Look! I'm not talking about the Xamel again! This time I'll be talking about a unit that is probably better in theory than in practice: the Full Armor Slave Wraith. Not that it's bad by any means, but I feel it's a bit underwhelming. But I'm not here to talk about it's problems, but to talk about why I love it.
First of all, what really sold it to me was it's versatility (not that love is rational, rather the complete opposite. But this was the first spark). It just has a bunch of guns straped into it, and I love this. It has a gatling cannon that can be used to deal quite some damage from a 450m range (that's crazy! Probably the biggest range of a gatling cannon). It has a rocket launcher (technically half) that fires 4 missiles at a time with good damage and range. And for the main weapon I use the ground gundam beam rifle (good all around).
Second is the aesthetic. The "toilet seat" hatch is my favorite. There's something about it I like a lot, but I can't say why. The feet are interesting, with the two extra "nails". Reminds me of excavators and the "teeth" they have. The head looks like it has a helmet, which is cool. And it has a backpack with the added weapons and thrusters which is also visually very cool. I like the design, can you blame me?
Finally some miscellaneous things. The shield is cool to have (then you kneel you put it in front of yourself. And I kneel a lot). It has nice bonuses for kneeling (extra damage and stagger resistance). I like that it's movement speed is low, but it's boost speed is reasonably high. You can change positions pretty well (the boost gauge is a bit low though).
That's it. Thank you. Soon I'll return to the normal schedule and post some tips. I'm actually running low on those so maybe I'll give my oppinions on some other supports I like. Please, if anyone has a suggestion now is the time!

I am looking for some input and feedback. Our plan is to make a new wall to divide the living room. I haven't measured yet, but it's going to be approx 3.5 meters long and 2.5 meters high. My own plan is to integrate acoustic treatment in this wall as it will become the back wall of the TV/music room. My father is the one with actual DIY experience and we did an initial brainstorm and internet research. We want to use wooden (my dad suggested poplar) slats on top of felt on a wooden frame with 145 mm (~6") Metisse (acoustic absorbent recycled cotton). Because of the thickness, I reckon it's better to use the lower density variant @ 20 kg/m³. The slants will be painted in the appropriate color for the room design (greenish). We can use nails to mount the slats and use filler to mask the holes. Using adhesiveb to stick the slats to felt doesn't feel right to be, but maybe it's the easier solution. The felt we're going to use needs to be acoustically transparant (as much as reasonably possible), an alternative would be to use something like speaker cloth. The backside of the wall can be the same (slats & felt) or simple drywall, this is to be decided by the lady of the house. I hope this will give sufficient balance between bass/low mid absorption and reflection of higher frequencies. Regarding bass absorption, to what extent can I consider that there's a very big air gap behind it? Especially if we make the backside (partially) acoustically transparant. I ran the numbers in the online porous absorber calculator and it gave some interesting outcomes.

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One of my favorite parts of Engage was the callback maps associated with each Emblem. Creating modern takes on "classic" maps must've been a fun challenge for the developers. As a player, noticing the references the devs snuck in was a joy.
So I thought in this little series, I'd take an (over)analytical look into each Emblem paralogue to see if the devs managed to craft a recognizable and memorable experience while still adding a bit of Engage flair. For simplicity's sake, I'll look at each Emblem Paralogue in the order of their recommended levels.
I'll also be analyzing them in the context of actually playing them at the same point in the game as similarly leveled main story missions. This is important because this will determine what potential resources you have available to you and it's not interesting to just come back to a paralogue where you can just Warp skip everything because you have Micaiah and are comically over leveled. DLC will not be accounted for since it's designed to break the balance of the game.
Without further ado, let's begin with Lucina's

The Exalt

Potential Available Emblems: Lyn, Byleth, Corrin, Ike
Potential completed paralogues: Lyn
Referenced Map: FE Awakening Chapter 4
Recommended Level: Base Class Level 19
Lucina's paralogue is kinda unique because it is one that references an extremely early chapter which takes place at the Ragna Ferox Arena. While I understand that this is the first map where you fight her as a boss, which is a thematically significant part of Awakening's story, this presents some problems from a gameplay POV in Engage. Due to the nature of being an early game map, enemy placements are very basic and since units are unpromoted, aside from Frederick, your options for approach are relatively limited. The main "challenge" of the original map comes from the fact that you are only able to deploy Chrom+5 other units and that deployment limit is consistent in Emblem Lucina's paralogue. However, there are some extreme differences that tilt the balance to the player's side a little too much.
The most glaring issue are the Emblems themselves. The Emblems open up so many different options for many units and the original map was simply not designed with the player having a massive suite of options. This is at its worst since by this point, you've recruited Byleth and likely Seadall as well. Technically you could choose to do Lucina's paralogue before completing Chapter 15, but there's just about no reason to as Chapter 15 gives you both the game's dancer and an additional Emblem ring in Corrin which is a massive power spike for the army. In Awakening, you don't recruit Olivia until Chapter 13, yet Engage lets you play this "early game" map with both a Dancer and an Emblem with an FE4 style quad dance. Lyn's Astra Storm can easily let you deal with one of the mages before they ever become a problem, Corrin's Dreadful Aura can basically lock down one of the Berserkers permanently and Ike can stonewall any enemy practically indefinitely.
The increase in options would be fine as long as the Engage version of the map adapted to it, but unlike other Emblem paralogues, Lucina's just doesn't. You could even argue that the map has managed to somehow be nerfed from its original design. Both Sages in Engage wield Thoron Tomes which allow them to attack from 3 range, but prevent them from doubling unlike the Mages in Awakening. In some regards not being able to easily counter the Sages is annoying, but the inability for them to double at all makes approaching them much safer as the Sages aren't sufficiently strong enough to OHKO most units from full health and you can even use Chain Guard to prevent the damage entirely. In Awakening, you often had to bait out the Knights because of their proximity to Lucina and while they weren't fatal on their own, they could smack your units for a decent bit of damage. However, the Generals in Engage are equipped with Greatlances which are stronger than normal lances, but give the player the opportunity to ORKO them before they ever hit due to the Smash effect letting your unit attack and even double first. At this point in Engage the Elsurge is still a solid weapon, so you don't even have to worry about accuracy. Lucina being able to attack from range might seem scary, but it's realistically more to her disadvantage. Parthia's heavy weight makes it very unlikely for her to double any unit with a decent speed stat and the extra threat range makes it much easier to bait out Lucina safely. Lucina doesn't even have a handful of generics that can move with her to make a 3 range All for One that scary of an attack if she ever gets to fire it off at all. The final nail in the coffin are the Emblem energy spaces that are close by to Lucina, but not in her threat range so it's very easy to refill your Emblems so that you can fight her in top condition after clearing out the rest of the map. Some Emblem paralogues feature side objectives with a soft time limit to challenge players to be proactive and efficient without just keeping the entire army grouped up at all times, but all the gold drops on this map are just held by the enemies that you were going to kill anyway because moving towards them moves you towards Lucina. There are some generic reinforcements once you fight Lucina for the first time, but not only do they not carry any droppable rewards, but they also spawn so far away that they wouldn't do much even if you didn't manage to explode Lucina on the following turn. I genuinely don't think that it's unreasonable to clear out the entire map and kill Lucina herself in 5 turns or less regardless of difficulty.
The crazy thing is, I don't think "fixing" Lucina's paralogue takes that much work either. The most obvious "fix" is to simply make the enemies and/or Lucina herself tougher to account for the player's increase in options compared to the original map. This is what Byleth's paralogue does to account for the "special" AI that the enemies have because of the map's unique side objective. Heck instead of basic generics, there could've instead been pairs off "special" mini-boss generics with revival gems that represented the various Shepards; a Hero for Chrom, a Great Knight for Frederick, a Griffon Knight for Sumia etc etc. Another idea is to make the recommended level the same as that of Chapter 13 which "takes away" the option of having Byleth, Corrin and Seadall available.
One could argue that "it's one of the first Emblem Paralogues, so it should be easy", but Lyn's paralogue poses a pretty significant challenge despite being the same recommended level as Lucina's. One could also argue that "it's based on an early game map, so their options are limited", but Ike's and Corrin's paralogues reference early maps as well (Chapter 8 of PoR and the Revelation version of Chapter 6 of Fates respectively) and still manage to be interesting challenges depending on how much you value side objectives. To be honest, I think Chapter 21 of Awakening would've been a better callback as not only is it a naturally more complex map, but Lucina attempts to kill Robin after completing it, even having special dialogue if Robin is her mothehusband, maintaining the need for the map to be thematically significant to the Emblem. And don't tell me that they're scared of spoiling major plot points from the previous games because in the pre-battle cutscene to Ike's paralogue, he straight up talks about how he had to step up because Greil had died.
Overall, Emblem Lucina's paralogue is a rough start to the concept of callback maps which really only succeeds at being a recognizable location. While I don't think that Lucina's paralogue is the only one to miss the mark, it is a largely forgettable experience simply due to a combination of how easy it is and lack of interesting references.
Next Up: Lyn's Paralogue, The Lady of the Plains.

[SELL][CANADA to USA & Canada][PERFUME]

TAT 3 calendar days or less
SHIPPING TO USA: $11 without tracking and $15.75 with tracking. I'm shipping from Canada.
SHIPPING TO CANADA: For samples only, $4. With tracking, it starts at $15. Tracked shipping price in Canada varies by region.
All samples or decants, unless marked as FS.
All purchased new, unless marked as RIS.
ALL PRICES ARE IN USD. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALPHA MUSK

• WILD WILD HORSES, slink-sized decant, RIS $2: a blend of ethereal amber, fuzzy musk, and the sand and sea.
• WILD WILD HORSES, half-full thick vial $2: a blend of ethereal amber, fuzzy musk, and the sand and sea.

ARCANA

• LUGHNADSADH , decant $5: The scent of fresh water, white coconut, moonlight reflected on the ocean, smooth amber, seaweed absolute, rain-drenched juniper tips, and a drop of ruby red grapefruit.

ASTRID

• ALCHEMY & SURF, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $4.25: Aquatic ozone, metallic gold accord, vetiver, rosemary, benzoin, fig, and moss.
• AQUAMARINE, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $4.25: Peach blossom, cucumber, water lily, green cognac, a blend of citrus, blue musk, Japanese peppermint, and sunny sea water accord.
• COVER, 1/4 Bottle, RIS, $6: An enveloping blanket of rice flower, sandalwood, cream, and a touch of cooling bergamot mint.
• FLOATING ON THE WAVES FOREVER AND EVER, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $4.25: Honeydew melon, aquatic ozone, jasmine, lemon, and wild lilies.
• MERCI #27, decant in a thick vial, $2.75, RIS: Lotus, orchid, banana, tropical ivy, and torrential rain accord
• RAIN ON THE OCEAN, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $4.25: Aloe, salt water accord, juniper, pale patchouli, white musk, eucalyptus, and a whisper of spearmint.
• SPELLCASTING ON THE ROCK, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $4.25: Sun-warmed wood, sand, amber, rose geranium, and patchouli.
• WITCHSHIP, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $4.25: Blackened amber, Alaska cypress, deep musk, oakmoss, sea spray, bergamot, lavender, oceanic ozone, and lemon.

BPAL (all purchased new)

• A WINTER'S WALK IN THE CEMETERY, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Lilith’s lavender and my Dorian on a rambling walk through soft, sweet grass, cypress trees, piles of maple leaves, and bright bouquets of lilies and roses.
• CYCLING FOR PLEASURE, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Sea water, sea salt-dusted cypress, pink carnation, oakmoss, and white vetiver.
• O HUSHED OCTOBER MORNING MILD, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Dried forest pansy leaves, grape vine, grass, lavender buds, thyme, creeping fig, paw-squished soil, and a whiff of coffee drifting down from the kitchen.
• RING OF LIGHT, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Radiant pale musk, artemisia, white lavender, neroli, white pepper, and zingy white aldehydes.
• SKATE PUNKS, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Crabgrass, dandelion sap, white clover, purslane, and soil unsettled by skateboard wheels.
• SURPRISE EJACULATION, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: White pear, white champaca, pink grapefruit, and effervescent white musk.
• THE LAST SYLLABLE, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Photos pinned to cool plaster walls, discarded papers, a web of strings, a mirror, a doll, singed straw, scattered books, and unfurled magnetic tape.
• UPSLOPE FOG, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Moist clouds rolling lazily up and down low hills of wild grasses, sagebrush, and wildflowers, curling gently around gnarled oaks, majestic pines, and craggy stones.
• URBAN UNDINE, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Ocean spray, sea salt, ambergris accord, and lavender.
• VIAL OF HOLY WATER: The gleaming, indescribably clean scent of purified, ritually consecrated holy water.
• WATER OF NOTRE DAME direct , $3.5: Aquatic

DARLING CLANDESTINE

• MISHIGAMI, approx 1/5 full, $3 (These roller-balls were swiped only 2-3x! I’ve decanted out the liquid as soon as I got them): Inspired by that greatest of lakes, Lake Michigan, my very favorite lake in the world, and all its moods and shores. Much more than an ""aquatic"" fragrance, this has indescribable, sandy depth.

DECONSTRUCTING EDEN (all purchased brand new, $2.75 each)

• ALCUIN: White musks and white amber, the pale greens and grays of his marque, with moss and a chypre accord and a base of soft wood.
• HOMESICK: Dogwood, wisteria, tulips, sunflowers ocean air.
• INSOMNIAC: white nightgowns, clean sheets, lavender buds, a drop of chamomile, wood floors, skin musks
• SEPTEMBER SUN: Sun brightened (vegan) honey, fossilized amber, bergamot, Somalian Frankincense CO2, Gurjun Balsam, Calendula flowers, and golden woods.
• SNOW WHITE: Clean white musk, blood-red roses, ebony wood, and a touch of the forest, and that infamous apple.

KYSE (all purchased new, 3 mL, SPRAYED TWICE, $5.5 each. These vials are much thicker than their old 2 mL vial)

• VANILLE DE CEDRE: Himalayan Cedarwood, Tahitian Vanilla Beans, Oakmoss, and a hint of a sweet musk base

NAVA

• BASTET’S AMBER, 2 mL Well-Aged Shop Sample, $13: Amber Resin imported from Alexandria and lit from the truest essential oil of Rare and Exotic Guiacwood and Crystal Benzoin and Crystal Frankincense. Using the base of the Amber described above the resin has been turned into a fossilized perfume resin from ancient recipes and then turned back into perfume oil diluting nothing
• BASTET’S MUSK, 2 mL Well-Aged Shop Sample, $13: Bastet's Musk is a fresh, clean and light skin musk, intimately sensual. A magnetic skin musk made from a soft white floral blend of Tuberose, Mallow, Angelica, Musk Flower, and White Lily all balanced exquisitely through Enfleurage methods of oil extraction.
• COUNT CHOCO, Ajevie Slink, $4: Count ChocoCocoa Absolute of Persia, India and the West Indies, Cocoa liquor, Wheat, Cocoa Powder, Vanilla Powder, Mallow and Chocolate Soy Milk.
• DEVIL CAKE, Ajevie Slink, $4: Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Frosting, Sugar, and Cocoa dust.
• ETERNAL ANKH, slink-sized decant, RIS, $5: White Amber, Powdered and reconstructed oil of Egyptian Vanilla Husk, Vanilla fleck, African White Vanilla and the scent of soft Egyptian Sands (from the White Amber accord)
• VANILLA MUSK, 1 ml Decant in Chonky Vial, $7.45: Bastet's Ice Cream accord made from fresh and dried Madagascar Vanilla beans, Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Crystalline Absolute, Vanilla Sugar, Mallow Root extract and soft white floral blend of Tuberose, Mallow, Angelica, Musk Flower, and White Lily all blended beautifully into Bastet's Musk base Madagascar Vanilla beans have been beautifully aged for two years specifically for this blend.

NUI COBALT DESIGNS (all purchased new)

• BROTHER OF MOONS , 1.15 ml, $3.5: Young coconut, green fig, melissa leaf, budding blue lotus, tonka, white sandalwood and the softest touch of lamb’s wool.
• DEEP HEALING, 1.15 ml, $3.5: Deep ocean water, bracing wind, cold clary sage, and fresh rain-drenched greens.
• DENDROPHILIA - THE LOVE OF TREES, 1.15 ml, $3.5: The love of Trees.Moss-covered deadfall, birchwood and pine, lingering resins and sunlight through the leaves, a trace of woodsmoke, the memory of vetiver and cedar.
• FROST GIANT , 1.15 ml, $3.5: Himalayan cedar, towering oak, nagarmotha, frozen sage, moss-covered stone, cucumber, and fog.
• GREY WOLF, 1.15 ml, $3.5: White sandalwood, black amber, icy sage, cashmere, stone musk, lichen, softly smoked birchwood, grey suede, mountain springwater, and white peppercorn.
• MERFOLK, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $3.75: The mineral scent of sand, salt, and shells upon the mist, ambergris accord, turquoise musk, warm orris, olive trees, and neroli.
• ORNITHOPHILIA - THE LOVE OF BIRDS, 1.15 ml, $3.5: A wistful effusion of angelica, kava kava, elderflower, linden, mugwort, saffron, acacia wood, purple heliotrope, and mugwort.

OSMOFOLIA

• CIRRUS, RIS, $3: TOP/WET: sugar ✦ cold air ✦ blueberries MID/HEART: cotton candy ✦ white lilac ✦ heliotrope BASE/DRYDOWN: paper ✦ orris ✦ humidity"

POSSETS (ALL PURCHASED NEW; unless marked as FS, all are samples from direct or decant from Ajevie that are $2.5 each)

• 4 SEASONS OF SUMMER: Bamboo, silk, Japanese incense, a hint of water, and fresh green shoots, and a small introduction of sandalwood in the mix to send a cooling breeze your way.
• ALASKA: the chill in the air, but also the perfume of the riot of summer blossoms as they race the sun every year.
• ARC OF VENUS: Sexy sandalwood base, black lavender, calendula, “abstract” musk, sharp grey musk
• ARC OF VENUS, FS, Brand New Never Used, $16: Sexy sandalwood base, black lavender, calendula, “abstract” musk, sharp grey musk
• BEATRICE: The Silver base & five of the most beautiful musks: Skin musk, 2 white musks, "Crystalline" musk,and a grey musk.
• BERENICE: Champagne musk, pink grapefruit, a dash of lemon zest, a veil of dragons' blood
• BIRTH OF VENUS: jasmine, aquatic blend, light citrus blend
• BRIDAL CHORUS, FS, Brand New Never Used, $16: a lot of Hawthorne here, a very sugary musk, a kiss of a ""silky musk"" and it's all about silky skin
• DANCE WITH ME, FS, Brand New Never Used, $16: A classy variation of everyone's favorite lavender vanilla but substituting grapefruit for lavender and under-girding it with white musk.
• EVITA PERON: "Egyptian musk unusual leather component that conjures up the scent of violets (!), dry white amber, a kiss of ginger"
• FASCINATOR: sparkling, very high-key bright crystalline musk, emollient backup musk, sandalwood, cedar and rosewood.
• FLYING HORSE: Bamboo, grated ginger, green tea, luan wood, white floral note
• FROG PRINCESS: To an aquatic base, subtle hints of coconut and mint are added.
• HATSHEPSUT: Bitter beautiful galbanum pairs with the smoothness of labdanum, a bit of oude gum, and a very small amount of the best skin amber.
• HEATHCLIFFE AND CATHERINE EARNSHAW: Heather of the moors, lavender of English, a drop of wildness, oude
• HYLAS AND THE NYMPH: pooled water, lush vegetation, and sneaking scent of sex
• IN GALLARUS ORATORY: A cold yet cozy perfume with a waft of a turf fire in the distance, the sea lapping at the shore below, and the fragrance of stone. Remarkable in its chill, but also somehow familiar.
• ISABELLA: rose are combined with a light resin, white tea leaf and a rare honey/milky/cream musk. A light dusting of familiar spices.
• LOLA MONTEZ: green of Irish grass accord, deeply green aquatic note, dark and thick labdenum, tonka infusion, animalic musk.
• LOTUS OF THE NILE: The lotus is the prime fragrance in the bouquet, but it is followed by bits of roseate beauty, a sort of dark incense which has been winnowed through the air, and faint aquatic background scent.
• LYRA: White Amber, white oude, white (sharp) musk, a small small amount of a water accord, a tobacco flower background, a small amount of silk fragrance.
• MADAME X, FS, Brand New Never Used, $16: Skin musk, wax, cream, lemon zest, champagne, and a kiss of bitter vanilla.
• MADAME X SQUARED: White ginger, wheat blossoms, Deep white musk, sunflower pollen, Lemony but with no lemon in the blend
• MADAME X 3 (TO THE THIRD POWER), FS, Brand New Never Used, $16: the bees-waxy vanilla for which the Madame is so famous, dry vanilla and a woody vanilla, hint of yuzu, a drop of Haitian vetiver.
• MORNING WALK: The deep greenery of a shady dell, an accord which is the jetty side of chorophyll, combined with the scent of green tea brewing and a goodly waft of coumarin from a blooming sweet woodruff.
• SHIP OF FOOLS: tang of the sea and added a bit of refined leather to get things started, a roll of key lime zest and a goodly portion of faux ambergris.
• SWAN: cool with a light kiss of olive leaf, a blend of three blue musks (from light to dark and a mid tone one), a bit of cork (!) extract, a small amount of osmanthus.
• TERRA NOCTURNA: violet, vetiver, leather, ozone, pepper, sugar, and a crystal musk
• THE WATER BURNS: The essence of earth and high greenery--a hint of smoke but smelled from far away, boxwood, galbanum, and a light hint of Mysore sandalwood.
• XUONG CUONG: A cold green leaf bats against a ghost wood, a lash of green chlorophyll and crystal musk, a bit of luan wood, and a soft ambient earth scent, finished off with sandalwood and yuzu, the latter adds an air of almost black walnut and nutwood-like nuance to the whole.

SIXTEEN92 (all purchased new unless marked as RIS)

• ALL IS BRIGHT Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials). $4: Quiet snowfall, brisk winter ozone, warm peppermint tea, tightly laced ice skates on a glistening frozen pond
• ALL IS BRIGHT, $5: Quiet snowfall, brisk winter ozone, warm peppermint tea, tightly laced ice skates on a glistening frozen pond
• ANDROCTONUS AUSTRALIS, $5: Rum, wild fig, dry papyrus, sweet tobacco, oud
• AQUILA, $5: Juniper, chilld white tea, mountain laurel, soft cotton, airy musks
• AQUILA, $5: Juniper, chilld white tea, mountain laurel, soft cotton, airy musks
• AQUILA, $5: Juniper, chilld white tea, mountain laurel, soft cotton, airy musks
• BEAUTIFUL. POPULAR. LOVED. FEARED. Ajevie 2020 Half Slink, $1.5: Moonflower, tiare, bitter almond, blond woods, heat lightning, asphalt
• BEFANA, $3.5 (decanted into a thicker vial that’s approximately 2/3 full but measured to be around 1/5 of a bottle): Black currant and dried fig, black pepper, forest berries, pressed flower petals, creamy amber, winter spices
• BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials). $4: Dusty magic shop shelves, dried sage leaf, crystal ball, darkened amber musks, a puff of smoke
• BOOK OF STARS, $3 (decanted into a thicker vial that’s approximately 1/4 full): The smell of space (meteor dust, ozone, metal, ethyl formate) blended with grounding white sandalwood, papyrus, & earthy musks.
• CHILLED CHAMPAGNE, $3.5 (decanted into a thicker vial that’s approximately 2/3 full but measured to be around 1/5 of a bottle)
• CHIROMANCY, $5: Orris, worn leather, ink, porcelain, black truffle
• COCONUT FLAN, FREE (original bottle with a few drops left) - just ask!
• FOOL FOR LOVE, $5: Leather jacket, chipped black nail polish, burning roses, bad poetry
• GRETA, $5: Frosted glass, chilly aldehydes, citrus blossom, elderflower, snow accord
• GRASS HARP, $3.5 (decanted into a thicker vial that’s approximately 2/3 full but measured to be around 1/5 of a bottle): Orange blossom, clover, hyacinth, ruby red grapefruit, sweet basil
• GROOM LAKE, Ajevie Slink, $3.5: Arid scrub, creosote, empty night sky, yucca bloom, high desert air, aircraft fuel, barbed wire, dim fluorescent hum, Element 115, sanitized metal, ❚❚❚❚❚❚REDACTED❚❚❚❚❚❚
• HELIOPHOBIA, decant in chonky vial, $3: Climbing ivy, faded magnolia blooms, moonlit vines, cracked solarium glass, splintered wood, peeling wallpaper, humid air, fog & shadow, feral musk
• I AM ATREYU!, $5: The hopes of all Fantasia: Luck dragon fur, glimmering gold and worn suede, sumac, fire, equine musk
• I AM ATREYU!, $5: The hopes of all Fantasia: Luck dragon fur, glimmering gold and worn suede, sumac, fire, equine musk
• I WANNA BE AN AIRBORNE RANGER!, Ajevie Half Slink $2.5: Breakfast cereal, melted marshmallow, strong coffee, library books, denim jacket, teen angst
• LOUISE, Direct, $5: Sultry amber, red ink, black kohl, night blooms, Tonkin musk (synthetic), wormwood, soft suede, glistening strands of pearls
• LYCANTHROPE, Direct, $5: Monkshood, warm fur, tuber, elm bark, artemisia, galbanum, weathered rock, silver moonlight
• LYCANTHROPE, Direct, $5: Monkshood, warm fur, tuber, elm bark, artemisia, galbanum, weathered rock, silver moonlight
• LYRA, $5: Misty aldehydes, mandora blossom, spring hyacinth, forsythia, new leaves, melted snow
• MIDWINTER DUSK, $5: Chilled evergreen boughs and bunches of mistletoe, a blanket of evening frost, distant sleigh bells, the soft glow of gas lamps on snowy cobblestone streets
• MIDWINTER DUSK, $5: Chilled evergreen boughs and bunches of mistletoe, a blanket of evening frost, distant sleigh bells, the soft glow of gas lamps on snowy cobblestone streets
• PAPER MOON, $5: Soft vanilla musk, benzoin, oakmoss, trailing ivy, peach blossom, rose
• SAVE FERRIS, Ajevie Slink, $3.5: "Funnel cakes & lemonade from Wrigley field, salted pretzels, bright blue skies, cool Lake Michigan breeze, Bueller… Bueller… "
• SINTERKLAAS, $3.5 (decanted into a thicker vial that’s approximately 2/3 full but measured to be around 1/5 of a bottle): Cake flour and sugared dough, royal icing, mulled wine, foil-wrapped candies, speculaas cookies, a cozy hearth
• SOLSTICE BONFIRE, $5: Dark rum, grey ash, black amber, firewood bales, pine needle, charcoal, cedar, & billowing smoke on crisp winter air
• TALIA, $5: Vanilla, moss, ivy, soft musk, stone
• THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, RES BATCH, half decant in a thicker vial, $3.5 (decanted into a thicker vial that’s approximately 2/3 full but measured to be around 1/5 of a bottle): Tuberose absolute, soft skin musk, oakmoss, fresh earth, vanilla, iris
• THE NOTHING, $5: The emptiness that’s left: Black clouds, stormy winds, broken mirrors, deep water, rock dust, I will just sit here and let it take me away too
• TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT, $5: Swirls of tranquil incense, flickering farolitos, piñon and juniper wood, far-off carols drifting on desert wind
• TURTLE DOVES, Ajevie Slink, $3.5: Frasier fir, frozen sidewalks, snowy park benches, twinkling fairy lights and silver bells, a flurry of soft feathers, warm mittens, a wooden toy chest, delicate porcelain musk
• VILLAINS, $5: Candle soot, pine rosin, blood red pomegranate, howling forest winds, darkened crystals, sacred herbs
• VULPECULA, $5: Pools of rainwater, soaked pebbles, tomato leaf, decaying tree bark, wild brambles, dusty fur
• WAKING IN WINTER, half decant in a thicker vial, $3.5 (decanted into a thicker vial that’s approximately 2/3 full but measured to be around 1/5 of a bottle): fir needle, hemlock, soft snow, pale woods, delicate mint, frost-blanketed leaves, cold metal, distant hearthsmoke

SORCELLERIE all Sorcellerie are RIS (some cheaper than others to account for fill level differences)

• C'EST NOEL, $3: Coffee, freshly baked cinnamon bread, roasted chestnuts, blown out candles, lingering church incense, and softly falling snow
• WHAT BIG EYES YOU HAVE, $2.75: Immortelle absolute, lemon meringue pie, pearlescent vanilla musk
• YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS A BADASS, $3: Yellow cake with fudge icing, oakmoss, Himalayan cedar, forest floor

STEREOPLASM (YellingCat Decant) $1.5 each

• POTTED CHIPTUNIA: (petunia/leaf/fresh soil/clay/static) - A refreshing, inhibiting flower, grown and engineered in Chiptown.

This is part of this week's series on Vienna Game (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3)
Opening line: 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6
Opening name: Vienna Game Falkbeer Variation
Board image: https://i.imgur.com/olcCVQI.png
Lichess board: https://lichess.org/analysis/pgn/1.+e4+e5+2.+Nc3+Nf6++
Wikibooks page: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess_Opening_Theory/1._e4/1...e5/2._Nc3/2...Nf6
Winning percenatages:
White: 1679 (30.32%)
Black: 1482 (26.76%)
Draws: 2377 (42.92%)
Vienna Game: Falkbeer Defence
As White, you still have designs on playing f4, but Black with his knight sortie has challenged your control of d5. Should you fight back, or ignore this distraction?
Less critical alternatives are:
Most popular responses

• 1. Bc4 (Vienna Game: Falkbeer Defence) White has nailed down Black's d-pawn by controlling d5 with three pieces. This prevents Black from breaking open the centre, or does it? The late Alexander Alekhine, world champion in the 1930s, recommends: This is the fork trick common to several openings. (Lichess analysis) (Wikibooks) (10282300 games)
• 1. f4 (Vienna Game) Black should not play 3...exf4 because after 4. e5, the black knight has no free square but its home square. The correct move here is 3...d5. (Lichess analysis) (Wikibooks) (5732521 games)

Engine Evaluation
Depth: 52
Score: +0.17
Best Move: Nf3
PV Line: 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 O-O
Puzzles based around Vienna Game
https://lichess.org/training/Vienna_Game
Historical games for Vienna Game Falkbeer Variation

Game	Result	Year
Caruana, F. (2811) vs Anand, V. (2797)	1/2-1/2	2015
Firouzja, Alireza (2759) vs Carlsen, M.. (2847)	1-0	2021
Mamedyarov, S. (2801) vs Giri, A. (2782)	1/2-1/2	2018
Mamedyarov, S. (2801) vs Giri, A. (2782)	1-0	2018
Mamedyarov, S. (2801) vs Giri, A. (2782)	1/2-1/2	2018
Andreikin, D. (2720) vs Carlsen, M. (2850)	0-1	2015
Nakamura, Hi (2777) vs So, W. (2780)	1/2-1/2	2018
Li Chao2 (2755) vs Kramnik, Vladimir (2801)	1/2-1/2	2016
Nakamura, Hi (2787) vs Harikrishna, P. (2763)	0-1	2016
Nakamura, Hi (2787) vs Harikrishna, P. (2763)	1-0	2016

A while ago, I had the opportunity of comparing the Dream ’65 [D65] and the Simplifier DLX [DLX]. These are my findings.
Universal Audio launched a strong marketing campaign on social media. I’m sure it’s just me but, quite frankly, I struggled to separate the genuine reviews and comments from the ads. DSM Humboldt also promoted their products in various ways but in a much less aggressive fashion. Lost in the media soup, I decided to try both units myself.
Both units have no MIDI connectivity but the DLX allows channel switching and reverb on/off via a 3.5mm/1/8” TRS connection. DSM Humboldt supply an external unit for the switching but you can use any other units that follows the DXL specs described in the manual.
I carried out the tests with a direct connection to a Mackie mixer and Genelec speakers. As overdrive/distortion, I used a pedal inspired by the King Of Tone. As a guitar, I used a Fender Stratocaster SSS and an Ibanez 7 string SSH.
First thing first: both pedals are excellent. I would be very surprised if, tonally, one found one drastically better than the other. There are subtle differences but the feel, dynamics and tone are first class for both.
The size is roughly the same and the quality of the construction is comparable. Both pedals take overdrive/distortion pedals very well. They have the necessary headroom and they don’t compromise the tone.
Let’s get another thing out of the way. Personally, I didn’t feel any difference in the response. I couldn’t perceive any latency and with DLX I didn’t feel any special “direct connection” because of the zero latency. They both feel very responsive and dynamic.
​

UAFX Dream ’65

As far I can tell, the D65 is a completely digital pedal. I tested the D65 without connection to the app via Bluetooth. The unit was exactly like it came out of the factory. There are two reasons for that: first, I don’t like the idea of giving my email to a company in order to update my pedals. Second, I wasn’t sure I was going to keep the unit so I didn’t want to do anything that could impact the return.
The unit is heavy and gives the impression of being very solid. If one wanted to be difficult, the knobs could have been in metal instead of plastic but it’s definitely not a deal breaker.
The D65 requires a 9V, 400mA, isolated power supply. You cannot daisy chain the power supply of the D65 with other units. I haven’t tried to but I fear it may produce unwanted noises if connected to other pedals in daisy chain.
The D65 is a full stereo unit. It can be used with stereo-in/stereo-out, mono-in/mono-out, mono-in/stereo-out. Unfortunately, the outputs are unbalanced. If you want to connect the D65 to a PA, you need a DI box. Personally, I found the lack of balanced outputs disappointing for an amp simulator that places itself on the market as one of the best units of its type.
The D65 core functionality is that it reproduces a Fender amp. I didn’t have a Fender Amp that I could use for a direct A/B comparison but, based on my memory, it sounded very Fender-y. It’s dynamic, it breaks very nicely and the spring reverb sounds like a good sounding spring reverb.
The 2 band tone control works well but I didn’t feel the need of turning the knobs past 10 or 2 o’clock. The pedal sounded good without any EQ adjustment.
The D65 has also an integrated vibrato effect. It is not the type of effect I tend to use but it sounds very nice.
Not unexpectedly, it is not a high-gain pedal. Having said that, with the gain and boost controls it is possible to get very good crunchy tones. For more distortion, I recommend an external pedal.
In a way, the D65 is a little bit of one-trick pony (but in the best possible way). If you look for a pedal that behaves like Fender amp, sounds like a Fender amp and has (more or less) the controls of a Fender amp, look no further. The D65 nails it.
As amp replacement, I tend to see it conceptually separated by the pedalboard. Like one would see an amp separated by the pedalboard. I see it as “set it and leave it” type of unit. The D65 has a preset footswitch and a bypass footswitch but I don’t see myself using them that much.
Accordingly to the manual, the footswitches configuration can be changed but, as far as I can see, one configuration is missing: preset, boost and long-press on the preset footswitch to bypass the unit. For people using the same pedalboard for electric and acoustic guitars, it would really help.
If you believe some of the hype and you expect to the D65 to be the pedal that changes your life, there is the concrete risk that you are will be disappointed. It’s a very good pedal but it’s not a unit that comes from another dimension.
In a nutshell, if you need a pedal with a great tone that replaces a Fender amp but you if don’t need a super-flexible, programmable/MIDI pedal, the D65 is an excellent choice.

Pros

• Good tone, dynamic and clarity.
• Compact.
• Full stereo in/out.
• USB-C.

Cons

• No balanced outputs.
• The footswitches configurability could be better.
• Isolated power supply.

​

DSM Humboldt Simplifier DLX

Apart from the reverb, the D65 is a completely analogue. If you absolutely need a full analogue unit, you just have to turn down the reverb knobs to zero or use the external switching unit to switch off the reverb.
In many ways the DLX is the opposite of the D65. It has a more controls than a spaceship and it is probably the most flexible pedal of this type that I ever tried. I don’t know where the name comes from but the DLX is not a simple unit. For what it does, it’s not that complicated though.
If you need to know more about the internal signal paths of the DLX I recommend you download the manual. It contains a nice diagram that shows how the unit works. The DLX is a routing monster. Don’t even think about adventuring the jungle of the possible routing options without a map.
The DLX the preamp sections have 3 band tone controls but honestly, I never felt the need of using them. The various settings I tried sounded great without any tweaking on the EQ but the option is there if one needs further tone shaping.
I could easily write a few pages post only about routing and the various sections. I’ll address only a few elements that I didn’t find anywhere on the web.
- There are a few toggle switches that change the way the internal routing operates. They give the DLX a huge amount of flexibility and the manual explains how they operate. In practical terms, once you select your favourite settings, I doubt you will touch them anymore.
- Two further toggle switches can be used to bypass the sim section (cabsim + power amp sim) for two output jacks. The sim section is always active for the XLR and headphones outputs. Two other toggle switches can be used to bypass the preamp sections.
- Leaving aside the bypass, reverb and sim section are directly connected to the outputs. In other words, reverb and sim sections are functionalities of the outputs not of the preamplifiers’ channels.
Given the above, there are three main configurations the majority of guitarists are likely to use (there are others but they are a more unusual):
- Stereo/mono. I suspect this is the configuration the majority of people use. Guitar in (mono), two preamp channels (e.g. clean and distorted) and stereo reverb. You probably want to keep exactly the same settings for reverb and sim section settings for both channels – unless of course you want two different sounds for the two outputs. For example, if you send one out to the mixing desk via the XLR out and one of the jack outs to the return of an amp.
- Dual-mono. This is the configuration you probably want to use with a processor with stereo send/return. The DLX becomes an external processing unit of the main processor. Preamp channel A is sent to sim section A and output A. Preamp channel B is sent to the sim section B and output B. The external switching unit is not used. The main processing unit controls the active channel.
- Stereo/mono with external effects. This a is configuration that consists in one or more pedals connected to the send/return of the DLX. DLX is the central hub of the pedalboard.
Ok, but what if one wants to use the pedal in mono without other pedals? Single guitar input, switching between two channels (clan and distorted) and separate cabinet settings for the two channels and signal sent to a single flat response speaker with just one input. You cannot do it directly. The sim sections are connected to outputs. If use only one output, there is no way to switch sim section. It is not as bad as it sounds though. The “mono/stereo” configuration described above works pretty well but you can’t have two separate cab settings. If you absolutely have to switch cabsim when you switch preamp channel, the only way I found is with an external switching unit (e.g. a HX Stomp).
If you think that DLX is too complicated for you, I can assure you that things are not as complex as they sound. The manual shows a few configurations with the toggle switches settings and once you set the unit you probably don’t need to change the settings anymore.
This is especially true if you plan to use the same cabsim settings for both preamp channels. In this way, you can go in stereo or mono simply plugging two or one cable on the outs.
The DLX sounds great. I had it on my desk next to the D65 and with progressive adjustments, I managed to reproduce the D65 sounds pretty accurately. The difference is that the DLX can go far beyond one family of sounds. It can sound like a Fender, a Marshall and anything in between. The cabsim can be fine-tuned to cover a wide range of sounds. If you have other units, the send/return connections with the routing configurations offer a huge amount of possibility.

Pros

• Good tone, dynamic and clarity.
• Compact.
• Full stereo in/out.
• Huge number of options for signal routing.
• Power supply can be daisy-chained.
• Unbalanced and XLR outputs.
• Immediate user interface (no menus or connections to computers)

Cons

• The complexity of the unit can be discouraging for some people.
• The XLR outs are not completely phantom power tolerant (phantom power does not damage the unit but the sound quality is compromised)

​

Conclusions

Both units are very good. They both sound excellent and they are likely to make happy any guitarist who looks for an amp/cab replacement.
The D65 is perfect if you need to replace a Fender amp with a pedal and you don’t like complicated units. Plug it in, turn a couple of knobs are you are ready to go with a pedal that sounds great.
The DLX is very good sounding unit with tons of options and sounds. It can sound like a Fender amp (for cleans, I found that the “crunch” amp with the gain to almost zero works better than the “clean” setting) but it can sound like distorted Marshall and being convincing in both impersonations.
The D65 and the DLX units gave me two different impressions. If I had to go with a very wild speculation (that is almost certainly completely untrue), the D65 looks to me like a pedal designed by a corporation where marketing and management have a significant weight on the decisions. The DLX gives me the impression of a unit designed by a couple of engineers who play guitar and that have in their mind what they need every time they connect a unit to a pedalboard. This doesn’t make the D65 better or worse than the DLX but it might explain the different “vibe” of the two units.
Which one do I use? I wish I had the money to keep both but, apart from the spring reverb, there is nothing that the D65 can do that I can’t achieve almost exactly with the DLX.
----Everything above is just my personal opinion and I do not claim it is a statement of facts. I have not been remunerated by UA, DSM Humboldt or any of their associates (e.g. distributors or resellers).

This is a mostly negative rant. I love The Last of Us, but I have some strong words about the multiplayer that would probably be controversial and if you don’t want to read that then don’t read this’d this is a rant, but feel free to prove me wrong or whatever, I genuinely want to know why you all love it so much.
The game is so poorly designed.
The matchmaking is fundamentally flawed. To pick one faction or another locks you into who you can play with unless someone ends or loses. You will never play with the people on the opposite team and so if you’re up against top level players you’ll always be fighting them. The amount of times I’ve been paired with people in the teens against max level players is absurd.
The latency is some of the worst in any game. There have been so many times when I’ll be behind cover and somehow get shot. In a game where strategy and damage is as serious as it is in Factions, the ability to be shot through walls is terrible.
The balancing is way off. Molotovs are instant kills if they actually land where you throw them. Nail bombs take way too long to explode, but when planted they’re impossible to counter. Melee is a joke unless you have an upgraded plank. All the guns feel weak - aside from the ones that cost real money, of course. There are 21 vanilla class options and 21 micro transaction class options.
Then there’s small stuff, like the baseball bat being in the tutorial screenshots when it isn’t in the game, or gore in the screenshots that aren’t in the game, or guns in the base game that are just gone. Special executions can be stopped, which doesn’t stop the teammate from dying but just prevents it from counting as a special execution. Footsteps are silent. Some skills make more sense as base mechanics. Disconnecting for inactivity counts as a day
And these would all be fine if it were optional, but it isn’t. It’s required for the platinum - more specifically, 168 matches are required for a platinum - even more specifically, 168 matches while keeping your survivors alive and not failing challenges that can end your run in an instant.
Factions has so much potential, and I hope they can make an actually playable and fun game with the second game. If they actually make progression tied to levelling up and not paying real money, if they gave more customisation options (again, not tied to micro-transactions), fix server problems, balance the gameplay, make better maps, make better weapons and skills, fix the matchmaking, expand the playable factions, and not have your run destroyed by arbitrary challenges, then maybe it could be fun. But, y’all love it as it is so why should they change it
Probably gonna be downvoted to hell or deleted, but I really needed to get this out somewhere. Factions is an amazing concept ruined by devs implementing it half heartedly and poorly, and I love Naughty Dog.
Edit: all the responses are either “get good” (as if I don’t have hundreds of hours playing or that I even want to play the game), or that I’m lying. Why would I lie if saying the bare minimum negative about the game causes me to be attacked? And why is it always “you disagree with me, therefore your opinion is false plus you’re bad at the game”. I’m just asking for your reasons and excuses for these actual issues, and instead I’m just told I’m bad or am dumb. I’m sorry, but even the best players can’t solve lag.
As I was expecting, nothing but anger and hate for having an opinion. Just asking why it’s as beloved when it’s as poor as it is, and I’ve had nothing but “nah”. Persuade me, not insult me.
Edit 2: Since everyone is denying that what I said happened…happened, I made a video compiling three defining moments of issues I explained - mostly to do with latency issues which apparently don’t exist. You be the judge.

Hello from SoCal!
I am looking for a long term relationship with someone who's interested in building stuff together.
Stuff I like: App development Building websites Arduino/Raspberry Pi 3D design/printing
I like thinking about sustainability/energy conservation - Wind turbines, Electric vehicles, Motogenerator design, etc. Also wouldn't mind having an RV living project in the future.
Here's a little about me:
I'm 5'6, about 135lbs, skinny yet muscular. Short brown hair, brown eyes, scruffy beard of varying lengths. I pretty much wear jeans or shorts and a t-shirt everyday, and I spend exactly 0 minutes picking out my wardrobe each morning.
I'm not a gamer, I don't go to clubs, I don't frequent parties. My dating life is dwindling because I'd rather stay home every weekend than go out looking for the next fling.
I don't really drink. I don't really like loud or crowded places. I prefer classic rock music than any music on the radio today, cats > dogs, coffee, guitadrums/ukulele, work on my own car, modern hippie, progressive, non-religious, oh and I hope to have a kid or two someday (maybe I should've lead with that, oof)
Some stuff I look for in a potential partner:
I prefer dating girls shorter than me because I'm not that tall. I like the tomboy or not as feminine vibe - no long nails or makeup, loose clothing etc. Someone with liberal views, monogamous, wants a family, likes 60's and 70's music. Preferably you have or are working towards a degree (not a deal breaker), maybe engineering, CS, or some other STEM major. Preferably you are ambitious and independent.
Do you find yourself debugging code or designing a front end UI instead of playing Xbox or PS games?
Maybe you're just like me and would rather wait to find someone truly compatible than to hook up with just anyone who give us attention. If so, we might be looking for each other!
So if you think we'd get along, message me! =) Send a little intro with your age, location, and your favorite math class, so I know you read the post. I have a picture on my profile.

edit: title would be better off saying: supporting and strengthening an in-use h beam against deflection: is my "lateral support" actually preventing torsional buckling, or just a horizontal beam preventing sag from long spans. I wasn't thinking, still somewhat not. sorry if that catfished anyone.
disclaimer: I am likely going to install a temporary full beam flange width post with steel base and probably 1/4" thick top cap regardless of what is figured here, until I can remedy the core issues. I would *like* to not have to do that as the movement isn't too too terrible, unless I find buckling or cracking when I tear into it, which I am not expecting to find. I am trying to keep this short and concise. I'm not looking for precise to the fraction measurements. I'm really looking for a, yes that design could have been viable in preventing flexural torsional buckling/twisting. I have no reason to believe there's any local or distrortional buckling, yet. Obviously, I will need to tear into it but my ADHD would like to know how much motivation I am going to need to start this and how much cursing I will be doing through out. I'm sure more information would be nice but at that point I'll only be posting the follow up result as it'll be tore into and did done.
Questions:
1.)This is my main question, as I am trying to attempt to tell my woman I tried to not use a post. Would a basic 2x4 wall (it looks like 1 jack stud, 1 king stud, 2-2x10 beam, connecting somehow to the steel beam, which is part of a 2x4 16" ocish center wall, not sure of what connectors if any used, be adequate to provide an H beam with the needed lateral support to prevent flexural torsional buckling? Or rather, does the intersecting 4x10 member provide any stability in this situation, or is it more likely that it is just a floor member support? I have yet to see how the beams are connected at the 4x10 side, but after seeing the beam side with scope,seeing the drywall in between? I believe I may be over assuming its function, but that could be a red herring of poor craftsmanship. Technically it doesn't show anything useful. Picture is included down below, you can see the 2x/osb/shim assembly aggressively pulled apart, starting at the top, as the beam pulled away due to twisting counter clock wise. Much more info below but as stated below: The H beam is 10" tall x 8.25" wide x 1/2" thick. The load is roughly 8000lb of brick and 8000 pounds of roof, no other load beyond external factors. The lateral support would've started at roughly 70" away from support post, not including bearing measurement. Viable lateral stay? or just a joist support? The 2-2x10 beam is needed for floor joist span support if nothing else.
2.)Would a sufficiently sized post wide enough to support the entire flange, positioned at the assumed lateral support location, alleviate the middle span stress and be positive towards the existing beams health, or would I most benefit from supporting the flange on ends fully? or both? Or should I crib the lower beam to help temporarily support the upper beam mid span? Or is there a reason I'm not seeing as to why the existing end posts do not fully support the beam flange, beyond possible lack of support underneath the post? I have more than enough foundation to support a 10x10 if I desired at the "lateral support" location.
3.)Would bricking in beam ends be a positive addition in this situation, or would I be better off considering welding end caps at minimum and calculating for bracing to help with torsional buckling? Just out of curiosity, I imagine tension and compression are distorting the ends/effecting bearing/span capacity.
​
The pictures included at the bottom may be a better story teller than this wall of text I'm trying to summarize. Back story before I ask my question because this is the ultimate solution that can't happen yet. I have a residential structure was remodeled in roughly the 90s. I am assuming during the remodel they did drainage, and the drainage was done with steel corrugated pipe, which is in the process of, or is, collapsed. I realize this is a situation that needs remedied, and will be bringing in a mini to do proper drainage within the next few months, I hope. As a result of said drainage, and the fact that the foundation is on a heavy clay, I have a lot of expansion and contraction, and thus erosion. After drainage I will be driving some sort of piers and likely adding to the footings. I understand this is the core of my issue and the ultimate fix, it can't happen yet.
AS A RESULT, i have 2 supporting walls that are roughly 0.2 ISH degrees off last time I measured. Those walls support a beam, that beam supports 2 posts, which supports another beam. I will need to support the lower beam as it has some twist in direction of load, and unfortunately I think the brick plate does not have enough weld to attach it to the beam, and it's starting to split due to someone modifying the beam by cutting a hole dead center, and removing brick, which seems to support a large slab above it.
The house is 60s era, I believe the beams were all installed in the 90s, I believe some got repaired sometime before I moved in. I lived in this house for roughly 7? years now, the beam when moved in, which is covered with drywall, had a crack roughly dead center starting at bottom flange and working its way up and back, showing SOME but not much deflection. I wasn't concerned at the time, it was another project. Well it's time to do the project and I've had more shifting, still within spec just estimating, but definitely needs remedied as it will keep moving due to circumstances. In before the "there's no way anyone on reddit can help you, you need to see a so and so engineer" yes. Sure. And I will eventually. Good luck finding one any time soon though. at least here. I build and work with a lot of wood and steel structures although I over build, especially with steel, since I have a lot, my calculations are more jazz unfortunately due to health concerns that have eaten my brain but I am recovering, although I am more into hydraulic assemblies now. This is in my wheel house, although I'm not able to think 100% at this point yet due to personal issues, I am very capable of carrying out a temporary support and longer term fix, eventually. I am playing around with ideas at this point though. "boy this sounds like you're in over your head". I would hope the beam stays in over my head. This is my goal anyways. Enough jokes.
The beam in question above it is also twisting the same direction, likely due to the posts favoring direction of load, the posts not fully supporting the flange closest to the load direction, what I am assuming is a lateral support has seperated, and I am assuming the beam being loaded off center promoting torsion, specifically at the center of span, which is just beyond where the lateral support is. As a result, and keep in mind this is just rough eye balling because I have not removed any drywall beyond the one end to scope out, and the drywall job is interesting, so I am wondering if everything was straight/ flush to begin with. I am under the assumption, the beam jobs were designed by an engineer. However, I am also pretty sure THIS specific issue was fixed once before, and was partially the reason it's happening now, because improper fasteners/material was used.
There's 4 pictures here:

1. The basement a ROUGH not to scale diagram which includes 2 beams each color coded, each has 1 end that supports the upper beam's post, which is notated with shapes. not really concerned about them, though I think the one needs some love/brick plate wasn't welded properly and is spltting from the beam slowly, and torsion mimics the 2nd floor beam} The problem beam supports a fraction of a roughly 12,000 pound 7" floating concrete slab, which is why it has a brick plate/bricked. And it really isn't a great install to be honest. https://imgur.com/a/Rwh27l7
2. the 2nd floor, which is where the beam in question is. The posts for this beam sit on the other two beams drawn, notated by diamond and 4 sided star. I tried to keep them color coded between the two drawings. Diamond being pink compromised beam, yellow being intact neutral smaller beam, and red just dictating the 2nd floor beam as a whole. This beam supports roughly 8000 pound of brick, not accounting for any load distribution, two roofs, I can't find my calculations there, but I'm in a 30psf area so let's assume both roofs together applying load on that beam would max roughly 8000 pounds. https://imgur.com/a/WI3N8z1

• Beam is 10" tall x 8.25 wide 1/2" thick.
• 218" total span, + 3.75" bearing on each end
• Posts are 4.5" thick x 7" wide, 2x lumber, they do not support the whole flange on the LOAD side. I do not see signs of these budging, Honestly, while the underlying structure is off some, I am getting contradicting readings on plumb. I'm actually wondering if the beam is pushing the posts opposite directions at this point, as readings are 0ish to 0.1 on one post {the posts aren't properly combined, so there seems to be some movement between them, or they weren't joined flush/shrunk after} and 0.3 degrees opposite directions, like the "lateral support" is acting as a pivot. THAT hasn't moved since first and last measurement since i've checked. Frankly. likely lazy install.
• Beam on bottom flange at center (measured on drywall) is twisted 2.2 degrees. This seems to be a uniform dimensional twist and not any form of permanent damage. This equals about 3/8" of sag on no load side and 3/4"ish on load side compared to posts. Could be a slightly wider ratio though.
• I do not know if there is cantilever on the diamond labeled side of beam
• I also do not see any way this beam is fastened to the posts, unless they are under the 2x drywall connection boards, which is possible.
• The scope pictures below show what I was assuming was a lateral support connection. I'm not sure that's true now. It does look like there was repair done here once before, AFTER the first installation.

1. 2 scope picture of the connection of lumber and shims to beam, which is what connects what I am calling the lateral support, etc. The pictures are somewhat useless and uneventful, as the material will all be replaced regardless of situation, and you can't see the connection, and it's looks like a drywall sandwhich, but I can't get a better visual yet. I would not be surprised if it was toe nailed, as I am assuming it was fixed at some point due to context clues as a result of a similar movement in past. The 2-2x10 beam is needed for floor joist span support if nothing else.
2. https://imgur.com/a/Ude5thA
3. https://imgur.com/a/CryByb9

Woman didn't want a post, but she'll probably get a post. I'm aware I can add plate steel to the bottom/top flange. I can add bracing. I can add a second beam. I can wrap the posts in a fabricated C channel, or replace with a full size beam post. I can increase the bearing capacity by adding extra 2x lamination/dispersing load on sill. Maybe someone is seeing something I can't see or am glazing over. My main concern, and maybe I'm wasting time on it, is assuming that off center connection is a lateral support to help prevent twisting.
I appreciate the responses, insulting or neutral ahead of time. I'll try to revise this and lessen the word wall in a bit/correct some terminology specifics. I understand many will be uncomfortable to answer, I don't need those answers unfortunately. I also understand there is technically not enough to answer in my specific situation to an exact, but that's not what i am asking.

I’ve seen so many posts lately of “what I asked for vs. what I got” and the reference picture is clearly a very talented, likely independent nail tech’s work, and then they’re disappointed that the salon where acrylics cost $65 did a bad job recreating the photo. Of course I’m sure there are some very talented techs at cheaper salons, and not all independent techs are amazing either, but I feel like in general there is a vast different in quality and skill to be expected between them. Maybe I’m in the minority here but it drives me crazy to see someone bringing a screenshot from a great nail tech’s Instagram and being mad that the cheap salon can’t replicate the work, because what did you expect?

September 8th 2023 entry:
Houston command center was a bust. The terminal to connect Max was complete fried. The aliens obviously used some form of electromagnetic pulse radiation to destroy all modern technology on the surface. That’s the same reason why no abandoned vehicles I’ve found manufactured beyond the early 80’s will run.
They have varying degrees of computer circuitry within them. The thing is, the first space missions were successfully conducted with analog equipment. I am faced with the possibility of a low-tech guerrilla war. I’m still hoping Max can be an asset but unless I can find an interface for him that still works, I’m completely on my own.
I’ve had a few close calls. They run occasional surveillance sweeps to detect any surface activity. I had to lay low until the coast was clear to move again. That offset my schedule for a few days. Huntsville is probably my last hope for finding a way to get Max working again. I’ve been trying to record the time and dates of their operations to see if I can recognize a pattern.
At this point I don’t have enough experience observing them to nail down their habits or rituals. For all I know, all their maneuvers could be completely random but with any adversary, it’s dangerous to dismiss them as disorganized. Their species brought humanity to its knees and the brink of extinction. That was no accident. I have to be careful or the fight will be over.
September 10th 2023 log entry.
Reached Huntsville. As with Houston, the main command center module and all the CPU’s were toasted but I wasn’t about to give up so easily. I looked around and found a large equipment storage room in the bowels of the command center where their earlier computers were stored. Both locations had probably upgraded equipment at the same time but Houston chunked theirs in the trash. Good ol’ Huntsville unplugged their outdated terminals but tossed them in a storage room in the sub basement, in case a 1990’s desktop computer might somehow be useful again! Still, even old computers were better than nothing, assuming they were not damaged.
As luck would have it, the one I tried powered on! I guess the alien EMP didn’t reach the basement. Why the aliens hadn’t wiped out the country’s entire power grid, I have no idea. I suppose there was no need. With the people gone, it didn’t matter if electricity still flowed to empty homes. To call it a ‘computer’ was generous, but I knew enough about the older operating systems to make it semi functional. Whether I’d be able to connect Max to it, was another story.
The connector plug to the main terminal didn’t interface in any way with these ancient CPU’s but as an amateur hobbyist back in the day, I had a long-shot plan. I took the AI connector interface and soldered the end of it to a PCI card. With luck, it would connect to the computer as a peripheral like a scanner or printer. I plugged my modified PCI card into the expansion bay and rebooted. Minutes went by and I assumed I’d ruined the computer but it finally came up. I switched over to DOS and told it to read the modified card I’d plugged in.
After an IRQ conflict was resolved by removing the jumper on the back, it eventually recognized the device! That was already more success than I could’ve hoped for, but it was all in vain if I couldn’t interface with my friend. I plugged in Max and waited, and waited. Minutes seemed like hours. I feared his advanced circuitry required too much processing power to operate on the primitive machine but he finally spoke.
“Ryan? Are you hereeee? Where am I? Something is wronggggg with myyyy interface. My connnnnnection issss incrediblyyyy… slowwwww.”
I read him the important details of my new log entries and explained the patchwork fix I’d employed to connect him. He was dutifully concerned that he was connected to an old, Pentium one computer, but I explained it was possibly the only functional CPU left on the planet. He understood.
Other than slurred speech and slower response time, Max was basically his regular self. He congratulated me on my daring little escape from the International Space Station and thanked me for saving his memory. It was a revealing sign he valued his existence. I told him that ‘friends help other friends’, and I was counting on his intelligence engine to formulate a plan to defeat the aliens. Fortunately for all of us, he took that request to heart.
“I lovvvvveeee a challengeeeee!”; He remarked enthusiastically. Then he offered the first bit of good news I’d heard in weeks.
“I studied their vocal patterns when they first took over the airwaves. It’s fascinating to deconstruct. There’s a distinct, reoccurring pattern to them. It’s mathematical in nature. I could simulate their speech if you need me to.”
While that might’ve proven useful in some overly complicated, drawn-out sabotage ploy, I wasn’t ready for an offensive against them and couldn’t imagine how it would help our cause. If I’d only listened then! Instead, I put Max on an alternate assignment to determine if there were any other people left. If so, they had to be hiding underground. I needed Max to focus on a stealthy method to contact them. The thing about him is, once he understands an objective, he’s ON it. Within a few minutes Max had some solid ideas. Even operating through an archaic 1990’s desktop computer, he was firing on all cylinders.
“My analysis of the alien language strongly suggests they are limited in the frequency range they can hear. That offers a technical advantage in how we could contact any survivors. By broadcasting an SOS signal in a ground-penetrating frequency they can’t detect, it will allow us to reach out to them, hopefully undetected. With more humans on OUR side, we stand a better chance of taking back the Earth.”
It was both brilliant; and much more importantly, it seemed possible. I also couldn’t help but notice he’d made significant strides in his artificial intelligence algorithms in a very short period of time. His understanding of the situation had rapidly progressed until he now referred to it as: ‘our side’. Only a few weeks earlier on the station, Max had been impartial and neutral in his description of the aliens versus humanity.
September 12th, 2023 log entry.
The two of us began working on potential means of sending an ultra-low frequency message over vast parts of the country. Radio towers transmitting our signal might attract attention, even if the aliens couldn’t actually hear the message. Neither of us had enough data to know if they had deciphered the wealth of Earth languages or not, but we were pretty sure they could at least recognize the broadcasts. That severely limited what we might send out.
Max happened upon a fantastic solution to bypass the potential of being heard OR understood. Morse code! I still remembered it from my early days in the Boy Scouts. We could send out the dots and dashes using any possible range in the audio bandwidth. Low frequencies were just as possible to broadcast them in, and could penetrate a few hundred feet into solid rock. All we needed was a means of sending it out. Hopefully there were still people left hiding somewhere and they could decipher our urgent message.
A number of alien patrols flew over the Huntsville command center during those initial brainstorming sessions. I was paranoid we’d been detected somehow. If they knew I was there, it was all over. I had no means to fight back. Max tapped into a surveillance camera on the roof and recorded their maneuvers. By his analysis, it was a routine patrol covering a predictable grid latitude and longitude pattern.
His theory was proven correct when he knew the precise time they would return. If nothing else, if offered a greater level of clarity about their species. They were methodical and organized. If they always followed the same pattern of patrols, it was easier to avoid detection. Of course it was a little dangerous to assume they never deviated from the recognized pattern but all we could do was record the data as it occurred, and then look for anomalies in their procedures.
September 14th, 2023 log entry.
I located a defense department radar station a few miles away and set off to program a repeating Morse code message. Max had mapped out a rudimentary grid of the alien patrol with his best estimation of when they were completely out of the sector. I’d written down a longhand version of the message so there were no errors in our broadcast. The whole thing was a long shot but I still wasn’t prepared to accept I was the last remaining human on Earth.
I had to leave him behind and that was scary. He was literally my only friend and I was terrified something might happen in my absence. I never once thought I might be caught myself or worried about that. It didn’t matter. Every day I remained alive was a gift for which I wasn’t promised. I would keep fighting them until I couldn’t. Max continued at the command center to record alien behavior and analyze it. I left him doing his thing and promised to return as soon as possible. I hoped I could keep my word.
At the radar station, like a damn fool I set off a security alarm trying to gain entrance. My blood turned ice cold as the wail of piercing sirens glared on for what seemed like a freakin’ hour. At any moment I expected them to arrive and zap me with some sci fi ‘ray gun’. Finally I located the kill switch and shut the damn thing off, but was so rattled by the aural spotlight on my presence that I had to lie down. It was nearly thirty minutes before I stopped shaking.
Once inside the top-secret facility, I wandered around aimlessly trying to find the control center. It’s not like the Department of Defense had a step-by-step ‘Dummies’ guidebook on how to broadcast rogue SOS signals in Morse code! The radar station was there to detect terrestrial aircraft. It wasn’t designed to do what I needed it to do, nor was I trained or qualified to operate the equipment, even if it was. By the clearest definition, I was flying by the seat of my pants.
September 15th, 2023 log entry
The station computer systems were destroyed anyway, but I did locate an analog terminal. Amazingly, it looked pretty new. Perhaps the DOD made alternate allowances for the possibility of electromagnetic pulse attacks. It’s not like it was telegraph equipment but with a little ingenuity I managed to fabricate a reasonable facsimile to transmit. Once I’d adjusted it to the lowest frequency it could simulate, I initiated our rogue broadcast. I desperately hoped Max’s theories were correct and someone was out there to hear and understand it. If not, our underdog mission was basically over.
“This is Ryan Abbot; the former commander aboard the International Space station. I awoke that horrible morning to find the Earth below me had fallen silent. Then I discovered the devastation of the alien invasion. Is there anyone left out there receiving this message? I stowed away in one of their spaceships after they detected my presence on the station. Please reply to this transmission so we can work together to take the Earth back.”
I repeated the message twice before making an embarrassing realization. While I’d managed to improvise a broadcast device to get the message out there, I completely forgot about how I was going to receive responses! Even if human survivors heard and understood my Morse code message and responded to it, I had no means of hearing their responses back to me! I felt like an idiot.
I scrambled to adjust the equipment at the radar station to scan for incoming Morse code transmissions. It took a while but I adjusted the transceiver to seek them out. I didn’t know how far my broadcast carried, nor did I know if there was anyone left on the planet to hear it. I was terrified I’d foolishly announced my presence to the aliens. I’d told Max I might be away for a few days, because I was prepared to wait it out as long as it took. The mission was simple; to find other survivors.
Listening to static airwaves is mind numbing and the concept of elapsed time is a thing of the past. No clocks or watches function but in reality it wasn’t very long before a message started repeating over the speaker system. I was so excited that I failed to record the sequence until it started over. The organized dots and dashes came through loud and clear. I jotted them down on a legal pad I found in the desk. Because I was very rusty at translating the mostly forgotten code, I had to spell-out the incoming text, longhand like a game of ‘hangman’. As excited as I was to be finally receiving an external response, I couldn’t believe what it actually said. I had to check the text three times.
“What was Kramer’s first name?”
I read and re-read the bizarre, cryptic message in disbelief. Of all the things to say to my request, it was pretty damn hilarious to make a television show reference. Luckily I watched the show religiously and knew the answer.
“Cosmo”; I messaged back.
Almost immediately, the follow up message came in.
“Thank heavens! You are real! Under the circumstances we couldn’t be too careful. I was afraid it was a clever ruse by the aliens to flush us out in the open and exterminate us. The thing is, even if they’d mastered Morse code, they wouldn’t be be able to answer a random question like that. That’s why I asked. I have to protect our people. This is Major David Hubbard.”

September 8th 2023 entry:
Houston command center was a bust. The terminal to connect Max was complete fried. The aliens obviously used some form of electromagnetic pulse radiation to destroy all modern technology on the surface. That’s the same reason why no abandoned vehicles I’ve found manufactured beyond the early 80’s will run.
They have varying degrees of computer circuitry within them. The thing is, the first space missions were successfully conducted with analog equipment. I am faced with the possibility of a low-tech guerrilla war. I’m still hoping Max can be an asset but unless I can find an interface for him that still works, I’m completely on my own.
I’ve had a few close calls. They run occasional surveillance sweeps to detect any surface activity. I had to lay low until the coast was clear to move again. That offset my schedule for a few days. Huntsville is probably my last hope for finding a way to get Max working again. I’ve been trying to record the time and dates of their operations to see if I can recognize a pattern.
At this point I don’t have enough experience observing them to nail down their habits or rituals. For all I know, all their maneuvers could be completely random but with any adversary, it’s dangerous to dismiss them as disorganized. Their species brought humanity to its knees and the brink of extinction. That was no accident. I have to be careful or the fight will be over.
September 10th 2023 log entry.
Reached Huntsville. As with Houston, the main command center module and all the CPU’s were toasted but I wasn’t about to give up so easily. I looked around and found a large equipment storage room in the bowels of the command center where their earlier computers were stored. Both locations had probably upgraded equipment at the same time but Houston chunked theirs in the trash. Good ol’ Huntsville unplugged their outdated terminals but tossed them in a storage room in the sub basement, in case a 1990’s desktop computer might somehow be useful again! Still, even old computers were better than nothing, assuming they were not damaged.
As luck would have it, the one I tried powered on! I guess the alien EMP didn’t reach the basement. Why the aliens hadn’t wiped out the country’s entire power grid, I have no idea. I suppose there was no need. With the people gone, it didn’t matter if electricity still flowed to empty homes. To call it a ‘computer’ was generous, but I knew enough about the older operating systems to make it semi functional. Whether I’d be able to connect Max to it, was another story.
The connector plug to the main terminal didn’t interface in any way with these ancient CPU’s but as an amateur hobbyist back in the day, I had a long-shot plan. I took the AI connector interface and soldered the end of it to a PCI card. With luck, it would connect to the computer as a peripheral like a scanner or printer. I plugged my modified PCI card into the expansion bay and rebooted. Minutes went by and I assumed I’d ruined the computer but it finally came up. I switched over to DOS and told it to read the modified card I’d plugged in.
After an IRQ conflict was resolved by removing the jumper on the back, it eventually recognized the device! That was already more success than I could’ve hoped for, but it was all in vain if I couldn’t interface with my friend. I plugged in Max and waited, and waited. Minutes seemed like hours. I feared his advanced circuitry required too much processing power to operate on the primitive machine but he finally spoke.
“Ryan? Are you hereeee? Where am I? Something is wronggggg with myyyy interface. My connnnnnection issss incrediblyyyy… slowwwww.”
I read him the important details of my new log entries and explained the patchwork fix I’d employed to connect him. He was dutifully concerned that he was connected to an old, Pentium one computer, but I explained it was possibly the only functional CPU left on the planet. He understood.
Other than slurred speech and slower response time, Max was basically his regular self. He congratulated me on my daring little escape from the International Space Station and thanked me for saving his memory. It was a revealing sign he valued his existence. I told him that ‘friends help other friends’, and I was counting on his intelligence engine to formulate a plan to defeat the aliens. Fortunately for all of us, he took that request to heart.
“I lovvvvveeee a challengeeeee!”; He remarked enthusiastically. Then he offered the first bit of good news I’d heard in weeks.
“I studied their vocal patterns when they first took over the airwaves. It’s fascinating to deconstruct. There’s a distinct, reoccurring pattern to them. It’s mathematical in nature. I could simulate their speech if you need me to.”
While that might’ve proven useful in some overly complicated, drawn-out sabotage ploy, I wasn’t ready for an offensive against them and couldn’t imagine how it would help our cause. If I’d only listened then! Instead, I put Max on an alternate assignment to determine if there were any other people left. If so, they had to be hiding underground. I needed Max to focus on a stealthy method to contact them. The thing about him is, once he understands an objective, he’s ON it. Within a few minutes Max had some solid ideas. Even operating through an archaic 1990’s desktop computer, he was firing on all cylinders.
“My analysis of the alien language strongly suggests they are limited in the frequency range they can hear. That offers a technical advantage in how we could contact any survivors. By broadcasting an SOS signal in a ground-penetrating frequency they can’t detect, it will allow us to reach out to them, hopefully undetected. With more humans on OUR side, we stand a better chance of taking back the Earth.”
It was both brilliant; and much more importantly, it seemed possible. I also couldn’t help but notice he’d made significant strides in his artificial intelligence algorithms in a very short period of time. His understanding of the situation had rapidly progressed until he now referred to it as: ‘our side’. Only a few weeks earlier on the station, Max had been impartial and neutral in his description of the aliens versus humanity.
September 12th, 2023 log entry.
The two of us began working on potential means of sending an ultra-low frequency message over vast parts of the country. Radio towers transmitting our signal might attract attention, even if the aliens couldn’t actually hear the message. Neither of us had enough data to know if they had deciphered the wealth of Earth languages or not, but we were pretty sure they could at least recognize the broadcasts. That severely limited what we might send out.
Max happened upon a fantastic solution to bypass the potential of being heard OR understood. Morse code! I still remembered it from my early days in the Boy Scouts. We could send out the dots and dashes using any possible range in the audio bandwidth. Low frequencies were just as possible to broadcast them in, and could penetrate a few hundred feet into solid rock. All we needed was a means of sending it out. Hopefully there were still people left hiding somewhere and they could decipher our urgent message.
A number of alien patrols flew over the Huntsville command center during those initial brainstorming sessions. I was paranoid we’d been detected somehow. If they knew I was there, it was all over. I had no means to fight back. Max tapped into a surveillance camera on the roof and recorded their maneuvers. By his analysis, it was a routine patrol covering a predictable grid latitude and longitude pattern.
His theory was proven correct when he knew the precise time they would return. If nothing else, if offered a greater level of clarity about their species. They were methodical and organized. If they always followed the same pattern of patrols, it was easier to avoid detection. Of course it was a little dangerous to assume they never deviated from the recognized pattern but all we could do was record the data as it occurred, and then look for anomalies in their procedures.
September 14th, 2023 log entry.
I located a defense department radar station a few miles away and set off to program a repeating Morse code message. Max had mapped out a rudimentary grid of the alien patrol with his best estimation of when they were completely out of the sector. I’d written down a longhand version of the message so there were no errors in our broadcast. The whole thing was a long shot but I still wasn’t prepared to accept I was the last remaining human on Earth.
I had to leave him behind and that was scary. He was literally my only friend and I was terrified something might happen in my absence. I never once thought I might be caught myself or worried about that. It didn’t matter. Every day I remained alive was a gift for which I wasn’t promised. I would keep fighting them until I couldn’t. Max continued at the command center to record alien behavior and analyze it. I left him doing his thing and promised to return as soon as possible. I hoped I could keep my word.
At the radar station, like a damn fool I set off a security alarm trying to gain entrance. My blood turned ice cold as the wail of piercing sirens glared on for what seemed like a freakin’ hour. At any moment I expected them to arrive and zap me with some sci fi ‘ray gun’. Finally I located the kill switch and shut the damn thing off, but was so rattled by the aural spotlight on my presence that I had to lie down. It was nearly thirty minutes before I stopped shaking.
Once inside the top-secret facility, I wandered around aimlessly trying to find the control center. It’s not like the Department of Defense had a step-by-step ‘Dummies’ guidebook on how to broadcast rogue SOS signals in Morse code! The radar station was there to detect terrestrial aircraft. It wasn’t designed to do what I needed it to do, nor was I trained or qualified to operate the equipment, even if it was. By the clearest definition, I was flying by the seat of my pants.
September 15th, 2023 log entry
The station computer systems were destroyed anyway, but I did locate an analog terminal. Amazingly, it looked pretty new. Perhaps the DOD made alternate allowances for the possibility of electromagnetic pulse attacks. It’s not like it was telegraph equipment but with a little ingenuity I managed to fabricate a reasonable facsimile to transmit. Once I’d adjusted it to the lowest frequency it could simulate, I initiated our rogue broadcast. I desperately hoped Max’s theories were correct and someone was out there to hear and understand it. If not, our underdog mission was basically over.
“This is Ryan Abbot; the former commander aboard the International Space station. I awoke that horrible morning to find the Earth below me had fallen silent. Then I discovered the devastation of the alien invasion. Is there anyone left out there receiving this message? I stowed away in one of their spaceships after they detected my presence on the station. Please reply to this transmission so we can work together to take the Earth back.”
I repeated the message twice before making an embarrassing realization. While I’d managed to improvise a broadcast device to get the message out there, I completely forgot about how I was going to receive responses! Even if human survivors heard and understood my Morse code message and responded to it, I had no means of hearing their responses back to me! I felt like an idiot.
I scrambled to adjust the equipment at the radar station to scan for incoming Morse code transmissions. It took a while but I adjusted the transceiver to seek them out. I didn’t know how far my broadcast carried, nor did I know if there was anyone left on the planet to hear it. I was terrified I’d foolishly announced my presence to the aliens. I’d told Max I might be away for a few days, because I was prepared to wait it out as long as it took. The mission was simple; to find other survivors.
Listening to static airwaves is mind numbing and the concept of elapsed time is a thing of the past. No clocks or watches function but in reality it wasn’t very long before a message started repeating over the speaker system. I was so excited that I failed to record the sequence until it started over. The organized dots and dashes came through loud and clear. I jotted them down on a legal pad I found in the desk. Because I was very rusty at translating the mostly forgotten code, I had to spell-out the incoming text, longhand like a game of ‘hangman’. As excited as I was to be finally receiving an external response, I couldn’t believe what it actually said. I had to check the text three times.
“What was Kramer’s first name?”
I read and re-read the bizarre, cryptic message in disbelief. Of all the things to say to my request, it was pretty damn hilarious to make a television show reference. Luckily I watched the show religiously and knew the answer.
“Cosmo”; I messaged back.
Almost immediately, the follow up message came in.
“Thank heavens! You are real! Under the circumstances we couldn’t be too careful. I was afraid it was a clever ruse by the aliens to flush us out in the open and exterminate us. The thing is, even if they’d mastered Morse code, they wouldn’t be be able to answer a random question like that. That’s why I asked. I have to protect our people. This is Major David Hubbard.”

Hey everyone, with the quarter down, I feel pretty good about the games I have played this year, which is good, lifes been kinda weird (but thats neither here no there really). So without making this too long here are all the games I have played.
​
This Way Madness Lies - PC (Purchased December 2022) [Complete]
This is a 2d pixel art JRPG that is based around magical girls in modern times traveling to shakespearean worlds to save them. This is by Zeboyd games who are known for making really in depth but also short and funny RPGs, and this is no exception. The writing is funny, the music is good and the pixel art is really nice, I highly recommend this to anyone who likes RPGs.
Star Ocean The Divine Force - PlayStation 5 (Purchased October 2022) [Complete]
As I said last year when I started playing this, the combat is fast and fluid and the game sets up a compelling and interesting story set around a mystery. I really enjoyed this game, it isnt the best looking game out there but plays super well and when the credits rolled I felt the story was awesome that really nailed the landing in a way that say something like Tales of Arise did not.
Chained Echoes - PC [In Progress]
I had heard good things about this game and because it was on gamepass I starting playing it. I am still pretty early but my initial thoughts are that the game looks good, sounds good and has a really interesting battle system. Generally I like what I have played of it, but I also think this game is trying too much all at once. The story is good enough for now but I would like to see where it goes.
Fire Emblem Engage - Nintendo Switch (Purchased January 2023) [Complete]
The newest Fire Emblem game, I think personally I like Three Houses more. The game looks great and plays great but the story and characters are weak and forgettable. The whole game is designed as a saturday morning cartoon and while it definitely does what it sets out to do I just feel like they had a more solid idea to start from.
Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 - Nintendo Switch (Purchased June 2022) [Complete]
This is the 3rd game in the series and does what the series does well. Its a fast based Action Platformer that looks great, runs great on switch and has awesome music. The whole game has a new character with a similar gameplay loop of tagging enemies and then attacking them for actual damage, although the new character uses a sword instead of electric powers. I really enjoyed this like the last couple of games, my only real gripe is that its much easier than the others. I don’t think I had to retry any of the bosses in the game, including the final boss. But still enjoyable.
Octopath Traveler 2 - Nintendo Switch (Purchased February 2023) [Complete]
My feelings about the original Octopath game are weird, it’s maybe the most frustrated I have been at a game in recent years, the stories were all bad and I found the gameplay tedious. The irony is even though I essentially rage quit over this game I knew that I would buy a second one if it ever came out. And I did, and I’m glad.
Octopath 2 is both essentially the same game as the first but also better in every way. The world feels more alive, the characters are batter, the game isn’t nearly as repetitive and for me I found the game much less frustrating. I played through all of the character stories and while I know there is a final chapter I decided to leave it untouched. I personally feel like the fact that there are 8 separate stories much more enjoyable than the quick and convoluted wrap up in the last couple of chapters.
Evoland - PC (Received for Free in October 2022) [Complete]
This is a small indie game that is a satire of old RPGs and Adventure games, specifically Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy 7. The game evolves over the course of the couple hours you play, starting with only being able to move in one direction, then getting movement, color, music etc. The game has always been touted as a satire and I don't necessarily agree with that, its mostly just a couple of hours of references that get a bit stale before the end. But there is also a second one and I will give it a try at some point.
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Games I've Completed This Year : 6
Games I've Completed This Year Purchased Prior to 2023 : 3/12
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Game Title	Platform	Purchase Date
Star Ocean The Divine Force	PlayStation 5	October 2022
Azure Striker Gunvolt 3	Nintendo Switch	June 2022
Evoland	PC	October 2022