First / Previous / Next
-----------------------------
Daniel heaved up Hannah’rah to prevent her from falling off of his back as he carried her back from their walk, which she happened to misjudge the length of. He didn’t mind too much, as she was fairly light, but the frequency that it was happening made him suspicious that she might be doing it on purpose.
“Hey, sleepy, you still awake?” he asked.
“Mmh?” she quietly replied.
“If you’re this tired, I’m not sure we’ll make the gaming tournament tomorrow.”
“I’ll be fine, ‘s why I’m resting now.”
“Uh huh. And do get to rest as well at some point, right?”
“You need less sleep than me,” she mumbled.
“Any chance I can sleep in a little and wake up to a nice breakfast?”
“‘Course.”
“Thank you,” he replied, turning his head and kissing her on the lips.
-----------------------------
Daniel yawned as he woke up, looking around his room on the Trailmaker, and at Hannah'rah who was still asleep next to him. He gently stroked her head for a moment wondering if there was any chance he could get her planet side with him, maybe even to go on a walk like they used to, but with her duties to defend the ship, especially with an open connection to the station, and the fact that there wasn't anything that only she could do down on the planet, he realised it was practically impossible. He instead spent his waking energy running through his spell exercises, manipulating a weighted ball on the desk completely with magic and getting used to holding spells for a longer period of time. As he did it, he attempted to recall some of his dream again, but all he could remember of it was that it was based on a memory of them hiking together.
As he was doing so, he realised that it had been a while since he'd attempted to speak with Ordos, and now that he was back in UPC space, there was a better chance of success. He uttered an invitation, and waited.
'There's a reason us Deities don't respond all the time, you know,' Ordos told him.
'Sorry, but I had to try again to see if I could,' Daniel apologised.
‘What did you wish to ask?’ Ordos asked.
‘You probably know, but I have two questions. The first is, am I the first person to align with you?’
‘You are currently the only person aligned with me. A sort of test, if you will,’ the God confirmed.
‘Thank you, and second, are you here in this system?’
‘No, I’m on Earth, or my main physical form is anyway.’
‘When I come back to Earth, can I meet you please?’
‘That depends on many things, and some are unlikely.’
‘I understand. Thank you for taking the time to speak to me.’
‘You’re welcome,’ Ordos told him. ‘I do have something for you, however, which is why we’re talking right now. There’s a “friend” of yours on the station, looking to have a chat like before the Trailmaker left port. Do what you will with this information.’
‘Thank you, Ordos, I appreciate the warning,’ Daniel replied, sensing the connection end.
-----------------------------
Daniel adjusted his jacket, making sure it was sitting comfortably over his uniform and obscuring his rank slides and brassard, and disembarked from the Trailmaker onto the station. He mainly wanted to wear it so he wasn’t purely in space uniform when he was planet side, but it would help him be slightly harder to spot in a crowd, as anyone could own a jacket, but not his ranks and awards. He knew he had a little time to kill before his shuttle was ready, so he began to check some of the select civilian stands laid out in a small market that had been allowed to set up shop to sell some things to the Navy personnel, as well as allow the few Langan aboard to try some of the smaller luxuries the UPC had to offer. He joined the back of a small line to a food stall to see if he could grab a few small treats, and he was pleased to see signage saying that everything on sale was rated safe for all species, including Langan.
When he got to the front of the line, he picked up four bars of chocolate, as well as four bottles of cola. He presented his holo to the payment terminal, confirmed the slightly overpriced transaction, and made sure it went through. He smiled at the stall attendant who was just there to restock and deal with any Langan customers, and walked away, stuffing the items into his jacket pockets, securing them properly.
Finding he still had a bit of time, he also headed over to a less busy stall nearby that was staffed by a Lagan looking to make a head start in their new life, selling some copies of Langan items. Daniel had a quick browse, and his eyes landed on a set of books he thought could make a useful tool to help him learn Langan writing a little faster if he decided to learn it. He saw the price and knew he could just wait a few months and get them online for dirt cheap, but he admired the stall keeper's desire to get started out again, so he bought the books which worked out to be about two day’s salary, making the Langan very happy.
He checked the time once again to see that he could probably start boarding the shuttle very soon, so he began to casually make his way towards the shuttle bay, checking his messages to see if anything had come through, finding a few messages from his group of friends welcoming him back to UPC space, and correctly guessing that his ship was the one to make first contact. He sent a quick reply to them all, thanking them and promising to talk properly when he had more time. He also found a message from an unverified source, which he quickly read and deleted, finding the information within to be useful but disappointing, reminding him he still had to sort out the chip he was hiding.
“Lieutenant Daniel Hardbrooks, what a pleasant surprise!”
Daniel stopped as he felt a hand on his shoulder, looking to his side to see someone he didn’t recognise, wearing the stereotypical agent suit. “Wrong person, sorry.”
“Don’t be like that, I just want to have a quick chat, that’s all.”
“I’m not a Lieutenant, and you’re not wearing a Navy ID or a visitor pass, so I strongly suggest you identify yourself before I call for security,” Daniel replied.
“Agent Johnson, CSB,” the man told him, flashing their ID.
“Ok, but you’ve still got the wrong person, and I don’t have a lot of time, so sorry, and good luck on you manhunt.”
“Sorry, Lieutenant Commander Hardbrooks,” the man apologised in a snide tone.
“I still don’t have time, goodbye,” Daniel replied, walking away.
"I'm afraid I really need to talk," the Agent insisted, grabbing Daniel's left arm to prevent him from walking away.
"I politely request you let go."
"There's a quiet room down the way where we can talk."
"I strongly suggest you let go," Daniel sternly persisted.
"And I strongly suggest you come with me," the Agent warned him, glancing at Daniel's arm as it beeped, indicating something that shouldn't be used accidentally had just been powered on.
"I am giving you one-"
"Come on, Lieutenant Commander, you're holding up the shuttle."
Daniel looked over his other shoulder as Milla grabbed his other arm and firmly pulled him away from the Agent and towards the shuttle bay, forcing the Agent to let go. Daniel looked back at the Agent, who prepared to give chase, but was immediately confronted with two military police officers.
"Thanks for the save," Daniel told her.
"We're even for you helping me after the jump, right?" she asked, messing with her holo.
"Yeah, sure. How did you kn-"
"Saw the guy arrive yesterday, and heard about your CSB encounter from Hannah'rah. I put two and two together, and got the MPs to keep an eye on him. They probably can't do anything to him, but they can waste his time for not wearing proper ID, which is great for an opportune moment. The timing of me being there to call them over and pull you away was just luck really," she shrugged, closing her holo. "Oh, and by the way, you're on my shuttle now."
"Oh, thanks," he replied, checking the notification as it came through.
"No problem. You'd really think that they'd drop the suit and try to blend in, making sure they at least have fake IDs on display, but nope. It's like everyone there is addicted to century old spy movies or something."
"I know what you mean. A high-vis jacket and a clipboard would be a much better disguise. People might even help you."
"Don't give them ideas," she warned him as she guided him onto a small shuttle, revealing that they were the only two passengers, and when she closed the door, they had complete privacy. "So, why is a government agency after you?"
"I'm not 100% sure, as both times they never managed to get to the point," he shrugged, sitting down and buckling in. "I have a suspicion they want to recruit me, as if they wanted to arrest me, I wouldn't have gotten away so easily. As for where this comes from, well, I have a grey hat background. They could just be trying to find out if I know anything I shouldn't do from that I suppose."
"Grey hat is legal, right?"
"Yes, but you have to tread carefully, as a small slip up can get you in a lot of trouble."
"That's fine then," she replied, signalling to the shuttle pilot on her holo that they were good to go once they were both securely seated. "If that man is still on the station when we return, I think you should stay with me until we're on the ship, just to make it so you can't be singled out."
"Thanks, Milla."
"So, I'm curious to know what you would have done if I didn't arrive in time."
"Oh, I probably would have tased him and reported him for assault after he didn't let go. He wasn't operating by the books, didn't present his ID well enough for me to verify it, and ignored my requests, so I was about to electricity my arm. After all there was no way for me to know if he was telling the truth, and I'm not going to let myself be taken to an unknown place by a shady person," he explained, slightly smirking. "I am a senior officer after all, it's a massive security risk to the Navy if some crook captures me. I can only comply with MPs while on a Naval facility."
"Sounds reasonable to me," Milla chuckled as the shuttle touched down. "Perfect, we're here."
"That was fast."
"Good shuttle and a good pilot," she explained, disembarking and sending the pilot a message of thanks.
"So, I managed to get planet access to help Oprin, but how did you manage," he asked as the shuttle took off behind them.
"Oh, I just needed some fresh air after my recent incident."
"You're lucky you're a Gater. That excuse would never fly with anyone else."
"Yeah, probably not. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get special treatment, such as the ear of MPs, and being able to squeeze friends on private shuttles, instead of slightly more open ones that might have an unwanted ‘friend’ onboard."
“Very lucky and very useful,” he agreed, pulling a bottle of cola and a bar of chocolate out of his pocket. “Here, I was going to give you this when I was back on the ship, but now is as good of a time as any.”
“Giving treats to other women? You’re brave.”
“I’m giving them to all my friends. I have the same for Hannah'rah and Oprin,” he explained.
“I’m glad I’m your friend then,” she replied, opening both and having a small amount of each. “So, what are your plans for today?”
“Just help Oprin with whatever she needs.”
“Mind if I tag along? I didn’t really come here with any more plans than to just wander around and help out where I could.”
“It's up to Oprin really.”
“Fair enough.”
Daniel began to lead Milla down various roads, away from the temporary spaceport, and down to the residential area Oprin’s house was located in. The streets stretched for much longer than they did when he left the day before, but the addition of new homes had been halted to save on the currently limited resources, as there were far more than were required for the current residents, plus a tenth of the currently frozen Langan, and more could easily be built when the logistics hiccup had been resolved. Instead, the few deliveries were more focussed on permanent infrastructure, delivering resources to a few construction ships that had landed and started building a small fusion power plant and multi-purpose factories. Ignoring all that though, they continued until they arrived at Oprin’s home, and Daniel knocked on the door, it opening a moment later to reveal Oprin.
“Oh hello, Daniel,” Oprin happily announced. “Oh, Milla too!”
“How are you doing, Oprin?” Daniel asked.
“Good, but having a few issues with some of the new stuff,” she replied. “Come in and sit down.”
Daniel and Milla obliged, entering and noticing that Oprin’s holo was turned on, but waiting on standby mode with half a dozen icons on display, including the mute, 2D mode, and resolution adjustment mode. A few moments later, she put some glasses of water and a plate of biscuits on the table in front of them, and sat down next to them.
“So, how are things?” Daniel asked.
“It’s nice to live somewhere so comfortable, but I wish I understood more of your technology,” she replied.
“The best thing to do is not to overthink things. We try to keep most things as simple as possible so even a young child would have no problems operating things. All you need to do is slow down and think simple,” he told her, holding up the two remotes, one with significantly more buttons than the other. “Let’s start with the holo here. Ignore the programming remote, and just focus on the normal one. The number buttons allow you to switch to a channel quickly if you know the number, but you don’t, so we can ignore those for now, as well as the circle underneath, as we aren’t dealing with menus. Next, we have two flick switches, once for channel, and one for volume. Flick either up to increase either the channel number or volume number, or down to decrease them. The four buttons underneath are for the channel menu, display resize, dimension mode, and mute. The first can be ignored as it hasn’t been translated yet, and the display resize can as well for now. The dimension mode will change it between 2D and 3D, depending on your preference, and the mute turns the sound on or off. Finally, the red button at the top turns the holo on and off.”
“Ok, so how do I get back to the start?” Oprin asked.
“Just a second,” he replied, playing around with the programming remote to undo everything she had done, slowly resetting everything to its default and setting the holo to the state-run news channel. “Ok, there we go.”
“So what’s this now?”
“So this is the most popular new channel. It details the major headlines from all over the UPC, with segments about local news as well. It gives factual and unbiased reports on many things, but given how general it is, it might not always be relevant to you, and given how it does its best to be unbiased, it can be a bit robotic and boring at times. They worry that any significant emotion will impact how viewers perceive different stories, rather than being able to freely interpret it their own way. It’s a good way to catch up on big things, but it gets boring very quickly, so if you want actual entertainment, you can try one of the other channels. There are a fair few more news channels sprinkled about, but the majority of the remaining channels are purely for entertainment.”
“I see,” she replied, flicking through a few, stopping on one that was currently running a program about various types of spaceships, focussing more on personal high-performance ones. She also spent a few moments flipping between 2D and 3D, and eventually settled on 2D, as she could pick up some faint lighting issues thanks to the sunlight with 3D.
“Also, just so you’re aware, though you don’t have to look now, there are some subscription streaming services that allow you to watch premium content on demand, but you will have to pay and the controls to navigate aren’t as simple. Just so you know if you end up looking for more in the future. They also don’t break up what you’re watching with advertisements.”
“How frequent are the advertisements?” Oprin asked.
“It depends on the channel. State-run ones don’t have any, aside from advertising new shows that will be on that channel later, but some of the others can run up to five minutes of ads every 15-30 minutes.”
“Sounds better than our radio already. About half of the broadcast was advertisements on a good day, and the other half were carefully curated news stories.”
“Sounds like it wasn’t much fun to listen to,” Milla commented.
“No, it really wasn’t. Thankfully, I was too young at the time to have any interest in it.”
-----------------------------
First / Previous / Next
-----------------------------
Hi all, just wanted to sorry if the dream sequence felt a little odd for what I normally do. I wanted to make some small changes based on some feedback to show a little more of Daniel and Hannah'rah's past, which is hard to do in the current situation.
I also wanted to make people aware of the Reddit blackout protest happening on the 12th of June. I just wanted to say that I will continue to post my episodes here during the blackout in case any of you are worried, partly due to the sub not taking part in it as well as me not wanting to disrupt your entertainment, but I do agree with the premise behind it and encourage people to look into it if they are unaware of what’s going on.

Day 1:
Few of the tributes got much sleep that night. The parties all throughout the Capitol did not end until dawn, and the noise could be heard in the accommodation building. Vannery and Carton ate breakfast slowly, like zombies. They were subsequently taken to the holding rooms. Organza wished Carton good luck before accompanying Vannery in her cell. She kept trying to reassure her as she put on her beige shorts and t-shirt. The young girl attached her hair with a purple ribbon that had been provided and climbed into the glass tube. Organza hugged her one last time, feeling her tears soaking her shoulder.
It was Platonia Travers who accompanied Carton. She muttered to herself about the outfit choice for this year. She tried to be cold to the boy, but she accepted to help him tie the purple ribbon to his wrist. He gave her a sad smile : “I probably won’t come back, but it’s nice to know that everyone in the Capitol isn’t heartless.” Platonia stood, mute, as the boy’s platform started to rise. She couldn’t keep the tears in this time.
A few cells over, the atmosphere was as morose. Alexandra had finally deigned to discuss their strategy with Delta. She accepted his plan of staying on the sidelines while he ran to the cornucopia. Still, he looked at her suspiciously and hounded her about working together for the whole breakfast. Halifax gave Delta one last pill to combat the morphling withdrawal, assuring him that the only symptoms he would experience were a mild headache and maybe some stiffness. He subsequently accompanied him to his holding room while Sean Callahan went with Alexandra.
Halifax took advantage of being alone with his mentee : “You shouldn’t trust her. I know these kinds of girls. They look harmless, but they’ll stab you in the back as soon as you let down your guard.”
“But-but…”
“You like her, huh ? Too bad, she doesn’t. So, man up and move on !”
Delta did not know what else to say. He climbed into the glass tube in silence, his brows forming a single black line over his dark eyes.
In the next holding room, another conversation was happening. “You don’t plan on allying with Delta, do you ?” asked Sean Callahan. Alexandra looked away coyly. “ I have other plans… With Angelo, we have an agreement.”
The mentor sighed, but he did not criticize the girl. He just told her to be prudent. You couldn’t trust careers. Alexandra nodded then flinched as the glass tube started descending from the ceiling.
The first thing she noticed as she rose into the arena was the noise. She hadn’t even emerged that she could hear a cacophony of bird songs. It was almost deafening, and she covered her ears before protecting her eyes from the sunlight.
The racket made Delta’s headache intensify. He first looked to his sides ; Hattie (3) cowered on the left while Angelo (2), on the right, was focusing on the cornucopia. This year, it had been made out of a thin weave of golden metal, almost like a very shiny basket. After this zoom on the cornucopia, the cameras started moving around to show off the arena. The tributes stood in the clearing of a dense rainforest. The terrain was relatively flat, with a few creeks and an explosion of colorful flowers. The main attraction of it was the birds, however, as thousands of them fluttered about, sang, and screamed.
As Carton looked around for his allies, Head Gamemaker Vishwa welcomed the tributes and wished the odds to be ever in their favor before starting the 30 seconds countdown. With Borea (5) and the girl from 10 to his sides, he didn’t feel safe. He finally found what he was looking for, but he didn’t like that his allies were so spread out. He made eye contact with Rivage and Vannery but was unable to see Sardine, who stood on the opposite side of the cornucopia.
Vannery caught sight of her district partner, as well as Sardine. She gave them a small wave, but made the mistake of looking to her left, where Perfecto (1) was sneering at her. Georges (N), on the other side, was just as intimidating. Instead, she looked straight ahead. As the countdown reached ten, she spotted a coil of rope on the outside of the cornucopia.
Delta had been pondering, unsure if it was worth entering the bloodbath. Alexandra, who happened to be just two podiums over, winked at him. She then pointed to the cornucopia. He understood. At that moment, the countdown reached zero. He sprinted to the center of the clearing, expecting her to follow, but she stayed on her podium.
On later replays, it was shown that Alexandra was winking at Angelo and not her district partner. As the boy from 2 sprinted forth to the cornucopia, the girl waited for a few seconds. She moved only when most of the other tributes were too occupied and grabbed a knife as well as a small bag of food. Angelo acted like he helped the other career tributes in order to pick up weapons and supplies, but as soon as they were occupied, he joined Alexandra. The pair was actually one of the first to leave the clearing, not counting Circuit (3) and the pair from 10 who had run away immediately.
When Vannery realized that she was running side to side with Perfecto (1), she immediately changed course and ran to Carton. She had to give up on the rope but managed to pick a water bottle off of the corpse of the boy from 9, who had just been stabbed by Glare (9).
If the career pack didn’t notice the disappearance of one of theirs, it wasn’t the case for Delta. When he saw his district partner escape with Angelo, he became enraged. He tried to exit the cornucopia. Fraxen then attacked him to try and steal his backpack. Delta threw him to the ground and punched him so hard it broke his neck. Now he had lost trace of Alexandra. As the fighting started to die down, he ran in a random direction.
Carton had dodged one of Glare’s knives and grabbed a bag of food and an unwieldy lance before Vannery and Rivage joined him. The trio heard Sardine scream from the other side of the cornucopia. Carton wanted to go and help her, but a second gargled wail convinced him that they couldn’t do anything else, especially since Proserpina (2) had now retrieved her axe from Sardine’s chest. As they left, they could hear the crunching of Ora’s neck (12) at the hands of Georges (N).
Meanwhile, Alexandra and Angelo were already far away, giggling at each other. It was only after Perfecto had stabbed Hattie (3) to death that the career pack noticed Angelo’s absence, but they didn’t seem bothered by it.
Delta was halfway to the perimeter when the five bloodbath cannons sounded. He was still seething, and the running helped him calm down. Eventually, he collapsed on the side of and old mossy tree, out of breath. Once he was a little better, he explored his surroundings. The big tree had a hole in his roots where Delta could fit, although it was a squeeze. He decided to stay there for now and used moss to hide himself. He also put some in his ears, which helped with his headache.
Carton, Rivage and Vannery had been running in the opposite direction. They wanted to put the most distance between themselves and the other tributes. They stopped long after the bloodbath cannons had sounded. They set up camp a few hundred feet away from the Northern part of the perimeter, next to a creek. Carton helped Rivage to take inventory. He had the lance, Rivage had gotten a trident, and between the three of them they had enough food to last two days at most. The bottle Vannery had taken was only half full, but the water of the creek was clear and drinkable.
The trio decided to stay put. Vannery and Carton would work on a shelter while Rivage fished for their dinner, as they had agreed to during training. In the early afternoon, they heard hurried footsteps coming their way. The boys readied their weapon, protecting Vannery between the two of us. Circuit (3) came running into their little encampment, which took him by surprise. He skidded to a halt and turned around as quickly as he’d arrived, leaving the trio dumbfounded.
Angelo and Alexandra had quite enough supplies to last a while. He held a sword in his hand and an “emergency axe” strapped to his back, while Alexandra held two knives. At first, they wanted to get away from the careers, but Alexandra eventually convinced Angelo to follow them from afar. They weren’t really hard to track, their bickering could be heard over the constant chatter of the birds. The noise also covered them. Proserpina, Glare and Perfecto were circling around the central clearing, slowly moving away from it. In the late afternoon, they discovered Forger (12) who was lying unconscious. He had received a deep wound during the bloodbath and was now at the mercy of the other tributes. Proserpina killed him.
The subsequent cannon surprised Vannery. She had climbed on top of a tree to get a view of the arena, and the sudden sound almost made her loose her grip. She didn’t fall, but while reaching her hand for a hold, she grabbed something warm and spherical. It crumbled and a viscous liquid dripped onto her finger. She looked up. She had inadvertently grabbed an egg from a nest. She was silent a moment, and a bright purple starling looked at her. “Oh no !” she whispered to herself. The bird screamed louder than she thought possible. Then it attacked.
All the birds in a radius of 50 feet coalesced into a multicolored tornado. Vannery fell to the ground, fortunately not hurting herself on the way down, and a feathery mass started clawing and pecking at her. They also attacked Carton and Rivage, who had been chilling at a distance. They batted the volatiles away, trying not to get scratched. Vannery managed to get up and run to the makeshift tent they had built. She picked up Carton’s lance and swung it, hitting some of the birds. She swung a second time and hit the metallic water bottle with a resounding CLANG! It seemed to stun the birds, but Vannery was too busy keeping them out of her face. Carton, however, noticed their reaction to the noise. He shouted loudly and flailed his arms : “Make noise ! They don’t like noise !”. Just his screaming was enough though. Eventually, the three tributes managed to drive the mutts out by hitting their weapons against rocks and the water bottle and screaming as loud as they could.
Delta also had an encounter with some angry birds. Those were red, with a long curvy beak and fearsome talons, but he managed to kill them all with a big branch he used as a bat. He then ate them, cooked over a small fire. Argus berated him for building a fire that could alert the other tributes to his location. However, the “Aviary Jungle” as it had been baptized by Urania Whimsiwick herself, was way too dense for anyone to see the smoke.
As the sun started to set, Delta squeezed himself back into his root hole, being careful to camouflage himself with moss. He held his branch in front of him just in case. An hour later, two cannons sounded in quick succession. They belonged to the pair from 10, who had had the great idea of making an omelet. The flock did not appreciate that…
When the sun started to set, Angelo suggested he and Alexandra find a place to sleep, preferably away from the career pack. She agreed, so they stopped following. They looked for a safe spot in the light of the dusk, eventually settling on the middle of a tight thicket. It was complicated to get inside, but the small space was comfortable, and the pair even had a view of the darkening sky. They ate some food then laid down, hand in hand. “Your district partner doesn’t seem to mind that you ditched her” joked Alexandra.
“I don’t think she cares. Maybe they believe I’m dead. But they’re not looking for us at least.”
“I think Delta is, though. You should have seen his face when he saw us. I almost feel bad about leading him on.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get rid of him if he isn’t dead yet.”
“I’m sure he’s feeling the same thing”, responded Alexandra before going to sleep. Angelo kept the first watch.
In another section of the arena, Carton took the first watch. He had spent the remaining hours of daylight cleaning his wounds, along with Rivage and Vannery. The two of them slept, hoping to feel better the next day.
A little before midnight, Rivage awoke. He came to sit next to Carton, and the boys talked about their families, their school. Suddenly, a cannon sounded. It belonged to Ulma (7), who had stumbled upon Quinoa’s (9) camp by accident. The younger girl had not hesitated to stab a pointy branch in Ulma’s throat. This cannon prompted Carton to go to sleep, Rivage taking second watch.
At midnight, the hymn of Panem resounded in the arena and the portraits of the 9 fallen appeared in the sky : Hattie (3), Sardine (4), Fraxen and Ulma (7), the boy (9), both (10), Ora and Forger (12). This left 17 tributes after an eventful and interesting day.
Day 2:
Delta didn’t sleep much that night. The uncomfortable position coupled with a strong headache meant that he was up before the sunrise. As the first hints of blue appeared to the east, Delta got up. He needed to occupy his mind. The moss had stuck to his clothes, and he decided to take advantage of it. He caked his face and hands in mud and used it to stick more moss to his clothes. Urania commented that he looked like a green Orang-utang, which prompted laughter in the Capitol. Once he was fully camouflaged, he started roaming the arena. Stealthily at first, but as the sun rose and the birds started their cacophony as well, he allowed himself to move a little faster.
Alexandra and her district partner had spent a restful night. As she awoke, she was surprised to be cuddling with Angelo. Her rousing awakened him, and he turned around to look at her, puzzled. “I guess you’re the little spoon”, she joked. They ate cereal bars in awkward silence. Soon, the voices of the career pack walking in their direction prompted the pair to hide. Proserpina and Perfecto were loudly arguing about someone stealing their water bottles. Unbeknownst to them, it had been Glare who had hidden them in her own bag.
As they moved away from her, Alexandra suggested they follow the trio like the day before. Angelo thought it was a safe strategy as long as they kept their distances. They made their way out of the thorny thicket and followed. A few minutes later, a scream warned them that something was going on. It was Glare (1). She’d walked into a trap laid by Georges the day before and was now hanging upside down from a rope. Perfecto started to help her, but the stolen bottles fell from her bag, along with a few hidden knives and more food. Instead of killing her, as Perfecto wanted to do, Proserpina convinced him to leave her there. She screamed and screamed. Proserpina and Perfecto left her there wiggling. Before Alexandra and Angelo could arrive, the thin rope holding up Glare by the ankle snapped. She fell headfirst on the ground and her cannon sounded. Alexandra winced, but Angelo told her that it was better this way, since you could survive for many hours hanging this way. Then another cannon sounded.
Delta had been unsuccessful for a few hours. He had avoided a couple of poorly made traps and fought off a flock of tiny yellow canaries but had been unable to find another tribute. Eventually, he decided to change tactics. He found a path that clearly looked like it was in use and hid in proximity. His ambush eventually worked. Lavandine (11) walked past him, clutching a meagre stick in her pale hands. She didn’t even notice him getting up and following her, his branch raised. Many viewers thought it looked cartoonish, the tiny girl, followed by a big man with a club, not noticing anything. Glare’s cannon gave him the signal he expected, and he swung at her head. Lavandine flew and crashed into a patch of ferns. Her head was bloody, but she was still alive. Delta walked up to her in order to finish what he had started. The cameras cut to another group of tributes.
For the whole morning, Vannery, Rivage and Carton had been staying put. They foraged, fished, and built rudimentary spears just in case. Vannery climbed trees, very carefully in order not to disturb any more birds, so she could spot any tributes. Eventually she did, a little after midday. The pair from district 5 was heading their way. They were armed.
Vannery transmitted the information to the boys, who debated leaving or fighting. “Let’s fight !” said Vannery. There were 3 of them against 2, and they had weapons. Carton had his lance, Rivage his trident, and her… a spear and a rock would do the trick. So, they waited for what felt like a century. As soon as Borea and Zapp entered their field of vision, they attacked. The pair was surprised, but not enough to let themselves be killed that easily. Borea shouted at Zapp to run while she fended of Rivage’s trident with her sword. She had wrapped metal coil all around her arms, as she had seen on one of the older games. They clashed for an instant, enough time for her to disarm him, and then she ran too. On the way, she threw an egg she’d hidden in her pocket to the group. A flock of angry sparrows was the distraction the pair from 5 needed to escape.
Proserpina and Perfecto seemed to have made up a little and were now actively hunting. Still, they weren’t aware of the couple _ the “double A couple” as they were now called in the Capitol _ following them from afar. They dared not speak, but the looks they shared meant a lot more. They say love makes you blind, and maybe that’s why Alexandra didn’t see the orange and turquoise pheasant she walked on. It screamed and ran away, catching the attention of Proserpina. She turned around and shouted, “I knew it !” before charging at Angelo and her ally. Her first axe hit a tree a few inches above Alexandra’s head. She was hesitant to fight a career, but Angelo had already jumped into the fray and was now battling his district partner. So, she ran at Perfecto, who was lagging behind. He quickly turned around and sprinted when Proserpina’s cannon sounded. Angelo had managed to stab her in the gut. The look of betrayal was still printed on her face as the hovercraft claw took her away.
The pair was unsure if they needed to pursue the boy from 1, as Angelo assured that he was an “ego-inflated wimp” . Instead, they rifled through the bag Proserpina had dropped and decided to rest a little. They could have stayed there longer if it hadn’t been for the fire…
After getting rid of the birds, the trio decided to keep following Zapp and Borea (5) in order to get their supplies. Vannery managed to track them thanks to their footprints and the trail of broken branches. They found them quite quickly. Indeed, the gamemakers had decided to trigger a forest fire in order to move the tributes around a little. This explained why they had seen so many birds flying away. The pair from 5, however, had found themselves cornered on three sides by the flames, and the last side was where Carton and his allies arrived from.
Rivage thrusted his trident straight into Borea’s back, sounding her cannon. Carton’s lance, however, flew past Zapp and into the fiery inferno. The boy from 4 barely had the time to pick up his trident before a tree fell, smashing into the boy from 5 and sounding his cannon. As other trees started to creak and groan, Vannery led the boys back to the creek, where she believed the water would keep them safe.
Delta ran as soon as he smelled smoke. He ended up in a small clearing in the Southern part of the arena. As the grass quickly burned, he jumped into the flames. Many viewers gasped, thinking he had just killed himself, but he just ran a few seconds then stopped. Argus explained that the fire had been controlled in a way that it burned quickly and extinguished itself just as fast. From his spot of scorched earth, Delta was safe for now. From the sky descended a small silver parachute bearing the number 6. It contained a water bottle and some aspirin. Delta was the only one to use this strategy successfully. A few minutes after him, Circuit (3), who was shorter and weaker, tried. He fell face first into the fire and did not get up, his cannon sounding a few moments later.
Angelo and Alexandra were some of the closest to the central clearing, so it was after the three cannons that the fire reached them. They ran. Angelo was practically flying but the fire was catching up to Alexandra. Another tree cracked. It crashed onto the girl, pinning her legs to the ground. Thankfully, it was a much younger tree, and it did not cause her much more damage. For an instant, Alexandra thought the boy from 2 would just keep running. That he would be glad to get rid of yet another opponent. But he turned around. He used his axe as a lever, bending it in the process, to get the girl free. Then he picked her up onto his back and ran again. Angelo was not a very muscular tribute, but he proved to be quite a strong one.
Neither Carton, nor his allies had suffered any injury thanks to Vannery’s quick thinking. The creek was wide enough to protect them from the flames, and they avoided any falling branch. Quinoa (9) had had the same idea. She internally debated reaching the small group, but eventually decided not to. In the late afternoon, it started to rain, revealing that many of the trees and plants of the forest were actually fireproof. It was much sparser now, but the rain cleaned off the soot and, soon enough, the forest was green again.
Rivage, Vannery and Carton huddled together. They stayed that way for the whole evening, until Carton took the first watch while the other two went to sleep.
Delta was almost unharmed too, apart from a few minor burns on his ankles. The aspirin had taken effect, and for once in a long time, he felt totally clear headed. He hoped his district partner had died today.
The fire had changed the landscape quite a lot. What used to be a lush jungle was now less green. The ground was visible in most places, and the humidity levels had gone down. The sky was more visible. It also meant that the traps set by Georges and Odette (N) on the first day were either destroyed or very conspicuous. The boy from 6 avoided them all.
Delta found a pond where he cleaned himself from the soot and the half-charred moss. The fresh water also soothed his burns. He ended up settling close by, between two fallen trees.
Angelo and Alexandra, however, had suffered many burns. Fortunately, as they were setting camp and trying to remove their singed clothes, a silver parachute descended over them. It contained two containers of oil, as well as a blanket and a note from Angelo’s mentors, which he did not show to Alexandra. It would later be revealed that it scolded him for keeping his plan of betraying the career pack secret. The oil was perfumed and designed to almost instantly heal burns. It worked a charm. As the massaging continued, the two tributes started to get more and more steamy. They were intimate that night.
While they were busy, the portraits of the fallen appeared in the sky. The second day of the games had seen the loss of Glare (1), Proserpina (2), Circuit (3), Borea and Zapp (5), and Lavandine (11). This left only 11 tributes for the third day, with better odds now that a few strong tributes were gone.
Day 3:
On the morning of the third day, an announcement was made by Head Gamemaker Vishwa. She informed the tributes that a feast would be held at noon, three hours from now. The 11 surviving boys and girls would find supplies they desperately needed there. She then wished everyone a glorious day and the dampened sound of the birdsongs came back in full force.
The announcement awoke Delta, but he decided not to go to the Feast. He still had food and a source of water nearby, as well as his heavy branch. A real weapon would have been nice, but he didn’t feel safe going to the central clearing. Instead, he decided to just sleep more. He only woke up again when the first cannon sounded.
As for the couple, they were lost in bliss. Their show from the previous night had to be censored, although it was available for those who had enough “connections”. Let’s just say that it was quite memorable, and cemented Angelo and Alexandra’s place as favorites. They got ready after a long cuddling session, grabbing their bags and their weapons and heading to the cornucopia. They arrived with minutes to spare. Actually, they were the last tributes to arrive.
Vannery had been the first on site, scouting for other tributes. Once she had been sure the coast was clear, she had signaled to Rivage and Carton that they could come. They hid in the bushes nearby; this area having been spared from the fires. Little by little, other tributes started to arrive. Kumquat (11) hid behind a tree, Perfecto (1) stood in the open, Odette and Georges (N) huddled together.
As Quinoa (9) and the “Double A couple” finally arrived, the cornucopia started receding into the ground. It reappeared at once, and a bell rang.
Vannery stayed behind. She watched all the tributes run to the center where laid 8 numbered bags, including Carton and Rivage. The fighting raged in the cornucopia. Her allies attacked Alexandra and Angelo, as Kumquat escaped with his bag. Quinoa (9) almost got out, but Perfecto (1) caught her by the ponytail and stabbed her in the throat, sounding her cannon. He then picked up her bag in addition to his.
Alexandra and Angelo fought side to side, covering each other. She scared Odette (N) away, while he pushed back against Rivage. The boy from 4 tried to hit Alexandra again, but her ally caught the trident and almost tore it out of Rivage’s hands. Instead of trying again, he attacked Georges. The trident hit him in the back and sounded his cannon a few seconds later. Angelo took advantage of this distraction to slash at Carton with his sword, causing the boy from 8 to bleed out.
Vannery screamed and ran out of her hiding place, almost colliding with Odette (N) on the way. Rivage grabbed the district 4 and district 8 bags in one hand, and Vannery’s arm in the other, and they ran away together. The young girl cried and struggled to keep up the pace. She wanted to go back, but Carton’s cannon sounded, ruining her hopes.
Angelo and Alexandra were the last tributes to get their bags. One of Perfecto’s knives punctured Alexandra’s. The pair turned back, giving Kumquat (11) enough time to flee. They chased Perfecto into the woods. He was quick, however, and they had a hard time gaining on him.
The following hours were very quiet, boring, even, so Urania and Argus invited a few guests to discuss the bloodbath and the tributes’ different strategies. It was only in the late afternoon that Delta deigned getting up. He was well rested. He ate what remained of his food and started camouflaging himself once again in order to hunt. The tributes were now very spread out, however, and it appeared that Delta was in an area devoid of them. He walked until it got too dark to continue, before letting out a scream of rage. His sudden outburst scared some resting birds. They flew away and hit Kumquat (11) square in the face as he was in the process of climbing up one of the taller trees. The surprise caused him to lose his grip and he fell to his death a few feet away from Delta, his Feast bag laying next to him. Suddenly, Delta laughed and thanked the birds. He emptied the contents of the bag, glad to find some fresh food and water. He settled right there for the night.
Angelo and Alexandra eventually gave up on hunting Perfecto. Every time they thought they heard him; it turned out to be another bird. He was nowhere to be found. The pair settled down near a creek, right where Carton and his allies had camped earlier, in order to clean themselves. It was another spectacle to behold. The couple played in the fresh water, wearing only their underwear, and at one point, Alexandra winked at one of the cameras. This resulted in the appearance of a sponsor gift a few seconds later. She caught it and opened it discreetly once she was dressed again. She checked that Angelo was busy with the campfire before peeking inside. There was a water bottle and a tiny, sheathed stiletto knife, about two inches long. There was also a note that said : “You will only get one chance” – S. She acted nonchalant, thanked her sponsor for the water, and hid the knife in her sock. She took the first watch, jumping when a cannon sounded.
Since they had come back from the Feast, Vannery felt that Rivage was acting strange. He kept pacing and muttering to himself and seemed unhappy even though they had received enough supplies to last five more days in the arena at least. They found another place to sleep, Vannery built a new shelter. As she was about to go to sleep, Rivage approached her, trident in hand. He didn’t speak, so she asked him what he wanted. “I’m sorr-“ he started. Vannery interrupted him : “Behind you !”.
He spun around and threw his trident. It caught Perfecto in the head, sounding his cannon before he had hit the ground. He had been sneaking up behind Rivage with a knife in both hands, but Vannery had a keen eye. Rivage seemed to deflate. He cleaned up his weapon and went to sleep. Vannery tried to ask him what he wanted to tell her, but he didn’t answer. Instead, she took the first watch.
At midnight, five portraits appeared in the sky : Perfecto (1), Carton (8), Quinoa (9), Kumquat (11) and Georges (N). The six remaining tributes were spread out around the arena : Rivage and Vannery to the East, Angelo and Alexandra to the North, Odette (N) in the South and Delta to the West.
Day 4:
The sound of a cannon startled Delta out of his slumber. He was feeling well rested and decided to head to the cornucopia with just his branch and a knife he had taken from Kumquat. With only 5 remaining tributes, he knew that the showdown was about to take place and was about as excited as the viewers in the Capitol for it to happen. On the way, he stumbled upon a suspicious mound of leaves. He almost let it be, until he saw two feet poking out of it. As he bent down to look at it, a sharp pain entered his shoulder blade. By pure reflex, he swung his club backwards, hitting a barefoot Odette (N) in the forehead. She stumbled backwards, clutching her knife, and tripped on a rock. Delta jumped onto her, planting his knee in her stomach, and stabbed her with her own knife. He added it to his “collection”.
The atmosphere between Alexandra and Angelo had been quite tense since they’d woken up. They hadn’t slept so well. When the first cannon sounded, they set out to get to the cornucopia, and by the time the second cannon echoed throughout the arena, they were in position. “We’ll fight together, right ?” asked Alexandra. Angelo nodded solemnly : “Until there’s no one else. I’m so glad I got to meet you.”
“Me too… Too bad one of us will have to die.”
As she said those words, a twig cracked in a nearby bush.
The first cannon had shocked the viewers quite a bit. As Rivage finished his watch, he looked at Vannery, asleep next to him. He murmured “I’m sorry”, so low that it had to be subtitled. Then he plunged his trident in her throat. Before leaving, Rivage let out the longest sigh of relief.
Alexandra climbed onto the cornucopia, hiding herself, a length of rope held tight between her hands. She waited as Rivage entered the clearing. He was focused on Angelo. Delta appeared a few seconds later, on the other side of the cornucopia. He walked under it, oblivious to the girl awaiting him. As Angelo charged Rivage with his sword, Alexandra lowered the rope. Delta let out a choked growl as she pulled. He was much stronger, however. With one labored step, he yanked her off the roof. The rope was still around his neck, but his hands were now around Alexandra’s. Nevertheless, she held on to the rope, using it to hold him at bay. Just before she fell unconscious, she kicked him in the groin. She let out a few coughs, before grabbing the two ends of the rope again and pulling Delta against one of the steel columns of the cornucopia. Delta tried to stab her, but she was behind him, and he was quickly loosing consciousness. With one last brutal pull, the rope crushed his windpipe.
Alexandra watched Angelo dispose of Rivage with one final feint of his sword, and his cannon sounded at the same time as Delta’s.
Silence fell on the clearing. Even the birds had shut up. The couple was breathing heavily. They hugged tight. Something glinted in Alexandra’s hand. She almost reached Angelo’s neck when he gripped her wrist. He smiled, but his eyes were full of sorrow. “I had to try at least !” she half-laughed, half-whimpered. He sat her down and hugged her once again. She told him that he deserved to win. That he was a good man. He took his swords and gently stabbed Alexandra in the heart. She barely cried as he looked into her eyes. A cannon sounded. The last one. Jahani Vishwa announced Angelo Clearfell, of district 2, as the victor of the 119th Hunger Games. He had to be forcefully removed form Alexandra’s corpse in order to be retrieved.
Aftermath:
The games took an immense toll on Angelo, who was unable to speak for more than a month. Even when he had gotten the use of his words back, he fell into a lengthy depression. His interview with Urania Whimsiwick and Argus Brown had to be cut short as soon as they mentioned Alexandra.
After that, he remained alone in his home of the Victor’s village. He received no guests and did not act as a mentor the following years. The other victors of his district described him as “disillusioned” and “a killjoy”. The situation stayed the same until his disappearance two years later.

I doesn't showing messenger updates. IG Main. And also Settings - Message and Story replies not showing Messaging update in menu.
I live in South Korea, but I tried logging in using VPN and Fake GPS, but the Messenger menu was not activated.
How to merge messenger and DM? My IG account was created in 2016
Currently using iOS 16.5, iPhone 12 Pro Max

I was molested by my classmate
Hello everyone so for this story I am ready to share what happened to me in First grade and I have already gotten therapy and am in a better place. I also work on healing everyday from this and I hope this helps someone not feel so alone and help people who are processing their past memories. When I was 7 there was this bully named M who would push me and shove me. My class had bathroom partners and one day I went with another boy named M. When we went to the bathroom he told me to come in with him into the same stall even though it should’ve been only one in there. Then, he told me to take off my pants and underwear and I did. Then, he told me to put his penis into my mouth and lightly bite it and I did then he did the same to mine. Then, this went on for awhile. Then, finally two other boys saw and reported it to the teacher and our teacher gave him a stern talk and I remember just spitting onto my desk since I really wanted to get that taste or feeling of his penis in my mouth out. Then, years would go by and I remember just randomly crying about this at 16 for no reason and I kept telling myself it wasn’t that bad and he was just curious. Then, when I was 17 my sibling kept asking me if M did stuff to me too and I said again it wasn’t that bad. And then at 20 I watched a documentary on child sexual abuse. Then, this woman kept talking about what her sibling did to her and I realized that I went through the same thing and also I kept flashing back to the incident like it was yesterday. Then, I asked my sibling if M did things to him too the same things I went through and he said yea. Then, I got a therapist and told my mom and cousins about what happened. Of course not all of them understood since we are a south East Asian. And I contacted my old classmates about it and one girl remember hearing about the incident. For me I am now healed more now and I forgive my classmates for not telling their parents as we were only 6-7. Then, for my teachers they should’ve done more, but I remember they didn’t receive much training on COCSA and us kids were only taught about stranger danger not about bodily safety and how to get help since the adults in the 2000s didn’t like thinking that the people they knew could harm their child it’s easier to say only strangers will. And now for me I am doing better now and I hope for those who are reading this just know healing is possible and sadly we do have to heal everyday since it is a permanent wound, but we don’t have to let it define us. I also do have sexual trauma, and can’t have oral sex without flashing back even though I want to as a gay man, but I will be fine and hope to be intimate with another man someday. And I will share this quote “Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different”-Oprah Winfrey and I have to lose the hope of having a different first grade a different type of teacher and I need to move forward and I hope you guys can apply this to your life situations too and good luck everyone.

Would you recognise my words? You wouldn’t recognise my devotion?.. but you would know my extreme emotions. You see things have changed so much for me I have been given hard and extremely needed lessons. I understand so much more now and only want to learn more. I have a changed outlook on life my struggles and obstacles allow for opportunities for this growth, through self awareness. I analyse my dreams and create visuals that seem to reflect this even my name reflects this and I didn’t know the connotations at the time when I truly needed to hear it the most. it was another sign that I was taking the wrong path and running away from you. Running away from the girl that feels love, inspiration and empathy. I know that I am on a spiritual journey I am awake and I am ready to receive. I am raising my vibration. I don’t have a fear of weight or crave attention or feel the need to leave this earth. I understand that I am in a shell and I know what my soul craves. I always loved butterflies they have become a symbol for my regrowth and my unlearning of limiting beliefs and negative thought patterns. I am speaking my truth with only good intentions no trickery and no deceit. I have been here before and I am here on a path of remembering. I think it truly has only been you. You are incredible and have been the most genuine person with good intentions that I have truly loved and obsessively thought about for years. Life without you is painful but I understand it has to be this way. I had a dream that I faced a fox last night and it screamed. I didn’t show it my fear I face things to overcome them now. It left and I was swinging by the willow tree feeling the harmony of balance feeling the motion of being put onto a right path. Healing is never linear nor complete but this is why I am here. I love you and it appears to not be endless. In a way I’m waiting in a way I’m moving forward

I'm preferably looking for the 2023 codes from my ISO list. My ISO list is at the bottom of the list, titles in bold are my top wants.
UNTOUCHED: 20th Century Women - VUDU - HD A Quiet Place: Part II - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Adaptation - MA/VUDU - 4K Alice in Wonderland (1951) - MA/VUDU - HD Alita: Battle Angel - MA/VUDU - 4K Ambulance - MA/VUDU - 4K American Psycho - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Amsterdam - MA/VUDU - HD Antlers - MA/VUDU - HD Assassination Nation - MA/VUDU - HD Atlantis: 2-Movie Collection - MA/VUDU - HD Avatar: The Way of Water - MA/VUDU - HD Babylon - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Beast - MA/VUDU - HD Black Adam - MA/VUDU - 4K Black Widow - MA/VUDU - 4K Bodies Bodies Bodies - VUDU - 4K Boy Erased - MA/VUDU - HD Brother Bear: 2-Movie Collection - MA/VUDU - HD Bullet Train - MA/VUDU - HD Chaos Walking - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Christopher Robin - MA/VUDU - HD Cinderella: 3-Movie Collection - MA/VUDU - HD Cloverfield - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Cool Hand Luke - MA/VUDU - 4K Creed III - VUDU - 4K Cruella - MA/VUDU - 4K Daybreakers - VUDU - 4K Dear Evan Hansen (Studio Code) - MA/VUDU - 4K Death on the Nile - MA/VUDU - 4K Disobedience - MA/VUDU - HD Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - MA/VUDU - 4K Don't Worry Darling - MA/VUDU - HD Downton Abbey: A New Era - MA/VUDU - HD Dumbo (1941) - MA/VUDU - HD Dune - MA/VUDU - 4K Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Edward Scissorhands - MA/VUDU - HD Encanto - MA/VUDU - 4K Eternals - MA/VUDU - 4K Everything Everywhere All At Once - VUDU - 4K Evil Dead Rise - MA/VUDU - HD Fantasy Island - MA/VUDU - HD Father Stu - MA/VUDU - HD Firestarter - MA/VUDU - HD Freaks of Nature - MA/VUDU - HD Free Guy - MA/VUDU - 4K Gallipoli - VUDU or iTunes - HD Green Book - MA/VUDU - HD Green Lantern: Beware My Power - MA/VUDU - 4K Halloween Ends - MA/VUDU - 4K Halloween Kills - MA/VUDU - 4K Highlander - VUDU - 4K Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Honest Thief - MA/VUDU - HD How to Talk to Girls at Parties - VUDU - HD Indignation - VUDU - HD Interstellar - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Jackass Forever - VUDU or iTunes - HD/4K John Wick: Chapter 4 - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Jojo Rabbit - MA/VUDU - 4K Jungle Cruise - MA/VUDU - 4K Kingsman: 2-Movie Collection - MA/VUDU - 4K Last Christmas - MA/VUDU - HD Last Night in Soho - MA/VUDU - 4K Leave No Trace - MA/VUDU - HD Let Him Go (Studio Code) - MA/VUDU - 4K Lightyear - MA/VUDU - 4K Love, Simon - MA/VUDU - HD Mad Max: 4-Movie Collection - MA/VUDU - 4K Memory - MA/VUDU - HD Men - VUDU - HD Missing - MA/VUDU - HD Mission: Impossible - 6-Movie Collection - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Moonfall - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Morbius - MA/VUDU - 4K Mortal - VUDU or iTunes - HD Mortal Kombat (2021) - MA/VUDU - 4K Nomadland - MA/VUDU - HD Nope - MA/VUDU - HD Once Upon a Deadpool - MA/VUDU - HD One Ranger - VUDU or iTunes - HD/4K Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Ordinary People - VUDU or iTunes - HD Orphan: First Kill - VUDU or iTunes - HD/4K Paranormal Activity: The Ultimate Chills Collection - VUDU or iTunes - HD Peter Pan: Return to Neverland - MA/VUDU - HD Peter Rabbit: 2-Movie Collection - MA/VUDU - HD Plane - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Polite Society - MA/VUDU - HD Professor Marston and the Wonder Women - MA/VUDU - HD Rambo: 5-Movie Collection - VUDU - 4K Ratatouille - MA/VUDU - 4K Raya and the Last Dragon - MA/VUDU - 4K Ready or Not - MA/VUDU - HD Red Eye - VUDU - 4K Red Rocket - VUDU - HD Redeeming Love - MA/VUDU - HD Renfield - MA/VUDU - HD Repo! The Genetic Opera - VUDU - HD Reservoir Dogs - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Rocky: The Knockout Collection - VUDU - 4K Rogue (2020) - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Ron's Gone Wrong - MA/VUDU - 4K Saint Maud - VUDU - HD Scream (2022) - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Seriously Red - VUDU - HD She Said - MA/VUDU - HD Sleeping Beauty (Signature Collection) - MA/VUDU - HD Soul - MA/VUDU - 4K Spell - VUDU or iTunes - HD/4K Spider-Man: 3-Movie Collection - MA/VUDU - 4K Spider-Man: No Way Home - MA/VUDU - 4K Spies in Disguise - MA/VUDU - 4K Spinning Gold - MA/VUDU - HD Spirit Untamed: The Movie - MA/VUDU - HD Spontaneous - VUDU - HD Stillwater - MA/VUDU - HD Studio 666 - MA/VUDU - HD Swiss Army Man - VUDU - HD Teen Spirit - MA/VUDU - HD The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection - MA - 4K The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection Vol. 2 - MA - 4K The Amazing Spider-Man: 2-Movie Collection - MA/VUDU - 4K The Aristocats - MA/VUDU - HD The Art of Self-Defense - MA/VUDU - HD The Banshees of Inisherin - MA/VUDU - HD The Batman - MA/VUDU - 4K The Best of Mickey Collection - MA/VUDU - HD The Black Phone - MA/VUDU - HD The Bob's Burgers Movie - MA/VUDU - 4K The Cabin in the Woods - VUDU or iTunes - 4K The Card Counter - MA/VUDU - HD The Craft: Legacy - MA/VUDU - HD The Dentist Collection - VUDU - HD The Exorcism of God - VUDU or iTunes - HD The Fabelmans - MA/VUDU - 4K The French Dispatch - MA/VUDU - HD The Green Knight - VUDU - 4K The Grudge (2020) - MA/VUDU - HD The Hunchback of Notre Dame: 2-Movie Collection - MA/VUDU - HD The Invisible Man (2020) - MA/VUDU - HD The Invitation - MA/VUDU - HD The Jungle Book (1967) - MA - HD The Jungle Book 2 - MA/VUDU - HD The Killing of a Sacred Deer - VUDU - HD The Last Duel - MA/VUDU - 4K The Lion King: 2-Movie Collection - MA/VUDU - HD The Little Mermaid - MA/VUDU - 4K The Lobster - VUDU - HD The Lodge - MA/VUDU - HD The Lost Boys - MA/VUDU - 4K The Lost City - VUDU or iTunes - 4K The Maltese Falcon - MA/VUDU - 4K The Man Who Invented Christmas - MA/VUDU - HD The Marksman - MA/VUDU - HD The Menu - MA/VUDU - HD The Monster - VUDU - HD The Night House - MA/VUDU - HD The Prestige - MA/VUDU - 4K The Princess and the Frog - MA/VUDU - 4K The Remains of the Day - MA/VUDU - 4K The Rescuers: 2-Movie Collection - MA/VUDU - HD The Shawshank Redemption - MA/VUDU - 4K The Super Mario Bros. Movie - MA/VUDU - 4K The Terminator - VUDU - HD The Unholy - MA/VUDU - HD The Whale - VUDU - HD The Woman King - MA/VUDU - 4K Thor: Love and Thunder - MA/VUDU - 4K Ticket to Paradise - MA/VUDU - HD Tolkien - MA/VUDU - HD Turning Red - MA/VUDU - 4K Umma - MA/VUDU - HD Unbreakable - MA/VUDU - 4K Uncharted - MA/VUDU - HD Underwater - MA/VUDU - HD Vivo - MA/VUDU - HD Voyagers - VUDU or iTunes - 4K Wall-E - MA/VUDU - 4K Wander Darkly - VUDU or iTunes - HD West Side Story - MA/VUDU - 4K Where'd You Go, Bernadette - MA/VUDU - HD Wreck-It Ralph - MA/VUDU - 4K X-Men: Dark Phoenix - MA/VUDU - 4K Yesterday - MA/VUDU - HD You Were Never Really Here - VUDU - HD
SPLIT: 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure - GP - HD Bambi II - MA/VUDU - HD Danger Close - VUDU - HD Spies in Disguise - MA/VUDU - HD The Book of Henry - iTunes - HD The French Dispatch - MA/VUDU - HD The Guest - iTunes - 4K
MY ISO LIST: 2023: 65 / A Good Person / Maximum Overdrive / Creed III 4K / The Running Man 4K / Shazam! Fury of the Gods 4K / Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 4K / The Italian Job 4K / Moving On / Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre / Knock at the Cabin / Superman I-IV 5-Film Collection 4K / Champions / Deep Impact 4K / Supercell / Jesus Revolution / The Man Who Fell to Earth 4K / Magic Mike's Last Dance / Marlowe / Righteous Thieves / Transfusion / Confess, Fletch / Mickey and Friends: 10 Classic Shorts / Warner Bros 100th 25-Film Collection, Vol. One, Two, Three, Four / Missing / Plane / Babylon 4K / M3GAN / Seriously Red / Alice, Darling / A Man Called Otto / The Whale / Women Talking / B'Twixt Now and Sunrise / Devotion / Puss in Boots: The Last Wish / Rocky: The Knockout Collection 4K / Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody / Empire of Light / The Inspection / The Old Way / The Price We Pay / The Remains of the Day 4K / 3 Days of the Condor / The Fabelmans / Strange World / Mickey and Minnie: 10 Classic Shorts / Spoiler Alert / Big Night / Bones and All / The Diving Bell and the Butterfly / Event Horizon 4K / Gallipoli / Young Sherlock Holmes / Mindcage / Rock Dog 3: Battle the Beat / Violent Night / Double Jeopardy 4K / Till / She Said / Armageddon Time / Prey for the Devil
2022: Tár 4K / Gigi and Nate / American Murderer / Call Jane / Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile / Ticket to Paradise / 48 Hrs. / Another 48 Hrs. 4K / Adaptation. 4K / Amsterdam / Better Off Dead / The Warriors / Don't Worry Darling 4K / Bros / The Good House / The Inhabitant / Jerry and Marge Go Large / Three Thousand Years of Longing / Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm / Saturday Night Fever 4K / The Classic Christmas Specials Collection 4K / Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. / The Polar Express 4K / Columbia Classics Collection: Volume 3 4K / The Invitation / Fall / Mack and Rita / Orphan: First Kill / Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank / Rumble / Beast / Frankenweenie / The Limey 4K / Paranormal Activity: The Ultimate Chills Collection / Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection Vol. 2 4K / Catch Me If You Can / DC League of Super-Pets / Mean Girls / Vengeance / Fatal Attraction 4K / Real Genius 4K / Where the Crawdads Sing / Minions: The Rise of Gru / Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris / American Carnage / Stalag 17 / Event Horizon 4K / Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts / Lilo and Stitch: 2-Movie Collection / Vivo / The Bob's Burgers Movie / Angel Heart 4K / Galaxy Quest / Memory / After Yang / The Bad Guys 4K / Cinderella / Giant 4K / The Emperor's New Groove: 2-Movie Collection / Father Stu / Fatherhood / The Rescuers: 2-Movie Collection / 1776 4K / The Untouchables 4K / Malignant 4K / Teen Titans Go! and DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem in the Multiverse / Umma / Extreme Prejudice / Infinite / Top Secret / The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection Vol. 2 4K / Dog / Blacklight / The Outfit / Cyrano / The Exorcism of God / The Humans / The King's Daughter / C'mon C'mon / Marry Me / Ordinary People / Red Rocket / Redeeming Love / Rugrats 3-Movie Collection / Belfast / Escape from L.A. 4K / Looper 4K / Almost Famous 4K / Clifford the Big Red Dog / The Addams Family 2

This is mostly based on my time spent playing Civ 6, so feel free to let me know if this has already been tried earlier in the series:
I think the next Civilization game needs a big overhaul of how outer space is treated. Civ 6's space race is a totally optional path for the Science victory, and that victory path is stuck in a 1960s mindset where space only exists for 1 country to plant a flag somewhere as a flex. Space is dangerous, space is valuable to all sorts of Earth-based projects, and space is getting increasingly crowded, and I think The Last Frontier could provide a lot more interesting choices for players seeking EVERY victory type than just being a bucket to dump production points into until you get a Science victory.

1. Spaceborne assets should be critical to a 21st century military. How about offering a Spy Satellite unit which circles the map in a long line, providing real-time illumination of hostile territory? How about making a GNSS constellation like GPS or GLONASS a Wonder, perhaps with a ground station built adjacent to a Spaceport offering movement bonuses to all units?
2. Earth geography matters for space: the USSR intentionally built its spaceport in Kazakhstan and the ESA went all the way to French Guiana for their spaceport because equatorial launches are far more fuel-efficient for a stable orbit at any desired altitude. I think it would be pretty simple to choose a line of tiles across each map type to be the Equator, and offer a production bonus for space projects closer to the Equator. Like the Amundsen-Scott wonder, this would provide a late-game incentive to figure out how to maximize production in potentially distant and inhospitable outposts of your empire. It would be fun to plan from Turn 1 to build a mighty Cape Canaveral in the gloomy swamps far south of your starting location, rather than just dumping the Spaceport in whichever city has the highest Production value.
3. Telecommunications Satellites could be used to amp up a Culture victory, Weather Satellites could warn about upcoming natural disasters before they happen, "rods from god" satellites could be used for a devastating artillery attack, etc. I'd also like to see a variety of space-based Wonders like the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. If the game modelled Geostationary Orbit (bonuses to satellites located directly on the equator where they hover above one place, rather than just zooming across the map) it could create a little gold rush as civs hurry to claim orbital tiles while some are still available.
4. It would be cool to see Spaceplanes and Rockets split off into two alternatives to achieve the same goals, similar to how we have many different units capable of delivering a nuclear weapon in Civ 6. Perhaps there's one tech track for ballistic missiles and rockets and another for jets and spaceplanes, with rockets being cost-effective single-use vehicles and spaceplanes being higher-cost but reusable craft. This would reflect the real-life competition between projects like Buran, STS, SpaceShipTwo, Skylon, and more conventional vertical launchers like Soyuz and Atlas. You could even add something like SpinLaunch or a Space Elevator as a Wonder which provides free launches.
5. I'd like to see international cooperation in space offered as more than just a couple policy cards. Maybe you could trade with another country to launch their satellite on your vehicle. Maybe countries could propose diplomatic resolutions to ban space-based weapons or even single-use rockets to reduce the risk of space debris (see below).
6. I think it would be interesting to model (on a very simple level) Kessler Syndrome in a similar way to Civ6GS's Global Warming: as more single-use rockets are launched, more satellites are in space, and, in an extreme case, war breaks out in space, the amount of debris increases, raising the probability that each satellite in space might be damaged or destroyed, increasing the total debris levels even further.

In summary, I'd like to see Civ 6 graduate from a 1960s "space race" mindset to a more exciting view of outer space as a new domain for cultural exchange, exploration, economic exploitation, military action, Wonders, and diplomatic agreements. Make Rocketry just as exciting as Shipbuilding, opening up a whole new world to explore for every kind of player.

A little while ago, I weaned myself off of my Prozac so that way I could safely try mushrooms to see if they could help with my healing journey. I was doing okay on Prozac, I just felt like I had hit a ceiling I couldn’t break through. When I first micro dosed, I really didn’t feel any difference in my day to day life. I tried upping it to just a very low dose (still under a gram) and felt a little better, but only for the day I took it, and it mostly just gave me an energy boost, like drinking a monster. After doing roughly 0.7g as my “micro dose” for a little, I decided I wanted to try and trip, take an inner journey. I tried with 2 grams, and boy I felt like I was tweaking. I was super happy for absolutely no reason, and just PACING around with my mind racing on so many different things, my heart was racing. It wasn’t bad, like I said, I was very happy, but I was just so pumped with nothing to do, I had to take a gabapentin. I also realized that the effects did not carry over ever. I’ve read and heard that people typically feel that happy, down to earth feeling for days after taking shrooms, if not just the next day, but I’ve never experienced that. In fact, the days after taking shrooms, I tend to do worse mentally.
It’s for that reason I’m unfortunately just going to go back on my Prozac. I’ve done the research, I’ve gotten from different sources, they work excellent on my friends, but I guess they’re just not for me. I knew this was a possibility, but I was really hoping to be able to harness the beautiful powers these shrooms seem to possess, but I love to vicariously live through my friends and your experiences.
Happy tripping everyone ❤️
TL;DR: shrooms aren’t for everyone, me unfortunately being one of them, so don’t be bummed if it doesn’t work for you either.

This week Dicey Stories starts our second season of Wesnoth: Echoes of Invasion with a new 4-part story arc.
Staff Infection – The necromancer’s staff that Tric and Heppa recovered under South Tower causes some problems back in Estbryn Forest. But other than that, the two cousins are happy to be back home with their families, where they can finally learn more about the mysterious Anador. Start of arc: audio serialized write-up
Previous arc: Closing Time – Tric and Heppa wind down their time in South Tower, enjoying the close of the Full Bloom festival, spending some time with their new friends, and—once they’ve dragged their feet long enough—finding an artifact for Thrandolil. Start of arc: audio serialized write-up
Character profiles: Heppa Tric
Wesnoth: Echoes of Invasion is a tabletop roleplaying campaign set in the world of the video game The Battle for Wesnoth. It takes place during the Silver Age, three decades after the events in the mainline campaign Eastern Invasion. Our characters are young elves from a small forest on the edge of the Estmark Hills, two cousins both eager to avoid settling into a boring career. The themes of Echoes of Invasion include belonging, healing, responsibility, judgment, and legacies. Explore the lore of Wesnoth alongside players new and old to it as they expand upon the world of the video game.
We release a new Wesnoth: Echoes of Invasion episode in the middle of each week, and the audio is accompanied by a serialized write-up of the adventure on our website. The podcasts generally clock in around 30-90 minutes. Find us on the platform of your choice at pod.link.

No Man's Sky Singularity Expedition Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDptxs_OAjA
​
​
Development Update
https://www.nomanssky.com/2023/06/expedition-ten-singularity/
Today, we are releasing update 4.30, which includes the Singularity expedition, as well as a number of stability and gameplay fixes.
We look forward to seeing everyone exploring Singularity’s challenges and narrative – and we have many more surprises in store for this year!
Our journey continues.
Sean
4.30 Patch Notes

• Expedition 10, SINGULARITY, will begin shortly, and will run for approximately five weeks.
• The expedition sees players work alone and as a community to solve the mystery of the damaged Autophage heads found abandoned at harmonic camps.
• Rewards for uncovering the mystery and assembling your very own mechanical Construct include a set of unique posters; new jetpack and freighter engine trail customisations; buildable Atlantideum crystals for your base; an exclusive new helmet customisation; and an entire Construct visual customisation set.
• A layer of more hidden clues exists for players who are willing to hunt them out…
• PC VR players can now use the virtual keyboard to name discoveries (and other nameable items).
• Fixed an issue that caused the third-person camera pitch to be reset after using the Analysis Visor – pitch will now remain consistent as players switch between modes.
• Players who enable auto-follow for the third person camera will now benefit from this setting in the Space Anomaly and aboard Space Stations, as well as on planets.
• The starship’s autopilot will now prevent players from crashing into various space points of interest while engaged on the starship communicator.
• Fixed an issue that prevented some flash-to-white screen fades from respecting the setting that disabled them.
• Upgrades to the Neutron Cannon have received an increase in their damage bonus, and a large increase to their charging time reduction.
• Fixed an issue that could allow corrupted Sentinel drones to chain heal each other in a circle.
• Corrupted Sentinel drones now have a cooldown on healing that is triggered if they are damaged mid-heal.
• Fixed a crash on PC related to memory trampling.
• Fixed a number of memory-related crashes on Xbox platforms.
• Introduced a significant load-time optimisation for PlayStation platforms.
• Fixed an issue that could cause players to appear in the wrong system after leaving a multiplayer session and then immediately rejoining it.
• Fixed a rare issue that could cause missions that send players to visit an NPC specialist in their base to choose the wrong base.
• Fixed a rare issue that could prevent the completion of puzzles within harmonic camps if another player in their session had completed them first.
• Fixed an issue that caused one of the glyphs in the harmonic camp puzzles to always be 9.
• Fixed a number of issues that could cause the Target Sweep to claim there was no mission target, or that the target was too distant, when this was not the cause.
• Fixed an issue that caused the planetary section of the lightweight Creative Mode tutorial to be skipped.
• Fixed an issue that prevented dissonant worlds from being correctly labelled when using the starship scanner on more relaxed difficulty settings.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the wrong technology name and/or icon to be used in tip text after changing ship.
• Sentinel Interceptors now require Crystalised Hearts rather than Quad Servos to repair their hyperdrive.
• A large number of improvements have been made to the clarity of tips and icons for the automatically generated technology pinning guidance.
• If a mission is currently requesting the installation of a piece of technology, that item will now appear as the first item in the list of available techs.
• Fixed an issue that could make it difficult to interact with the terminal for Nada’s simulation aboard the Space Anomaly.
• Fixed a controls issue that could cause the starship to land when scrolling through the quick menu.
• Fixed a number of graphical issues with shadows in the starship cockpit on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
• Fixed an issue that caused a number of particle effects to be missing on PC.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent screenspace reflections and other similar effects from rendering correctly.
• Fixed a number of graphical issues with capes when using FSR2.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the player’s head from casting a shadow in VR when full body was enabled.
• Fixed a minor graphical issue that could cause laser impact effects to be the wrong colour.
• Fixed an issue that could cause a red effect to appear in one eye only during the boot screen when using PSVR on PlayStation 4.
• Introduced a number of improvements to quick menu usage in VR, making it easier & more precise to use.
• Fixed a VR issue that could cause players to be treating as pointing at the quick menu, when in reality their hand was in front of the menu.
• Fixed an issue that stopped players from moving in VR if they pointed at their wrist with the point to move setting enabled.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the “Out of Bounds” VR message to remain on-screen if players reset their view while the main menu was open.
• Fixed an inconsistency in the use of uppelower case in the friend request popup.
• Fixed an issue that caused the weapon charge/ammo percentage in the HUD to drop the % symbol.
• Fixed a rare issue that could cause some customisation options to be unavailable in the Appearance Modifier UI.
• Fixed a number of issues that could cause items within the crafting tree to be highlighted when they were not available for crafting.
• Fixed an issue that caused the incorrect “Back” prompt to be used for the base building parts menu.
• Fixed an issue that could cause incorrect tooltips to be displayed when using the Terrain Manipulator’s “Create” mode.
• The clarity of expedition milestone objectives displayed in their popup has been improved.
• Fixed an issue that caused the guidance for Quad Servos to be displayed when requesting guidance on locating Crystalised Hearts.
• Fixed an issue that caused some starship communicator messages to linger incorrectly after a save/load.
• Fixed an issue that caused the tip related to derelict freighter emergency signal scanners to become stuck on screen if the player deleted the signal scanner.

This is part of my little series about the adventures of Vr'ocria and Human Aldrick. If you'd like to read previous parts, they're linked below, along with brief summaries in case you prefer to just jump right into the new part:
Part One: Alien learns what "sleep" is and how humans prefer to do it in a comfy bed with blankets and pillows. And they find it utterly adorable.
Vr'ocria and Human Aldrick are sent on a survey mission together. Things go south, Aldrick makes sure they're safe, and then Vr'ocria learns what human sleep is and how vulnerable humans are when they sleep. Vr'ocria's people don't sleep, but enter stasis, a form of rest in which they typically stand, and they are still slightly aware of their surroundings. Vr'ocria finds human sleep utterly adorable, and also decides she will protect Aldrick while he sleeps. And she also develops a massive crush on him. (Her scales turning purple is her version of blushing)
Part Two: An alien + human adventure with such shenanigans as poison drinking, befriending dangerous wildlife, and fighting a space pirate. Oh, and they have a huge crush on each other.
Part Three: When a cold-blooded alien has to cuddle a warm-blooded human for warmth
Part Four: A human leaves a hickey on his alien lover. Her nestmate doesn't understand what a hickey is, and thinks the human injured her
Vr'ocria and Human Aldrick end up assigned to be partners. Vr'ocria is a witness to both human shenanigans as well as human durability, but she also begins to learn about the limits of the human body--they are not invincible.
She and Aldrick begin to fall in love, and they finally confess their feelings for one another when Vr'ocria admits to accidentally forming a mate bond with him. Vr'ocria's nestmate, Galek, is not very happy about her being involved with a human, but begrudgingly respects her decision.
Part Five: Space pirates make the grave mistake of attacking a human's loved one. They very quickly learn what happens when a human is angry and full of adrenaline
Part Six: An alien who doesn't sleep learns what dreams are–or more specifically, she learns about nightmares when her human mate wakes up screaming
Pirates come for Vr'ocria in revenge for her killing one of their own, and Aldrick goes beast mode. They escape with their lives, but also with questions about how the pirates were able to find them–and they begin to suspect there's a mole in the ship. While Aldrick is recovering from his injuries, Vr'ocria learns what dreams are when she witnesses him having a terrible nightmare.
Part Seven: Alien is stunned to learn that humans recreationally drink alcohol, specifically to experience the effects of being poisoned. Her human offers to get drunk. Purely for scientific observation, of course
Aldrick is still on doctor's orders to rest, but he's bored, and Vr'ocria finds out he drinks sometimes. She's shocked but fascinated, and he gets drunk so she can see what it's like. Turns out, he's a very mushy, lovey drunk.
Onto the story!
"Planets, I'm so stupid," Vr'ocria groaned. She straightened and put her hands on her hips, casting her eyes around the room. She was in her quarters looking for her scanner, and Aldrick was across the room helping her.
"You're not stupid." He stood up from where he'd been searching under the couch. "We've had an insane couple of weeks, it's understandable that you misplaced it."
She rubbed her eyes. "I know, it's just a nightmare having to request a new one. Too much paperwork, and I'll have to fix all the settings, and ugh."
"It's around here somewhere," he said as he started pulling up the couch cushions. "We'll find it."
The design of Vr'ocria's quarters was almost the exact same as Aldrick's: plain white walls, gray carpeting, neutral furnishings, and a wall of windows to break up the blandness of the space. However, she had a stasis chamber in the corner, rather than a bedroom, and while Aldrick had decorated his place, hers was still rather sparse. She'd only been assigned to live on the ship fairly recently, and she'd had little time to settle into her new home before she was being sent on frequent away missions.
All as well, though. She'd basically been living with Aldrick ever since they mated, and by now she mostly used her assigned quarters as a storage room. Somehow, she didn't even miss using the stasis chamber anymore. The chamber was meant to be a warm, dark, and quiet place for her to enter stasis at night, but Aldrick's bedroom was an easy replacement.
"No scanner," Aldrick reported as he put the couch back together.
Vr'ocria cursed. "I don't have a clue what could've happened to it."
"And you already checked the safe next to your stasis chamber?"
"Yeah. I mean, I guess I could double check just in case…"
The door chimed.
"Do you mind getting that?" Vr'ocria asked as she pulled open the safe.
"Sure." Her back was turned, but she heard Aldrick's footsteps as he went to the door and opened it. She continued rummaging through her things.
"You."
Vr'ocria barely had time to register the familiar voice before there was a smack, a grunt of pain and a thud, all in rapid succession. She whirled around to see Aldrick lying on the floor–and her nestmate, Galek, standing in the door with his fist in the air, scales bright yellow and standing on end.
"Galek!" She yelled, running to Aldrick. Thankfully, he seemed more dazed than he was hurt, and was already climbing back to his feet. There was a red welt forming below his left eye.
Vr'ocria put herself between them, staring daggers at Galek. "What were you thinking?" She demanded shrilly.
He looked surprised, and somewhat relieved to see her. "Are you okay?" He asked, lowering his hand.
"I'm fine," she snarled as she grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him inside before they started making a scene in the corridor. "You blasted gl'ach." Their mother tongue took over and her old childhood insult for him slipped out.
Aldrick had backed up until he was several feet away, standing awkwardly like he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. He kept a wary eye on Galek, but otherwise made no move to speak or lash out.
Once they were all inside, Vr'ocria slammed the touchpad to close the door. Galek was staring back at Aldrick, flexing his hands at his sides. She moved so that she was in between them again, blocking Galek's line of sight. Like him, her scales were yellow and standing on end. "Why did you do that?"
"I came as soon as I got your message," he explained, looking at her like she was the crazy one. "Last I heard you'd been attacked by pirates, then I come to your quarters to check on you and he answers the door."
"He's my mate!" She was trying not to shout, but failing. "You know this!"
Slowly, Galek's scales faded to green and lowered back down, although he kept flexing his hands.
Vr'ocria's communicator chimed. She ignored it.
"Apologize!" She ordered, one fist planted on her hip and the other pointing to Aldrick. Her communicator chimed again.
Galek slowly turned to Aldrick. He pursed his lips. "I am…sorry," he ground out.
Bling, the communicator sang for the third time.
Vr'ocria snatched it out of her pocket and raised it to her ear. "What?" She snapped.
"Vr'ocria!," The voice on the other end squeaked. "I need your help–I messed up the map maker and I'm trying to fix it but Lieutenant Prax is on his way and he's going to kill me and I'm freaking out–"
"Lekot, I'm sorry, but this isn't a good time–"
"Please!" Lekot begged, "it'll only take five minutes, I just need you to walk me through how to recalibrate the system! I'll owe you one, I promise!"
Vr'ocria chewed her lip as she watched Aldrick and Galek continue to stare at each other.
"Ugh, fine," she sighed. "You two behave," she pointed at them with a glare. "I need to step out for two seconds. I better not come back to carnage."
They nodded stiffly, and Vr'ocria reluctantly stepped out into the hallway. "Alright Lekot, the first thing you need to do is open the settings…"
—
Aldrick's cheek pounded. It'd be a miracle if he didn't get a black eye from this.
Galek wasn't the signature yellow of an angry Ethyrian anymore, but his eyes were still boring holes into Aldrick.
Aldrick was the first to finally speak. "Not exactly how I wanted our first meeting to go." He trailed to the couch and sat down, gently touching the hot red welt just under his eye. "I'm sorry for startling you at the door."
Galek's lips were still pursed. He ground his jaw as if he was chewing over Aldrick's attempt at a peace offering, and Aldrick prayed he wasn't about to get tackled.
His stomach clenched when Galek began approaching, and he braced for a fight.
Galek stiffly sank down onto the cushion at the opposite end of the couch.
Aldrick blinked. Okay, maybe I'm not dying today.
He could see the familial similarities. Both Vr'ocria and Galek were the same shade of emerald green, and they had the same sharp noses and strong cheekbones. Even the tightness around his eyes looked the same as Vr'ocria when she was stressed.
"I…" Galek cleared his throat, refusing to make eye contact. "I do truly apologize," he finally managed. "I was only concerned for Vr'ocria's safety."
The corner of Aldrick's mouth curved upwards. "I know."
Galek finally turned to meet his gaze. "You understand that humans have a certain…reputation, yes?"
Aldrick closed his eyes and nodded. "I do."
"So you understand why I have reservations about you mating her."
It wasn't a question. Aldrick nodded again. "Yes."
They sat in silence for a moment.
"Vr'ocria tells me you saved her life when those pirates attacked."
Aldrick blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess I did." He shrugged. "I love her. I'd do anything to keep her from getting hurt."
"Me too."
Aldrick gave him a sideways glance.
Galek tapped his fingers on his thigh. "And that includes…" he cleared his throat again. "Not harming her mate."
Aldrick gave a rueful smile. "Does that mean you won't punch me again?"
Galek flushed purple.
Aldrick couldn't help chuckling. He leaned forward to rest his forearms on his knees. "Have you ever heard of the concept of a 'brother-in-law'?"
Galek shook his head.
"'Brothers' are what humans call male nestmates; 'sisters' are female," he began. "When humans marry–that's sort of our version of mating–we believe that their family becomes your family. They're called in-laws. Mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister-in-law, and on and on. Anyway, what I'm getting at is that if we were on Earth, I would call you my brother-in-law." He met Galek's eye. "I know asking us to be brothers is probably too much…but I'd at least like for us to be friends."
Galek's eyes widened slightly. His fingers fidgeted the hem of his sleeve, his gaze never leaving Aldrick, who waited with bated breath. Did I overstep?
Galek rose to his feet and moved to stand in front of him. Aldrick stood as well so that they were eye-to-eye.
Galek stuck his hand out.
Aldrick blinked.
"I would…" Galek ground his jaw again. "I would be open to becoming your…friend."
Slowly, a smile bloomed across Aldrick's face. He took Galek's hand and shook it. The Ethyrian's gaze softened by a fraction, and Aldrick dared to hope that one day they might actually become good friends.
The front door opened and Vr'ocria entered, communicator in hand. "Crisis averted, and Lekot even found my scanner in the break room–" she came to a halt as she laid eyes on them. "Uh…everything okay?"
The two of them released the handshake, turning to face her. "Everything's good," Aldrick grinned. Galek didn't quite smile, but he shoved his hands in his pockets and was visibly more relaxed than he was a few minutes ago.
"...Good." She looked as though she wasn't sure how to react. "So, no fighting, right?" She gave her brother a pointed look.
An amused expression crossed Galek's face. "Only with you, fr'iya."
That made Vr'ocria chuckle. "I'm bigger now, I can beat you." She walked over and collapsed into the center of the couch. Aldrick and Galek sat back down on either side of her.
"You'll never win," Galek said, poking her side.
She smacked his hand. "I have practice wrestling Aldrick," she teased.
Galek's eyes widened, and her scales flashed deep purple. "Not like that! I mean, we've done that, but–oh moons, forget I said anything."
Aldrick flushed beet red, covering his face with his hands. "I gotta go," he choked out, jumping up. "I'm just gonna–you guys catch up, I'm gonna go–" he bounded towards the door.
"Love you!" Vr'ocria called behind him, laughing.
Another more lighthearted chapter! I want to do a mix of heavier themes with gentler ones. I'm a SLUT for angst, but my children deserve happiness too.
I figured it was finally time for Aldrick to officially meet Galek. I took some care with this chapter because protective siblings are great, but I hate the protective fathebrother trope when it comes from a place of misogyny and a sense of ownership over the daughtesister, rather than genuine concern for her physical and emotional well-being. I've seen that a lot in media and it's fucking gross.
Oh, and Vr'ocria will eventually meet Aldrick's family as well, don't worry :)
THANK YOU for reading! Until next time!

My IGS rep page: https://old.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/zipbc1/deadfishcros\_igs\_rep\_page\_numbe I have: - Ghostwire tokyo - Honey I joined a cult - Eternal Threads - Turbo golf racing - Meeple station - Flashback - Megarace 1 - Megarace 2 - Megarace 3 - The Bluecoats: North & South - Toki - The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante - Founders' Fortune - Hero's hour - Rogue lords - Demon turf - Fallout 1 - Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales - Othercide - Shady part of me - Scourgebringer - Fobia - St. Dinfna hotel - Five Dates - 11:11 Memories retold - ATOM RPG Trudograd (PC) - Steam Key - Banners of Ruin - Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager - The Last Door: Season 2 - Collector's Edition - Chaos Reborn - Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball - CastleStorm - Horizon Shift - The Walking Dead: 400 Days - Detached VR - Vanishing Realms VR - Swords of Gurrah VR - Tower Tag - The Morrigan - Duet - Fieldrunners - Fallen Enchantress - Legendary Heroes - Kromaia - Flat Heroes - Seasons after Fall - Midnight Protocol - Rustler - Rebel Cops - John Wick Hex - ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery) - Deadly Days - Kill It With Fire - Puzzle Agent 2 - Blade Symphony + Soundtrack - Dangerous Golf - Alpha Kimori 1 - Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light - Super Splatters - Breach & Clear - Worms Blast - Galcon Legends - FLYING TIGERS: SHADOWS OVER CHINA - Super 3-D Noah's Ark - Torchlight - Blood Knights - Cast of the Seven Godsends - A-Tech Cybernetic - Panoptic - DISCIPLES: LIBERATION - EPIC CHEF - RAILROAD CORPORATION - GOLF GANG - Populus(Origin) - BIT.TRIP Presents... Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien - ARMA: Cold War Assault - Awesomenauts Cluck Costume - Frozen Synapse Multiplayer Key - Tower of Guns - Worms - Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure - War of the Roses: Kingmaker - Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game - Contraption Maker - 140 - Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians - Tulpa - Men of War: Assault Squad GOTY - Abyss Odyssey - Space Run - Pix the Cat - Tiny Troopers - Nuclear Dawn - Inside My Radio - Darkness Within 2: The Dark Lineage - Darkness Within 1: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder - Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered - Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People: Season 1 - Tharsis - Killing Floor - Community Weapon Pack 3 DLC - Killing Floor - Community Weapon Pack 2 DLC - Killing Floor - Community Weapon Pack 1 DLC - Else Heart.Break() - Uurnog Uurnlimited - Void Destroyer - Turmoil - The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonça and Pizza Boy - Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan - Umbrella Corps™ Deluxe Edition Upgrade Pack - Lakeview Cabin Collection - DreadOut Soundtrack & Manga DLC - DreadOut: Keepers of The Dark - DreadOut - Infested Planet - Trickster's Arsenal DLC - The Flame in the Flood - The Shrouded Isle - Scanner Sombre - The Elder Scrolls: Legends: 2 Card Packs (Skyrim) 1 Event Ticket 100 Gold 100 Souls - Tormentor X Punisher - Epistory - Typing Chronicles - Mr. Shifty - HIVESWAP: Act 1 - Immortal Planet - The Town of Light - Evergarden - Legacy of Dorn: Herald of Oblivion - Golf With Your Friends - OST - Smoke and Sacrifice - Idle Champions Celeste's Starter Pack - Archangel: Hellfire - Fully Loaded - RAD - Wands (VR) - Paper Beast - State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition Soundtrack - Kingdom: New Lands - Cook-Out (VR) - Blaston (VR) - Traffic Jams (VR) - Propagation VR - Co-op - Down The Rabbit Hole (VR) - Strider - Bionic Commando - MIND SCANNERS - Tower of Time - Battle vs Chess - Two Worlds Epic Edition - Septerra Core - KnightShift - Jagged Alliance 2 - Wildfire - World War II: Panzer Claws - Earth 2150 Trilogy - Earth 2140 - One Finger Death Punch 2 - God’s Trigger - The Textorcist: The Story of Ray Bibbia - Do Not Feed the Monkeys - Need for Speed Unbound Origin - Killing Floor 2 Steam CD Key - Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen - Time loader - The Black heart - Lethal League Blaze - Garfield Kart - Astronarch Feel free to offer anything :) My wishlist Soulslikes FPS games rts games action games VR games hades half life alyx deadlink Project nimbus Vr Dungeon knight prodeus deadlink viscerafest praey to the gods the sinking city condemed criminal origins halo wars space hulk tactics time carnage vr dead effect 2 vr the mages tale neverinth bloody spell lost ember the falconer project freedom heroes of anhiliated empires subnautica omensight definitive edition icey vampire the masquarade redemption gun club vr shadow legend vr nier automata hades remnant form the ashes dlc ultra age ender lilies: quietus of the knights vigil the longest night tomrented souls terminator resistance the riftbreaker remorse the list blacktail songs of conquest grime into the radius VR blade and sorcery

My IGS rep page:
https://old.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/zipbc1/deadfishcros_igs_rep_page_numbe
​
​
I have:

• Ghostwire tokyo
• Honey I joined a cult
• Eternal Threads
• Turbo golf racing
• Meeple station
• Flashback
• Megarace 1
• Megarace 2
• Megarace 3
• The Bluecoats: North & South
• Toki
• The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante
• Founders' Fortune
• Hero's hour
• Rogue lords
• Demon turf
• Fallout 1
• Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales
• Othercide
• Shady part of me
• Scourgebringer
• Fobia - St. Dinfna hotel
• Five Dates
• 11:11 Memories retold
• ATOM RPG Trudograd (PC) - Steam Key
• Banners of Ruin
• Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager
• The Last Door: Season 2 - Collector's Edition
• Chaos Reborn
• Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball
• CastleStorm
• Horizon Shift
• The Walking Dead: 400 Days
• Detached VR
• Vanishing Realms VR
• Swords of Gurrah VR
• Tower Tag
• The Morrigan
• Duet
• Fieldrunners
• Fallen Enchantress - Legendary Heroes
• Kromaia
• Flat Heroes
• Seasons after Fall
• Midnight Protocol
• Rustler
• Rebel Cops
• John Wick Hex
• ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery)
• Deadly Days
• Kill It With Fire
• Puzzle Agent 2
• Blade Symphony + Soundtrack
• Dangerous Golf
• Alpha Kimori 1
• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
• Super Splatters
• Breach & Clear
• Worms Blast
• Galcon Legends
• FLYING TIGERS: SHADOWS OVER CHINA
• Super 3-D Noah's Ark
• Torchlight
• Blood Knights
• Cast of the Seven Godsends
• A-Tech Cybernetic
• Panoptic
• DISCIPLES: LIBERATION
• EPIC CHEF
• RAILROAD CORPORATION
• GOLF GANG
• Populus(Origin)
• BIT.TRIP Presents... Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
• ARMA: Cold War Assault
• Awesomenauts Cluck Costume
• Frozen Synapse Multiplayer Key
• Tower of Guns
• Worms
• Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure
• War of the Roses: Kingmaker
• Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game
• Contraption Maker
• 140
• Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians
• Tulpa
• Men of War: Assault Squad GOTY
• Abyss Odyssey
• Space Run
• Pix the Cat
• Tiny Troopers
• Nuclear Dawn
• Inside My Radio
• Darkness Within 2: The Dark Lineage
• Darkness Within 1: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder
• Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered
• Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People: Season 1
• Tharsis
• Killing Floor - Community Weapon Pack 3 DLC
• Killing Floor - Community Weapon Pack 2 DLC
• Killing Floor - Community Weapon Pack 1 DLC
• Else Heart.Break()
• Uurnog Uurnlimited
• Void Destroyer
• Turmoil
• The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonça and Pizza Boy
• Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan
• Umbrella Corps™ Deluxe Edition Upgrade Pack
• Lakeview Cabin Collection
• DreadOut Soundtrack & Manga DLC
• DreadOut: Keepers of The Dark
• DreadOut
• Infested Planet - Trickster's Arsenal DLC
• The Flame in the Flood
• The Shrouded Isle
• Scanner Sombre
• The Elder Scrolls: Legends: 2 Card Packs (Skyrim) 1 Event Ticket 100 Gold 100 Souls
• Tormentor X Punisher
• Epistory - Typing Chronicles
• Mr. Shifty
• HIVESWAP: Act 1
• Immortal Planet
• The Town of Light
• Evergarden
• Legacy of Dorn: Herald of Oblivion
• Golf With Your Friends - OST
• Smoke and Sacrifice
• Idle Champions Celeste's Starter Pack
• Archangel: Hellfire - Fully Loaded
• RAD
• Wands (VR)
• Paper Beast
• State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition Soundtrack
• Kingdom: New Lands
• Cook-Out (VR)
• Blaston (VR)
• Traffic Jams (VR)
• Propagation VR - Co-op
• Down The Rabbit Hole (VR)
• Strider
• Bionic Commando
• MIND SCANNERS
• Tower of Time
• Battle vs Chess
• Two Worlds Epic Edition
• Septerra Core
• KnightShift
• Jagged Alliance 2 - Wildfire
• World War II: Panzer Claws
• Earth 2150 Trilogy
• Earth 2140
• One Finger Death Punch 2
• God’s Trigger
• The Textorcist: The Story of Ray Bibbia
• Do Not Feed the Monkeys
• Need for Speed Unbound Origin
• Killing Floor 2 Steam CD Key
• Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen
• Time loader
• The Black heart
• Lethal League Blaze
• Garfield Kart
• Astronarch

​
Feel free to offer anything :)

My wishlist

Soulslikes
FPS games
rts games
action games
VR games
hades
half life alyx
deadlink
Project nimbus
Vr Dungeon knight
prodeus
deadlink
viscerafest
praey to the gods
the sinking city
condemed criminal origins
halo wars
space hulk tactics
time carnage vr
dead effect 2 vr
the mages tale
neverinth
bloody spell
lost ember
the falconer
project freedom
heroes of anhiliated empires
subnautica
omensight definitive edition
icey
vampire the masquarade redemption
gun club vr
shadow legend vr
nier automata
hades
remnant form the ashes dlc
ultra age
ender lilies: quietus of the knights
vigil the longest night
tomrented souls
terminator resistance
the riftbreaker
remorse the list
blacktail
songs of conquest
grime
into the radius VR
blade and sorcery

Funny People, directed by Judd Appatow, starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, and a loooot of other people you’ll know should be on “Sandler’s” best list along with Uncut Gems, Punch Drunk Love, etc.
I will confess up front, I am a fanboy of standup comedian culture, the whole quest for fame and riches through comedy, and also a cinephile, and so pay attention to the intersection between that and Hollywood.
This film is essentially about comedians, “funny people” in LA (and some who aren’t but are trying anyway) and their quest for recognition, financial and cultural success. It has a cast list as deep as it gets, with even the cameos being recognizable comedians or character actors, media personalities, etc doing comedic bits. I won’t talk about the plot, so that’s that.
It’s not a pure comedy, and much of the content of the film is dramatic, uncomfortable, and challenging in the way good storytelling often is. At the center of this is Adam Sandler’s performance of a figure that, on the surface, could be very autobiographical. Perhaps it’s fictional, based on people the writers, director, and actor know, I neither know nor care. It’s a moving story and one of the best dramatic performances by Mr. Sandler.
As for AS, something that impresses me about his few and far between dramatic turns is that he manages the appearance of real vulnerability, and what I think is a real empathy for, or at least understanding of, his characters. As if each of these characters embodies complexities and failings he understands very well. As someone who loves acting, I know that makes for epic performances.
And Appatow does something I really like with his direction of the film, which is to keep the cinematography really simple, and the editing tightly focused on just letting this incredible ensemble, and Sandler’s performance, carry the film. People can argue with the sometimes implausible, and perhaps overlong plot. But to me it’s purpose was only to give room for the jokes and the performances to have equal time as the story. The story itself is not earth shattering, but from a perspective of “philosophical depth”, it at least rivals something like goodwill hunting, or other Hollywood feel-good fair.
But it’s just about people who love comedy as an art form, and about how our hopes and reality clash and sometimes have to be renegotiated, how what “really matters” in life is connection, but mostly about how humor heals. Hence the title.
I never see this movie discussed on social media or in the context of Sandler’s or Appatow’s careers, or any of the people in it, and then I watch in and I’m confused why it gets zero mention. Just came back up on Netflix and I thought I’d ask reddit about it.

source - https://boards.4channel.org/v/thread/639556456
Yakuza Gaiden:
Trailer on the xbox showcase and then gameplay overview on the 16th.
Sotenbori, Yokohama are the playable areas, plus one remote location that isn't really open world. There will be substories and cabaret club returns which is its own storyline. The main story is shorter, around 10-12h. Releases late august.
Yakuza 8:
Trailer on the 16th. Will almost entirely focus on Icihban's side, Kiryu's side will have a trailer at a later date. Every party member from Y7 returns, but not everyone will join your adventure in the game. The combat will feature a sanity meter which starts at 100%, the more it decreases (it happens naturally the longer the battle goes on, but also from taking damage and certain party member skills) the more crazy Ichiban-vision gets. His abilities also transform depending on his sanity. Healing raises it back up, so to get access to the most powerful moves you can't just constantly heal like in Y7. Lots of gimmicky boss fights that switch up the gameplay, one particular early game boss will temporarily transform the gameplay into a 2d shoot em up.
Y8 also gets another trailer on the 16th in which they reveal one of the content packs you get with the deluxe edition. It will be a persona collab pack, with lots of persona outfits, summons, battle themes, and even persona-inspired menu graphics.
State of remakes:
Ishin met expectations internally and met expectations. But, there is a feeling within the team that focusing on new projects is more valuable especially the further they move away from the "old style" Yakuza. Both Kenzan and Dead Souls are considered, but the likelihood of either happening is low because they would need to be worked on considerably more than Ishin.
Future games:
There is a dragon quest/classic jrpg inspired spinoff in the works which focuses on Ichiban. This will get teased on the 16th. 2025 the earliest. Unreal engine.
Judgment:
J3 is targeted for 2025 on DE. Dont expect anything about it this year.

Link to Hub

Recapping 2022

2022 was a dangerous year to be a Vikings fan, especially if you have a pre-existing heart condition. While a season of 13 wins -- tied for the most since 1998 -- may seem like the team is in a position to make a Superbowl push, the actual quality of the team is a lot more... well, mediocre.
The 2022 Vikings ranked 19th in offensive EPA per play, 25th in defensive EPA per play, 27th in Overall DVOA, and 15th in Pythagorean Wins (with 8.4 expected wins). Kevin O'Connell always preached the performance of the team in priority situations. The team finished 12th in 3rd down conversion rate and 8th in red zone conversion rate. And the team led the league -- by far -- in the number of 4th quarter comebacks and game winning drives. When it was time to put up or shut up, the team put up hard. Except for in the playoffs.

2023 Offseason

All of that made the future of the Vikings tough to read. But Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the rest of the front office told us what they thought of the team with their free agency moves. In a league where teams are trading the farm for Hall of Fame QBs and giving $20M/Year deals to nose tackles and guards, the Vikings' big free agent splash were a one year deal on an injury-prone DE and a good-not-great corner that doesn't even crack the top 20 highest AAVs at the position. Concurrently, the team parted ways with half of the team's 2022 captains to try to get under the cap. All of this while the team is not done with transactions -- Dalvin Cook still presents as a cut candidate due to his age and contract structure.
Notable Departures:

• WR Adam Thielen ($6.4 Saved / $13.5 Dead)
• LB Eric Kendricks ($9.5 Saved / $1.93 Dead)
• CB Patrick Peterson (Unrestricted Free Agent)
• DT Dalvin Tomlinson (Unrestricted Free Agent)

Notable Arrivals:

• CB Byron Murphy (2Y / $17.5TOT / $8.1GTD)
• EDGE Marcus Davenport (1Y / $13TOT / $10GTD)
• TE Josh Oliver (3Y / $21TOT / $8.2GTD)
• DT Dean Lowry (2Y / $8.5TOT / $4.2GTD)
• EDGE Za'Darius Smith (Post-draft trade)

Other Notable Transactions:

• Re-Signed C Garrett Bradbury (3Y / $15.75TOT / $5.15GTD)
• Re-Signed RB Alexander Mattison (2Y / $7TOT / $6.35GTD)
• Re-Signed FB CJ Ham (3Y / $5.6TOT / $3.3GTD)
• Re-Signed All-Pro LS Andrew DePaola (3Y / $4.025TOT / $1.515GTD)

The other major change that influenced how the team addresses the draft was the shift from Ed Donatell's Cover 2 shell defense to Brian Flores's aggressive man defense. Compared to the 2022 Vikings, Flores's 2021 Dolphins blitzed over twice as often and played with light boxes at roughly half the rate. On top of the front seven, one of the biggest changes in scheme is the Cover 2 alignment, which Donatell employed on nearly half of all defensive snaps compared to just 12% for Flores's 2021 Miami team. With one crop of rookies and free agents brought in to play in a Fangio style scheme, the defense would have to undergo a massive shift to succeed in a scheme that can only be described as the complete opposite of what was run in 2022.

Draft Needs

Cornerback - Arguably the Vikings' biggest need, the team was without a true CB1. Byron Murphy comes aboard as the most experienced player. Pegged a slot-only player through his first three years, Murphy spent most of his time in 2022 outside and had a career year. After that, the team looked to rely on improvements from their 2022 draft class with Andrew Booth and Akayleb Evans, two players that combined for fewer than 300 defensive snaps last season primarily due to injury. You can see how KAM and crew, confident in their scouting ability, are betting on health to affect the secondary for the better. But taking another bet on a young player is a smart move at a position where depth is always a good thing.
Interior Defensive Line - The loss of Dalvin Tomlinson -- who played 551 snaps last year and compiled 14 pressures -- leaves issues next to Harrison Phillips. Jonathan Bullard was third on the IDL with 319 snaps last season and returns on a one year deal. Tonga and Lynch had some flashes, and the team brought in Lowry. The rotation (optimistically) can get to competent. But finding a true winner on the inside of the line was viewed by many as a priority.
Wide Receiver - The Vikings starting personnel at WR heading in to the draft was Justin Jefferson (stud), KJ Osborn (decent), and... Jalen Nailor? Brandon Powell? Oh dear Lord don't tell me it's Jalen Reagor. The loss of Adam Thielen was expected, but nevertheless leaves a gaping hole next to JJ and KJ in the lineup. Keenan McCardell is arguably the best WR coach in the league, and playing with Jefferson would give one-on-one opportunities for any receiver. But having somebody that can actually win those one-on-ones remains a question.
Inside Linebacker - Eric Kendricks's jersey change marks the true end of an era at LB. Kendricks struggled in Donatell's scheme last season, as did most players. But he was a longtime leader on the defense and a valued community member. Jordan Hicks, Brian Asamoah, and Troy Reeder sit atop the depth chart. Hicks can be solid and Asamoah had flashes, but counting on this group as every down players is a risk to say the least.
Offensive Guard - Ed Ingram was one of the worst starting guards in the league last season. But he's a rookie. Maybe he gets better in year 2. Maybe he stays terrible. Even if you're optimistic there, Ezra Cleveland is entering a contract year at left guard. Adding interior offensive line depth is always smart.
Quarterback - This offseason, reports surfaced that the team and QB Kirk Cousins could not finalize a contract extension. That means for the first time in his Vikings tenure, Cousins is entering a contract year. Cousins has been an above average QB during his time in Minnesota. Last year saw him finish 4th in yards, but he was painfully mediocre at efficiency stats like TD percent (17th), ANY/A (18th), and ADOT (20th). Entering his age-35 season, it would be wise to look for a successor even if the team plans on retaining Cousins past 2023.

The Draft

*Indicates measure is taken from Pro Day
1.23 WR Jordan Addison, USC
Profile: Jr 5'11 173lbs 31.5 Arm\ 8.75 Hand 75.125 Wing* 4.49 40 1.57 10 34 VJ 10'2 BJ 4.19 SS* 7.05 3c 5.95 RAS*
2022 Stats: 11 Gm 59 Rec 875 Yds 8 TD 2 Drops
Steve Smith Sr: "Addison has one of the highest ceilings among WRs in this draft due to his blend of route running chops and his all around athleticism. He is a three level route runner: intermediate, deep, and short... The way he can get in and out of his breaks is so natural. He uses leverage. And he manipulates the DB consistently"
Addison -- a Biletnikoff Award winner during his Pitt days -- is one of the highest floor players in the class. He is a route running technician with proven dominance playing inside and outside. He had more than 3 yards per route run in two different offenses. He understands how to marry his athleticism and quickness with the breaks in his routes. He finds the DB's blind spot and forces them to lose. Addison is a bit on the small side, but not abnormally so given this draft class. He does have some concerns with his hands -- his drop rates as a freshman and sophomore were 14% and 10%, respectively -- but he showed improvement in this as a junior.
The need here is clear. As mentioned earlier, the WR depth past JJ and KJ is abysmal. Even with Thielen and Osborn on the roster in 2022, the Vikings needed juice in the WR room. The 2022 Vikings had one top 5 WR in yards per route run (Jefferson). There was no other receiver in the top 100. Teams were not worried about Thielen or Osborn. Teams could put two or three defenders on Jefferson without any fear of what anyone else might do to their defense. Hockenson fixed this a bit down the stretch, but an outside playmaker was still needed.
The real question here is why the team opted not to go for CB Joey Porter Jr, who filled what many considered to be the team's biggest need and was a higher ranked prospect for Lance Zierlein, PFF, Danny Kelly, Matt Miller, and Dane Brugler. The answer here -- if I can take a guess and stretch my logic a bit -- is that the need at WR2 was greater than the need at CB. Patrick Peterson was the biggest loss in the secondary, and the team brought in Byron Murphy to try to fill that role. On offense, Minnesota had not brought in a replacement for Adam Thielen. The depth chart past Jefferson and Osborn was filled with bodies that might not make a 53-man roster on a lot of teams.
Trade: MIN gives 3.87 to MIN for 3.102, 5.164, 7.222

	Jimmy Johnson	Rich Hill	Fitzgerald-Spielberger	Harvard
Total give	155	48	737	115
Total get	117.7	45	1334	197
Absolute Diff	-37.3	-3	+597	+82
Percent Diff	-24%	-6%	+81%	+71%

The biggest thing to consider when evaluating this trade is that the Vikings came into the draft with 5 picks, only two of which were in the top 100. In my biased opinion, this was a home run trade, even if the traditional charts disagree. To take three swings at the bat instead of one is a humble and wise strategy, especially for a team with limited draft capital. The move looks even better in hindsight because there were no CBs taken between 87 and 102.
3.102 CB Mekhi Blackmon, USC
Profile: 6Sr 5'11" 178lbs 31" Arm 9.25" Hand 74.625" Wing 4.47 40 1.47 10 36 VJ 10'5" BJ 11 Bench 7.44 RAS
2022 Stats: 14 Gm 66 TKL 2 TFL 1 FF 15 PD 3 INT
Brett Kollman: "Feisty, physical press corner who definitely has to play more under control in the NFL to avoid flags, but he has all the competitiveness you want to see from a potential CB1 at the next level. Never backs down from anyone. Has easy gas to stay in control of a route from top down, even against true burners. Legit 4.4 speed and gets up to it quickly. Outstanding ball production... Held up extremely well despite being targeted often. Battle tested, aggressive, and confident... Very similar to Desmond Trufant."
An unrecruited high school positionless player out of high school that signed with JuCo San Mateo, Blackmon followed up four seasons at Colorado with a breakout 2022 campaign as one of the best defenders on the USC defense. The Trojans played a man-heavy scheme, which let Blackmon shine. He has great anticipation and instincts. His production this year says as much. He plays bigger than his size, and he has inside-outside versatility. He will have to clean up some of his physicality to avoid flags at the next level. He will also have to refine his technique to stay with the more complex routes he'll see. But he is a strong culture and scheme fit for what Brian Flores is bringing to the defense.
The need at CB was obvious even before hiring Flores. The Vikings ranked 31st in passing yards allowed, 26th in Passing DVOA, and 24th in EPA allowed per pass attempt. Bringing in Byron Murphy helps. So do the healthy returns of Booth and Evans. But Murphy has not yet shown that he can be a consistently great player (or at least not markedly better than what we got out of Patrick Peterson last year). And Booth and Evans are unproven. Blackmon -- taken with the last pick on Day 2 -- is not expected to come in and be Jalen Ramsey or Sauce Gardner. But in a shift to a more aggressive man-coverage defense with a thin CB room, Blackmon is an upside player that will have every chance to take a starting spot on a porous defense.
Trade: MIN gives 4.119 to KC for 4.134, 2024 5th\*

	Jimmy Johnson	Rich Hill	Fitzgerald-Spielberger	Harvard
Total give	56	24	578	88
Total get	58.4	24	898	133
Absolute Diff	+2.4	0	+320	+45
Percent Diff	+4%	0%	+36%	+34%

On top of entering the weekend with a mere 5 draft picks in the current year, the Vikings also entered with a mere 5 draft picks in the 2024 class (3rd rounder traded for Hockenson, 5th rounder traded for Reagor). Dropping 15 picks in a relatively flat part of the draft while adding a mid-Day 3 pick is good business given this team's lack of capital.
*Here we assume a future pick in round n is valued at the middle pick of round n+1, not accounting for compensatory picks. In this case, a 2024 5th is equated to pick 176.
4.134 S Jay Ward, LSU
Profile: Sr 6'0.5" 188lbs 32.5" Arm 8.25" Hand 76.875" Wing 4.55 40 1.54 10 34.5 VJ 11' BJ 4.35 Shuttle\ 7.31 3c 16 Bench 6.70 RAS*
2022 Stats: 13 Gm 60 TKL 2.5 TFL 5 PD 1 INT 2 FR TD
Nate Tice: "A ton of fun. I just like this fit because of Brian Flores's defense. Just picture all of those mixture guys that the Patriots have used over the years... Jay Ward can be that"
A three year starter with reps at safety, slot, and outside CB, Ward is one of the most versatile players in the class. He possesses excellent length and movement skills. His experience at CB make him a fluid player in coverage. In the run game, Ward's size is a concern. His 188lbs Combine weight puts him in just the second percentile for safeties. This translates to issues with taking on blocks. He is a very aggressive player, beelining to the ball as soon as it's out. But his size coupled with his impatient playstyle lead to a lot of missed tackles. He was also flagged seven times last season.
In his final season in Miami, Flores was extremely creative with how he employed his safeties. Jevon Holland had the 2nd most blitzes in the league at the position. The number 1 player? His teammate Brandon Jones. With the defense taking on Flores's amoeba identity, an aggressive player with experience at multiple positions has the potential to find a role early on. The defense will look to utilize him similar to how Jevon Holland was used as a rookie. And with Harrison Smith well into the twilight of his career, Ward is a timely pick as the team attempts to thread the needle in their competitive rebuild.
Trade: MIN gives 5.158, 6.211 to IND for 5.141

	Jimmy Johnson	Rich Hill	Fitzgerald-Spielberger	Harvard
Total give	32.4	13	722	103
Total get	36	15	492	74
Absolute Diff	+4	+2	-230	-29
Percent Diff	+10%	+13%	-47%	-39%

It's a bit strange to see Adofo-Mensah move away from the analytics charts in favor of the traditional ones, but the value swap here is not absurd. The real question with this trade will be if Roy ends up being a true contributor.
5.141 NT Jaquelin Roy, LSU
Profile: Jr 6'3" 305lbs 32.75" Arm 10.125" Hand 78.125" Wing 5.13 40\ 1.82 10* 26" VJ* 8'5" BJ* 5.00 Shuttle 8.01 3c 30 Bench 3.72 RAS*
2022 Stats: 13 Gm 49 TKL 3.5 TFL 0.5 SCK
Lance Zierlein: " The more you watch, the more you like the way Roy plays the game... Despite limited starting experience at LSU, he already displays signs of a rush plan and the athletic talent to execute it. Roy is an ascending talent with the potential to become a quality starter. "
After a 30 tackle, 1.5 sack campaign as a rotational player in 2021, Roy shifted from a penetrating 3T position to more of a traditional nose tackle under new HC Brian Kelly. This transition let Roy shine as a run stuffer. He eats space and is incredibly tough to move from his spot. He averaged almost 52 snaps a game in 2022 and his motor never let up. He has some work to do if he wants to be a three down player, particularly as a pass rusher. His bend and balance in this front are especially lacking.
The Vikings' front office seems to be a lot more comfortable with the current IDL room than I am. Harrison Phillips is a plus starter. Past that, the roster is filled with unproven youth or proven subpar players. As a 5th round pick, Roy has an uphill battle to separate himself from that group. But he's a good lottery ticket at this price. His positional versatility ensures that the defense can simply put their best players on the field.
5.164 QB Jaren Hall, BYU
Profile: RSr 6'0" 207lbs 39.75" Arm 9.5" Hand 71.875" Wing 4.63 40\ 1.59 10* 4.19 Shuttle* 7.06 3c* 7.96 RAS*
2022 Stats: 12 Gm 248 Comp 376 Att 66% Comp 3171 Yds 31 TD 6 INT 86 Rush 789 Rush Yds 9 RUsh TD
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah: "We added a really talented player that has a ton of upside... The ability to make decisions, throw the football accuracy, deal with conflict when it comes his way, and sometimes try to make a play outside the framework of the playcall. He does all those things at a really great level... That's an outstanding young man. I'd like to see him lead my team or any organization I'm a part of."
Despite being the third oldest prospect in the QB class, Hall only has 24 starts under his belt due to two years on religious mission and one year with a hip injury. But when Hall took over for Zach Wilson in 2021, he hit the ground running. BYU went 10-3 in that first year with Hall compiling a 4:1 TD:INT ratio. He is a two time team captain, and all reports of his character are off the charts.
Hall is a poised pocket passer capable of extending plays and picking up yardage on the ground. He was only sacked 12 times in 2022, which is a testament to both BYU's offensive line and Hall's ability to create under pressure. There are conflicting opinions on Hall's upside and arm strength, with Lance Zierlein calling his arm "unimpressive" while Kyle Crabbs claiming that hall has a "live arm with the ability to throw with juice off platform". Where there was near-universal agreement was in his understanding of the scheme, as Hall operated BYU's RPO-heavy offense like a machine. He has a clean release and quickly gets into a rhythm. His largest universal concerns are his age (he turned 25 in March) and his injury history (missed 20 games in the last 4 years). He also has ball security issues with 13 fumbles over his career.
I expected the Vikings to draft a QB in this class. The only question was if it would have been via a trade up on Day 1 or a flyer on Day 3 (or a falling Will Levis). With his age, size, and injury history, there are plenty of questions about what Hall can be. He will have a year in practice to put together his audition tape to be Kirk Cousins's replacement -- it's certainly a viable path for this team to take a RiddeHowell/Mills-esque year to evaluate Hall while they continue retooling the defense. But the more likely path is that Hall becomes a long-term backup for the team. Cousins has been the model of health, but that doesn't mean that QB2 is an unimportant position. Sean Mannion, Kellen Mond, and Nick Mullens have manned that position to various degrees over the past few years. None has shown that they can be a competent plug-in player if needed. There is some hope that Hall -- who operated the BYU offense with a mechanic efficiency -- can be that player.
7.222 RB DeWayne McBride, UAB
Profile: Jr 5'10" 209lbs 30.625" Arms 9.5" Hands 73.125" Wing 20 Bench\*
2022 Stats: 11 Gm 233 Att 1713 Yds 19 TD 7.4 Y/A 2 Rec 10 Rec Yds
Dane Brugler: "Overall, McBride is unproven as a pass catcher and blocker, which might restrict his NFL role, but his contact balance, vision and lateral agility are among the best this running back draft class has to offer"
In an era of advanced metrics and Combine showmanship, perhaps the trait that has gone underappreciated more than any other in RB scouting is balance. McBride may have the best balance in the entire RB class outside of Bijan Robinson. He comes from a heavy outside zone scheme at UAB, where he led the FBS in yards per game and set school records for single-game and single-season rushing. McBride absorbs contact like a sponge. His short area burst is strong, and he makes defenders miss with power and finesse. McBride has ideal size and toughness. His concerns are simple. He was not utilized as a receiver in college, and he had more career fumbles than catches in that time. McBride profiles as a two-down player at the next level. Although Adofo-Mensah has voiced his belief that McBride's passing game usage was a product of scheme rather than ability, McBride still has to prove that he is more than just a short yardage runner in the NFL.
After spending a pick in back to back years on RB and re-signing Mattison to a modest contract, RB was a bit of an unexpected pick for this regime. Dalvin Cook still seems to be movable (a likely cut candidate at this point), which would make this pick more logical. Chandler struggled with injuries as a rookie, but both he and Nwangwu profile more as speedy scatbacks than true between-the-tackle runners like Mattison. Even Mattison has never been a true three-down back. McBride plays much more similarly to Mattison than the other backs on the team. He will try to carve out a role behind him as the future thunder to the lightning provided by Chandler and Nwangwu.

UDFA

FB Zach Ojile, Minnesota Duluth
Profile: 6Sr 6'0" 241lbs 31.5" Arms 8.5" Hands 75.5" Wing 4.78 40\ 1.79 10* 31" VJ* 9'1" BJ* 4.40 Shuttle* 31 Bench* 4.15 RAS*
2022 Stats: 11 Gm 12 Rush 53 Rush Yds 3 Rush TD 25 Rec 289 Rec Yds 5 Rec TD
A Twin Cities native, Ojile was a late addition to the roster, joining after a May rookie minicamp tryout. Ojile played LB, QB, FS, and RB in high school but found a role as an H-Back at UMD. He served as a team captain the past two seasons and finishes his collegiate career with over 1100 total yards and 24 total TDs. He was an All-Conference player for the DII NSIC Bulldogs. Whether Ojile participates at FB or TE, he'll need to prove his versatility to beat out the veterans on the depth chart. Working in his favor is Kevin O'Connell's shift to a more base-heavy offense in 2023.
WR Cephus Johnson, Southeastern Louisiana
Profile: 6Sr 6'4" 223lbs 33.25" Arm\ 8.5" Hand* 78.625" WIng* 4.57 40* 1.59 10* 36.5" VJ* 10'1" BJ* 4.39 Shuttle* 7.25 3c* 18 Bench* 9.48 RAS*
2022 Stats: 11 Gm 184 Pass Att 65% Comp 1354 Pass Yds 10 Pass TD 5 INT 89 Rush 488 Rush Yds 5 Rush TD
Johnson is making the fulltime switch from QB to WR as he attempts to latch on to an NFL practice squad. He earned the starting role for South Alabama as a redshirt junior before transferring to SE Louisiana, where he took some snaps at WR in spring games. Johnson's stats were unimpressive as a starting QB, notching just 1354 yards and a 2:1 TD:INT ratio in 11 starts. He has good size and instincts as a runner, but he has basically no experience playing WR.
WR Lucky Jackson, W Kentucky / XFL DC Defenders
Profile: RSr 6'0" 179lbs 9.624" Hand\ 32.25" Arm* 75.875" Wing**
2023 Stats: 10 Gm 36 Rec 572 Yds 5 TD 1 Fmb
Jackson last put on a college uniform before the pandemic for Western Kentucky, where his 2019 season saw him put up over 1100 yards on 94 receptions. Following his college days, Jackson spent time in the CFL and the Spring League before joining the XFL's DC Defenders and becoming an All-XFL receiver.
WR Malik Knowles, Kansas St
Profile: RSr 6'2" 196lbs 32.25" Arm 8.75" Hand 77.625" Wing
2022 Stats: 14 Gm 48 Rec 725 YDs 2 TD 8 Rush 164 Rush Yds 3 Rush TD 23 KR 592 KR Yds
Knowles is a vertical threat with good size and length. He offers value as a kick returner and leaves Kansas State with a top 5 rank in all-purpose yards. Knowles is an undeveloped route runner that struggles with quick change-of-direction. He also has trouble with press coverage. He'll need to prove his value on special teams, where he has plenty of collegiate experience as a kick returner.
WR Grant Maag, North Dakota
Profile: 5Sr 6'4" 206lbs 9.25" Hand\ 31.875" Arm* 77.625" Wing* 4.49 40YD* 1.60 10YS* 40.5" VJ* 10'5" BJ* 4.34 Shuttle* 6.90 3c* 8.50 RAS*
2022 Stats: 12 Gm 41 Rec 540 Yds 5 TDs
Maag was brought in following the announcement of Ben Ellefson's retirement. He is an Inver Grove Heights native and a graduate of St Croix Lutheran in St Paul. He leaves North Dakota with over 2000 yards over his five years and served as a team captain the past two seasons. His size gives him an advantage with a shorter WR group ahead of him, but Maag is a far cry from a roster lock.
WR Thayer Thomas, NC State
Profile: 6Sr 6'0" 198lbs 9" Hand\ 30.125" Arm* 73.5" Wing 4.56 40* 1.63 10* 37" VJ* 10' BJ* 4.03 Shuttle* 6.93 3c* 15 Bench* 7.85 RAS*
2022 Stats: 13 Gm 57 Rec 642 Yds 4 TDs 2 Rush Att 44 Rush Yds 1 Rush TD 17 PR 128 PR Yds
A multisport athlete that was drafted by the Red Sox in 2019, Thomas walked onto the Wolfpack football team and got onto the field any way he could. In 2018, he saw work as a receiver, punt returner, and passer. Thomas has good hands (a career drop rate of 4%) and a high work ethic, but he is an undeveloped route runner that struggles to create much after the catch. He will need to prove his worth on special teams if he wants to make the roster.
TE Ben Sims, Baylor
Profile: RSr 6'4" 250lbs 33.125" Arm\ 9.5" Hand* 80.125" Wing* 4.58 40YD* 1.56 10YS 36" Vert* 10'2" Broad* 4.41 Shuttle* 7.46 3c* 15 Bench* 8.40 RAS*
2022 Stats: 12 Gm 31 Rec 255 Yds 3 TDs 2 Drops 1 Rush TD
Sims projects as a blocking tight end with limited ability as a receiver. He's a patient run blocker with good balance and toughness, but he is still cleaning up some technique. He isn't a creator with the ball in his hands and his tape fails to demonstrate the explosiveness that his testing suggests.
OL Alan Ali, TCU
Profile: RSr 6'4" 301lbs 32.875" Arm 9.5" Hand 77.625" Wing 5.23 40\ 1.89 10* 26.5" VJ 8'5" BJ* 4.91 Shuttle* 7.94 3c* 3.80 RAS*
A 5 year starter for TCU and SMU, Ali is a fundamentally sound center prospect with good body control and core strength. He has experience playing at all 5 OL positions but spent most of the past 4 years at center. His lack of athleticism and length are likely the reason he went undrafted.
OT Jacky Chen, Pace
Profile: RSr 6'5 1/4" 299lbs 10" Hand\ 34.5" Arm* 80.75" Wing* 5.41 40* 1.81 10* 29" VJ* 8'10" BJ* 4.74 Shuttle* 7.90 3c* 24 Bench* 5.39 RAS*
It's hard to find very much information on an undrafted lineman from a DII school whose toughest opponent was the University of New Haven. Chen is an OT prospect that is viewed as a ball of clay. Chen's 40 yard dash and 3 cone were underwhelming to say the least, but he was an above average tester in burst and explosiveness drills. That combined with his length make him an interesting project.
EDGE Andre Carter II, Army
Profile: Sr 6'6.5" 256lbs 9.375" Hand 33.275" Arm 81 Wing 4.91 40\ 1.65 10* 30" VJ 9'1" BJ 4.36 Shuttle 6.97 3c* 11 Bench 6.29 RAS*
2022 Stats: 10 Gm 41 TKL 7 TFL 3.5 SCK 2 PD
The highest profile UDFA signing of the class, Carter was getting 1st round buzz this time last year. At that time, Carter was coming off an 18.5 TFL / 15.5 sack season. However, Carter struggled to repeat his production as a senior, notching just 3.5 sacks. Carter finished out the draft cycle with lackluster testing, failing to run under a 4.90 in the 40 yard dash and weighing in at a mere 256 lbs -- a big concern given his 81 inch wingspan and towering stature. Carter has a ton of upside, but he doesn't have the frame to be a real NFL player right now. After 4 years training to be an officer in the US Army, he will need at least one season (maybe more) in an NFL weight room where he can focus on building muscle mass. He'll look to follow the mold of fellow Army player Alejandro Villanueva, who added 43 lbs to his 277 lbs frame entering the league before becoming a 7-year starter. Luckily, he joined the team with one of the best training facilities in the league.
EDGE Junior Aho, SMU
Profile: 6'2" 260lbs 9" Hand 33.875" Arm 79.875" Wing 4.58 40\ 1.66 10* 33.5" VJ* 10'3" BJ* 4.90 Shuttle* 7.38 3c* 9.38 RAS*
2022 Stats: 13 Gm 23 TKL 2 TFL 2 SCK 1 FF
Quite simply, Aho is an athletic freak that should find his way onto the team thanks to the International Player Pathway roster spot. He takes pride in his speed and athleticism, but he also understands the limitations to his game. Aho was a solid rotational player for SMU. He will look to follow in the footsteps of other International Pathway players like Efe Obada and Jordan Mailata.
DT Calvin Avery, Illinois
Profile: RSr 6'1" 343 lbs 10" Hand\ 32.5" Arm 81.87" Wing 5.37 40* 1.84 10* 30.5" VJ* 8'5" BJ* 8.01 3c* 31 Bench* 3.12 RAS*
2022 Stats: 13 Gm 23 TKL 2 TFL 1 PD
Avery is a former four star recruit out of Texas, earning snaps in 12 games as a true freshman. He started 12 games in 2022, primarily at nose tackle. He has a wide, large frame that makes him hard to move. However, he is an underwhelming athlete to say the least, and his statistical production is nearly non-existent.
LB Abraham Beauplan, Marshall
Profile: RSr 5'11" 241 lbs 9.25" Hand 31.75" Arm 77 1/4" Wing 4.62 Shuttle 35.5" VJ 9'9" BJ 7.33 3c 22 Bench 4.52 RAS
2022 Stats: 12 Gm 66 TKL 6.5 TFL 1 SCK 3 PD
Beauplan started the draft process by making an appearance on Bruce Feldman's Freaks List, reportedly squatting as much as 565 lbs and benching as much as 285. The few reports that exist on Beauplan suggest he's an urgent, downhill run defender that will look to carve out a role on special teams early on.
LB Wilson Huber, Cincinnati
Profile: 6Sr 6'4" 241lbs 9.75" Hand 32.375" Arm\ 80" Wing* 4.70 40* 1.66 10* 35" VJ* 10'4" BJ* 4.45 Shuttle* 6.91 3c* 18 Bench* 8.34 RAS*
2022 Stats: 13 Gm 54 TKL 6.5 TFL 1 SCK 1 PD
A 3 star recruit out of Indiana, Huber started his career at Cincinnati as a TE. He played a hybrid role in his first 2 non-redshirt seasons, earning snaps on offense, defense, and special teams. He made a full role switch to the defensive side of the ball in 2020 and eventually earned the team captain moniker in 2022. Huber had some solid testing despite profiling as more of a thumper.
LB Ivan Pace Jr, Cincinnati
Profile: Sr 5'10.5" 231lbs 30.25" Arm 9.5" Hand 72" Wing 4.59 40\ 1.70 10* 35" VJ 9'8" BJ* 4.40 Shuttle * 7.18 3c* 22 Bench* 5.71 RAS*
2022 Stats: 13 Gm 137 TKL 21.5 TFL 10 SCK 3 FF 4 PD
Ranked the 11th best LB for Daniel Jeremiah, 9th for Dane Brugler, and 7th for PFF, many thought Pace could have gone as early as Round 3. Pace was a one year starter for the Bearcats after transferring from Miami (Ohio), and he hit the ground running. He led the AAC in tackles and TFLs. He is a smaller player (although not abnormally so in today's game) that plays with his hair on fire. He gives tremendous effort on every play and is always around the ball. Pace is a super tough player that loves to tackle. His size is a concern; he gets washed out of plays too easily. He is also lacking in coverage skills, struggling to stay connected in man coverage. Still, it's incredible that Pace went undrafted. He's an easy special teams projection as a rookie with the upside to be put in position to win under Flores.
CB CJ Coldon, Oklahoma
Profile: 6Sr 5'10" 186lbs\ 8.375" Hand* 31.125" Arm* 75.125" Wing* 4.60 40* 1.58 10* 37 1/2" VJ* 10'5" BJ* 4.24 Shuttle* 7.31 3c* 3.92 RAS*
2022 Stats: 12 Gm 42 TKL 2 TFL 4 INT 6 PBU
Coldon is an instinctual football player that relies on his feel to create ball production. He spent 5 years at Wyoming before transferring to Oklahoma and leading the team in INTs and PBUs. In zone, Coldon watches the QB and looks for the right cue to understand when and where the ball is headed.
CB NaJee Thompson, Georgia Southern
Profile: 5'10" 200lbs 9.125" Hand 32.75" Arm 76.625" Wing 4.57 40\ 1.63 10* 32" VJ* 9'8" BJ* 4.56 Shuttle* 7.40 3c* 13 Bench* 1.59 RAS*
2022 Stats: 13 Gm 37 TKL 1 TFL 11 PD 1 INT
Thompson's love for the game is undeniable. After struggling to latch onto the Georgia Southern WR room, Thompson approached his head coach asking to be exclusively a special teams player. He relishes being a gunner on punts. He eventually got moved to CB in 2021, logging 557 snaps at the position in 2022. He's undeveloped at the position, but his special teams prowess gives him a good shot at the roster.
CB Jaylin Williams, Indiana
Profile: RSr 5'9" 184lbs 9.125" Hand 29.875" Arm 71.75" Wing 4.43 40\ 1.58 10* 34.5" BJ* 9'11" BJ* 4.20 Shuttle* 7.01 3c* 13 Bench* 5.54 RAS*
2022 Stats: 10 Gm 40 TKL 2.5 TFL 7 PD 1 FR 1 BLK
A longtime role player for the Hoosiers before becoming a fulltime starter in 2019, Williams's 6 career INTs were the most amongst active players on the team last season. He earned second team All-Confernece honors in 2020 and was an honorable mention in 2021.
K Jack Podlesny, Georgia
Profile: RSr 6'0" 195lbs 29.25" Arms 9" Hands 74.75" Wing
2022 Stats: 31 Att 26 Made 50 Long 109 Kickoff 72 Touchbacks 74 PAT Att 73 PAT Made
Ranked as Dane Brugler's 4th kicker and Lance Zierlein's 3rd kicker, Podlesny enters Vikings camp following a career that saw him walk on to Georgia's football team and finish with an 82% hit rate. He hit all but one extra point last season for the national champion Bulldogs. A concern with Podlesny is his leg strength. His accuracy beyond 40 yards falls to just 54%. His clutchness may also come into question as he missed two kicks in the national championship semifinals against Ohio State.
​

Projected Depth Chart

Pos (Projected 2023 Rostered Count / 2022 Rostered Count): Starter, Rookie, Cuts
QB (2/2): Kirk Cousins, Jaren Hall, Nick Mullens
RB (4/4): Alexander Mattison, Kene Nwangwu, Ty Chandler, DeWayne McBride, Dalvin Cook
FB (1/1): CJ Ham, Zach Ojile
WR (5/5): Justin Jefferson, KJ Osborn, Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor, Brandon Powell, Trishton Jackson, Jalen Reagor, Blake Proehl, Thayer Thomas, Cephus Johnson, Malik Knowles, Lucky Jackson, Garrett Maag
TE (3/3): TJ Hockenson, Josh Oliver, Johnny Mundt, Nick Muse, Ben Sims
OL (9/10): Christian Darrisaw, Ezra Cleveland, Garrett Bradbury, Ed Ingram, Brian O'Neill, Chris Reed, Austin Schlottman, Oli Udoh, Blake Brandel, Josh Sokol, Vederian Lowe, Alan Ali, Jacky Chen, Sam Schlueter
DT (7/6): Harrison Phillips, Dean Lowry, Jonathan Bullard, James Lynch, Esezi Otomewo, Jaquelin Roy, Khyiris Tonga, Ross Blacklock, Sheldon Day, TJ Smith, Calvin Avery
EDGE (4/5): Danielle Hunter, Marcus Davenport, Pat Jones II, DJ Wonnum, Luiji Vilain, Curtis Weaver, Benton Whitley, Kenny Willekes, Andre Carter II, Junior Aho
ILB (4/4): Jordan Hicks, Brian Asamoah, Troy Reeder, Ivan Pace Jr, Troy Dye, William Kwenkeu, Abraham Beauplan, Wilson Huber
CB (5/6): Byron Murphy, Andrew Booth, Akayleb Evans, Mekhi Blakmon, Joejuan Williams, Kalon Barnes, Tay Gowan, John Reid, CJ Coldon, Najee Thompson, Jaylin Williams
S (5/4): Harrison Smith, Lewis Cine, Jay Ward, Josh Metellus, Camryn Bynum, Theo Jackson
K (1/1): Greg Joseph, Jack Podlesny
P (1/1): Ryan Wright
LS (1/1): Andrew DePaola
KR: Kene Nwangwu
PR: Brandon Powell

2024 Needs

Starters Needed: QB, OG, EDGE, DT -- Whether due to expiring contracts (Cousins, Cleveland, Davenport, Hunter) or overall suckitude (Ingram, Lowry), we need to find new starters at this positions in 2024. Could we go on with average-level free agents? Maybe. Should we? Maybe not.
We'll see how the group plays: CB, LB, RB -- These are positions where the front office is counting on young players (Booth, Evans, Asamoah) to fill the roles of departed starters. If those players take that step up, these positions drop on the needs list. Otherwise, we're in for a rough season.
Depth needed: WR -- The depth after Jefferson, Osborn, and Addison is not great. And Osborn is entering a contract year. Unless Keenan McCardell works some magic with Jalen Nailor or Trishton Jackson or Thayer Thomas, this should be a position we add to next year.

Final Thoughts

Versatility. When we look at this Vikings draft class, that's the first word that comes to mind, and it comes in big bold letters. Addison has inside-outside versatility. So does Mekhi Blackmon. Jay Ward is the most versatile of the group, capable of playing every DB position plus some spot snaps at LB. Roy has been productive everywhere from 0T to 4i. And the team has talked about how much they believe McBride can contribute as a pass catcher on top of his bruiser mindset as a between-the-tackles runner.
On offense, this shift seems to stem from a philosophical change following the TJ Hockenson acquisition last year. O'Connell's unit went from trying to copy-paste Sean McVay's outside zone scheme (largely a 3WR offense) to Kyle Shanahan's outside zone scheme (largely a TE-FB offense). And in that mold, O'Connell was looking for players he could use to create the illusion of complexity. That is, how can we employ versatile players to present defenses the threat of multiplicity?
On defense, the answer is a lot simpler. By bringing over Brian Flores, the team is hoping for a jolt in tenacity and an overall move to a hybrid amoeba scheme. You can look historically at how Bill Belichick has utilized flexibility in his defenses to maximize his gameplan for whatever offensive scheme is next on the menu. You can look at players on the line of scrimmage that have experience in both 43 and 34 schemes (Hunter, Phillips, Lynch, Bullard). And in the secondary, look no further than the selection of Jay Ward as an attempt to clone players like Jevon Holland and Kyle Dugger.
As Adofo-Mensah has repeatedly said, he approaches his job with humility. He listens to those around him and he finds the point where stories marry data to make informed decisions. And in O'Connell, he found someone who shares that mentality. With the emphasis on versatility, that mindset can now be applied on a weekly (and play-by-play) basis to opponents. We'll see how successful that strategy is as the team continues to straddle the line between competitive and rebuilder, but there is certainly an energy around the fanbase with the continued success of the offense and the addition of Brian Flores.

Year 5 Season 1: Broken Wings

A new manhunt has begun with the launch of Season 1: Broken Wings!
Here is all you need to know about the first season for Year 5 of The Division.
 

CONTENTS

• Season 1: Broken Wings Manhunt
• Season 1: Broken Wings Calendar
• Descent Game Mode
• Gear, Weapons & Talents
• Quality of Life Changes
• Apparel Event
• Season Pass

 

MANHUNT

In the wake of the attack at the White House, The Division has discovered that 11 people are unaccounted for and considered missing. You will be tasked to go on a high-stakes rescue mission to find the missing civilians, as they have valuable intel on the White House and The Castle Settlement.
 
Year 5 Season 1: Broken Wings
 
Year 5 Season 1's prime Season 1's is Mari Singh, the former Director of the DC Aquarium. She moved into The Castle and set up a fish farm to support the settlement and build a sustainable and secure place to raise their growing family. Agents must locate and rescue Mari and 4 other hostages before further damage can be done in Washington DC. Securing the people will help rebuild The Castle and restore vital services for The Division. Good luck, Agents!
 

CALENDAR

Year 5 Season 1: Broken Wings - Calendar
 

DESCENT

Descent is a free, 1-to-4 player game mode with semi-infinite and randomized progression, versus an infinite difficulty curve. Warlords of New York ownership is not required to access the mode.
Agents are stripped of all their gear, specializations and perks when starting the game mode. The mode is a playground where you can experiment with builds not feasible in the regular game, challenging them tactically and encouraging deeper understanding of the build meta. This AR training simulation at the NSA Facility was designed to test the limits of the Ortiz Robotics tech. Leave your gear and SHD tech behind to help Wally extract intel from the NSA database.
Access Descent from the Mega Map, Castle Settlement Door, Matchmaking Station, and Helicopter Pilot to activate the simulation. Equip weapons, skills and talents, take turns exploring rooms, defeat enemies, bosses and the ultimate opponent: the Nemesis.
Continue your Run after defeating the Nemesis and see how far you can go for exclusive leaderboard rewards! Discover the history of the simulation and Ortiz Robotics' connection to the Division and the Black Tusk each week in your Collectibles menu.
 

GEAR, WEAPONS & TALENTS

Year 5 Season 1 comes with an array of new weapons and gear! This includes one Gear- and one Brand Set, new Exotic Weapon and Gear piece, 2 new Named Weapons and a bunch of new Weapons & Gear Talents.
 

NEW EXOTIC WEAPON

St. Elmo's Engine
Exotic AR
Talent Actum Est
Shooting an enemy gives 1 stack, at 100 stacks the next magazine is filled with shock ammo.
 

NEW EXOTIC GEAR

Shocker Punch
Exotic Holster
 
Talent Defibrillator
Gives 50%-time reduction when being stunned by any electric skill. Using a Shield gives 100% melee damage. Using the St. Elmo's Engine Exotic AR gives an extra 100% melee damage and applies shock to any enemies hit with melee within the 5-meter radius. It has a 15 second cooldown. Fixed Attributes – Armor, Explosive Resistance and Hazard Protection
 

NEW GEAR

The Cavalier
Gear Set
2 Pieces equipped give +30% Hazard Protection. 3 Pieces equipped give +40% Incoming Repairs. 4 Pieces equipped give access to a new unique talent.
 
Talent Charging
For each second spent out of cover during combat Agents will get 5% reduced incoming damage. Max 40%.
 
Talent Charged
While fully charged, gain immunity to any movement speed debuff and share hazard protection and damage reduction with all allies for 10 seconds. After Charged is consumed, Charging buff will resume if the Agent is still in combat and out of cover. Charged Talent does not stack.
If another agent applies Charged on an ongoing Charging Talent, Charging will pause for the duration of the Charged Talent.
 

Chest and Backpack Bonuses:

Chest Bonus – Talent Overcharging Increases Charger max incoming damage protection to 50%
 
Backpack Bonus – Talent Safe Charging Charger gives 10% protection per second
 
Electrique Gear Brand Set
1 Piece equipped gives +10% Status effect Damage. 2 Pieces equipped give +20% Electricity Protection. 3 Pieces equipped give +10% SMG Damage.
 
Chest and Backpack Bonuses:
Named Chest "Henri" Talent Perfect Companion. Increases total weapon damage by 20% within a 10-meter radius of an ally or skill.
 
Named Backpack “Lavoisier" Talent Perfect Galvanize. Applying Blind, Ensnare, Confuse, or Shock to an enemy grant 50% of your armor as bonus armor to you and all allies within 30 meters of that enemy for 10 seconds.
 

NEW NAMED WEAPONS & TALENTS

Cabaret MP5 ST
Talent “Perfect Thunder Strike” – Deals 40% extra damage to shocked targets.
 
St. Elmo's Engine Exotic AR
Talent “Perfect Thunder Strike” – Deals 40% extra damage to shocked targets.
 
St. Elmo's Engine Exotic AR
Deals 30% extra damage to shocked targets. Applicable to all weapon types except Signature weapons.
 

BALANCING EXISTING GEAR

Talent Determined
Allows to chain multiple headshots by using the Talent's buff.
 

QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES

• Conflict XP rebalance.
  • Added SHD XP progression.
• The living world activities XP gains revamp.
  • Removed Double XP for Convoy activities
  • Across all activities XP gains are now 12% higher

 

• Added the Grants Tab to make the compensations process more streamlined and items easy to obtain.
  • Grants Tab can be found in the Store.
• Added an option to allow players to change mission difficulty regardless of the world difficulty setting.
• Added quick grenade selection menu.
  • Hold G for PC
  • Hold D-pad Left for the consoles.
• Added visual feedback for locked Grenades.
  • When browsing through the Grenades menu in the Inventory, players will see a notification which lets them know if the selected Grenade can be equipped or not.
• Added an option to mark Apparel Items as favourite.
• Added Directives selection for Raids.
• Added the option to Show selected mission Directives on the Mega Map.
• Added the possibility to hold ESC/SPACE to skip videos and epilepsy warnings.
  • Equivalent of Space button is X (PS) and A (XB)
  • Equivalent of Escape button is Options (PS) and Map/Hide Map (XB)
• Added a new In Loadouts section at the bottom of the Item Details window in the Inventory (under a gear piece's talent and mod slots) to display the current loadouts where the selected item is present.
• Added the Hide/Show Mask and Hide/Show Signature Weapon buttons in the Inventory when hovering over the specific tiles/tabs.
  • Currently present in the cross Options layout.
• Added a notification widget for modding Primary, Secondary and Sidearm weapons' skin slot, which appears if the player has any custom skin available for that weapon in the Store. The notification also has a quick button that redirects to the Weapon Skins Store tab.
  • Only available after you open the custom weapon skin section in the store.

 

OTHER

• Fixed the issue with the Mission Difficulty setting selected from the Mega Map not persisting when fast traveling to the mission.
• Deconstructing Named items from Brazos de Arcabuz Brand Set will now give Brazos de Arcabuz resources.

 

DESCENT

• Balancing and Difficulty:
  • Talents balancing
    • Allegro - Reduced the initial and per tier bonus rate of fire from 10% to 7%
    • Breadbasket - Reduced Headshot damage from 20% to 15%
    • Concussion - Reduced the initial and per tier bonus Weapon damage bonus from 10% to 5%. Reduced the per tier Duration bonus from 1 second to 0.5 seconds. Reduced the per tier Weapon damage from headshot kills from 15% to 10%.
    • Obliterate - Increased the initial Weapon damage bonus from 1% to 1.5% and added fixed number of stacks - 30.
    • Adrenaline Rush - Reduced Bonus armor initial and per tier bonus from 5% to 3%.
    • Optimized - Reduced the initial and per tier Weapon handling bonus from 10% to 5%.
    • Vindictive - Reduced the initial and per tier Critical Hit chance bonus from 7% to 3%.
  • Lowered the arena defensive buff from 20% to 15%.
  • Tweaked the Exotic Talents drop chance by increasing it after Descent Loop 4
  • Updated the supply shop rules by allowing only 2 random special ammo to be present in the list.
  • Fixed difficulty scaling after lvl 30.
  • Added Named Item blueprints from Seasons 1, 2, 3 and 4 to the Reconstructed caches.
• Rogue agents' encounters:
  • Removed the healing packs.
  • Updated the spawn values based on number of players (number of players + 1 rogue agent)
  • Increased the rogue agents spawn rate.
  • Buffed rogue agents' Health, Damage, and Armor.
• Nemesis encounters
  • Immune to shock ammo
  • Fixed an issue preventing Nemesis from using Sticky Bomb and Chem Launcher Skills

 

APPAREL EVENT

New Season means new vanity items!
When the event is active, you can earn Apparel Cache keys in game by levelling up your watch levels and unlock the different items through caches. The best part is there are no duplicates in these event caches!
 

ESCALATION

As part of Season 1: Broken Wings, you will be able to unlock apparel items inspired by SHD tech and the Black Tusk.
Escalation Apparel Event keys for the Apparel Caches can be earned from the following sources: 1 free key granted to all players, SHD Levelling - one key every four SHD levels, direct purchase with Premium Credits, and, if you are a Year 5 Season 1 Premium Pass owner, you'll be granted 3 extra keys.
 

SEASON PASS

The optional Season Pass is available for 1000 Premium Credits ($9.99 or your regional equivalent) in the in-game store, granting additional cosmetics and opportunities for season gear as you progress. Year 5 Season 1: Broken Wings is available to all The Division® 2 Warlords of New York owners and Ubisoft+ subscribers.
 
In addition, players with the Season Pass can gain access to the following premium track rewards:

• 9 new weapon skins
• 10 new gear dyes
• 3 new emotes
• 3 new arm patches
• Special Year 5 Season 1 vanity outfit
• A Splinter Cell outfit
• New helmet available as the level 100 reward

 
You can also track some of the top-level investigations being conducted by the team over on our Known Issues Board.
We look forward to seeing you dive into the missions and objectives for the Season 1 Manhunt, as well as uncover the hidden history and shed light on the secrets of the Black Tusk, Hunters, Division tech and Ortiz Robotics.
 
Good luck out there!
/THE DIVISION 2 TEAM
=> Source

its very much like the eastern religions ego trap in fact you could use the idea verbatim on this post but essentially its the same thing. both ridiculous ideologies actually trap you into what they say the seek to elevate you from but it never works , does it?
ive just cross posted my op on the ego trap if you missed it in the soul nexus sub.
lets be painfully obvious satans christianity doesnt and never has liberated anyone, constantine and every other revisionist made sure of that. what is appalling is that people believe the canonized idiocy.
What they fail to tell you is youre inviting spirits in through the mind and then they say hey you sinner your sin, God forbid they ever expose their own "sins" or preferred demon spirits they rationalize by being imperfect.
Rest and recharge time as the story goes i share some and get more visions but Gods got a hankering for breaking this one bigly, you foul fake shepherds who are imprisoners of the mind and feeders of demons through suffering.
As i sit and wait for more inspired info and receive it i'm using swear words, a bit hypocritical you say? The anger about the false teaching, the imprisoning of minds and the enslavement of the entire earth should anger everyone and in a vision/s a few years back it will, in fact. make people uproarious when they find out how theyve been tricked.
All things wicked are under satans charge alone and ALL are delivered by spirits into the mind. <<<

1 Corinthians 12:10

10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
https://www.jollynotes.com/joyful-living/bible-verses-about-guarding-your-mind-guard-your-mind-quotes-bible-verses-about-protecting-your-mind/
I wouldnt be surprised if Jesus actually addressed the mind being a portal to spirits and it was altered or taken out.

1 Corinthians 12:8-10

8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
These gifts are here among us except in the churches it is due to our oneness in God and Christ. The fact is you cant remove this from us BECAUSE of that oneness. If youre busy condemning yourself for satans antics through spirits as churches reiterate so often as being the necessity to realize that it is YOU and not satan and his spirits, Demons feed on the misery caused and you remain a slave out of helplessness.
THE FACT IS !!!! Christ in us is the teaching , the presence the path the knowledge in God that we are ONE with, there is no call for a heretic a false prophet or some hidden hand of satan to grab congregations from all being one with God !! except that men are filled with bad spirits and either knowingly or ignorantly feed demonic spirits through your acquiescence to them as a go between which is literally placing man above God.
Where the rubber hits the road is that all good things from love are Gods presence in you and all things not love are demonic spirits vying for presence and too often control of your mind. You think you need an intermediary? that would be a false assumption. When you treat these things as entities , that is all things not love, it weakens them they become seen and can be done away with.