Timestamps
Comment before PMing! CONUS shipping only! NO International or CANADA shipping!

• Keycaps
  • ePBT Superstar - Base + Novelties + Latin Alphas + Numpad + Spacebars + 40's - Used a few minutes no shine will be removed from trays and shipped in zip lock bags - $150 shipped
• Deskmat
  • Cocogoat Deskmat - New in bag - $50 shipped
• Artisans
  • Ramas - $70 shipped each
    • Tera Gold
    • Fuyu
    • Botanical Leaf White
    • Botanical Leaf Green
    • Stargaze Shooting Star
    • Oni Flower
  • DEAGcaps Bean - $60 shipped each
    • Stitches Bean - with packaging and card
    • Jirachi Bean - with packaging and card
    • Grinch Bean - with packaging and card
    • Stargaze Bean - with packaging and card
    • Moon Shanshui Bean - no packaging or card

Fallout Themed RP: Play as either side, don’t be a dick.
Context: After capturing a BoS Knight, Aux and his crew prepare to return their high-value individual at the request of a furious local chapter of Brotherhood of Steel. After sending the retrieval location, Aux surprisingly agreed to their demands, but the BoS may find that simply rolling in and taking their missing member back would be no simple task.
RP: Acoustics bounced and echoed around Main Street; Aux drummed his fingers to the beat as he waited patiently, his eyes watching over the forest overgrowth as it slowly but surely reclaimed the territory nature lost when humanity had developed the land into a sprawling and bustling city. His eyes drifted over lush mutated greens of trees loaded with red, orange, and yellow leaves fluttering in the wind.
The town smelled of dry rot, exposed foundations crumbled under their exposure to the weather, and neglected over the years after the bombs fell. “Least it didn’t smell like rotting meat.” He thought to himself while his eyes drifted towards a t-shaped intersection where a singular figure sat in a folding chair out in the open beside a table underneath a worn umbrella. With a nuka cola, yum yum deviled eggs sat beside them, sometimes tiny pinpricks of light from the breeze glanced over the items. Beside him, glistening in the sunlight, was a complete suit of power armor, standing idly by as if it waited for a pilot to commandeer it again.
“Tabbi? How’s our boy doing?” Aux grumbled, and a figure sat up from an upper floor. Old papers shifted as a head draped in a light blanket reared its head up. A short-haired blonde woman peeked up, bringing a pair of binoculars to her head, and peered through it.
“He looks unbothered, in the shade, has his snacks, relaxed, listening to some music, minding his business, in his element; we even gave him his power armor back.” A woman said hoarsely before reaching for a can of purified water. “Aside from looking like he’s beaten to shit, he’s doing better than us.” She reported, and she took a sip from the can.
“That’s all superficial; I sure hope that dumb asshole knows what he’s doing,” Aux added with a chuckle. He adjusted his spot in the second-story corner of a dilapidated building, long since having fallen into disrepair. “Look at him; we gave him food, water, shade, music, beautiful outside, the weather isn’t bad. Hell, we’re the best damn babysitters the brotherhood could ask for.” He craned to peer around the various buildings dotting the city street.
“Damn straight,” Tabbi said flatly before the sound of verified engines slowly drifted into earshot. “I’ll admit, I expected Donavan to tap out well before they showed up. He’s a trooper, alright.” She sighed. “Ah, it’s about time.” She mumbled and pointed behind Aux. “Three…scratch that, four…challengers approach on winged steel beasts.” She added as Aux sniffed and fiddled with his pockets. He clutched a remote control, rotating the dial counterclockwise. The volume of the stereos died down, filling the town with an eerie silence.
“Sound the alarm,” Aux ordered flatly as he peeked over at the equipment beside him. Tabbi nodded and brought up her arm to reveal a weathered pip-boy attached to her arm.
“Coming right up, boss,” Tabbi answered quickly as she twisted the dual and pressed a button. “Sticks all yours, boss.” She said as he dialed up the volume. The intro verse to “Atom Bomb Baby” echoed throughout the streets, signaling to the others that the time to steel their nerves and get into position was now. “You know, I like this song. It's charming.” Tabbi added as the vertibirds approached. She risked looking up at them, a piece of black plastic tubing over the barrels of the binoculars, small slits cut into the center of the improvised lens caps to mitigate light reflecting and giving her position away.
“Looks like a gunship; that’s going to be a problem. It's splitting off with one other bird.” Tabbi muttered. Aux only shrugged, not sweating the extra detail.
“It is just an easy detail.” He commented as the engines grew louder. “Come and get him, you bastards,” Aux growled to himself as the remaining two vertibirds lowered their altitude to only twenty meters off the ground. The nearby trees shook and rippled as the rotor wash dusted off the uneven pavement. “That’s not a bad choice, and I like Dion, though “The Wanderer” has this appeal to me I can’t quite pinpoint, but…whatever,” Aux added as Tabbi raised an eyebrow.
Several hulking figures descended from each troop bay, the birds shaking and rising quickly as their weight and balance shifted and changed. Power armor suits landed with a thunderous sound as ropes descended from the edge of the vertibirds. Scribes and initiates fast roped down as the paladins secured the landing zone, waiting for the rest of their team to put their boots on the ground, bringing their laser and assault rifles up as they fanned out to take cover.
“Oh, very professional.” Aux thought to himself as they slowly made their way towards the lone figure in the intersection, now struggling in their seat, gagged, bound, helpless to warn their allies. “We have two squads approaching from one direction and one other converging down the other avenue…eh, shouldn’t be an issue.” He thought to himself as the heavy footsteps and hissing hydraulics lumbered into earshot. The gunship circled overhead, its deadly shadow casting an ominous dark spotlight on the land.
“Oh, man…” He groaned as he dared not move from His vantage point. The towering armored behemoths crept into view; uncertain and skeptical initiates stayed close to the only source of mobile cover. Once he was sure the gunship no longer had a direct line of sight to him, Aux slowly reached for a detonator set off to the side. He delicately motioned for Tabbi to hold briefly as the group inched closer to exactly where he needed them to be. He signaled to her with a short, subdued hand wave, and the music suddenly cut out. One of the Knights stopped, holding their hand as the entire element halted immediately.
Aux lowered the volume to not blow out the speakers as Tabbi selected a second song. The world was suddenly filled with the opening to “Runaround Sue” by Dion, kicked off to welcome the Brotherhood of Steel foot soldiers to the worst mistakes of their lives. He cranked the volume to the maximum, blasting a deafening tune across the local area as the music picked up.
Aux clicks the clacker several times, ducking down as he grits his teeth. A car lining the side of the street, closest to three Paladins, and a cluster of lightly armored scribes and imitates erupted into a miniature nuclear fireball. The force of the blast lifted Paladin off their feet and tossed them through the air as the forward-most member in power armor staggered to the side. The unarmored troops were enveloped in nuclear fire, some disintegrating into wet red pieces, others vaporized where they stood.
A secondary explosion detonated quickly, knocking the paladin off balance and propelling them into a nearby department building with a raucous clatter. Tabbi stood upright, a launcher firmly planted on her shoulders as she fired two rockets into the collapsing building. Aux poked his head out of cover, wielding a light machine gun, centering the buckhorn sight on a beleaguered group of unarmored initiates and scribes.
He let loose a devastating burst of eight-millimeter mauser, cutting down several initiates as the music picked up. The engines of the Vertibird zipped overhead as the gunship navigated into a firing position overhead. “Oh shit.” Aux thought to himself as Tabbi let loose another short salvo. The ship turned its broadside to face them; he saw the Knight operating the heavy door gun and angling its rotating barrels toward the two Raider's firing position. “Oh, Shit!” He cursed again before a rocket arced from the broken church steeple.

Hi all! First time trying these so I had a few questions. Hubby & I moved into a new apartment a few days ago and have seen 4 roaches of various sizes and types. We have someone coming out later this week to treat but we've also gotten these traps. We put out 5 of them so far around areas we may think they'd be.
My questions are: 1. Will this attract roaches from other units? 2. Should I expect to see an influx of roaches running around? We've only noticed them in the evening/night. 3. How close do the roaches have to be to the trap to "smell" it & want to go in? 4. Will disposing the full traps into my trash can attract more? Or should I put it in a ZipLoc bag and seal it?

So I was watching a horror movie where the killer puts a bag over the woman’s head in order to suffocate her and she immediately starts panicking and screaming and I thought well that’s a terrible idea you’re gonna use up all your air etc. Then I got to thinking well is it possible to survive after someone tries to suffocate you with a bag? I have this crazy feaanxiety that i could be kidnapped, and m*rdered, for context I’m F21, so I feel like it’s valid. I’m just worried I’ll be snatched up somehow IDK. My mind is constantly making sure I’m aware of my surroundings so I try to think of scenarios and how I’d get out of them so if I ever encountered them I’d have SOMEWHAT of a plan. I realize I may sound crazy but I’m just curious. Like is there a way to fake out the killer and calm my breathing in order to not suffocate? I also hope this doesn’t fall into non-realistic self defense/pseudoscience because it’s just my mind thinking!!

I have been dealing with what I’ll twin “spoonamis”- what I’m coining for massive external events that came out of nowhere, that were hard and required a lot of energy to resolve, and that have been leaving me with a lot of negative feelings towards myself, similar to when I felt like a failure for being yelled at by some of my ABA “therapists” as a kid.
On March 25th, I had a friend over at my apartment. Didn’t seem like there was anything wrong with that. Around that same time, I told two Black supposed friends of mine, a man and a woman we’ll call G and A respectively that I was having creative differences with on a steampunk fantasy story that we were writing together on a Discord server I ran that I needed a couple months until May 19th to come back with new ideas for a rebooted story, after we’d had some disputes over very stupid shit I’ll get to in a minute that derailed the original story.
A few days later, I started noticing red and very itchy bumps on my arms, feet and some of my fingers. I’d had those when I’d visited my friend at her old place, and it was fleas, but I’d thought she’d taken care of that by moving out, and since the bites weren’t in a line like normal for fleas, I was deathly afraid it might be bedbugs and I’d have to be forced out of my apartment- my first one since divorcing my verbally abusive and immature ex-wife, which is important context, last year- for an extended period. Plus, anyone who has sensory processing disorder knows that itchiness is the worst, and despite the condescending advice of neurotypicals in my life to just “tough it out and not scratch” that was what I did for large periods of time due to overstimulation. At one point I was incredibly paranoid from lack of sleep due to having to take lots of melatonin gummies, weed gummies, and ibuprofen at various times in order to dull the pain of sitting on, at one point, ice packs for two half golf ball sized lumps, one on each thigh, while working.
Throughout April, I got two maid cleanings, put all my clothes in five gigantic plastic bags after an endless blur of laundry and also had two exterminations done by my building on both my couch and bed. Thankfully the exterminations were at no expense to me and only meant one day of leave each time from work, which was actually kind of refreshing, but also depleted my reserve of vacation time for anything else. Plus, I had to not visit the office for the entire month which disrupted my usual once a week work flow and dragged me back to the worst of quarantine habits mentally.
Thankfully my birthday in the middle of that was a reprieve, but a new bed had to be gotten by my parents, who also purchased a zip cover to prevent bugs from making their way into my mattress again. I thought I could relax on my couch after I poured peppermint powder all over it and around the edges of my bed…only for bites to happen again which meant it was my couch’s fault, I had to do all that damn laundry over again, had to have my couch hauled away and had to sit either on my bed or hard chairs while I still wait for my new one.
Meanwhile, I was trying to think of anything to say to G and A when the dust settled, and I had to have this meeting I’d scheduled with them. Now I come to what happened with them in the first place…story in the comments.

Have you ever booked a budget airline (Frontier, Spirit, Breeze) for a cheap weekend ticket to attend a wedding? I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I have been looking for the ideal weekend travel bag that has a dedicated suit compartment. Yes, you can use some special folds to protect the shoulders, but I'm honestly more focused on protecting my suit material from everything else I toss in my bag. I've browed across several subreddits ( navyblazer, mensfashion, ManyBaggers, onebag ) for some old posts on the topic and couldn't see many options listed.
Technically this bag doesn't exist because suit carriers have a 22 inch width to accommodate the shoulders of men's suiting; however, I feel like some are close enough to pass without getting called out. After all, I've never been called out for my Mystery Ranch 2DAP even though it's 21 inches tall.
Below are some of the ones I've gotten in to see if any of them are perfect for the scenario listed above. Please let me know if there are any others out there that might work!

1. Briggs and Riley Garment Duffle ($369): This one is great as a weekender option if you aren't flying. It is well built, and the zippers are fantastic; but it is way too big to pass an eye test. There is a compartment on the front that can fit my 13inch MacBook Air.
   
2. CRUITBILI 2 in 1 Canvas Leather Suit Luggage Garment Bag ($140 on Amazon): This one is a knock off of the Bennet Winch design seen in James Bond. I did not want to pay the $1000+ for Bennet Winch, although I am sure the quality is much better. The canvas is very stiff and waxy. Also way too big to take as a person item. The benefit of this design over the Briggs and Riley bag is that you can access the suit without taking everything out of your duffel.
   
3. Tumi Tri-Fold Garment Carrier ($750): Really well built with a substantial front compartment for extra clothes. It can fit a laptop, but you'll need a sleeve. Again, too large for personal item. If money was no object I might get this to use in conjunction with a check-in luggage.
   
4. TravelPro Platinum Elite Tri-Fold ($230 on Amazon): This is the first one of the set that can actually sneak pass as a personal item. It is very compact and well-built; surprisingly feels as nice as the ones from Briggs&Riley and Tumi. Although it can definitely hold enough clothes for a 3 day weekend and a pair of dress shoes, it is significantly less capacity than the aforementioned options. The only thing I wish it had was a padded laptop compartment. The front has a sleeve that can fit iPad, but for larger laptops you should use a sleeve.
   
5. Henty Co-Pilot Backpack ($289 on Amazon): This one is about the size of my Mystery Ranch 2DAP, so I would be comfortable risking it as a personal item. It's great that there's a dedicated, padded laptop compartment and quick access slots on the outside for storing items at the airport. While the overall bag feels well built, the zippers and buckles are hell. Although I can excuse the non-smooth zipper pulls because of waterproofing, there's no justification for how hard you have to push on the plastic buckles to attach the two bags.
   

Ultimately I'm still debating between options 4 and 5. Although I like the features of 5 more, the buckles and zippers really drive me kinda crazy.
Anyway, I hope this helps other people and if anyone else has other ideas, please do tell!

Compact discs in their cases were stored in a damp moldy basement in paper bags. Is the plastic case mold resistant? Even if it is, would mold likely have gotten inside, affecting the paper sleeve and even the CD? If so, can the CDs and packaging be cleaned well enough to move them upstairs into a clean living space?

*DISCLAIMER*: Nothing in this post is legal/code advice. Hire an electrician for the electrical part, and a plumber for the gas lines. If you are not confident in doing the install yourself\*
Hello everyone, I wrote this up awhile ago for friends/family, and figured I'd post it since it is clear that reliable electricity is kinda a thing of the past. After pricing out a Generac install it just was not feasible in my budget, so I ended up doing a portable "permanant" install that came in at under $3k at the time, compared to 15-20 I was quoted for a Generac. It does require manually firing the generator, connecting the cable, and turning on the breakers, but its also 5x less in cost. I did my install in 2021 after the historic freeze killed my previous generator.

I have created this guide so that you can make purchase(s) that will allow you can (at a minimum )to hook up your generator to house. I have multiple levels of things you can buy to accomplish more than that. So Level1 = Bare Minimum, -> Level4 would be everything you need to run the generator without requiring you to move the generator, or hook anything up other than the plug that connects to the house from the generator when you want to use it. Video of an example of the completed Level 4 install: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ufE_CD2QI (Not my video, but this guide is based on this)

Level1: Minimum Required Parts to hook up your house. Generator: Durostar or Duromax 12000EH. (XP1200EH should work too, newer model) https://outboundpower.com/products/durostar-ds12000eh-dual-fuel-portable-generator-12-000-watts Transfer Switch: (10 Circuit 50amp) https://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/Reliance-Controls-R510A/p61744.html or (6 Circuit 30amp) https://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/Reliance-Controls-R306A/p61718.html Cable: Depending on the switch you buy: R510A uses50 amp cable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00268VSJ6/ ; Cable is DIY and needs to be connected to a connector. This cable will not work with R306A. Connector for R510A- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HS0HQW/ R306A uses a 30 amp cable: https://www.harborfreight.com/25-ft-x-10-gauge-generator-duty-twist-lock-extension-cord-62308.html ; This is a finished cable. This cable will not work with the R510A box. The box you choose should be chosen based on what you want to run off the generator, and how many circuits. R306A will run less as it is capped at 30A. It also has less circuits. I bought R306A, then upgrades to R510A earlier this year.
Depending on where the holes are or what is available on your breaker box you may need a right angle conduit.
For The R306A Box: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-3-4-in-Liquidtight-NM-90-Degree-PVC-Conduit-Fitting-Connector-58133902/204755885
For the R510A Box: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sigma-Electric-ProConnex-1-in-Plastic-90-Deg-LT-Connecto1003202980
You will need an electrician to install your transfer switch or you can install it yourself. I followed these videos by the transfer switch manufacturer. It did not take a ton of time. Only about an hour or two depending on your speed.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTqjwt6WJ7o
It is a series of 6 videos.
Level 2: Parts Required to Hook up to Natural Gas as a Fuel Source.
Natural Gas Regulator for Generator: https://motorsnorkel.com/product/motorsnorkel/msk3101-motor-snorkel-tri-fuel-natural-gas-propane-and-gasoline-conversion-kit/
Natural Gas Hose: https://www.caloreequipment.com/products/3-4-ball-valve-quick-connect-natural-gas-hose-connector-kit/
Pipe Grease: (I think the regulator kit also comes with some, otherwise): https://www.homedepot.com/p/Oatey-1-oz-Plumber-s-Grease-30620/203489444
Hardware to attach the Gas Regulator: Need (2) https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-5-16-in-x-1-3-4-in-x-4-3-16-in-Coarse-Zinc-Plated-Steel-U-Bolt-806876/204273751Need (2) https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-385-x-5-16-in-x-2-in-x-3-3-4-in-Coarse-Zinc-Plated-U-Bolt-806886/204273749
Unsure which of the 2 brackets I used, but one of these will fit around the bar on the generator, and I used the nuts from the other one to lock it in place by putting 2 nuts on each side of U bolts.
You will need to hire someone to attach the 3/4" ball valve connector to your meter. I do not know where your gas meter is in relation to your breaker box. If both are near each other that is great. Mine were on different sides of the house so I needed 30 ft of power cord and 25 ft of natural gas hose and placed the generator in the middle so that it would all reach. The hose is pretty much permanently attached to the generator, which will make moving the generator and hose a hassle. Thus I'd suggest against converting to natural gas until you are ready to permanently place the generator. One part of the propane regulator has to be removed, then lubricated and installed on the new natural gas regulator.
Level3: Parts to store the generator outside in place allowing you to keep the generator hooked up at all times, except the extension cord from the generator to the house.
Exhaust Hose:https://www.amazon.com/FORTLUFT-Exhaust-Connector-1-00x72-00-25-4x1830mm/dp/B093L8P2KF?th=1
Exhaust Fan: https://www.ebay.com/itm/163819586775?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
Exhaust Bracket: https://www.ebay.com/itm/132063867294?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
Inlet (Need 2): https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-Wide-Mouth-Dryer-Vent-Hood-in-White-BPMH4WHD6/203647465
Shed: Suncast BMS2500 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Suncast-34-Cu-Ft-Horizontal-Outdoor-Backyard-Resin-Storage-Shed-Vanilla/27653120
Board for base Need (2): https://www.homedepot.com/p/WeatherShield-2-in-x-6-in-x-8-ft-2-Prime-Ground-Contact-Pressure-Treated-Lumber-262P8/206936146
Pavers (Need 14 +2 more if you want to remove the tires to reduce chance of theft): https://www.homedepot.com/p/4-in-x-8-in-x-16-in-Solid-Concrete-Block-30168621/100350217
Outdoor Screws (1 Box): https://www.homedepot.com/p/Grip-Rite-9-x-3-in-Philips-Bugle-Head-Coarse-Thread-Sharp-Point-Polymer-Coated-Exterior-Screw-1-lb-Pack-PTN3S1/100115639
Bags of Sand: (2-4*?): https://www.homedepot.com/p/Quikrete-50-lb-Quikrete-Premium-Play-Sand-111351/206363630
Caulk to go around the exhaust fan and inlets: https://www.homedepot.com/p/DAP-DYNAFLEX-Ultra-10-1-oz-Gray-Advanced-Exterior-Window-Door-and-Siding-Sealant-18219/306283633
Sheet of Hardibacker to isolate/protect the back wall around the exhaust and around the exhaust bracket: https://www.homedepot.com/p/James-Hardie-HardieBacker-3-ft-x-5-ft-x-1-4-in-Cement-Backerboard-220022/100183556
*I forget how much sand we bought.Cuts were (2) 54 1/2 and (2) 34 1/2 These cuts will be based on the dimensions of your pavers. Make sure the dimensions match up. You can lay all the pavers out next to each other then measure the distance. Add a little bit of wiggle room. The boards are basically there to keep the sand in.
Level4: These parts depend on multiple things including how big your central AC unit is. If your central AC Unit is too large, it is possible this will not work. The largest breaker that can be installed in the transfer switches is a 30AMP breaker. This means your AC has to draw < 30 AMPs when running to not trip the breaker, and your generator (and what else is connected to it must draw < max amps the generator **provides)**Breaker: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Siemens-30-Amp-Double-Pole-Type-QP-Circuit-Breaker-Q230U/100002289Soft Starter for AC (Wizard to determine which to order): http://www.micro-air.com/tools/easystart/modelselectorv2/step1.cfmSoft starter will have to be installed by a electrician, or you can install it. However you will need to discharge the run-start capactior. Failure to discharge the capacitor can lead to death.
Level5: Quality of Life Items - These are nice to have but not required in any way. Wireless Thermometer: to monitor the temperature in the shed while generator is running: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SJ75TFL/ Solar Panel Trickle Charger for Generator Battery: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PFG56ZS/
https://imgur.com/MDWteZd is a list of (most) of the items prices for the generator when I bought them in 2021. It can be used as a reference for what a Part4 (or 5) project would cost overall. The Video at the top lists most of the things you need, that should be listed in this guide. You can/should watch that even if you are not planning on building the shed. It is still a good overview of the natural gas conversion. If you are only doing the transfer switch you probably don't need to watch the video, however I still would just so you know the work involved in doing it if you decide to in the future. Its entirely possible some thing(s) are missing off the lists. However I am fairly certain almost everything I ordered is on it.
Let me know if any links don't work. I tried to update them to current links. Hopefully this helps some of yall. Also the labor to install the quick connect on the gas meter cost me around $200.

My basement recently flooded a little, luckily none of my AG stuff was damaged, but a lot of the boxes are exposed and stacked on the floor. I want to secure the boxes mostly dolls but some larger items too in plastic. Does anyone have any suggestions for large plastic bags that the doll boxes fit in?

WEAPONS: AA/E/15R Fixer, AA/E/15V Fixer, B/25/15V Fixer, TS/E/15R Fixer, B/E/90 Fixer, EXE/E/15R Fixer (2), JUG/25/25 Fixer, V/E/90 Fixer, TS/50/15R Fixer (2), TS/25/90 Fixer, B25/15R Fixer, B/E/250 Fixer, AA/HIT/15R Fixer, JUG/50H/25 Fixer, Q/HIT/15R Fixer, V/25/AGI Fixer, V/25/50DR Fixer, TS/25/PER Fixer, Q/50H/PER Fixer, V/E/25 Railway, TS/25/15R Railway, EXE/E/25 Railway, EXE/25/25 Railway, TS/50/25 Railway, Q/50L/15R Railway, Q/50B/15V Railway, Q/50L/90 Railway, AA/25/Dur Railway, I/25/25 Railway, J/25/15R Railway, GOUE/25 Railway, F/50/25 Railway, ARI/50/25 Railway, A/50/25 Railway, TS/E/50DR Handmade, EXE/25/25 Assault, TS/E/90 Assault, F/25/25 Plasma, B/E/90 Lever, JUG/E/25 Lever, Q/E/15R Pipe, AA/25/15V Minigun, B/E/50DR Minigun, V/25/AGI Gatlaser, AA/50/15R Lmg, B/HIT/250 50cal, JUG/E/90 Gatling, V/STE/15B Chainsaw, JUG/40P/S Drill, V/SS/90 Deathclaw, AA/SS/15B Deathclaw.
ARMOR: Hellcat Power Armor Chassis (tradable), Father Winter Helmet (tradable), BOL/END/WWR Ultracite Left Leg, BOL/1STWWR Ultracite Left Leg, BOL/RAD/SENT T-60 Right Arm, UNY/RAD/SENT Combat Left Leg.
NEW PLANS (alphabetical order): Alien Head Lamp, Alien Table (2), Assault Rifle Wraith's Wrath Paint (4), Bloody Rug (6), Chainsaw Ghostly Grinder Paint, Chainsaw Skeptikill Paint (9), Cultist Adept Hood (5), Cultist Adept Robes (4), Cultist Enlightened Hood (7), Cultist Enlightened Robes (6), Cultist Eventide Hood (9), Cultist Eventide Robes, Cultist Incarnate Helmet (3), Cultist Neophyte Hood (3), Cultist Neophyte Robes (5), Dried Wildflower Bouquet (3), Enlightened Lantern (8), Executioner Mask (2), Fluttering Moths (6), Fossilized Megalonyx Right Arm, Fossilized Megalonyx Torso, Fuzzy Enlightened Plushie (3), Fuzzy Mothman Plushie (8), Giant Red Dinosaur (2), Glowing Flatwoods Monster Lamp, Ground Meat Plushie (2), Hazmat Suit - Teal (3), Herdsman’s Bell, Honeycomb Paper Blue Mothman (8), Honeycomb Paper Brown Mothman (6), Honeycomb Paper Ghost Lantern A (4), Honeycomb Paper Ghost Lantern B (2), Honeycomb Paper Green Mothman (9), Honeycomb Paper Holiday Tree A (2), Honeycomb Paper Holiday Tree B (3), Honeycomb Paper Icy Snowflake (6), Honeycomb Paper Jack-o'Lantern A (5), Honeycomb Paper Jack-o'Lantern B (3), Honeycomb Paper Jolly Target, Honeycomb Paper Mothman Globe (8), Honeycomb Paper Red Mothman (6), Honeycomb Paper Ribbon Bell, Honeycomb Paper Snowman (2), Honeycomb Paper Spider Lantern (6), Mutant Hound Diagram, Peppino Pig Plushie, Plastiform Gingerbread (5), Plastiform Nutcracker (4), Plastiform Santa, Punty Pig Plushie (2), Rad Skull Rider Helmet (3), Rotted Rib Plushie, Sacred Mothman Tome (8), Scorchbeast Queen Beer Stein (7), Star Light (3), Steak Plushie, Super Mutant Diagram (3), Taxidermy Mutant Hound, Weenie Wagon.
OLDER PLANS (alphabetical order): Alien Blaster (2), Alien Blaster Cryo Mag (3), Alien Blaster Poison Mag (3), Alien Corpse Operating Bed (3), Alien Disintegrator (2), Alien Disintegrator Automatic Receiver (2), Alien Disintegrator Cryo Receiver (2), Alien Jack O’Lantern (3), Alien Stash Box (3), Alien Tube (5), Antique Globe of Mars (3), Asteroid (3), Bos Officer Uniform (4), Boss Soldier Uniform (2), Barbed Walking Cane (2), Barbed Wire Fences (2), Bear Arm, Bear Arm Heavy Mod (3), Bear Arm Puncturing Mod (2), Bed of Nails (2), Behemoth Boss Plushie (2), Blue Devil Curtain Door (3), Blue Devil Outfit (3), Blue Devil Pelt Hood (3), Blue Devil Statue (2), Blue Ridge Rug, Blue Ridge Scout Outfit, Bos Medallion, Bottle Bot (4), Bottle and Cappy Balloon Statue, Bottle and Cappy Hoop Jump Statue, Bottle and Cappy Painting Statue (5), Bottle and Cappy Walking Globle Statue (3), Bottle Plush, Brahmin Backpack (3), Brahmin Grill, Brahmin Plushie (2), Brahmin Skin Rug (2), Burning Sheepsquatch Club, Canopy Tent (3), Cappy & Bottle Cowboy Cutouts (2), Cappy Clapper (3), Cappy Smashed Super Sledge Pain (4), Cartography Table, Chally the Moo-Moo Backpack (2), Circus Bench (2), Circus Cage Trailer, Circus Cube (2), Circus Seesaw, Circus Stilts (3), Circus Walking Globe (5), Civil War Era Suit (2), Civil War Era Top Hat (2), Classic Jack O’Lantern (2), Condemned Notification Sign (2), Confederate Hat, Costume Witch Hat (2), Crowd Bench Seats, Cryogenic Bed (5), Cryptid Hunter Boonie Hat (3), Cryptid Mobile, Cuckoo Clock, Cultist Backpack (4), Cupid Cappy Sign (6), Deathclaw Gauntlet Extra Claw (2), Decoy Ducks (2), Deputy’s Hat (3), Electrified Assaultron Blade, Evil Jack O’Lantern (2), Electrified Sheepsquatch Club, Electrified Shepherd’s Crook, Electro Enforcer (2), Flamethrower Trap, Freezing Electro Enforcer (2), Full Pumpkin Rack (2), Getaway Wagon, Glass Covered Sheperd's Crook, Gorilla Chair, Grim Reaper Vault-Boy Cutout (4), Grocery Cart Grill, Gulper Head (5), Gulper Rug (3), Half Empty Pumpkin Rack (2), Half Full Pumpkin Rack (3), Halloween Skull Mask, Happy Jack O’Lantern (3), Hula Hoop, Human Tube 1 (5), Human Tube 2 (5), Insurgent Hat, Insurgent Outfit (3), Kids Brahmin Clock (3), Large Ultracite Shard (3), Marine Armor Helmet, Marine Tactical Helmet, Marine Wetsuit (2), Meat Cleaver, Milkman Hat (3), Milkman Outfit (2), Mirelurk King tube, Mobster Jack O’Lantern (3), Molerat Wind Chime (2), Mounted Blue Devil Head (2), Mounted Ogua Head (2), Musket Stack Monument (6), Nuka Cola Bottle Kiosk (3), Nuka Girl Area Rug (5), Nuka Launcher Model (3), Nuka Launcher Posters (2), Nuka Launcher Snow Globe (2), Nuka-Cade Poster (4), Nuka-Cola Ad Barrier (3), Nuka-Cola Balloons, Nuka-Cola Clock (4), Nuka-Cola Crate Stalls (3), Nuka-Stool, Nuka-World Cowboy Duster, Nuka-World Cowboy Hat (3), Ogua Curtain Door (3), Ogua Egg (3), Ogua Hunter Hood (2), Ogua Hunter Outfit (2), Ogua Plushie (2), Ogua Shell Backpack (3), Overcharged Electro Enforcer (4), Paddock Gate (3), Pepper Shaker, Pink Brahmin Plushie, Pioneer Scout Bowie knife Paint (3), Plasma Gun True Flamer Barrel, Plastic Fruit Bowl, Poisoned Electro Enforcer (2), Practice Jack O’Lantern, Princess Castle Pink Sleeping Bag (2), Protective Lining Raider Underarmor, Pumpkin Rack, Radioactive Barrel (3), Red Rocket Gas Pump Wall Light (3), Red Rocket Gas Station Lamp (5), Red Truck Ceiling Light (4), Replica Gronak’s Axe, Rust Eagle Banner (6), Safari Crocolossus Backpack, Safari Gorilla Backpack (2), Salty Tenderizer Mod, Sheepsquatch Staff, Shielded Lining BoS Underarmor (5), Shielded Lining Marine Underarmor, Shielded Lining Raider Underarmor (2), Sitting Gorilla (5), Skeleton Costume (2), Skiing Outfit, Small Vault Girl Statue, Spear, Spicy Tenderizer Mod (2), Spiked Electro Enforcer, Spiked Shepherd’s Crook (3), Spin the Wheel Ornament, Spin the Wheel Snow Globe, Standing Gorilla (4), Strongman’s Super Sledge Paint, Surprised Jack O’Lantern (3), Tattered Curtains (5), The Fixer (5), Titan Plushie (2), Tomb Stones, Toothed Shepherd's Crook, Treasure Hunter Outfit Hat, Truckbed Trailer with Junk (2), Tunnel of Love Poster (3), Tunnel of Love Snow Globe (6), Ultracite Emergency Protocols, Ultracite Overdrive Servos, Vault Boy Jack O’Lantern (3), Vault Door Jack O’Lantern (3), Vault-Tec Jack O’Lantern (3), Vintage Water Cooler, Wall Mounted Fan (5), Wild West, Show Posters (3), Witch Costume (2).
RECIPES (alphabetical order): Caramel Mutfruit, Cranberry Moonshine, Cutting Fluid (3), Disease Cure (Savage Divide), Fasnacht Donut, Fasnacht Sausage, Formula P, Gulper Stuffed Foot (2), Healing Salve (Mire), Lead Champagne Bellini, Nuka-Cola Dark, Pickaxe Pilsner, Stimpak Diffuser (3), White Russian.
WANT: Adhesive, Aluminum, Asbestos, Ballistic fiber, Ceramic, Coal, Concrete, Copper, Cork, Crystal, Fiber optics, Flux: Cobalt/Fluro/Yellow/Violet/Crimson, Gold, Gears, Nuclear waste, Oil, Silver, Springs, Ultracite, Leader Bobbleheads, Backwoodsman 6, Rare Apparel, Enclave Forceful Stock Mods.
CAPS VALUE PER EACH (for reference): Adhesive 5, Aluminum 3, Asbestos 2, Ballistic fiber 7, Ceramic 2, Coal 1, Concrete 1, Copper 4, Cork 1, Circuits 3, Crystal 3, Fiber optics 7, Fiberglass 1, Flux: Cobalt/Fluro/Yellow/Violet/Crimson 100, Gold 4, Gears 4, Screws 3, Nuclear waste 1, Oil 5, Silver 4, Springs 5, Anticeptic 2, Ultracite 7, Leaders 500, Backwoodsman6 500. Shoot me an offer :)

So I cleaned out my crabs tank the other day (I wanted to put some more sand and moss and upgraded their water area), and I ended up finding babies! So I found them AFTER I put all the old substrate into a plastic bag and seen one little tiny thing moving at the bottom of the tank. I kept the bag of substrate in hopes I would find more and thankfully I’ve found two more! I been keeping the babies in a little container inside of the main tank, but I noticed today one of them was dead in the container! I only separated them because I heard the parents will eat on the babies, but now I feel like maybe keeping them in the main tank will be better for them. Any suggestions??

First / Previous
Suzanne thought it was absolutely brilliant of me to put books on a flash drive for Sun. She explained that Sun wasn’t as sophant (her word, not mine) as she might seem, more of a repository of information, but she was fairly intelligent. It was how she was able to connect Andrew being in pain to the fact that I was friends with Andrew, and that I would want to know that he was in trouble. Apparently some of Sun’s species had given some ‘wisdom’ to others in the past and it had made its way into mythology.
The key fact was that she was not smart enough to protect herself and her kind from the clever, organized poachers. With that information in mind, it was fascinating for me to think of how Sun took in and organized what she learned. It was almost as if she was a walking, talking library.
On the topic of tours, my first one went wonderfully, and I’m almost hoping Suzanne lets me do more of them. I know not all the tourists are going to be as awesome as these people were, but Suzanne gave me a lot of slack when it comes to dealing with them. She actually said that being a smartass is not grounds for dismissal, and that if I’m sarcastic or facetious to guests who are being ‘daft’ and they complain, she really doesn’t care. Is this the perfect job for me or what?
There were four guests in this party, two adults who were sisters and two children of one of the women, brothers aged thirteen and seventeen. The tour was a birthday gift for the older of the boys from his aunt, since apparently he was passionate about animal protection and conservation.
When they arrived at the front gate, I was sitting at Andrew’s desk, going over the booklet of information one last time. When the visitors pressed the button that sounded the alert buzzer, I tucked away in a drawer and let them in. I did have a cheat sheet with information about the animals on my phone just in case, a brief notation of each of them and which enclosure they were in, but I really didn’t need to use it.
Exiting through the front door, I saw them walk up the path toward me. “Hi, I’m Ripley,” I said, holding out a hand toward the woman closest to me.
She shook it firmly. “I’m Denise. This is my sister Carla and my nephews, Wesley and Jason,” she said, motioning to each of them in turn.
“I heard it’s your birthday,” I said to Wesley, giving him a smile. “You’re interested in animal conversation?”
“Back where we live, yeah,” he said, nodding. “The animals that you’ve got here are incredible. I can’t wait to see them.”
“Well, I can’t wait to show them to you,” I said. “Right this way.”
I led them on the path around the building, toward enclosure one. Despite the horrific memories of the animal killing Stanley’s friends, I knew it was just an animal, and I had to push past my feelings on what had happened. Keeping a small smile on my face, I motioned to the enclosure. “Fiercely territorial and amazing hunters, despite their large size, they’re arboreal and known to dart from tree to tree with barely a sound. This is one of only about two thousand left in existence.”
“Two thousand, three hundred and fifty six at last count,” spoke Wesley, his eyes on the trees.
I blinked, surprised and impressed. “Well that was fantastic. Do you plan on stealing my job when you graduate?”
Wesley looked at me with a grin. “Nah, everyone knows Suzanne only offers humans this gig. And I want to help animals like this one get off the endangered species list. The zoos are great for awareness and fundraising, but then the money has to go somewhere. I want to be doing the real work.”
“That’s really great,” I told him. “I wish you all the best in that career path.” At that, we saw the animal climb down from the tree, wandering a few yards from the tree line. This was because 90% of the time, when humans were at their enclosure and making noise, whether it was speaking to each other or calling out to the animal, it was someone bringing them prey to eat. Or, in my case, enrichment toys to play with.
“Whoa,” Wesley whispered.
“How close can we get?” spoke up Jason.
“The warding starts at the fence,” I told him with a small gesture. “So, just there.”
Both boys wandered closer and I glanced at their parents. It seemed that Suzanne’s zoo had a serious reputation for high quality invisible walls, because they didn’t look worried in the slightest about the boys being hurt or killed.
“They prefer dense forest as their home and have been known to make their nests in trees up to twenty meter in the air,” I continued. “And when hunting, they’ve been seen dropping eight meters straight down. They have incredibly dense yet flexible musculature, which allows them to tackle their prey without injuring themselves.”
There was more information about the animal that I continued to rattle off, though Wesley chimed in at certain points with the info I was about to convey. That was highly entertaining and very cool. When I’d been in school, I’d never met anyone who had my level of passion about endangered animals. I wondered if things were better where these folks came from, but realized that considering there were so few of these animals left, I guessed not.
The animal paced a little bit, seemingly waiting to see if we were the kind of humans that came bearing food, before deciding we weren’t and climbing back up into the trees as easily as I would climb some stairs.
As we moved onto enclosure two, Jason spoke up. “Are there any animals here we can touch or feed or something?”
I sighed inwardly before slowing to a stop. “Well, can you show me your hands?” Jason looked bemused, holding out his hands. “I mean…they both look like they’re in great shape. You can stand to lose one.”
The two women chuckled and Wesley smirked as Jason shoved his hands into his pockets. “Very funny.”
Grinning, I started walking again. “The animals here are all carnivores and all predators. You get to see them, but that’s it.”
“Alright.”
When we reached enclosure two, I started on my next spiel. “We’ve got three reanimated dead in this enclosure,” I spoke. They were just coming out from the trees as we arrived, presumably having heard our approach. “Marissa, Connor, and Bradley. They were donated by families who knew where they would be exhibited. Their next of kin, whoever they are, can’t stand the idea of putting them down. But we need to make sure they don’t have access to corpses, because one of them plus one corpse equals two of them.”
“They eat flesh though, don’t they?” Wesley asked.
I nodded. “Oh, yeah, but it’s from bodies that have already been dismembered. There’s no chance of them being affected by the transformation because it’s all parts.”
“Oh, got it.”
The creatures with blueish-white skin had superhuman strength, which is why they qualified for the security of Suzanne’s zoo. They also were likely the source of any Earth tales of people being brought back to life as zombies, specifically draugr, according to my research. They smelled like rotting flesh, so even as I kept talking about them and giving a background to the people they used to be, we were quick to move on once Wesley had gotten a good, long look at them.
“Enclosure four’s animal is a vampiric spirit. He’s a small, hairy humanoid creature with pointed ears. He wears a hat, and if he somehow loses it, he freaks out,” I said.
“They eat horses,” Wesley noted. “Also anything that gives them the chance to sit on it, usually catching them by surprise while they’re sleeping.”
The creature came out from the brush, giving us a suspicious look. He wasn’t in his humanoid form though; for some reason, he’d chosen to shapeshift to a dog.
I nodded. “Yep, indeed. Once the prey is dead, then he’ll eat it, and he has a voracious appetite. We have two wolves and two bears in the forest, which is one of the reasons I’ve got some self-defense items,” I said, patting my belt where my pepper spray (rated for bear) and my taser. “But the wards keep them out of this area of the zoo, so it’s really not much of a worry. It’s also a known shapeshifter, preferring the form of a dog, as you can see, as well as a cat, a snake, or even white butterflies, though the last one is rare.”
“The white butterflies are supposed to be a sign of good luck,” Wesley said, glancing to me. “Too bad we got the dog.”
“Yeah, otherwise you might be able to talk your mom into getting scratch-offs on your way home, huh?”
Wesley smirked at me.
The next enclosure was Spike, and he was waiting for us, dripping wet from having just emerged from the lake. I gave the introductory information about him, which included his propensity for eating animal eyes, nails, and teeth. “Recently, I’ve given him some enrichment activities, and I learned he likes artichokes, pecans, and hazelnuts,” I said, taking a bag out from my cargo shorts. “Wesley, do you want to toss this bag into the enclosure?”
The boy’s eyes widened and he nodded excitedly. He took a look into the paper bag before wrapping down the top to make sure nothing would fly out. Then he chucked it underhand past the fence. It landed a few yards from Spike, who waddled over to it quickly and tearing the bag open, spilling out the prizes inside. As the animal ate the pecans and hazelnuts, Wesley asked, “How’d you figure out he likes those?”
“It’s not all about taste,” I told him. “It’s mainly the difficulty of getting them out of the shells. He’s used to having to work for the parts of his prey he likes the most, so this mimics that activity, and he enjoys the process. I tried a bunch of different foods to find a few he liked.”
“Cool,” Wesley murmured, staring at him.
We watched Spike eat until he’d finished and then he went back into the woods, leaving us to move onto enclosure five. Japanese camellia were plentiful here, a type of pink flower, and that was because they grew anywhere near one of his species made their den. “This girl spends most of her time in the lake also,” I said, as the creature made its way toward the fence separating us from it. “But as you can see, she’s just as curious as the rest about what we’re doing here and whether we have food for her. She eats fish mostly, but she also regularly gets live prey.”
This creature was a spider-like monster, having six legs with long claws on each, and the head of an ox with two sharp horns. She was capable of shapeshifting to look like a human, but I guessed that she wasn’t fond of it, since I hadn’t yet seen her in that form.
“She prefers the easy way of catching prey, so to speak, by hiding in the lake and pouncing when something comes for a drink of water,” I explained. “Apparently humans are some of her favorite prey. She has an advantage of being able to spit poison, which often hits her prey in the eyes. But it’s usually used in defense rather than offense, since it secretes a limited amount.”
“What kind of animal would even go after something like this?” Jason asked, staring at her.
“Never discount one of its own species when you’re thinking about what might attack an animal,” I replied. “There are places that are breeding all of the animals here, but competition for mates is common. That means an advantage in a fight, like poison or venom, can make or break who the winner is.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
“It can’t spit past the warding, right?” Carla suddenly asked.
“Oh, no,” I assured her. “We’re fine. The wards wouldn’t let anything cross over.” She nodded, appeased.
The animal in enclosure six was the ginormous seal-hippo, Fiona, and she was looking at us as if she was imagining sprinkling us with herbs and spices and stuffing us in an oven. “This girl is one animal I’m going to work on enrichment activities for next,” I told them. “She prefers to feed on crayfish, though she’s happy to eat any humans that wander into her territory. She’ll even make a sound like a baby crying to reel us in. I’ve heard it a bunch of times.”
“Can you get her to make the sound?” Jason asked, perking up.
I grinned. “Not on command, sorry.”
“What enrichment are you thinking of trying?” Wesley asked.
“Possibly food placed in puzzle feeders,” I told him, “since she has claws that are pretty dexterous. Maybe a piñata made out of newspaper with flour inside, or a scarecrow that mimics a human.”
“Awesome,” he muttered.
After a little more educational tidbits, we moved onto Yui’s enclosure. “What is that?” Wesley asked, smiling.
“I got Yui the closest thing I could to a ping-pong ball,” I replied. “She quite likes it.”
“That’s so funny,” he said as she came out of the trees in her spider form. “I mean, the idea of her being a bloodthirsty hunter who seduces men to their deaths and eats them alive, but then on the other hand, she likes playing with something like this.”
“It is a little funny,” I agreed. “But when it comes down to it, all the animals here enjoy activities besides hunting.”
“She can shapeshift to look human, right?” asked Jason, trying to be casual about knowing something factual like his nerdy brother.
I nodded. “She looks like a woman from a region of Earth called Japan. And she’ll use strategies like holding out a hand to shake to get you closer. She tried that on me when I first got here but, as you can see,” I said, holding up my hands and waving them, “I didn’t fall for it.”
The boys both laughed as they got closer to the fence, watching her slowly pace near the trees.
Next was Sun, but she didn’t make an appearance as I spoke about her species. “Well…unfortunately we can’t guarantee that every animal comes out to say hi,” I sighed. “But…oh wait, here she is.”
The green lion with several horns and many eyes along her flank came out from the forest. “Hello,” she spoke.
“Hi, Sun,” I replied. “We have visitors.”
“What’s that?” Wesley asked suddenly, pointing at the small plastic bag that was still where I’d left it.
“Oh! That is Sun’s enrichment,” I said with a smile. “I put dozens of books on a flash drive and found that she can read them just like she’d read a shelf of books.”
Wesley’s eyes widened. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve read about anyone trying that before. That’s really cool.”
“The books are new and interesting,” Sun spoke, drawing our attention. “I’m grateful for them.”
I nodded to her. “You’re quite welcome.”
The next animal, unfortunately, wasn’t there, and we waited around for ten minutes as we discussed him. He was large and reptile-like with red eyes, with its hind legs and tail making him look vaguely like a kangaroo. Then, enclosure ten was a terrifyingly disturbing creature, the not-a-centaur with no skin, that I’d only seen a few times while walking my route. It gave a good demonstration of its ferocity, showing its sharp teeth and snapping at us a few times.
“I’m thinking of trying salt licks and other horse enrichment like a big bouncy ball,” I told Wesley, whose eyebrows went up at that. “Maybe give him more things to forage like scattered grains or a box filled with pinecones and seeds. Foraging is a huge part of a horse’s life in the wild, and humans have to do a lot of activities like that to keep pet horses busy. Of course, he also loves the little salt-water lake that was built for him.”
We spent some time looking at the animal before moving past our last stop, the empty enclosure of the animal was stolen. Carla glanced at me with a sad smile, knowing what had happened, it seemed. I gave her a nod as we continued on our way, walking into the office. “So, I hope everyone enjoyed themselves!” I said with a smile.
“That was the coolest birthday present I’ve ever gotten,” Wesley said, looking to Denise. “Thanks so much, seriously.”
“It was my pleasure,” she said with a nod. “I’d never been here before, and knew I’d find it fascinating. Thank you for the educational aspect,” Denise said, glancing at me. “I learned quite a lot.”
“Happy to hear it,” I said, returning the nod.
As I escorted the guests out of the zoo and locked the door behind them, I reflected on how much I’d changed. The first time I’d seen Yui’s tarantula form, I’d nearly passed out from fear. Now here I was, walking tourists around like it was no big deal. Humans really can adapt to anything, it seems.
That afternoon, Suzanne had texted me that she was coming by after my shift, and I met her in Andrew’s office, shutting the door to the security room behind me. “How’s Andrew?” I asked first thing.
“He’s doing well,” she said with a wide smile. “Back on non-hospital food. He’s allowed to order food on his phone, and to hear it from him, that’s the best news he’d received in a long time.”
I chuckled. “I guess some clichés are true for a reason.”
“Indeed.” She took a breath. “All right. Ripley…I would like to discuss something with you.”
My face went slack at the serious tone in her voice. “I’m not… Am I being fired?”
“What? No!” she exclaimed. Then she chuckled softly. “No, it’s nothing like that. Just, here, let’s have a seat.” Suzanne walked over to the couch and sat at one end, and I took the other. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something I’ve kept from you, that I wanted to keep from you until you found your sea legs here.”
“Well…I have,” I said with a nod. “So, what is it?”
Suzanne took a breath. “I knew your mother.”
The words hung in the air for a moment before making their way to my ears. It was a perfectly logical sentence, and yet it didn’t make any sense. “What?” I finally managed.
“When you graduated college, I decided to move the zoo from Italy to within driving distance of your home,” she said softly. “Near enough to your town that you’d see the advert. We ignored any other applicants and I hoped you’d apply. Actually, I expected you’d apply. Not just for the money, but considering the field you wanted to go into. As soon as I’d found out your major, I knew.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I said, holding up a hand. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “How do you know Patricia?”
“She owned the zoo before I did,” Susan explained. “Fourteen years ago…she was working to track an injured animal that we could bring into the zoo and she was killed by poachers.”
My heart calcified in my chest and a lump lodged in my throat. As my breaths became shaky, I stared at her in shock. “She…she’s really dead?”
“You suspected?” she asked softly.
“It…” I swallowed hard. “We had her declared legally dead after…I don’t know, seven years I think. My dad wanted to go after her for child support, but the police said…they said they couldn’t find…” Tears came to my eyes and I blinked them back before I met Suzanne’s gaze. “She owned the zoo?”
Suzanne nodded. “It was her baby, you’d say. When Patricia passed, I inherited it, which we’d discussed beforehand, a legal just-in-case that I never expected her to need. I’m under the impression that you were told she went to Africa for her photography career, but she was in fact going to remote areas back in my home world almost every time.”
“But I-I saw the photos,” I said, my eyes narrowing. “You’re telling me she put on a show of getting pictures that someone else took for us to see every time she visited? Did my dad even know?”
“I suppose that’s an accurate way to put it, putting on a show. And no, your father was never told. It’s not the way of things to tell humans unless it’s necessary. I won’t bore you with the details, but us and humans, we’re distant relatives, so we can still have children. But it wasn’t planned. Your mother fell in love with your father despite herself; she hadn’t meant to find love. Then she became pregnant with you and…well, the rest is history.”
“I think she had a different definition of love than the one I have,” I said tightly. “You’d think she’d have put her survival as more of a priority. Put being with the man she ‘loved’ as a priority. Her kids needed her. I needed her. She signed up when she became a mom. She could’ve screwed up all the time but she couldn’t even manage that one job: be there. When I was in the hospital, I kept thinking, ‘Where is she?’ and now you’re telling me that she put these animals above being there for her kids, and this whole time she’s been dead.”
“The hospital?” she asked, furrowing her brows.
“Never mind,” I said tersely, averting my gaze.
Suzanne hesitated before she nodded slowly. “I’m sorry for your loss, and not just for her death, Ripley,” she told me. “Patricia was…well, a ‘free spirit’ would be putting it gently. She always assumed the world would be there for her whenever she needed it.”
Staring at her for a long moment, I shook my head. “Why? Why come here and hire me?”
“I thought that would be obvious,” she said, smiling. “Your mother was so passionate about this place and once I found out your college major, I figured you would be as well.”
“Did you know that I hate her?” At that, Suzanne’s expression froze on the edge of shock. “She…she left us,” I whispered. “Didn’t tell us who she was or what she really did for a living and gave us no closure. And even when she was here, it was just visiting. Her real home was her work. She could give me all the presents she wanted, but even when she was here, half the time she was still on her computer doing work. It’s not like that stereotype of never making it to my tennis practice or something; it’s that it always felt like she was only partially here, even when I was sitting next to her. I don’t even know if I appreciate her turning me into a wildlife fanatic because it…it…makes me feel like I’m close to her in a way that’s just infuriating. She loved the animals more than she loved us.”
“Oh, Ripley-”
“Don’t,” I said, shoving myself to my feet. “Don’t try to convince me otherwise.”
“I wasn’t going to,” she said quietly. I pursed my lips. “I was going to say that I’m sorry that was the case. Your mother was…flawed, just like any other person. She had two loves in this world: her family and her work. And often, her work overcame her, her zeal for environmentalism getting in the way of being a good mum. She left your father trying to fill the role of two parents, holding your family together. You and your brother and your father, you all deserved better than that.”
My lower lip quivered but I bit down on it hard. It would’ve been a lot easier for me if she’d been speaking from a place of clueless reassurance about all this. But everything she said was making sense and that meant I didn’t have someone in front of me to be angry with.
“Why didn’t you tell me when Andrew hired me?” I sighed, sitting back down on the couch.
“Well, like I said, I wanted you to find your sea legs,” she said with a small smile. “I didn’t want the truth affecting whether or not you wanted to work here, whether you wanted to stay here after finding out about what the animals are. It would’ve complicated things, the emotions you’ll have to work through now that you know the truth. Whether or not you decide to give another tour, you also know what they’re like. That’s the benchmark I wanted you to reach before you found out about who you are.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Who I-” My face went slack. “Wait.”
Suzanne nodded slowly. “You’re only half human. Your brother too.”
The room seemed to tilt on an axis for a moment. “That means I’m also half…what?”
“We call ourselves Eldritch, these days,” she replied.
My eyes bugged out. “What?” I exclaimed. “So you’re all, like, gods or something?”
Suzanne burst out laughing. “Oh no, goodness, no,” she chuckled. “It’s just a word. We live in a very different world from this one, and a few generations ago we discovered the word and it made its way into our lexicon. But it does mean you can see all the animals. Indeed you did, on the tour you gave.”
“Wait, no, I had the glasses that…” I stopped. “Did those glasses do anything?”
She gave a sly smile and shook her head. “Not a thing. You made incredibly quick progress, and then when it came time for the tour, all you needed was to expect to see the animals, and you did.”
Genetics. That’s what Andrew had said during our interview, that part of how many animals you could see was determined by genetics. I guess having a mother who was originally from the other dimension gave me all the genes I needed to see everything here. “Could I…visit your world?” I asked tentatively. “You said that my mom took photos of the animals there. Could I…” My voice trailed off, not even sure if or how I wanted to finish that sentence.
“Those who are half human, especially those who are raised on Earth, don’t come visit,” she said gently. “I could show you some photos of other animals, and I could loan you as many books as you’d like, but it’s simply not a place where you’d be safe.”
“Oh,” I said, leaning into the couch cushion as I pictured the animals in the zoo. “Yeah, actually that…makes sense.” I paused. “So, what now?”
“It’s up to you,” she said. “I wanted to wait until I was sure you were comfortable with your position here, and then put the ball in your court. And so it is. What do you want to do now?”
What did I want to do? It wasn’t that difficult a question, just a deep, serious one.
I wanted to thrive, as the animals did. This is my enrichment now, working at an incredible, wonderful, terrifying zoo. The experience so far hasn’t been perfect, and I know there are risks, but life isn’t about staying safe. It’s about learning new things and making a difference in the world. And, if you’re lucky, having a job that’s something really special.
THE END
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Hi, all! I'm going to be getting on a plane tomorrow and I'd like to pack a couple boxes of food to bring on with me. I'll be meeting my parents past security and they'll have gotten on their connecting flight pretty early in the morning, with less than 1 hour between flights, so they won't be able to really get a meal in their layover.
I have a couple different sizes of these stainless steel Splash Boxes that nest into each other once they are empty, and I plan to pack a kind of charcuterie, snack-box type meal with sliced baguette, cheese, olives, some prosciutto or pre-sliced salami, marcona almonds, etc. I will be skipping jam/honey/hummus/anything too liquidy, in deference to TSA.
Mostly pondering: tightly packed so they shouldn't shift too much, I'm hoping if I have to slot them sideways into my luggage, they'll be okay? (Airline staff can be pretty militant about one carry-on + one personal item while getting on the plane. I might also see if I can get away with putting my personal item + the food containers into a tote bag and using the tote bag as my personal item. I don't think the food containers, especially un-nested, will fit into my personal item packed for the plane.)
Also, how would you handle not being able to wash the containers? I'm not packing dish cleaning supplies. It's a little wasteful, but I wonder if lining the boxes with plastic/cling wrap before packing, with another layer over the top between the food/lid, will be okay? And then just toss the wrap once we're done eating? Does anyone else have any other ideas? I guess the best answer would be to have disposable containers, but I don't (and once emptied and nested, the boxes will fit fine in my luggage for the rest of the trip).

I used this sub reddit to make a few decisions for a first family cruise and wanted to return the favor. I cruised often but 15 years ago and short party trips. This is my first royal carribean cruise and below are my thoughts. Please forgive spelling/grammeformatting as I use my phone.
First about myself as I found all advice without knowing who was writing them useless. Wife and I are 40s and kids 5&7.
Boarding was very easy and quick and since we did late boarding our room was ready.
Room was a basic balcony on the 9th floor. Plenty of room for 2 adults and 2 kids and watching whales from the balcony was amazing. I couldn't imagine doing 7 days without the balcony however. 10/10
Drinks/bars - I am a drinker and my wife is wine at dinner type. Regardless the drink package was worth every penny. I could order two at a time and my wife could try new things. Add coffee, water, juices and I find the drink package worth it
The drinks themselves were all well made and the wait was none or minimal. Drinks flowed freely and shout out to however mentioned frozen mojitos. Snagging beer to take the room was easy as well.
Two complaints RC could put a little effort into making alaska menus and not recycling carribean menu and the vintage wine bar only has a couple glasses and half those are over $14 limit. Just felt cheap on RC part. 9/10
Food - I will break this down by my experience but I am on the side of the complainers. This is no culinary cruise. Basically the kids didn't care. I think I am a decent judge of food as I have both served on ships in the Navy and eaten at the best restraunts in the world.
MDR - Mostly bad with the odd exception that the soups are always pretty good. But if you get any main dish that seems creative it will just be salt. However I give then credit that they will make you a simple dish if you ask so I had a ton of plain salmon. It is also sad that they will never improve because the servers warn against giving a bad review and they deserve 10/10 however the MDR is 5/10 at best. I would do a food package next time.
Chops - the steaks are cooked well they are just lower quality. Again I enjoyed the soups however the sides are inedible. 6/10
Wonderland - The appetizer I felt ranged bad to I wanted to puke (test tube). The main halibut was actually really good but presentation was plastic bag boxed meals my mom used to make (easy bake). Dessert however my wife ans I both enjoyed. 5/10
Windjammer - Not a chance I would go in here again. 1st off it is a SHIPshow finding seating and the food is generally bad. People coughing, dodging the hand washing ugh. 0/10
Harp and horn pub - RC should be embarrassed charging for these microwaved inedible crap. 0/10
Pizza was enjoyable, mini desserts were fine, and sandwiches were hit or miss. 7/10
Sushi spot - only meal I can say I would choose to eat off ship. Decent fish and great rolls. If I find myself in the cruise again I would eat this most times.
Service - 10/10 top to bottom. Highlight of the cruise.
Ports - sitka was small but they had an amazing playground for the kids and the totem poles were cool.
Icy straight point is a tourist trap and I wouldn't leave the ship again. But man oh man whales everywhere and eagles flying around.
Juneau - I enjoyed this stop. Tracy crab chowder is worth the line and the glacier is worth seeing. We took a cab $100 round trip.
Overall however non of the stops would make me come back.
Ocean adventure - The kids had to be dragged out which was amazing because it is 80% of why we booked the cruise. 10/10
Shows were all fun, pools are amazing with diligent life guards and plenty of space.
Overall we enjoyed the trip and the kids loved the trip. For me I would cruise again but to me it is a value vacation. I wouldn't splurge on a suite but if you get a good price on a balcony you really can't beat the value given.
Other random notes: gambling is great with single zero roulette and quick drinks.
Everyone was incredibly nice. I read several people complaining about other passengers on here but we only experienced kind people or those minded to themselves.
My kids however would live on this ship if they could.