“We’re a meat family,” my dad would proudly tell strangers. He’d wait for the quizzical look, then launch into detail, starting with how many freezers we had, how long we could sustain ourselves on the contents. It was just his way of starting a conversation, which made sense when you considered that raising and home-killing animals for food was, for want of a better term, his life-long hobby. His prize possession was one of those industrial-sized vacuum sealers: you could put half a pig inside and wrap it in plastic so tightly that every wrinkle and skin fold waxed unreal with shiny detail.
If we hadn’t lived in a rural area, albeit semi-urbanised, I guess it would have been pretty weird. But the mostly farming-stock locals only found his extra enthusiasm a little bit odd.
When he wasn’t being a bit embarrassing talking about it, I never really paid much heed to his hobby. I had a child’s vaguely grateful awareness that though our family went through some lean financial times, our stomachs never suffered like some of the families around us. All the beef, pork, ham and bacon in those big old chest freezers passed down from his dad really could have fed us for years.
I should preface all this by saying that I wasn’t a particularly bright kid, though neither was I dumb. I didn’t fail badly at anything in school, I just never achieved beyond a pass. I didn’t know it yet back then, still quietly dreaming about being a ballet star or a dressage champion, but mediocrity was my destiny. And I think that’s why I got on so well with my Aunt Liz.
Liz was my dad’s live-in youngest sister. She was one of those women who get described as ‘bubbly’ — not really pretty, not really smart, not a lot going on besides just being… well, all Liz. But she was salt of the earth; kind, caring, and great with kids. She was the only person who would willingly mind my two older brothers, who fought like hellcats and caused more trouble than the whole last generation of my family combined. People would privately lament to my parents that it was a shame Liz didn’t have kids of her own, but dad would just shake his head and say Liz liked it that way – that all the fun of looking after kids is being able to give them back to their parents.
I guess she was like me; nice, but mediocre. Lovely, but somehow forgettable when she wasn’t doing something for you.
But when Liz left us, I couldn’t forget her.
In hindsight, it was pretty weird timing that we had a big fortieth birthday party for Liz right before she disappeared. She was radiant that night; she’d hired a local girl to do her hair and makeup, and it was honestly the first time I’d ever seen her look pretty. She’d even worn a push-up bra under a tight red dress, which flattered her very plump curves well enough that the neighbour’s farmhand was spotted disappearing into the woolshed with her for a snog. In my dawning awareness, that gave a plain girl hope: if Aunty Liz could get a guy at forty, maybe things would turn out okay for me.
Anyway, I couldn’t forget how her pink cheeks, her eyes, her whole self, glowed that night before Liz went to bed. She said it was the best birthday ever, and that she was very much looking forward to the next stage of her life.
Would I have done anything different, if I had known? If I had realised what, exactly, that next stage was?
The week after the party, Aunt Liz said she was going on a little holiday up north, to visit some old school friends. She packed her things – she didn’t honestly have that many – and drove her little orange mini out onto the main road. And with a wave of one fleshy hand, she was gone. Nobody really thought much of it when she didn’t call, because nobody rural had cellphones back then. And Liz was, as I said, somehow kinda forgettable when she wasn’t right in front of you.
When we hadn’t had contact for six weeks, Dad tracked down the land line numbers for their old school buddies. They were surprised to hear from him — Liz had never arrived, so they had just assumed she’d cancelled her visit. No-one had thought to check. I eavesdropped on the conversation, and it sounded for all the world like *they* had forgotten about Aunt Liz, too.
From there it became a missing person case. The local cops came and talked to all of us; the farmhand who’d been seen snogging her was briefly detained, then let go, dad got grilled at length, even my hellion brothers were questioned thoroughly to see if this was one of their wild and dangerous pranks gone wrong.
But everything was a dead end. Nobody knew where Liz was, or what had happened to her.
The remains of her old mini were found halfway across the country, burned out on a beach, on a derelict stretch of ragged, rocky coastline. The police assumed murder and combed the area for remains. But even the most expert divers couldn’t conquer the incredible undertow and fast-shifting seabed of that coastline to look for evidence, so none was forthcoming.
Eventually the cops collectively shrugged and said that there was really nothing more they could do unless more information suddenly came to light. The locals knew nothing, no witnesses had come forward, and the trail was cold. As far as anyone knew, poor aunt Liz had been murdered on some desolate beach, far away from her home.
It didn’t feel fair to me. She’d once mentioned wanting her remains buried on our farm, in the graveyard plot beside grandma and grandad.
So, in my grief, I went into her room to look for something of hers to bury beside them.
Like I said, Liz didn’t have many things. Her room was pretty spartan, and her wardrobe was mostly sensible farm stuff. There was one exception: she, like me, did like to read, and she had a pretty good collection of well-thumbed books. I think it’s the escapism – even the most mediocre girl can lose herself in the plot of some trashy romance novel, imagine there’s still hope of being swept off her feet by that handsome stableboy, his inexplicable yearning for chubby plain girls.
So I set myself the task of going through the books, to find the right one to bury in the graveyard plot.
Most of them were exactly what you’d expect, but some of them were racier than I was used to. I felt various parts of my body flushing and tingling, as I read breathless prose about calloused hands touching the softest flesh of the protagonist. Okay, if I’m honest with myself, I might have got a little *too* invested in my project at that point. But that was also why I persisted going through her entire collection, until I found the ragged paperback from 1970, entitled Tawny Sands. And inside that trashy cardboard romance cover, I discovered not the tale of Tawny Sands, but some carefully hand-cut, stitched-in pages. A handwritten story in my Aunt’s rounded penmanship: Memoirs of a Long Pig.
I read her story twice in a row, utterly gripped.
Aunt Liz was no Stephen King – heck, she wasn’t even the Goosebumps guy – but her story was gripping and compelling, and I couldn’t put it down. Even if I hadn’t known her, I think that would have been true.
The gist of it was that Liz, when she was sixteen, had discovered that our family had a very long history of eating what she described as ‘Long Pork’. It’s an antipodean term, anglicised from the Pacific Islands: human meat.
Like me, young Liz still had some hopes and dreams. In one of her many failed attempts to find a special talent, she’d taken up cooking as a hobby. Naturally, with our family’s overabundance of meat, she’d scoured the freezers in the shed for ingredients: the racks of ribs and stacks of pork chops, butcher-paper wrappings all neatly labelled with the first letter of the name of the animal they came from.
She found familiar meat from Rodney, one of the pigs that had been recently slaughtered, emblazoned with an ‘R’ in her father’s strong, blocky lettering. There were cutlets labelled ‘M’ for Mary, from one of the lambs she’d hand-reared, and ‘F’ for Ferdinand, the steer they’d killed the month before. But she couldn’t explain the many, many curious parcels of meat on one side of the huge freezer, all labelled ‘J’ – at least, not until she took it all out and assembled it as well as she could on the scoured concrete floor of the killing shed. A big, frozen jigsaw puzzle without the box, her best attempt to discover what kind of beast the pieces had come from.
The animal, she quickly realised, was a Long Pig. Her own Aunt Jenny, who had died the month before – just after her fortieth birthday.
Fortunately, or perhaps not, for Liz, her father entered the shed right at that moment and realised his daughter had discovered the family secret. He sat down calmly on the lid of the freezer, and explained to her that this was a long-running family tradition, dating back to at least before his grandfather had been born.
“There are always people in life, Liz,” he’d said, “who won’t really amount to much. They want to be useful, want to be more. They strive and they strive, trying job after job, hobby after hobby, trying to hit on something they’re really good at. Something that makes them special. Those people can waste their whole lives, chasing dreams that never come true. Eventually they die unfulfilled, knowing that all their time has been wasted. That what they leave behind will fade quickly.”
His voice was oddly gentle as he leaned down and patted one of the neatly wrapped cuts of Aunt Jenny, still sitting frozen on the shed floor.
“Your Aunt Jenny was one of those people. So was my Aunt Irene.” He paused to gaze at his daughter, his next words peppered with emphasis. “But you see, my sweet Liz, they did find a purpose in life. They did find a way to be special, and they left this world utterly certain of their gift.” He stood up, stretched his back. “Let me show you.”
Liz waited while my grandad meticulously stacked the meat back into the freezer, all but one J-marked parcel that looked for all the world like a thick venison steak. He took her back to the farmhouse, and reverently unwrapped the deep red, heavily marbled meat to let it thaw. Then he laid it in the family’s ancient, cast-iron pan, basting it with butter and rosemary until a heavenly scent filled the kitchen, and Aunt Liz couldn’t stop her mouth from watering.
“Just try it. Let her show you. You’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.”
Even though she knew it was her aunt, Liz couldn’t stop herself from taking that first bite. There was something transcendent about the smell, overriding her natural revulsion that this was human meat, not one of their farm animals. For the first time, she truly realised it: we’re just another kind of animal. And weren’t her memories of Mary the lamb almost as fond as her memories of Aunt Jenny?
Liz explained then, in her curly handwriting, the explosion of taste that had assaulted her when she tried the steak. It was tender, it was succulent, it was rich beyond imagining. The fats melted on her tongue, lingering somewhere between pork and beef, but oddly neither. The flavour of the meat defied identification; something familiar, yet not.
But one thing she couldn’t deny; it was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten. Tears dripped onto her plate, mingled with the juice, the grease — not grief, but a pure, real, giddy delight.
“You’re tasting your aunt’s love for this family,” my grandad explained. “Her entire life was carefully curated, to eventually make unforgettable moments for us, just like this. This was her way of being special. This was the greatest gift she could possibly bring to our world – and because she realised that, she died with not a single regret. She knew her life had purpose. She was perfectly, completely fulfilled.”
I felt those words. I felt them lodge in my own belly, settling uncomfortably deep. I knew Aunt Liz, probably better than anyone else in the family. I’d seen how fucking happy she’d been on her fortieth, how goddamn fulfilled she was, despite apparently being a *nobody* and achieving *nothing*. Somehow, in the space of a single day, she had gone from being a forgettable background character to becoming the *main character*, immortalising herself in our family’s history with her sacrifice. Quite literally becoming part of all of us, forever.
I went to the killing shed after I finished with the book. I looked inside the freezers.
But there were no vacuum-sealed packages labelled ‘L’, no matter how deep I dug into the frozen stacks of plastic-wrapped flesh. Panicked now, not sure if I wanted to connect all the dots or unconnect them, I tried to think back over the last few months, recall any meals that had been unusually good. A few Sundays ago, we’d had a stew that really hit the spot and left me craving more. And I realised that the family had a really good night that night; my brothers behaved themselves, my parents didn’t fight, and grandma and grandad had been there. Hadn’t they looked far more… expectant than they should have?
I strained my brain, trying to recall if I’d seen the homekill bag on the kitchen bench – if I’d registered what letter it was. I knew it wasn’t an L. I would have remembered if it was an L.
And then it hit me, the memory, the connection, sizzling as if branded with a hot iron.
It had been an ‘E’.
E for Elizabeth. Not for Edward the pig.
I snorted at my own stupidity – of *course* Liz was short for Elizabeth – and as I comprehended my lack of smarts, I felt something give inside me.
I wasn’t clever, and nothing, nothing would ever make me smart. I had no big talents. I wasn’t beautiful, or even cute – and even if I had a million plastic surgeries, it still wouldn’t fulfill me. It wouldn’t be real.
I was a Liz.
I was a Jenny.
I was whoever the first aunt had been, the aunt who had dedicated her life to making her flesh as delicious as possible, who had worked every damn minute to be the best Long Pig she could ever be.
I wondered how many magical family evenings had been spent eating Aunt Jenny. How many glorious, satisfying, memorable dishes had been made out of her.
And… I wanted that. I wanted to finally know I had a *purpose* in life. One so simple, and so easy to achieve.
I wanted what Aunt Liz had.
***
It's my fortieth birthday today and I’m so fucking excited. For the last twenty-four years, I’ve dedicated myself to this moment; I’ve eaten exactly what I needed to, I’ve exercised just enough, but not too much, to maintain that perfect balance of marbling vs tenderness. I’ve relaxed and meditated to keep all those amazing flavours inside of me. I’ve researched all the greatest meats in the world, from prime Angus beef to A5 Wagyu. I really think I may have outdone myself.
I’m having my hair and makeup done at the local salon this afternoon, and I’m going to look so pretty; all prize piggy on show at the fair. I’m even going to have a big red ribbon in my hair, in memory of Aunt Liz.
Maybe there’ll be a cute boy I can snog in the wool shed, maybe there won’t – I don’t really care; because the most important, most certain thing is that I’m going to be the most delicious Long Pig in the history of our entire family.
I’m going to make everyone so damn happy, and I’m just so glad I can share my story with you all, instead of hiding it in a grubby book like poor Aunt Liz.
My only real disappointment? That you won’t get to taste me.
Reader, I have loved, loved my life. My Long Pork will be out of this world: once tasted, never, ever forgotten.

"Good-bye, lover-- It's been fun... And I always did want to go in battle. You get to keep your planet, kid... Don't forget me... Don't forget me"
Bio: Val Armorr was the son of Japan's greatest crimelord, Kirau Nezumi, also known as Black Dragon, When he was born, his mother, the American secret agent Valentina Armorr, tried to hide him from his father, but she failed and was killed for her affront. Japan's biggest hero Sensei Toshiaki, the White Crane, eventually killed Black Dragon for his crimes and adopted the infant Val. He raised Val as if he were his own son, and trained him in all manner of the martial arts.
Origin in scan form ^{(Superboy vol 1 #210})
Alternate look at his origin ^{(Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes #2})
Databook entries

• Superboy #205
• All-New Collector's Edition #55
• Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #12
• Who's Who in the Legion of Superheroes #3
• DC Comics Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded
• All New DC Comics Encyclopedia

Original Val

Strength
Note: Karate Kid needs to concentrate and channel his chi to perform feats of strength ^{(Adventure Comics #359})

• In his origin, chops through a steel beam ^{(Adventure Comics #346})
• Chops through a spaceship hull ^{(Adventure Comics #347})
• Lightning Lad flashes back to Karate Kid stopping a car with a single chop ^{(Adventure Comics #351})
• Knocks out a Jovian Mastodon and a Tricorn Beast with a single strike each, and judo throws a Sloth Ape ^{(Adventure Comics #358})
• Chops through two trees in one swing ^{(Adventure Comics #358})
• Analyzes some thick gates, then chops through them ^{(Adventure Comics #360})
• Kicks away a hover car ^{(Adventure Comics #361})
• Chops through a tank, then starts a small earthquake with a stomp ^{(Adventure Comics #367})
• Destroys a practice bot in a rage ^{(Adventure Comics #373})
• Claims his chops could fell giant redwoods ^{(Superboy vol 1 #203})
• Creates an earthquake with a stomp that breaks apart a statue ^{(Legion of Superheroes vol 3 #31})
  • Note: This is a flashback to earlier times, so despite being in vol 3, takes place Chronologically in vol 1, as shown by him wearing the brown gi instead of his more famous white one
• Punches through a robot ^{(Superboy vol 1 #214})
• Kicks a meteor to pieces ^{(Karate Kid #2})
• Creates a counter-vibration strong enough to reverse Major Disaster's artificial earthquake. ^{(Karate Kid #2}.)
• Flexes off six cavemen ^{(Karate Kid #11})
• [MASSIVE OUTLIER] When bound with ropes made of indestructible Inertron, he somehow manages to break free. ^{(Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #231})
  • Album of Inertron being invulnerable/unbreakable/strong enough to resist Kryptonians
• Breaks out of a machine that saps powers, minds and will (Legion of Super-Heroes vol 3 004)

Speed

• Moves "with the speed of thought" ^{(Adventure Comics #361})
• Dodges Mano and Persuader's attacks ^{(Adventure Comics #378})
• Dodges Validus' mental lightning ^{(Adventure Comics #378})
• Dodges a blast from the Emerald Eye of Ekon ^{(Superboy vol 1 #198})
• Dodges a blast from *sigh* Radiation Roy ^{(Superboy vol 1 #208})
• Rushes forward and front tuck into a Rider Kick in a fraction of a second ^{(Superboy vol 1 #214})
• Dodges a bolt from Lightning Lad ^{(Karate Kid #1})
• Dodges radiation blasts from Nemesis Kid ^{(Karate Kid #1})
• Intercepts a falling meteor ^{(Karate Kid #2})
• Backflips over a bullet ^{(Karate Kid #2})
• Dodges a laser ^{(Karate Kid #13})
• Leaps over a bullet and behind a guy in less than a fifth of a second ^{(Karate Kid #15})
• Dances around Pharoxx's strikes ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes #309})
• Redirects Pharoxx's own magic against him ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes #309})

Durability

• Survives an explosion that KO'd and nearly killed his sensei ^{(Adventure Comics #367})
• Smacked by a giant robot and recovers being back to fighting shape on the next page ^{(Adventure Comics #373})
• Endures ever-increasing pain through meditative techniques even though the pain was so bad, it made Timber Wolf go feral within a few minutes ^{(Superboy vol 1 #209})
• Clears his mind of mental influences ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes vol 2 #268})
• Wades though blasts from Pharoxx ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes vol 2 #288})
• While sick, takes a blast from Pulsar ^{(The Brave and the Bold #198})
• Pulsar explodes right next to him and he's all good. ^{(The Brave and the Bold #198})
• Gets clawed by a monster and shrugs it off ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes #309})
• Gets blasted by Pharoxx's magic and recovers, while Pharoxx getting hit with the same blast made him immediately flee ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes #309})
• [Limit] Dies after being beaten nearly to death by Nemesis Kid, then missile launches himself into a planet-draining machine. ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes vol 3 #4})

Skill
Statements and styles

• Great Skill in all forms of martial arts, but especially Karate and Judo ^{(Adventure Comics #346})
• Master of all forms of fighting ^{(Adventure Comics #359})
• Switches from Boxing to Savate to Kendo against a robot ^{(Adventure Comics #363})
• Knocks some guys out with chops to the back of the neck ^{(Adventure Comics #360})
• Mastered every weapon form "from fencing foils to Jovian trident spears" ^{(Adventure Comics #368})
• Temporarily puts Timber Wolf in a Judo hold ^{(Superboy vol 1 #209})
• Falkone IV arm riflie technique ^{(Karate Kid #12})
• Loback III restraining hold for non-powered people to restrain super-powered people ^{(Karate Kid #12})
• Karate, Judo, "Arcturian Sli-tilla", "Venusian Txrxvrx", and boxing ("the good old one-two punch") in one page ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes vol 2 #268})

Against skilled opponents (Solo)

• Beats a boxing champion ^{(Adventure Comics #377})
• Beats the absolute stuffing out of Black Mace ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes vol 3 #31})
  • Black Mace is stated to be Ganglands's answer to Karate Kid ^{(Adventure Comics #374}) and a fast, strong invincible fighter ^{(Superboy #213})
• Beats Black Mask again, with an assist from Princess Projectra ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes vol 3 #31})
• Quickly beats a dual nunchaku wielding black belt ^{(Karate Kid #3})
• Beats the Samurai known as Master Hand ^{(Karate Kid #4})
• Had the advantage on Black Dragon II, the student of his father he previously beat in Superboy vol 1 #210 ^{(Karate Kid #10})
• Karate Kid vs Black Dragon II in a ceremonial fight. ^{(Karate Kid #10})
• Beats Dick Grayson quickly ^{(Karate Kid #14})
• Wins a tournament and the title of Samurai, going down as the youngest to gain the title ^{(Secret Origins vol 2 #47})

Against Skilled opponents (groups)

• Defeats three Black Belts he claims could waste a battalion of ordinary men ^{(Superboy vol 1 #210})
• Beats six opponents trained by his father, Black Dragon, including the future Black Dragon II ^{(Superboy vol 1 #210})
• Beats a bunch of 20th-century martial arts masters ^{(Karate Kid #1})
• Quickly beats four martial artists ^{(Karate Kid #4})

Against superpowered opponents (1v1)

• Fights Superboy and does so well, Clark says he needs to be in the Legion ^{(Adventure Comics #346})
• Training with Superboy ^{(Adventure Comics #368})
• Gets the advantage over Don Allen, descendent of Barry Allen and a speedster ^{(Adventure Comics #373})
• Defeats Ultra Boy ^{(Adventure Comics #375})
• A brainwashed Karate Kid easily beats Ultra Boy ^{(Superboy vol 1 #205})
• Survives a fight with Superboy, though he constantly mentions he's outmatched and it's taking all of his skill to just survive . ^{(Karate Kid #12})
• Temporarily holds Superboy, but admits he needs help immediately and is losing him and is saved by Mordru's magic wearing off ^{(Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #245})

Against Superpowered opponents (groups)

• Solos the Fatal Five ^{(Adventure Comics #378})
• Manages to hold his own against Lightning Lad, Superboy, Colossal Boy, Saturn Girl, Sun Boy, and Chameleon Boy before being stopped by Cosmic Boy ^{(Karate Kid #13})

Against Skilled Superpowered opponents

• Fights four superpowered assassins and is holding his own ^{(Adventure Comics #361})
• Beats Pharoxx of Orando in a sword fight, forcing Pharoxx to resort to magic ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes vol 2 #286})
• Beats Timber Wolf in a spar ^{(Legion of Superheroes vol 4 #52})

Accuracy

• Splits a rock so each half flies off and KOs a foe ^{(Adventure Comics 361})
• Hits a knight with a stone and KO's him ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes vol 2 #288})
• Uses his sash as a lasso to disarm Pulsar of his power staff ^{(The Brave and the Bold #198})

Agility

• Rushes forward and front tuck into a Rider Kick in a fraction of a second ^{(Superboy vol 1 #214})
• Contorts himself in mid-air to stop himself from falling out of a building then Jumps back in ^{(Karate Kid #1})
• Jumps from the street to a sign to a third story roof ^{(Karate Kid #2})
• Does a series of flips to land safely after jumping out of a building while holding someone ^{(Karate Kid #2})
• Jumps out of a window, does a ton of flips, and starts running on cars ^{(Karate Kid #3})
• Flips on a pole ^{(Karate Kid #11})
• Flips over a car ^{(Karate Kid #11})
• Flips out of Batman's grasp ^{(The Brave and the Bold #198})
• Rolls back to get out of a monster's range, then launches himself into a flying kick ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes vol 2 #309})

Weak Point Sensing

• Finds the weak point in a diamond ^{(Adventure Comics# 365})
• Finds the weak point in a wall ^{(Superboy vol 1 #210})
• Finds Omega's weakest point, but is too weak to capitalize on it ^{(Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #251}). This is the first time it's called an explicit "power" and not a skill.
• Finds the weak point in a hatch ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes #277})
• Originally struggled to find a weak point in massive chains encircling Earth, but after getting a hint from Princess Projectra manages to sense and destroy it ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes vol 2 #279})

Retroboot Val

Despite dying.....Val Armorr's back and in the past! ^{(Justice League of America vol 2 #7}) How? Never explained! ^{(Justice League of America #10}) Here's his feats. Note: All feats are done while he's dying (Countdown Weeks 14-15/ 38-37) from what's later revealed to be the Morticoccus Virus

• While disguised as a supervillain, freezes Parasite without Black Lightning realizing Parasite was the target ^{(Justice League of America vol 2 #2})
• KO's Black Lightning with a chop to the neck and stalemates (and arguably has the advantage over) Batman while sick and memoryless ^{(Justice League of America vol 2 #8})
  • Another view of the fight ^{(Countdown Week 2/#50})
  • Doctor Mid-Nite says Karate Kid very nearly took down Batman in that fight ^{(Countdown Week 7/#45})
  • Batman conceeds Val outfought him but claims he wouldn't in a rematch though he may have been being a jerk to get into Val's head ^{(Countdown Week 10/#42})
• Is still conscious and talking despite being loaded up with enough tranquilizers to give Wonder Woman trouble ^{(Justice League of America vol 2 #8})
• Somehow survives Speed Force Lightning that should have insta-killed him ^{(Justice League of America vol 2 #10})
• Finds the weak point in a vault he's sealed in ^{(Countdown Week 13/#39})
• Tears through Oracle's tendrils and punches through a wall ^{(Countdown Week 13/#39})
• Hurts Equus, an enhanced being who bragged he had fought Superman ^{(Countdown Week 16/#36})
• Kicked Equus arm clean off his body ^{(Countdown Week 17/#35})
• Breaks shotguns and kicks a police car over ^{(Supergirl vol 5 #21})
• [Limit] While he can dodge her attacks, can't move Supergirl with his strikes ^{(Supergirl vol 5 #21})
• Chops Equus arm off ^{(Supergirl vol 5 #22})
• [Limit] The closer to death he gets, the less he's able to focus and use Super-Karate feats ^{(Countdown week 32/#20})
• Takes out four Apokoliptians ^{(Countdown Week 41/#11})
• Takes a hit from an OMAC and shows some agility ^{(Countdown Week 42/#10})
• Dies of the virus ^{(Countdown Week 45/#7})
• Time Trapper puts his and Una's bodies in the mainline Earth when they had died in Earth-51 ^{(Action Comics #864})

Misc

• As a Legionnaire, he has a Legion flight ring ^{(Karate Kid #1})
• Invited his 20th-century friend to his wedding, not realizing she was in love with him ^{(The Brave and the Bold #198})
• Man married a princess. Respect. ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes Vol 2 annual 2})
• Brave enough to try to hit Darkseid with a flying kick, though all it accomplishes is knocking himself out. ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes vol 2 #294})
• It's implied he somehow came back/will come back to life again, but this wasn't elaborated on because of the Flashpoint thanks Barry ^{(Legion of Super-Heroes vol 6 #6})
  • Time Trapper also foreshadowed this ^{(Action Comics 864})

The world conspired in the best of ways to bless me with a whole bunch of new games at once and I happened to be able to get in a lot of plays quickly with them.
Always get an idea of who's talking before you take anything away from these reviews/impressions. Maybe we're really different people. I've been in the hobby for 10+ years. I've played a lot of games. I love interactive and mechanically unique games. I worship Reiner Knizia. Some of my favorite games are Tigris and Euphrates, Spirit Island, Race for the Galaxy, Agricola, Battle Line, and Oath. My favorite games of last year were Stationfall, Ra (reprint), and Zoo Vadis.
Okay, let's go!
Cascadito/Cascadero - Is this a Pokemon Red/Blue scenario? No! There's room for both halves of this pair of Knizias in a collection. I think Cascadero is the better game, but Cascadito slides onto our table more easily. I'm a bit of a believer in the Moneyball theory of games (does the game "get on base" (to the table)?) so, that matters!
Cascadero - 4 plays at 2 players - First, the production is perfect. Svelte box that's easy to pack, wooden pieces, great graphic design with built in rules reminders by Ian O'Toole, and a striking cover make this a joy to play. If you enjoy the general waves hands of Irish Gauge, you're going to love how this looks.
Cascadero requires a little patience, but I think I'm starting to see a heart of gold down in there. As a Knizia tile-layer, right away, this game is, unfortunately, going to get compared to some of the greatest games ever made. Games like Through the Desert, Samurai, Babylonia, etc. I say unfortunately, because I don't think you'll love this game on the first play. That's because I think the default/starter side of the board is less interesting. If you're familiar with games, do yourself a favor and flip to the farmer side as soon as possible. Even then, Cascadero is subtle. When played best, it's a quiet maneuvering of cubes up to just the right spots on tracks with pieces on the board in all the right places that build a little lattice of opportunity. Not just one combo ready to score, but a set of circumstances that hedge on an opponent's move. Paths are everywhere, and you're using them in just the right ways to get across a double score gap or to slip into a fold in the track that gives an extra bonus. I feel like the review circuit doesn't usually play games enough times to appreciate this one, and maybe it's subtle to a fault. It isn't great when you hear "it gets good on game 4", but I'm four games in and usually that's the point where I'm bored of most games. With this one I'm excited to play more.
Cascadero is great!
Cascadito - 5 plays at 2 players - Do you like My City? Do you like My City: Roll and Build? I do. I probably wouldn't list them in my favorite games, but they are such great weeknight-with-the-partner games that I appreciate them all the same. Cascadito isn't billed as a campaign game, but rather as four maps. Maybe a 4 game campaign doesn't sound long enough, but I'm busy. 4 games sounds like something I can do. If you've played Cascadero, map 1 is the less interesting version of that game. Stick with it though! Like My City, you get the joy of seeing Knizia riff on an idea. We enjoyed each subsequent map more and more and we could see ourselves replaying #3 and especially #4. In fact, on map 4 we kept looking at each other's sheets during the game - on a roll and write! I like that.
Cascadito is good!
Spectral - 6 plays at 2 players - I'm pretty picky about deduction games, especially as board games. As someone who has put hundreds of hours into Picross and sudoku I need there to be a good reason why I'm using my precious time with my friends on something that is usually so solitary. So far, I've really only liked The Search for Planet X. While it isn't known as a particularly interactive game, my friends and I have played it so competitively that we look for any scrap of information that might give us the edge, and the publishing system cranks up the incentive to take some leaps of faith in a tight race.
When I heard about Spectral I was excited - an interactive, bidding based logic puzzle - cool! Six games later, I haven't really figured out how to interact with my opponent. While The Search for Planet X has clear moments of intention to watch for (publishing papers), it's really hard to tell when your opponent is acting with intention or just exploring in Spectral. You also don't have those little clues like what your opponent is scanning for or researching like in Planet X to build some kind of theory around. The game is a breeze to play, yet barely leaves room to grapple. So maybe the interaction isn't super strong, but how's the logic puzzle?
Boring. Imagine playing sudoku, but the logic restrictions were only for rows and not also columns, or within squares. You can do some deduction with the curse cards, but the treasure cards (12 of the 16) are all essentially equally informative and don't allow for much in the way of chains of deduction. You can do a little bit with probabilities of where treasures are likely to overlap, but it rarely feels worth it to pursue when finding curses provides a much more reliable benefit.
I want to be wrong about this game. Please, someone argue this one with me.
Spectral is okay. If you play it once or twice, I think you'll have a good time, but I don't see it having legs.
Slay the Spire - I've had this game for less than a month and I think I've put in maybe 50 hours at the table with it at this point. I've played with people who have 1000s of hours in Slay the Spire - they have loved it. I've played with people who have never played Slay the Spire - I see them playing Slay the Spire on Steam the next day and asking when they can next come over. People who usually duck out of a game night at 10pm are still at the table at 1am.
I was really worried it would be bad. I wondered, why not just play the digital game? But here I am, holding the box and knowing without a doubt, this object sparks joy. Have you ever experienced a solitary piece of media, obsessed over it, and then gotten a chance to experience it together with other fans? Maybe something like watching Game of Thrones with friends after reading the books. It feels great to share in something you've loved. That's how Slay the Spire has felt. But it's not just that, as evidenced by the friends that have never played the digital game and still loved it. It's just a damn good deck builder, and the whole system of knowing exactly what the enemies are going to do before they do it goes over so well here. It's so apparent that this translation was a labor of love and so much has gone into preserving the spirit of the game. I love it.
Slay the Spire is excellent!
Leviathan Wilds - played the first 3 Leviathans solo and at 2 - I backed this as a Shadow of the Colossus fan, and hoped for the best. I'm honestly blown away by how much this game has exceeded my expectations. First, there's something about this game that feels so complete and efficient. There's no Kickstarter bloat. It's in a very understated, retail sized box. The game just gets so much out of each component. It feels like the people who made it have made a lot of games before (and they have!).
I have trouble finding mid-weight 1-hour co-ops that I like. I love co-ops like The Crew at the short and sweet end and Spirit Island at the epic and heavy end, but the games that hit around the Pandemic range have never appealed to me. There often seems to be too much upkeep and setup, and not enough to keep me interested in sharing a puzzle with other people.
Leviathan Wilds is sooooo easy to set up. Setting up a Leviathan involves opening a spiral bound map book and laying out five cards. Processing the enemy turn involves flipping a card and later doing what it says. I don't play solo games, pretty much ever, but I'm playing this solo because it's so damn easy to run.
The moment to moment gameplay has been a blast. The systems are very open and freeform and the cards are multi-use, so there's often this feeling of scrapping together just the thing you need from odd parts - burning this card, eating this mushroom, falling here, etc. The movement system really leans into the mechanics of Shadow of the Colossus and allows for a creativity and freedom while reinforcing the theme. Every game we've played has been tight and we've failed a few times. I like that. My only complaint was that the enemies will sometimes do "swift" moves that resolve before your turn so you don't have much of a chance to react. I didn't realize until a game or two later that you can still use skills on cards to react instantly which might be an easy rule to miss. I've felt much better about "swift" since learning that. I'll definitely be backing the announced small expansion for the upcoming reprint. What a pleasant surprise.
Leviathan Wilds is excellent!
Harmonies - 6 plays at 2 players - This game has been called a Reef killer, an Azul killer, and a Cascadia killer. I own all those games! So, what's the body count at my table? Well, first off this game is lovely. The art is beautiful, the spatial puzzle is quite satisfying, and the playtime is breezy (especially at 2). It is most comparable to Reef in that you are arranging and stacking pieces in configurations for points, but there's a second layer of tile arrangement, similar to Cascadia's habitats, that's always present, no matter what cards come up. The Azul comparison is probably due to the drafting of tiles from a central market. So, what's the outcome?:

• Reef - Dead. Harmonies gives me a similar spatial puzzle in less time, in a smaller box, with better art, and it feels more thematic (I want to make homes for all my animals!).
• Cascadia - Dead. (although I was tired of it already). I find the game to game strategies in Harmonies to be more diverse and I don't feel like I have an algorithm to follow like in Cascadia (Is there a tile that increases two habitats? Can I fit a fox between my other groups of animals?).
• Azul - Alive. It's a stretch to compare the two games, but the drafting portion is far more interesting in Azul with the combining pools of tiles. Azul sits with Carcassonne in this perfect zone of being a gateway game that starts out gentle and puzzley and more you play it the more cutthroat it becomes. This isn't Harmonies, but...

Harmonies is excellent. I wouldn't be surprised if its the best gateway type game of the year. I do think it could slow down significantly with more players, but I tend to play something more interactive beyond 2.
Dro Polter - Too many plays to count and at all player counts - I think this is Oink's cutest production yet. The chunky wooden ghost, the tiny bells, the little set of treasures you'll hold in your hand. If you like frantic dexterity games, this is great. You can explain the rules in about 2 sentences and it's very non-gamer friendly. The cleverest bit is how you have to hold onto points in the form of tiny bells and if you drop them you lose them. It's an excellent system of handicapping the leader that often turns to laughs. It's mostly a novelty, but if you can introduce it to a few different groups of people, it feels worth it. Great with kids too.
Dro Polter is great!

By no means is this game bad. It's pretty great. I wouldn't be playing it 6 years later if it weren't.
But I always end-up putting it down for real long stretches of time before forgetting why, and then have a night like tonight where my lance slogged through 3 and a half enemy lances in a single mission and then think, 'right. yeah. this is why'.
I am glad for the mechanical changes in the video game; I think they make a lot of sense and add a lot of play. Not all are great, but whatever.
The rules for the TT are also extremely good overall with plenty of rough patches.
Systems-wise, both games work well and are thoughtfully designed. I don't think it is interesting to champion one game's systems over another.
But here's the thing about TT - it's a head-up lance vs lance game. 4v4. Basically always, unless you're IS fighting into a Clan Star (which we aren't in the era presented). There's of course lots of ways to set up other scenarios and yadda yadda yadda, but the meat and potatoes of kitchen table play for TT Battletech is 4v4 lance duels.
And that's not a small thing because such tight duels make the system easier to balance and never feel like a slog. The gameplay of those duels also reinforces the atmosphere of the setting, where everything is supposed to be just so damn precious and so damn feudal.
In my current HBS Battletech career I'm pretty sure I've killed more assault mechs than even exist canonically in the setting. And by itself that's not a problem... but there's this essence of Battletech's appeal in gameplay that just goes out the window when you take the tabletop framing and then apply the Mechwarrior power fantasy of being super pilot with a 20:0 kill ratio per mission. Mechwarrior is awesome, but that power fantasy only works IMHO because of how dynamic the gameplay is. How fast and frantic the play can be, so it doesn't feel like a slog.
Battletech is best, IMHO, as a lance vs lance game with matches that are short, brutal and typically come down to two battered mechs desperately slugging it out for the win. It is at its weakest when you are just gunning down wave after wave of enemies (and I don't even mean that in terms of cheese strats like headhunting - I mean even if playing vanilla and using stock builds, you're still just out of necessity racing-up absurd kill ratios because of how the game is balanced around the player defeating 3x / 4x their number in mechs).
If/when we get another turn based BTech, I hope the scope is scaled back and the depth in ramped up. I hope every shot just MATTERS, both mine and the OpFors, and the design ethos orbits the idea that lance v lance combat should ideally wind down brutally. That it should bee seen as a problem if you can shoot the OpFor to pieces and walk away with nothing but freely repaired armor damage.

Disgust / / Take My Hand

Mombasa, The Union of African Socialist Republics 

vibe

"Upheaval of the world, French Guiana the last stand of the West?"

"The torturous end of the Russian hyper-state has sparked a crisis for an increasingly volatile world."

Bandung Daily Issued August 1st, 2072 - 12:00 Mombasa, The Union of African Socialist Republics
MOMBASA - It would seem that the fall of the Great Russian Goliath had been in the making the moment that Dederick Lohengrin's empire collapsed, yet unlike the Álfheimr Civil War - the collapse of Russian Hegemony would be as swift as the dissolution of its predecessor, the Soviet Union. There was no tears to weep, no alliance to mourn, the Eastern Union had long ceased to be anything less than an arms manufacturer for the Bandung Pact - growing increasingly obsolete in the face of an expanding Pact technology network.
How many times had the world called for Russian aid? As much as the Russian and Eastern Union governments had decried the lack of a Western response to the original Downfall of Europe, by the late forties, the Eastern Union so overwhelmed with corruption, had become the very thing that those early Eastern Union ambassadors had loathed - they had, in essence, become the very thing they found disgusting. Italy, fallen at the hands of the Alfr and the Eastern Union did nothing. The countless provocations of the Aesir and never an adequate response, a Japanese Empire chipping away at the very bones of Eastern Union hegemony and in the end, it was only the intervention of INC diplomacy (theorized) that prevented the consumption of anything more than Manchuria. Even as the very Russian nation-state collapsed inward, not even the Bandung Pact could do more than give a shake of their heads while scalping away much of the Russian technological base in a way not dissimilar to the early East African efforts to save the Israeli industry. And as the once Karakum Union once again declared nominal independence from the broader Russian entity, the beginning of the end for Eastern Europe was once again nigh.
Therefore, it was no surprise when the Garden of Eden spread its roots through the former Polish hyper-state, the tendrils of Iohannis grasping at every fallen fruit, each an offering to the Earth Mother (so it's called in Eastern Europe). It was no surprise when the Second Roman Republic, what was once Greece, and the machinations in Yugoslavia equally unified under an expanded Republic partially at the behest of a significant diaspora of Italian veterans of the Gothic Wars. It was no surprise, when in the face of the spreading vines of Kyiv, that the UNSC under all its providence as a GIGAS member - initiated the annexation of what was once Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It was no surprise, when the Bandung Pact did what it could to funnel Russian troops, assets, and civilians out of a collapsing hyper-state. It was no surprise, when the vulture of the Midnight Sun descended on Siberia, consuming Vladivostok and moving into Mongolia and across Lake Baikal.
It was however a surprise when radio messages of a free Europe, began quietly skimming across morning news in the Bandung Pact. It was a surprise when those same messages soon led to declaration of a new "Atlantic Russian Republic", when those radio waves turned into surviving Russian fleets massing in the last quietly surviving Russian territory that all but Russia had forgotten of. At one of the many mouths of the Amazon jungle, stood the Atlantic Russian Republic and the last bastion of Free Europe in the West. The fleets of the Polish-Russian hyperstate had under Bandung support, skulked quietly into the Atlantic Ocean under new flags, until eventually landing in French Guiana. Much like the French Remnant State which survived as the last offshoot until it was eventually subsumed by the Russian government, the Atlantic Russian Republic now stands as a mini Fortress-state, housing the vast Russian Navy and all its kinetic and rocketry might. Just as the French Free Navy slowly starved to death, so too, now does the Russian Navy in its hole across the Ocean. And with a resource crisis still ongoing even if neutered now by the rampant space mining operations of the hyper-powers, the Russian Navy in exile's position remains ever volatile.
November 20th, 2072
Tallinn, Estonia (UNSC Protectorate)
The wind and snow was heavy even for November, that was the thought going through the old dog's head as he watched his ward, the Princess Estelle addressing the rows of former Russian soldiers. And as she finished, the guns ringing out signaling the formalization of the groundwork laid so many years ago it was not hard for the General to maintain his stoic nature as the procession of soldiers filed out of the great hall that had been constructed in Tallinn. Like so many others, they had become nationless men, effectively dead and yet still very much alive and willing to fight.
"So this is what your deal bought you." the ex-Prime Minister, ex-President, Katz finally broke his silence as Princess Estelle made her way back under the cover of the gallery. "My Baltics, turned into the Fens."
There was a sadness to the eyes of the fair-haired Princess, one letting on only a fraction of the pain she had experienced over the past year. "My cousin...he told me this would be an early birthday present." She lowered her head out of respect to the Russian ex-minister. "Had I known...what all that would have entailed, I would have certainly declined."
Timo Kivinen, the General of so many things by now, knew there was bountiful more that the Princess would have wanted to share in that very moment. He had heard it, when they had first been informed of the operation. He had seen Estelle's outrage, as the good Prince George did his best to calm his dear wife. But now, in the aftermath of the Russian Collapse, Estelle had put on her brave face and in true STOICs fashion - mustered a smile and a bout of levity.
"I once asked my cousin to remember us as his family, I hadn't expected this is the path to be walked by our kin." Estelle cracked a wry smile, as she started walking towards the exit. "But there is more to come, isn't that right, General?"
"Yes." Timo nodded, as his thoughts turned to the fleets amassing in the Atlantic.
"What now?" Katz questioned, not expecting much of an answer.
"Promises to keep, we have promises to keep." Estelle's gaze turned towards the Sun and the thought of warm waters.

CLAIM REVEAL: THE EASTERN UNION STATES (MAP)

The Atlantic Russian Republic

• DETAILS
• Head of State: Maxim Katz
  • Other Important Characters (meta control)
  • Those mentioned in bigrockswilderness Fleet Posts for Poland
• Population: 3,863,000 (including Naval and Marine personnel that evacuated Russia)
• Claim Starting Allotments (IE. Special Starting Scenario)
  • Has the ability to access a secret campaign (ALL THROUGH PLAYER INITIATIVE) to reclaim the Western Russian Remnant state in Europe.
  • Has control of 80% of the Russian Navy in entirety
  • Must find remedies for resource drain of the Fleet, or face narrative repercussions.
  • Starts with SECRET information that could lead to the expansion of the claim, early on.
  • Handing over the fleets, or coming under another's thumb or like-scenarios will result in a Naval mutiny. IE. this is not a viable "easy" option to deal with your lack of resources. There will be warning events.
  • Is not immediately aligned with anyone.
  • Has access to the entire Russian tech book (so to speak).

Things to Consider
The Atlantic Russian Republic (ARR) or better, the Russian Fleet in Exile is intended on being a claim that requires heavy amounts of player initiative through the early period of the season to survive. However, can blossom into a rewarding claim if played well.
This is a difficult claim in general, and you can expect to be under fire from many enemies as the Alfr remnant states (North America in particular) and the Bandung Pact both look to subsume or sink your fleets.

The Garden of Eden

• DETAILS
• Head of State: The Earth Mother - Klaus Iohannis
  • Other Important Characters (meta control)
  • Zalmoxis
  • Prophet Amir
  • Burebistan
  • Pleistoros
• Population: Not currently calculable
• Claim Starting Allotments (IE. Special Starting Scenario)
  • Begins with 30% of the Russian Army - corrupted.
  • Receives [BATTLE] bonuses based on the level of "perversion" and its spread across not just the Garden, but of the world. This is internally tracked by the Mods.
  • Likewise, receives automatic NEGATIVE amplifiers to [DIPLOMACY] with NPCs. (You are really freaking out the Japanese and INC AlfRussian remnants.)
  • Has access to the entire Russian tech book (so to speak).

Things to Consider
This is a fairly niche claim, having to wrestle with both the Alfr, INC, and Japan in the immediate vicinity - while attempting to repair (or destroy) relations with other surrounding neighbors as you look more inward.

The Second Roman Republic

• DETAILS
• Head of State: Gaius Appuleius Diocles
  • Other Important Characters (meta control)
  • Can be found here
  • And here for Italian related stuff
  • Niklas
• Population: 60,800,196
• Claim Starting Allotments (IE. Special Starting Scenario)
  • Ceasar's Legions = meta control over approx 200,000 battle-hardened Italian veterans of the Gothic Wars.
  • These legions will specifically receive significant [BATTLE] bonuses when used against Alfr remnant states. However, they are a finite number, each casualty being irreplaceable.
  • Additionally - the Legions have an expressed goal = reclaiming Rome (Italy). If this is not met by the 2/3rd mark of the Campaign, there will be IG repercussions of significant magnitude.
  • Begins the Campaign with positive diplomatic relations with ALL NPCs including Japan, non-playable Bandung Pact members, and non-claimable Alfr remnants. The only exception is TURKEY.
  • Has access to the entire Russian tech book (so to speak).

Things to Consider
The Second Roman Republic is a particularly interesting claim, due to its immediate diplomatic "neutrality through positive relations" and the fact that they have a legitimate claim to Italy if not Rome at large. However, they are also surrounded by power-hungry hyper-states that have increasingly small amounts of room to expand.
Questions please send on discord through private messages or comment on this post.

https://www.academia.edu/119725333
​
Movable nu is an optional -n added to several endings in Greek. These include 3sng. endings -e(n), -ti(n), -si(n); 3pl. -ousi(n); dat.pl. -si(n); and some others also of the form -si(n), like pérusi(n) ‘last year’. Other descriptions that -n can only appear before a vowel in the next word, that this is only Att-Ion, etc., are not true, though some cases are more common (Martín González 2011). No cause is known for this, but it is unlikely that several classes of words that merely happened to end in -si would ALL have optional -sin do to sound change, etc. Their distribution suggests analogical spread from 3sng. endings -ti(n), -e(n) after most -ti > -si, allowing other classes of words in -si to become -si(n), but this is also uncertain, and no source for -n is known there either. Most explanations include -n being added later (sometimes only in Att-Ion.) to avoid V#V, but why -n? Why not for other cases of V#V, where no C was added? Knowing whether it began in Att-Ion. and spread before writing began or was even older (in Proto-Greek) could help explain its origin.
​
Another piece of evidence is in the Middle Phrygian inscription which contains blaskon ‘he passed’ and kiuin ‘he departed’. These must be 3sng. verbs, since there is no pl. noun to be a subject in either sentence (see translations in (1) below). It is hardly likely that one of Greek’s closest relatives would have unexpected -n in the 3ng. if it were unrelated to 3sng. -ti(n), -si(n), -e(n) in Greek. Any answer to these questions seems to require something at the level of Proto-Phrygian-Greek (or earlier), but nothing within accepted IE grammar allows it.
​
A third language with 3sng. -n is Tocharian B. There, *-eti > -(ä)n appears, ALSO supposedly a later affix -n. Again, all these are supposedly late additions, and have no known origin, add no meaning. Since 3pl. *-onti > *-ent^ä > -en, at the least one could assume that 3sng. *-eti became *-enti by analogy in TB, with regular sound changes in both. However, 3 separate cases of analogy, of similar yet unrelated types, seems very unlikely for this group. Tocharian shares some odd sound changes with Greek (H-breaking of *uH2 > *waH2, *th > l (in dialects, G. dáptēs ‘eater / bloodsucker (of gnats)’, Cretan thápta, Polyrrhenian látta ‘fly’)), so looking for another shared, yet odd, shared feature might be fruitful.
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The traditional reconstruction of PIE verb endings has some problems when looked at with an eye towards internal reconstruction. Since 1sng. *-m has pl. *-me, 2sng. *-tH2 has pl. *-tH2e (2), we’d assume 3sng. *-nt existed due to pl. *-ent (possibly from *-nte due to the inability to pronounce *-C-nte at that stage of PIE). If final *-e-nt > *-et in PIE (similar to supposed *-n > *-r), but present *-e-nt-i > *-enti, it would explain much of this data, with *-et vs. -enti creating analogical variants *-e(n)t and *-e(n)ti (it is impossible to be sure which parts happened in PIE vs. PG, PPh., PT). Similarly, nt-stem nouns would only have the voc. affected, so simple analogy might restore -nt there as well. If many of these variants were rare (avoided in most to avoid confusion between sng. and pl., especially in those in which sound changes would merge *-enti and *-onti), only a few IE languages might retain them. If so, past 3sng. *-et / *-ent in Greek would become -e / -en, as attested, with analogy changing -ti to -ti / -tin, then further analogy as above. For Phrygian, *-ent > -in would be regular, with -on likely analogy from 3pl. *-ont.
​
If PIE *-t were original, there would be no reason to import *-nt from the pl. Keeping the sng. and pl. distinct, especially in the 3rd, should be the main job of any analogy. Also supporting *nt in the 3sng. and pl. is the parallel *m and *tH2 in both for other persons. 3 separate analogies that added -n(-) to make the 3sng. and 3pl. more similar (or identical in the case of Ph. -on) do not seem needed or likely.
​
​
Notes
​
(1)
​
The only Middle Phrygian inscription :
​
MPhr-01 (W-11)
manka mekas sas kiuin en ke bilatede-
nan nekoinoun : pokraiou kē gloureos gamenoun
sa soroi mati makran : blaskon ke takris ke loun-
iou mrotis lapta mati a oinoun : nikostratos
kleumakhoi miros aidomenou matin kisuis : mo-
kros uitan partias plade por koroos ..-
ros pantēs : penniti ios koroan detoun
soun omasta omnisitous
​
​
I segment them as 6 sentences divided by : with each sentence 17 syllables long. For convenience this would be:
​

1. manka mekas sas kiuin en ke bilatedenan nekoinoun

​

1. pokraiou kē gloureos gamenoun sa soroi mati makran

​

1. blaskon ke takris ke louniou mrotis lapta mati a oinoun

​

1. nikostratos kleumakhoi miros aidomenou matin kisuis

​

1. mokros uitan partias plade por koroos ..-ros pantēs

​

1. penniti ios koroan detoun soun omasta omnisitous

​
​
Here, the first sentence (with each sentence 17 syllables long) would be:
​
A great man has departed from here and into the beloved-land/paradise of the dead.
​
A great man (manka mekas) has departed (kiuin) from here (sas) and (ke) into (en) the beloved-land/paradise (bilatedenan) of the dead (nekoinoun).
​
kiuin = [kiwin] ‘(has?) departed’ < *kyewe(n)t
*kyew- > Skt. cyav- \ cyu-, OP ašiyava ‘set out’, Arm. č’u ‘departure / journey’, G. -(s)seúomai ‘rush / hurry’
​
The -n must be 3sng. Not only is there no other pl. subject available if -n came from *-nt, but also no other word that might otherwise be the verb. This 3sng. -n is also seen in 41.3 (that has far too many words ending in -n, 2 of which must be verbs, and no pl. nouns, to make sense without 3sng -t / -n ). For others, see (Whalen 2024a).
​
​
The third:
​
blaskon ke takris ke louniou mrotis lapta mati a oinoun
​
He passed (blaskon) from us (a oinoun) into (mati) the grave (lapta) of death (mrotis) swiftly (takris) and (ke… ke) peacefully (louniou)
​
ke < *kWe ‘and’
​
*logh-onyo- ‘lying down / resting / peaceful’
​
*mloH3-sk^e- > G. blṓskō ‘move/come/go/pass’, TA mlusk- ‘escape’, TB mlutk-, Arm. *purc(H)- > prcanim \ p`rcanim \ p`rt`anim ‘escape / evade’; Slovene molíti ‘pass / hand over’
​
*tHko- ? > Skt. su-túka- ‘running swiftly’, ava-tká-
*tHku- ? > *thakhu- > G. takhús ‘quick/, tákha \ takhú ‘soon/immediately < *quickly’
​
Ph. mrotis : L. morti- ‘death’
gen. *mrteis > mrotis (and/or *-ois > *-eis; compare *oi > *ei > ē in Arm., perhaps optional)
​
Lubotsky said some *l > ol, etc., maybe also *n > on (compare G. *sm- > he- / ho- / ha-)?
*nsmeo:m > *onhmyo:n > *onyu:n > oinoun
or?
*nsmeo:m > *anhmyo:n > *ãnyu:n > oinoun
if nasalized *a (or schwa?) > *õ first?
​
tháptō ‘bury’, *th > l as in some Greek dialects
​
​
(2)
​
Both 2sng. *s and *tH2 might have the same origin. Optional change of *t > *th / *s by *H2 (if pronounced x or similar) would simply be assimilation of fricatives, and might also explain:
​
*kwa(H2)t(h)o- > Skt. kvath- ‘boil’, Go. hvaþō ‘foam’
*kwa(H2)so- > OBg kvasŭ ‘leaven / fermented drink’
*kwa(H2)s(e/i)yo- > L. cāseus ‘cheese’, *kwasja-z > ON Kvasir ‘a wise Van formed from the spit of gods, killed by dwarves who mixed his blood with honey to ferment into Mead of Poetry’
​
which resembles *dhH2:
​
*bhndhH2no- >> G. phátnē / páthnē ‘manger / crib’
*bondhH2o- > *bantsa- > OE bósig ‘crib’, NLG banse ‘silo / barn’, *bansta- > Go. bansts ‘barn’
​
maybe something similar also in:
​
*windho-s > MIr find ‘a hair’, *winlo- > L. villus ‘shaggy hair / tuft of hair’, *winthos > *óinthos > íonthos ‘young hair’
*windhaH2 > *wandhH2i-? > OPr wanso ‘first beard’, MIr. fés ‘hair’, fésóc ‘beard’
​
​
Martín González, Elena (2011) Movable nu in Archaic Greek Epigraphic Prose
https://www.academia.edu/5983395
​
Whalen, Sean (2024a) Phrygian mankan / mankēn ‘man’ (Draft)
https://www.academia.edu/118405366
​
Whalen, Sean (2024b) Phrygian *-g- > -k- / -0-
https://www.reddit.com/HistoricalLinguistics/comments/1cj1fmj/phrygian_g_k_0/
​

Recommended watch: XG vs Spirit games 3 & 5

Meta

https://preview.redd.it/8lh6q98jyp1d1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=f8a6c4d30cfc509cd0dfc83d03884494204e9a4b
https://preview.redd.it/1e8vnkkkyp1d1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=e28039d5efe0329bb4616d95d62007d2d054d8e4
Data source: datdota.com

Xtreme Gaming vs Spirit, Grand Final

https://preview.redd.it/9u5c1tg2zp1d1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=6f75ebae14a4152b00b8cc3d4626da9db1cb6bde
We get a rare sighting of the Stealth Assassin on XinQ. The Riki did absolute work in this one. The Grimstroke did not get to play dota and was abused all game by Riki. When he got his Diffusal Blade, even the cores were at risk of dying to the pesky support. The pickoffs were a huge pain for Spirit and the 5v5s weren't any better. Xxs' Dark Seer was masterful with his spell usage. The Walls made the fights near impossible to win for Spirit. The Normal Punch felt like haymakers. Then there's Dy's Bane on top of all this who did no wrong and provided the necessary lockdown to shut his enemies down. A sublime performance from XG lands them game #1. XG 1-0 Spirit.
https://preview.redd.it/qkxp3h85zp1d1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=2744787f0a60e30e493d6d4c898cdcb91c66ae6d
Despite a small networth disparity between the two sides for most of the mid-game, you could feel that XG had to do so much to make things close. Xtreme flexed their Naga for XinQ and it didn't have the impact we come to expect from him. The Naga was basically used for disengaging or resetting with her ult and that's never going to be enough. Once the Song & Torrent Storm were down, Spirit would dictate the rest of the flow. Naix and TA were hampered in this game. Razor going in and linking any of the two meant they had to spend the fight running away or with no damage to use. If they were able to somehow hit a target, decrep + glimmer were there to save the opponents. XG had huge problems against the Centaur's initiation and Bane's Grip. The fight for the second Rosh ended in a complete disaster for XG. They tried to bail out of a terrible fight with a Song but the Stampede meant they couldn't escape. 4 heroes lost and an Aegis on the side of Spirit meant complete control of the map and the game for the Radiant side. The high-ground siege was safe for Spirit. Jugg never really felt threatened. Manta, Spin, and Healing Ward were all he ever needed to survive and reset. Spirit got so far ahead that they could comfortably dive into their enemy's fountain and get away with it. XG tried to get cute with their Naga pick and as a result, lost their first game in Wallachia. Spirit 1-1 XG.
https://preview.redd.it/abzo3ug7zp1d1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=c63b1d2a3c601a41aa75fd8d1f0f326103beecbb
We get Marci for XG with a twist. It was Dy playing her! Both sides exchanged blows but neither side pulled away until the 25th minute. Gyro with an Aegis sieged the T2 mid tower. Spirit put their symphony of stuns on display. Sven was able to Storm Hammer and blow up XinQ in the back line. Primal Beast Pulverized the Centaur. Bat Lassod the Lesh. DK Dragon Tailed the Gyro. With Sven pummeling them during the process, it was a clean team wipe for the Eastern Europeans. It looked grim for XG but they weathered the storm. In the ~43rd minute, a smoke-on-smoke action saw the Gyro getting free rein in the fight and Spirit paying heavily for it. The Dire weren't able to output the necessary damage to deal with Gyro. 3 casualties with no buybacks on Sven + DK translated into 2 lanes lost. It was all XG from that point. Spirit wanted to contest the last Rosh of the game but got dismantled in the fight. The creeps would end Spirit's misery as the 2 lanes pushed while they were fighting for Rosh. This was a much closer game but XG came through when needed. XG 2-1 Spirit.
https://preview.redd.it/flgm2z3azp1d1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=2ffe79c1c715a868b3acd1ebf43a35d88289283e
Game 4 has a script we are all aware of. Yatoro's Faceless Void got his way and with no propers saves for Chrono, it was only ever going to go one way. Yatoro's entire plan was to catch the Troll Warlord in his ult and that would pretty much secure the fight. Between Zeus and Enchantress, Spirit had an absurd amount of damage that synergized very well with Chrono. The beginning of the end for XG happened around the 27th minute. Troll with Aegis wanted to push T2 mid but he lost his first life so easily and after reincarnating, he got Chronod and died. The remainder of XG couldn't bail out because Collapse's Slardar was on the case and so the rest of Ame's team joined him in the grave. The fights would follow a similar pattern from that point, giving XG no chance at this game. Larl's Zeus deserves a shoutout for a flawless performance. 15/0/17. We are going the distance. Spirit 2-2 XG.
https://preview.redd.it/5xl77xwczp1d1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=7c0569dcde63252bdb1b0e1776622c3fa10a560e
This time around it was XG who went with Void and Spirit answered with the Anti-Mage for Yatoro. Spirit went off to a brilliant start. The Puck got destroyed mid by Leshrac. Pango was slowed down and the AM participated in early fights. Spirit had a respectable lead but some botched initiations by the Batrider were punished by Ame. Successive catches on Leshrac by the Void slowed down the game. This wasn't too bad for the AM. Once he got his Aghs, the map control started to become an issue for the Dire. The Radiant would get 1 set of racks mid but the game would still be in the balance. XG were scared to show in the lanes as an Abyssal from AM or any stun from Spirit's teammates was almost certainly leading to death. The deciding fight was for the 4th Rosh of the game. XG arrived too late for Rosh but they decided to fight anyway. AM would be able to kill both Void and Puck. The Void would buyback and the second part of the fight proved to be fatal for XG. AM jumped the wandering Ench, Ame Chronos the AM, and brought down his first life. SD would save AM upon his reincarnation. Void would lose all his mana and would get destroyed along with his 2 supports. All 3 with no buyback meant XG lost the Grand Finals. Spirit in TI form trumps the red-hot XG who won 13 in a row before losing 3 of their last 4 games. Spirit 3-2 XG.
Congrats to Spirit for winning PGL Wallachia. 🏆
P.S. I won't be doing DLS23 groups, maybe the last day of groups.

TL;DR: I grew to hate how I look as a result of getting into mewing. I feel like we, as a species, were forced into an unnatural lifestyle that caused our bodies to mutate into an unhealthy ugly, mess, and now, because of Mike Mew's work, we have to feel ashamed of it.
I have a lot of things to say, and even though I understand that not all people will read everything, I feel the need to pour my thoughts out.
I am 22 years old, and unfortunately, it so happened that I learned about mewing only a few months ago. Before Mike Mew and his work gained significant popularity among Gen-Zers after the release of his “Ultimate Mewing Guide” on YouTube, I was not even aware this practice existed, which makes me regret many life decisions I made up until this point.
It’s been about a month since I started mewing and I fully believe that tongue posture and craniofacial structure have a direct correlation. When I listen to Mews’ lectures, it feels like puzzle pieces falling into place. Their theories are so logical and spot-on that you begin to question how it is even possible for orthodontics to exist for centuries, or even thousands of years, without dentists realizing that problematic teeth are not a genetic trait. How come these people still treat malocclusion in children using braces? Moreover, mewing improves breathing and can potentially prevent migraines, as those often happen as a result of palatal shrinkage.
But aside from talking about the incredible health benefits of mewing, there is no doubt Mike Mew also places great emphasis on how oral posture affects the attractiveness of one’s face. When you listen to him, it sounds like he is driven to solve the problem of prevailing “ugliness” in the modern population. The amount of work he puts into analyzing the ideal facial structure is astounding. He shares a lot of valuable information on what a person must do to achieve a better-looking face. But my question is, did the problem of ugliness exist in the first place? Do people actually see down-swung faces as unattractive? By providing the instructions on how to improve one’s appearance from the get-go his work automatically assumes that this is the case, but is it really?
While I agree with Mike on most of his theories, whenever I hear things like “A face of a mouth-breather”, it makes me feel nothing but pain, and the reason for that is mewing works most effectively for reshaping the bones in adolescents and young adults, and according to the man himself, after 25 years of age, it is practically impossible to make any significant changes by utilizing proper oral posture.
So, do women really only find men who have a chiseled jawline and pronounced cheekbones attractive? I know I am only one example, but before learning about mewing, I never identified the facial features of a mouth breather as flawed, or even identified them at all, for that matter. I considered a smaller jaw as much of an individual trait as the shape of one’s nose or eyebrows. Yes, looking back on it now, it is an incorrect judgment, as most of the time a weak jawline is a result of an incorrect oral posture and a sedentary, relatively unhealthy lifestyle, but this is beside the point. I distinctly remember having a few crushes on guys in the past who would be considered to have a weak jawline. It’s just to show you how diverse women’s tastes really are.
So why must broad jaws matter, if I was and am genuinely attracted to guys who don’t possess them? Why must it matter, if nowadays, we no longer require large masseter muscles to chew on raw meat for our survival? Why must a slight down-swinging of the maxilla be seen as an unfavorable trait if it did not get so far that it impacts one’s health? Why should the purely aesthetic aspect of all of this matter?
In my opinion, mewing and orthotropics is a wonderful field of study that should be used to spread awareness about the small jaw epidemic and dental malpractices that genuinely ruin people’s faces. It is great for preventing malformities in future generations as well as treating adults who have problematic craniofacial structures that impact their health. But unfortunately, most people, when they hear the word “mewing”, picture a magic exercise that will make them look like sexy Squidward.
I see it very clearly, mewing has become a tool that enables insecurities to grow spread, and fester.
As I stated before, prior to watching videos on orthotropics on YouTube, I was completely unaware of the fact that forward development is deemed as aesthetic perfection. And now, I often subconsciously analyze the facial structure of random people I see in public when I never did in the past. Worst of all, I started seeing my own face as putridly ugly, when in the past, I considered myself to be not very attractive, but at least not looking worse than an average person. And recently, I realized this might be something that is happening not only to me but, probably, to many people interested in orthotropics.
So, do we really care about beauty standards, or is this idea being actively pushed on us by the looks-maxing mentality? To me, personally, it looks like Mike’s focus on looks in relation to mewing not only does not help to solve the problem, but instead, it is actively creating it. Or at least, it makes it severely worse, because, even if there were people like me, who did not care about perfect jawlines before, then from now on, their numbers are going to be dropping in the near future as mewing gets more and more attention.
“You aren’t ugly, you have bad habits», Well, does pushing with all the forces of your tongue on your maxilla in hopes of getting the face of a model sound like a good habit to you? Or performing inter-oral pulling or b0ne-smashing? And also, rating and judging other people’s faces, and suggesting to undergo plastic surgeries in case they are too old for mewing, so “it’s over for them”. Are these the good habits people are talking about?
And if we do follow the logic of “Mouth-breather face = bad habits”, what will the reasons for the malformation of one’s face be? What are the things that ugly no-good modern-day Quazimodos did, that are now being used as a valid excuse for others to judge them for their physical flaws? First of all, according to Mike Mew, breastfeeding plays a huge role in the development of natural proper oral posture. (Only 34.5% of women breast for the first 6 months as of the years 2000-2008 according to this article https://www.cdc.gov/mmwpreview/mmwrhtml/mm6205a1.htm#:~:text=Among%20infants%20born%20in%202000,16.0%25%20breastfed%20for%2012%20months.)) Second, human jaws require a consistent and considerable amount of work for them to achieve good development. (Modern diet is progressively becoming softer, and more processed). And third, the human body requires a lot of physical movement, running, and walking to maintain optimal and healthy back posture, which subsequently affects the structure of the skull. (I don’t know the statistics, but nowadays, most likely most of us can’t survive without sitting at a computer for 6+ hours a day). So, do all these things look like bad habits that one can easily and consciously fix? Adding a bit of exercise to one's life can do some good, that's a nice habit! But what about all the other stuff.... What if you are approaching the age when your bones don't grow anymore?
To get to the point, I don’t understand why people should be ashamed of their appearance when the modern lifestyle is literally doing everything to prevent the healthy growth and physical development of children. Cavemen did have beautifully wide dental arches as a result of chewing on raw meat, running barefoot, and hunting wild animals, but did they also have to spend 12 years of their adolescent life sitting at a school desk, studying, doing homework, and trying to get good grades? Maybe they also produced some impressive pieces of art, music writing, etc.? Then why should we be ashamed of the fact that we did not manage to keep our bodies at peak physical performance, while also studying, or god forbid, having an extracurricular interest that also involves a lot of sit-down work and is time-consuming?
I, myself, wasn’t ever a mouth-breather! I just had an absolutely awful back posture all throughout my life because I decided to dedicate my life to producing electronic music from the young age of about 13 years, which requires an endless amount of hours sitting at the computer. And now I get to be called ugly and lazy for it. I never even played video games in my life, ever! I don’t drink and I don’t smoke, and I’m not overweight, and yet I have to hate myself and how I look?? Just because of my passion?
It feels like we were forced into this unnatural, for our species, lifestyle that causes our bodies to mutate into an unhealthy mess and yet we still have to carry the guilt and shame of its consequences.
It makes me feel awful looking at how quickly the image representing “The face of a mouth breather” vs “The face of a nose-breather” is spreading, thanks to Mike Mew. The way it labels people based on their appearance is almost comparable to a racist caricature. It seeps into young adults' minds and makes them put people into categories, even if they never thought of this stuff before.
I’m not suggesting to ditch mewing as a whole and to continue living as uneducated, unhealthy modern apes. I’m asking people to stop cultivating an environment where we focus on negatively labeling people with unfavorable facial features that they get as a result of, mostly, circumstances beyond their control and that do not carry any health risks. Mewing may bring health benefits in the form of sleep apnea prevention, but it also changes the mindset and I don't think this is a good change.

I guess I've been playing this game for a couple weeks. In the game it says I'm on day 29.
Anyway. Bunch of things I want to note.
Firstly this game is really fun. At first I hated it, but heard so much good talk and pushed through until it clicked. It's obviously intended to be a classic RPG, and it is, but it also kinda feels like I'm solving a big puzzle on a map. The way you interact with characters and solve little missions in order to open the bigger mission - it's like snapping together the pieces of a giant puzzle and it feels gratifying when things go right.
I installed a recommended graphics mod and I'm glad I did. It adds texture, but mostly it's the light and shadows which really make the difference. That was the only mod I "installed", but after a long time of running from here to there I couldn't stand it anymore -- I figure out the "marvin mode" hack to activate permanent sprint mode AND YES, I RECOMMEND THAT. Holy cow did that make a difference!
The game is a little old and there is a lot of running around with no action -- especially after you clear the map up.
Now a few things that are bothering me honestly... Or am I doing something wrong?
The game starts off with one clear objective, "get the thing for the wizard". But you can't get the thing because you have to get in the city, but you can't get in the city because you have to... and you can't do that because first you have to...
OK, ok. I get it. This is fun and funny at first. But now I'm like weeks into it and it's still going on and on like that. I keep wondering "I doing something wrong?"
I was ok with this up to a very particular point, because even though the main quest seems to be "prolonged", I was still expanding and building my character and exploring the map. It's all very fun. But then there came this point recently where I had to do all these tedious things to become a fire mage, and I needed a little online help because I would have NEVER found some of the HIDDEN LOCATIONS (obviously)... and even that is kinda funny ok... but then... after all that...
Just one more thing to do... One little thing. I just need a magician to teach me a spell and it's ALL DONE, ALL OVER, AFTER ALL THIS HARD WORK...
Nope.
Because I need 5 Learning Points to get the magician to teach me the spell. And I spent my points already.
How the hell was I supposed to know to save learning points for this?
Now. The map is cleared of easy critters. I didn't plan a recent save for this scenario. And I'm at a pretty high level already so I still have 5000 xp to earn before I can level up again. And any mission objectives which I can possibly complete - have been done...
So you can see how that cute and funny "just one more thing hero" is suddenly no longer "cute and funny".
Shit just got real.
I have a rather long list of meaningless objectives still open. The objectives are something like "This guy doesn't like his job" and "That girl is still missing, no clues attached".
Hmmm...

Hi all, looking to sell some more items. Currently only accepting Paypal F&F, offering free shipping on any order $50+. Feel free to send offers and ask for more pics!

System	Item	Condition	Price	Photos
3DS	3DS XL Zelda Link Between Worlds edition (charger port is loose, minor crack near port)	Loose	$160.00	Pics
3DS	Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate	Loose	$18.00
3DS	Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past	Loose	$43.00
3DS	Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl	Loose	$38.00
3DS	Final Fantasy Explorers (Heavy liquid damage to artwork and case)	CIB	$16.00
3DS	Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beggining	Loose	$11.00
3DS	Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX	Loose	$38.00
3DS	Jewel Master: Cradle of Egypt 2 3D	CIB	$8.00
3DS	Kid Icarus: Uprising	Loose	$38.00
3DS	Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance	Loose	$11.00
3DS	Kirby Planet Robobot	Loose	$26.00
3DS	Kirby Triple Deluxe	Loose	$14.00
3DS	Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (label fading / damage)	Loose	$30.00
3DS	Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes	Loose	$14.00
3DS	Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon	Loose	$12.00
3DS	Mario & Sonic at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games	CIB	$17.00
3DS	Mario Golf: World Tour	Loose	$20.00
3DS	Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate	Loose	$13.00
3DS	One Piece: Unlimited World Red	Loose	$20.00
3DS	Pokemon Moon (In case with reprinted art)	Loose	$14.00
3DS	Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity	Loose	$18.00
3DS	Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity	Loose	$19.00
3DS	Pokemon Rumble Blast	CIB	$22.00
3DS	Pokemon Sun (In case with reprinted art)	Loose	$14.00
3DS	Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon	Loose	$20.00
3DS	Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy	Loose	$94.00
3DS	Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition	Loose	$14.00
3DS	Samurai Warriors Chronicles	CIB	$14.00
3DS	Scribblenauts Unlimited	CIB	$7.00
3DS	Senran Kagura: Deep Crimson 2	Loose	$42.00
3DS	Skylanders Giants	Loose	$7.00
3DS	Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed	Loose	$8.00
3DS	Style Savvy: Trendsetters	Loose	$31.00
3DS	Super Mario 3D Land	Loose	$9.00
3DS	Yo-Kai Watch	Loose	$12.00
3DS	Yoshi's New Island	Loose	$10.00
Dreamcast	Sonic Adventure (Sega All-Stars)	CIB	$41.00
DS	Advance Wars: Days of Ruin	Loose	$18.00
DS	Advance Wars: Dual Strike	Loose	$21.00	Pics
DS	Age of Empires: The Age of Kings	CIB	$9.00
DS	Beyblade Metal Fusion	Loose	$4.00
DS	Bleach Blade of Fate	Loose	$11.00
DS	Bleach Dark Souls	Loose	$16.00
DS	Bomberman	Loose	$11.00
DS	Children of Mana	Loose	$11.00
DS	Clubhouse Games	CIB	$4.00
DS	Eragon	CIB	$5.00
DS	Final Fantasy IV	Loose	$15.00
DS	From the Abyss	Loose	$24.00
DS	Guilty Gear Dust Strikers	Loose	$10.00
DS	Kirby Planet Robobot	Loose	$26.00
DS	LBX: Little Battlers Experience	Loose	$12.00
DS	Legend of Legacy	Loose	$14.00
DS	Legendary Starfy	Loose	$14.00
DS	Luminous Arc	Loose	$35.00
DS	Mega Man Star Force Leo	CIB	$60.00
DS	Nostalgia	Loose	$25.00
DS	Princess on Ice	CIB	$7.00
DS	Ragnarok Online DS	Loose	$26.00
DS	Ridge Racer DS	Loose	$7.00
DS	Rockman ZX (JP)	Loose	$8.00
DS	Sands of Destruction	Loose	$46.00
DS	Sims 2	Loose	$17.00
DS	Summon Night Twin Age	Loose	$30.00
DS	True Swing Golf	CIB	$7.00
DS	Urbz: Sims in the City	Loose	$21.00
GB	Gameboy Pocket Black	CIB	$120.00
GB	Q*Bert	Loose	$14.00
GB	Wario Land (cracked bottom right corner)	Loose	$13.00
GBA	GBA SP 101 graphite (damage on front of box where promo sticker was)	CIB	$300.00
GBA	Metroid Fusion (heavy wear, faded cartridge)	CIB	$110.00
GBA	Monster Rancher Advance (rough condition box)	CIB	$51.00
GBA	Pokemon Sapphire	Loose	$80.00	Pics
GBA	Rebelstar Tactical Command	CIB	$36.00
GBA	Super Mario Advance (faded label)	Loose	$12.00
GBA JP	Super Street Fighter II X Revival	Loose	$23.00
GCN	Animal Crossing	Loose	$37.00
GCN	Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance	CIB	$26.00
GCN	Donkey Konga	CIB	$18.00
GCN	Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles	CIB	$12.00
GCN	Gameboy Player black	Loose	$46.00
GCN	Gameboy Player Startup disc	CIB	$112.00
GCN	Harvest Moon Magical Melody	Loose	$17.00
GCN	Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest	Game + case	$48.00
GCN	Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess	Loose	$81.00
GCN	Lord of the Rings: The Third Age	CIB	$21.00
GCN	Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse	CIB	$17.00
GCN	Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones	Loose	$11.00
GCN	Sonic Adventure DX	Loose	$18.00
GCN	Sonic Gems Collection	Loose	$26.00
GCN	Sonic Heroes (PC)	CIB	$25.00
GCN	Sonic Mega Collection	Loose	$10.00
GCN	Sonic Riders	Loose	$23.00
GCN	Super Mario Sunshine	Loose	$23.00
Genesis	Phantom 2040 (heavy box wear)	Game + box	$40.00
LCD	Game & Watch Super Mario Bros	Loose	$24.00
N64	007 The World is Not Enough (Minor liquid damage to label)	Loose	$12.00
N64	All-Star Baseball 2001	Loose	$8.00
N64	Banjo-Kazooie (Label has tears and fading)	Loose	$17.00
N64	Bomberman 64	Loose	$20.00
N64	Cruis'n USA (Label tears)	Loose	$11.00
N64	Cruis'n World (Blockbuster sticker on label)	Loose	$16.00
N64	Doom 64 (Minor label tears)	Loose	$24.00
N64	Duke Nukem 64 (Label has tears)	Loose	$17.00
N64	Hexen (Marker on cart, minor label tears)	Loose	$11.00
N64	Hybrid Heaven	Loose	$15.00
N64	International Superstar Soccer 98	Loose	$28.00
N64	Lode Runner 3D	Loose	$13.00
N64	Mace: The Dark Age	Loose	$14.00
N64	Mario Tennis (Minor label tears)	Loose	$16.00
N64	Milo's Astro Lanes	Loose	$14.00
N64	N64 Expansion Pak	Loose	$40.00
N64	Ogre Battle 64	Game + box	$150.00
N64	Paperboy 64	Loose	$11.00
N64	Quake II	Loose	$14.00
N64	Rampage 2 (Blockbuster sticker on label)	Loose	$20.00
N64	Space Invaders (Blockbuster sticker on label)	Loose	$13.00
N64	Super Mario 64 (faded label)	Loose	$30.00
N64	War Gods	Loose	$9.00
N64	Zelda Majora's Mask (Holographic label, scratch along label)	Loose	$48.00
NES	Adventure Island	Loose	$9.00
NES	Alpha Mission (dirty front label)	Loose	$5.00
NES	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest	Loose	$13.00
NES	Golf	Loose	$3.00
NES	Hook	Loose	$14.00
NES	Ice Climber	Loose	$17.00
NES	Ice Hockey	Loose	$3.00
NES	Ikari Warriors	Loose	$8.00
NES	Jeopardy! Junior Edition	Loose	$4.00
NES	Kid Icarus	Loose	$18.00
NES	M.U.S.C.L.E.	Loose	$14.00
NES	Ninja Gaiden (Label damage)	Loose	$12.00
NES	Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular	Loose	$9.00
NES	Super Mario Bros 3 (Label damage)	Loose	$14.00
NES	T&C Surf Designs	Loose	$5.00
NES	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in clamshell case)	Loose	$9.00
NES	Top Gun	Loose	$3.00
NES	Ultimate Basketball	Loose	$4.00
NES	Wrath of the Black Manta	Game + manual	$9.00
PS1	Ape Escape GH	CIB	$23.00
PS1	Brave Fencer Musashi	Loose	$43.00
PS1	Bushido Blade 2	Loose	$14.00
PS1	Chrono Cross	CIB	$20.00
PS1	Cool Boarders 2	CIB	$5.00
PS1	Crash Bandicoot: Warped GH	CIB	$11.00
PS1	Croc GH	CIB	$10.00
PS1	Driver 1 & 2 Twin Pack GH	CIB	$17.00
PS1	Final Fantasy VII GH	Game + case	$26.00
PS1	Frogger GH	CIB	$9.00
PS1	Gran Turismo 2 GH	CIB	$10.00
PS1	Hot Shots Golf 2	CIB	$11.00
PS1	Legend of Dragoon	CIB	$42.00
PS1	Mega Man X6	Game + manual	$18.00
PS1	Metal Gear Solid	CIB	$35.00
PS1	Metal Gear Solid GH	CIB	$29.00
PS1	Namco Museum Volume 1 GH	CIB	$8.00
PS1	Nightmare Creatures	CIB	$27.00
PS1	Parasite Eve (disc 1 only)	Game + case	$34.00
PS1	Resident Evil 2	Game + case	$34.00
PS1	Rocket Power Team Rocket Rescue	CIB	$8.00
PS1	Simpson's Wrestling	CIB	$21.00
PS1	Sol Divide	CIB	$17.00
PS1	Space Invaders	CIB	$8.00
PS1	Tomb Raider II	CIB	$12.00
PS1	Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation	CIB	$9.00
PS1	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2	CIB	$11.00
PS1	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater GH	CIB	$9.00
PS1	WWF Smackdown 2: Know Your Role	CIB	$14.00
PS1	WWF War Zone GH	CIB	$9.00
PS1	Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories	Game + case	$26.00
PS2	Art of Figthing Anthology (water damaged art)	CIB	$10.00
PS2	Barbarian	CIB	$8.00
PS2	Beyond Good & Evil	CIB	$13.00
PS2	CSI 3 Dimensions of Murder	CIB	$6.00
PS2	Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires	CIB	$13.00
PS2	Fatal Frame II	CIB	$73.00
PS2	Final Fantasy XII Collector's Edition	CIB	$12.00
PS2	Frogger: The Great Quest	CIB	$8.00
PS2	Godai Elemental Force	CIB	$5.00
PS2	Grandia II	Game + case	$17.00
PS2	Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy	CIB	$21.00
PS2	Guitar Hero	CIB	$7.00
PS2	Hard Hitter Tennis	CIB	$4.00
PS2	Headhunter Redemption	Game + case	$9.00
PS2	Kessen	CIB	$7.00
PS2	Kya Dark Lineage	CIB	$14.00
PS2	Mobile Suit Gundam Journey To Jaburo	Game + case	$14.00
PS2	NBA Street	CIB	$12.00
PS2	Ratchet & Clank	CIB	$10.00
PS2	Samurai Warriors	Game + case	$8.00
PS2	Samurai Warriors 2 Empires	CIB	$17.00
PS2	Samurai Warriors 2 Xtreme Legends	CIB	$20.00
PS2	Shadow Hearts From the New World	Game + case	$47.00
PS2	Shadow Man Second Coming	Game + case	$10.00
PS2	Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon	Game + case	$110.00
PS2	Silent Hill 2 (no music CD)	CIB	$126.00
PS2	Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus	CIB	$19.00
PS2	SSX	CIB	$7.00
PS2	SSX On Tour	CIB	$8.00
PS2	Star Wars Super Bombad Racing	CIB	$9.00
PS2	Starsky & Hutch	CIB	$5.00
PS2	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus	Game + case	$22.00
PS2	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 Mutant Nightmare	CIB	$26.00
PS2	Tekken Tag Tournament	Loose	$8.00
PS2	The Great Escape	CIB	$9.00
PS2	Thunderstrike: Operation Phoenix	CIB	$5.00
PS2	Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero	CIB	$14.00
PS2	Tsugunai Atonement	Game + case	$47.00
PS2	Vexx	CIB	$12.00
PS2	Yu-Gi-Oh GX The Beginning of Destiny (art damage)	CIB	$34.00
PS2 JP	Another Century's Episode	CIB	$10.00
PS3	Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel	CIB	$34.00
PS3	Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist Of Dusk	CIB	$19.00
PS3	BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger	CIB	$17.00
PS3	Bleach: Soul Resurreccion	CIB	$28.00
PS3	Bound by Flame	CIB	$8.00
PS3	Bulletstorm: Limited Edition	CIB	$7.00
PS3	Dante's Inferno: Divine Edition	CIB	$14.00
PS3	Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice	CIB	$9.00
PS3	Dragon's Crown	CIB	$10.00
PS3	Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion GH	CIB	$9.00
PS3	Eternal Sonata	CIB	$20.00
PS3	Fairy Fencer F	CIB	$20.00
PS3	Final Fantasy XIII	CIB	$9.00
PS3	Folklore (Water damaged art)	CIB	$34.00
PS3	Heavy Rain	CIB	$5.00
PS3	Hitman: Absolution	CIB	$6.00
PS3	inFamous GH	CIB	$8.00
PS3	Just Dance 4	CIB	$5.00
PS3	Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days	CIB	$8.00
PS3	Kingdoms Of Amalur Reckoning	CIB	$4.00
PS3	Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga	CIB	$9.00
PS3	LittleBig Planet	CIB	$9.00
PS3	Madden NFL 15	CIB	$4.00
PS3	Mirror's Edge	CIB	$7.00
PS3	Mugen Souls	CIB	$14.00
PS3	Mugen Souls Z	CIB	$16.00
PS3	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations	CIB	$8.00
PS3	NCAA Football 11	CIB	$7.00
PS3	Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Witch	CIB	$6.00
PS3	One Piece: Unlimited World Red	CIB	$23.00
PS3	Persona 4 Arena	CIB	$11.00
PS3	Persona 5	Game + case	$13.00
PS3	Portal 2	CIB	$9.00
PS3	Record Of Agarest War 2 [Limited Edition] (Heavy outer box wear)	CIB	$26.00
PS3	Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare	CIB	$9.00
PS3	Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny	CIB	$16.00
PS3	Sacred 2: Fallen Angel	CIB	$7.00
PS3	Sonic Generations	CIB	$9.00
PS3	Star Ocean: The Last Hope International	CIB	$10.00
PS3	Tekken Tag Tournament 2	CIB	$16.00
PS3	The Darkness	CIB	$13.00
PS3	Twisted Metal	CIB	$18.00
PS3	Uncharted	CIB	$5.00
PS3	Uncharted 2	CIB	$5.00
PS3	Uncharted 3	CIB	$5.00
PS3	White Knight Chronicles International Edition	CIB	$8.00
PS3	Witch and the Hundred Knight	CIB	$17.00
PS3	Yakuza 4	CIB	$12.00
PSP	Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters GH	CIB	$9.00
SNES	Batman Forever	Loose	$6.00
SNES	F-Zero	Loose	$14.00
SNES	Goof Troop	Loose	$19.00
SNES	Power Rangers Zeo Battle Racers	Loose	$13.00
SNES	Spiderman X-Men Arcade's Revenge	Loose	$9.00
SNES	Star Fox (heavy box wear)	CIB	$34.00
SNES	Super Baseball 2020	Loose	$13.00
SNES	Terminator 2: The Arcade Game	Loose	$10.00
SNES	Tetris 2	Loose	$7.00
Switch	Bendy and the Ink Machine	CIB	$26.00
Switch	Galak-Z: The Void & Skulls of the Shogun: Bone-A-Fide	CIB	$13.00
Switch	Gigantosaurus: The Game	CIB	$11.00
Switch	Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle	CIB	$13.00
Switch	Party Arcade	CIB	$9.00
Switch	Resident Evil Origins Collection	CIB	$19.00
Switch	Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition	CIB	$19.00
Switch	The House of the Dead Remake [Limidead Edition]	NIB	$36.00
Wii	Batallion Wars 2	Loose	$9.00
Wii	Castle of Shikigami III	CIB	$34.00
Wii	Dead Space Extraction	Loose	$17.00
Wii	Dokapon Kingdom	Loose	$38.00
Wii	Excite Truck	CIB	$7.00
Wii	Gold classic controller pro	Loose	$20.00
Wii	Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock	Loose	$26.00
Wii	Harvest Moon: Magical Melody	Loose	$10.00
Wii	Just Dance 2020	CIB	$31.00
Wii	Metroid Prime 3: Corruption	CIB	$11.00
Wii	Michael Jackson: The Experience (with glove)	CIB	$26.00
Wii	SimCity Creator	CIB	$7.00
Wii	Yoshi Wii remote plus	Loose	$36.00
Wii U	Ducktales Remastered	CIB	$22.00
Wii U	Fast & Furious Showdown	Game + case	$14.00
Wii U	Madden NFL 13	CIB	$9.00
Wii U	Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate	CIB	$14.00
Wii U	Resident Evil: Revelations	Game + case	$14.00
Wii U	Tekken Tag Tournament 2	Loose	$21.00
Xbox	Halo 2 Limited Collector's Edition (no slipcover)	CIB	$17.00
Xbox	i-Ninja	Game + case	$11.00
Xbox	Myst IV: Revelation	CIB	$9.00
Xbox 360	Batman: Arkham Origins	CIB	$26.00
Xbox 360	Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway	CIB	$8.00
Xbox 360	Crackdown 2	CIB	$6.00
Xbox 360	Darksiders	CIB	$5.00
Xbox 360	Far Cry 3	CIB	$4.00
Xbox 360	Grid	CIB	$9.00
Xbox One	Red Dead Redemption GOTY	CIB	$16.00

I also have some extra amiibo I am looking to sell!

Item	Condition	Price
8-bit Classic Mario amiibo	NIB	$13.00
Blathers (Animal Crossing) amiibo	Loose	$6.00
Bowser	Loose	$8.00
Chibi-Robo	Loose	$9.00
Cyrus (Animal Crossing) amiibo	Loose	$6.00
Daisy [Super Smash Bros]	Loose	$30.00
Fox amiibo	NIB	$14.00
Ganondorf amiibo	Loose	$13.00
Inkling Boy (Splatoon) amiibo	Loose	$9.00
Inkling Boy amiibo	Loose	$9.00
Inkling Boy amiibo	Loose	$9.00
Inkling Girl	Loose	$10.00
Inkling Girl amiibo	Loose	$10.00
Inkling Squid	Loose	$12.00
Inkling Squid - Neon Purple	Loose	$10.00
Inkling Squid - Neon Purple amiibo	Loose	$10.00
Kirby - Star	Loose	$14.00
Link (Smash) amiibo	Loose	$15.00
Link (Smash) amiibo	Loose	$15.00
Link (Smash) amiibo	Loose	$15.00
Little Mac (Smash) amiibo	NIB	$20.00
Lottie (Animal Crossing) amiibo	Loose	$3.00
Lucario amiibo	NIB	$10.00
Lucas (Smash) amiibo	Loose	$9.00
Lucas amiibo	Loose	$9.00
Mario - 30th, Classic	Loose	$7.00
Mario (Wedding) amiibo	Loose	$14.00
Marth (Smash) amiibo	Loose	$9.00
Mewtwo amiibo (packaging plastic damages)	CIB	$10.00
Octoling Boy	Loose	$14.00
Octoling Girl	Loose	$17.00
Octoling Octopus	Loose	$20.00
Peach (Smash) amiibo (figure came loose from stand)	Loose	$9.00
Pearl / Marina 2-pack amiibo	NIB	$23.00
Reese (Animal Crossing) amiibo	Loose	$4.00
Rider Link amiibo	Loose	$16.00
Waddle Dee	Loose	$9.00
Yarn Yoshi - Green	Loose	$15.00
Young Link amiibo	NIB	$26.00

In video editing in the analog age, wipes (or other, fancier sorts of transitions, of course) were preset as a selection of two sources, between which the wipe happened as the operator manually moved a "T-bar" from the top to bottom (or vice versa) of its range of motion. (For a modern reference, see the Death Star firing sequence in Star Wars -- that's an analog video editing panel unless I miss my guess.)
Many useful effects could be achieved by moving the T-bar only partway through the wipe, and leaving it there, so that the output was "partly source 1, and partly source 2," in whatever way the selected effect dictated*.* Or moving it partway through the wipe, and then moving it back to the start. Interjecting a quick peek at Source 2 and reverting back to Source 1 was trivial.
I have several shots in mind which would also be trivial if I could apply "the halfway point of a horizontal-barn-door wipe," over an extended period -- that which, in analog days, would have been a dead-simple matter of selecting that wipe, moving the T-bar to the halfway position, and leaving it there for the duration of the scene. I'm shocked that I don't see a way to do that, in Kdenlive.
As a complete Kdenlive noob, it's possible I'm missing something -- but having all transitions/wipes operate on the assumption that you'll always want the entire transition to take place 100%, start-to-finish, is to deny creators a whole world of easily-achieved useful effects. Sure, you can probably get the same effect some other way -- by going into a complex Effects panel and twiddling X, Y, and Z (?) offsets -- but jeez, it could be so much simpler.
What I would have expected to see, and what I'd like to ask be added if it isn't already there somewhere, is the ability to control the "T-bar-position-vs-Time envelope" of a transition. The perfect GUI metaphor for it can be seen in Adobe Audition's volume-envelope feature, where you draw the volume envelope right on the timeline, giving yourself fine control over volume changes throughout a track, in a clear, instantly -intuitive visual form. Here in Kdenlive, a stransition's default envelope would be shown (when toggled to be visible, so those who don't want to see it can leave it turned off) as a simple straight line from the upper-left corner of the transition box ("source 1 fully shown, at T=start") to the lower right corner ("source 2 fully shown, at T=end"), indicating the simple, linear-with-time progress (analogous to the T-bar position in its slot) of the transition over its entire duration. This would of course scale with length-of-transition etc. as you'd expect. But then I want to be able to click on that default straight diagonal line, add (and remove) inflection points, and turn that line into a custom envelope "Doing half the transition and staying there" would appear as the lefthand half of the standard diagonal line, with an inflection point added at the 50%-complete level at some time t, then continuing horizontally -- that is, staying at 50% -- to another custom-added (or, probably, the simply moved endpoint) inflection point at T=end. ("Doing some or all of the transition, then transitioning back," would be a simple matter of adding more inflection points and bringing the level-of-transition (a.k.a. T-bar handle!) back to the top at the end of the transition box. Hopefully it's clear what I'm talking about.
This seems so dead simple I'm shocked it hasn't been a standard feature since Day One. Or am I missing seeing it someplace I simply haven't found yet? (I see posts talking about "Cairo Affine Blend" dynamic compositions, but I haven't yet found any such options in Kdenlive as the online references seem to be referring to v18.x.x and I'm running v20.x.x and might also not yet have a particular support package installed. It's not clear how to map from the documents to the apparently-much-changed ways of actually doing dynamic composition in v20. A simple envelope feature would be so much more tidy! ;-) )

The missed out characters from the last voting polls will get one more chance Friday and Saturday will see three more characters added to fill in the gaps.
Monday (New Entry)

• Raiga Kadou (Tomica)
• Himura Kenshin (Samurai X / Ruroni Kenshin)
• Tomura Kamijou (A Certain Magical Index)
• Rikka Takanashi (Love Chuunibyou and Other Delusions)
• Ashitaka (Princess Mononoke)
• Baki Hanma (Baki)

Tuesday (Additional Character)

• Seto Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh)
• Gray Fullbuster (Fairy Tail)
• Tengen Uzui (Demon Slayer)
• Vinsmoke Sanji (One Piece)
• Gaara (Naruto)
• Momo Yaoyorozu (My Hero Academia)

Wednesday (New Entry)

• Gene Starwind (Outlaw Star)
• Simon (Gurren Laggan)
• Toriko (Toriko)
• Kaiman (Dorohedoro)
• Gabimaru (Hells Paradise)
• Tetsuo Shima (Akira)

Thursday (Additional Character)

• Armin Arlert (Attack on Titan)
• Rukia Kuchiki (Bleach)
• Obanai Iguro (Demon Slayer)
• Kamen Rider Blades (Kamen Rider)
• Giorno Giovanna (Jojo's Bizzare Adventure)
• Zakuro Fujiwara / Mew Zakuro (Tokyo Mew Mew)

Friday (New Entry)

• Makia Sakuranomiya (Blend-S) (Returning)
• Doremi Harukaze (Ojamajo Doremi) (NEW)
• Medaka Kurokami (Medaka Box) (Returning)
• Nagisa (Assassination Classroom) (NEW)
• Sunraku (Shangri-La Frontier) (Returning)
• Saiki Kusuo (The Diastorus Life of Saiki Kusuo) (NEW)

Saturday (Additional Character)

• Leopold Vermillion (Black Clover) (Returning)
• Chibiusa Tsukino / Sailor Chibi Moon (Sailor Moon) (NEW)
• Renji Abarai (Bleach) (Returning)
• Minato Namikaze (Naruto) (NEW)
• Sailor Galaxia (Sailor Moon) (Returning)
• Hikari Kujou / Shiny Luminous (Pretty Cure) (NEW)

View Poll

[Run Zero chapter: https://redd.it/1csb71x not every run will have a chapter; it won't be long before there are multiple runs per chapter.]
Portal load: Agility 1, Bait 3, Trumps 1, Pheromones 1, Packrat 1, Motivation 1, Power 2, Toughness 2, Looting 5, Discipline Challenge, 54 of 54 He allocated, 7.8% AP at start.
[This is probably the lowest helium load I've ever done, and sorta keeping my own advice on a recent Reddit post, Bait and Looting are up. Especially Looting, but it's not like I don't always do something like this.]
The human emerges from the glowing green mist and hits the ground. Groans. Pushes against that ground, trying to get back up. I feel really heavy. I'm not that fat, am I? He's got a dark blue button-down shirt on. A uniform? A shoulder patch. Rolls over- Ah, what's that? His shoulder pressed into something hard and metallic, He reaches over and his hand naturally seems to find a folding handle. He pulls it out from under himself and gets it up on his chest, sort of in a semi-comfortable position to hold it up and look at the screen while lying on his back. Some fiddling around the edges gets the power button pressed and the screen lights up with:
"Manual portal activation 1 successful: Void enabled. / 54 He loaded / Discipline challenge active / Total portal activation 955"
"Kakka," its one of his trimps.
'My' trimps? The human sets aside the portal pad and gets up.
Are you the guy? They all seem to be looking at him, as though they have a frickin' huge problem to solve and they need his help to solve it.
32s: First trap.
Do you bite? It doesn't matter much to us. The trimps look hopefully up at him through the trap's grating, We're so friggin' screwed.
I didn't think four of you could fit in there! He opens it and they all start following him around like imprinted hatchling birds. It seems his tactic of making a catch-alive trap confirmed to them that he was 'the guy' to help solve whatever problem...
26m42s: Z2c15, 58 pop, 7.7s RC with Z1/2; 29m44s: Fresh turkimp c25.
"Hey, buddy," he says to his first scientist, "can you speak yet?"
"Shijou?" it says, then it starts writing, "Hi Tightniks."
"Who do you mean 'Tightniks'?" he asks, "I mean, it's not like I remember my own name, but what makes you think it's Tightniks?"
"Tai," it points right at him with one paw.
"Just pointing at me isn't going to answer that," he chuckles.
The trimp's hands are quite prehensile, but it's hard to tell without it holding something, they don't seem able to make their fingers visually distinguishable. [Puchim@s all the puchidoru, although some have big round hands and some have small pointy hands; Takanya is the latter. Probably Final Fantasy Red XIII as well, but I'm not familiar enough with him to be satisfied.] This one starts climbing up his leg.
"Wait, wait," he stops it. It's a challenge to stoop in this gravity, but not as much of one as carrying a trimp. He gets down on his knees and back on his haunches and-
"Tai," it points again to a spot on his chest just left of his heart, then climbs on his lap and grabs his uniform at that spot, "Tai!"
He looks down and sees "Tightniks" embroidered into the fabric above his pocket. "Ah," he sighs, "Well, if that's my name, that's my name."
"Shijou," it gives him a friendly whack on the shoulder.
2h38m55s: Mskel in Z11c3.
"Hey guys?" Tightniks points at his bone box, waving his finger, "Does anyone remember where these came from?"
"Nope," the yellow one says.
"Yeah, there are 12 more in here than we got kills to account for," Tightniks says.
"I've been getting a sense of deja vu about just about everything," the red one points at the metal box on the strap over his shoulder, "That's a big exception. Any clues there?"
"It says it's for something called a DT Experimental Industries Time Portal," the human shrugs, "I have no idea what it's talking about, honest."
3h25m46s: Block PB, 0.3% AP sub-4h, 540 pop, 8.3s RC, no turkimp
That thing is beeping? He takes a look at his TPCS pad and he's got a message saying that he finished the Block in under 4 hours and there's a little attack bonus- Under 4 hours? It's been over 4 days!! Checking the time on the device reveals that the portal times in terms of a "map frame" out there in space, and the passage of time has been vastly dilated on this planet.
4h15m56s: Zone 15, 954 pop, 11.9s RC with Z14/60, no turkimp.
"Tightniks," the yellow one comes back from the second full bin to the filling third bin, watching the human fold up another of his very first inventions, the very first thing he built after jumping through the mysterious green phenomenon exiting the crashed ship, "Why in blazes are you building so many traps?"
The human had finished another and tossed it into the bin, then picked up the now ever-present portal control pad, gets it out of auto-sleep and called up the "Achievement Points" page. "I have this weird hunch," he says.
"Deja vu? That familiar feeling we always have?" the yellow one inquires politely, slightly tilting its head.
"May I?" Tightniks turns up his hand and waves it up and down in a lifting gesticulation, then points at the trap pile.
"Sure," the yellow one understands, "if you'll put me back down after."
The human sets the pad down, stoops at the knees and gets his arms under the yellow trimp scientist's front limbs and lifts it up onto that stack of traps with a grunt; it is an impressive demonstration of his improving strength against the planet's high gravity. Then he picks up the pad again and points at one of the blank purple squares near the bottom.
"You don't know what that is," the yellow one says, "Are we going after that first one that is readable?"
"Yes," the human nods, "it's for finishing something called a Dimension of Anger, whatever that is, before getting something called Bounty."
"Whatever that is," the trimp chuckles.
"No, I know what it is," the human says, "I remember it being access to a resource-rich area on the other side of a green Wall we'll find with our next map route. It doubles our resource production."
"That would be handy," the yellow one says.
"Hmm," he nods, "But all the traps are for this one," pointing at the third square in the top row of the array the pad labels "Feats", the second of three that are purple.
"Oh," a stylus materializes in the yellow one's paw, "Well, all it says is 2.5%. It doesn't say how to get it. Something to do with traps?"
"Something to do with traps," the human chuckles, "that's only convenient to do now."
4h29m46s...
Other trimps can understand the grey one better than the human, "Shijou shijou shijou?" is what a human ear would hear, but it's really asking the yellow one, "You mean he knew it was going to be here?"
"Yeah," the yellow one nods.
"Well, it's gotta be that pad none of us finds familiar," the grey one insists.
"I don't think so," the yellow one argues, "He showed the reason for all these traps to me on the pad, and the information is not yet available there."
"Well, it can't be just a coincidence," the grey one grumbles.
6h23m16s: Our first void map dropped.
"What is that?" The red one asks the yellow one. It grabs a stick and lifts the strange square object up by an edge from as far away as he can.
"I have no idea," The yellow one says.
"It seems to have some sort of cooling effect," the red one says, looking underneath it, having tilted it up with the stick, "Like it's not just cold, but actually cooling down, as though it were the opposite of on fire."
"Shijou," the grey one says, holding a note.
"It's a void map. Grab it with a blanket and put it on the cart please. - Tightniks"
"Shijou shijou," the grey one clarifies, "The new pad said 'void enabled'. Guessing it's that."
10h06m21s: Zone 21, 1975 pop, 19.6s RC with Z20/232, no turkimp.
"Ooooookay," Tightniks growls, "There is something off about this thing."
"Shijou?" the grey one looks at the yellow one with concern about their human starship pilot friend.
The human stoops, picks up the little green gem on the ridge between Zone 20 and 21, looks at it, huffs, and asks, "Any idea where this comes from?"
"Err..." the red one seems hesitant to say, "I think you made it."
"Really?" the human huffs, "How could that be?" Then he tosses it at Red, "See if anything reacts to it. It might be radioactive, so we should take turns to minimize exposure."
"Really?" Red's holding it now, "What makes you say that?"
"Because I'm pissed off for no reason I can figure out," the human says, "I think it's coming from-" he gasps, "Waitamint!" He starts searching for the portal pad.
"Frags," the red one says quickly, "I think it's arranging a route. You're good with maps," it tosses the gem to the grey scientist.
The human has his portal pad up and reads aloud, "You have the Discipline challenge active. Tweak the portal to- yada yada yada. Tiss tiss t- completing The Dimension Of Anger will cause Trimp damage to return to normal." He snaps his fingers, "That's gotta be it."
"Shijou," the grey one says hopefully, and has a map drawn within a few minutes.
12h30m06s: Portal, 45 He, 3.600 He/hr, 2098 pop, 18.3s RC, 1% AP for Portal-before-Bounty.
The last head of the map's boss monster goes limp as one of the fighting trimps' dagger points goes into it, and the huge thing settles on its tail, resting on the package that seems to be the prize of this map. And there's a popping sound, and then something mechanical.
Is that a scroll compressor? Tightniks looks at the package. The deflating monster's lifting envelope material drapes over everything underneath it. "Red, Shijou!" he snaps and points, "roll up that side of it. Keep this part from sucking down on the extractor nozzle!"
All fifty of the scientists jump in, literally, pushing the gas in the bag towards the compressor. Tightniks as well, rolling up the front.
Until he kicks, and nearly trips over, a smaller package that might be the explanation for the reason why the center of the monster's defense seemed to be a little away from the big package he could see. It's in the right place, he realizes. He gets it uncovered and reads stenciled-and-sprayed block letters on it:
"DT TIME PORTAL / THIS SIDE DOWN"
Perhaps the Dimension of Anger is so named because of the rage suddenly rising up in Tightniks' throat. It isn't so much as the free-floating aggression suddenly has an answer, there is definitely a fresh batch of rage and anger as he grips the nearest Dagger V, Mark 2 with both hands- ...I must have gotten used to destroying it at some point. He lets go of his weapon with his right hand first and dangles his left arm while holdi-
Refocusing on surviving the next few seconds, the pilot turns on the radar for the final approach and takes a last look around, then straight ahead at his forward camera and primary flight display...
He crouches, sets the dagger down gently, then starts clearing the debris from the box's grab iron. He tries to lift it- Damn, this is heavy!
Surprised at this turn of events, his two oldest scientists, Grey and Yellow, rush to either side of him and help out. They get it flipped over and read the other side of the device, Tightniks chuckles a bit at its predictability:
"DT TIME PORTAL / THIS SIDE UP" There's a square cutout in the middle of one side of it, with a sliding cover at the bottom of it.
"Thanks," he pats his scientists, "but back off, please." He gets the cover unlatched, and slides it open to see, first a big rainbow-colored wide data cable and card edge connector, then several fluid ports. "There's something missing," he says aloud as he gets the cover completely off and onto the grass, "this connects to some-" he's got the wide flat cable up in his hand, realizing what it plugs into. He looks at his scientists, lips trembling, "G-g-g-get the pad."
The grey one already has the survival data pad and offers it to him.
"No, the other pad," Tightniks clarifies, "The big one. The big one," he picks up wide flat rainbow cable and its edge socket in one hand, "It goes here," he points at it with the other. "It must have come with me end of the last cycle."
Both the yellow one and the red one bring it, one on each side.
"Thank you," the human takes it, gets its hinge lugs on the trunnions at the top of each corner of the cavity, then gets the cable connector on the card edge in the pad's base recess, "See, that's where it came from." It comes on:
"12h30m05s: You have completed the Discipline challenge, unlocking a new memory-enable coolant loop and restoring your trimps to normal combat discipline."
"Do you have any idea what that's about?" the yellow one points at the edge of the left side.
"That's-" Tightniks examines it, then suddenly realizes, "It's gotta be for the void map."
He's got a port cover open, and the bottom of it says, "NULLIFIUM/VOID HEIRLOOM INTERFACE"
"Shijou?" the grey one brings the blanket-wrapped void map.
The human clears an edge of the map; doesn't seem to matter which one, and then gets it into the slot. It disappears and the blanket settles down while the environment goes deep blue and suddenly goes super cold. "Hoe Lee!" he shivers, wrapping the blanket around himself, "I hope this isn't too much of a Napolean-Hitler Maneuver!" He glances around, but all the trimps don't seem to discomforted by the sudden cold.
12h35m24s: Void 1, 55 He, 4.369 He/hr, 2098 pop, 18.3s RC, first void AP 1% and 0.3% AP for 100 He simultaneously, we got a rare shield, but it's lame with attack, storage, and empty.
As the environment around them return to normal, the trimps cheer over the deflated corpse of the- ...whatever, who give a hoot? Tightniks finds a flurry of messages on the portal screen, two regard APs, one is about having recovered 10 He units, and the big one was about a "shield". Through the touchscreen, he enables it, and gets the status effects that it's talking about.
"Where to now, boss?" the yellow one asks, Tightniks can feel the draft off the cold trimps. They seem to be extraordinarily robust ectotherms, unlike him.
"Let's go back to that friggin' Wall, where it's warmer," he shivers, "We got that AP and could use the resources." As he leads them to the L15 route, he thinks, Maybe I did that void too early. It takes on the level of our most recently entered Zone, and the resources probably go up accordingly. [I did for character reasons after seriously considering running it at Z25 or 30.]
12h49m37s: Nursery unlocked.
"Four hundred thousand gems!" the human squeaks, "Are you kidding me?"
Grey and Yellow glance at each other, the former says "Shijou?" and starts doodling a real answer.
"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but young trimps have special diets for healthy bones," the yellow one explains.
"You eat gems?" the human gasps.
"Shijou," Grey says with a shit eating grin just above a little sign that says, "Babies eat aluminate, and gems are the best!"
"Do they like the taste?" Tighniks tosses a gem from the helium compressor in the direction of the nearest house.
"Uh-Uuuuh!" after it bounces off a paving stone, a yellow juvenile with red head fur jumps into the air to catch it in its mouth. [Puchim@s Yayo. Liek seriously, she jumps after pennies.]
13h32m59s: Zone 25, 84 He, 6.199 He/hr, 2217 pop, 52.6s RC with Z24/568, no turkimp.
It has an unusually light colored body, dark head fur that lies flat, and for trimp tails, wide and not all that prehensile, reminds Tightniks of a- ...he remembers what the animal looks like, but not that his home planet is called Earth nor that the animal is called a tanuki raccoon. Just the tail, the rest of the trimp looks like a trimp for the most part. Oh yeah, the mining foreman. [Puchim@s Yukipo] He turns to Red and asks, "What's wrong with it?"
"It's in a bad mood," the red one answers.
"I can tell," Tightniks glares angrily at the red one for a moment, cools off, takes a breath, and asks kindly, "Why is it in a bad mood?"
"We've never been out this far," the yellow one offers, "...well, with the portal captured at least. Now, it was in a good mood before it got near the cart after we started this zone. Something new on the cart?"
Tightniks approaches the mopey mining foreman and asks it, "What's the matter, little fella?"
It sighs, then starts struggling to climb [see 1x6] onto the compressor cart. Tightniks helps it up with a lift, then it goes to the portal pad and turns it on, opens up the coolant page, the challenges tab there, and sort of sighs and looks questioningly at him.
"Metal challenge:" the pad reads, "Tweak the portal to bring you to an alternate reality, where the concept of Miners does not exist..."
"Oh," Tightniks realizes, then huffs, "That explains the bad mood." He sits down with the mining foreman trimp and brushes its tail, "Don't worry, my friend. You'll be back after one cycle, and I'm sure I'll miss you and your miners. These guys," he nods at the scientists, "we're scared they wouldn't be back when I first used it on purpose, but they came back. If there's a 'Science challenge' later on, I'll have you and not them-"
The scientists flinch.
"It'll be okay," he assures the mining foreman he hasn't yet realized has fallen comfortably asleep in his lap, "It'll be okay, buddy."
16h11m02s: Gymnastic Z25 taken and gyms rapidly increasing now.
The 710 fighting trimps are majestic with their new gymnastic skill and nearly impossible to hit. Only occasionally did the gorillimp do damage. They took it down easily.
Then the dragimp they faced next blew them away with a fireball that made Tightniks flinch. It took him a second to get the dragimp back in his bee nickels. The next group was all ready to relieve their fallen comrades before they went down, even without the welcoming traps for the wild volunteers (of which Tightniks has just started into the 41st bin of ten thousand.) The dragimp can do nothing to them; anything that hits gets deflected by their V-8 shields; they never got sufficiently blindsided.
[Funny: V-8 is a veggie drink similar to clamato juice I can't find anymore, but it's really five-eight, which just happens to be the squadron number of the cast in Space: Above and Beyond. Herp-a-derp!]
19h11m12s: Spammed some random biome maps...
"Tai?" the grey one looks up at the human holding a little sign, "Last couple zones, you've been mapping a lot of random biome routes we never used. Is there any point to that?"
"Stats," the human says, fitting another one together, "Oh, and this," he tosses the trimp the completed forest route map."
As it registers in the portal system, the pad starts beeping and flashing its screen.
"What?" Tightniks sneers incredulously, "There's an AP for that?" He checks and sure enough, there's a 5% Achievement Point for making a 'perfect' map, by a full notch the biggest AP so far.
The yellow one was relaxing on the corner of the latest filled up trap bin, the 49th, notices, and leans back, "Yarey yarey..." shaking its head.
19h13m28s: Uberhouse taken.
"Shijou," the grey one stands at Tightniks feet holding a small book.
Tightniks takes a brief break from his trapmaking and stoops for his oldest scientist.
"Shijou," the grey one bobs the small book in its hands to offer it to Tightniks.
"Flush toilets and septic systems?" Tightniks reads, "You do this yourself?"
"Oh, don't you wish," the red one snickers, "No, it was in that perfect route you mapped up."
20h39m26s: Zone 30, 161 He, 7.794 He/hr, 4656 pop, 20N, 74.5s RC with Z29/1735, no turkimp, 2.5% AP for sub-60 He Z30 start...
"Oh?" Tightniks has an Ax V-3 over one shoulder and screws the helium hose connector to the portal system with one hand. He grunts, sounds kinda disappointed, sets the ax down and continues working on his massive pile of traps; he's almost finished the 55th of, he just learned, 100 huge bins.
The mining foreman had struggled up onto the cart to see, and just looks baffled. It usually looks a bit lost just as part of its demeanor, but this time it looks really quite confused, and makes rather bemused sounds too.
"Oh, what is this?" Red jumps up on the cart, sounding like it's gotta be silly.
The mining foreman climbs back down and spots a purple ore vein, makes a happy sound and pulls its shovel out of its back pocket to start digging into it.
[OC: This is not even close to an exaggeration vs. OG Puchim@s Yukipo who, in 1x2, just pulls out her shovel from nowhere and digs a hole through Project 765's indoor tile-and-concrete office floor to have a nap in the cold open of a 137 second long cartoon episode. Never run out of mushroom boxes! Also, 2nd season Golden Week gold medallion, she and Yayo dig into a volcanic island and hit an oil gusher ...you don't need to know much geology to realize...]
"Really?" Red groans, "Sheesh."
What's on the pad? "Hoarder: Have over 1 million traps at once, 2.5% damage."
20h48m06s: Gateways.
"Hmm," Tightniks pauses from his trap building and gazes over where they came from.
"Thinking of something?" the yellow one asks from the stack he's building under his feet as he puts the most recent trap on the pile.
"Yunno, we have a lot of territory back there that should be pretty pleasant to live in," Tightniks says, "You'd think we should be able to just map an enemy-free route that trimps can just sit down and live peacefully in. I'd love to be able to do that."
"Shijou," the grey one is at his feet with a massive shit-eating grin, not really "hiding" a big piece of documentation behind its back. Obviously it's not so dumb as to realize that it isn't concealed. It then pulls it out and offers it to the human, "Shijou."
"What's this-" the human gasps, "Are you kidding?"
"Shijou."
"Well?" the yellow one prompts, "Let's friggin' try it, shall we?"
21h34m53s...
For some odd reason, that quiet little mining foreman is on the trap pile, fiddling around. Seems to be trying to arm one, has the spring catch on-
"Hey, buddy!" the human notices, "What are you-"
SPROING and it goes flying through the air. Does a few flips and turns, and then sticks the landing, strikes a pose, and makes a happy sound. [op cit. 1x57]
"What the-" Tightniks says, scratching his head, I wonder how much more damage the fighters could avoid if they could do stuff like that.
"Shijou," the grey one is carefully copying out the trimpese from a tattered and dusty scroll.
"What is that?" Tightniks asks.
"Where mining buddy learned that flip," Yellow says from the cart with feet playfully dangling, "another gymnastic book we picked up a few NMEs back. Probably another chapter from the same book, actually. It seems to have been torn apart and scattered."
"Is that right, bud-" the human looks around, can't seem to find the mining foreman, "Buddy, where are you?" It can't move so fast as to get out of sight this quickly!
"Po-wee!" it cheers from the bottom of its latest hole, which is beside a pile of rich bluish-greenish copper ore, onto which another shovelful flies out of the hole onto it.
22h44m17s: Zone 32, 205 He, 9.016 He/hr, 9548 pop, 30N, 37.7s RC with Z31/2712, no tkp.
"You should probably go," Red whispers.
The exhausted human has just sat down for a nap after tossing yet another trap into the huge bin stenciled "61".
"Really, I mean it," the red trimp scientist gently sets a paw on the pilot's shoulder, "Listen to sense please. Charge all this helium and use the portal; it'll make us so much stronger."
"Only 392 thousand to go," Tightniks sighs, "All the ones I've made go to waste if I use it now. I know it's only a two-and-a-halfer, but if I go now, I'll never be in de-" his head slumps into the nodding-off of post-all-nighter fatigue, "moo."
Red and the mining foreman help the snoring human gently down onto his side. The former quietly asks the latter, "Do you think he's doing the right thing?"
The mining foreman makes a particularly delighted squeak, grabs its latest flask of leafy-flowery infusion, which is just now cool enough not to punish such a maneuver with a nasty burn, and upends the whole thing in a couple seconds. It then bounds off joyfully towards the big pit mine over there. It does not often lead the general laborers because of the gymnastic and shield driven block fight, which needs wood, but it happens to be doing so today.
Yellow stands next to the grumbling unhappy green lumber foreman trimp, who is standing on the head of its dual bit ax with its chin on the end of the haft sticking up from the head on the ground. "Cheer up!" the yellow scientist gently prods it in the elbow, "There isn't a Lumber challenge."
1d00h20m05s: Zone 33, 229 He, 9.410 He/hr, 10120 pop, 50N, 40.8s RC with Z32/3390, no turkimp.
"It's a familiar smell," the human says.
"There's no way we've been out this far since whatever it is that shtfed Trimp civilization," Red grumbles. [Word based on acronym SHTF, which stands for "stuff hits the fan" in its G-rated version. Long time ago, similarly derived "nsfw" was a kerbalese cuss word.]
"I think it's from before that," Tightniks clarifies, "from before the time loop stuff."
"I'm worried our fighting group is nearly a third of our population," Yellow sighs.
"Casualties bother you?" Tightniks asks, "I thought we talked about that."
"It's taking forever to breed up new groups, and these things, *snap* ow," Yellow didn't quite touch that one the right way, "you've got 661 thousand of are too small to help. If you don't go now, this will probably be our last Coordination and we won't be able to finish the next zone."
1d06h52m14s: Gymnastic Z35 finally away.
"Did you know it was there?" The red one asks the human as they watch the grey one transcribe another lost chapter of the Gymnastic book.
"No," Tightniks huffs, in a few minutes' break from his trap building, "But I'm not surprised, I hope it gets us Zone 36. In any case, as soon as I finish that millionth trap-"
The mining foreman makes a mournful sound.
"Don't worry, buddy," Tightniks pats it on the head, "I'll brush your tail again last thing before I go." He's working on bin #88.
1d08h00m10s: 12802 pop, 80N, 43.7s RC with Z34/5298, down from 27.4s; '31m00s...
Tightniks, wearing wool-lined leather gloves mixing shimp and bovimp ingredients, plugs the void map that they got from earlier in the zone into the portal, bundled up against the expected cold. He hopes that the fresh Gymnastic Z35 and Coordination Z34 will get them through it.
1d08h33m03s...
"Do you think you can get it back out of there?" Red asks the shivering human as he reaches for the portal.
There are a pair of ejector levers beside the void map slot which clicked when he inserted it, but the void map disappears, so it remained an open question as to whether they could get it back out. Making sure not to have his hands over the void map slot, Tightniks gets a thumb over each one and there's resistance like something is in the empty slot. He grunts and pushes down until they suddenly snap down, the ejected void map rematerializes. "Well, that's a relief," he sets it down and the starts doffing his coats and sweaters to let the warm air of the normal world reach him.
"Try again later?" Yellow asks.
"Yes," the human says.
"What, are you kidding?" Red scoffs, these things level up with the zones!"
"Later on in this zone, obviously," Tightniks grunts with a huff, and then turns to see the grey one holding its little sign with those exact words on it, can't help but smile.
1d09h08m09s: Snimp in Z36c74...
Having just finished yet another trap for bin #95 of the hundred that he needs for the million-traps AP, he tosses it in and looks to the front. There's not much left of that snimp, but it just killed a third fighting group. "The training bonus from running ten laps in an on-level map route doesn't transfer to the void, does it?"
"Shijou," the grey one says with a note of confirmation.
"And I'm getting close to done this pile of traps we need for that 2.5% AP damage bonus."
"Shijou," it says again.
1d09h08m21s: Snimp in Z36c75...
Tightniks sighs, "...and there's another one. So much for that void map with its heinous critically accurate fast voidsnimps and ugly boss fight." And he returns to building traps.
1d10h14m08s: Trying again...
"NULLIFIUM/VOID HEIRLOOM INTERFACE," Tightniks tightens the stuff around himself and then finishes getting the void map inserted with his gloves, and his fingers come together as it puffs out in a brief blue mist in the void environment.
"Timba timba," Tightniks hadn't even noticed that the lumber foreman was up on his head, pats him on the head, wants to get back to work. [No Puchim@s resembles the lumber foreman.]
"Oh, there you are," the human says, "Sorry, I wanted to finish the run with the mining foreman in charge of the resourcing workers. I don't know what's about to happen to it when I hit the Metal challenge."
"Who the devon talked you into into trying this thing again?" Yellow grumbles, looking up at the indigo sky and mysteriously shrunken and dim sun, hands- ...forepaws on its waist, not discomforted by the cold, but bothered by the re-attempt. [This cuss-word after Disturbed song "Inside the Fire".]
"Shijou," the grey one grins above a Rosetta-stone-like sign it's holding with "It was me." in forty-seven languages both human and trimp.
"Zone 37 is hopeless in the time it'll take me to finish building the traps," Tightniks says.
"Won't the cold slow you down?" Red inquires, "It seems to get to you for some reason we don't get."
"Timba timba," the lumber foreman confirms from its perch on Tightiks' jacket hood.
"Yeah," he huffs, tightening it down, "but it slows down the portal clock by the same amount, so who cares?"
1d10h38m48s: Voidsnimp in c12...
Even in the void, Tightniks has gotten used to the sounds of the combat and trimps dying en masse, but when he heard that voidsnimp screech, which is similar to a "drill" robot from an Earth video game he has almost totally forgotten called Descent (Interplay 1995), he almost involuntarily turned to see, Even way back here, they can damage us despite all that gymnastic training? Then it landed the critical hit and wiped them out, as all critical hits do on this void route. He still finished the trap he was working on before going back to the portal, "Forget this, we're just getting the zone blimp." He pops the map from the portal's void slot, and starts getting his void gear off. His uniform long since wore out, so he's wearing something much more cave-manny. [I picked that sound because that sucker was dangerous and terrifying and carried the nearly hitscan Vulcan cannon. There was no Descent II equivalent, but the Thiefbot was pretty annoying.]
1d10h45m30s: 1M traps AP for 2.5%. 1d10h47m36s: Zone 37, 345 He, 9.916 He/hr, 13120 pop, 100N, 33.6s RC with Z34/5298, 2774 pop short, no turkimp.
Tightniks had nearly finished the long procedure for loading and configuring the portal, then sat down with the mining foreman to brush its tail like he promised.
The scientist trimps tried to hit the portal's activation plunger, but it refused to travel the full distance closed for any of them. Quite tired themselves out trying. The only one not exhausted into total silence was the grey one with its exasperated "Shijou..."
The mining foreman refused to go to sleep, and watched intently as Tightniks finally reached over and set it home with one hand. Its last nervous little sigh was the only thing he remembered-
The ship is without power, and Tightniks can't run the radar much without draining the batteries...

Skip the first 3 paragraphs to get straight to the story! Fair warning, this is a juicy masturbation story, no sex this time.
Avery here again! I'm feeling like getting back to writing, and continuing my story with Matt. I've decided to just write stories I'm in the mood to tell, vs trying to stay in order. I will let you know if one story relates back to others in this ever growing series! As always, negativity isn't appreciated, but constructive feedback on my writing or just appreciation is always welcome! I'm by no means a professional writer but I hope to give you something worth reading!
A little about me to remind you...I'm 22, fairly athletic/petite, olive tanned skin, with long brown hair, and a proud member of the ittybittytittiecommitte....32B, with small, perky brown nipples, and yes, I shave everywhere (;
Matt is my tall, muscular, G.I. Sex God....really like 6'1 tan hunk who spends enough time in the gym to look fit but isn't absurdly jacked. 6-7 inches (don't quote me, I'm not a dick measurer and if you think size is your defining characteristic, then have fun with that, most girls don't care as much as you do). He keeps things neat downstairs, and cleans up when i want to be especially naughty ;)
Without further ado....Matt making me feel like a complete slut, and I love it (:
We had been dating for like 6 months when Matt had to go away to a 2 week class on a different base out of state. I wanted to do something special for him, since this would be the longest we had been apart since we got together. I contemplated a few different options, before deciding to let him film me masturbating from whatever angles he wanted as a nice addition to his growing "spank bank" of nudes I'd send him.
That evening, I went over to his house and let him know my plan, and he was super into it, and asked if he could film himself finishing wherever he wanted too. Sure...let's go all in on this, it'll be hot. I asked if he had any outfit preferences, and he said he would prefer the one piece bathing suit that we had had so much fun in that one time at the beach. I agreed with the choice and went upstairs to my ever growing collection of my clothes at his place to get changed.
I decided to let him film me on the couch in the living room because it had way better lighting in there. I sat down on the edge of the couch, in a bright orange one piece, that was cut high in the legs, halfway covered my butt in a cheeky, thong-ish sort of way, and offered ample opportunity to see a little side boob in the arm holes.
Matt took his shorts off, and had 1 hand on his hardening shaft, while the other held his phone up to start recording the fun. I laid back, pushing my butt to the edge of the couch and spreading my legs, a thin strip of orange keeping me remotely modest. My nipples harden and poke through my suit as my excitement builds at the situation.
I run a hand through my hair as I gently rub between my legs, over the fabric of my suit. I softly moan Matt's name, and pause briefly to hold my legs open in the splits to let Matt get a shot of my suit stretched tight over my vagina, and barely covering my tight little butthole. I resume my soft caressing of myself as Matt slowly jerks himself, staying rock hard.
I seductively pull the straps of my suit off my shoulders, slipping my breasts out and pushing the suit down my tummy and allowing it to bunch up around my waist. I lightly pinch my nipple, as my other hand works into the leg hole of my suit, and finding the little nub of my clit to gently rub circles around, building my pleasure and heightening the overt sexual tension in the room. Matt is sure to get a good shot of me laid back with my boobs out before zooming in between my legs and I pull my suit to the side, exposing the lips of my vagina to his camera's view.
I dip one finger inside myself as my arousal has built to quite the....wet...state of being. I slip in with ease as I long for more and more stimulation. A second finger finds its way in, and soon I've built a steady rhythm, my fingers pumping deeper inside myself as Matt stands over me, stroking, until he moans "that's a good girl" to himself. I. Am. Soaked.
I pull my fingers out of myself, interrupting my pleasure momentarily to slip my suit all the way down, lifting my tight, firm butt up, and slipping it all the way down my legs before tossing it to the camera, where it briefly hangs up on Matt's cock before falling to the floor. I lay spread eagle on the edge of the couch, my soaking wet vagina and tight little butthole completely exposed to Matt and his camera.
I briefly tease some of my wetness around my other entrance, teasing Matt about our recent exploration into this area, before resuming my play, deep inside my soaked vagina, as a third finger finds its way in, and my other hand stops teasing my nipples and focuses solely on a steady, progressively faster pace of rubbing my clit. My pleasure builds as Matt's pace quickens. He says he's close to cumming, and I tell him this is the one time it's okay for him to finish first.
He stands directly over me, and we lock eyes, before putting his cock over my face as I continue my quickening rhythm. I beg for him to cum for me and soon rope after rope of thick, hot cum splatters across my face and my upper chest. This sends me over the edge, and soon I feel myself clench down on my fingers as my own climax washes over me and I moan Matt's name.
I gradually come down from this heavy orgasm, and Matt gets a few shots of me laying there, my vagina completely soaked and my face covered in his cum. He turns off the camera and tells me that's the hottest thing he's ever seen. I have to agree, as I feel like the sexiest woman alive, and a complete slut at the same time. It is so. Damn. Hot. I love it. We both head upstairs and take a sensual shower together, where he helps me clean up and we go around together before getting out and getting ready for bed.
For those of you who will creepily message me about facials....neither of us are into them all the time, but they have a healthy place in our sexlife when I want to feel extra "slutty". Notice all of this is done within the confines of our seriously committed relationship, not with a random stranger. We both have a high sex drive and I'm open to exploring with my committed partner...Matt...not you in the DMs.
As always, I'm open to feedback as well as what you'd like to hear more about in future stories! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!
♡Avery