a little. “You’re gonna make it!”
I didn’t answer.
12,000 feet.
11,000 feet…
My oxygen level continued to drop.
15%.
14%.
12%.
9,000 feet.
The creatures still clung to me, as the submarine continued to rise. The one on my viewport was still there, slowly crawling along the glass again. I stared into its eyeless face and swore I was looking at the face of my killer.
7,000 feet…
Oxygen had dropped to 9%. It dropped to 8% before I even got to 6,000 feet. I was going to die here…
The viewport cracked again and I squeezed my eyes shut. The submarine rocked. I was sure one of the thrusters had been damaged. My ascent slowed.
“Grayson, what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry Sheila…”
Another crack spread across my viewport.
“I’m… I’m not making it back up…”
“YES YOU ARE!”
“I’m sorry…” The tears started to come as the reality of my death became clearer and clearer… this was it.
“YOU’RE COMING BACK UP, YOU HEAR ME! GODDAMNIT, I’LL BRING YOU BACK UP!”
“I love you…”
That creatures face pressed against the glass. It vomited more of its stomach acid onto the cracked glass, and I wondered if this might finally be what broke it. Part of me hoped it would be… the one good thing about dying this deep was that at least I’d die quickly. My suffering would be over. Then, the creature suddenly pulled back, twisting and writhing violently. I saw other shapes moving past it in the water, other ‘mermaids’ that had been clinging to the submarine.
Something was agitating them.
Something was scaring them off.
Then I heard it, over the radio… whale songs.
“What the hell…?”
“Grayson, are you still there?!”
“I… they’re finally breaking off. Sheila, what did you do?”
“I’m broadcasting some of the orca recordings we’ve been using. Are they still clinging to you?”
“No! They’re backing off! I… whatever you’re doing, keep doing it!”
The submarine kept rising.
5,000 feet.
4,000 feet.
4% oxygen.
I could still do this, right?
The submarine continued to rise.
3%.
3,000 feet.
2,000 feet.
2%.
1,000 feet… so close… I was so close…
I could almost see the surface through my viewport, rushing up toward me. I tried not to breathe. Tried not to move. All I did was hope.
500 feet.
I closed my eyes.
“Grayson we have your signal, we’re coming to pick you up!”
Sheila’s voice sounded so far away as my submarine finally breached the surface of the water… and with the last of my strength, I pulled the emergency release on the hatch, and threw it open, taking in lungful after lungful of fresh salty air.
I didn’t dare so much as touch the water beneath me… but I was topside again, and in the distance, I could see The Burger!
“We see you!” Sheila said, “We’ve got you baby… we’ve got you…”
“I see you too…” I said through the tears. “Thank you… thank you…” I didn’t have any words left in me after that.
As soon as I was back on the ship, I collapsed into Sheila’s arms, breaking down into tears as I clung to her, terrified that at any moment, some sort of unspoken other shoe would drop and I’d lose her all over again.
“Shh… it’s alright baby… I’ve got you… you’re safe… you’re safe…” I felt her fingers running through my air and I knew that what she said was true.
I was home.
I was safe.
***
I left my colleagues to review the data that the Tempura gathered during its short expedition. As far as I know, they haven’t published anything. I have a few ideas as to why, but I’ll keep those to myself. Let’s just say that some people would rather this information not become public.
I have a feeling that the Tempura may not be diving again for some time, if ever. I will confess that I do consider that a bit of a shame. Despite everything… I would consider it a success. It endured far more stressful conditions than I had expected, and from what I heard, required fewer repairs than I’d thought it would. But, even if it was approved for another dive, it wouldn’t be me piloting it. No. I will never be setting foot inside of that machine again, nor will I ever be returning to what my colleagues have been quietly referring to as ‘The Jenner Trench’.
I can’t.
Every night, I wake up crying after dreaming of pale shapes outside of my cracked viewport, clinging to Sheila and sobbing. I can’t put myself in that situation again.
I can’t.
Instead, I think I’m going to spend the next few years on solid ground. There’s a teaching position available at a local university. I think that might be the best place for me right now. Who knows, maybe I can help some other deadbeat discover a passion for marine biology.
After everything, my love for the sea remains unchanged… I’m just a little more wary of it, these days.
submitted by HeadOfSpectre to HeadOfSpectre [link] [comments]
I looked over toward Sheila as she stood on the gangplank leading up to The Burger. I still couldn’t believe she named our research ship ‘The Burger’... emotional relevance be damned.
“It's not exactly history,” I corrected.
“Oh come on! If your survey is right, this trench might run even deeper than the Challenger Deep, and you’re gonna be the first person to explore it! How is that not exciting?”
“Might be deeper, we only have a limited amount of topological data. And even if it is deeper, we’re talking only a few hundred feet at most, it’s really not that im-”
Sheila silenced me with a kiss.
“Nerd.” She teased, and I found myself too flustered to reply. After five years of marriage, she still could leave me speechless with just a kiss. God… how did someone like me end up with a woman like that?
Then again, how did someone like me end up where I was in general? It was honestly a little overwhelming. Standing on the dock, getting ready to board that ship and join the ranks of Jacques Piccard and James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron) as one of the few people to take a manned submersible down to the deepest parts of the ocean. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared too. Diving down that deep could easily be a one way trip if even the slightest thing went wrong. My submarine would be experiencing between 600 to 1100 atmospheres of pressure and while we’d tested it over and over again to make sure it would actually be up for the challenge, there was still a lingering iota of doubt in the back of my mind. All that needed to go wrong was one little thing, and that would be it for me.
The scariest part is that I probably wouldn’t even know what had happened… I’d simply be gone… and Sheila would be alone. The thought of that caused a momentary spike of panic in my chest that almost made me want to call this whole thing off.
Almost.
But, then I felt her hand close around mine. I looked up into her bright blue eyes, and saw her gentle smile.
“You’re gonna be okay, hun,” She promised. “You and your team have been running the numbers, right? It’s gonna go just fine!”
I nodded slowly.
“It’s gonna go fine…” I repeated, before she leaned in to kiss me, and gently pulled me by the wrist up onto the deck of the Burger.
She was probably right.
It probably would be fine.
Probably…
The trench I’d be exploring was a fairly recent discovery, located south of Greenland, in a vast stretch of water situated directly between Newfoundland and Iceland. It’d been uncovered during a topological survey in the area, and my team had taken an interest in investigating it further. At minimum, it was believed to descend to about 35,000 feet deep (over 10,000 meters), although the current theory was that it might have run even deeper. Determining the exact depth of the yet unnamed chasm was just one of the intents of our dive. The rest was studying the organisms that might be found down there, and how they might have differed from the ones found in other deep ocean trenches (some variation being expected given the isolated environment they were developing in.)
I had to admit, it would be exciting to see what new life might have developed in a place such as this, especially if it ran even deeper than our predictions… and that excitement was enough to make me chase the fear of the risks out of my mind, even if it was only briefly. While Sheila went to make sure we were ready to embark, I caught myself wandering out toward the rear of the ship where my submarine, The Tempura, waited for me. Did this submarine deserve a better name than The Tempura? Probably. But, this was my project, so I got to name it and since Burger was already taken, Tempura was the next best name I had. I liked to think that the subs namesake might approve… if she hadn’t died fifteen years ago. Shrimp don’t live very long.
As the ship began to depart, I caught myself reminiscing on how I’d ended up here… it really was all because of those damn shrimp, wasn’t it? Well… maybe not all because of the shrimp. But they were certainly part of it. Back when I was a lot younger, I never really gave much of a shit about anything at all. I guess I did have a thing for the ocean… the great, romantic vastness of it. The sense of adventure that it beckoned with. The endless mysteries that lay within its dark depths. I used to read about it all the time when I was a kid and I especially loved the classic adventures: Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and Melville’s Moby Dick… but that love was just confined to my books. I didn’t really have any interest in actually going out and seeing the ocean. Hell, the idea of going to a beach and standing in the sun with my toes in the sand seemed miserable to me. I was happier (although calling myself happy might’ve been a little disingenuous) alone in my room, enjoying the company of books as opposed to people.
Then came the shrimp.
One of my online friends kept them as a hobby. He used to post pictures of his tanks all the time, and I always thought they looked kinda cool. He said that if I was interested in them, I should try keeping some for myself, and during a particularly bad bout of depression, I figured that maybe it might be worth a shot. So, I bought a cheap tank and some cheap decorations, bought myself some shrimp… and promptly watched them die over the next few weeks. That… that bothered me. I don’t know why but… it really bothered me. I’m still not entirely sure how to describe what it was that I was feeling. Guilt? Defeat? Shame? Here I was, trying to set up a habitat for these creatures just to have something to do to keep the suicidal ideation at bay, and I’d failed almost right out of the gate.
Was I just that bad? Was I just that much of a failure? Was this just going to go to shit just like everything else in my life did, because I was just such an abysmal piece of shit who barely deserved the life she had? Had I just not tried hard enough? Was I too apathetic? What had happened? What went wrong?
It bothered me.
It bothered me enough that I made up my mind to just dump the remaining shrimp down the toilet and toss everything. Forget about it. Move on. End of story. But… that wasn’t fair, was it? The shrimp didn’t all deserve to die just because I couldn’t be bothered, did they? Sure, they were just shrimp, but they were alive too, just like me. They deserved to be alive.
I owed it to them to try and keep them alive, didn’t I?
So… I didn’t dump the shrimp.
Instead, I started doing some reading. Started looking into what I was doing wrong and how to do it all better. I actually got really into it and a few months later, I had a nice planted tank. Looking back, it was amateur shit… but it made me happy. I’d even picked out names for my two favorite shrimp. Burger and Tempura. They’d been the last survivors of my original batch, and they were the ones I ended up caring about the most. Caring for Burger and Tempura gave me a purpose. It became an obsession… and that little obsession drove me to finally start turning my life around.
Like I said, shrimp don’t live for very long. Burger and Tempura were long dead by the time I graduated with a degree in Marine Biology. But they were the ones who inspired me to finally get my life in order. Hell, the shrimp were half the reason that I met Sheila. She was something of an aquarium fanatic too… we’d met on a forum, and gotten to talking. I found out that she just so happened to be studying Marine Biology at another school, and we bonded pretty quickly after that. After graduation, I moved to California to be with her and after that, the rest is history. She was my rock. She was the one who always pushed me to be the best possible version of myself… and I loved her more than I ever knew I could love someone.
A glance back at the shore, fading into the distance tore me out of my reminiscing, and I shifted my focus to the present, going over The Tempura to perform some quick checks. My colleagues and I would be checking and rechecking the submarine over the next two days as we made our way toward the dive spot. Considering the danger that descending that deep posed, I didn’t want to take a single unnecessary risk.
I had too much to live for, after all.
***
The day of the dive, I couldn’t notice how excited the rest of the crew seemed… well… Sheila’s usual crew seemed excited. I guess to them, this was just another research expedition, no different than the ones Sheila usually took this ship out on. Lately her research had been focused on the analysis and study of whale calls. Her recent voyages had involved following their pods, recording their calls and playing them back to see how the whales reacted. It was fascinating stuff, but my research was admittedly a lot different than that.
My obsession had drawn me to the denizens of the deep sea. I’d used The Burger for expeditions before, although none of them had been on quite the same scale as this one. Up until today, the most ambitious thing I’d done was send down unmanned submersibles with cameras. Those submersibles had typically returned. We had lost a few early on due to technical glitches, but the past few years had been blissfully uneventful. Logically, this dive would probably be uneventful as well. But it was still hard to get the jitters out of my head.
My team and I did the final checks necessary to make sure that The Tempura was good to go, before setting up the crane to begin lifting it up. In less than an hour, I’d be inside of that thing, descending to the darkest depths of the ocean.
It didn’t feel real.
I felt Sheila’s hand on my shoulder, and looked over at her.
“Moment of truth, huh?” She asked. She probably meant it to sound encouraging, but it just sounded ominous.
“Moment of truth…” I replied.
“You’re gonna be okay, honey. I know you will.”
She reached out to gently squeeze my hand and gave me a reassuring smile that I meekly returned.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be okay,” I agreed, although there was an element of a lie in it. Statistically, yes. It probably WOULD be okay. But there was that lingering anxiety in the back of my mind that just wouldn’t go away. I looked quietly out at the submarine before me and couldn’t shake the thought that it sort of looked like a giant coffin. Unconsciously, I found myself squeezing Sheila’s hand tighter than normal. She just held me close and pressed a kiss to the top of my head, before gently rubbing my back.
“You’ll be okay,” She promised.
“Dr. Jenner, we’re ready for you.” I heard one of my colleagues say.
Moment of truth.
I took one last look at Sheila, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips for luck. She smiled at me, and I smiled back anxiously at her before heading over toward the submarine.
The crew helped me enter the cockpit and get myself situated inside. The cockpit of the Tempura was fairly cramped and not particularly comfortable. Space and comfort aren’t really luxuries you can afford in a submarine like this. The instruments I needed took up a lot of space, leaving little room for me in there… and I am not a very big person.
Once I was inside, they sealed the hatch. Then the diagnostics checks began.
“Grayson, can you hear us in there?” I heard Sheila say through the radio.
“Loud and clear,” I replied.
“Great. We’ll keep in constant radio contact, just to monitor the signal. In the meanwhile, how’s everything looking in there?”
“Green across the board so far,” I said, although I hadn’t finished running all my final checks yet. Ultimately, nothing was out of place.
This submarine was as good to go as it was going to get.
“I’m all good in here,” I said once I was done. “You can drop me when you’re ready.”
“You got it, honey. Let’s get you in the water, run one final round of tests and start lowering you down.”
A short while later, I felt the submarine begin to move as the crane lifted it off the deck and lowered it into the water. The Tempura honestly resembled its namesake in a way, being long and cigar shaped, only vertically oriented instead of horizontally oriented. We’d admittedly taken more than a few design cues from James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenger. Why fix what isn’t broken, after all?
Once I was in the water, a 1000 pound releasable ballast weight would cause the submarine to sink. Releasing that weight was also my ticket back to the surface, and I could either trigger it from inside the cockpit, or, in the event that the release failed for any reason, it would trigger automatically after roughly 12 hours of exposure to salt water.
Ideally, this would be the first of a number of dives I’d be undertaking… and if all went according to plan, the Tempura could be the first of many similar submarines that would allow other researchers to safely and effectively descend to extreme depths. If all went well, this could be a massive leap forward for researchers like me, allowing us to better explore the deepest depths of the Hadal Zone and learn all we could about the ecosystems down there via direct observation.
If all went well.
If.
Through the viewport, I watched as I was lowered into the ocean. A few of the other crew members had donned diving gear to escort me down, and after they did their final checks and I did mine, we were fully ready to go.
“All’s green across the board,” I said into the radio. “You can start my descent.”
“I hear you, honey,” Sheila replied. “We’re letting you go. Have fun down there.”
“Yeah, I’ll try…” I said quietly as finally, my submarine began its descent.
I took a deep breath, and told myself again that everything would go fine. We had checked everything on this submarine. We’d tested it rigorously. I wouldn’t have allowed myself to set foot inside of it if I hadn’t personally assured that it was safe. But anxiety never really goes away, does it? The crew couldn’t accompany me far. After only a few meters, they fell behind me as I sank deeper and deeper into the infinite, empty blue of the ocean. Soon after, the tether was released.
I was officially on my own.
“60 feet,” I heard Sheila say over the radio. “How are you doing in there?”
“Good,” I replied. “Doing… doing good.”
The submarine continued to descend. Through the viewport, I could see a few stray fish, but nothing particularly eye catching. I almost felt alone down there… almost…
“120 feet…” Sheila said.
“Still doing good,” I replied.
The descent continued, as the waters slowly grew darker and darker.
“400 feet…”
Everything around me just kept getting darker and darker. Only a fraction of the light from the sun ever reached these depths… and I’d be lying if I said that darkness didn’t feel a little… oppressive.
“800 feet… still feeling good?”
“Yeah, still feeling good…” I said, although it was a bit of a lie. If anything, I was second guessing all of this, but I wasn’t about to say that out loud.
“1000 feet… still good?”
“Still good…” I murmured. “I hear you loud and clear.”
Deeper… deeper… deeper.
“1500 feet…”
Three miles. I was three miles away from home. Three miles away from Sheila.
“2000 feet…”
Still a ways to go.
“3000 feet…”
By this point, it was fully dark outside of my cockpit. Outside, all I could see was inky darkness. Even the submarine’s lights didn’t really cut through it. And the kicker? Relatively speaking, I wasn’t that deep. Fishing trawlers reached deeper than this. Better to conserve power until I was at the bottom. My descent continued.
“6000 feet… still good?”
“Still good…”
The check ins were becoming less frequent. My descent still continued… deeper… deeper… deeper. By now, I’d entered the Hadal Zone. But there was still so much deeper o go.
“8000 feet…”
This was past the depths that most whales would dive to… and I still had a ways to go.
“10,000 feet.”
This was close to where the ocean floor usually bottomed out… and yet there was still so much further to go. No. I was really only a third of the way there. How long had it been?Not much had happened beyond my descent and a few sightings out of my viewport, but time had been passing. A glance at my watch confirmed it’d been almost an hour since I’d started to sink… and I knew I wasn’t even close to the bottom yet. The submarine continued to descend, sinking ever deeper as I dropped into an infinite darkness that few had ever dared to witness.
“15,000 feet.”
This check in came later than the others. At this point, Sheila and the crew must have figured that no news was good news, and they were right. I just continued to sink peacefully, down into the crushing depths of the ocean.
These were the depths that one might normally find deep sea fish… and yet I was going somewhere even deeper than that.
“20,000 feet…”
So close…
I continued to sink.
“25,000 feet.”
Soon… and finally…
“30,000 feet. You still doing alright, honey?”
“Yeah… yeah, I’m doing good,” I assured her. I was so close…
By this point, my real work had begun. I’d engaged the lights and begun documenting what little I could see using the on board cameras. Granted, there wasn’t much life at these depths and what little there was, was scarcely documented. Most of what was down here consisted of invertebrates and microscopic life that seemed to float past my viewport.
The light seemed to draw a few creatures in search of food. Small, hardy things that resembled shrimp.
“How’s it looking, Grayson?”
“Dark,” I said, half joking. “We’ve got some life… shrimp. They’re translucent. Can’t get a great look at them… but we’ll see what the cameras pick up.”
“They’ve recognized you as a friend,” Sheila said. I could almost see the smile on her lips as she said it.
“Yeah…” I replied, “Tempura sent them a message, told them I’d be down. How am I looking on depth?”
“35,000 feet… you seeing a bottom yet?”
“No… not that I would until I was there.”
“Damn… how deep does this go?”
“It can’t go that deep…” I murmured, although I really wasn’t so sure about that.
The submarine continued to sink…
36,000 feet…
37,000 feet…
38,000 feet… and then finally, just past the 39,000 foot mark, I finally saw solid ground below me.
Looking through my viewport, I could see a familiar dark brown diatomaceous sludge, covering the seafloor. Microscopic life, likely similar to what had been observed in other deep sea trenches, such as the Challenger Deep.
I needed to gather a sample.
As my submarine reached the bottom, I extended the mechanical arms, pressed flat against the surface of the Tempura, and opened the collection port near the bottom of the ship. Slowly, I sifted some of the sludge into the port. My disturbance of the seafloor kicked up a cloud of the microbial colony, and I could’ve sworn I saw something wiggling through the debris. A pale, white thing, perhaps some sort of sea cucumber? I hastily angled my submarines camera to try and catch a glimpse of it, before returning to my collection. Even in this forlorn place, there was still so much to see! And here I was… completely forgetting my fear as the excitement took hold of me! Few people had ever been down to these unfathomable depths… and yet here I was.
It didn’t feel real but it was! I had reached the deepest part of the ocean!
“How’s it going down there?” I heard Sheila ask. Her voice was a little garbled. The connection down here was faltering.
“It’s beautiful…” I said. “I can’t wait for you to see it!”
“I’ll bet…”
“I’m going to do a sweep of the area, see what samples I can gather,” I said. “What’s my time right now?”
“Three hours. You’ve got nine before your connection to the weight deteriorates and you start to ascend.”
“I’ll make the most of it,” I said. The plan was only to stay down there for six hours, and I didn’t want to push that limit. Life support would only last me for so long, and one little error was all it would take for the ungodly pressure down here to crush me.
I began to move the submarine. Mobility was limited. This thing wasn’t built to travel far. But I still had some limited movement. I recorded all that I could, filming the shrimp that investigated my light, and the things that slithered and crawled through the muck, likely feeding on the carpet of single celled organisms that populated these depths.
The first two hours were… well… I hesitate to call them uneventful, they were actually very fascinating, but little of note happened beyond my recording of a few specimens.
Midway through the third hour though, as I was reaching one of the rock walls of the abyss, I noticed something just above the edge of my viewport swimming away from the light. I could’ve sworn I saw slender, pale tentacles of some sort. Was that a squid? Were there squid down this deep? I wasn’t aware of any species of known squid who could reach these depths… but in this unknown place, what use was the known?
I moved my light and my camera to try and catch another glimpse of it, but whatever it was, it seemed to be gone. Maybe I’d see another one. I still had plenty of time.
“You made a noise. What’d you see?” Sheila asked.
“Something big… I think,” I said.
“Down there? Like a fish?”
“Squid. You wouldn’t find any vertebrates down this deep… the pressure would crush their bones.”
“Jeez…”
I didn’t reply to that, still searching for the thing I’d seen. I shone my light up along the walls of the chasm and angled my camera up as far as it would go. I could see a few volcanic vents, spewing dark clouds into the darkness, and more diatoms. But not much else. Strange invertebrates crawled along the walls. Small creatures, no bigger than an inch long. Related to isopods, perhaps? If I could collect one as a sample, I would have… although taking any of those back to the surface would surely kill them. They were built to live under the impossible pressure of these depths. Taking them to the surface would rip them apart.
I went back to my research, and it wasn’t long until I saw something in the darkness, just on the edge of where my flashlight reached. Trailing white tendrils, snaking their way through the darkness. My eyes narrowed as I moved the submarine forward, trying to catch whatever it was in the light. I saw the shape move, its body turning… I saw its tendrils unfurling. Whatever this was, it was big. It was almost as big as The Tempura… although it was also slender. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought I was looking at some sort of floating debris, but this far down? No. And debris wouldn’t move like that.
This had to be a deepsea squid… or perhaps some other type of cephalopod? Something that preyed upon the various invertebrates down here, perhaps? It seemed to float, just out of sight for a bit, as I tried to get closer. I angled up my light to get a better look at it. The light seemed to shine through it, like some sort of ghost… but I did manage to get a look at it.
Although that look…
That single look made me freeze up.
This things slender tendrils certainly resembled a cephalopod of some sort, but the rest of it… the rest of it looked like something else entirely. Its body was thin, emaciated and translucent, yet despite that it still had characteristics that almost seemed… human. It wasn’t human! Not by any stretch of imagination, but the resemblance was there. It almost reminded me of an exhibit I’d seen in a museum once, depicting a preserved, fully removed human nervous system. I could see a similar shape in its translucent body. Its head seemed almost human as well… albeit with no eyes, and a lamprey like mouth I could only describe as fleshy yet crablike.
Still, despite having no eyes I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was looking at me. And that was when I felt something hit the submarine.
I felt a sudden jolt of panic in my chest. For a moment, I thought that the pressure had started to crush me, but no… no, everything was still fine. Something had just hit me. But what? It didn’t take long before I got my answer.
Another pale creature floated past my viewport, swirling gracefully in the cold dark waters. I watched it for a moment with wide eyes, before noticing its ‘head’ turning slightly toward me. Then, almost instantly, it launched itself at the submarine, darting toward me with blinding speed.
I heard a distinct THUD as its body collided with me, and I could see its pale tendrils pressing against the viewport, twisting and writhing violently. It was trying to attack me. The first creature that I’d seen lunged as well, pounding on my submarine with another THUD. And moments later, I could hear more impacts against the hull. There were more of them… and they did not like having me down there.
“What’s going on?” Sheila asked.
“Somebody doesn’t like me…” I said. “One of the animals down here… some kind of squid, it’s just started attacking the hull.”
“How bad is the damage?”
“Not sure… could be nothing, could be-”
I felt the submarine shake as I tried to move it. The thrusters that pushed me forward weren't responding. Had something gotten caught in it? One of the creatures perhaps?
“Grayson?!” Sheila asked.
“Lost propulsion…” I said. “Fuck… I can’t move.”
“Then drop the weight and come up!”
“No, it’s fine, there’s no other damage, I can still use the port and starboard thrusters to-”
“Grayson!”
I paused. There was genuine panic in her voice… enough to make me realize that even if these things stood little chance of actually breaching the hull, taking the risk would be a fatal mistake.
“I’m on my way up…” I finally said, before reaching out to disengage the ballast weights.
Immediately, I felt myself beginning to rise, although the tentacles clinging to my viewport didn’t disappear.
“We’ve got you…” Sheila said. “Rising up to 38,000 feet.”
The submarine continued to rise, but the creatures clinging to me went nowhere. In fact… I was sure I could see more of them. More pale shapes coming up through the darkness, and these ones filled me with dread. I thought I had been looking at some sort of eerie undiscovered life. But seeing what was coming up toward me now… I knew that I was looking at so much more. The creatures swimming up toward me through the darkness carried weapons… makeshift stone spears and daggers. Primitive tools… but tools all the same.
Signs that these were more than just undiscovered animals.
Much. Much more.
The word: ‘Mermaids’ crossed through my mind, but these were something far different than the ones I’d heard of in folklore. These looked like they’d swam out of the depths of hell itself. Boneless pale tendrils reached for me… and they were getting closer. The pale shapes reached my submarine as I rose higher. I kept praying to whatever God may be listening that the dropping pressure would force them off. The air in a submarine is pressurized, so during normal operation, there should have been no danger of decompression sickness for me.
For them… well… normally I’d feel a little guilty about subjecting an undiscovered species of deep sea mermaids to the horrors of the Bends. But given my circumstances, I didn’t have a lot of other options.
They didn’t let go, though.
They should have. But they didn’t.
What were these things?
I saw a splayed hand press against my viewport. Or… it somewhat resembled a hand. It had suckers on it, like a tentacle and the ‘fingers’ curled open like tentacles. The creature crawled over my viewport, clinging to The Tempura as it rose, and I could see the folds of its crablike mouth opening and pressing against the glass. I could see some sort of bile rising up through its translucent throat, before it secreted it all over my viewport. Was it trying to digest me? Was that how these things fed? How strong were its stomach acids? Were they strong enough to-
The window cracked.
My heart skipped a beat.
“No… no, no no…”
“Grayson, what’s wrong?!”
“They cracked the window… S-Sheila they… oh God… oh fuck, they just…”
“THEY DID WHAT?”
“It’s secreting some sort of enzyme… it’s on the window, it’s… FUCK… I’m gonna die… I’m gonna die… I’m gonna die…”
“You’re not gonna die, baby! Just… just keep ascending, okay? You’re at 30,000 feet… just keep going…”
I nodded, and kept on rising, although the question of whether or not the rest of the creatures were trying to digest the other parts of my submarine floated through my mind. How much damage could The Tempura take before it imploded? How much longer did I have? The submarine still continued to rise… 25,000 feet… almost halfway home… almost… almost.
The creature outside of my viewport slithered along the glass, searching for a better area to try and digest. Past him, I noticed a few of his companions dropping off. Maybe the change in pressure finally was getting to them?
From the corner of my eye, I suddenly noticed a flashing light. A warning. The hydraulics on one of the Tempura’s arms were shot… what else was damaged?
I checked my oxygen levels. 32%.
I should’ve had at least 14 hours of air. I’d only been down there for about 6 hours… I shouldn’t have been this low.
31%.
No… no, no, no, no… they’d damaged the air tanks!
30%.
29%
“20,000 feet!” Sheila said. “You still with me, baby?”
“Y-yeah…” I said. I didn’t mention my air situation. I didn’t need to worry her further.
The submarine continued its ascent.
15,000 feet.
24%. I was running out of time.
The creatures still clung to the Tempura. How had the pressure change not killed them yet? My oxygen was dropping faster than before. I was hemorrhaging air. Another crack formed across my viewport. I let out a little, involuntary gasp before trying to force myself to stop hyperventilating.
“Grayson, what was that?”
“I-it’s fine…” I stammered, “It’s fine!”
“Grayson what the hell is going on down there?!”
“They’re still on the submarine… they’re still…” I paused, looking at my oxygen levels. “19%...”
“19% of what? Grayson what’s going on!”
I paused.
18%.
“Air… I’m… I’m losing air…”
“That’s fine, you’re going to make it!” She said, although I heard her voice cracking a little. “You’re gonna make it!”
I didn’t answer.
12,000 feet.
11,000 feet…
My oxygen level continued to drop.
15%.
14%.
12%.
9,000 feet.
The creatures still clung to me, as the submarine continued to rise. The one on my viewport was still there, slowly crawling along the glass again. I stared into its eyeless face and swore I was looking at the face of my killer.
7,000 feet…
Oxygen had dropped to 9%. It dropped to 8% before I even got to 6,000 feet. I was going to die here…
The viewport cracked again and I squeezed my eyes shut. The submarine rocked. I was sure one of the thrusters had been damaged. My ascent slowed.
“Grayson, what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry Sheila…”
Another crack spread across my viewport.
“I’m… I’m not making it back up…”
“YES YOU ARE!”
“I’m sorry…” The tears started to come as the reality of my death became clearer and clearer… this was it.
“YOU’RE COMING BACK UP, YOU HEAR ME! GODDAMNIT, I’LL BRING YOU BACK UP!”
“I love you…”
That creatures face pressed against the glass. It vomited more of its stomach acid onto the cracked glass, and I wondered if this might finally be what broke it. Part of me hoped it would be… the one good thing about dying this deep was that at least I’d die quickly. My suffering would be over. Then, the creature suddenly pulled back, twisting and writhing violently. I saw other shapes moving past it in the water, other ‘mermaids’ that had been clinging to the submarine.
Something was agitating them.
Something was scaring them off.
Then I heard it, over the radio… whale songs.
“What the hell…?”
“Grayson, are you still there?!”
“I… they’re finally breaking off. Sheila, what did you do?”
“I’m broadcasting some of the orca recordings we’ve been using. Are they still clinging to you?”
“No! They’re backing off! I… whatever you’re doing, keep doing it!”
The submarine kept rising.
5,000 feet.
4,000 feet.
4% oxygen.
I could still do this, right?
The submarine continued to rise.
3%.
3,000 feet.
2,000 feet.
2%.
1,000 feet… so close… I was so close…
I could almost see the surface through my viewport, rushing up toward me. I tried not to breathe. Tried not to move. All I did was hope.
500 feet.
I closed my eyes.
“Grayson we have your signal, we’re coming to pick you up!”
Sheila’s voice sounded so far away as my submarine finally breached the surface of the water… and with the last of my strength, I pulled the emergency release on the hatch, and threw it open, taking in lungful after lungful of fresh salty air.
I didn’t dare so much as touch the water beneath me… but I was topside again, and in the distance, I could see The Burger!
“We see you!” Sheila said, “We’ve got you baby… we’ve got you…”
“I see you too…” I said through the tears. “Thank you… thank you…” I didn’t have any words left in me after that.
As soon as I was back on the ship, I collapsed into Sheila’s arms, breaking down into tears as I clung to her, terrified that at any moment, some sort of unspoken other shoe would drop and I’d lose her all over again.
“Shh… it’s alright baby… I’ve got you… you’re safe… you’re safe…” I felt her fingers running through my air and I knew that what she said was true.
I was home.
I was safe.
***
I left my colleagues to review the data that the Tempura gathered during its short expedition. As far as I know, they haven’t published anything. I have a few ideas as to why, but I’ll keep those to myself. Let’s just say that some people would rather this information not become public.
I have a feeling that the Tempura may not be diving again for some time, if ever. I will confess that I do consider that a bit of a shame. Despite everything… I would consider it a success. It endured far more stressful conditions than I had expected, and from what I heard, required fewer repairs than I’d thought it would. But, even if it was approved for another dive, it wouldn’t be me piloting it. No. I will never be setting foot inside of that machine again, nor will I ever be returning to what my colleagues have been quietly referring to as ‘The Jenner Trench’.
I can’t.
Every night, I wake up crying after dreaming of pale shapes outside of my cracked viewport, clinging to Sheila and sobbing. I can’t put myself in that situation again.
I can’t.
Instead, I think I’m going to spend the next few years on solid ground. There’s a teaching position available at a local university. I think that might be the best place for me right now. Who knows, maybe I can help some other deadbeat discover a passion for marine biology.
After everything, my love for the sea remains unchanged… I’m just a little more wary of it, these days.
2024.05.15 06:15 vren55 [A Fractured Song] - Chapter 217- Fantasy, Isekai (Portal Fantasy), Adventure
Cover Art!
Just because you’re transported to another world, doesn’t mean you’ll escape from your pain.
Abused by her parents, thirteen-year-old Frances only wants to be safe and for her life not to hurt so much. And when she and her class are transported to the magical world of Durannon to fight the monsters invading the human kingdoms and defeat the self-titled Demon King, Frances is presented with a golden opportunity. If she succeeds, Frances will have the home she never had. If she fails, Frances will be summoned back to the home she escaped.
Yet, despite her newfound magic and friends, Frances finds that trauma is not so easily lost. She is dogged by her abuse and its physical and invisible scars. Not only does she have to learn magic, she has to survive the nightmares of her past, and wrestle with her feelings of doubt and self-loathing.
If she can heal from her trauma, though, she might be able to defeat the Demon King and maybe, just maybe, she can find a home for herself.
[The Beginning] [<=Chapter 216] [Chapter Index and Blurb] [Chapter 218 May 28 or see the next chapter now on Patreon]
The Fractured Song Index
Discord Channel Just let me know when you arrive in the server that you’re a Patreon so you can access your special channel.
Frances and company catch up before the final battle.
***
“Hold on. How would he win this battle if we outnumber him and surround him?” Ginger asked.
“He could target our leadership. Focus on killing Titania, Antigones, you and Martin,” said Ayax.
“Only, he’d have to kill Sebastian and Megara, as well as Edana and you too, Frances, along with a whole list of targets. I’m not sure how he could pull that off,” said Elizabeth.
Ayax grimaced, brow furrowed, but Frances knew the answer to that question.
“Thorgoth doesn’t need to find half the targets he’s after. Myself, mom, Titania, our strongest mages and the rest of the people that will be on his list have leadership positions. Like it or not we’ll be involved in the battle and he just needs to find us on the battlefield. A well-placed spell and he’d snuff any non-magic person out,” Frances said.
“So what do we do then?” Martin asked.
Frances’ heart was pounding, for she knew the answer, but was afraid to give it life. Yet what could she do but tell what she knew was the truth?
“Take the battle to him. Thorgoth will have to operate by himself with maybe just his Royal Guards. We need to hold him and his escort and defeat him before he hurts everybody else.”
“So, all the Otherworlders, our best mages?” Ayax asked.
“Not all of them. But my mother and I, Jessica and Leila, Dwynalina and Jim and Nicole, with a few Otherworlders holding off his guards,” said Frances.
Elizabeth pursed her lips. “Ayax and I can go after Queen Berengaria. I can’t imagine her going far from her husband.”
“This is assuming we can at least split the attention of the dragons and keep them occupied of course,” said Martin. He touched Ginger’s elbow. “Not that I don’t trust you dear.”
“Oh I know, but it is a consideration.” She swirled the wine in her cup. “That means Martin and I will be directing the battle with Sebastian and Alexander.”
“It’s likely you’ll be the overall commander with Martin. Alexander and Sebastian would then take charge of their own contingents,” said Elizabeth. She bit her lip. “Do you feel up for it?”
Ginger shrugged. “I mean, we have to—”
Elizabeth reached out to pat her friend’s shoulder. “Martin, Ginger, you know we have every faith in both of you, but if you need help, there is no shame in asking for it.”
“Besides I think we’re all scared. I know I am,” Ayax said with a smile. Even so, they could all see how her tail looked like it was trying to twist itself into knots. Frances figured her cousin wasn’t trying to hide her fear, just trying not to alarm or panic them.
Martin sighed. “I think that’s the problem, Liz. Duty compels us. Love binds us. So I know no matter what happens, I know we’ll stand together to face him. Still, we are afraid and while I know I won’t run, I worry that fear may cloud my judgment at a crucial moment.”
Ginger wiped her eyes, but her tears now flowed freely down her cheeks. “How do I know I won’t panic, and make a bad call? How do we know we are all coming back? We can’t. I…I guess we have to accept that, but I don’t want to lose you. Any of you.”
Drawing her friend into a tight hug, Elizabeth gently patted Ginger’s back. “I don’t either. I suppose that for me, I’ve always looked to my faith in God, and in you all. Have we not triumphed in all we’ve faced?””
Frances found herself nodding, her throat unclenching and the tight nervousness in her shoulders and neck fading. What remained was a faint feeling of lightness that lifted her chin.
“You’re right. We should believe in ourselves, and hope. Hope for a future when we win this war. Hope that our good will triumph over Thorgoth’s evil. Hope that in a few days, we’ll be home with our family, and our friends.”
Martin gave Frances a wondering look. “How are you able to hope that?”
Frances smiled. “I think that I have always been good at having hope. I didn’t realize it until now, but even in my darkest moments, I always hoped that I would find a place where I could be me.”
Ayax stood up, raising her glass. “To faith, friendship and hope. May it see us all through our final trial.”
Rising to their feet, the five touched glasses and drank deep. They all were smiling. The pain and fear in their hearts soothed by the hope they held and the determination to see each other once again.
***
“Frances, can I walk with you?”
Frances would never have said no to her best friend, and she could tell that past Elizabeth’s bright smile, her friend was worried. There were just too many small signs learnt from years of friendship. She was scratching behind her ear, and her eyes were narrowed just slightly from the tension in her face.
“Of course,” said Frances, falling in beside the tall Otherworlder. “How are you and Ayax?”
Elizabeth giggled. “We’re great! Fantastic even. She and I are even talking about what we might do after the war. We have so many plans and well, I kind of wanted to talk to you about that.”
Frances waited as Elizabeth continued to walk beside her, lips pursed.
“I know that after the war, I’m choosing to stay here with Ayax, with all of you. I just…” her voice trailed off, and her walk slowed to a crawl.
Taking a slight breath, Frances touched her friend’s hand. “Liz, you know it’s okay for you to doubt that.”
Elizabeth stopped and shook her head. “Oh no, I don’t have any doubts about my decision. At the very least, I’m past the point where my doubts aren’t going to change my decision. I know I’ve changed too much in the past seven years. I’ve come to terms with my sexuality. I’ve fallen head over heels in love with a woman who loves me just as much. I’ve commanded armies, led soldiers into battle and helped to make decisions affecting hundreds of thousands of people. I can’t go back pretending I’m Grade 8 and neither do I want to.” She squeezed Frances’s hand. “My decision is the right one. I know it in my heart and I’ve prayed about it. I can do a lot of good here and me going back? That won’t just hurt the people I love here, but it’ll hurt me and my family at home. I can’t hide who I’ve become and I’m proud of what I’ve grown into.”
Frances closely studied her friend knowing Elizabeth wouldn’t mind her staring.
“So what are you feeling, Liz?”
Closing her eyes, Elizabeth sniffled. “Guilt. It’s stupid. I know I’m making the right choice. I’m sure in my heart that God is encouraging me to make this choice, but I still feel guilty.”
“How could you not? You know your family loves you.”
“And I’m abandoning them. I know I’m doing the right thing but I still feel like I’m doing something wrong,” said the Otherworlder.
Frances hugged her best friend, squeezing her tight, hoping that her warmth and touch could comfort the woman who she’d trusted as much as her own mother.
“Liz, if they are everything you told me, they’re going to be alright. Have faith in them, like your faith in me and your friends.”
Elizabeth let out a sigh, but returned the hug. “Thank you, Frances. If…if the worst comes and you are sent back without me, go to them. Tell them I love them.”
Tears in her eyes, Frances nodded. “I promise. If you are sent back, I will take care of Ayax.”
Elizabeth let out a gurgly hiccup. “Thank you. I know you will.”
***
The historic coronation of King Martin and Queen Ginger would found what would be known as the Congrey dynasty. Con for Conthwaite and Grey for King Jerome’s dynasty.
It was an unusual coronation as King Martin and Queen Ginger were long-betrothed but not married. Yet King Jerome and Queen Forowena’s wills had been clear. Apart from that, the coronation involved as many of Eridale's traditions as possible in light of the circumstances.
Down the parade route attended by all those that could be mustered, King and Queen marched in at the head of an honor guard composed of their closest companions. These included Frances, Elizabeth, and Ayax, who held three poles of a crimson banner that hung over the pair. The fourth corner was held by Martin’s sister Mara, who wore a slightly undignified grin. Yet, nobody could really blame her.
Martin wore a black-white checkered tunic with red-gold trimmings and shoulder epaulets. His trousers were dark gray with again red-gold tassels. Ginger did wear a dress. It was of a dark maroon with silver lacing. A bejeweled gorget studded with emeralds hung from her neck and her ears sparkled with dark blue sapphires.
There was one minor alteration. As the procession marched up to the entrance of the old Goblin Empire palace, on a raised wooden dais dressed with elaborately embroidered carpets stood the attending dignitaries. They included all the other Erisdalian lords and ladies such as Viscountess Katia and Lord Tarquin, dressed in all the finery they could muster. Other notables such as Prince Timur, representing the Kingdom of Alavaria, Grandmaster Edana of the White Order and Alexander and Eloise of Erlenberg stood proudly side by side.
Towards the center of the dais were three figures. King Sebastian and Queen-Consort Megara, and the former Queen Janize. Sebastian and Megara were standing, holding Queen Forowena’s crown, whilst the heavily pregnant Janize sat, holding King Jerome’s crown. Thorgoth may have taken their decorated helmets, but he did not have their ceremonial attire.
Martin and Ginger stepped out from under the awning, giving their bearers a brief nod, before taking the last steps up the dais.
Whistling a spell, Megara touched her throat with her wand. “Who stands before the crowns?”
Martin knelt to one knee. The bearers of the awning followed. “Sir Martin of Conthwaite. A Knight of Erisdale.”
Ginger curtsied low. Frances nearly split her lips as she grinned at her friend’s perfect form. “Ginger. Just Ginger of Erisdale.”
Janize’s expression was unreadable as she rose to her feet. There was a slight archness to her features, and yet that could just be how she lifted her haughty cheeks.
“As witnessed by all, and by the King and Queen of Lapanteria, do you swear to defend Erisdale with all means at your disposal including force of arms?”
“We do.”
“Do you swear to uphold the laws of the land and the rights of Erisdale’s citizens?”
“We do!”
“Do you swear that until your dying breaths, to govern and reign over Erisdale not for your benefit, but for the benefit of the people and for their future generations?”
From her kneeling position, Frances frowned. That wasn’t quite the right oath. The wording was “Do you swear to govern over Erisdale wisely and justly?” She supposed that she might have missed it, or maybe there was a variation.
Yet as she noted her fiance’s face, she noticed his eyes were wide and her mother’s eyebrow was arched.
Not skipping a beat, Martin and Ginger bellowed. “We do!”
“Do you swear that you will do your utmost not to make the same mistakes as your predecessors and do whatever it takes to preserve Erisdale’s peace, even if it may cost you your lives?”
Frances blinked. Janize had gone completely off script. There was no fourth oath.
However, Martin and Ginger only hesitated for a moment as they exchanged a glance and looked up to meet Janize’s gaze.
The blonde woman’s eyes were bright and the hands holding Jerome’s crown were trembling ever so slightly. Frances had wondered why she’d insisted on doing this. Martin and Ginger had wanted to approach her to ask if she was willing, but the enigmatic former queen had surprised them by demanding they allow her to crown them. She now had an idea as to why.
“We do,” said Martin, smiling.
Ginger returned that smile. Blinking back her own tears, she took a breath. “In the name of Queen-consort Forowena and your brother, King Jerome. We solemnly swear.”
Janize closed her eyes, a single tear running down her cheek.
“Then as the last heiress of House Grey, I pass the crown of Erisdale on forever. Long live the Congrey dynasty. Long live Martin the Hero of Erisdale and his queen to be Ginger, whom I dub Erisdale’s Burning Heart.”
Lifting Jerome’s crown high, she set it onto Martin’s head. Swiftly taking Queen Forowena’s crown from Sebastian, she set it on Ginger’s head.
“Hail King Martin and Queen Ginger!” Janize bellowed as Martin and Ginger rose to their feet.
The crowd chanted back, their voices filling the great cavern. “Hail King Martin and Queen Ginger! Hail King Martin and Queen Ginger!” Frances could barely hear her own voice over the crescendo. The call that they all raised. Like the sound carried up into the void, she could feel herself be carried up. It was like she was floating on the power of their united song.
Turning around, Martin and Ginger smiled at Frances. Their eyes were wide, and she could see them clasp each other’s hands tightly.
Frances found herself standing on her feet, the pole to her awning in her hand. Without a second thought, she stabbed the pole’s spike into the ground. As her hand dropped to Alanna, she paused for a moment before her mind caught up with her body, and she nodded as if to herself.
Drawing the estoc, Frances raised her blade high, saluting her two friends.
“Long may they reign! Long may they reign!”
Elizabeth was right behind her, hammer raised high. Ayax followed suit with her staff and Mara and the rest were soon drawing their weapons. From the corner of her eye, Frances even spotted Morgan and Hattie raising their wand and staff.
“Long may they reign! Long may they reign!”
***
Helias glanced over his shoulder toward the accursed city. Despite the distance, there was a tremble in the air of Kairoun-Aoun itself.
“Helias?” Sara asked.
“Sounds like they crowned Martin and Ginger. They’re going to attack soon,” he said.
Sara nodded, her tense jaw the only sign of the worry that had seized the harpy-orc. As gently as he could manage with his rough, scarred hands, he wrapped his arm around her waist.
“Sara. We’re going to be fine.”
“You’re lying,” she said with eyes fixed forward.
The general couldn’t help but wince. “Sorry.”
Slowing in her stride, Sara placed a hand over Helias’s. “I still appreciate you trying to comfort me but I would prefer you to tell me the truth. How bad is it?”
Helias looked around. “Thorgoth may pull off a miracle and get himself and Berengaria out. However, a lot of Alavari are going to die.”
“What are you going to do?” Sara asked.
“I’ll have to attend this meeting and see what Thorgoth is planning. We’ll make a plan after that.”
“You and I know it’s not going to change anything,” Sara said, looking up at her husband, who could not meet her gaze. Yet, she didn’t push him away. Instead put her hand around his waist, drawing him closer.
“I know, but I want to be sure,” said Helias in a low tone.
“I understand. See you soon,” said Sara.
***
Helias found himself exchanging side-long glances with Glowron. The pair sat, both leaning forward toward King Thorgoth and a pacing Queen Berengaria, who’d finished explaining tomorrow’s strategy.
“Do you have anything else to add, my good generals?” Thorgoth asked. The king still smiled easily as he swirled a cup of wine in his hands.
Glowron shook his head. His tone was short but he kept this expression neutral. “No sire.”
The goblin general was Helias’s superior in rank and social class. The fact of the matter was that if Glowron had no objections, then there was no way the tauroll could object.
And still, Helias felt bile rise in the back of his throat. He froze, ever so briefly. Closing his eyes, he shook his head. Nothing mattered, except for Sara and Gwendilia.
“No sir. I’ll have my troops ready for tomorrow.”
That should have been that. They would have been dismissed to prepare for tomorrow’s suicide mission, but the king’s whims had other plans.
King Thorgoth put his cup down and leaned forward. “Oh come on my good generals. Surely you have something to improve on this plan.”
Glowron’s expression remained blank, whilst Helias smiled. “Your Majesty, you were the one who taught me everything I know. I can think of nothing I can add to your strategy.”
Queen Berengaria strode toward him. “You’re usually so talkative, Helias. Are you sure you have no other thoughts?”
“I beg your apologies, but I do not have any further additions to your plan, Your Majesty. My lord Glowron?” Helias asked.
“I do not either, my liege—” Glowron fell silent and Helias’s tail stiffened.
Thorgoth and Berengaria were no longer smiling and with a few more steps, the harpy queen had put herself behind the two generals.
“Let me be plain, we are now not asking you about how to improve the plan. We are asking for your thoughts. Give them.”
The Demon King’s remaining dark eye was narrowed. The other was now covered with a black silk eyepatch, the remains of the scar that Queen Forowen had given him, a discoloration scouring a line along the side of his face and right over his ear. In spite of the king’s injury, Helias felt nothing but cold dread dry his mouth.
“Your Majesty, my only thought is that we have no option but to follow your plan. No matter how we got into this situation, the only thing we can do is go forward and try to win this day,” Glowron said.
“And do you blame me, Glowron?”
Helias watched, eyes wide as somehow the much smaller goblin general continued to meet the king’s eyes. “I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t assign some responsibility to you at all, but I believe we ought to have thought of the possibility of such a trap. So the responsibility is mine as well.”
Thorgoth nodded. Out of the corner of his eye, Helias saw the slightest of nods that Berengaria gave to her husband. Alarm shooting his gaze back toward the Demon King, Helias found the full attention of his sovereign and sometimes uncle directed right at him.
“And you, General Helias?”
Lie and he might not be able to make it convincing enough. Tell the truth about what he thought about this war and he was never seeing Sara and Gwendilia again. Thorgoth hadn’t just been hurt, his pride had been wounded and he was now backed into a corner. It would be unwise to anger him, but what to say? What could he say?
All he could think of, and see was his child and her adoring gaze. All he could feel was the touch of Sara’s hand against his. They’d become closer than he could have imagined and were more than just companions with mutual goals now.
If he was to die, then maybe he could tell this truth.
“I am mostly thinking of my wife and my child, my king. The coming battle has me greatly concerned with how dangerous it shall be.”
Thorgoth narrowed his eyes at Helias for a brief moment. The tauroll, staying very still, waited for the presumed reaction by Berengaria.
Whatever Berengaria did made Thorgoth arch an eyebrow.
“I thought you didn’t consider your wife to be worth much,” said the king in a mild tone.
His mind racing, Helias ran with the idea. “She has responded well to the constraints and discipline I’ve enforced on her. She does nothing but facilitate all my needs and has served me well.”
He could feel Berengaria’s eyes narrow, but Thorgoth was already leaning back onto his chair. “Good for you. You are dismissed.”
“Thank you, sire,” said Helias, almost unable to hide his sigh of relief.
***
Author’s Note: While I wish I could have spent more quality time with Martin, Elizabeth, Ginger and Ayax, I do love the best-friend/team that I created for Frances. This chapter and the last was my little way of giving each of them a bit of time with Frances before the final battle.
submitted by vren55 to redditserials [link] [comments]
Just because you’re transported to another world, doesn’t mean you’ll escape from your pain.
Abused by her parents, thirteen-year-old Frances only wants to be safe and for her life not to hurt so much. And when she and her class are transported to the magical world of Durannon to fight the monsters invading the human kingdoms and defeat the self-titled Demon King, Frances is presented with a golden opportunity. If she succeeds, Frances will have the home she never had. If she fails, Frances will be summoned back to the home she escaped.
Yet, despite her newfound magic and friends, Frances finds that trauma is not so easily lost. She is dogged by her abuse and its physical and invisible scars. Not only does she have to learn magic, she has to survive the nightmares of her past, and wrestle with her feelings of doubt and self-loathing.
If she can heal from her trauma, though, she might be able to defeat the Demon King and maybe, just maybe, she can find a home for herself.
[The Beginning] [<=Chapter 216] [Chapter Index and Blurb] [Chapter 218 May 28 or see the next chapter now on Patreon]
The Fractured Song Index
Discord Channel Just let me know when you arrive in the server that you’re a Patreon so you can access your special channel.
Frances and company catch up before the final battle.
***
“Hold on. How would he win this battle if we outnumber him and surround him?” Ginger asked.
“He could target our leadership. Focus on killing Titania, Antigones, you and Martin,” said Ayax.
“Only, he’d have to kill Sebastian and Megara, as well as Edana and you too, Frances, along with a whole list of targets. I’m not sure how he could pull that off,” said Elizabeth.
Ayax grimaced, brow furrowed, but Frances knew the answer to that question.
“Thorgoth doesn’t need to find half the targets he’s after. Myself, mom, Titania, our strongest mages and the rest of the people that will be on his list have leadership positions. Like it or not we’ll be involved in the battle and he just needs to find us on the battlefield. A well-placed spell and he’d snuff any non-magic person out,” Frances said.
“So what do we do then?” Martin asked.
Frances’ heart was pounding, for she knew the answer, but was afraid to give it life. Yet what could she do but tell what she knew was the truth?
“Take the battle to him. Thorgoth will have to operate by himself with maybe just his Royal Guards. We need to hold him and his escort and defeat him before he hurts everybody else.”
“So, all the Otherworlders, our best mages?” Ayax asked.
“Not all of them. But my mother and I, Jessica and Leila, Dwynalina and Jim and Nicole, with a few Otherworlders holding off his guards,” said Frances.
Elizabeth pursed her lips. “Ayax and I can go after Queen Berengaria. I can’t imagine her going far from her husband.”
“This is assuming we can at least split the attention of the dragons and keep them occupied of course,” said Martin. He touched Ginger’s elbow. “Not that I don’t trust you dear.”
“Oh I know, but it is a consideration.” She swirled the wine in her cup. “That means Martin and I will be directing the battle with Sebastian and Alexander.”
“It’s likely you’ll be the overall commander with Martin. Alexander and Sebastian would then take charge of their own contingents,” said Elizabeth. She bit her lip. “Do you feel up for it?”
Ginger shrugged. “I mean, we have to—”
Elizabeth reached out to pat her friend’s shoulder. “Martin, Ginger, you know we have every faith in both of you, but if you need help, there is no shame in asking for it.”
“Besides I think we’re all scared. I know I am,” Ayax said with a smile. Even so, they could all see how her tail looked like it was trying to twist itself into knots. Frances figured her cousin wasn’t trying to hide her fear, just trying not to alarm or panic them.
Martin sighed. “I think that’s the problem, Liz. Duty compels us. Love binds us. So I know no matter what happens, I know we’ll stand together to face him. Still, we are afraid and while I know I won’t run, I worry that fear may cloud my judgment at a crucial moment.”
Ginger wiped her eyes, but her tears now flowed freely down her cheeks. “How do I know I won’t panic, and make a bad call? How do we know we are all coming back? We can’t. I…I guess we have to accept that, but I don’t want to lose you. Any of you.”
Drawing her friend into a tight hug, Elizabeth gently patted Ginger’s back. “I don’t either. I suppose that for me, I’ve always looked to my faith in God, and in you all. Have we not triumphed in all we’ve faced?””
Frances found herself nodding, her throat unclenching and the tight nervousness in her shoulders and neck fading. What remained was a faint feeling of lightness that lifted her chin.
“You’re right. We should believe in ourselves, and hope. Hope for a future when we win this war. Hope that our good will triumph over Thorgoth’s evil. Hope that in a few days, we’ll be home with our family, and our friends.”
Martin gave Frances a wondering look. “How are you able to hope that?”
Frances smiled. “I think that I have always been good at having hope. I didn’t realize it until now, but even in my darkest moments, I always hoped that I would find a place where I could be me.”
Ayax stood up, raising her glass. “To faith, friendship and hope. May it see us all through our final trial.”
Rising to their feet, the five touched glasses and drank deep. They all were smiling. The pain and fear in their hearts soothed by the hope they held and the determination to see each other once again.
***
“Frances, can I walk with you?”
Frances would never have said no to her best friend, and she could tell that past Elizabeth’s bright smile, her friend was worried. There were just too many small signs learnt from years of friendship. She was scratching behind her ear, and her eyes were narrowed just slightly from the tension in her face.
“Of course,” said Frances, falling in beside the tall Otherworlder. “How are you and Ayax?”
Elizabeth giggled. “We’re great! Fantastic even. She and I are even talking about what we might do after the war. We have so many plans and well, I kind of wanted to talk to you about that.”
Frances waited as Elizabeth continued to walk beside her, lips pursed.
“I know that after the war, I’m choosing to stay here with Ayax, with all of you. I just…” her voice trailed off, and her walk slowed to a crawl.
Taking a slight breath, Frances touched her friend’s hand. “Liz, you know it’s okay for you to doubt that.”
Elizabeth stopped and shook her head. “Oh no, I don’t have any doubts about my decision. At the very least, I’m past the point where my doubts aren’t going to change my decision. I know I’ve changed too much in the past seven years. I’ve come to terms with my sexuality. I’ve fallen head over heels in love with a woman who loves me just as much. I’ve commanded armies, led soldiers into battle and helped to make decisions affecting hundreds of thousands of people. I can’t go back pretending I’m Grade 8 and neither do I want to.” She squeezed Frances’s hand. “My decision is the right one. I know it in my heart and I’ve prayed about it. I can do a lot of good here and me going back? That won’t just hurt the people I love here, but it’ll hurt me and my family at home. I can’t hide who I’ve become and I’m proud of what I’ve grown into.”
Frances closely studied her friend knowing Elizabeth wouldn’t mind her staring.
“So what are you feeling, Liz?”
Closing her eyes, Elizabeth sniffled. “Guilt. It’s stupid. I know I’m making the right choice. I’m sure in my heart that God is encouraging me to make this choice, but I still feel guilty.”
“How could you not? You know your family loves you.”
“And I’m abandoning them. I know I’m doing the right thing but I still feel like I’m doing something wrong,” said the Otherworlder.
Frances hugged her best friend, squeezing her tight, hoping that her warmth and touch could comfort the woman who she’d trusted as much as her own mother.
“Liz, if they are everything you told me, they’re going to be alright. Have faith in them, like your faith in me and your friends.”
Elizabeth let out a sigh, but returned the hug. “Thank you, Frances. If…if the worst comes and you are sent back without me, go to them. Tell them I love them.”
Tears in her eyes, Frances nodded. “I promise. If you are sent back, I will take care of Ayax.”
Elizabeth let out a gurgly hiccup. “Thank you. I know you will.”
***
The historic coronation of King Martin and Queen Ginger would found what would be known as the Congrey dynasty. Con for Conthwaite and Grey for King Jerome’s dynasty.
It was an unusual coronation as King Martin and Queen Ginger were long-betrothed but not married. Yet King Jerome and Queen Forowena’s wills had been clear. Apart from that, the coronation involved as many of Eridale's traditions as possible in light of the circumstances.
Down the parade route attended by all those that could be mustered, King and Queen marched in at the head of an honor guard composed of their closest companions. These included Frances, Elizabeth, and Ayax, who held three poles of a crimson banner that hung over the pair. The fourth corner was held by Martin’s sister Mara, who wore a slightly undignified grin. Yet, nobody could really blame her.
Martin wore a black-white checkered tunic with red-gold trimmings and shoulder epaulets. His trousers were dark gray with again red-gold tassels. Ginger did wear a dress. It was of a dark maroon with silver lacing. A bejeweled gorget studded with emeralds hung from her neck and her ears sparkled with dark blue sapphires.
There was one minor alteration. As the procession marched up to the entrance of the old Goblin Empire palace, on a raised wooden dais dressed with elaborately embroidered carpets stood the attending dignitaries. They included all the other Erisdalian lords and ladies such as Viscountess Katia and Lord Tarquin, dressed in all the finery they could muster. Other notables such as Prince Timur, representing the Kingdom of Alavaria, Grandmaster Edana of the White Order and Alexander and Eloise of Erlenberg stood proudly side by side.
Towards the center of the dais were three figures. King Sebastian and Queen-Consort Megara, and the former Queen Janize. Sebastian and Megara were standing, holding Queen Forowena’s crown, whilst the heavily pregnant Janize sat, holding King Jerome’s crown. Thorgoth may have taken their decorated helmets, but he did not have their ceremonial attire.
Martin and Ginger stepped out from under the awning, giving their bearers a brief nod, before taking the last steps up the dais.
Whistling a spell, Megara touched her throat with her wand. “Who stands before the crowns?”
Martin knelt to one knee. The bearers of the awning followed. “Sir Martin of Conthwaite. A Knight of Erisdale.”
Ginger curtsied low. Frances nearly split her lips as she grinned at her friend’s perfect form. “Ginger. Just Ginger of Erisdale.”
Janize’s expression was unreadable as she rose to her feet. There was a slight archness to her features, and yet that could just be how she lifted her haughty cheeks.
“As witnessed by all, and by the King and Queen of Lapanteria, do you swear to defend Erisdale with all means at your disposal including force of arms?”
“We do.”
“Do you swear to uphold the laws of the land and the rights of Erisdale’s citizens?”
“We do!”
“Do you swear that until your dying breaths, to govern and reign over Erisdale not for your benefit, but for the benefit of the people and for their future generations?”
From her kneeling position, Frances frowned. That wasn’t quite the right oath. The wording was “Do you swear to govern over Erisdale wisely and justly?” She supposed that she might have missed it, or maybe there was a variation.
Yet as she noted her fiance’s face, she noticed his eyes were wide and her mother’s eyebrow was arched.
Not skipping a beat, Martin and Ginger bellowed. “We do!”
“Do you swear that you will do your utmost not to make the same mistakes as your predecessors and do whatever it takes to preserve Erisdale’s peace, even if it may cost you your lives?”
Frances blinked. Janize had gone completely off script. There was no fourth oath.
However, Martin and Ginger only hesitated for a moment as they exchanged a glance and looked up to meet Janize’s gaze.
The blonde woman’s eyes were bright and the hands holding Jerome’s crown were trembling ever so slightly. Frances had wondered why she’d insisted on doing this. Martin and Ginger had wanted to approach her to ask if she was willing, but the enigmatic former queen had surprised them by demanding they allow her to crown them. She now had an idea as to why.
“We do,” said Martin, smiling.
Ginger returned that smile. Blinking back her own tears, she took a breath. “In the name of Queen-consort Forowena and your brother, King Jerome. We solemnly swear.”
Janize closed her eyes, a single tear running down her cheek.
“Then as the last heiress of House Grey, I pass the crown of Erisdale on forever. Long live the Congrey dynasty. Long live Martin the Hero of Erisdale and his queen to be Ginger, whom I dub Erisdale’s Burning Heart.”
Lifting Jerome’s crown high, she set it onto Martin’s head. Swiftly taking Queen Forowena’s crown from Sebastian, she set it on Ginger’s head.
“Hail King Martin and Queen Ginger!” Janize bellowed as Martin and Ginger rose to their feet.
The crowd chanted back, their voices filling the great cavern. “Hail King Martin and Queen Ginger! Hail King Martin and Queen Ginger!” Frances could barely hear her own voice over the crescendo. The call that they all raised. Like the sound carried up into the void, she could feel herself be carried up. It was like she was floating on the power of their united song.
Turning around, Martin and Ginger smiled at Frances. Their eyes were wide, and she could see them clasp each other’s hands tightly.
Frances found herself standing on her feet, the pole to her awning in her hand. Without a second thought, she stabbed the pole’s spike into the ground. As her hand dropped to Alanna, she paused for a moment before her mind caught up with her body, and she nodded as if to herself.
Drawing the estoc, Frances raised her blade high, saluting her two friends.
“Long may they reign! Long may they reign!”
Elizabeth was right behind her, hammer raised high. Ayax followed suit with her staff and Mara and the rest were soon drawing their weapons. From the corner of her eye, Frances even spotted Morgan and Hattie raising their wand and staff.
“Long may they reign! Long may they reign!”
***
Helias glanced over his shoulder toward the accursed city. Despite the distance, there was a tremble in the air of Kairoun-Aoun itself.
“Helias?” Sara asked.
“Sounds like they crowned Martin and Ginger. They’re going to attack soon,” he said.
Sara nodded, her tense jaw the only sign of the worry that had seized the harpy-orc. As gently as he could manage with his rough, scarred hands, he wrapped his arm around her waist.
“Sara. We’re going to be fine.”
“You’re lying,” she said with eyes fixed forward.
The general couldn’t help but wince. “Sorry.”
Slowing in her stride, Sara placed a hand over Helias’s. “I still appreciate you trying to comfort me but I would prefer you to tell me the truth. How bad is it?”
Helias looked around. “Thorgoth may pull off a miracle and get himself and Berengaria out. However, a lot of Alavari are going to die.”
“What are you going to do?” Sara asked.
“I’ll have to attend this meeting and see what Thorgoth is planning. We’ll make a plan after that.”
“You and I know it’s not going to change anything,” Sara said, looking up at her husband, who could not meet her gaze. Yet, she didn’t push him away. Instead put her hand around his waist, drawing him closer.
“I know, but I want to be sure,” said Helias in a low tone.
“I understand. See you soon,” said Sara.
***
Helias found himself exchanging side-long glances with Glowron. The pair sat, both leaning forward toward King Thorgoth and a pacing Queen Berengaria, who’d finished explaining tomorrow’s strategy.
“Do you have anything else to add, my good generals?” Thorgoth asked. The king still smiled easily as he swirled a cup of wine in his hands.
Glowron shook his head. His tone was short but he kept this expression neutral. “No sire.”
The goblin general was Helias’s superior in rank and social class. The fact of the matter was that if Glowron had no objections, then there was no way the tauroll could object.
And still, Helias felt bile rise in the back of his throat. He froze, ever so briefly. Closing his eyes, he shook his head. Nothing mattered, except for Sara and Gwendilia.
“No sir. I’ll have my troops ready for tomorrow.”
That should have been that. They would have been dismissed to prepare for tomorrow’s suicide mission, but the king’s whims had other plans.
King Thorgoth put his cup down and leaned forward. “Oh come on my good generals. Surely you have something to improve on this plan.”
Glowron’s expression remained blank, whilst Helias smiled. “Your Majesty, you were the one who taught me everything I know. I can think of nothing I can add to your strategy.”
Queen Berengaria strode toward him. “You’re usually so talkative, Helias. Are you sure you have no other thoughts?”
“I beg your apologies, but I do not have any further additions to your plan, Your Majesty. My lord Glowron?” Helias asked.
“I do not either, my liege—” Glowron fell silent and Helias’s tail stiffened.
Thorgoth and Berengaria were no longer smiling and with a few more steps, the harpy queen had put herself behind the two generals.
“Let me be plain, we are now not asking you about how to improve the plan. We are asking for your thoughts. Give them.”
The Demon King’s remaining dark eye was narrowed. The other was now covered with a black silk eyepatch, the remains of the scar that Queen Forowen had given him, a discoloration scouring a line along the side of his face and right over his ear. In spite of the king’s injury, Helias felt nothing but cold dread dry his mouth.
“Your Majesty, my only thought is that we have no option but to follow your plan. No matter how we got into this situation, the only thing we can do is go forward and try to win this day,” Glowron said.
“And do you blame me, Glowron?”
Helias watched, eyes wide as somehow the much smaller goblin general continued to meet the king’s eyes. “I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t assign some responsibility to you at all, but I believe we ought to have thought of the possibility of such a trap. So the responsibility is mine as well.”
Thorgoth nodded. Out of the corner of his eye, Helias saw the slightest of nods that Berengaria gave to her husband. Alarm shooting his gaze back toward the Demon King, Helias found the full attention of his sovereign and sometimes uncle directed right at him.
“And you, General Helias?”
Lie and he might not be able to make it convincing enough. Tell the truth about what he thought about this war and he was never seeing Sara and Gwendilia again. Thorgoth hadn’t just been hurt, his pride had been wounded and he was now backed into a corner. It would be unwise to anger him, but what to say? What could he say?
All he could think of, and see was his child and her adoring gaze. All he could feel was the touch of Sara’s hand against his. They’d become closer than he could have imagined and were more than just companions with mutual goals now.
If he was to die, then maybe he could tell this truth.
“I am mostly thinking of my wife and my child, my king. The coming battle has me greatly concerned with how dangerous it shall be.”
Thorgoth narrowed his eyes at Helias for a brief moment. The tauroll, staying very still, waited for the presumed reaction by Berengaria.
Whatever Berengaria did made Thorgoth arch an eyebrow.
“I thought you didn’t consider your wife to be worth much,” said the king in a mild tone.
His mind racing, Helias ran with the idea. “She has responded well to the constraints and discipline I’ve enforced on her. She does nothing but facilitate all my needs and has served me well.”
He could feel Berengaria’s eyes narrow, but Thorgoth was already leaning back onto his chair. “Good for you. You are dismissed.”
“Thank you, sire,” said Helias, almost unable to hide his sigh of relief.
***
Author’s Note: While I wish I could have spent more quality time with Martin, Elizabeth, Ginger and Ayax, I do love the best-friend/team that I created for Frances. This chapter and the last was my little way of giving each of them a bit of time with Frances before the final battle.
2024.05.15 06:06 maxrexpower1 Is this build I made good for the goal I have?
Build Help/Ready:
Have you read the sidebar and rules? (Please do)Yes.
What is your intended use for this build? The more details the better.
My goal with the build for my new PC is to play the games I have on steam without hearing a very loud noise that the fan makes, on these recent times the sound started to annoy me when playing on my laptop. I want to be able to play games like Skyrim with mods (no graphic ones), DBXV2, .Hack//G.U. Last Recode, Digimon Masters Online, Mad Max, the metro games, Naruto games, Sunset Overdrive, and if possible The Witcher 3 and in the future Digimon World Next Order, Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Royal. I want to be able to play these and other games without hearing a turbine-like noise that the fan makes, I want one more quitter, and without feeling the heat that comes from the computer (laptop in my case right now).
If gaming, what kind of performance are you looking for?
Stable 30fps on the games I play; Low or medium settings, maybe higher if some requirements are met; I don’t care about RTX.
What is your budget (ballpark is okay)?
Around $180 per month.
In what country are you purchasing your parts?
México.
Post a draft of your potential build here (specific parts please). Consider formatting your parts list. Don't ask to be spoonfed a build (read the rules!).
PCPartPicker Part List
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 5500 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor | $95.00 @ Amazon México |
| CPU Cooler | Amazon México says that processor comes with one. | $0.00 |
| Motherboard | MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $102.25 @ Amazon México |
| Memory | ADATA Memoria RAM DIMM XPG SPECTRIX D60G RGB 16GB DDR4 3200Mhz, Gris TUSTENO, Pequeño | $44.00 @ Amazon México |
| Storage | Kingston A400 960 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $55.40 @ Amazon México |
| Video Card | Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 6500 XT 4 GB Video Card | €176.06 @ Amazon México |
| Case | Cylon White RGB ATX | $65.45 @ Amazon México |
| Power Supply | EVGA 550 N1, 550W, 2 Year, Power Supply 100-N1-0550-L1 | $62.88 @ Amazon México |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $ 601.04 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-05-14 04:55 CEST |
Sorry for bad English and redaction in advance.
With this build I can manage to fulfil or almost do the goal I want of the fan not making too much noise?
The RAM and case on the list I put links for them from Amazon México because I could not find them on pcpartpicker, also the case I put on the list is just a filler for the format, I don’t want the RBG/lights on the case, I would prefer to use no case or get a simplecheaper one, I hope someone could recommend one like that. The RAM I have from amazon is only one module of 16gb just in case.
Most of the pieces are on little discounts right now on Amazon México, but starting tomorrow there is a week of sales so maybe the prices that I listed (that I converted from pesos to dollars) may be cheaper, but I could only buy few pieces per month because I have to use part of the money I get for different things.
The monitor I plan to get is a cheap one with HDMI, 30ghz/60ghz and the same size as the one my laptop has, but for a time I would just use the tv as a monitor while I save some money to buy it.
If possible, I would like to know if the MB has Bluetooth, because some of the things I use needs it, so I want to know this detail.
My plan is to keep the build for many years, because I don’t think I could afford something much more expensive.
I would love, if possible, to receive advice on which piece to buy first to start making this build. Also would like to know if I could somehow save some money on any of the pieces.
Thanks in advance for your opinions and have a good night.
EDIT: Fix.
2024.05.15 05:52 ozzuneoj QB Desktop Pro Plus 2023: "Connection Has Been Lost" when trying to delete checks... even using a backup from before the problem started??
Huge post, sorry. If you have time to offer any suggestions it would be much appreciated.
I have been doing PC repair (mainly hardware, new PC builds and malware removal) as a bit of a side gig for over 20 years and the last two days have completely wrecked me. In 22 years I have never been unable to help a customer before now.
A small business (friends) I've been doing work for for a few years started having QB crash with a "Connection Has Been Lost" error starting last Friday when they were trying to do payroll. Somehow the owner was able to get through most of the employees (there are less than 10), but eventually the error prevented him from completing payroll for the week. Keep in mind, the file is stored on the internal SSD on this PC. It doesn't seem to crash when doing things other than specific tasks in Payroll. The easiest way to repeat the issue is to go to the Register and delete a check which does it every single time, even if I make a new check and then try to delete it.
Here is the error message in question: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/image/serverpage/image-id/68606i0DEEB6774923052A?v=v2
Long story short, I despise software like this for many reasons which I won't get into now, I am fairly proficient with how Windows and DOS applications work, but I do not use Quickbooks myself. Still, I am attempting to help them because I doubt anyone else in our very small town has any more experience with this kind of issue. I helped them install QB 2023 about one year ago, after they had been using 2020.
They have two PCs on a network and the main PC (Office2) hosts the file in multi-user mode and is the system that is used for most of the QB work. All of the troubleshooting steps mentioned were performed on the Host PC with no files being accessed over the network.
I have tried the following:
-Updated QBD Pro Plus 2023 repeatedly (the process was very glitchy) until it somehow managed to show that it was at version R12_17, despite the fact that the website said that R12_15 was the latest. Did this on both systems. Also updated Payroll.
-Ran ALL scans\checks\fixes in Tool Hub and File Doctor many times with varying results. Most notably, the File Doctor says they couldn't fix the company file and to contact support. However, I am able to open the company file and most things work fine except for trying to do certain things in payroll or with checks so it isn't completely corrupted or broken.
-Completely uninstalled all Quickbooks\Intuit programs from both PCs and reinstalled QBD 2023 Pro (Plus) using the download from the website with the license code.
... and this is the kicker:
-Copied the company file from one of the dated backup folders from two weeks ago (a day before the last successful payroll was completed), renamed it, put it in a completely different folder on the desktop... and that has the error now too, despite the problem just starting a week ago.
-Copied that 2 week old (pre-error) company file to the other PC, set that PC to open it in Single User mode, and it STILL goes to "Lost Connection" when doing the exact same thing. Keep in mind, this is on a PC which just had all QB software removed entirely, then freshly reinstalled.
-One thing that baffles me is that the modified dates on the files in the backup folders seemed to update to the current date despite not being opened by QB recently. It's like some part of QB is messing with files in the background, even dated backups!? I opened a folder and watched the modified date change on 2 week old backup file without QB even running! This is possibly the most ludicrous thing I have ever experienced from retail software in nearly 30 years of using PCs.
-Contacted support... went through several of the above steps (again!) with them before they determined I needed speak to a technician. As soon as the "technician" joined, they immediately left the chat and the chat ended.
... much sighing ensued at this point.
Of note: I have also noticed that in Event Viewer there are many many many errors listed for Quickbooks going back to about February. Most of them related to caching issues, and it seems to correlate with the program being closed. The program seems to close very slowly (except when it crashes of course), so that is probably related.
Relevant specs of both systems: Windows 10 i5 10400F 8GB DDR4 NVMe SSD with plenty of free space wired ethernet connection to router\switch
Over the past two days I have worked on this for 8 hours total on-site (mostly waiting for scans, downloads and slow QB operation), and several more at home doing research to try to help these friends of mine.
Looking around here on this subreddit I have just read about using the "Verify Data" and "Rebuild Data" options... for some reason that hadn't come up in any of my searches for this particular problem. I will try those tomorrow, but if anyone else has any suggestions I would love to hear them.
Is there a way to "export" the company data to get it "out" of a corrupted company file? I don't care if it says "hey, this part was corrupted, we couldn't get that..." ... because clearly 90% of the company file is readable and works fine. Anything is better than telling them that if they ever want to pay their employees again they have to dump 15+ years of business records and start over.
Also, for what it's worth, I recall the "Total Transactions" being somewhere in the realm of 250,000, if that matters.
submitted by ozzuneoj to QuickBooks [link] [comments]
I have been doing PC repair (mainly hardware, new PC builds and malware removal) as a bit of a side gig for over 20 years and the last two days have completely wrecked me. In 22 years I have never been unable to help a customer before now.
A small business (friends) I've been doing work for for a few years started having QB crash with a "Connection Has Been Lost" error starting last Friday when they were trying to do payroll. Somehow the owner was able to get through most of the employees (there are less than 10), but eventually the error prevented him from completing payroll for the week. Keep in mind, the file is stored on the internal SSD on this PC. It doesn't seem to crash when doing things other than specific tasks in Payroll. The easiest way to repeat the issue is to go to the Register and delete a check which does it every single time, even if I make a new check and then try to delete it.
Here is the error message in question: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/image/serverpage/image-id/68606i0DEEB6774923052A?v=v2
Long story short, I despise software like this for many reasons which I won't get into now, I am fairly proficient with how Windows and DOS applications work, but I do not use Quickbooks myself. Still, I am attempting to help them because I doubt anyone else in our very small town has any more experience with this kind of issue. I helped them install QB 2023 about one year ago, after they had been using 2020.
They have two PCs on a network and the main PC (Office2) hosts the file in multi-user mode and is the system that is used for most of the QB work. All of the troubleshooting steps mentioned were performed on the Host PC with no files being accessed over the network.
I have tried the following:
-Updated QBD Pro Plus 2023 repeatedly (the process was very glitchy) until it somehow managed to show that it was at version R12_17, despite the fact that the website said that R12_15 was the latest. Did this on both systems. Also updated Payroll.
-Ran ALL scans\checks\fixes in Tool Hub and File Doctor many times with varying results. Most notably, the File Doctor says they couldn't fix the company file and to contact support. However, I am able to open the company file and most things work fine except for trying to do certain things in payroll or with checks so it isn't completely corrupted or broken.
-Completely uninstalled all Quickbooks\Intuit programs from both PCs and reinstalled QBD 2023 Pro (Plus) using the download from the website with the license code.
... and this is the kicker:
-Copied the company file from one of the dated backup folders from two weeks ago (a day before the last successful payroll was completed), renamed it, put it in a completely different folder on the desktop... and that has the error now too, despite the problem just starting a week ago.
-Copied that 2 week old (pre-error) company file to the other PC, set that PC to open it in Single User mode, and it STILL goes to "Lost Connection" when doing the exact same thing. Keep in mind, this is on a PC which just had all QB software removed entirely, then freshly reinstalled.
-One thing that baffles me is that the modified dates on the files in the backup folders seemed to update to the current date despite not being opened by QB recently. It's like some part of QB is messing with files in the background, even dated backups!? I opened a folder and watched the modified date change on 2 week old backup file without QB even running! This is possibly the most ludicrous thing I have ever experienced from retail software in nearly 30 years of using PCs.
-Contacted support... went through several of the above steps (again!) with them before they determined I needed speak to a technician. As soon as the "technician" joined, they immediately left the chat and the chat ended.
... much sighing ensued at this point.
Of note: I have also noticed that in Event Viewer there are many many many errors listed for Quickbooks going back to about February. Most of them related to caching issues, and it seems to correlate with the program being closed. The program seems to close very slowly (except when it crashes of course), so that is probably related.
Relevant specs of both systems: Windows 10 i5 10400F 8GB DDR4 NVMe SSD with plenty of free space wired ethernet connection to router\switch
Over the past two days I have worked on this for 8 hours total on-site (mostly waiting for scans, downloads and slow QB operation), and several more at home doing research to try to help these friends of mine.
Looking around here on this subreddit I have just read about using the "Verify Data" and "Rebuild Data" options... for some reason that hadn't come up in any of my searches for this particular problem. I will try those tomorrow, but if anyone else has any suggestions I would love to hear them.
Is there a way to "export" the company data to get it "out" of a corrupted company file? I don't care if it says "hey, this part was corrupted, we couldn't get that..." ... because clearly 90% of the company file is readable and works fine. Anything is better than telling them that if they ever want to pay their employees again they have to dump 15+ years of business records and start over.
Also, for what it's worth, I recall the "Total Transactions" being somewhere in the realm of 250,000, if that matters.
2024.05.15 05:38 Due-Ad-757 Help validating potential décor for wedding
Hey Guys, looking for help in validating my potential set up. I am very new to this so I tried to note all my thoughts. If I didn't explicitly state it, I probably am unaware.
Scenario: LED Up lighting on ground to shine up onto wall. Can place controller anywhere. Open to multiple controllers.
Length: This is for my wedding and the venue is not yet selected (so I actually am not positive I will be allowed to do this yet but I want to plan). Let’s say 15 meters.
Wants:
submitted by Due-Ad-757 to WLED [link] [comments]
Scenario: LED Up lighting on ground to shine up onto wall. Can place controller anywhere. Open to multiple controllers.
Length: This is for my wedding and the venue is not yet selected (so I actually am not positive I will be allowed to do this yet but I want to plan). Let’s say 15 meters.
Wants:
- Safety. I don’t know much about electrical engineering
- Addressable RGB (maybe RGBW)
- Diffusion with no hot spots
- Bright enough to really color the walls. So I’m thinking plan for at or near 100%
- Quick to put together after prep has been done. As in I can test it at home, break it down, transport it to the venue, and set it back up easily. I’ll need to measure to be certain but internet specs say my SUV’s cargo area is 1.8 meters long. Though by doing diagonals I might be able to squeeze a bit more space out of it.
- Sound reactive
- Thinking about what I’ll use this for after. Maybe accent lighting around a room? Might be nice to have actual whites.
- Scenario 3 Ultra Mode very closely resembles what I'm describing. https://youtu.be/Umo6jKLfwsQ?t=3408
- LED Strip
- With this length, 24 Volt seems to be the way to go
- Sounds like the COB is the brightest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmIcTIAlI74&t=400s
- Waterproof isn't required
- Depending on if I want to include whites or not
- 24v addressable COB “720LEDs/m” RGB
- 24v addressable COB “768LEDs/m” RGBW
- I don’t think I really need white for this but might be nice for future use
- White vs Black PCB
- Since it's hidden shouldn't matter right? Maybe white would make it slightly brighter? I suspect that to be negligible.
- Controller
- I do not want to DIY the controller
- Dig-Uno
- Probably not
- Dig-Quad
- I think this would work
- Dig-Octa and up
- Seems overkill and starting to seem even more complex.
- AE+
- This would add sound reactive
- The touch button might be nice as at the venue I don’t know what the wifi will be like and could reduce size by not including the antenna
- IR would be nice for same reason as touch button
- I don’t think I need the SD card
- I don’t understand what the 3x LED channel is so not sure if I want “Full” or “IR + MIC”
- Aluminum Profile Housing
- 45 Degree so its angled
- Maybe I can get something 3D printed as as stand for it so It can be raised to the height of the what’s covering it on the ground (I’m imagining the venue already has something there as the venue where I got the idea did already have something)
- Not sure on Milky vs Clear cover
- I think Milly might look better as it would hide the LED strip
- I could probably buy a small pack of each and test it out. I assume it’ll be personal preference?
- The one linked from Quin comes in 50cm sections
- https://quinled.info/2019/01/17/importance-of-led-cooling/
- I think I could premake this in 5m sections so that would be 10 pieces a section. This would not fit in my car but if at the very ends I don’t peel the last 3cm off from the adhesive, I could maybe leave the cover off and fold it, allowing the led strip to curve and not bend sharply
- I would then use connectors, listed in a later section. This would be to connect the 3x 5m sections together
- Connectors
- Could I use some sort of quick connectors to make disassembly and reassembly easier?
- I didn’t see any on https://quinled.info/2018/10/01/tools-and-equipment/#connector-blocks
- Was thinking something like
- Would this make a hotspot?
- Could I use some sort of quick connectors to make disassembly and reassembly easier?
- Power Supply
- If I really want it to be capable of full brightness I’d need
- Source
- COB-RGB
- COB-RGBW
- Mean Well UHP-500 series
- Could go with Mean Well LRS-350 if going RGBW
- What do I do for an enclosure? I don’t like it being so exposed for both safety reasons and it looks rather unprofessional.
- Concerned about what if there is a snag on the cable? I wouldn’t want bare wires connected to an outlet to just be laying around.
- I’ve found this which helps some as it looks much safer to me but isnt for UHP-500 https://openbuildspartstore.com/powercase-kit/
- Also saw many 3d printed options as well but is that safe?
- If I really want it to be capable of full brightness I’d need
- Cables
- Data cables
- Not sure what AWG. Since it's so short, I assume 20AWG?
- Power injection
- Discussed in Power Injection section but thinking 20AWG since its so short.
- Data cables
- Power Injection
- There are two sections if placed in the middle but not exact middle as to remove the need to cut the 5m strips (it is sold in 5m strings if bought 5m right? It's not 5x 1m strips?).
- COB-RGB
- COB-RGBW
- After doing the math here, maybe just inject at one end. Seems a whole lot simpler to do. Maybe someone on here sees a fault in that, that I do not see.
- There are two sections if placed in the middle but not exact middle as to remove the need to cut the 5m strips (it is sold in 5m strings if bought 5m right? It's not 5x 1m strips?).
2024.05.15 05:20 PLUTO_HAS_COME_BACK Vibhajjavāda and Sarvāstivāda: Analysing the Heart Sutra from Theravadin Perspective—Part 7
3.0. THE THIRD BUDDHIST COUNCIL:
Venerable Moggaliputta Tissa Thera led the 3rd Buddhist Council of Theravada School. That was not a schism as the outsiders were not the true members of the Sangha. However, the king supported them like the members of the Sangha.Because it helped promote tolerance and mutual respect, Asoka desired that people should be well-learned (bahu sruta) in the good doctrines (kalanagama) of other people's religions. [The Edicts of King Asokaan, English rendering by Ven. S. Dhammika © 1994]King Asoka was supporting everyone who claimed he belonged to the Dhamma-Vinaya community (the Sangha) established by the Sakyamuni. However, they did not join the Dhamma-Vinaya community, nor know, nor care the Buddha's teaching.
Venerable Moggaliputta Tissa Thera determined that "the Vibhajjavāda alone contained the teaching of the Buddha."
Rest of the monks who were true believers, told about the doctrine of the Buddha, that it was Vibhajjavāda i.e. the religion of analytical reasoning. This answer was supported by Moggaliputta-Tissa who was present there. He told that the Buddha was Vibhajjavādin (analyser). The Thera was made the gurdian of the Order. To purify the Sangha, the king requested to hold the Uposatha ceremony.
Uposatha
uposatha : [m.] Sabbath day; observance of 8 precepts; biweekly recitation of the Vinaya rules by a chapter of Buddhist monks.Mūḷuposatha sutta (AN 3.70), (Bhikkhu Bodhi)
“There are, Visākhā, three kinds of uposatha. What three? The cowherds’ uposatha, the Nigaṇṭhas’ uposatha, and the noble ones’ uposatha [...] (3) “And how, Visākhā, is the noble ones’ uposatha observed? The defiled mind is cleansed by exertion. And how is the defiled mind cleansed by exertion?The mentioned uposatha ceremony is for the monks to recite the Vinaya rules. It cannot be observed with the participation of the public, including the monks (and priests) from other religions.
[Uposatha (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)] The monastic observance may be held in one of four ways, depending on the size of the Community in a particular territory: If four bhikkhus or more, they meet for a recitation of the Pāṭimokkha; if three, they declare their mutual purity to one another; if two, they declare their purity to each other; if one, he marks the day by determining it as his uposatha. In addition to these regular observance days, the Buddha gave permission for a Community to recite the Pāṭimokkha only on one other occasion: when unity has been reestablished in the Community. This, the Commentary says, refers only to occasions when a major dispute in the Community has been settled (such as a schism—see Chapter 21), and not to occasions when the uposatha has been suspended for minor reasons. Thus there are two occasions on which the bhikkhus are allowed to meet for the uposatha: the last day of the lunar fortnight and the day for reestablishing unity.The public uposatha is open to everyone, including non-Buddhists. The participants are expected to observe a set of uposatha sīla, either 8, 9 or 10 (aṭṭha-sīla, navanga-sīla or dasa-sīla).
uposathika : [adj.] one who observes [uposatha] precepts.
Aṭṭha-sīla 8 (Uposatha, Uposatha-sīla): 6. Vikālabhojanā veramaṇī； 7. Naccagītavāditavisūkadassanā mālāgandhavilepanadhāraṇamaṇanavibhūsanaṭṭhānā veramaṇī； 8. Uccāsayanamahāsayanā veramaṇī;On the basis of not-Dhamma as ‘Dhamma’… Dhamma as ‘not-Dhamma’… not-Vinaya as ‘Vinaya’… Vinaya as ‘not-Vinaya’, Emperor Asoka expelled the non-Vibhajjavādis who could not observe the uposatha, including the Sarvāstivādis, from the Sangha.
[Schism (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)] Ven. Upāli: “‘A split in the Community, a split in the Community (saṅgha-bheda)’ it is said. To what extent is the Community split?” The Buddha: “There is the case where they explain not-Dhamma as ‘Dhamma’… Dhamma as ‘not-Dhamma’… not-Vinaya as ‘Vinaya’… Vinaya as ‘not-Vinaya’… [...] a light offense as ‘a heavy offense’… a heavy offense as ‘a light offense’… an offense leaving a remainder as ‘an offense leaving no remainder’… an offense leaving no remainder as ‘an offense leaving a remainder’… a serious offense as ‘a not-serious offense’… a not-serious offense as ‘a serious offense.’ On the basis of these eighteen grounds they pull away, pull apart, they perform a separate uposatha, perform a separate Invitation, perform a separate Community transaction. To this extent the Community is split.”—Cv.VII.5.2Devadatta caused the first schism on the basic of Vinaya rules. The Vajjian monks caused the second schism on the same ground. The Sangha established by the Sakyamuni was attacked several times from within.
Vibhajjavādi Dhamma Missions
Emperor Asoka sent forth nine missionaries to nine different countries to propagate the religion of the Buddha and crowned it with success... also the Bhikkuni Sangha in Aparantaka, Suvannabhumi and Ceylon.Emperor Asoka sent his son and daughter, Arahant Maha Mahinda Thera and Arahant Sanghamitta Theri, to Sri Lanka, where the events of the 3rd Buddhist Council were recorded.
"Arahant Mahinda, who introduced the Buddhadhamma to Sri Lanka, is the Redactor of the Buddhapåjàva in Sinhala Buddhism."
Sri Lanka became a foothold of the Dhamma-Vinaya Tradition. Suvannabhumi was also a foothold where Thera-vada Buddhism thrives presently.
Vibhajjavādi Dhamma Paṭisambhidā-ñāṇa
Analytical Knowledge (Paṭisambhidā-ñāṇa) allows the arahants to reason and teach in detail analytically. Understanding the nature of the Teachings of the Buddha and the Sangha, Venerable Moggaliputta Tissa Thera described them as Vibhajjavādis. That is Theravada, the doctrine of the arahants. Dhamma paṭisambhidā-ñāṇa is the ability to analytically and in detail explain the nature of reality.The Buddha as an awakened sage is neither a theorist nor a philosopher. Theravada is not philosophy. The Buddha is an arahant.
The Buddha's disciples, who are also arahants, know the Four Noble Truths through their own observation and release from delusion. Knowing modern views and modern science is not their task. They are not philosophers and philosophical scholars. They do not claim to possess omniscience.
Titthiya Sutta (Sectarians):
[The Buddha advises the monks,] you should answer those wanderers of other sects in this way, ‘Friends, passion carries little blame and is slow to fade. Aversion carries great blame and is quick to fade. Delusion carries great blame and is slow to fade. [Thanissaro Bhikkhu]
3.1. Kaccānagotta Sutta (Right View)
Kaccānagotta Sutta Pali:‘sammādiṭṭhi sammādiṭṭhī’ti, bhante, vuccati. Kittāvatā nu kho, bhante, sammādiṭṭhi hotī’’ti?... ‘‘‘Sabbaṃ atthī’ti kho, kaccāna, ayameko anto. ‘Sabbaṃ natthī’ti ayaṃ dutiyo anto. Ete te, kaccāna, ubho ante anupagamma majjhena tathāgato dhammaṃ deseti – ‘avijjāpaccayā saṅkhārā; saṅkhārapaccayā… L. Feer, Saṃyutta-nikāya,V. 16 —[copied from Early Buddhism: A New Definition (Vijitha Kumara, page 130)]
- sammādiṭṭhi : right view
- What is the right view, bhante?
Sarvāstivāda
Sarvāstivāda means "those who claim that everything exists" [...] the Sarvāstivādins suggest that "everything," that is all conditioned factors (dharma), "exist" and can exert causal efficacy in the three time periods of the past, present, and future. [Sarvastivada And Mulasarvastivada (Encyclopedia.com)]The main Sarvāstivādi concept 'all dhamma exist in all three times' was familiar to the Buddha, not because He taught it, but because He rejected it.
'Everything exists': That is one extreme. 'Everything doesn't exist': That is a second extreme. Avoiding these two extremes, the Tathagata teaches the Dhamma via the middle: From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications (saṅkhārā). From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness. [Kaccānagotta Sutta (SN 12:15) (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)]Somehow, that concept, despite the Buddha's famous rejection, came to associate with Buddhism once again, not because the Buddha taught it, but the outsiders made it as if the Buddha accepted it.
We, too, must reject the notion of 'everything exists' just the way the Buddha rejected it. The rejection is also present in the paṭicca samuppāda, as He explains:
Imagine two sheaves of reeds the one leaning against the other. In the same way consciousness depends on named-shapes, named shapes depend on consciousness [...] birth depends on existing, aging and death depend on birth — the coming into existence of upset, grief, lamentation, pain and misery. [...] If, however, friend, I were to remove one of those sheaves of reeds one would fall down if I were to remove the other the other would fall down. — SN 5.67 [Dependant Uprising, Downbound Dependent Own-making (Dependent Origination, Conditioned Genesis, The Causal Law),The Paṭicca Samuppāda provides two sheaves of reeds that support each other, but one of them can be removed to topple them both. When they are toppled, we cannot say everything exists. The Buddha's Dhamma, which shows us the four Paramattha, is nothing like a "dharma theory" that was created by the Sarvāstivādis.
Kaccānagotta Sutta continues:
[The Buddha:] By & large, Kaccayana, this world is supported by (takes as its object) a polarity, that of existence & non-existence. But when one sees the origination of the world as it actually is with right discernment, 'non-existence' with reference to the world does not occur to one. When one sees the cessation of the world as it actually is with right discernment, 'existence' with reference to the world does not occur to one. "By & large, Kaccayana, this world is in bondage to attachments, clingings (sustenances), & biases
3.2. Vibhajyavāda & The Present Dhamma
The Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia:vibhajyavāda; A school of thought doctrinally opposed to the Sarvāstitvāda. holds that the present dharma-s alone exist. However, some among them like the followers of the Kāśyapīya, concede that the past karma that have not yet given fruit (adatta-phala) can also be said to exist.Here is a part of Magganga Dipani by Ledi Sayadaw:
kammassakata samma-ditthi Sabbesatta kammadayada, kamayoni, kammabandhu kammappatisarana yam kammam karissanti kalyanam va papakam va tassadayada bhavissanti. Sabbe satta kammassaka: There exist such properties as elephants, horses, vehicles, cattle, fields, buildings, gold, silver, jewels, etc. Those properties can be said to belong to us in the present existence before we pass away. But when we pass away those properties do not accompany us beyond death. They are like properties which we borrow for some time for our use. They are liable to destruction during the present existence. As those properties which beings possess do not accompany them to their new existences, they cannot be claimed as properties belonging to those beings. The Buddha therefore said, 'sabbe satta kammassaka.' The only property of all beings that accompanies them is their own volitional action... [Ledi Sayadaw explains the entire thing here.]
- Venerable Mogok Sayadaw warned us to avoid sassata ditthi, the belief in permanence (nicca), 'eternity-belief'. Based on his explanation: A kamma (action) exists while it is happening between the start and the end. For example, feeding an animal: this action exists only while that animal is fed. That action cannot exist before and after that animal is fed. However, as if following the doers, the potential effect of certain wholesome and unwholesome kamma (volition) is inevitable.
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
Furthermore, bhikkhus, this is the dukkha ariya·sacca: jāti is dukkha, jarā is dukkha (sickness is dukkha) maraṇa is dukkha, association with what is disliked is dukkha, dissociation from what is liked is dukkha, not to get what one wants is dukkha; in short, the five upādāna'k'khandhas are dukkha.
- The Buddha introduced the Dukkha Sacca in His first sermon.
- Vedayita-dukkha: The truth is dukkha are birth, aging, death, association with what is disliked, dissociation from what is liked, and not to get what one wants.
- Bhayattha-dukkha: The truth is the constant fear of these dukkha is also dukkha.
- Due to the past wholesome and unwholesome kamma, one gets birth, aging, death, etc.
- However, Beings born in the sugati-loka do not suffer from birth, aging, and bodily pain (kayika-dukkha), as these dukkha do not exist there.
- The past unwholesome kamma do not affect these beings during their existence in sugati-loka, especially the arupa-brahmas.
- The Buddha understood the followers of Nigaṇṭha (the Nigaṇṭhas) did not know the existence of the sugati-loka. Thus, they were speculators who fell into sassatavada (eternalism) and ucchedavada (nihilism/annihilation). Details can be read here: The Buddhist Critique of Sassatavada and Ucchedavada: The Key to a proper Understanding of the Origin and the Doctrines of early Buddhism (Y. Karunadasa).
- In the Devadaha Sutta, the Buddha pointed out the mistakes of these Nigaṇṭhas.
Devadaha Sutta (the Law of Kamma)
[MN 101] “‘So, friends, it seems that you don’t know that you existed in the past, and that you did not not exist… you don’t know what is the abandoning of unskillful qualities and the attainment of skillful qualities in the here & now. That being the case, it is not proper for you to assert that, “Whatever a person experiences—pleasure, pain, or neither pleasure nor pain—all is caused by what was done in the past. Thus, with the destruction of old [kamma] through asceticism, and with the non-doing of new actions, there will be no flow into the future. With no flow into the future, there is the ending of [kamma]. With the ending of [kamma], the ending of [dukkha]. With the ending of [dukkha], the ending of feeling. With the ending of feeling, all [dukkha] will be exhausted.” (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
- If the present is completely conditioned by the past [kamma] and if we could not break that condition to do new kamma in a condition not determined by the past, then at this present we could not even do anything intentionally (kamma) as our action would be restrained by the past kamma.
all dharmas exist in the past, present and future, the "three times".Past and future exist at this present moment implies they merge with the present time. Yesterday and tomorrow are today and they are so every day without meaning one can live yesterday and tomorrow today. If one's injury healed yesterday, both injury and healing exist today, right now. For three times doctrine (Sarvāstivāda), dead people are dead, alive and exist at all stages and every moment of time. Even though one has reborn countless times, one still lives in the past lives and also the future lives. One has lived the past infinity and the future infinity. As the future has also been lived, there is no way to change the future, so what will happen will happen — according to the God one believes. After one passes away, one will relive the same life again and again countless times in the past and the future. Someone who will become a Buddha is already a Buddha. Someone who will go to hell is already in hell while living this life as a human.
Rational and irrational people, including the physicists, philosophers, writers and filmmakers, took the doctrine of three times seriously and imagined time machines.
Assuming kamma (action) exists constantly (past, present and future) constitutes sassata ditthi (eternalism). Assuming actions and their effects do not exist constitutes ahetukaditthi (view of uncausedness) — see the 8th question on page181 of this book: Milindapanha: kammaphalaatthibhavapanha. King Milinda asked many questions about kamma. The answers of wisemen and philosophers of the time did not satisfy the king. He got the answers only when he met Venerable Nagasena; see A SEARCH FOR THE LEARNED (TALENT HUNT), pages12-16.
Venerable Nagasena explained how the future is yet to exist:
Can anyone point out the fruits that a tree has not yet produced, saying: “Here they are, there they are”?” [See 3.2. QUESTION REGARDING VALIDITY OF FRUIT AND RESULT OF WHOLESOME AND UNWHOLESOME]Real is the present; the past is gone; the future is yet to exist. That is the knowledge of the arahants.
Every action has the process of existence: birth, decay and death. Understanding anicca can abandon sakkaya ditthi.
Sakkaya ditthi is a sense with which one perceives a nama-rupa complex as me, you, he, she, it, cat, dog and so on.
Right View according to the Sakyamuni
The Buddha and His disciples visited Vesāli, the capital of the Vajjians, several times, and many arahants were made there. Saccaka, who the Buddha addressed as Aggivessana, was a famous Jain teacher of the Licchavi rājās. They accompanied Saccaka when he went to challenge the Buddha. There a famous debate on anattavada occurred, as recorded in the famous Cula-Saccaka Sutta.[The Buddha asked,] “Well, Aggivessana, when you say that [rūpa] is self, do you have power over that [rūpa]. Can you have your [rūpa] be any different than it is?” Saccaka could not answer and remained silent [...] “Released they are endowed with unsurpassed Right View, unsurpassed practice, and unsurpassed release. Released, they honor and respect the Tathagata in this manner: The Buddha teaches the Dhamma for awakening (to Four Noble Truths), the Buddha teaches the Dhamma to develop restraint, the Buddha teaches the Dhamma for developing tranquility, the Buddha teaches the Dhamma for ending samsara (ignorance). The Buddha teaches the Dhamma for total unbinding.” (John Haspel).
- [rūpa]: The four mahabhuta (solid, liquid, gas, heat), each changes according to its nature.
- Self (atta) means the owner or arbitor of the five aggregates of clinging.
- do you have power over that [rūpa]: None of the five aggregates is self (atta).
- Vesāli became a Buddhist capital after the debate. But not all the Nigaṇṭhas were happy. Their attack on the Buddha and the Sangha never stopped. They succeeded only after a few centuries later.
3.3. QUESTION REGARDING VALIDITY OF FRUIT AND RESULT OF WHOLESOME AND UNWHOLESOME
(kammaphalaatthibhavapanha page181) 8. King Milinda said: “If, O Venerable Nagasena, with the (present) Mind-body-complex (nama-rupa) either wholesome or unwholesome kammical actions were performed where will the fruit and result of those actions (kamma) be located?” “The fruit and result of kammical actions tend to follow the Mind-body-complex, O King, like a shadow that never leaves it.” (So replied the Elder.) “Now what do you think, O King? Can any one point out the fruits which a tree has not yet produced, saying: “Here they are, there they are”?” (So asked the Elder.) “Not possible it is, O Venerable One.” (So replied the king.)
- Shadow means the potential. As long as the tree exists, the potential of fruiting of that tree exists. The fruits will be on that tree, not elsewhere. The potential never leaves the tree.
- Mahayana created the concept of Ālayavijñāna (storehouse consciousness).
- Ālayavijñāna is also regarded as the store house of vāsanas and karmic tendencies (vāsanāparibhāvita and sarvabījaka). However, it is neither the permanent identity of a person nor a form of collective unconscious. Continuous build-up and discharge of karmic tendencies cause the ever-changing nature of ālaya-vijñāna. [Wisdom Lib]
- Compare ālayavijñāna with indestructable buddha-nature. Buddha-nature is also vijñāna/citta. Awareness is Buddha-nature.
- [Breakthrough Sermon, Bodhidharma:] The Sutra of the Ten Stages says, “In the body of mortals is the indestructible buddha-nature [...] Our buddha-nature [the self-nature of Buddha] is awareness: to be aware and to make others aware. To realize awareness is liberation.
- because garbha (which nearly always means 'embryo' in Sanskrit) is translated by ts'ang, ( = 'womb'; lit. 'storehouse'), a certain vacuum was created in the Chinese vocabulary which the terms fo hsing and fo hsin ( = buddha-citta) neatly filled. [Rawlinson, Andrew. "The Ambiguity of the Buddha-Nature Concept in India and China."]
- Ālayavijñāna belongs to or a part of buddha-nature (buddha-citta).
- According to the concept of citta-matrata
[Kamma-Niyama] The moral order--Kamma (action) is that by which men execute, deeds, good or evil, meritorious or the opposite. What is it ? It is volition (cetana), moral or immoral. We are told in the Pali texts: 'By action, Bhikkhus, I mean volition. It is through having willed that a man does something in the form of deed, speech or thought.'The nama-rupa process, which occurs according to the law of paticcasamuppada (Pratītya-Samutpāda), is like a tree; See 2.3. PATICCASAMUPPADA. The nama-rupa process, which occurs due to the niyama(s) other than kamma niyama, is outside the law of paticcasamuppada but not unrelated.
Naked Kassapa
The ascetic Acelakassapa put forward four theories of origination of suffering and wanted to know Buddha’s answer to them. [Dependent Origination and the Buddhist Theory of Relativity (Kottegoda S. Warnasuriya (page 154)]An action was done by a doer, not someone else. However, the doer and the action (kamma) can exist only during the action is being done, not before or after. The doer happens to exist because of doing. The doer and doing exists at the same time. Action and doer don't exist outside doing or before or after the action is done.
"'He who performs the act also experiences [the result]' — what you, Kassapa, first called 'suffering caused by oneself' — this amounts to the Eternalist[3] theory. [Acela Sutta: Naked Kassapa]
Saying there is no doer falls into ahetukavada and probably uccedavada, too, as 'no doer' means 'nobody is responsible' to take the consequences. When the action is done, it becomes a seed that grows into a tree (as nama-rupa process) according to the paticcasamuppada law. The fruiting or consequences of volition (kamma/seed) will appear on this tree.
Of Causal Genesis [Mahathera Ledi Sayadaw (contrinues)]Paticcasamuppada is Causal Genesis or Dependent Origination (Process). The key words are depdendent and process. The process depends on the action done by the doer, which no longer exists by the next stage of the process. For example, a sound comes out after the drummer hit a drum with a drumstick. The birth of the sound is dependent on the hitting process, but the sound itself is independent to be in the law of impermanence—no butterfly-effect here.
That is how things exist, but not "everything exists".