Hey everyone! Found out I passed this past Wednesday, and figured I'd do a writeup now that I have some time. Hope you all find some of this helpful!
Background: USMD, about to be MS3 this summer, 2yr preclinical. Used Anking all throughout preclinical and matured about 75% of it, but tbh slacked on reviews starting January of this year. Decided to take 5 weeks of dedicated.
Dedicated Study: Saturdays were my NBME days + review, Sunday off. Rest of the week was studying weaknesses based on the previous exam.

• UWorld -- Did around 80-100 questions a day. Blocks were a middle ground between mixed and focused in which I would pair topics that tended to overlap together -- for instance, having a block with cardiovascular, pulm, and heme. If there was a topic I really wanted to hammer (say heme), I'd do a 20q block of ONLY heme, and then another 20q block of heme/cardio/pulm.
• Anki -- Gave up doing my reviews, instead made a separate deck of cards that I made for only incorrects from UWorld and NBME. Keeping up with these cards on incorrects is honestly key if you're an anki user.
• First Aid -- Yes, use it. Never did the whole "read it cover to cover" thing, used it as a reference when I had specific topics I knew I needed to review.
• Pathoma/BnB/Sketchy -- Pathoma 1-3 is a necessity. Sketchy is good for micro/pharm. Otherwise, I would rarely actually watch videos during my dedicated because I found it a time sink. The only time I would sit and watch a video if it was a topic I had completely forgotten or found extremely confusing. Aside from that, would just use FA as my way to review things.
• 100 Concepts Anatomy -- I found it helpful, broke it up and went through it within a week. Found the anatomy on uppelower extremity, GI, and GU to be most helpful.
• Mehlman Docs -- I tried to go through these, my brain hated them, but your brain might love them, so give them a try. Arrows definitely seemed to be the most useful if anything though.

Scores: I want to emphasize first and foremost, you DO NOT need to have scores like mine to pass! It is nice to have a buffer, but don't be intimidated by mine nor other people's scores on Reddit when they're 70+. There's a reason why around 65 is the goal -- trust the NBMEs and the fact that you'd have a very high chance of passing by then.
UWorld: 70% correct with 69% (nice) used NBME 25: 68% NBME 27: 70% NBME 28: 72% NBME 29: 74% NBME 30: 79% NBME 31: 81% Free 120 (2024): 80%
Test Day: Honestly, I was more anxious the night before than the day of. Morning of the exam, I literally was just listening to music on the drive there, and after a few of questions of the first block was able to fully chill out. Just definitely be confident in your preparation and in your scores! Real exam is definitely most similar to the Free 120 -- stems are slightly longer than most of the NBMEs, but I didn't really find them EXTREMELY long or an issue; typically finished blocks with 10-15 minutes left unless it was a harder block for me. In general though, it genuinely is a reasonable exam. You'll get a couple questions where you'll have no idea what the answer is, but otherwise most of the exam will be things you have seen. When I finished, I felt pretty neutral about the exam and how it went, but if you feel bad afterwards -- that is completely normal!
General Tips:

1. You don't need to know everything, you only need to know enough. Really though, don't get bogged down on tiny details that *may* pop up on the exam -- focus on patterns you see in NBMEs, recognizing clinical presentations for HY pathology, and hone in on being able to figure out an answer even if you only know part of what it's talking about.
2. Force yourself to study your weaknesses. If it's hard for you, then you're studying the right thing. Studying your weaknesses is the biggest key in making increases in your score, and is probably the main reason why I was able to consistently increase my score each week. I would look at your previous NBME, identify the 2-3 areas that you had the lowest scores in, and split up your time throughout the week to focus on those areas. Be flexible and readjust each week. Don't bother with studying things that you're already doing well with -- for instance, I was consistently doing well with neuro and didn't review it at all until my last week of studying.
3. Carefully review UWorld explanations and NBMEs. This is how you learn! With UWorld, I would read the explanations for incorrects fully + make 1-2 anki cards on it, and for those I got correct, I'd make sure my reasoning was right and only read the learning objective at the end. For NBMEs, the explanations are very frustrating to learn from, but still read them, and if I was still confused, I'd just make a list of topics to revisit in FA later.
4. Analyze NBME (or even UWorld) stems. Something I found myself doing is getting down to a 50/50, and then choosing the wrong answer. But there is ALWAYS something in the stem that the question writer wants you to pick up on to choose the correct answer. I found that while I was reviewing NBMEs, taking a few seconds to look at the stem again and basically ask "What is the key piece of info that I missed?" is super helpful in pattern recognition and learning how NBME tends to test certain topics.
5. Take care of yourself! It's so easy to get wrapped up in studying and feel like there are a billion things that you still haven't reviewed. Of course don't take this too far, but be sure to take at least one day off each week, and if you're really not feeling it, take an extra day off. There were a few weeks where my brain really wasn't into studying, and I'd only be able to get 40 UWorld questions done, if even that. And that's ok! Breaks are needed.

Anyways, hope this is all helpful. Feel free to comment or pm me any questions, and best of luck to you all and your studies!

--⧼ BEGIN Broadcast Message ⧽--
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Priority Level: Urgent
:: From ::
Center Arm of the Emperor, Planet Laran
:: To ::
All Survivors of Fellow Royal Cast Broods
:: Message ::
The Emperor has graciously permitted the use of his Excellency's summer home on Planet Laran, located in the Empire's Center Arm, as a temporary refuge during the unprecedented violent Terran offences against His Holiness and the holiness of the Omni-brood of Ix.
:: Attachments ::
Coordinates and Flight Key
:: Royal Cryptographic Signature ::
Lord La'Ix, The Emperor's Right-Center Arm
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
--⧼ END Broadcast Message ⧽--

earlier

"CURSE THEM! The great houses are going to have my bloody head for this! There is no way this should've happened and under my command too! The Golden Emperor's own exotic holiday world has gone to ash and the only one to blame is going to be me. Well it was basically my watch anyways. Curse. Them. All"
Those were the only legible sounds one could hear among the frantic stamping of one particular Ixian lord as he hurried away through the underbrush of the royal reserve just outside the centre palace. The same Ixian lord that, only hours earlier, was delighting in his typical cooked boar while enjoying his evening's entertainment of a young Terran girl running for her life from a loose Laran tiger. Something about the way those bipeds run always makes him laugh. Some similarly caste Ixian would call this form of entertainment childish, lowbrow, and immature. He would tend to agree. But sometimes he just wanted cheap slapstick humour. The day to day life of the royal caste tends to get dull with all the fine arts an Ixian of his caste is meant to enjoy.
"How did it all go to shit!?! I was always attentive, and there hasn't been an uprising since those terrans were tamed for the palace. I mean we mostly neuter the problematic ones anyways, so why all the sudden aggression?", he shouted in agitation at the emptiness in front of him.
Speeding through the royal garden which in actuality is a repurposed Savannah of the island the palace is on. The Ixian was a beast of speed. Perfectly honed and trained over decades, and genetically maintained over eons, he always proudly held that he was the fasted in his brood of 16. Making a name for himself among the other broodkin for being the most genetically suited for the rank of high general (not that there was any need for generals, there hasn't been need for war in so long). Of course the Ixians always pride themselves in having no excess potential, and adapting your environment to suit your biology, but it never hurts to have perfect biology. That's the true pride of an Ixian.
That innate need to change the universe rather than changing themselves is what led to their vast interstellar empire. One that reached from constellation to constellation and then eventually to the arms of entire galaxies, terraforming worlds to the same environment they were already adapted to. Since forcing nature into one's bidding was the most sacred duty of any that shared a lick of Ix biology.
Which was why the Ix was confident in themselves. This Ixian in particular surely felt surprised, but mainly he was only moderately upset at the sudden change of situation, from being comfortable in the royal dining hall to sudden exercise.
"Everything can be changed back. Everything can be changed back." It repeated the mantra to itself. As it began to relax and turn its snarled sharp mouth into a toothy grin.
"Yes, there is nothing to worry about at all. Then let's make a game plan. Just need to make it to the space port at the harbour. Grab a ride out and find someone else to take the fall. That old royal butler is as ancient as the dirt of the broodworld. Hell, he probably was there when it vanished in the shadow of the holy empire's long past." chuckling to himself at the quite witty remark, but saddened that no one else was there to hear it.
Should be realistic enough for the others to believe. But first things first, I need to reach the harbour-master. It thought while its dense muscles powered the beastly lizard-like form on its journey, as it bound in the direction of its destination at top speed on all fours.
The blood red sun was already kissing the horizon by the time the Ixian went to nearly collapse under exhaustion of the extended sprint. He hasn't ran this far and fast than when he a young broodling that won competitions and competitions in the royal sports. I think I might have overdid it. He thought while massaging the oncoming threat of a sneaky cramp in his hind leg.
The Ixian were well known for speed. But their stamina was another thing. There bodies simply didn't have the evolved features for long distance travel. There was never truly any need in the past, as their very steady and controlled climate and sparsely diverse ecosystem on Ix never truly required much challenge.
It turned its panting head to face the way it came, gazing proudly at the great distance it made in such a short while.
But something was off by that view. Something different to what he was expecting. The view itself was mostly fine. Well, as fine as a smoking mark in the distance, presumably from the summer palace being engulfed in flame and spitting great plumes of black smoke. But no, something about this view chilled him to this spine. Craning his neck from his vantage point he could swear there was a small speck in the distance.
What on great Ix is that?
All of a sudden realisation hit like a rock on a peaceful pond. Something was following him. Something unknown and cold was making its way to his location. He was certain it wasn't any of his guards, all guards permitted to serve under the royal summer home were Ixian of course. Physically bred for their strength and speed, and placed into roles of importance like protecting the higher caste such as himself. (Whereas this day being the only exception). It did look like he was the only Ixian that actually made it out of the palace so far. Ixians are able to cover short distances in phenomenal speed, akin to a scaly 4 legged beast of the hunt.
No this was something else.
Feeling a very small panic build up inside, but veiling that cold, unwanted terror as impatience at how far he still needs to travel yet. Lord La'Ix flexed his anterior legs and sped on leaving behind a red-yellow cloud of dust in his wake.
He frowned. Feeling strange at a never before felt sensation. Like something in the back of his perfectly designed brain was screaming a silent, but terrifyingly familiar warning.
"Ix itself is an ancient world. Temperate in climate, while abundant in vegetation and small game. It is unknown how the Ixian was formed on paradise.
The old priest can drum into your heads that I'Ix made us into being by indenting his form in the sand of the first beach and filling the shape with his life. Moulding us into being.
The heretic would counter and say we evolved from a previous species akin to ourselves over the course of untold lengths of time.
The philosopher would suggest that only on paradise would the sentient universe fill in the space for the perfect beings to enjoy the fruits of existence.
Lastly, even the lowest caste Ixian would point and laugh at the rest and say 'why talk about antiquity, when we can make more paradise to fill the heavens'."
-A popular Ixian parable
Lord La'Ix bolted up all of a sudden from his resting spot. Heart suddenly beating frantically. The stars had barely enough time to shift positions when last rested his weary body, only a couple hours must have passed since dusk fell and the world plunged into night.
The silence of the Savannah made sound from afar travel better. Aside from the quiet rustling of the wind he wasn't so sure what he heard. Assuming his bored ears were playing tricks on him.
Calming down, curling up on the flat cool rock he found he started to drift to the shadowless lands where all Ixian go when they dream...
Drums, no, not drums. Some sort of mechanical tool? Not that I ever heard of a tool that just beat the ground senseless. A strange beating sound could be heard, pounding into the ground. As he stayed frozen and very awake, he could have sworn it was getting louder. Closer.
CRACK. SNAP. CRACK.
Suddenly the entire valley echoed the sounds of a few broken sticks.
La'Ix jumped up, whirling around, and came to face something approaching fast that could only be described as a cold predator, not that there were any predators on the homeworld's recorded history. But every cell in his aching body reacted the same. DANGER, DANGER, RUN, RUN.
The silver light of the planet's 3 moons barely lit the valley but what that light bounced off of was a figure in motion. Front Legs pumping up and down, nostrils flaring, eyes too close together, and pupils so large it was like staring at darkness itself.
Hold on there are only 2 legs right? Sudden familiarity hit him hard, memories of last night's entertainment stained his mind. In the name of Ix is that a Terran?!?
La'Ix didn't realise it then, but it was looking at a Terran, despite the Terrans characteristics looking different to the standard slave he was used to seeing. The pumping body of the runner was made for such long distances. Sweat acting as a cooling mechanism, making the man glisten in the harsh moonlight, the enlarged nostrils taking in all the air the body needs for this type of strenuous activity. And the enlarged pupils, made for adjusting to low light environments.
Down on the plains of the Savannah were two creatures. One a perfect evolutionary miracle, practically evolution's first try gone right, Perfectly made for its environment and was never truly exposed to varying climates and environments. And the other, having crawled through the primordial ooze, and struggled and fought its way through dangers, diseases, and competition on its own horrifying world. Where deadly heat in deserts can dry out any living thing, and such freezing poles that can turn anything that enters it in pure ice.
The man's lean and sweat-slicken form was steadily making its way towards the frozen statue of La'Ix. Just as he got within 50 paces did La'Ix sprint away scattering pebbles in its path the echoes of which bounced back from the valley's sharp walls. Undeterred, the chaser kept steadily running. Jaws grit. Eyes locked on afar.
And afar was its prey. Sprinting away.
HOW IN IX'S NAME DID THAT THING KNOW WHERE I AM? The La'Ix in a fit of sudden excitement mixed with a heavy dose of panic, began its high octane sprint from the sudden looming threat of being found. Hind Legs propelling the creature's body forward, while its front arms, which were historically also for four legged locomotion, pulled the terrain closer with each stride. Increasing its momentum until it reached max speed.
"Broodling La'Ix!" said a stern but educated voice.
"Huh? Oh! Yessir!" a young Ix jumped to attention still thinking about more enjoyable things specifically outside of the classroom walls.
"Well? Can you please answer my question or will you make your other broodkin wait until Ix falls to ash first", the tutor said expectantly, prompting several muffles giggles in the room.
"Sorry sir. What makes the Ixian race its place in eternity is the attention we put in perfection. After our home-world of Ix's climate and terrain began to change, the leaders from antiquity decreed we carry on the spirit of the home-world in maintaining a consistent biological and genetic profile that will always be suited to Ix's surface. As we change worlds to be more like Ix, we can spread the spirit of Ix to them. As such, Change is- uh, change is..."
"Change is the poison of perfection, Remaining unchanged for Ix enable us to carry its spirit to other planets in the heavens", continued the tutor. "Well you certainly paid some attention to today's lesson at the very least. But remember that final part. It's the last of the core tenants you will need to remember."
"Yessir!"
A good half night passed on the surface of the Savanna. Where a previously noble and alert Ixian who took great care in appearances and status was no longer to be seen. Instead of that proud domineering alien representative of ix was a dishevelled, dusty, ragged creature, dehydrated, hungry, and exhausted from the various sprints it forced itself to endure to stay ahead of fate's ever closing hand.
Is this the sword of Damocles that was mentioned in the ancient Terran records? Always hanging down on those who hold power and seek more? Fate's sharp blade? But why me? I was never in any real power. All I wanted out of this life was a comfortable posting with no dirt and grime from the lower worlds. Why me? Why now? Why do I-
La'Ix snapped himself out of a daze. Is he here- No, no I should be far far away from that Terran now. Maybe I can find some-
A dim glow interrupted its train of thought. Much too early to be the Sunrise on the Emperor's summer planet, and much to low to be the light from one of it's 2 moons. It was a light from a town.
"That's right!" The Ixian barely managed to rasp in between haggard breaths. Its body barely able to continue the amount of self inflicted abuse it has suddenly been put in.
A lot more hunched over than the Ixian was earlier. It made its way towards a small town it knew was in between the palace and the harbour. The emperor loved his royal rustic towns and villages. It is said that his royal emperor would sometimes tour around them marvelling at the romantic theme of a simple rustic life. Although getting a personal town full of Ixians required a lot of lower caste be forced into long and expensive work contracts as background entertainers for the king's planet, all this excessive show of wealth was partially for peackocking the emperor's reputation, and partially for his own personal enjoyment. The Emperor is almost culturally required to flaunt his royal wealth in all forms in order to keep connections with all the royal houses. An emperor that doesn't shower their supporting aides and houses with grand gifts is fated to eventually be found cold on the floor of the royal banquet due to 'suicide from accidentally ingesting poison', as was the previous emperor.
To avoid such an unfortunate passing, the Higher Royals would trade vast resources, delicacies, and even exotic slaves to court 'royal favours'. Slaves of the Terran variety especially are considered to be the most unique of gifts the empire has ever acquired.
Terrans weren't necessarily large and bulky. Fighters were assigned to the Slave Obniraks. Powerful creatures used to fill the fields on tougher worlds where mechanical services would be deemed to expensive. The growth of a Obnirak into full working adulthood is only a few cycles. Meaning mass producing a workforce is quite an easy feat.
Terrans instead would take vast cycles to mature from a childling to an average adult. Meaning growing a slave force would take vast quantities of resources, immense patience, and strict guidance from their owners as to not create faulty creatures. All of which increases the general standing on any house that manages to keep a vast amount of Terran slaves in the best quality.
Terrans weren't necessarily docile and obedient. That role was perhaps given to the oldest slave race the Ix ever controlled. The Iralisa. It was known that they were made remarkably docile due to generations upon generations of select breeding, and pruning off the 'aggressive traits' from the gene pool. However, that led to the adverse effect of physically weakening them to a point where such docility and lack of a frame to keep up with their workload led to a general lack of Ixian interest and were subsequently purified.
Terrans are notoriously independent and herd-minded in larger quantities. Similar to growing a very stubborn Terulian Rose Vine. Which only looks impressive when great care have been given. Terrans need to be given an illusion of being ever so slightly free. Which typically involves owning vast amounts of land and nature to let them roam and graze. Of course, the only ones that can accommodate grand work forces of Terrans are the larger houses with the appropriate territory for humans, as is studied in the Ixian art of Servitude.
One can only guess which species is the Emperor's favourite.
The following town should indeed have both, low caste Ixians, and possibly none of the Emperor's favourite slaves.
The Ixian approached the glowing town. As it reached closer it straightened its back, upright on its hindlegs in the royal fashion. And proclaimed. "It is I! La'Ix, royal courtier. Lend me aid imme-"
Something is off. Not a single shadow in the town, I can see lights but no movement, where is every-
After turning the corner to the center of the small town, the dustied and weary creature froze in its tracks when it saw it. A pit nearly as wide as an Ixian land cruiser and who knows how deep filled with a stench so powerful it watered his eyes. Despite the Ixian's lack of a proper sense of smell. It knew the foul fetor of death.
The crudely dug pit was nearly overflowing when he approached it. Large, smoking, smouldering pyres cast that eerie light that had drawn him in.
"H-how? Wha-What the..." he trailed off when a local species of Laran boar growled and squealed as it tore a dead Ixian limb from the mountain of corpses.
"Who could've..."
He stopped. The shock of seeing his own kind laid like broken dolls in a bleeding pit slowly faded, replaced by a numbness. The Ixian had just noticed they were of Ix. Only of Ix.
Not a single terran colour was visible in the black and spotted pit of bodies. Not a single slave body was visible.
I-Impossible...
His legs gave way, either from the strain of the entire nights run, the horror facing him, or the threat from behind. He just dropped.
Minutes passed, or hours. It was hard to tell. But the Ixian lay slumped. Body unwilling to move further. Battered flesh unwilling to be propelled by a shattered spirit.
Mind slowly spinning up again. Thoughts began whirring to life in its mind. Could the rumours actually have been true? It had read the sparse reports of odd activity from certain Ixian-controlled worlds on the outer arms of the empire. Small uprisings of unknown origin. Hardly anything of note. If it had no affect on the greater houses then it was of no real concern to Ix and its emperor.
Could this threat have made its way to the centre arm already? Impossible. But what else could have done this to us?
Something caught the Ixian's eyes. In the middle of the pit it stood. A large stake, wet with deep Ixian crimson, dripping ever so slowly. Towering over the pit like a battlefield flag was a head of an Ixian rammed onto the tip of the spike. But the particular detail that caught the Ixian's eyes was a symbol cut into the flesh of the large forehead.
Looking from the outward-in. Eight concentric rings, which proceeded to get smaller and smaller in size until it reached a dark mass at the centre of the symbol. The Ixian never forgot the symbol and the affect it had on it.
Eight concentric rings, and a centre mass. Eight rings, and a mass. Eight- Eight what? Eight planets? And a star? ...
A growing pool of cold dread rose in its guts that made it shiver despite the fair night. This dread reflected the sharp reality on its frigid surface.
This Ixian was well-bred, well-trained, and well-educated. Although anyone with a basic education would know of such a pattern.
Terra and her sisters. THEIR star system...
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
It's not possible!-
Knowing what that sound meant, the Ixian tried to whirl around, its body barely being able to heed its masters commands. Just when it was starting to move again it felt it.
Sudden sharp agony. Sudden sharp, raging agony. The Ixian looked at it's hind leg. A sharpened wooden stake was jutting out of it.
It loud out a tight lipped scream, as it grasped the pulsating wound as one does immediately after an injury. It barely had enough time to look up at its attacker when the Terran bolted forward, shortening the distance between hunter and prey from metres to mere paces. The Ixian barely had enough time to block the hand grasping the knife as the arm flew forward at the last minute with a crash.
What phenomenal force!
Using the momentum from that sprint plus the wind up of his arm. The Terran was able to impart a phenomal show of force for a creature its size. That's when La'Ix for the first time saw a human in its raw unchanged form. Great beads of sweat collecting dust on its brow, to prevent it from entering the eyes. The constant release of sweat from the countless pores on its soft fleshy skin. Constant cooling? Even the visible veins and capillaries visible from the fire light.
What a beast of endurance-
Suddenly the horizon fell before the Ixian only to reveal the inky black sky dotted with pigments from stars like a painters masterpiece. When did I look up? Then a crash and blunt force from the ground.
The Ixian had been toppled over by that ferocious exchange of force.
Barely able to get up due to the wind being knocked out of its single large lung, the searing pain in its hind leg, and the exhaustion from the chase. It was too late. The terran was already on top of it. Taking up the entire view of the sky as the terran stepped forward into its field of vision.
The sudden perspective change made a once small and frail looking slave look grander than life, grander than all the legends told to Ixian broodlings.
The punches rained down. Repeatedly. A constant bombardment of beating rained like the drops of rain before the first dew. The previous pain in its leg forgotten, to invite a new visitor in the form of blunt force trauma. So ferocious were the raw blows to its carapace that the Ixian felt the exoskeleton crack under the increasing pressure and strain.
Something cracked, another thing snapped. The amount of pain too much to comprehend. The neurons firing in its second brain just assumed it was everywhere. Its half-working eye glimpsed the fist as it came down for the nth time. Red and split knuckles, revealing pure white bone beneath—a reinforced weapon. The perfect natural offence. All the muscles moved to propel it downwards where something else cracked and split.
Is this where I die?
As if understanding its fate the Ixian's form slumped over. Its body barely holding onto the natural exoskeleton shielding that covered its chest and facial area. Fluids leaking from the cracks that went too deep, and who knows how many internal ribs are shattered.
Its body, knowing that that more movement will cause more injuries, and further stimuli would confuse it further. It simply shut down.
The last moments it had as it fell backwards on its side. Was a small running figure. Hand clutching wooden spears. But the truly petrifying sight was behind it. A vast shadow flickering from the light of the lit pyres from the hunter in front of it. A shadow cast so large, jagged, and menacing it appeared to swallow the town whole.
And into a hole did the Ixian fall. A vacuum with no sensation or thought. Just darkness.
How... did we never notice such a... monster... in their... shadow...
All Ixians were taught about 'violence' and 'conflict' at an early age. As a sort of rite of passage that any of them would go through as they survive their early broodling days. As Ix have no natural predators, they had begun to instil a serving of some necessary conflict to keep their generations fresh and somewhat physically strong. As a precaution, only rudimentary forms of civil sports, races, shows of strength and courage were ever really explored. But always in a controlled and calm settings, as there would never be any true need for actual conflict.
As there was always a need to maintain ones own environment. The need never arose for the development of fighting techniques and schools of training. That was one of the best parts of being an Ix that many thought. Having supreme control over the worlds you inhabit means setting gravity, atmospheric pressure, humidity, and temperatures to the perfect levels for comfort replaced any need for biological change. Why grow when you can keep everything the same way, how you like it.
They were a vast empire. An empire of statues.
-Excerpt from the history of extra-solarian species, Author unknown
It awoke to a burning radiating heat from in front. The large sun was already starting to set on the horizon when it awoke. Had a whole day passed? Or two?
Trying to block the setting sun from its eyes it couldn't. "What?...", barely made out in a whisper.
I'm tied up.
And indeed the Ixian was right. Tied up next to a small brook, with a scorching fire in front of it. The monster nowhere to be seen.
"No good... it's too tight", it grunted in an attempt to escape its bindings.
Going slack in defeat it avoided any additional movement. Not having the energy to spare to move. It was lucky to have always been lazy at shedding its carapace - a frequent nag from its broodmother - might just have become its salvation in this case.
Thank Ix.
So there it stayed.
Hours passed. The Sun fully set and the stars awake in this dark world barely lit up the wildlands. Only the prisoner in this cone of firelight existed out here.
A rustling up ahead caught the prisoner's attention disturbing the eerily still silence of the Savannah night. And ungodly horror of a squeal ruptured the air invoking a deep visceral terror within the bound prisoner. Something. Something close but just outside the firelight was eyeing it, glinting from beyond the light. Those dark predatory eyes stabbed the prisoner with a sudden coldness. All while the squealing suddenly halted. SNAP. SQUELCH.
Now it came, emerging into the light. A beast. Holding a knife in one bloodied hand, dripping on the dirt. And dragging by the leg, a massive adult Laran boar grotesquely smearing thick blood still warm from the cut in the neck on the dirt.
The prisoner watched, barely moving, barely breathing. Frozen with the horror in front of it as the bloodied carcass was skinned; fur sliced away with harsh, scraping sounds with the crude knife. Spurting remaining blood all over the site.
The pink naked flesh then washed in the brook, leaving a distinct smell of oxidised blood in the air, before being skewered and roasted over the roaring flames. Fat popping violently in the heat.
In this gruesome display, the beast revealed not just a fate for the boar, but a dark hint of what might come. The realisation struck deep—this could be more than just a demonstration; it was a terrifying preview of its own potential end.
It passed out again.
Only to be awoken by the haunting echoes of a wild, desperate squeal that once thrummed through the savannah's eerie silence. Dare it open its eyes?
After a great heavy effort -utilizing its every last drop of courage- one eye cracked open. And what it saw. Made it regret ever having done so.
Right across from it, the hunter was a grotesque silhouette against the flickering fire. Grasping a severed boar leg was a mouth viciously biting, ripping, tearing into the flesh with primal ferocity. Each bite was deliberate, each tear of sinew was a clear, calculated demonstration of supreme savagery. Its jaw muscles bulged with the force of a bite.
All the while, the eyes—deep, abyssal pits—fixed intently on the prisoner. Deepest black pits stared back at it. Watching. Observing. Calculating, with a dark intelligence. it was calculating. It was relishing the terror it inspired and the control it exerted. Or planning its next meal.
The sounds of ripping flesh filled the thick, blood-soaked air. Deep into the night. Deep into this never-ending nightmare.
Never once did the prisoner move. Not an iota. Frozen in abject horror.
The night passed quietly. After the feast the human had, or the desecration of life that the prisoner saw, whichever way you look at it. The human nodded off to sleep. Content in the success of his mission. But the tied up creature had no such rest. Sending silent pleas to the stars that it might be saved. But not daring to make a sound, less it awaken that sleeping horror. Or was it sleeping? Dear Ix, it might be watching me. Feigning sleep to keep an eye on its meal. Dear Ix I'm next...
All through the night, the demons plagued its mind. Until the warmth of the morning rose, and with it the sound of an Ixian cruiser.
Elation could not be an understatement for the tired, tied, beat, and bruised thing. Craning its neck to the direction of the sound about to bellow out an Ixian warning to the demon resting next it.
"BE CAREFUL! THERE'S ONE HERE-". It stopped speaking. That previous elation it felt at a saviour arriving to rescue it from the demons grasp, fizzled out like a drop of water in a drought.
That all so familiar cold remained. And the dryness of despair. As pairs of dark pupils shot back at it.
On the cruiser were tall adult Terrans. Clean cut, well fed, well dressed Terrans. Four, no Six, no eight of them. All hanging onto the side of cruiser while it made its way to their location. Compared to the demon waking up beside it, these creatures were organised. A savageness neatly packaged in a uniform with a symbol. The prisoners eyes grew wide in its sunken sockets. 8 rings, and a centre mass. They must be the cause of, well all this.
Accepting fate, its head fell in part defiance, in part to avoid the stinging eyes of these others. It felt their gaze burn through—cold, cruel, calculating. There is nothing I can do any longer.
"You're finally here. What took you so long?" The runner said to his approaching comrades, "Took all night to catch up to him."
"Hey Jan, great work", the tall militant woman shot back. With a playful punch to his arm. "Guess all that cardio really paid off, didn't I tell you it would!" She let out a playful guffaw.
"Thanks Chel", replied Jan.
"Ok chop chop people, we're on a schedule. We need to reach the port ASAP remember? Come on Jan, rest up all you like, you're still on the clock."
"Aye sir." Jan shot back in a mock salute, gaining a sneer from the commandant, then a sneaky smile.
"Don't forget your trash. And make sure its breathing still."
It creaked open its eyes, seeing pairs of boots moving towards it and standing in front. In silence. Then all of a sudden, felt pairs and pairs of hands pull and tug. and lift it up The thing let out a pathetic silent sob. While it was loaded in the back of the cruiser, face up. Staring at eyes, piercing black dots peering back. It could never understand what was being felt by those eyes and those faces.
Ixians wear their emotions on their carapace; spots and stripes would slowly appear in certain parts, representing emotions and feeling that their bodies felt in a general sense. But the most private thoughts were of course, still kept private.
But this. This was just too foreign. The eyes never stopped. Even in the swaying movement of the cruiser the pupils never broke contact. Those eyes. As if it was peering into it, envelops your entire mind. There was no way to hide, even hiding in his inner self would do no good. Those eyes. Those predator eyes can find me anywhere I try to escape to. Inside and out.
Some times passes.
"You know. I lost good friends to the royal caste. Especially to this one's brood clan or whatever they like to call it." One of them was looking right at it when they said it. It turned its eyes over to the source. A short one, with a slave scar on the neck said it. A scar that shot through his memories. A scar inflicted to property owned by, his brood. This one is dangerous..., it thought.
Jan, and the others didn't look but felt it. The cold darkness in that tone made it clear what it intended to do.
The female militant, Chel, I think her name was. Slowly reached to the side arm on her holster. Sensing the oncoming problem.
"You still understand me don't you? I've had to watch good people die. Damn good people." The scarred one one stood, grabbing the upper rail of the cruiser to steady themselves. "I hear that even if you get ill, you become the entertainment for the night. What was it now?" She paused for a brief second. "Oh I remember".
"Stil" Chel said slowly. "Cool it". Hand still on the butt of the sidearm.
Not hearing or not wanting to reply. Stil continued. "Torn apart by those raptor pets. Hands or feet cut off as souvenirs for those fucked-up parties and those fucked-up guests. Oh yea, and the 'toy play' or whatever they call it. Can't have Ken and Barbie fight back now, can we?"
Stil leaned closer to the now cowering, shaking thing, "I wonder which one was your favourite." The words cut through La'Ix like an icicle. This was the first time these demons actually spoke to it directly. And it didn't like it. It could sense the venom from the words.
"Stil..." Chel slowly got up, hand still at the ready. "I said cool it." The line had a steely warning to it. Chel wouldn't risk the mission. Even if it meant doing what must be done.
Agonizing seconds passed. The cowering, shaking thing seemed to grow whiter and whiter by the second, It's spots clearly showing what it felt. Staring up, Not willing to move but being unable to hide. It felt the absolute crushing weight of the present. Grinding it down to a paste.
Everyone stayed still. The two militants didn't move. The rest didn't seem to even have paid attention to the converstation, still looked away.
Longer passed.
Stil smiled, "Oh come on Chel, you know I wouldn't do anything to our friend here? You know I was just playing around." Stil laughed. Chel didn't react.
Stil immediately crouched, faced the shaking prisoner inches apart eye to eye, and in a whisper said "Right friend?"
She wants me to reply? Dear Ix I can't even think with those eyes in front of me What do I do?! What do I say?!
"Right. Friend?" Stil repeated slower and colder. Like the blade of a surgeon hovering over skin, ready to plunge.
The gears of its Ixian brain grinded to a screeching halt. In utter desperation to find a reply it simply gave up. Instead, it felt a warmth slowly spread. Slowly spread between its hind legs. It had released its bladder.
"BAHAHAHAHA LOOK AT IT" Stil roared in laughter. The sound of it rattling the prisoners brain with the sound. Disorienting its senses. "NOW THAT'S CLASSIC TIMING IF I'VE EVER SEEN IT!" She plopped back down face red and still laughing.
The Ixian didn't know what to do but tremble and sob silently on the cold surface of the cruiser surrounded by laughter. and the warmth of its piss. It tried to plug its ears. But the sound still came. Laughter. Laughter. Laughter. Dear Ix, what are these demons... where are they taking me? To hell?...
The cruiser kept cruising. Towards the port across the island. Trailing laughter behind. Or to the sobbing wreck of a thing, demonic cackling.
The scent of familiarity wafted into the senses of the prisoner as the cruiser started to slow. The smell of the salt, the chirping of familiar aviaries. Sound of the crash of sea. The port.
Braving a sentence for the first time in for what seems eternity. It let out a question "...w..w..where ... why... are... ... we ...h... here?" It managed to say shakily, eyes downcast.
As if in response, a sharp shove greeted it from the back and a hard hit on the ground was as much of an answer it was getting.
"Move it", Jan said gruffly.
They walked. the ixian still bound but free to walk in the middle of the group of humans. Towards a destination still not known. The walk twisted, and turned, and twisted again. One thing struck out to the prisoner. It was too clean, especially for what it was expecting, it's last experience being in the previous blood-soaked town laden with bodies and carrion eaters.
The port town was completely silent, free from the regular hustle and bustle it usually had even when the emperor was not present. And superbly clean. Not a single piece of dirt to be seen. Not a single Ixian either. Where did everyone go? Did they make it out somehow when these invaders came?
In the background, the surf broke relentlessly.
Piercing eyes caught the prisoners glance, as it wandered curiously around the town. Realising its mistake La'Ix tried to look away but the burning gaze gripped his own.
As if reading its soul. The human answered the hidden question bubbling up in La'Ix. "You should've seen them your royal majesty". The one called Stil said while bending in mocking courtesy.
The surf pounded the shore even more loudly now.
"They don't swim well. Especially the young ones. They dropped like stones. Turning all white by the time they stopped moving."
Louder now. The sea roared.
Nothing came. Not a thought in La'Ix's mind. Its mind struggled to comprehend the depth of what was said by Stil, the scarred human.
The waves boomed louder now. Louder than the sun, echoing louder than the screams of all the Ixians that must have perished.
It saw the lips of the standing-devil in front of it. But all the came from its blood red lips were obscured by the sound of the pounding of the waves. The echoes of drowned kin, thudding and slapping against the shore, merged with the relentless surf in La'Ix's mind.
This is for our sins.
Wave after wave, the relentless surge continued, each one a haunting reminder of the souls lost to the sea, each crash a ghostly thud of bodies hitting the shore.
Very slowly did some exhausted neuron in the Ixian's head come to a conclusion as to how these creatures in front of it can be so relentless, so cruel, and so evil. When pushed to beyond its breaking point, did their true carnivorous instincts rear their ugly head.
Oh dear Ix. What sort of environment could breed such demons?
La'Ix didn't remember what happened next. The memories feel like a distant dream now as he sits watching the port sky now.
The aching brand on his forehead of the 8 ringed system, pulsed in pain—a departing gift from his newly made friends, stung from the salty sea air.
He barely recalls the staggered walk from the empty inter-arm transmission office and the inputting of his biometric royal seal. He barely even remembers the message that was sent under his name and signature
And even less does he remember what he heard what will happen next.
All alone now, he stares at the sky of the empty port town. As he watches more royal ships enter the atmosphere.
He gazes upward, thoughtlessly, statue-like Knowing fate will come for them all. Fate in the form of piercing black eyes and a monster so large it can fit in a shadow.
A single thought, carried its way from above the despair to the surface. Slowly. Like a bubble in a pool of tar.
What was I meant to tell the emperor again?

Hello, I was hoping that someone could offer insight to what protocol or specific supplement that I should consider with these symptoms:

• Major bain fog and difficulty concentrating
• depressive like feelings (I feel like my face muscles feel an inability to smile)
• my personality feels muted and I feel only 15% of my emotions, it has been hard to feel genuinely happy along with laughing and smiling
• minor nervous/anxious moments
• poping in the ear
• nerve related bloating, sense of not digesting well
• mild joint ache
• sometimes head pressure/tension
• when in my cycle I dealt with an increase in neurological symptoms (I am looking for something that can keep the virus at bay)

I feel like I have deduced that the pathogens in me are feeding off of poisons and toxins in my body and are producing high amounts of neurotoxins which are inflamming my nerves causing all of the symptoms I am dealing with, they are feeding off of metals as well but I do not think it is the majority of what they are feeding on. My symptoms ebb and flow depending on my immune system, I only get muscle spasms when my immune system has weakened, they are not constant. I have done MM info for 5 years and have done cj, lw, and hmds for that long, this is why I have a harder time believing that it is solely metal related.
Some background on me: I went through an incredibly stressful time in my life, I tried following the covid protocol and upped my antivirals without adjusting to them, this resulted in insane die off and increases in neurological symptoms, I developed crazy Insomnia (4 hours and less was my normal, thankfully after stopping everything I am now sleeping 6-8 hours) and this went for 5 months. During that time everything I was doing felt too intense. I had to stop doing the morning cleanse, I couldn't even tolerate 1 oz of celery juice, the hmds was making me feel insanely depressed, and lemon water with only a few drops of lemon made me feel depressed too. So I haven't been cleansing for a few months but I can genuinely say that I have improved other symptoms I dealt with in the past, I feel stronger physically and mentally now, I'm able to be around people without getting burnt out and I have been able to go out again to the movies for example, go to a store and not have a panic attack, and have the the strength to start a garden. I've made a lot of progress in my healing and am taking things slow. During the worst of my symptoms I felt so neurotic that I couldn't leave my family's side and I would freak out if they left, thankfully that has gotten better and I can be alone and feel okay. This is my current supplement routine and I think this is what has helped me gain the progress I have:

• 2 bcomplex
• 2 mthf
• 10 micro c
• 2 vitamin d
• 1 zinc picolonate

I am so sensitive to supplements, taking a sip of licorice root tea made me having night sweats, insomnia, and I could hear my heart beat in my ears. I also am not of fan of how mood regulating supplements feel like lemon balm, it feels like it makes me feel subdued, I am just looking for something to add in that won't make me feel any extremes, I want to feel my emotions again, I don't believe I have depersonalization because I can still feel tinges of my emotions, I believe it to be related to the brain fog, nerve inflammation from the neurotoxins causing all of my symptoms including my lack of emotion and inability to express. I hope someone can offer some guidance with all of this, I have yet to be able to afford to see a practitioner so I am still trying to figure out this on my own. Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this and cares enough to respond 🙏

Hello and greetings once again my fellow CUEnthusiasts!
I’m going to cap off this series with Part 2 of Building your Collection and working towards Completion. This time I’m going to go over some tips and strategies for cards you already have at your disposal in your collection. Again, much of what I cover will pertain to many types of collectors and their goals. I’ll elaborate and differentiate as needed.
Some of what I’ll cover in this post I may have gone over in greater detail in a previous post, so I won’t go much further into it so it’s not redundant. Previous Coaches Corners can be found in this sub, or my post history :)
The first thing I would like to go over, is what you’re working towards (your goals for your collection) and how to approach trading cards in your collection to help achieve these goals.
I would also like to take a second to add and emphasize that having access to or being on a platform like discord or here etc, will be integral for a good amount of what I cover today. It’s the most efficient way to leverage and get the most out of cards you already own for what you’re looking for.
Now there’s many different types of collectors in the game. I’m going to narrow this down and focus on a couple of key ones in regard to today’s topic. Again, some of what I’ll go over will be applicable to a wider range of collectors, so it may be worth a read regardless.
A completionist is someone who is typically trying to get at least 1 of every card. They tend not to trade their singles. I’m a completionist first and foremost so I lock(protect) every card I only have 1 of. To me, there would be nothing worse than trading a card I already had, and need to chase it again. Especially if the card is scarce. The main goal for a completionist should always be to fill holes in your collection, not create one to fill one, regardless of the offer.
Someone who’s just working on decks to play tend to trade singles and look mainly for cards to play. The benefit here is they have singles at their disposal to leverage for cards they’re after. Collecting cards they need is usually secondary, or not applicable at all except for ones they want to use/play.
Now, how do we use what we already have to get the cards we’re looking for outside of the obvious posting in game?
And this is where it’s paramount to leverage a platform. Because there’s certain traders/collectors that you’ll be looking to deal with, as it can be of great benefit to your end goal. And, as I’ve discussed before and this is where it’ll be most applicable. This is where you’ll work out a trade before a card is ever sent. It’s the most streamlined way to trade if you know values and how to navigate trades. (Hopefully my past posts will have helped a bit with this).
What you stand to gain out of being on a platform is the ability to see clearly, offers and what people are wanting and have to offer. Watch for offers and collectors/traders that can help you work towards your goals while trading with them for mutually beneficial trades. And I’ll detail a couple to keep an eye out for.
The Heavy Traders and Veterans: These folks spend a lot of time moving cards and trading. They tend to have larger, and most of the time, complete collections and many duplicates. They’re usually very easy to deal with if you have some knowledge of card values(because trust me, they do). They also post offers on their platform of choice detailing exactly what they offer and what they’re wanting. Pretty straight forward if you’re looking to do a trade that aligns with them too. I will add, some also will pull extras of new cards or packs in general to add to their catalogue of tradable cards, so again, it’s good to check in from time to time. Again, they are usually very easy to deal with as long as values are spot on, especially when taking them up on an offer or making one yourself. And once more, to drive it home lol. It’s very important to learn the value system as best as you can on your platform of choice.
One Card Collectors/Hoarders:
Quick Disclaimer: I’m doing my best to write this without bias as I am a one card collector. However I was, and still am, a completionist first. Even before I started hoarding on this app. And the reality is, these folks are some of the easiest people to deal with on any card app. Most of my dealings, as I’ve mentioned before, have been with them, just because of the ease in obtaining cards you want if they have.
It’s worth while to find out exactly what they offer and trade them the cards they collect, because they will typically trade exactly what they say they will, and it makes obtaining cards you need very easy. The catch is, and this isn’t always the case as I’ve mentioned before when I went into detail about one card collectors/hoarders, you’re going to want to trade them the cards they collect for best results. Same as heavy traders, but these folks usually make solid offers for their cards, and when you’re sticking to what they offer in their post, it’s most likely to result in an accepted trade.
Some will even pull so they can trade for their cards too. I, and many others who have experience with hoarders, spent time tracking down their cards to fill our own card needs and wants. They also tend to pay well for quantities of their cards for a quality card, and this is the only time I feel quantity for quality applies lol. This is a good opportunity to use low value dupes that may not move to get good cards you need.
Typically they don’t trade singles, but there are some who do, as they only play to collect numbers of their cards, but what cards they do offer for their collect cards are usually some of the easiest to obtain.
There many types of players of all levels on a platform, and trades are relatively easy to work out. Other than the couple of collectors I’ve mentioned to keep an eye out for, here’s some other benefits and things to watch out for on the platform of your choice that you can leverage to work towards your goals.
There will always be players trading dupes for needs, working together towards their collection goals. These are usually straight forward, especially if values are known by both players or a value system is leveraged to balance values. Typically the cards traded are what I call filler cards, ones that don’t have demand or playability but are wanted just to round out your collection. It’s usually straight forward 1:1 card for card, matching both rarity and type. Pretty basic stuff but on a platform, can be highly efficient filling out your collection as you can typically put through multi card trades.
Many players chasing completion or filling needs tend to want to knock off the high value ones asap, because this is also a tcg, and they may want to use them to play right away. When they have most or all the higher value stuff and they end up with dupes of them, they’ll sometimes post to break down a value card for quantity of equal value cards they need. This can be paramount to how you get good/value cards for a very reasonable price. Again watch for it to be offered and don’t just send lol.
While a bit less prevalent on this app, there are a few people who run some kind of swap shop(all they do is trade cards, usually of same rarity and type for the same in return). They usually have their own system in place and some don’t use any values for cards other than rarity and type and I’ll provide a couple of examples I’ve seen and done myself (I formally ran swap shops on most card apps I’ve been on). Some will and do trade singles, again, it helps to read and understand their post prior to sending a trade. Adhering to what they post can make obtaining cards from them extremely easy.
Some may offer to give 1 of any card for 2 cards of the same rarity/type as the one you took in return. Some will trade a card of same rarity/type they have over a set amount of dupes of for ones they need or have under a set number of dupes of a card. There’s a few different ones and they’re typically good to leverage for a hassle free trade as they tend to adhere to what they post.
The importance of a platform, even though the player base on them is small compared to the overall population on the app, is the fact that most veteran players and heavy traders/collectors tend to be on them. The ability to work out trades and obtain the cards you want is far more effective than just posting in game. And again, the capability to work out a trade without ever sending a card first is amazing. And the ability to do so with cards you already own is the most economical way to build and/or fill out your collection.
I’m going to wrap up with a few tips for those focused on completing their collection.
I want to stress this point again, as I feel it’s important for a completionist. I did this on any app I tried to complete. Do not trade your singles. While offers may seem, and can be very generous, unless you know you can replace a single with ease, the risk of it being very tough to find again, I’ve found, isn’t worth it. I’ve experienced myself and seen many times a single was traded and the regret afterwards in doing so, not to mention the time investment that may be needed to get it back. And logically speaking, you’ve already found the card once and have it, why would you want to chase it again just to not chase a card being offered? It’s not really progressing towards your goal of completion, it’s just keeping your cards collected at the same number when your goal is to increase that number until you have everything.
What to target to complete first?
This is completely up to you. What I will offer is some brief insight into each limited rarity, mythics and all basics/fusions, I’ll work my way from lowest rarity to highest.
Fusion/Basics: These are so abundant, have no value and are always available. Dupes for needs, rarity for rarity, type for type these are some of the most basic and straight forward trades possible as basics/fusions have no value. The only exception is maybe a new one, but even then, its value is just because it’s new and typically won’t fetch anything of value.
One point I’d like to make and it’s most people’s preference, trade type for same type, so fusion for other fusion, basic for other basic. It’s only because fusion will be used to obviously make a red or ultra fusion. Again it’s more preference. Also consider, as new red fusions are released, some basics become fusion cards to make a new red. So no real damage can be done if you don’t care too much.
In my opinion, basics and fusions (legendary rarity and below) shouldn’t be a focus. Not many are playable, you’ll always get them from almost every pack, and they’re very easy to obtain and complete. I’d say if you’re down to a few left you may as well wrap it up, but you’ll naturally fill out most of them as time goes.
From time to time it can be normal for someone to offer a limited you need for basic/fusion cards. This is ok. I would caution not to send basics/fusion to someone for a limited card unless it was discussed pre trade. There’s an in game decline response that relates to this for a reason xD
Limited Common and Rare- I lumped these 2 together because they’re both relatively similar at least from a completion standpoint. As I’ve said before, these 2 rarities are relatively easy to complete, there’s maybe a handful of meta/playable cards amongst them but they don’t hold a high value. These are usually good to start the journey with as completing them allows the opportunity to use dupes of these rarities to trade to keep them complete and/or to roll up for higher rarity needs sometimes.
Limited Epic and Legendary: These are 2 of the hardest to complete. The reason again being, the majority of value/meta/playable/scarce cards are of these rarities. These would be my last focus simply because with time your collection will grow and that will help to make completing them easier.
My advice when trading your dupes of high value is to get a like value card you need for it. Breaking them down and diluting their value into lesser value needs can actually make the higher needs harder to get if most of your dupes are lower in value. Nothing wrong with it, but just my take. I mention this because as you near completion, you don’t want to be stuck only needing high value cards and having mainly low value dupes for trade for them. It’ll take a while to find someone wanting a breakdown, especially if what you need is scarce. This just helps ensure you have and get value cards knocked off your need list as you go. And always keep an eye out for someone wanting to break down a high value card too. The more value dupes you can retain for high value cards you need is in your best interest to complete efficiently.
Mythics- Again a harder one to complete but not usually as hard as epic and legendary. The majority of Mythics have been around for a long while, mainly the newer ones are harder to get. Now the reason I consider these a bit easier than epic/legendary is because mythics are always being traded. And lots of people on platforms are wanting to break down higher value ones into multiple lower value ones.
Mythics are obtained with time just pulling so I wouldn’t focus too much on them early, as you close out low rarity needs and start getting dupe mythics or rolling up limited cards into Mythics, they’re relatively easy to transact with and fill out. Newer ones are the slight exception as they may be scarce, but again, with time will be more available and as well tend to get cheaper.
Again, preference plays a part and many people just trade Mythics for other Mythics, and I’d urge you to do the same with your mythic dupes until they’re complete or just missing a couple of new ones. Once they’re done or close to it, you can use your dupe mythics to pick off the higher value limited cards you need.
One last completionist note I’d like to make as it relates to mythics.
Mythics cannot be target pulled, meaning, unlike new limiteds/basics, mythics are random and don’t have a fixed pull rate. When you do get one, it’s could be any 1 that’s currently available. They are the main chase when people are trying to stay complete for this reason.
Typically, as I mentioned in another post, it’s not uncommon to see an Anubis, or multiple high value stable Mythics be traded for a new mythic in the early days after its release. If you’re wanting to be complete again asap, you’re going want to manage your Mythic dupes in preparation for a new one. You’ll want to look into rolling up lesser value Mythic dupes into a high value stable one a few times if not more, just so you have a competitive offer early on. If it’s no big deal and you can wait, over time, more copies of a new mythic become available and the price tends to drop until it’s stable.
This, I hope, in combination with what I went over in Part 1, will help you expedite getting the cards you’re wanting/looking for and hit your goals!
As always, thank you for your support and taking the time stop in. Always feel free to comment below if there’s any questions or if there’s any Trading or Collecting topics you’d like me to cover. I’ll do my best to respond. You can find me on the main discord server, link is in the sub description. Happy Trading and keep it Cue, see you in game!
I’m going to be taking a brief break while I try to come up with more talking points or trading/collecting topics to discuss as I seem to have tapped myself out lol. I’ve been working diligently to get all these out asap so they may be used to help you out or at least have a better understanding of this aspect of the game.
I’ve covered most of what’s come to mind and I hope these at least provide a solid foundation that will help you to be successful trading/collecting and get more enjoyment out of this wonderful app!

SORRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH IT IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE I AM FROM THE BALKANS.
i just got on this post bc i recently quit cart smoking for 8 weeks. i smoked like everyday for 6 months no sober day. Now i recwntly got rid of the annoying side effects when you quit. Everything was going perfectly normal and i just felt that my life improved day by day and i felt that i got more disciplined and more energetic. 2 hours ago i was going through my stuff in my closet and i found my cart with a little ,,sauce" in it. as i grabbed it in my hand i heard a very darkish evil voice saying something unclear at first but it just gave me the vibe that some type of spirit was literally in front of me forcing me to get high once again. after i heard the first whispering i tried to listen more closely and i heard "come on just take it" in my language and to be honest i never was more scared in my life. I was home alone, no tv or phone open just me alone in my room. It maked me feel for a second the strong need for weed just as i felt when i was smoking and the really scary part was that like let me explain: you know when you can feel like someone is right in front of you mad. even if you don t se nobody or hear them you can still feel their ,,energy" that was exactly how i felt at that moment but the weird thing was that i was all alone.when i looked in front of me i felt like i my eyes were fighting my senses. even if nobody was there i felt it looking at me. Evil. Wanting to see me fall once more into the trap of laziness. and im not hating on weed or something but my carts were hhc-p and they got me mad sleepy and unmotivated for like 6 hours evry time i smoked.ok now back in to the story. everything that i have told you happened in a matter of 4-5 seconds. I felt the evil and bad intentions just within the voice. It was almost like he tried to shame me.That thing literally wanted to make fun of me. Now in my theory that thing was not that strong as a spirit because everything went back to normal as i put the cart back where it was. I recently got into stoic motivation and really improved my self confidence and i feel more capable as a man. after i heard it talk to me i felt for a second that i should believe that voice and if i think right now i can't imagine it because i hate that cart so much it just broken my relationship with my family,friends and it destroyed a part of me. its almost like the adam and eve story where eve got manipulated by the snake to eat the forbidden apple. but i felt like a force in me fought back this time and helped me to put the cart back. But as i held it in my hand it felt like i was holding some cursed dark magic thing that had its own aura. Now tbh i am really scared to even touch it anymore.
And just to add for people because my storytelling is bad and it sounds like i lie most probably - i have NEVER heard any type of voice of "spirits" like this in my life - the feeling that i felt is almost feeling like its slowly getting deleted from my brain the more time passes. - i have no brain problems and every pshychological test that i take it says that i have potential more than normal humans. - when i say i hate weed at this moment.I mean it. it just ruined 1 year of my teenage years. the one that you were supposed to have fun not get high everyday and stay in home - i was not a normal smoker indeed. i remember days when i got to sleep and put my head down on the pillow and felt the room moving whith me and when i was opening my eyes everything was blurred. - i used to lie myself that weed gave me more time to think about my problems but after i got off it i felt for a whole month that life was not worth living and i felt a deep deppresion in myself. i can t even describe that feeling as it was worse day by day. it didn't get better only when i started to workout, eat healthy and do more things that will help me achieve my dreams
I AM NOT WRITING THIS TO CONVINCE ANYONE.
i wrote this so if one day someone will be in the same situation as me he will also write down here and maybe we will find more info about this WEED SPIRITS. i know for a fact what i felt and heard.

Sometimes I like just making characters for fun (and to get more familiar with 5e, as I'm still trying to learn the ins and outs), even though I have no intention of actually using them for a game.
So I just made a Shadar-Kai Bladesinger named Vemni Saladris. She is the latest in a line of continual reincarnations bound to the service of the Raven Queen, sworn to discover what went wrong in the ancient ritual to reconcile Corellon and Lolth and hunt down the Wizards who betrayed and shattered the Queen. She has spent her life in seclusion at the Fortress of Memory, and her own history is a blur of a thousand lives. Her earliest incarnation loved the Raven Queen with all her heart, and now she is cursed to see the Queen shattered and broken. Her beloved Queen, now a frayed cobweb of fragmented memories, doesn't even remember her name half the time.
She is True Neutral, as through her training she strives to walk the razor-thin line between the "Good" of the High Elves and the "Evil" of the Drow. She has one dagger with the "Conscientious" trait and another with the "Wicked" trait, so they act as a little angel and devil on her shoulders.
She also has a KEWL ELVEN MOONSWORD and can like totally wreck face in combat man. It does psychic damage as it overloads the victim with tragic and terrible memories of the Shadar-Kai's past.
Bladesingers are really OP, it's great.
Anyway, yeah, as a DM I would probably laugh this character off the table. Or at least work with the player to make the concept less "I am a broody loner who has a Katana and wears a hood and likes to stare into the distance, and I'm um super hot and my girlfriend is a Dark Goddess and also I'm a wizard and stuff". You know how it is.
But you know, sometimes I just need to put my trench-coat on and let my inner emo-goth katana-wielding munchkin out to play.
And you know what? That's ok.

I (M21) went to the same high school as this girl (F21) and we had a few classes together. We were never really all that close but we would occasionally talk. I always thought she was pretty but I never did anything about it. About three years ago now, I sent her a DM on Instagram to catch up and said that we should hangout and I told her that I was kinda into her. She told me she had a boyfriend and that hangout never happened. The convo died naturally though. Anyway, I DM’d again about a year later just trying to have regular conversation and as far as I could tell, the bf seemed to be out of the picture. Our base conversations through DMs went pretty well and she said that since she was trying to get off Instagram, she wanted to give me her number. So now we text a lot. After some time, I made another move and got rejected. I told her that I was okay just being friends and since then I havent done anything. That was probably back in September… Since then we stayed in touch and text pretty often. Sometimes she’ll text first, sometimes I will. She also matches my energy pretty well. Like if I text something in all caps she’ll respond in all caps. She’s goofy and I really like that about her. Even still, we’ve never hung out in person. I brought it up a couple times and she says she wants to but it just never ends up happening due to work, school, and other stuff. She even told me she wanted to go to church with me. She’s pretty great and super encouraging. I think it’s obvious to you guys that I have feelings for her, but I just don’t know what to do at this point. I’ve never been in this situation before and I’m not great at getting into relationships. I feel like I shouldn’t tell her how I feel and just move on, but part of me is hoping that something has changed. She always seems really eager to talk to me, she’ll remember stuff I said from months ago, and she keeps the conversation going. What should I do from here?
TLDR; I told this girl I knew from high school that I liked her two times already despite only communicating via text. Both times I was rejected. Time has passed and I feel we have gotten closer. What should I do from here since I want to pursue a relationship with her?

So I’ve been in a bit of a rough spot. Post covid I moved back in with my parents because here in Canada the cost of renting is absurdly high and as a new university graduate working for minimum wage I couldn’t support myself.
Since I’ve moved back though things have not been great. The job market here is pretty poor. I’ve gone through four jobs where the pay was horrible and the employment was unstable punctuated by long periods of unemployment. Last week I was laid off again.
I’m feeling that there isn’t much future here for me. So how do I escape? All the decent jobs seem to be in the big cities that I fled because it wasn’t financially viable to live there. I haven’t got the slightest clue how to look for work abroad. I don’t have enough money save up to just up and move.
So people who escaped their home towns, what steps did you take to get out of there?

Hi all,
I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and loving this summer weather! I just wanted to share my story with alcohol and get everyone’s thoughts.
My story is probably pretty similar to a lot of people. I started off “drinking” in high school around 17. It was like once every 4/5 months when someone mom would let everyone over to drink “as long as we didn’t drive”. Back then 4 bud lights had me feeling great. Fast forward and I start at a large state university. Drinking 10+ drinks in a sitting was three times a week. Thirsty Thursday, Fridays, and every single Saturday. We drank to get drunk and we did not fail at it. That went on for my 4 years of college. During college I mainly drank well mixed drinks and shitty beer. Once I graduated, I moved home and the pandemic started and I didn’t work for about a year. My drinking habits remained the same. Over the next 4 years I continued to drink (mainly beer) 2 days a week (likely 12-15 beers in each sitting with a couple glasses of bourbon or whiskey every few weeks or so. I probably drink 30-40 drinks a week but all in about 2-3 days).
I feel like it is too late for me. I scheduled a doctors appointment that’s in a month and I’m scared shitless. My anxious mind tells me I’m definitely going to have cirrhosis. I am now 2 weeks sober and really am committed to a life of sobriety going forward. I did the speedrun on a drinking career. I won’t be able to just enjoy a sunset martini with my wife, I need 15 of them. I am okay with ditching the alcohol I just worried the damage has been done and it’s too late. Funny how our perspective changes once we get sober.
TLDR; I’ve been a serious drinker for 8 years and am scared it’s too late for me.
God bless.

Intro

This thread is a discussion series at the tail end of the week for each newly introduced Spotlight card. This gives us nearly a week of hindsight to build a consensus and help inform players if they should open their caches for a given week. Ideally, we are looking for proven results (which can understandably be difficult to achieve in a week) more than theoretical applications to help reach this consensus, so players know what becomes less accessible to them after the Spotlight rotation.
​

This week's card: Sage

Energy: 3
Power: 0
On Reveal: +2 Power for each different Power among all other cards here.

​

Background, High-level Strategy, and Use Cases

I have good news and bad news about Sage: the bad news it that her only ability is to provide Power; the good news is that Power wins games of Marvel SNAP.
Sage joins a class of cards at 3-cost that scale to high ceilings with some support, including Bishop, Wolfsbane, and Hit-Monkey. Unlike her peers, Sage reaches great heights without much effort. She has a "natural" ceiling of a whopping 14 Power when you and your opponent's lanes are filled up just right, which is head and shoulders above the other cards in this category.
I'll walk through each example to illustrate the point. Bishop needs to come down on turn 3 and needs 2 cards played to match each 1 card needed to boost Sage, whereas Sage can scale off your turn 1 and 2 plays, and gets better drawn later while Bishop gets worse. Wolfsbane doesn't see competitive play, and only outshines Sage in a scenario where you are filling lanes with a bunch of the same Power, like with Brood, but she doesn't scale at all with your opponent's presence; the unfortunate reality is that Sage is very much the same card, just reborn at a series-5 power level. Lastly Hit-Monkey still holds a meaningful competition with Sage, and as the decklists below will illustrate, the two are often played together. We can somewhat demonstrate that Hit-Monkey has a "ceiling" of 10 Power when no discounts are involved; this is a turn 6 with Mysterio and a 1-cost for support. We can see that Sage compares very favorably to the other scaling 3-costs that act as win conditions in these decks packed with low-cost cards (i.e. Beast and/or Kitty decks).
To re-iterate a concept I briefly mentioned in Valentina's release, the above comparisons can be thought of like a "value over replacement player" statistic. From Wikipedia:

In baseball, value over replacement player (or VORP) is a statistic popularized by Keith Woolner that demonstrates how much a hitter or pitcher contributes to their team in comparison to a replacement-level player who is an average fielder at that position and a below average hitter.

Considering Sage does not bring a unique effect, even if she is the best-in-class for this effect, you must determine how much it's worth to you (in Spotlight keys) to have that extra margin of premium stats over a replacement-level card like Bishop. Depending on the deck -- especially if it's a strategy other than Bounce -- Sage is quite replaceable by a card like Gladiator, who also boasts premium stats with a different set of strengths and weaknesses.
Speaking of weaknesses, you may have dismissed Sage altogether due to this season's villain: Leech. He's a real problem for a card you want to hold in your hand for a late-game On Reveal effect. While I don't have a crystal ball, Leech has been changed three times since April 2023 (from 5/3 On Reveal: Remove all abilities, to a 5/3 with trigger on turn 6, to a 5/3 On Reveal: Remove On Reveals, to the current 4/2 On Reveal: Remove On Reveals) and I would expect him to continue to get changed to where he's less of a metagame-defining card. If/when Leech is no longer a problem for Sage, her value goes way up as a card that can turn around a lane on turn 6.
Another important dimension helping to future-proof this card is her synergy with Ravonna "the new Zabu" Renslayer. Ravonna has seen play in a wide variety of archetypes, including Mr. Negative, Tribunal, Patior, Junk, and those oddball Havok decks. There's even a Ravonna Surfer list below, where Sage is the perfect intersection of two deckbuilding requirements. Playing out this card at a discount further pushes her as an elite rate of stats.
And lastly, on the note of stats, sometimes that's all you need for a card to be great. Since starting this series, the cards I've covered that are "just stats" include Red Hulk, Mockingbird, and Cull Obsidian, which have all had noteworthy competitive performances. Sage might be the next addition to this powerful roster, but I'll leave that question to the discussion below: Is the juice worth the squeeze?
​

Sample Decklists

1. Bounce
2. Falcon-Focused Bounce
3. All-in Junk
4. Nova Surfer
5. Ravonna X/Ball Ravonna Surfer Daredevil Junk
6. Goose Surfer
7. Jane Negative
8. Jane Hammers
9. Ultron
10. Mill
11. Wong+Odin Combo
12. High Evo

These decklists come from a variety of sources but generally the top 1k of ladder; some are more proven than others.
​

What's your verdict?

Is Sage worth the key(s) now, or should players wait until a future Spotlight rotation?
Is Sage a sleeper hit waiting to be rid of the metagame menace?

What does becoming a teacher mean to me?
It means adulthood. What is adulthood? Adulthood is living in a house, or an apartment or away from one's family of origin. Yes, I know some races of persons live in extended families. For me, adulthood means living elsewhere. Teaching to me means the ability to get this for myself.
Adulthood means land. I want to eventually have control over the food I eat. I want to grow my own vegetables, my own fruits without pesticides and other strange chemicals. Adulthood means the ability for me to have my own land.
Adulthood means a car. It means not making multiple trips to and fro places. It means not burning up in the hot, hot sun. It means not being tired physically carrying myself to so many places. It means comfort, driving, cool air, not being exposed to the rain, or having to ride with persons who may make me uncomfortable with their sexually suggestive banter. Adulthood means the ability for me to get a car.
Adulthood means a career. It means having something to do on a weekly basis. It means having the protections of a career, namely access to things - possible loans among others. Adulthood means having the chance to have a career.
Adulthood means having a salary. Having a salary means having the ability to move around in the world. In many a place, women are held back from moving about in the world. Women are oftentimes tied to a man. They are prevented from having their own money. Their energies are allocated to child rearing, caring for a home, caring for elders. I realize how fortunate I am that I have had access to higher education, to indeed have a career. Adulthood means the ability to have a career.
Adulthood means savings. Savings means security. It means being able to afford one's needs, emergency or not. Savings means enjoyment, comfort. Adulthood would mean I could get a chance to have savings.
Adulthood means strong relationships. Or rather, different ones. It means navigating life with coworkers, hobby friends, relatives, your own parents as an adult. It means changing dynamics. Adulthood would afford me the ability to have strong relationships.
Teaching means adulthood. Adulthood is good. It means leaving the private market, and entering the safety and comfort of the public market. It means leaving independent contracting work in favor of salary. It means taking my place in society, as a worker, and having a title. It means being a woman. I am biologically a woman. But now, I'd be more of a woman, a self-sufficient woman.
Teaching means having little luxuries, my creature comforts. It means a stove, a refrigerator, a washer dryer combo in my own place. It means controlling who is around me, and that I can choose to leave when I wish. Teaching means health, that I can have a varied diet. It means maintenance, that I can look my best, and engage the services of beauty professionals to get my nails done, my hair done, my makeup done, and buy more high-quality, in style clothing.
Teaching means hobbies. It means stability in my work schedule, so that I can do other things in the off times. This can mean starting a business, having a hobby, hanging out with others, or just catching up on some sleep. Teaching may mean travel abroad. It may mean stamps in my passport, a visa or two. Teaching means general enjoyment. That's what it means to me.
I find the gatekeeping of long-term, well-paying employment wicked. Yes, I know persons must specialize, take their trainings to perform their jobs well. But when you have persons willing and able to do a job, why prevent them from doing so? It doesn't make sense I think.
This is a momentous occasion. I'm getting ready to take a place in life. This sets the stage for many more things. What shall I do to commemorate the occasion? Well, I'm writing this post, so that's one thing. I want to dress up and take myself somewhere when I get my first salary. Secretary, put that on the books. One outing with me well done up when I first get paid, okay?
Life is good. Me moving into this new stage means that I would have learned enough to get me here. I have learned a lot, truly. I learned about men, and dating. I learned about people, friends, not so friends. I've learned about me, what I want, what I do not want, the kind of life I want to life, and what others expect of me. I've learned about reasonable expectations, and what it means to be an adult living with other adults. I've learned about security, and investment, romantic investment, what it looks like, and what it does not look like. I've learned to choose me, but make allowances for others. I've learned about others. I've learned that it's not always only about me, that I don't exist in a vacuum, and that my life is not only my own.
I've learned that there is so much to explore with me. I think I know me, but this new stage is going to make me grow more, and be more me.
So that's what teaching means to me. I'm sure it will mean a lot more, like getting to show off my skills, and getting to educate a generation. I'm sure it'll mean other things like routine, and monotony, trudging through the day for the sake of supporting myself. But I'm ready. I know the material. I've done this before. Things will go well. Others have done it. And now is my turn. It's my turn. It's my turn. It's. My. Turn.
I don't have to fight anyone for it. It's my turn. I don't have to beg anyone for it. It's my turn. I don't have to steal it. It's my turn. I don't have to pay for it. I believe I've already paid a lot. Also, It's. My. Turn. It's my turn to enjoy myself. It's my turn to advance, and get my master's degree, and get my doctorate. Let me change my name a bit, yeah? I've done the work. I've put in my time. I haven't promised to support anyone financially. I haven't sired any children that I must care for. I'm not cheating anyone by not working and expecting payment. I'm just here, signing up for work, preparing myself as best I can, and waiting my turn, just like everyone else.
I come wanting to work. I come wanting to do good work. I come wanting to cooperate. I come ready. It is time. It is my time. Let's do this.
On we go.

So, in the past I've mentioned that I use AI to assist in writing code for my personal projects, especially for things I use to automate stuff for myself, and I've gotten pretty mixed responses. Some folks say they do the same, others say AI can never write good code. I ran into a similar mindset among professionals in my field, and it made me realize that maybe folks are simply using AI differently than I am, and that's why our viewpoints are so different on it.
Before I begin, a little about where I'm coming from: I'm a development manager , and I've been in the industry for a while and even went to grad school for it. So when you read this, please keep in mind that this isn't coming from a non-dev, but rather someone who has a pretty solid bit of experience building and supporting large scale systems.
Also, if you read this and think "Why do all this when I can just ask it for code and it works?" This guide is for building large scale systems that are clean, maintainable, and as well written as you can personally muster. Yes, there's redundant work here and yes there's still a lot of work here. But, in my experience, it has not only sped up my personal development but also made it really fun for me and allows me to churn out features for hours on end without getting remotely fatigued.

My AI Development Rules

First: The rules I follow when coding with AI to get the most benefit

• Keep context low, because most AI I've found degrade in quality as the context gets larger. Make new conversations often, and rely on editing existing messages to reuse context. For example, if the AI produces a chunk of code and I have a question about it, I might follow up and ask my question. Then, if I see a second, unrelated, question- I might edit the first question that I asked and replace it with my second question, after which I regenerate the AI's response.
• When asking the LLM to review code, do it in a new chat and tell it ANOTHER AI wrote the code. Not you, not it, but a separate AI. My prompt usually looks something like: "I presented the following requirements to another AI [your reqs here] Please review the code critically and critique it, refactoring as necessary". I've found that LLMs are too nice when I say I write it, and double down when I say that they wrote it.
• This isn't just about time savings, but mental energy savings. This means creating a workflow that saves the developer as much effort as possible by engaging the dev only at specific moments. There may be times reading this where you think "Why do this extra step BEFORE looking it over?" Because the AI can produce a response in 2 minutes or less, while a human can take 5-10 minutes to do the review, and that is energy spent. It will make you tired. I'd rather burn some AI time to get it right before the dev engages
• Do not rely on the AI entirely. Think of the AI as a junior developer- would you task a junior developer with a large scale application and not even review it? Of course not. With AI, you have a junior dev trapped in a little box, writing any code you want. Use that junior dev appropriately, and you'll get a lot of benefit.

Important Note: I always use 2 AI. Always. If you dont have a local AI, then Mistral has le chat for free, and you could use free chatgpt 3.5 If you have high end subscriptions, like Claude Opus and ChatGPT 4 Turbo, even better.
I prefer local AI models for various reasons, and the quality of some like WizardLM-2 8x22b are on par with ChatGPT 4, but use what you have available and feel most comfortable with.
You CAN use just 1, but different models have different training, and may catch things.

Phase 1: Architecture

AI is terrible at architecture, so this is mostly you. You don't have to deep dive down to, say, the innehelper method level, but at a minimum you want to document the following:

1. What is the project about? What are the requirements of the project, in a concise format that you can repeat to the AI over and over again whenever you pose a question to it?
2. What does "Done" look like? This is for your benefit, really. Scope creep is miserable, and you have no one to reign you in as the stakeholder. Trust me; my current project should have been done weeks ago but I won't... quit... adding... features...
3. What classes/modules/packages should exist? Lay the program out in your head. What is each responsible for? How does it flow?
4. At a high level, what kind of methods should each have? If you have a LoggingService, do you want a "Log(message)" method? If you have a FileManagerService, do you have a "ReadFile(fileName)" or "ReadFile(filePath)" or something else?

During this phase, you can present the answers to #1 and #2 to your AI and ask it for an architectural breakdown, but don't just use its answer. This is just to help you get over mental blocks, give you something to think about, etc. Write your own architecture. A big reason is because you, above all, need to know this project's structure inside and out. It will be harder for you to keep track of your project if you didn't write your own architecture.

Phase 2: The Coding

Below is the workflow I use. I understand that for many people this will feel like an unnecessary number of steps, but for me it has resulted in the highest quality that I've found so far, and has sped my development up massively... especially when working in a language I'm not intimately familiar with (like python. I'm a C# dev lol).
Yes, you can get code from AI far faster than what I'm about to say by simply asking for it and moving on, but the goal for me here is quality, developer understanding of the code, and adherence to the developer's style of coding. I want to write code that is clean, maintainable, scalable, and other developers at least won't want to set fire to if they look at it lol
Note: When making my first coding prompt of a conversation to the AI, I almost always include the answer to #1 from Architecture above- the breakdown of requirements for the full project. That context can sometimes help it better understand what you're trying to achieve.

• Step 1: Look over your architecture and pick a feature.
• Step 2: Present the requirements to the first AI (whichever you want to use first; doesn't matter), as well as the high level overview of the classes and primary methods that you want. I generally formulate a prompt similar to this: "Please write python code to read from a file and present the contents to the user. I'd like the code within a module called 'file_utilities', with a class 'FileManager' that has a method called 'read_file' that takes in a file name. I'd then like this called from a module called 'display_utilities', which has a method called 'display_contents_of_file'. This prints to the console the contents of that file. Please consider these requirements, give any critiques or criticism, and write out a solution. If you feel another path would be better, please say so."
• Step 3: Copy the requirements and response. Start a new chat. Paste both, telling it that you asked another AI to write the solution, and that was the response. Ask it to please critique and refactor.
• Step 4: Copy the requirements and the new response. Go to AI #2 (if applicable) and ask it the same question as above.
• Step 5: Take the final response and code review it yourself. How does it look? Do you see any obvious flaws? Anything you want to change? Rename any helper methods as necessary. Consider whether any of it looks unnecessary, convoluted, redundant, or simply has a code smell.
• Final Step: Take the code, the requirements, and all of your feedback, and start over from step 2, doing the whole flow again if necessary.

While this may seem like it would be exceptionally time consuming, I can tell you that this workflow has worked amazingly for me in saving both time and energy. I'm usually dead tired at the end of a workday, and I simply don't have the mental energy to write code for another 4-5 hours straight. Because of this, I put off personal projects for YEARS. But by doing this, it allows me to get roughly similar quality to my own work when I'm fresh, while pawning off the labor portion of the dev to the AI.
I do the thinking, it does the efforting.
I would expect that steps 2, 3 and 4 will take around 5 minutes total. Step 5 will take 10-20 minutes depending on how much code is involved. Another loop will take another 15-25 minutes. So 1 feature will take around 20-60 minutes or so to produce. But the key here is how much mental energy you, as the developer, conserved while still maintaining tight control over the code.
Also note that this workflow won't work for EVERYTHING. Context limits can make it simply infeasible to engage the AI in some tasks. Say you've got 6 classes that are all working together on a function, and you realize there's an odd bug that you can't figure out where it is in that workflow. More than likely, you won't find an AI capable of handing that amount of context without degraded quality. In those cases, you're on your own.
Anyhow, I know this is lengthy, but I wanted to toss this out there. This workflow has worked amazingly for me, and I intend to continue refining it as time goes.

11/20/2017
Log book of Det. Ryan Snow
Case #2798: The Appalachian Murders
The past couple of days are events I pray no one else ever has to go through what Kate and I had. I had her and Mr. Raines cleared of all charges, having found the proof we all needed to end this case and find the true killer. Kate no longer has to go into witness protection and I had given the police a good enough lie to keep myself from looking insane in the eyes of my co-workers. I know no one will ever know the true story or believe it, but I’m writing it out here. It at least needs to be known written somewhere. Even if my and Kate’s eyes are the only ones that will ever read it written out and forever imprinted in our memories.
The morning Kate had run off to the mountains on her own, I had made my way to the Blackwell home where I was immediately met with Mr. Blackwell charging at me and wrapping his large hands around my neck. He was shaking me and blaming me for getting his daughter killed and not doing more to keep her safe. The police who had been called to examine the scene and read Kate’s letter had to sedate Mr. Blackwell to get him off of me, lying him down on the couch, his head resting on Mrs. Blackwell’s legs. Though the woman was distraught and begging the police to bring her daughter back, she still took the time to shoot that cold, death glare my way. The ice in my chest growing. I couldn’t tell these people that this thing had come after me to get to Kate. I knew it wouldn’t change anything. If anything they’d hate me even more for keeping it to myself.
The sheriff was there and he pulled me away from eye sight of the Blackwells, trying to tell me that this wasn’t my fault. But I couldn’t help but blame myself. I should have done everything I could to keep Kate as far from those mountains as possible.
There were no signs of a struggle in Kate’s room and the letter was definitely written in her hand writing. Her father’s rifle missing from the study, a backpack and some food and supplies gone as well. She had only grabbed one set of clothes from her drawers, showing she did indeed have plans on returning after only one night in the mountains to confront whoever or whatever the killer was.
I told the sheriff to keep any police from going up to the mountains without first allowing me to go up there first to find Kate. He of course argued, telling me that he couldn’t break protocol based on any hunches I may have had. However, I told him that I could get Kate back without her putting up much of a fight, whereas she may struggle with a group of cops who didn’t understand the situation she was in. I was close enough to this case to have built a trust with her after all. I was mentioned in her letter about ending this case for me.
It took a good hour to get the sheriff to eye the Blackwells, Mr. Blackwell beginning to stir from his sleep, and allow me to go to the mountains to find Kate. He didn’t bother to call off the search to the police that had already begun making their way to the mountains, but did radio to tell them to not try getting Kate home without first allowing me to speak to her. He then gave me twenty-four hours to find her to which I told him I’d only need at most ten.
Without telling him about the disturbing scratches on my car, I sped to the mountains, taking the same path Kate had that day she took her friends on their trip. The route, as the sun began to rise was scenic. A drive that may have been a sign of a bright future ahead with a beautiful week in the mountains of nothing but nature, was now a reddening sky of horror. I couldn’t understand how Kate felt, going down the same roads that led to her only friends’ fates to avenge them, but the feeling of guilt did weigh heavy on my chest as I saw the signs of the Appalachian Mountain trails grow bigger on the horizon. Guilt for not doing more to prove Kate was innocent, for allowing Mrs. Mayfield for getting killed right before my very eyes, and for Liam for not being lucky enough to save him.
When I finally arrived to the cabin, there didn’t seem to be any change since the first day I was called to the crime scene, the only thing out of place being Mr. Blackwell’s truck parked precariously near the cabin. The police tape was still up, the cars of Kate and Mr. Woolfe still left where they were, the tires still slashed, the door wide open from when Kate, Ms. Greymoore, and Mr. Woolfe ran out of the cabin upon Mr. Billings was killed by an unknown force. All the bodies had been found and were now being prepared by their families to be buried or cremated. Only one body of the five still roaming around to avenge each and every one of their deaths.
I called out for Kate as I made my way into the cabin. The Ouija board was still on the coffee table, the white line of where Mr. Billings had been found lying face first on the floor with his head bashed open remained on the spot. The planchette was still missing. I kept calling out for Kate as I made my way up to the attic, the door left unlocked, using my flashlight to shine down on the white outline where Mr. Steele had been found completely torn apart. To think Kate had done such a thing, I now realize made me look like a complete dumb ass for believing it.
When I couldn’t find Kate in the cabin, I made my way out the cabin, still calling for her. I called out to her, promising that she just needed to come back home with me and we could solve the murders together. I knew it was a lie and that the sheriff would immediately have her take away to some secluded place where the killer couldn’t find her, but it was all I could think of to try luring her out to meet me. Still, she never appeared.
The sun was soon beginning to set as I tried retracing the very steps Kate and Ms. Greymoore had taken to outrun the killer. I had passed the small shrine of flowers and the pictures of Mr. Woolfe where the boy had been found, his face permanently remaining nineteen forever in the photos of him with Kate and their friends. I kept going, trying my best to follow the same path to the cliff where Ms. Greymoore was found, calling for Kate along the way.
It wasn’t until I found the place Kate had buried her best friend that I found Kate. She was on her knees before the rock where she left her bloody handprint, sniffing as her head was lowered, her dad’s rifle in her hands.
“Ms. Blackwell-“ I began as I took a step toward her. I was immediately cut off as Kate jumped to her feet, raising her father’s rifle at my head. I jolted back, raising my hands up to show her I meant no harm to her. “Ms. Blackwell, it’s me, Det. Snow!”
“Detective…?” She gasped, slightly lowering the rifle, but keeping it on me. “P-Prove it!”
“I’m sorry?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I… I thought I saw Sonja…” Kate breathed between tears, the rifle shaking in her hands, “it… It was wearing her face… It had her voice… How… H-How do I know you’re really Det. Snow?”
“You… Saw Sonja?” I asked as gently as I could with a terrified woman pointing a gun my way. “She spoke to you?”
“Prove you’re Det. Snow!” Kate demanded as she stilled her arms, readying the rifle as she pointed straight between my eyes.
“Alright! Alright!” I kept my hands up, backing up slightly as I tried thinking of how I could prove to her I was really me. “I… I, ah… I have… Had a brother… We went to get ice cream together once and… I dropped a dime and went to grab it… I was five… I followed it out to the road and despite how trafficked it was, I didn’t get hit. I grabbed the dime just as a truck was speeding my way and it swerved just before hitting me… Seeing how close I was to death, I dropped the dime and it rolled into the sewer. My brother called me Lucky Dime since then… Saying the dime was lost to me because it did its job in protecting me… I haven’t seen my brother since I was seven and I haven’t spoken to my parents in…” I looked at my watch. “Five years… No one else calls me Lucky Dime… Not even the people at the station know that was my nickname.”
With this, Kate lowered the rifle, her eyes softening from her furious fear to a more melancholy terror. She looked to Ms. Greymoore’s grave marker, her hand print just barely visible In the approaching darkness.
“It… It looked just… Like her…” She sniffed, “it had her voice… Why did it have her voice… Why did it look like her…?”
“Ms. Blackwell,” I soothed, relaxing now that there was no weapon in my face, “we need to head back, your parents are worried about you and the police are looking for-“
“I can’t go back yet!” She snapped at me as she spun to look at me, tears in her eyes. “That thing is still out there and will kill again unless I end it!” She held up her dad’s rifle as if to show me how she meant to “end it.” “I’m not leaving until I end that… Thing that had the balls to wear Sonja’s face and have her voice!”
“Ms. Blackwell, we will catch the killer, I promise, but right now, we need to get you home before your dad ends up killing a police officer for keeping him from looking for you.”
“I told him in my letter I’d be back tomorrow! I’m twenty-years-old, he can’t force me back home if I don’t want to! I just want to stop this thing before it-“
A howling in the distance cut Kate off. Coyote from what I could hear. If I couldn’t get Kate home, I’d have to get her somewhere safe. I turned to begin talking her down and taking her to one of the other two cabins for shelter. However, when I looked back at her, her face had turned to a bone chilling terror I’d never seen on a person before. She looked like hunted prey that had been found by its predator. She gripped her dad’s rifle to her chest tightly, her hand reaching for the trigger.
“Ms. Blackwell, it’s just a pack of coyote,” I tried telling her calmly, “let’s get to one of the other cabins and-“
“No, no, no,” She stopped me as she stepped back, looking around for where the howling was coming from, “I… Heard that same howling just before I saw Sonja! I thought it was far away, but she… She was right in front of me… She… Something was off, but it looked just like her!”
“Ms. Blackwell, you didn’t see Sonja,” I assured her, “I don’t know what you think you saw, but it wasn’t-“
“Lucky… Dime…”
I froze. My blood turned to ice. The fear on Kate’s face grew as she began backing away, her back hitting the grave marker. I spun around to see a figure in the darkness limp toward us, a scratched and garbled familiar voice coming from it.
“Lucky… Dime…” It wheezed, “You brought her… Back… Give her… To me…”
I whipped out my gun, pointing it at this thing that had his voice. I stepped back to stand directly between this thing and Kate.
“Stay back!” I demanded. “Don’t come any closer!”
“Lucky… Di-“
“Shut up! Stop calling me that! Who are you? Not another step or I’ll shoot!”
The thing stopped limping toward us, its body shuddering in place as it stared us down. I took the safety off of my Glock, ready to blow this thing’s head off if it got any closer or even dared using that voice on me again.
“Kate…” It turned its attention to Kate, a completely different voice coming from it, another male’s voice. “Kate… I’m cold…”
“J-Jasper…” Kate began to sob, “Please, stop using their voices… Please stop!”
“Kate… Kate why did… Did you leave me…?” Another male voice asked. “I… I was in so much… Pain…”
“Shut up!” Kate cried out.
“I thought we… Were friends… Kate…” A female voice. “You said you… Loved me… Why won’t… You let me have… Your warmth…?”
“I said shut up!” Kate screamed as she pointed her rifle and shooting at the creature. She had missed, but the thing still let out an ear piercing shriek as it dodged out of the way of the bullets Kate was shooting. It ran off into the darkness, but Kate kept pulling the trigger of her rifle.
“Stop!” I shouted as I snatched the barrel of her rifle, shoving it to the ground before us. “It’s gone, you scared it off, get to the cabins, I’m right here with you!”
I began shoving Kate back toward where the cabins were, the sounds of that thing screaming out in a symphony of different voices ringing out throughout the woods. I shoved Kate into the first cabin we had arrived to, Cabin #1 I could only assume as I slammed the door shut behind us. It smelled God awful, like the smell of the corpse I found on my first murder case, and it was getting darker as the sun began to sink behind the trees outside.
“Detective, it smell terrible in here!” Kate cried out, covering her mouth and nose, but the tears still falling from her eyes were still visible as they rolled down her cheeks.
I pulled her close and kept her behind me as I took my gun and flashlight out. “Stay close to me,” I ordered, leading the way through the cabin, “do not run off or use that rifle without may say so, understood?”
Kate didn’t answer, but I could feel the heat from her body following after me as I made my toward the smell. It was getting worse as we inched closer to a closet door in a hallway that connected the living room to the kitchen. The door was locked, but after a couple of kicks I was able to get the door to swing open, the smell blasting us in our faces making us gag and nearly throw up on the floor. I fumbled around the sides inside the room to find a light switch that I was able to find to the side of the entryway. A yellow light flickered on, revealing the door led to a staircase. I led the way down the creaking steps, Kate close by as she kept her mouth covered with her shirt.
Once we had made our way to the bottom, Kate dropped her dad’s rifle and let out a scream as we stared at what was waiting for us at the bottom of the steps. In a large pile at the corner of this basement room were nothing but skin and bones of humans and animals covered in maggots and flies. Some of the human bodies being small and child-like in size. The missing people who were never found after vanishing when they came to Cabin #2.
I grabbed Kate’s rifle off the floor and began pushing her back up the stairs, her screaming and sobbing all the way back up to the cabin. I slammed the door shut behind us and pushed Kate to the front door.
“We need to leave,” I had told her, trying to calm her down as we made it outside, “we need to get you home and away from here as soon as possible.”
“N-No… No!” She began fighting me, trying to escape my grasp on her. “No! That… That thing is still out there! You saw it! You can’t say you don’t believe me now! It even called you Lucky Dime! It said you brought me back!”
“I’m not saying I don’t believe you!” I shot back. “I do, I saw exactly what you saw, but it’s way too dangerous for you to be out here while you’re the one it’s after!”
“I escaped it once, I can do it again!” Kate pointed out as she struggled against me while I tried getting her into my car. “I’m not running away this time, I want to kill it!”
“God damn it, Blackwell, we’ll let the police handle it! Just because you have a weapon doesn’t make you safe or ready to handle something like… Like that… That thing!”
“It killed my friends! It wants me! I’m going straight to it so I can blow its head off! It’ll come right for me!”
“I came here to bring you back home, not let you accomplish some stupid ass revenge plot! Get in the fucking car, unless you want to end up like those bodies down that-“
“D… De… Detect… Detective…”
A scratched and moaning voice cut me off. Kate and I both froze at the sound of something approaching. I turned to see a police officer stagger toward us from the tree line. I could barely tell who he was or who he used to be, his head held low and blue uniform covered in blood.
“H… Hel… Hel… Help… Help me…" It croaked as it stumbled closer.
I held up Kate's rifle. "Stay back!" I barked. "Not another step!"
The thing that stood before us wearing the cop like a full-bodied suit stopped in place. It swayed where it stood, blood water falling from its head and down to its chest.
"It… It… It's inside… Inside me…" It breathed painfully. "I… I can't… Help… Me…" Its voice then changed to that familiar voice that made my skin crawl. "Lucky… Dime… I… I'm so… Hungry… Give her… To… Me…"
I pulled the trigger of the rifle, hitting the creature in the head, the rest of it staggering backward from the blow. Still though, it remained on its feet, turning itself to look toward us once again.
"Give… Her… To… Me…" It wheeze, blood and brain pouring from where I had shot it, it beginning to stumble toward us once again. I continued shooting, hitting it in the shoulder, the arm, the leg, the head again, but it just kept coming toward us faster, demanding I give Kate to it.
I was about ready to ram it with the rifle, having run out of bullets, when a voice off in the distance made the creature freeze just an inch before us.
"I'm here! I'm here!" It called out in an almost sing-songy way, using the voice of a little girl. "I'm here! I'm here!"
"I'm… Here…" The creature repeated as it jerked its body to look to where the voice was coming from. "I'm here… I'm here… I'm here! I'm here! I'm here!" It began shrieking in a high pitch wail. It sounded like a mixture of different voices ranging from child, to woman, to man. Keeping flat on its feet, its upper body fell forward onto its hands before speedily crawling off like a spider.
We stood in shaking silence for a moment, Kate digging her fingers into my arm while I was too numb from shock to care about the pain she was unknowingly inflicting. It wasn’t until the radio from my car buzzed to life that jolted us back to whatever reality was at this point. I scrambled to the driver’s side, swinging the door open as I fell inside to grab the intercom to respond to the voice yelling for me over the receiver.
“Det. Snow, what the hell is going on up there?” The sheriff’s scratched voice called out over the receiver when I could barely get my name out of my mouth.
“Sh-Sh-Sheriff…?” Was all I could respond with, still trying to wrap my head around what I had just seen.
“Y-Y-Yeah,” he responded in mock shudder, “what the hell is going on up there? I’ve tried radioing every man I’ve got up there and am constantly being left on red! Do I need to send back-up?”
“No!” Immediately, I returned to full reality, finally understanding the severity of the moment and putting that knowledge into my tone. “Landon, do not send any more men up here, call everyone back immediately! I don’t know what this thing is, but it’s too dangerous! Call everyone back, we’re heading back to the Blackwell house now!”
“We?” The sheriff questioned, skepticism in his voice.
“I found Ms. Blackwell, she’s here with me.”
I was met with statice before the voice of Mr. Blackwell blasted over the intercom.
“Bring my daughter home, right now, you son of a bitch!” Mr. Blackwell demanded. “You bring her home this instant before I decide to kick your teeth in!”
I opened my mouth to respond, but the radio was snatched from my hand from Kate. “I’m not coming home until I kill this thing!” She snapped into the radio. “I don’t know what it is, but I at least know I’m not crazy and that it needs to die before it kills anyone else!”
I grabbed the radio from Kate’s hand, beginning to tell her off when a agonized scream erupted from the intercom. I dropped the radio to cover my ears as Kate did, the scream piercing from my car to throughout the forest around us. The voice screaming and crying for help sounded male and it seemed to echo all around us.
“GIVE HER TO ME, YOU SON OF A BITCH!” A mix of the screaming voice and Mr. Blackwell’s hissed out after a good five minutes of screaming before the radio short-circuited and puffs of smoke flowed out.
After allowing my ears to adjust to the sudden silence, I grabbed the radio once again and tried calling for the sheriff, for the cops with us in the mountains, for anyone. When I was met with more silence, I slammed the radio back down on the holder and cursed loudly, hitting the wheel as if it were the source of all my problems.
After a moment to take some deep breaths, I told Kate to get in the car as I placed her rifle in the back seat.
“Didn’t you hear me?” she shot back. “I’m not-“
“Damn it, Blackwell, we have no idea what we’re dealing with, it can mimic peoples’ voices, and it just ran off like a fucking black widow!” I snapped, stepping out of the driver’s seat to glare down at her. “The last thing I’m doing to leaving you here alone and I’m not staying here another second until I can wrap my head around what the fuck I just saw! So, you either get yourself killed out here while I try talking you down this hero complex high, or you’re going to do what I say and get in the damn car!”
We stood in heated silence, glaring each other down before Kate huffed and stormed over to the passenger side of my car and slamming the door shut as she climbed in. I jumped in after her and began driving away from this nutty nightmare I had found myself in.
We drove down the trail back to civilization in silence, Kate staring out the window and trying to keep her tearful sniffs quiet. I had finally begun calming down and was starting to feel bad for snapping at her. She had only gone there to avenge her friends by killing that thing that had most likely killed a whole bunch of cops to find her. However, I still couldn’t just let her stay to hunt it and I didn’t want to stay out in those mountains with some kind of creature that could take the form and voice of someone I knew. I still couldn’t understand what is was I had even seen.
“Wendigo,” Kate whispered, breaking the silence in the car first. She had said it as if she had just remembered something important.
“What?”
“A Wendigo,” She repeated, turning to look to me with wide scared eyes, “that’s what that thing is! It’s a Wendigo!”
“Slow down, what’s a Wendigo?”
“It’s… Oh, just forget it! You wouldn’t believe me anyway.”
“Ms. Blackwell, I just saw a cop being used as a puppet and then run off at inhuman speed on all fours; I doubt I’m not going to believe a single word that comes out of your mouth now. What’s a Wendigo?”
Kate eyed me for a moment before releasing some of the tension from her face as she took a deep breath and began explaining to me. “They’re a Native American myth; it’s believed they’re the spirits of people who would lose themselves in the woods and would end up eating other people to satiate their hunger. I think that’s what that thing is. They can mimic the voices of people who died and use it to lure people to them, they can take the form of that person too.”
“Why does it want female hearts?” I asked, not realizing I had yet told her what my mysterious caller kept asking for when they called me.
“It… It wants my heart?” she asked shakily.
I cursed to myself before letting out a frustrated sigh. “I think this thing wants hearts, but it only wants female hearts. Why? I don’t know yet. But the only other person to be found after killing someone in those cabins was found with his partner’s heart missing to which he was blamed for taking out of her. Recently, I’ve been getting calls from some… Thing wanting me to bring you back here so it could take something from you. It would have taken Ms. Greymoore’s, but you hid her well enough that only the police could find her in time. Now, I’ve been getting calls asking for you and to get something from you.”
Kate looked to me in shock before a wave of guilt twisted her face in pain. “I… I’m so, so… So sorry, Detective!” She cried out. “I… I had… I had no idea you were being… Harassed by it! Had I known it wanted me back and was demanding you brought me here, I never… I didn’t… That’s why it said you brought me back! Oh, I’m such an idiot!” She pressed her hands to her face, grabbing at her hair between her fingers and tightening them around her eyes.
“No, no, no, stop, stop that!” I ordered, screeching the car to a halt, having to bring it to a crooked stop so I could stop her from hurting herself. I snatched her arms from her head and pinned them to her lap, tears flooding her face. “It’s my fault for not telling you sooner! I was too focused on trying to solve this case with the most efficient evidence I could, but that just kept me looking to you as a suspect. I should have stopped thinking you were the killer the moment I got that first call. There’s no way any of us could have seen… This coming… Except people who probably already believe in that kind of stuff or don’t stop to assume a more rational explanation like a cult… I’m… I’m sorry. But, I won’t let it take anything from you, not anymore. I’m going to get you home and then I’ll deal with this with the rest of the police department. You don’t have to deal with this thing anymore, it’ll be my burden from now on. You need time to finally get some rest and mourn your friends with your and their families. It’s already fucked your life up enough, I won’t let it go on making it worse.”
I stopped her before she could argue with me with a wave of my hand. “Your friends’ deaths shouldn’t be your burden to handle. I know you want to be the one who kills that thing and do right by them, but that’s not what they would want. They’d want you to remember them and continue living. They know you didn’t do it, so stop blaming yourself and stop acting like you’re the one who has to make it up to them. I will put an end to this die trying, but you need to go home and be with people who are happy you still get to live.”
Kate looked down at her hands that I kept down on her lap before nodding weakly and letting out a broken “okay.”
“Good, now let’s get you home before-“
My words were cut off when the honk of a car barreling toward us echoed through the woods. The headlights were fast approaching and I barely had time to grab the gear shift to put us back in drive as the other vehicle hit us, forcing us back and forth in one violent motion. It took me a moment to check myself to be sure I hadn’t hit my head on anything or got whiplash from the crash before I immediately returned my full attention to Kate who was kneeling over holding her head. I gently grabbed her shoulder and pulled her up to examine her head. It didn’t appear to have been busted and bleeding, but she was holding the front side of her forehead.
“Are you okay?” I asked her, prying her hand away from the spot on her forehead, seeing that it was beginning to bruise. “Can you hear me? Blink twice if you can understand me!”
“I… I’m f-fine…” she mumbled as she looked to her hand to check if there was blood on her palm, “I… I think I just… Hit… Hit the w-window…” She then blinked twice in my direction before looking to the car that had rammed us.
I turned my attention as well to the car to see it was a police van, it’s front crushed into the left of my front. I quickly jumped out my vehicle and stormed to the van, yelling at who ever was driving the van to come out and explain what the hell they were doing.
The driver’s side of the van swung open once I was near enough and a man in an orange jumpsuit climbed out, staring familiar daggers at me. The moment realization set in, my mixed emotions of confusion, frustration, and fear turned to fury.
It was Leighton Raines.
“Jesus, you really are a shitty detective.” Was all he said to me before reaching into the can and retrieving a rifle out from the passenger seat.
[END OF PART 1]
Part 6

The mysterious gothic woman of STARRY’s PA booth, PA-san was never properly introduced. She is just always… there… as Seika’s ever-present shadow. Only ever called by her job title we don't even know her actual name.
I dug through the manga, anime, and Kikuri spinoff to see what all I could find on this enigmatic character. If there is any external official information about PA-san I missed then please let me know. Chapteepisode references are included where I could (manga: [#] anime: [ep#] spinoff: [s#]). There is some discussion of the PA/Seika ship.
Appearance: PA-san has long black hair and is one of the taller characters in the series. Like Bocchi, she is actually also one of the most well-endowed characters in the series ‘though it is also normally hard to tell due to how she dresses [75]. She likes to wear long dark clothes, has multiple piercings in both ears + one on her lower lip, and (‘though not directly seen in the main series yet?) has a split tongue [s12]. It feels likely that her habit of sometimes covering her mouth with her sleeve when speaking is to hide her tongue. She appears to be left-handed, which is easiest to see in how she holds her chopsticks in the anime [ep8].
It has long been noticed by fans that PA-san and Seika both wear a black choker almost all the time. It is unknown if there is a deeper reason for this or if it is just a coincidence. For what it is worth, we don’t see either of them wearing a choker in any of the flashbacks we’ve gotten so it does seem be a relatively recent addition to their fashion. That being said, their chokers aren’t exactly matching. PA-san’s sometimes has a ring attached to its front; in the manga Seika’s is consistently a bit thinner than PA-san’s while in the anime it just a bit lighter in color instead. It can also be noted there are also several other characters who wear chokers, most notably SIDEROS’s Tsuki (always) and Akubi (sometimes) [27]. Even Nijika and Kita’s outfits sometimes include one.
Personal life: Her exact age is unknown but she relates well with the other adults in their late 20's/early 30's. As a child she was quite active and sporty [75] but she ended up failing out of high school in her first year due to not being able to wake up early in the mornings. Even now this is hard for her to do which is why she likes night jobs [26]. Being low energy in general, PA-san is perhaps the least active of the main adult trio, preferring to simply observe the amusing antics going on around her. Along with Seika and Hiroi, she feels detached from normal adult society and is somewhat envious of the youthful girls. PA-san is especially self-conscious about her skin condition [26, s4]. She lives alone and is pretty lonely [38]. Outside of working at STARRY, she also livestreams playing video games as a VTuber under the name Otogi Alto (音戯アルト; the kanji for Otogi might be read literally as “sound-play”) [39]. Through that identity she became good online pals with SICKHACK’s Eliza as her oshi [s12]. Although PA-san comes off as the gentlest and most stable of the adults, she is able to be quite ruthless with a smile [24] and is just as capable of mood swings as the others.
STARRY: PA-san is the most trusted (and apparently only other adult) member of Seika’s staff. At the start of the series STARRY had opened up just “recently” so it seems likely PA-san has been employed there from the very beginning [1]. PA-san’s role as the… well… PA means she has perhaps the most technical job. But beyond that she backs up Seika by stepping in when any troubles arise (like when Yami was stirring things up) [23-4] and interpreting her tsundere-speak [ep5]. PA-san seems to find great amusement in observing Seika. She shows little fear towards her employer, regularly poking her about her soft spot for Nijika/Bocchi/Kessoku Band, calling her out on irrational behavior, and able to go as far as smashing a cake in her face without much hesitation [40].
In saying all of this, they do not really show obvious signs of being close outside of a professional relationship. It seems unlikely they knew each other before Seika hired her seeing how Seika didn’t learn of PA-san’s childhood until recently [75] and PA-san likewise hasn’t shown familiarity with Seika’s past. It is even technically unconfirmed if Seika herself remembers PA-san’s real name. As her employer Seika HAS to know PA-san’s name to some extent but we’ve never seen her use it. At the same time, Seika has also doesn't call her “PA-san” like the others, instead seemingly only using impersonal pronouns. There is a point in the manga where Seika could be calling her “PA-san” [26], but in context I think it is Kikuri speaking. In the end, it seems likely that Seika really does know her name and would use it rather than calling her "PA-san" but is too gruff to ever do so. On her part, PA-san similarly only ever calls Seika “Manager”, something Seika insists on even with her sister.
Various anime differences:
PA-san must've been pretty well liked by the anime staff because she was actually given several additional appearances and small interactions in the anime, which mostly solidify her identity as Seika’s shadow. Then in general, PA-san is always wearing a choker unlike in the manga where there are a few times she isn’t wearing it even at STARRY and, like Bocchi, her body’s proportions were made much more subdued in the anime's art style.

• OP: She appears in three places: 1) Standing behind Seika waving her arm. 2) In the background of (1) they seem to be back-to-back as her pierced ear and dark hair can be briefly seen before Seika and her gaze completely takes over the screen. 3) Standing near Seika at STARRY’s bar.
• Ep2: While Seika is watching Nijika freak out over Bocchi, PA-san mentions to her it looks like things will be fun with Bocchi around.
• Ep3: PA-san smells then compliments Kita on her shampoo.
• Ep5: PA-san stops looking at her phone to observe the Ijichi sibling drama. When Ryo shows Seika the picture of her sleeping with a stuffed animal, PA-san slinks up behind them to take a look herself and calls it cute. She giggles at Bocchi acting like a dog. PA-san watches Kessoku Band’s audition along with Seika and translates her tsundere-speech for them.
• Ep8: PA-san joins in the afterparty where she can be seen quietly drinking some kind of purple beverage next to Seika. Her one line is disagreeing with Seika that rather than Bocchi’s weird faces being scary they have got personality.
• Ep12: As her final appearance, PA-san seems to sense Seika getting excited about Bocchi’s surprise birthday present.

Despite the many additions, there were also a few appearances in the manga that did not make it into the anime.

• Ep8: Many of the teru teru bouzu Bocchi had made were really quite terrifying, so upon first entering STARRY, PA-san asks Seika when she had turned the place into a haunted house [12].
• Ep9: We see Nijika talking music and food with PA-san [14]. Along with most of the rest of this chapter about the girls studying for exams, the adults displaying their uselessness in helping the girls study got cut [16].

[Shipping discussion. Feel free to ignore.] I personally like the PA/Seika ship. They are almost always seen together, have interesting chemistry, are otherwise single, and – coincidence or not – their chokers are really hard to ignore. This sounds good enough to me, especially for a Kirara series. Seika does have other ships that fans support (Bocchi or Kikuri seem to be the other most common) but both of them have other good ships of their own while for PA-san it is basically just Seika, so I just naturally gravitate towards this pairing. But I freely admit there isn’t anything concrete in the series to suggest they’re much more than employeemployee with a good relationship. If they ARE in a relationship then they're doing a good job hiding it considering how even little-sis Nijika doesn't seem to suspect anything. They did have a VERY shippy chapter-art together [75], but the same happened with Bocchi/Ohtsuki [40] (among many others) and it might be best to just treat all of the artworks as the simple references they are.

There are a ton of things I love about Overlord. The world, the places, the characters, the combat and on and on. But one of the most interesting things to me is the Ainz/Momon/Suzuki Satoru.
Ainz proves repeatedly that he has and values high morals. Like how he doesn't want his subordinates to overwork themselves. How he rewards them for "good" actions. How he wants them to take days off. And even apart from his subordinates, he values morals like "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." or "It is the responsibility of the hunter to use the hunted prey without waste. That's how you respect the dead.". Ainz even mentions that he thinks it's right to reward kindness with kindness and evil with evil.
It makes it very easy for us to feel sympathy for him. Because these are morals that are commonly seen as "good". Morals that a lot of people can get behind with.
At the same time, however, he repeatedly throws his morals out of the window, as long as it benefits Nazarick. He frequently kills people, even those that aren't really evil, like the adventurers who wanted to fight Shalltear, or the thousands of guards on the Katze plains. Ainz said himself that he doesn't feel anything when killing people, most likely because he's become undead.
People like to justify killing if the one getting killed "did something bad". And people like to forget that a death causes a ton of grief for others, even if you don't see it. That's also why a lot were very upset with Arche's death. Because it's the first time the show reminds you of what a death does to people.
Yet, even with all this in mind, we still like Ainz. We still root for him and Nazarick. We want the story to continue. That's why Ainz is so interesting to me.
Of course, these are all fictional characters who can't experience emotion or death. Though it doesn't change much about our perception of them as "people".

Hello,
Please delete my post if this breaks any rules - I need some ways of coping with the stress of not knowing my status as of now. Here’s some background for everyone, I’ll do it from the beginning as I don’t know how else to do it:
I’m 26, male, gay. On 14th of April I’ve met a guy and had unprotected sex with him. I was passive. I know he was HIV+ve but he told me he was undetectable. Prior to this for about 3 weeks I was taking PreP daily which I only stopped 3 days prior to meeting him (I had some stuff happening) and restarted it an hour and a half before meeting him.
Fast forward two weeks, I get a high fever, vomiting, aches all over and a massive headache as well as a sore throat and swollen lymph nodes. I didn’t immediately connect it back to him but I started finding out that unfortunately he’s a drug addict a stoner and frequently misses his meds - I am not judging at all so please don’t take it as such but that planted a seed in my head.
When my main symptoms went away (roughly day 15/16) I was left with aching everywhere and a sore throat that had continued on and off since then. It’s almost like the more I think about it the more it happens.
I am now in this IMMENSE black hole of constantly googling stuff related to HIV. I have done a test on day 32 which was a 4th generation test from my finger. This came back negative.
Yesterday, day 36 I’ve noticed white spots at the back of my throat.
I can’t stop googling, researching and finding more reasons as to why I am positive. I keep reading about how prep delays the detection window which is why I don’t trust my negative result.
I am just looking for people to give me some ways of coping with anxiety as it’s taken over my life. I am at work and I can’t stop thinking about it no matter what I’m doing. I keep randomly breaking down into tears. I wake up in the middle of the night and think about having it.
I understand having HIV is not a death sentence - I think it’s the anxiety of not knowing. If I knew I could then start moving on, but for now my life has been put on hold and I’m just paralysed.
I have another test at week 6 (+5days) and I’m already finding reasons as to why it won’t be definitive.
For me, it’s just way too many coincidences for me to not be positive and I just wanted people to essentially tell me what to do, please.

What the heck is going on with my car and how can I fix it?
https://imgur.com/a/C4BW9yq

1. First video is the vehicle entering a ramp on the freeway. Emits a high-pitched whistling sound as the rpm’s go up from 1,500. No adequate power delivery, so the vehicle does not get up to speed appropriately.
2. Second video is me exiting the freeway and in street traffic.
3. Third and fourth video is me starting the car after I parked (so a warm start).

• There is a noise that sounds like a metal bar is getting bent, and you hear the metal creaking. You can hear it in all three videos when the vehicle is taking off and the rpm’s are highest.
• I usually don’t drive it on auto and have to manipulate the gears myself so I don’t go past 3,000 rpm. Especially on the freeway: if left on auto, the car will stay at a low gear to get up to speed and SCREAM rpm’s but picking up speed slowly.
• When taking the oil cap off the engine while it’s running, there is a considerable amount of blow-by.

Called Hyundai and they said they will replace the entire engine only if there is an issue with the connecting rod bearings.
EDIT: engine 2.0-L L-4 DOHC 16V