about 2 1/2 years ago i started a new job on day 2 i met this girl who to me was so beautiful and the more i got to know her she is literally me in a younger women's body. she has been in abusive relationships and i am married. my marriage is kind of odd and were just 2 best friends who really cared about each other but she one day lost her job and decided never to try to work again and that had been going on for over 8 years before i started this job. she kinda gave up on trying and i am too much of a pussy to say anything to her.
back to this girl she had a bad back injury at work 6 months or so prior to me working there when she was 22. she busts her ass, she graduated college (but her degree w covid became worthless), and is the most adorable thing ever. we have worked together almost every day now for close to 2 years and there have been moments where both of us seemingly were going to confess our feelings for each other. my biggest problem is my wife was my best friend but as i continued trying to make things work and when i lightly suggested she do something to help i would get the "i'll kill myself if you leave me", "i can't work because of (x, y and z)" yet i look at my friend who works her ass off despite having many physical injuries and she works at a physical job.
now she is dating this guy who is a bit younger than her for only a few months and he is using her and badly. she tells me everyday the things he does. thing is all her friendships are going downhill because of this relationship except for me and if anything she follows me around at work even more. we ran into each other at the gas station the other day and her bf just side eyes me the whole time and she lights up like a christmas tree and won't stop talking as he pumps her gas. i have to eventually leave bc she is giggling, playing with her hair and just facing me and ignoring him and i see him looking at both of us. i feel like she is settling much like i have. now she is leaving this week to go to another job because our manager is being insufferable. although this kid has been trying to get her to quit since pretty much they got together and he got fired after a week and a half at our job and then he didn't work for 3 months and now got a new job and is caught in constant lies (his hours, his pay, his check not coming in and so on), he would take her car and drive it recklessly and drive it to who knows where (claims work or his moms) and she just got a new car she has banned him from driving and he is pissed. i tried to get her to stay for awhile but i care about her so much that i want her happy but now in a few days i will lose her. thing is she has been trying to get me to move jobs with her. i am set to get promoted to her spot which will be increased benefits and pay but i would rather they keep that to still have my best friend stay with me. regardless of anything she is the ying to my yang and vice versa.

I heard a huge ruckus outside my living room window. I got to the window in time to see what looked like a turf way between the crows and the blue jays. I saw a crow pick up a fledgling and fly to the other side of the property with it, with all the other birds flying and shrieking. I went out to inspect and the birds all flew away, leaving a fledgling on the ground. He seems like he may have an injured wing, but I can't tell for sure.
I went back inside to grab gloves and a box. I brought the fledgling back to the tree where they originally grabbed him and set him on the ground next to it. I went back in the house but I'm sitting near a window in case the crows come back.
The nearest wildlife rehabillitators I could find are an 8 hour round trip away. Is there anything else I can do?
Also, is this typical behavior for crows? I know they eat carrion, obviously, but this little guy is still alive. They have tons to eat around here, so it's not like they're starving.

This league there have been a lot of different opinions about the profitability of The Feared Invitation. While Empyriangaming´s small sample size certainly showed a volatility in short term profit margins, bigger sample sizes by u/ToiletOfGold and u/ixmike88 showed that it is still profitable. So here I am with another big sample size that I am going to compare with my findings from last league.
Here is the data from 500 max investment 100%+ IIQ Feared Runs (including Uber Uber Elder, Uber Atziri, Uber Cortex and Flawless Chayula). I´ve been doing 5 x 100 Runs with 3 Quad Stashes of Loot I had to sort out after each 100 Runs. One full run takes me 10-12 minutes, so I was able to do 5 runs per hour.
For each encounter, I am going to give a little advice, followed by a breakdown of cost & profit/loss, a conclusion and a comparison. These lists only contain the profitable and very rare drops. Values are average market prices.
My build: Cold Flicker Strike Slayer (15 Frenzy / 15 Endurance Charges) PoB: LINK (Uber DPS Config)
Atlas Tree: Uber notables, Wandering Path with all Synth nodes
Uber Atziri Make sure you can burst her down fast enough so she can only ever enter her Split Phase (the Add Phase takes far too long). Reflect immunity required. Cost: 0.25 div per Set; 125 div total

Drop (Avg. Value per)	Amount	Total Value
Atziri´s Reflection (1.6 div)	5	8 div
Atziri´s Disfavour (4 div)	0	-
The Price of Devotion (26 div)	0	-
Triumvirate Authority (-)	6	-
Atziri's Acuity (-)	6	-

The Ultimatum Aspect Fragment and the Sacrifical Garb Base Armour seem to drop every 3rd or 4th encounter. Since they dont really sell, I didnt bother picking them up after a while. Total loss (Uber Atziri): - 117 div Conclusion & Comparison: Uber Atziri is still just entry cost for doing The Feared. Atziri needs some additional high tier drops. No changes compared to 3.20.
Uber Cortex (Replica/Default) Boss rush. Make sure you can run any mod combination, have a second character set up that can do it or in the worst case, buy a carry service. The Replica version is a little cheaper, has more global map modifiers, can be a lot more difficult and has the identical drop pool. In very rare cases, you get Synth map modifiers that make it worth full clearing the map (e.g.: %ChanceToDropDivCards and %IncRarityDroppedBy). Cost: 1.5 div per Map; 750 Div total

Drop (Avg. Value per)	Amount	Total Value
Rational Doctrine (8 div)	9	72 div
Bottled Faith (1.5 div)	46	69 div (medium variance)
Garb of the Ephemeral (30c)	57	7.8 div
Forgotten Reliquary Key (4 div)	7	28 div
Nebulis (10c)	147	6.7 div

Notable Synth Item drops: +1FrenzyShieldSTR (50 div), +1PowerShieldINT (50 div), ExplodeWand (40 div), %IntRing (30 div), DexStackBow (15 div), ExplodeStaff (8 div), +1PowerShieldSTR (2x 8 div), GraceAuraEffRing (5 div), AuraEffHelmet (2x 5 div), FlammabilityOnHitRing (5 div), IntStackingWand (3 div), IgniteSceptre (3 div), CritMultiRing (3 div), %DexBoots (2 div) and around 15 items that have sold for up to 1 div. Total loss (Uber Cortex): - 567 div (without Synth items), - 310 div (with Synth items) Conclusion & Comparison: Pretty disappointing but to be expected, Cortex profit heavily relies on amazing Synth drops. The unique drops are worth less in 3.21 but with Crucible around, the Nebulis easily sell in bulk.
Uber Uber Elder Personally, I found this to be the most difficult of fights (Flicker Strike is not a great skill for it). Just run circles around the bosses and try to burst down the shaper as fast as possible after every Add Phase so he doesn´t use his Bullet Hell. Good luck dodging if Maven decides to clone the bosses in the arena. Cost: 1.5 div per Set; 750 Div total

Drop (Avg. Value per)	Amount	Total Value
Watcher´s Eye iLvL 87 (4,5 div)	185	832.5 div
Orb of Dominance (1 div)	55	55 div
Sublime Vision (8 div)	8	64 div
Decaying Reliquary Key (4 div)	5	20 div
Double Impresence (-)	12	Sold two (22 Div, 4 Div)
The Shieldbearer (2,5 div)	5	12.5 div
Eternity Shroud (45c)	5	1 div
Voidforge (8 div)	1	8 div
The Gulf (20c)	5	0.9 div
Indigon (30c)	56	7.6 div
Soul Ascension (-)	7	-
Voidfletcher (-)	66	-

Total profit (Uber Uber Elder): + 277 div Conclusion & Comparison: The Watcher´s Eyes themselves easily pay for the Uber Uber Elder Runs. Very profitable by itself. Voidforge actually exists as drop. No changes compared to 3.20.
Flawless Chayula [BREACH REWORK] Breachstones also roll random modifiers, so they can be a little tricky. If you dont use CastOnDeath+Portal, make sure to place a portal halfway through the Breach. Flawless Breachstones are 45 seconds faster than the normal version. Chayula can be permafrozen so that one was the easiest encounter for me. Chaos resistance helps a lot. You can level Gems in your Offhands. As of 3.21 you can use It That Fled´s Breachstone Bargains to increase the rewards of the Breachstones. They unfortunately do not speed up the encounter itself. Cost: 1.5 div per Stone; 750 Div total

Drop (Avg. Value per)	Amount	Total Value
Fractured GlobalDef Grasping Mail (50 div)	11	550 div
Uul-Netol´s Vow (8 div)	9	72 div (high variance!)
United in Dream (40c)	169	30.7 div
Red Nightmare (150c)	18	12.3 div
Green Nightmare (1.5 div)	25	37.5 div
Blue Nightmare (40c)	26	4.7 div
Skin of the Lords (-)	19	250 div (Details below)

I´ve dropped 63 fractured Grasping Mails (71 in 3.20), so you can still expect one to drop every 7-8 runs. The mods are weighted (1 in 4.25 chance to hit Global Defense), so you can expect to drop one FracGlobalDef every 32 runs. I´ve dropped 19 Skins of the Lords. These have a really high variance because of socket colors and the Notable. The most valuable ones had at least 3 blue sockets and a good notable: GhostDance (50 div), Iron Will (39 div), GlancingBlows (30 div), SupremeEgo (25 div), Acrobatics (18 div), AvatarOfFire (20 div), Magebane (15 div) Total loss/profit: - 40 div (without Skins), + 210 div (with Skins) Conclusion & Comparison: I was quite unlucky considering the FracGlobalDefense droprate (11 instead of avg. 15), otherwise the Breachstones would have easily payed for themselves. While there was absolutely no reason to run normal Breachstones in 3.20, I can´t say the same for this league since I dont know the droprates of Blessings and Skin of the Loyals.
The Feared Invitation [ATLAS CHANGES] Make sure you can run any mod combination or have counter measures available (e.g. I used an Enduring Mana flask on "no leech" invitations). I prefer to kill Cortex and Atziri first if possible. Invitations were rolled to 8 mod 100+IIQ, you can vendor 5 failed corruptions for a new one. You also drop a lot of invitations from the bosses. Cost: ~45c per 8-mod Invitation, 100 div total

Drop (Avg. Value per)	Amount	Total Value
Maven´s Writ (1.4 div)	632.2	885 div
Uber Elder Red Fragment (0.5 div)	173	86.5 div
Uber Elder Black Fragment (0.2 div)	165	33 div
Bottled Faith (1.5 div)	28	42 div (medium variance)
Watcher´s Eye iLvL 85 (1 div)	93	93 div
Blessings of Chayula (1.2 div)	4	4.8 div
Orb of Conflict (0.25 div)	110	27.5 div
Dying Sun (20c)	39	3.5 div
Garb of the Ephemeral (30c)	28	3.8 div
Atziri´s Reflection (1.6 div)	1	1.6 div
Nebulis (10c)	118	5.3 div
Triumvirate Authority (-)	15	-
Atziri's Acuity (-)	12	-
Skin of the Loyal (-)	29	90.5 div (Details below)

I also dropped 86 Awakened Gems, the most expensive ones being several EleDmgWithAtks and VoidManipulations. Profit from Gems is around 16 div total. Two double corrupted uniques sold for 1 div each. Notable Synth item drops: SpellDDBow (25 div), SpellDDNebulis (20 div), ExplodiWand (25 div), EleWeaknessOnHitRing (5 div) I´ve dropped 29 Skin of the Loyal, the most valuable ones with 3B2R1G (20 div), 4B2G (12 div), 4B1R1G (5 div) Total profit/loss (Feared): + 1102 div (without Skins/Synth), +1267 div (with Skins/Synth) Conclusion & Comparison: Even tho they removed the small Maven Crucible IIQ nodes on the Atlas, the higher Maven´s Writs price as a result make up for it. The removal of Flawless Chayula Breachstone drops in The Feared put a huge dent into the profit that can not get fully covered by Skin of the Loyal drops.
Notable Drops: While I dropped 2 Mirrors of Kalandra in 3.20, I did not drop a single one in 3.21. I might just go for another 500 runs until I drop one.
Profit from 500 Full Runs: +653 Div (Default Drops) // +332 Div (Synth) // + 338 Div (Skins) Profit per Full Run: 1,3 Div per Run (Default), 2,6 Div per Run (Default/Synth/Skins) Profit per Hour (5 Runs/hour): 7-13 Div* *doesnt include the time to sell/buy/sort
Final conclusion: The Feared is still very profitable, even tho not as good as it was in 3.20. Most uniques are worth less, we lost the IIQ on the Atlas and Skin of the Lords/Loyals add another layer of drop RNG.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announces new driver license and identification (ID) cards with updated security features. The new cards debut June 5 with new design elements built within the cards to make them more resistant to fraud.
“Wisconsin DMV continues to stay on the leading edge of technology by incorporating the next generation of updated security features into our driver licenses and ID cards,” WisDOT Secretary Craig Thompson said. “Our residents can be proud of the modernized new cards and also the efforts DMV takes to secure their credentials.”
The new cards feature:

• Beautiful, artistic, hard-to-replicate designs: Hand crafted artwork of key Wisconsin features – like the awe-inspiring Wisconsin State Capitol and state flag – are woven throughout, creating a more secure, customized card.
  
• Transparent windows visible on the card’s right edge and back bottom edge: The advanced manufacturing process allows the clear ribbon to flow right off the edge of the card and is integrated with cardholder data. Wisconsin is the first to have this unique security feature.
  
• A distinct ‘flipping effect:’ Looking at the embossed feature just above the ribbon, when angling the card one way, you see the secondary photo. While at another angle you see the month and year of birth. This unique feature is hard to duplicate and/or counterfeit.
  
• The familiar orange DONOR dot: For those who participate in the life-giving organ donation registry, the orange dot is now nestled in the larger sugar maple leaf which you can feel.
  
• The noticeable vertical format on cards for those under age 21 continues and will incorporate blue/red color themes for rapid visual recognition. Cards for those over age 21 are horizontal and have a blue/gold theme.
  

The upgraded security features will be available on regular and REAL ID cards. The fee remains the same.
“The first thing you notice is Wisconsin’s cards are even more attractive and the images celebrate the state. But built within the beautiful images and manufacturing process are layers of security features designed to protect card users and businesses who rely on their validity,” DMV Administrator Kristina Boardman said.
The laser-engraved version currently in circulation debuted in September 2015. These will remain valid until their expiration date. Cards with the new features will be issued upon renewal, replacement or first issuance. There is no requirement to get a new card but customers may replace their card with the latest features by ordering a replacement (wisconsindmv.gov/Dreplace​).
https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/about-wisdot/newsroom/news-rel/060523newdlid.aspx

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announces new driver license and identification (ID) cards with updated security features. The new cards debut June 5 with new design elements built within the cards to make them more resistant to fraud.
“Wisconsin DMV continues to stay on the leading edge of technology by incorporating the next generation of updated security features into our driver licenses and ID cards,” WisDOT Secretary Craig Thompson said. “Our residents can be proud of the modernized new cards and also the efforts DMV takes to secure their credentials.”
The new cards feature:

• Beautiful, artistic, hard-to-replicate designs: Hand crafted artwork of key Wisconsin features – like the awe-inspiring Wisconsin State Capitol and state flag – are woven throughout, creating a more secure, customized card.
  
• Transparent windows visible on the card’s right edge and back bottom edge: The advanced manufacturing process allows the clear ribbon to flow right off the edge of the card and is integrated with cardholder data. Wisconsin is the first to have this unique security feature.
  
• A distinct ‘flipping effect:’ Looking at the embossed feature just above the ribbon, when angling the card one way, you see the secondary photo. While at another angle you see the month and year of birth. This unique feature is hard to duplicate and/or counterfeit.
  
• The familiar orange DONOR dot: For those who participate in the life-giving organ donation registry, the orange dot is now nestled in the larger sugar maple leaf which you can feel.
  
• The noticeable vertical format on cards for those under age 21 continues and will incorporate blue/red color themes for rapid visual recognition. Cards for those over age 21 are horizontal and have a blue/gold theme.
  

The upgraded security features will be available on regular and REAL ID cards. The fee remains the same.
“The first thing you notice is Wisconsin’s cards are even more attractive and the images celebrate the state. But built within the beautiful images and manufacturing process are layers of security features designed to protect card users and businesses who rely on their validity,” DMV Administrator Kristina Boardman said.
The laser-engraved version currently in circulation debuted in September 2015. These will remain valid until their expiration date. Cards with the new features will be issued upon renewal, replacement or first issuance. There is no requirement to get a new card but customers may replace their card with the latest features by ordering a replacement (wisconsindmv.gov/Dreplace​).
https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/about-wisdot/newsroom/news-rel/060523newdlid.aspx

Deep in the ruins of Chaos falls came a wyrm of great dread. It came in providence and glory through the Lord of Flames. "You are of great and mighty ice, and in great and terrible creativity in being able to spread the splendor of my plane through your ice: I am deeply indebted. I command you exit my plane, and spread the glory of my plane out into the Alexandrite. Bring them the biting cold, so that they may experience it, and bring upon a shine to the Alexandrite that none yet have seen." So the Lord of Flames summoned Glaciesa, a great and powerful wyrm of death and ice.
​
The wyrm had long slitted eyes with teal and wonderous scales that appeared more of an opal than of scales. It contained beautiful silver razor hair from the top of the head, braided down into 6 ponytails, 3 on each side of her head. Claws were as large as a claymore, a giant spiny frill of a sail on her back in which sailors would envy with its glory and silver-like sheen, a tail as long as a church building, and rows and rows of teeth that crossed one another in unison, two horns that went backward from her head extending and curving upward to meet the sky.
​
There she took off from Chaos Falls, and flew over the mountains, peering upon endless grassland as far as her eye could see. She peered downward and settled in a grassy plane which had been named Chaos Valley of the time, later to be known as Misty Falls. There she rested and slaughtered those with biting breath who entered the plains. With her magic, had summoned spirits who would wander the worlds, confused where the way out was due to the mist of the biting cold. Over time, it became an icy desolation due to her presense, much of the grass had died, and the trees had turned as hard as stone, and not a leaf was seen, though visibility was quite limited due to the oppressive cold.
​
She quickly grew bored after only a few cert, having destroyed and left the grassy plain in desolation, now a wasteland where nothing grew or moved. She moved onto the other side of the Middle Province, out to find a great artifact which she did not understand, but reveled in the biting cold. (The biting cold dissapated from the icy desolation of Chaos Valley, and eventually became Misty Falls, now a perpetual mist where spirits still lie in confusion through the mist unable to find their way out for as long as the mist remains) There she found an icy core which made around it great cold, akin to her own body. She loved it, and felt the biting cold so splendorous that she coveted it. She absorbed it, and made it more powerful with her bosom, spreading the bite out from the eastern side of the Gensho Forest in the west, and eastward to the Elena Lake, rendering the area in deep biting deathly cold where none would walk.
​
Yet adventurers of great renown knew of this dragon, and grew tired of her presense. Some worshipped her, as being ultimately beautiful, and though she brought endless cold and death, did she bring about great beauty, and power of renown to rival Shirra herself. So did a set of great adventurers through journeys of their own, established great power. They had trained in the ways of Shirra, defeated demons of great grandeur, and seeked glory which would be unimaginable to many, for their treasure was limitless, and was not enough to satisfy them in their adventuring.
​
Hotalth, a great warrior and longbow ranger, had learned his craft in the Gensho Forest and had traveled the world seeking glory, and found it and then some. Yet even in his older age, he would see that the glory were not enough for him, though his ability were seemingly limitless, decimating even the most powerful of demon.
​
Second was Urien, an animal sapien and great assassin, who had become infamous in the underworld for killing kings of olde; Regicisor was his nickname among those knowledgable in the underworld. He had successfully escaped Totema and guard alike, but quickly grew bored of his position, having established great wealth and power, owning some of the largest homes in Niseb.
​
Finally, came the often forgotten Vaho, a grand longbow ranger who followed the party, though not as famous as the others, had ultimately gave great bravery in his desire to be as powerful and as famous as Urien and Hotalth. Urien and Hotalth agreed, allowing him along for he had ability of great scouting ability way above Urien and Hotalth.
​
There they traveled into the icy plains where Glaciesa resided, living on top of the ice core which contained an infinite cold which none could move. Nothing would live, but Glaciesa coveted it with great love. Only once an eon would Glaciesa move away from the death of the Ice Core, simply to go out and collect food to eat, and leave for another eon, leaving the area it inhabited a desolation. There the adventurers took their chance upon one of these short moments.
​
They trapped Glaciesa along the eastern side of the Icy Plains, and a fierce battle began. Glaciesa, in her cunning, knew that she would fall, lest she fly elsewhere, avoiding such great adventurers. She knew the adventurers likely would chase her to the ends of the Ice Core, deeming it unsafe. She peered off and with great vision, witnessed the Peak of Mystonia, where she fled her precious Ice Core, suspecting a trap, flew to the Peak of Mystonia.
​
The adventurers saw where she fled, and saw the increased ice along the peak after searching, and eventually found her on a ridge near the peak. There Glaciesa made her last stand, attempting to fell stubborn adventurers, doing everything she could to bring the biting death upon them. Yet it were not enough in her weakened state and without her precious Ice Core; the adventurers felled her and took teeth of Glaciesa to show their victory and saviors of the land.
​
There in song and book their story faded, for none wrote of them any longer, and none are alive to remember it, save for perhaps a few passed along through oral tradition.

Hi guys! I am selling Diretide cache I & II as well as some Aghanim Cache. I am selling those sets because i have many extras and i don't play those heroes that much. Some of the sets are unbundled but still can be gifted, you can check my inventory to be sure. Buyer goes first no exceptions. If you don't trust me, i am okay with using a middleman. I have sold to many people before and i have many proof screenshots and recordings i can show. I can do discounts for bulk sales.
​

• In order to gift/trade the items we need to be friends at least 30 days.
• I will trade dota2/csgo/tf2 items and tf2 keys worth the listed item's price.
• Because i don't want to waste anyone's time i require %25 (Min.1$) of the price for reservation.
• Reservation fee will be subtracted from the items total price.
• If you want to reserve/buy an item comment on my steam profile and add me on steam.
• If you have any questions feel free to add/message me.
• Reservation fee will not be refunded if you cancel the order.

Here is my steam profile: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198113120433
My steamrep: https://steamrep.com/search?q=76561198113120433
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DIRETIDE COLLECTOR'S CACHE I

Set name	Hero	Quantity	Price USD
Dark Behemoth (VERY RARE)	Primal Beast	0 LEFT (1 SOLD)	25$ ITEMS
Angel of Vex (RARE) (Comes with persona)	Invoker + Persona	2 LEFT (1 SOLD)	12$ ITEMS
Blue Horizons (RARE)	Marci	2 LEFT (1 SOLD,1 RESERVED)	10$ ITEMS
Dirge Amplifier	Undying	1 LEFT	3$ ITEMS
Forgotten Station	Terrorblade	2 LEFT (1 SOLD)	3$ ITEMS
Crimson Dawn	Phoenix	1 LEFT	3$ ITEMS
Trophies of the Hallowed Hunt	Ursa	1 LEFT	3$ ITEMS
Chines of the Inquisitor	Faceless Void	0 LEFT (1 SOLD)	3$ ITEMS
Spoils of the Shadowveil	Spectre	1 LEFT (1 SOLD)	3$ ITEMS
Starlorn Adjudicator	Dawnbreaker	0 LEFT (1 SOLD)	3$ ITEMS
Seadog's Stash	Clockwerk	1 LEFT	3$ ITEMS
Hounds of Obsession	Chen	2 LEFT	3$ ITEMS
Whippersnapper	Snapfire	0 LEFT (1 SOLD)	3$ ITEMS
Scarlet Subversion	Riki	0 LEFT (2 SOLD)	3$ ITEMS
Shadowleaf Insurgent	Hoodwink	0 LEFT (2 SOLD)	3$ ITEMS

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DIRETIDE COLLECTOR'S CACHE II

Set name	Hero	Quantity	Price USD
Brands of the Reaper (RARE)	Anti Mage	0 LEFT (SOLD)	20$ (SOLD)
Grudges of the Gallows (RARE)	Treant Protector	1 LEFT	8$ ITEMS
Bird of Prey	Legion Commander	0 LEFT (1 SOLD)	3$ ITEMS
Darkbrew's Transgression	Alchemist	2 LEFT (1 SOLD)	3$ ITEMS
Transcendent Path	Oracle	1 LEFT	3$ ITEMS
The Wilding Tiger	Brewmaster	1 LEFT	3$ ITEMS
Dawn of a Darkness Foretold	Doom	1 LEFT	3$ ITEMS
Grand Suppressor	Silencer	1 LEFT	3$ ITEMS
Withering Pain	Clinkz	1 LEFT	3$ ITEMS
Sacred Chamber Guardian	Huskar	1 LEFT	3$ ITEMS
War Rig Eradicators	Techies	1 LEFT	3$ ITEMS

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AGHANIMS COLLECTOR'S CACHE

Set name	Hero	Quantity	Price USD
Pyrexae Polymorph Perfected	Ogre Magi	(SOLD)	9$ (SOLD)
Days of the Demon	Axe	(SOLD)	10$ (SOLD)
March of the Crackerjack Mage	Rubick	1 LEFT	4$ ITEMS
Scales of the Shadow Walker	Phantom Lancer	1 LEFT	4$ ITEMS
Secrets of the Frost Singularity	Ancient Apparation	0 LEFT (1 SOLD)	3$ ITEMS
The Chained Scribe	Grimstroke	0 LEFT (1 RESERVED)	3$ ITEMS
Forgotten Fate	Mars	1 LEFT	4$ ITEMS

My wife and I just returned from our weeklong adventure in the Amalfi Coast. It was incredible. The best vacation of my life, mostly because of how good our planning was!! I'm going to highlight our time in Amalfi Coast and surrounding areas because that was the heart of our trip:
Day 1: Homebased in Ravello, highly recommend if you are athletic and like to hike. The hike from Ravello to Amalfi was a daily routine for us (down and up). The trip up was difficult but worth it. On average we did 25,000 steps per day, maybe 10-12 miles per day. We did Valle delle Ferriere hike which was a stunning mix of urban hiking and amazing landscape coastal views of Amalfi.
Day 2: Path of the Gods in the morning starting from Bomberano. We started the morning with our warm up hike 🤣 from Ravello to Amalfi and took a bus from Amalfi to Bomberano (around 1 hr). I got a little sick at the top once we got off the bus but our packed prociutto sandwich helped ease the nausea and prepare us for the hike! The hike was beautiful, we met tons of people on the hike, and ended up sharing frozen lemonade at the bottom in Nocelle before hiking down to Positano. We took a nap on the public beach and shared a Spritz at a beach bar. This day we had 26k steps and 16 miles. This day we shared a taxi with a nice man and his son , because aint no way we had the energy to climb the steps from Amalfi to Ravello.
Day 3: We did a kayak tour of the coast , started in Amalfi town and kayaked almost to Praiano! After we had the experience of our life time doing a Cooking class at "Amalfi Heaven Gardens" located 15 minute walk from Amalfi. It was absolutely the most memorable thing we did (As foodies) during our time in Italy. Silvio the head chef was sooo passionate and he poured his entire soul into making sure we experienced Italian culture from his beautiful terrace overlooking the Amalfi Coast. 10/10 would recommend.
Day 4: Capri day! Took our morning hike from Ravello to Amalfi. Ferry from Amalfi to Capri. Did a private boat tour around the entire island and hopped off for a nice dip in the blue water. Beautiful. Had an amazing lunch in the city of Capri. Came back to Ravello early and visited Villa Cimbrone, while a wedding was going on (I don't think we were supposed to be there). It was absolutely stunning to see the coast at a full 180 degree angle. So happy we got to see Villa Cimbrone.
All in all, it was the best trip of my life. Our BnB in Ravello was magnificent and had a panoramic view of the valley of Amalfi (Pontone, Scala, and Amalfi). At night the valley lit up like a beautiful Christmas tree. We were happy that we got to hike almost every day, and definitely allowed us to eat as much pasta and tiramisu as we wanted without feeling too guilty! We spent about $2500 total between the two of us, which was amazing. Our BnB was only $230/night, and was located right next to Villa Cimbrone in Ravello! It was so memorable that I had to write this recap, I hope you guys enjoyed reading it.
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I am still playing tears though I have beat it at 160 hours. Its a massive game that does a lot right. It does have issues however.
PROS:
I love links design
Ascend, fuse and recall are really cool fun new editions.
I love the verticality of the game, being able to go from sky to depths in a single dive is amazing and the scale is incredible.
The glider is so simple and so fun, I miss it when playing any other open world games.
The shrines are overall a big improvement, Love the proven grounds as opposed to those silly shrines of strength from breath of the wild.
The overall density of things to do in the world is massively improved, I cant walk for 30 seconds without getting distracted.
The increased difficulty is much appreciated
Some of the ultrahand stuff is amazing, its very gimicky but its a very well done gimick. I like how its not forced upon you too much and the autobuild is a godsend.
Absolutely love the addition of all the caves and wells, between depths, sky islands, main overworld, caves and wells plus your ability to glide, fly and climb it is a truly fully explorable world, you can even swim through ceilings for Gods sake.
Love how there are little rewards for doing just about anything, climb that big tree, probably at least a korok waiting for you. I love little acknowledgements of small detours while exploring. If I decide to randomly climb a big mountain or huge tower I want something to be there, the idea of simply seeing something out of place and my investigation leading to a reward is fantastic. The game is excellent at doing this though unfortunately after 100 or so koroks the diminishing returns for rewards really sets in. Perhaps korok seeds should be used for more than inventory space only after a point to resolve this? New exclusive armor sets with interesting passives perhaps?
Tons more weapon variety, some really cool creations and being able to tailor your arsenal of weapons to your own playstyle (I focus on spears mostly) is great.
Improved rewards, Finding old maps that lead to cool treasures, new armor sets, sages wills etc. More interesting rewards in general though more could still be done here
The new enemy types added (though pretty few) are very cool and welcome additions
The overall consumables/sellables in the world is balanced very well, I find tons of little things that I actually use. Fish, bananas, apples, opals, rubys, insects, oils, monster parts, rupees, arrows, bombs keese eyes, frost fruit etc. I was always keeping myself topped up on elixers and a variety of different meals for different situations. Lighting myself up in the depths, keeping myself warm in the cold, cool in the heat, gloom resistant, attack increase food for lynels or tough silver foes etc. Tons of stuff in the game actually has use and is not just clutter. Items in shops are expensive like clothing which is great as it ment selling opals and stuff was worthwhile. They filled the world pretty well with useful consumables.
CONS:
I think tears needs more enemy variety especially given the addition of sky islands and depths, so much more to explore with only about 10 new enemy types. I was so disappointed when I found just reskinned versions of all the same enemies ( and even bosses!) in the depths. (The new enemies are cool and appreciated though).
The sky islands and depths themselves could use more variety in their design especially given how much time you will spend in both (depths mainly)
The main dungeons are good and improved from BOTW but again too short and simple though the lead ups are cool. Great to have themed dungeons back at least and unique varied bosses.
The weapon durability never bothered me too much especially when you get enough slots HOWEVER as a result of the weapon durability you end up with a ton of chests that have throwaway weapons in them. That does not feel good to find. The amount of times I opened a chest only to have to discard a weapon in order to fit the chest one in was annoying. They improved rewards in tears but didn't go far enough imo. Even adding more chests with silver rupees would help a ton as economy is done well in the game, I frequently found myself wanting more money and bombs and sometimes arrows but was always full on weapons even at 15 slots. Too many chests contained weapons imo. Funny thing is in previous Zeldas I feel too many chests contained rupees lol. Here I wanted more chests with rupees.
I think weapons in general should last longer, at least another 10 to 15 hits. This way the durability remains but is not so.......extreme. (I am aware this further exacerbates my problem listed above)
The music though nice is far too ambience focused and not enough upbeat classic Zelda. Compare the overworld themes on horseback in previous zeldas to the one in tears. Good lord the one in tears is so boring in comparison.
The sages are a MASSIVE step back. Having them follow you around and you needing to run up to them to activate their abilities is a pain in the backside, so much so in fact that I dismiss them all and don't use them at all except occasionally in the depths to break rocks and save my bombs. The rito one is indeed handy but I am fed up of him blowing away all my monster part drops when I want to pick them up so he is dismissed now too. I can only imagine the sages mechanic was a last minute inclusion from Nintendo after the positive feedback of Elden Ring spirit summons and they didn't think it through correctly.
Bonus con/pet peeve I hate how some of the monster parts are strong but looks so bad, I have a ton of silver bokoblin horns and so feel I should be using them but that damn stupid santa clause style bob at the end of the weapon looks so dumb. I cant attach it to anything without it looking dumb. Some of the really powerful stuff like lynel horns look great on a ton of things though.
That's my bullet point review of tears.
Overall score 8/10. Very cool game.

I have a loose plan for this and want to see where it goes.
Chapter 1 - Stranger
When Daglan woke up that morning he didn't see anything unusual. He had awoken from a drop of water falling from the ceiling as he did many mornings. His best friend Rozere was in the kitchen with her father cooking what smelled of eggs. The sun was shining through the cracks in the curtains and holes in the walls as it always did. What felt different? Then he heard voices outside, voices that grew louder and louder. At this point Rozere and her father Koshu had heard the commotion as well and stepped outside to see what it was. Daglan hastily followed suit, after finding his tunic and boots.
Lying on the ground outside was a young man, no older than 25. He lay face up in the dirt wearing only baggy purple pants and a black conical hat covering his face. His long black hair seemed to be tied at the base of his head in a long spiky ponytail, his slender muscular body was covered in dozens of battle scars, and at his waist was a black katana with its sword tied firmly inside its sheath. Almost the entire town had crowded around him, murmuring and shifting anxiously. It wasn't often people arrived in town, mostly just traders on their way to and from Inoris, and that too was a rarity.
"Back now people, give this man some room! And for the love of Reza, quiet!" Barked Doc Silvis as she pushed through the crowd. She immediately knelt down and felt his neck with her fingers. She paused for a moment and gave a very annoyed sigh, slapping away his hat. "He's alive alright. This dumbass is sleeping in the street." She gave the stranger a hard slap across the face, one that would have probably knocked him out, had he been awake. The crowd watched in awe as he yawned and scratched his nose, barely affected by Silvis.
"What should we do?" Someone asked.
"Do you know who he is?" Asked another.
As the murmurs heighted Daglan could tell Silvis was getting fired up, over the years Daglan had gotten to know Silvis quite well, with all his escapades outside the town walls. Daglan knew better than anyone that Silvis hated when a patient ignored her, and more so when she had to repeat herself.
"I said quiet! Don't you lazy bums have more important things to do?! Livani! Koreso! Aren't you two on watch?! Scram the lot of you!" A wave of fear crashed down upon the crowd and everyone began to disperse. All but Daglan, as Rozere pulled on his sleeve.
"Come on Daglan," she hissed, keeping an eye on Silvis like she was some wild animal, "You don't want to make her angrier."
"I'll be fine," he whispered, without looking back, his eyes stuck on the sleeping man. What was this feeling? It was like the feeling he got when Silvis healed his wounds, but not as warm. Almost closer to the feeling he got when abominations were near, when he ventures past the walls, but not as malicious. Before he knew it he was kneeling next to Silvis, watching her run her hand across his body, her hands glowing faintly, his curiosity bubbling.
"He isn't cursed or hypnotized, I can't feel a single thing wrong with him. I do believe this man is really just asleep, and slept through a slap in the face." Silvis sighed. After a few moments she looked at Daglan with a tired smile, then frowned. "Thanks for being quite Daglan, now since you're gonna bum around, get to work hauling this bastard back to my infirmary and don't let him out of your sight. I want to know as soon as he wakes up."
Daglan looked around to ask Rozere for help but she was already gone, how long had he been watching this stranger and Silvas? He looked down at the smiling, snoring face of the stranger, scooped under his arms, and with much difficulty began dragging the older, bigger boy to the infirmary.
The infirmary was quiet today, there hadn't been a major abomination attack in quite a few weeks which didn't happen often. It wasn't long before Rozere came in with a grimace on her face and her fingers on her nose.
"Honestly," she said in that strange nasally voice when you hold your nose, "I hate how much time you make me spend here. Between you getting hurt and my dad making me help Silvas, I can't get away!" She plopped down next to him and sighed. "So what's with this guy? Why are you still here with him?"
"Silvas asked me to watch him and tell her when he wakes up. Apparently I can't let him leave till she talks to him." He shrugged, trying more to convince himself. She eyed him suspiciously, but immediately dropped the subject.
"Did you notice his sword was tied closed? I wonder what that's about?" She reached out and placed a hand on his sword, and just then the weird energy the stranger gave off changed from similar to those of the abominations , to even scarier than anything he'd ever felt from them. Rozere fell to her knees and screamed as the stranger stood over her. When had he stood up?! Daglan shot to his feet, a smile ripping across his face as excitement crackled through his body. He prepared to defend his friend, when just as quickly as the evil energy had manifested, it disappeared. In fact the feeling Daglan had been getting from the stranger had all but subsided completely.
He stared at Daglan and Rozere with a confused look. When Rozere had eventually stopped screaming, Daglan held out his hand to help her up. Daglan’s mind raced with questions but could he do nothing but stare at the stranger as he stared back.
“Uh, hello-” he began and just then Silvas and Koshu burst through the door with Livani and Koreso close behind. Koshu sprang in between Rozere and the stranger, towering over him.
"What did you do to my daughter!" He said through gritted teeth. The stranger scratched the back of his head and opened his mouth when Rozere spoke up,
"It was nothing dad, he just woke up and scared me! Look at me I'm fine, now would you stop!" But Koshu didn't flinch, not until Silvas spoke up.
"Back off Koshu, Rozere is right, she's fine, and this boy is obviously no danger at the moment." He mumbled something under his breath but did as he was told . "Yeah, listen to Silvas and not me." Rozere grumbled, crossing her arms.
"Now listen here young lady, you will show your aunt some resp–" Koshu began but Silvas smacked him in the back of the head.
"Now isn't the time, Koshu, take her and go," she glared at the stranger, who was still smiling awkwardly and scratching the back of his head.
“Everyone out, now.”
"Uh, where am I? He eventually stammered.
"Daglan, out." Silvas said forcefully, without taking her eyes off the stranger. As well as Daglan knew Silvas, he'd never seen her this worked up, not even about the abominations . She was so strong-willed, so much more than anyone else in town. He had heard stories about Silvas, but only bits and pieces around town, probably all made up. Still there was one he heard more than others, he had heard before she lived in Graybarrow she had fought in some kind of war.
Daglan sat outside the infirmary trying to hear as much as he could. Wondering what could have gotten Silvas so worried, and if that man was even human. He could barely hear anything, mostly Silvas's mumbled questioning and the nervous laughter of the stranger. As he sat and pondered, an extremely tall, wide shouldered man sat down next to him and lit a cigarette. He had a long thick mustache that covered his upper lip but came down on the sides past his chin, and scruffy brown hair that stuck up at weird angles.
"Oh, hi Mr.Lucio." Daglan said as he pretended to have not been eavesdropping.
"I haven't seen you in class," he said as he blew out a cloud of smoke, "and I don't often see you hanging around here by choice." He continued to puff his cigarette as they sat in silence.
"Mr.Lucio… I can feel him like the abominations and Silvas's healing. What is he?"
"I'm not sure, from what I've heard he sounds human enough. What do you think?"
"I don't know… I think he's human? But why can I feel him?"
"There must be something similar between him, Silvas's healing, and the abominations from the mountains and forest, hmm?"
"I guess so…" They continued to sit in silence until Lucio had finished his cigarette.
"You can always talk to me if you need help, Daglan. You may like getting experience more, but a little book learning can go a long way." He stood up, pressing his cigarette out between his fingers and putting the butt in his pocket. "It's always good to see you, don't be a stranger." He said as he waved his hand walking away. Daglan thought about what Lucio had proposed, something similar. It didn't seem like Silvas or the stranger would be coming out soon so Daglan decided to go home and see what Rozere thought about all this.
When he did get home both Rozere and Koshu were in foul moods, having most likely fought since earlier. Deciding that he'd rather not be part of that, he grabbed his bag and scurried out the front door before Kusho had time to notice.
It's a short walk to the gate, the guards had patched up his last hole in the wall, but he had since come up with another, more thrilling way. Climbing up to the top of the traders hall, he'd be high enough to jump to the wall once the guards had passed. Then it was a quick jump down and a sprint out of their eyesight before he was able to relax. He walked along a path he knew quite well until he came up on a small ladder, it was built into a tree that led up to a small treehouse.
His exploration headquarters as he liked to call it. The inside was small and filled with trash, and his souvenirs from his adventures sat on a roughly made table. A small Salegitti skull, a broken dagger missing its tip, and a small crystal like rock that shown with faint yellow light. Next to them were three well worn books. He picked up the book titled journal and sat on the ground, scribbling furiously with a small piece of charcoal. He then began to study the other two, older, bigger books. One titled, Abominations of Hel’s Peaks, and the other, Creatures of South Shodun. Mr Lucio was right about book learning, but he liked his own books.
Back in town Rozere was wandering around with her hands behind her head, whistling to herself. “I wonder where Daglan is?” She pondered allowed, before realizing she had stopped in front of Silvas’s office. She stared at the large building with its off-white stone, and massive steel doors. There were various cracks and dents all along the wells and doors, as well as wooden planks over the windows, Silvas called them the clinic’s battlescars, there was nowhere safer to hide in the whole town.
She stared for a long time before realizing there was a man sitting in the grass, a large bottle of alcohol in one hand, and multiple empty bottles sitting neatly by his legs. His long spiky hair was a little cleaner, and the copious amounts of drool were now wiped away. His face was a bright red, and he had a cigarette hanging from his lips. He stared at her with a slight wobble,
“Hey… You're that girl that touched my sword right?” He took another large gulp from his bottle.
“Yeah? What of it?” She asked with defiance, her hands on her hips. He smiled a sickening smile and shot to his feet faster than Rozere could see.
“Why don't you try it again? Or will you simply scream for help? Little girls shouldn’t play with monsters.” He said as he towered over her. “Go ahead.” He lifted his arm in the air so his katana was unblocked. Rozere’s knees began to shake and a lump formed in her throat but she did not look away. She was an ant, and this man was a giant. She wasn't going to back down, but he could stand faster than she could see. Surely dropping his arm even faster would be no problem right? He was right, she wanted to scream, but she stood firm.
“Maybe I will!” She returned his malicious smile and reached out for his sword as fast as she could, bracing for the impact and the horrible crunch of bones as he grabbed her arm and snapped it in half. She flinched as her nerves went off, electric sensations coursing through her fingertips. It's happened! But what she felt wasn't pain, but the hard yet somehow soft grip of a katana hilt. She opened her eyes to see her hand firmly gripping his katana and a much more playful smile somehow even wider across this strange man’s face. He began to laugh loudly as she stumbled backwards and fell. He held out his hand, still giggling a little. She eyed him hard then after a moment smacked his hand away. She stood up, and began to brush herself off, glaring at him all the while. He apologized in between giggles.
“My name is Noboru, you've got quite the spirit to face me down. What's your name kid?” He asked as he sat back onto the grass and took another long swig from his bottle. Rozere straightened up and looked at him with a fiery gaze.
“Rozere of Grayborrow.” She said, crossing her arms. “And you dont scare me!”
“What are you yelling about Rozere?” Silvas asked as she appeared behind her. “You!” she exclaimed as she saw Noboru “Where did you get all of that from!? Rozere give me a hand and throw away these bottles would you?”
“She's already gone.” Noboru giggled. Silvas spun around to see that Rozere had indeed disappeared, as Noboru began to laugh louder. Rozere could hear the slap from across town as she sat against the traders hall. As she pondered just how big a lump must be on the side of Noboru's face, a ball smacked her’s.
“Hey who did that!?” She demanded as she hoped to her feat, tears forming in her eyes, which she quickly wiped away.
“Oh, sorry Rozere! I didn't mean to! Honest!” Said the boy as he ran up and grabbed his ball off the ground before the evil Rozere could kick it away, her foot swishing in the air. The boy was a few years younger than Rozere, had shaggy blonde hair, a tunic that was two sizes too big for him and a pair of round glasses broken in several spots.
“You better be sorry, pipsqueak!” she said, wiping her eyes and now running nose. “I'll have to beat you up if not!”
“Come on give Vilcus a break he said sorry. What are you doing over here by yourself anyways? Daglan run away again?” Said another girl with little blonde pigtails and red cheeks, as she came up behind Vilcus.
“Hi Meska and no he didn't run away again.” Rozere said, sticking her tongue out. “I just think he went for a walk is all… he'll be back… soon!” She crossed her arms and held her chin up. “Well why don't you come play with us until he gets back?” Meska asked, turning around and walking away, “We are playing dodgeball, maybe you can hit Vilcus in the face.”
“Hey nuh-uh! She won't hit me!” Vilcus persisted as he followed after her. Rozere sniffled, rubbed her nose with her sleeve, and smiled.
“Okay fine, but wait up!” She yelled.

As Daglan walked through the trees, he could feel the malicious energies from abominations all around him, it was making his blood boil. He remembered the stranger looking down at him and Rozere, overflowing with the most malicious intent he had ever felt. A smile began to creep across his face once more, as he could feel something close behind him. He spun around to see a creature he had only seen in books, the sight of which excited and terrified him. 

A giant humanoid creature with a long smooth snake-like torso, and grotesquely elongated arms and legs stood before him. It had a small pair of arms on its hips that bounced as if boneless, and a strange human face. Smooth indents of skin sat where the eyes should be, and it had a beak lined with razor teeth that jutted out at multiple angles. It clicked its tongue and sniffed the air then began to lick its beak with what could only be called a smile.
“What should I call you big fella?” Daglan asked nervously as excitement shot through his body. This wasn't like anything he'd ever encountered in the forest, or during attacks. This creature was much more dangerous. He gritted his teeth and forced an equally disgusting smile, even though he was sure the abomination couldn't see him. He pulled out the dagger he had smithed in secret at Koshu’s forge and dropped his stance lower, lower, lower. The creator was clicking and sniffing in anticipation, no doubt it could feel Daglan’s bloodlust.
Daglan took a slow step forward, then another. The creature's head tilted and it sniffed harder, then in a flash that Daglan couldn’t even see, it lashed out, slashing his shoulder apart. Adrenaline had already made its way to Daglan’s brain and he didn't even feel the warm blood soaking into his tunic or notice his limp arm flailing behind him as he attacked. He rolled under the creature’s arm and slashed at its ribs ripping its open sending its guts pouring out. It screamed in pain and whirled around, but its tall body and long arms whizzed over Daglan’s head. He rolled again, this time in between its legs, slashing at its knee, cutting down to the bone. It screamed again and fell to its knees with a gross squishy thud from one. It twitched and spazzed as it began twisting its body around in a disgusting manner.
Daglan approached cautiously, but the adrenaline had worn off and he looked down at his arm. It was almost completely blue, and the little skin and bone that held his arm to his body squirted copious amounts of blood. There was a blur then he was flying through the brush stopping when he thudden into a tree. His eyes began to blur with red, then black. The last thing he heard was a familiar voice...
“You are by far the most interesting of the bunch. Hey, can you hear me?”
When Deglan awoke he was looking at a ceiling he knew all too well. In a bed he had awoken in many times. But this time he couldn't move. “Silvas! What's happening?! Silvas! Rozere!” Daglan began to thrash when he heard that same voice.
“Hey hey hey! You're going to hurt yourself more than you already have!” When standing over him, blocking the light with his conical hat, was the stranger. “That was a nasty creature you were tangling with out there. I heard you like to fight but I'm guessing you've never seen a lasari before? Ugly things, and not easy to kill with small weapons if you don't know how.”
“I do know how.” Daglan said matter of factly, “They have two brains located behind the eye sockets.”
“Oh-ho-ho,” the stranger smiled maliciously, “ but how do you stop them from reproducing after that?” Daglan went silent for a moment. “What do you mean?"
“Lasari have a fun ability to reproduce from their corpse. Specifically, their heart has two eggs inside that will hatch if it ever stops beating. So to properly kill one you must burn the heart.” He laughed and presumably sat back down, out of Daglan’s eyesight. There was a slight pause and Daglan was about to speak when he heard a gasp and the stranger continued.
“Anyway, you almost lost your arm. Luckily, your doctor and blacksmith were able to fix you up, those two are something else. It'll take some time for your bo-” Daglan cut him off.
“What do you mean I almost lost my arm?! What did they do to me?!” He exclaimed, thrashing, memories of his broken and bleeding arm flashing through his mind.
“If you don't calm down, I will calm you down.” He said forcefully. “I hate babies. I thought you were supposed to be a tough kid? Now anyways it's just me and you here, everyone else is asleep, so please. I know you've heard of the metal prosthetics of this country, Metics, I think they're called? I’ve seen people in town with them. Well your blacksmith had to help your doctor make you a new shoulder.”
“So why are you being so helpful? I don't know you, and you feel the same as an abomination.” “See it's things like that!” He shot back up his face noticeably red.
“You're so interesting! I don't remember how I got here…” He scratched his head for a second, “but boy have I had fun since I've shown up!” Your girlfriend Rozere-”
“She's not my girlfriend, and you leave her alone!” He shouted.
“Well she's fearsome! And you’re so interesting too! Definitely the best five year o-”
“I’m twelve. Rozere is thirteen.”
“Well twelve then. Point is, I like you and your little girly friend, so I thought I'd help out and not let you die.” Then it dawned on Daglan, there was no way a search party found him like when he normally gets in a scap and passes. He had thoroughly lost and was deep in the woods. By all accounts he should be dead. Daglan was so angry he hadn't even thought about what happened afterwards.
“It was you. So what do you want from me? Are you some abomination loo-” This time the stranger cut him off.
“My name is Noboru, the handyman.”
“I've never heard of that species.”
“Well I'm not an abomination, I'm a jack-of-all-trades, so to speak. I travel from place to place making money doing odd jobs. Anyways, you remind me an awful lot of someone I used to know. So don't go throwing your life away against such low level trash as the abominations around here.” Daglan began to feel the intimidating malice from Noboru, almost that of when Rozere had touched his sword. “I know you can feel my energy. Unlike the people of this town, save a few, I think you're gifted.” Then it was gone just as quickly as before. “What do you want, Daglan.” Daglan’s blood was fire and his eyes daggers, piercing the ceiling with determination.
“I want to be remembered.”
“So get out of this town and maybe one day you can fight me, and I’m not even the strongest out there. Come… show this world what you're… made of because I for one… can't wait.” Just then Daglan heard a thud followed by an endless cascade of snores from Noboru.
“Would someone get me out of here!”

I am The Bard, who taught men their first magics, which to this day endure when all others have. It is written into the blood and bones of all you have built, and so I shall never die.
I did not teach you how to dream. I only taught how to tell a dream to another who you would never know.
The phone rang. Karna didn’t bother to pick it up. The message machine clicked for a moment, tape starting to turn backwards as new words were written onto it. It clicked again, stopping dead. Karna didn’t look up from his meal of leftover takeout. He finished his noodles, checked again to see if there was any shrimp left, and sighed as he threw the box at the bin. It bounced off the others already filling it up.
He sighed, rubbing his head and eyes. Healing magic could cure a hangover. It couldn’t do anything about dehydration. He needed to get up and get a drink. He went over to his cabinet and looked around for a glass. When he didn’t find a clean one, he grabbed a coffee mug instead. It was the last one. He was also out of coffee. Irritating. No matter how much of it he drank, he was still tired. It just meant he couldn’t sleep.
Sex helped, a bit, but when it didn’t, things were worse. Lying alone in his own bed, at least he could toss and turn and work his sheets into tangles trying to find some position that would let him finally fall asleep. He could slip out of bed for a nightcap, a strong one, to try and help. With another, there was nothing to do but lie there, still and silent, trying not to wake the man or woman next to him.
Trying not to think.
Impossible to sleep, then suddenly too much sleep. Blink and it was three-thirty in the afternoon. He stood at the sink, filling up the mug and draining it repeatedly. The call was probably from work. Worse, it might be his mother.
”Karna, what the fuck are you doing with your life you useless bastard. You’re not immortal, it’s all slipping away, one day, one minute at a time, and here you are doing nothing with it.” He said to himself. “Because you’re too tired to anything and still can’t sleep.” Of course, he knew why. His mind, treacherous as a serpent, betrayed him then, in the dark, in the solitude. Every wound he had suffered, every scar erased by healing magic, those were nothing. He was a paladin, the training had gotten him used to the sight of his own blood a long time ago.
”Practice for healing magic. Isn’t that what the old sister called it?” He wondered aloud. “Tch. She was kind of a bitch. Still is. I wonder if she’s calling me to yell at me too? Of course, I suppose I deserve it. I-“Then he stopped himself, and slammed the mug down, forcefully. It hit one of the plates in the sink, and it cracked. Karna swore and picked up the mess, picking the shards of metal out of his sink and throwing them in the boxes in the bin.
He sat back down in the one seat he used at his four-person table. It was covered in books, loose change, an unopened letter from some survey, a candle, a mug, miscellaneous bits of stationary, a comically large six sided die with red and black patterns, and off directly to his left a stick of deodorant and bottle of cologne. Those last two were the only things he’d used on this table in a while.
He sat back in his chair and sighed. “Yeah, you know exactly what you’re doing with your life. Nothing of any use to anyone. Well. Useless is better than detrimental, so hey, at least there’s that improvement.”
He hit the button to play back the latest message from his telephone, and picked it up, placing the receiver to his ear. At least he could listen to his messages. That would be something for the day.
”Hey, Karna. It’s Bas.” Karna’s head slumped forwards. He hadn’t expected him to be calling to call him an idiot. “I’ve tried coming by your place a couple of times to visit, seem to have missed you both times.” Or he was asleep, or drunk, or otherwise being a bad cousin. “So, I figured I’d give you a call and leave you a message. Just checking in to see how you’re doing. I know… things have been rough, for all of us, and I know you were taking things hard.” I know you’re weak. “I hope you’re doing well, and hope you understand, if you’re not, then, well, you’ve got my number, and you know where I live. Even though my apartment’s not exactly stellar.” I know you could reach out. But you won’t. You’ve been given everything, inherited power, your house, your money, and you still do nothing with it. I have nothing our society considers important, but I am still a better man than you. “Hope to talk to you soon. Adonai watch over you.”
That last bit was a bit odd. Adonai. The old invisible god, or God, as those that believed in such a thing insisted. Karna wasn’t entirely certain that this wasn’t just a clever way of disguising atheism, given that philosophy’s associations. Why in the world would Basil mention it now? As far as he knew… well he really actually didn’t know anything about Basil’s beliefs. He presumed, given his training, he was a follower of the western philosophies, which were philosophies more so than religions. They were fairly popular these days, a sort of secular spirituality, a substitute for the holes growing in Ordani religious life.
When you’ve fought and killed a god in living memory, it becomes harder to worship them. Beyond that, the old rites simply that, old rites. A series of rituals nobody really believed in anymore. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a cleric. He paused. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a cleric he hadn’t been fighting to the death with. The gods really didn’t seem to have much of a place in a modern society. It was probably arrogant, but part of the point of the gods was meant to be that they were something so much bigger than oneself, that there was nothing that could compare. They were monumental figures, but when the monuments can be torn down by mere men, was it a monument worth believing in?
It was that way then. Some people turned to the western philosophies, realizing that their religious needs, the desire for mystery, for reverence, for prayer, meditation, moral laws and sacred communities were met there, without gods. Some, Basil included, turned their gaze towards an invisible, supposedly omnipotent, God. Well, the gods were supposed to be omnipotent, but if nobody could even prove your God existed, well, then there wasn’t any fear that anyone could kill Him. And then, there was the other kind. The kind which were kind of a bad joke.
He remembered his days in the warm sun, under the abbot’s orchard in Hearthfire Abbey, amid the warm red walls, the golden light of the day filtering through the green leaves, the bright red apples highlighted against a blue sky. Quite literally simpler times. He remembered the grave beneath the tree. Senket Zarathustra. Of course, that wasn’t really where she was. She was a few miles up the road, in a chapel nobody paid any mind to, next to six other graves, two empty. How much a contrast that was, compared with what was in the abbey. Her image, glaring down from tapestry, immortalized in statuary, and everywhere revered. Saint, they called her, but what was the difference between a saint and a god, when you treated one like the other.
They had made gods for themselves, gods born of and midwives to, their own people. A god that was distant enough to be worshipped, but near enough to be known. Something understood, something relatable, and something that had bested other gods before. Gods borne of the people of godslayers, for what else could they be? Of course, every pantheon needed its devil, its fallen angel. And now here he stood, a useless bastard, but also the same kind of thing as their gods and their devil. What a bad joke.
But at the same time, a joke they had believed in. A joke he felt the obligation to make a truth. A joke he had failed to make true. Up on a pedestal, and down in the dirt. That was what paladin of Order Undivided meant now. A hero, until people had no more need of them. Good, he wasn’t even a hero in the first place.
He shook his head. It was going to be a few hours before any clubs opened. He was going back to bed until then. It didn’t do him any good to sit awake stewing.
Basil was getting worried. He’d tried paying visits and making calls, but there was no contact. He quietly sat through office hours, grading the first assignments of the year. He was starting to regret assigning an essay, particularly to his 101 class. Fortunately, it was early in the year, so he was able to work through his office hours without being further disturbed. He finished his last paper, capped the red pen, and stood up. It wasn’t that far out of his way to visit Karna again, and this time he wouldn’t be ignored.
He made his way through the city, until he came to the Red Street. It had another name, but people remembered not what was given, but what was done. Fifty years ago, the blood of black and red lions flowed, as Elsior faced down her old mentor during the height of the black rebellion. The street’s architecture was eclectic, a mix of the old buildings which had survived the battle, and newer designs built up out of the ruins left from a clash of titans.
There were alleys off the street where you could still see the gashes left in the ground by arcane blades. It was a street where history lay heavy in the mortar and the air. It was also a decently affordable neighborhood, as the old houses, while historical, were also old, small, and lacked modern amenities. He was still never going to afford any of them on a teacher’s salary, even with his stipend as a paladin. Of course, Karna would have had a bitch of a time paying for his house as well, but he had simply inherited it.
Basil shook his head, as if to throw the jealous thought out of his mind. “You’re a grey-eyed monster already. Let’s not add green to the mix.” He growled at himself, as he kept walking up to Karna’s door and knocked. No response. He sighed, looking through the door. Only two of his eyes saw the normal spectrum of light. The others varied from arcane, ultraviolet, infrared, and a curious ability to see electrical signals. The end result was an overlapping view of information, an in-depth view of the world that saw the surface and the depths of everything. It had been a bit of a rude surprise for his parents to find out their son saw their brains at the same time he saw their faces. The practical upshot of this at the moment was that he saw Karna was clearly not at home, and had left a trail of lingering celestial energy behind him.
Well, Karna or another aasimar, but they were fairly rare. Even with the increasing numbers of extraplanar citizens in the union, there weren’t many descended from angels. Basil wryly considered that it might be the former keeping out the later. Baatorites weren’t strictly speaking enemies with most angels, but the distaste between the two species was deep, ancient, and mutual. As such, there was only one trail to follow.
Basil sighed when he found the end of the trail. It was a club, and of a particular sort. He didn’t need his enhanced vision to tell that. Technically speaking, strip clubs and even prostitution were legal. Practically speaking, everyone in any of them used pseudonyms. He sighed and headed for the entrance. The bouncer at the door, a towering ogre, raised a hand. “If you’re carrying, head around to the side entrance. They’ll check your swords there. No weapons in the club.”
”Not planning on starting a fight. Just looking to meet someone.”
”Yeah, well check em anyway. We’ve had boyfriends throwing hands with one another because they were looking at the guy on stage a little too hard, we don’t want em doing it with swords. That’s the kind of domestic dispute that doesn’t just get the cops involved, it’s also a bitch to get out of the floors.”
”Well, I’ll keep that in mind.” Basil replied, and headed around the side. He stepped in, greeted by another bouncer, a dragonborn. He always found it amusing how it was always one of the larger races as a bouncer. Given their job, it made a certain degree of sense, but it occurred to him he’d never seen a gnome as a bouncer. Then again, he didn’t go to many clubs. He checked his sword in, and left a pseudonym.
The dragonborn looked down at the paper, and narrowed his eyes slightly. “What’s the T.D. stand for, Mr. Law?” He asked curiously.
Basil shrugged. “Hells if I know, it’s an alias, same as everyone else is using here. I mean, look at the guy above me on that list, when was the last time you ever met somebody actually named Flamingo?”
”The guy kinda looked like a flamingo. Aasimar type, maybe his wings are pink.” The bouncer replied.
”If he’s the person I’m thinking of, no. Let’s hope they don’t start changing.” Basil replied.
”Ah, ex-boyfriend?”
”Cousin, and why’d you assume ex?”
”The only people I’ve seen who’ve been drinking that much and going home with that many different blokes are the ones going through breakups, and you’re the only person I’ve seen go looking for him, so I know he’s not a whore.”
”Nah, just a dumbass. Thanks for the info. Here’s hoping you have a quiet night.”
”Yeah, try to keep it that way for me.”
”I’ll do my best. Believe it or not, I hate fighting.” Basil replied, and headed past the dragonborn into the club proper.
To give the club some credit, they had a pretty decent band going. A small number, playing as much with style as they did skill. That was to say, a decent if unspectacular amount. The rolling tones of the lead singer washed over an atmosphere of casual conversation and lewd humor. Basil cocked an ear at the sound. He would have sworn he’d heard the woman on the radio at least once. He watched her closely for a moment, along with the rest of the band, but didn’t recognize them. Then again, he didn’t go to many concerts.
As the double bass thrummed, the piano crooned, and the saxophone danced center stage, he made his way through smoke and other scents towards the bar. A teifling danced a lurid show in the center of the building, sweat glistening on blue skin from the lights. One of Basil’s eyes kept a lock on the man, tracing the electrical signals running under his skin to enact their sensual motions. It wasn’t exactly something he was looking to copy, but it was an interesting interplay to watch. Dancing wasn’t something often done alone, done for the show. It was interesting to compare the flow of signals of this to more traditional forms.
He kept most of his eyes forwards through. He had a job to do, and he preferred white to blue anyways. A brief thought entertained his mind of what Zeal might look like in such an outfit. He snapped it off immediately, jaw snapping shut in anger at himself. That was wrong, and a bad place to go. He couldn’t allow himself to think of her, think of anyone, that way, but especially her.
He focused himself. He had a job to do, and he was going to die alone. The only thing anyone would ever love of him would be an illusion. Any intimacy would have to be built on lies. Throw those thoughts out of his mind. They would only bring distraction, and disappointment.
He centered himself, and took a seat next to Karna, as the aasimar knocked back what was looking like probably the sixth shot tonight. How the hell was he even paying for all this? He rapped the bar twice with his knuckles. “First time here, got mezcal?” He asked.
”Mezcal coming up, though I can’t say it’s gonna be quite as good as home’s.” The barkeep replied.
”I am home, just grew up away from it.” Basil replied. For all his illusions, he always forgot to cover his chultan accent. Then again, recognizing his voice was part of the point for the man next to him.
”Basil?” Karna asked, turning slightly. “You’re straight, well, nearest to it, the fuck are you doing here?”
”Checking on you, and about to drink a theoretically decent mezcal.” Basil replied. “I’m worried about you.”
”Well fuck off, you don’t need to be.” Karna replied. “Another.” He requested. Another shot of strong absinthe filled his cup.
”Might want to slow down there hoss.” The barkeep warned. “The kind you’ve been having is a hundred thirty proof.”
”That so? Huh. Would have thought it was about a hundred twenty. Guess I’m getting better at drinking. Stands to reason, it’s all I’m good at or good for.” Karna replied, clearly about as drunk as someone on their seventh shot of one hundred thirty proof absinthe should be.
”Politely, bullshit.” Basil replied. “Though you are going to manage to be the first paladin to ever give yourself liver cirrhosis at the rate you’re going.”
”Paladin. What a bad joke.” Karna spat. “Paladins are heroes, we, we’re not fucking heroes. You got closer, and you’re, well, you. Me. I’m just a fool. So what if I ruin my liver. I’ve ruined everything else.”
Karna went for his glass, but Basil put his hand over it, stopping him. He looked his cousin in the eye, gentle, pitying, but firm. “Karna, we should go. Let’s find somewhere, a park or something, and talk.”
”We should, as in you should get your hand off my drink, and then pull that pole out of your ass. Dancer might need a spare.” Karna spat back. “I don’t need to talk, I need a damn drink.”
Basil didn’t move. “Cut the crap and calm down. You’re drunk already, and clearly not in a good place. If you’re going to be this way, at least we can do it at a safe distance from anyone else.”
”Oh fuck right off.” Karna replied. “What, am I embarrassing you? More so that I already have? I know I’m a fucking disgrace okay. I saw it with my own two eyes and can’t stop seeing it. The least you could let me do is drink myself to death in peace so I stop being a bother for all of you.”
The bartender was steadily shifting away, looking towards the bouncer who sighed and began to approach. He briefly made eye contact with Basil, who tried to give him an apologetic smile and flicked his eyes back towards Karna. The bouncer nodded. This wasn’t the first time he’d seen this.
Karna continued. “But no, you can’t do that. Can’t just let me be a failure in peace. You’re not content just being the better man than me, being better in every way but looks than me. You have to prove it, have to rub it in. I already you’re better, okay, don’t need to slam my nose in it with this stupid pity schtick.”
”When did I say anything about that? I’m the weakest member of our party!” Basil protested. “And what the hells does that have to do with any of that. You’re my cousin, my family, and beyond that my friend. You clearly need help, so of course I’m going to try and help you.”
”I don’t need help.” Karna snarled back, green eyes glinting red with a dangerous, gleaming light. “LEAST OF ALL FROM YOU!” He roared. The red light flared. Basil flinched, covering his eyes as the roar slammed into his mind and ears at the same time. He focused, piercing through the growing crimson fog.
The music kept playing, a hidden tape rolling, but the band pretending to sing had stopped. The club had gone silent, save for that. The patron’s idle gossip and chatter was muted. The bar was silent, patrons slumped over on their chairs, the bartender and bouncer were on the ground, foaming at the mouth. Karna and Basil were the only two people conscious in that building.
Karna stared in stunned silence, quiet horror at the scene. Some part of him processed exactly what he had just done, rationality quietly ticking away behind a fog of alcohol and badly managed emotional issues. It only intensified the later, a combination of terror and guilt forming into a blossoming rage. Then he saw Basil’s face, saw realization peeling back and something shifting in how he looked at him, saw a cold fury, a hatred, spreading across his face.
Basil looked himself, horrified at what had just occurred, and mind flashing to the street in front of Zeal’s home. This was the exact same scene. The same power as Alexander, but now being used instinctually. He had no idea what had actually happened to these people, if Karna had meant it or not. One thing he did know for certain. He had to stop this. If Karna was out of control there was no telling how many people could be hurt so he had to end this now.
Karna opened his mouth, but it was too late. Basil whirled, placing a palm on the bar to leverage himself from a sitting position into a whirling kick. His heel hit Karna squarely in the face, with every ounce of strength he could muster. A sucker punch, meant to be a knockout blow so he could take the aasimar down, end this spell, and get him out of here before anything else went wrong.
Karna snapped back out of his chair, it tumbled to the ground, and the back of his head hit the floor hard. His headache roared, but he rolled over coming back up to his feet, coming to a ready stance. He might have been depressed and drunk, but he was still a paladin, better trained than most and tougher than pretty much everybody. It was going to take more than that to knock him out.
Basil kicked him squarely in the nuts.
Karna doubled over in pain, and Basil kicked him in the face again. Basil had trained under paladins and monks alike. His skill with his own limbs was on par with his swordsmanship. His training under the paladins in the tradition of Jort made him an expert at sneak attacks, sucker punches, and practical, dirty fighting. In other words, he was effectively an expert at kicking people in the nuts. He went for a chop to the throat, trying to finish the fight right then and there.
Karna caught his hand, and broke it by squeezing his fingers. He looked up, bloody eyed and berserk. “Ah. Fuck.” Basil swore. Then Karna threw him. Basil went flying, arm broken, and hit the wall shelves, covered in a hundred forms of expensive booze. The impact shattered his collar bone, and he kept going until he hit the solid wall on the other side of the bar. He landed hard on his face, shirt torn to ribbons and bleeding freely.
His hand and shoulder reset themselves, and shirt tore entirely as he burst his extra limbs out of it, and slammed them down to pick himself up. He drew in a breath, and Karna threw a chair at him. Basil dodged upwards, onto the ceiling as the chair smashed a hole in the wall behind him. He rushed his cousin, gathering shards of broken glass with his spare limbs and a bottle into either hand. He flung the glass before him, forcing Karna to cover his face. Then he hit him on top of the head with both bottles, dropped them, and hit him on both sides of the throat with a chop.
Karna struggled to breathe, nearly blacking out from the impact, and but threw a wild, blind punch. Basil evaded most of hit, but even a glancing hit was enough to send him flying. He caught his momentum on a support pillar, swinging around it with his tendrils. His ankle hit the side of a table and shattered. He wheezed in pain, falling to a knee on top of the table to mend it.
Karna roared and charged like a bull, giving Basil scant time. He palmed a lighter from one of the unconscious men lying next to him, and jumped clear. Karna smashed the table into splinters beneath his fists, tearing skin and breaking bone, but healing them just as quickly as he damaged them. Basil flicked the lighter open, and threw it. The expensive alcohol covering Karna caught light, stunning and blinding him as Basil set him ablaze!
He hit the flaming angel with everything he had before the fire burned away. Fists, feet, elbows, knees, tendrils. A devastating combination of every move he knew to put a man on the ground flew out of him. He hadn’t really trained to get into a bar fight, but damn if it wasn’t coming in handy. He finished with a powerful drop kick in the aasimar’s solar plexus, sending him staggering back against the bar, breath torn from his lungs.
Basil breathed heavily, as his cousin slumped, then swore as Karna got his feet under him, and pulled his head up still more than ready to go. He swore louder as Karna gripped the sides of the bar, and tore the granite countertop off of it, swinging it at Basil like an improvised weapon.
Basil leapt, running along the side of the countertop as it smashed through everything it came across. Fortunately, it was swung high, missing the unconscious clubgoers, and shattered when it hit a load bearing column, though that cracked ominously. Basil landed on his cousin, spines biting into him and wrapping around bones to anchor the assassin. He’d seen a similar technique used by velociraptors when they hunted, using their massive claws to hook onto larger dinosaurs. Once attached, the smaller reptiles would begin to eat their prey alive. He wasn’t planning on biting Karna though, instead he raised up his boot and began to stomp his cousin’s face, over and over and over again, desperately trying to bring the berserk paladin down before he brought down the building!
Karna flared his wings and soared upwards, slamming both himself and Basil into the ceiling. Basil fell off, and Karna grabbed him by the face. He slammed them both down into the floor, smashing Basil’s head into the ground once, twice, three times, then threw him with enough force to scatter blood across the entire club and snap the assassin’s neck. He watched as Basil hit the pole the dancer had been, ahem, performing with, and his illusion vanished.
Horror overtook him as he saw Basil’s true form break in two, snaped apart by the force of the impact, and fall like so much meat onto the stage. He rushed forwards, hands shaking as he realized what he’d just done. He reached for Basil’s head, bloodied and broken. But his hands went through him. His emotional pain was then matched by physical pain, as he felt a steel stripper pole strike him directly between the legs.
Basil didn’t let up, as he dropped the illusion and his invisibility, and beat his cousin into the ground with the broken pole. He went for joints, broke ribs, hit below the belt with every opportunity and he did not stop. He didn’t know what it was going to take to put Karna down but he did know that if Karna got back up, he was actually going to die. It was nothing but the good fortune of his unusual anatomy that had kept him breathing with a broken neck, and his healing magic to allow him to ever get up again. He wasn’t going to get another chance, and so he beat down his cousin until the pole was bent beyond all recognition and the stage was slick with golden blood.
When he finally stopped, Karna was finally, mercifully, down. Basil knelt by his side, mending him enough to make sure he could be moved safely, though not enough to bring him back into consciousness. The patrons were beginning to stir to consciousness. With a grunt, he picked up his friend, hoisting him over his shoulder, and covered both of them with a spell of invisibility.
Slowly, shakily, he retrieved his and Karna’s weapons, erased both their names from the registry, and slipped away as people began to regain consciousness and the police arrived. Then, he began the slow, tired business of carrying Karna back to his house. He grumbled as he went. “You are far too skinny to be this heavy, and put up way too much of a fight for me to need the extra weight of lugging your ass out of here. You stupid overpowered twink.”
Karna woke up with a splitting headache, and a slightly less splitting everything-else-ache. Paladin healing factors worked wonders, but if you took a beating that was going to make you ache for a week, you were going to ache for a week. He remembered what happened, and started to wish he didn’t. “Oh fuck. I nearly killed Bas. And… yeah, the rest of the club. I’m not going to be allowed back there.”
He rolled off his couch and got a drink, of water this time. He looked at his liquor cabinet, walked over, opened it, and grabbed a bottle. He emptied it into the sink. Then he emptied the rest. He looked down at the drain, drew in a deep breath, and focused himself. “I need to apologize. I need to talk. I need help. And I need to get my life back on track.” He resolved. “I can’t let that happen again.”
He clenched his fists, and opened them again, hands still shaking. There was a knock at the door. His first thought was that it might be Basil checking on him. The next though was that it was the police. His third thought was that it was Basil, and the police. Well, either way. Apologies would be made, he might just also need to call a really, really good lawyer, and probably a bank to take out a loan to pay all that property damage.
He opened it, and saw another aasimar looking back at him.
”Hello Karna.” Alexander replied. “I heard you had something of a rough night, powers going out of control, a rather ugly bar fight, that sort of thing?”
”Yes. How long am I going to be in jail for?” Karna asked.
”Not at all, I’ve covered the damages and fortunately, nobody has any memory of last evening. Dominion Flare has that useful side effect.”
”Dominion Flare? What I did has a name?”
”Of course. It is your inheritance after all.” Alexander mused. “Though, you might be the first one to awaken it while drunk, though you’re not the first to cause some degree of damage with it. These things happen, it simply requires training.” He looked Karna squarely in the eye. “And beyond that, I strongly suspect you may be looking for some help getting yourself back on track.”

Ko-fi
They stood at the mouth of a deep cave. Three men, one wielding a sword, the other an axe and the last man with a strung bow hanging over his shoulder and a quiver of arrows fixed to his back..
"Now what?" Sam the axe wielder asked, he was the son of a blacksmith, up until that morning he'd been focusing on taking up his father's trade, that was until Jim the baker's son had walked into the town square brandishing a long sword and declared that he was going to slay the dragon that had swooped down one Sunday afternoon and flown away with Beatrice the grain merchant's daughter in its talons. Normally dragon slayers didn't pronounce their intentions loudly at town squares for all to hear. They just went about the business of killing dragons without making a show of it but Jim had been loud. He'd even knelt down and wept at one point when he commemorated how much he'd loved Beatrice which was a coincidence because Sam had also loved Beatrice. Hence why he volunteered to accompany Jim on the dragon slaying mission.
It had come as a surprise when Thomas the Gardener's son had volunteered for the mission as well. When asked why he'd stepped up he'd answered. "Beatrice owes me three silver pence." Apparently he'd loaned Beatrice some money or something along those lines before the dragon had carried her away and he wanted it back on the off chance that she was still alive. He was willing to risk his life and rescue her so that she would pay him back.
"I'm going to be honest with you guys, I have no idea how to go about slaying a dragon." Jim said with his sword's edge resting on his shoulder. "But together I'm certain we can achieve this feat." They all nodded.
Thomas pondered as to how exactly they were going to accomplish the feat as they stood outside the dragon's lair, he was a sucker for details so he asked. "How exactly are we going to kill the dragon?"
"I'm certain if we stick something into it enough times it'll die." Sam said to which Jim nodded.
"Yeah, we just look for a vulnerable spot and stab it there." Jim said.
"But doesn't it have hard scales covering its entire body?" Thomas asked.
"I'm certain its testicles don't have a coat of scales covering them." Jim said.
"Yeah but, does it even have testicles, what if its a female dragon?"
"Why would a female dragon carry away Beatrice? Everyone knows only male dragons carry away virgins to their lair so they can eat them." Jim answered.
"But Beatrice wasn't a virgin." Sam said comfortably.
"What do you mean she wasn't a virgin? She was a fair maiden who loved only me and had vowed that I shall have her hand in marriage and that I will one day share her bed." Jim said. Irritated with having to defend Beatrice's dignity.
"She definitely wasn't a virgin because I used to have sex with her." Sam said.
Jim turned fully to face Sam. "What do you mean? I was the last to hang out with Beatrice on Saturday behind the church meadow where she'd let me cup her breast, her left breast, and vowed to me that I was the only man to ever touch her ample bossom."
"She must have lied to you, she let me touch her breasts every time, and even lick them while having sex." Sam said.
Jim balled one hand into a fist, becoming furious. "She was a virgin, my darling would never have had relations with the likes of you."
Sam turned fully to face Jim and swung his axe to rest on his shoulder by its haft. "I used to meet with her at the meadow every time to have sex. Though not on Fridays, Fridays were for Terrance the Beekeeper's son to have sex with her."
Jim turned to Thomas for help. "Thomas, tell this fool what an upstanding woman Beatrice was."
Thomas nodded. "Beatrice was an upstanding woman, she was the best whore our small town had." He nodded at his last statement and raised his eyes to the cave, trying to peer within.
"What do you mean whore?" Jim asked. Now turning to face Thomas.
"Why do you think she's owed my three silver pence? She charged me a dime for a fondle in the bushes but she didn't have change for a gold crown hence why she's owed three silver pence." Thomas said. "She wasn't a virgin." He added. "But that doesn't change the fact that she needs rescuing."
"Now you listen here you root digger's sorry excuse for a son." Sam started. "Beatrice wasn't a whore, she was just adventures in carnal matters and that's all."
"Why then did she charge me to fondle her in the bushes?" Thomas asked. "She also charged Michael, the Jeweler's son and Martin the barkeep's son. We still have to rescue her though, I need my three silver pence."
Jim's blood was boiling at this point, he couldn't believe the words he was hearing and with every passing moment the grip on his sword tightened.
"Why then didn't she charge me for our fondling in the meadow if she was a whore?"Sam asked.
"Maybe she fancied you." Thomas said to which Sam gave a satisfactory nod and smiled.
"You know what? Fuck this." Jim said and flung his sword away. "Fuck this nonsense, I'm out." He turned around and started making his way downhill.
"But we have to save Beatrice?" Thomas called to his retreating back.
"Well fuck you and fuck that cheating whore Beatrice. Can't believe I saved myself for her, even curved out our initials onto the tree in the meadow." Jim said.
"Yeah I always used to wonder who 'J and B' were as I shagged Beatrice beneath that tree." Sam said.
Jim turned around and flashed his middle fingers at the pair, he then turned and continued on his journey away from the cave.
"Should we go and save Beatrice on our own?" Thomas asked. "I really need that three silver pence."
Sam shook his head from side to side. "Naaah this quest has lost its luster." And he turned around and followed Jim. After a moment of retrospect Thomas cursed at his loss and followed.

ALMOST DONE COLLECTING MY PLAYSET COLLECTION BUT STILL ONLY LOOKING FOR TRADES FROM MY WANT LIST OR PAYPAL! If you link binders and ask if I see anything I'll probably look but may not respond. Apologies for any delayed responses, I work long hours and might be a minute to get back to you.

Pricing

As far as prices go I will be using TCGPlayer cheapest verified available for trade value if possible and eBay recently sold if not. I will consider discounts for direct sale. Please account for their shipping as well when using TCGPlayer, a card selling for $1.00 with $2.99 shipping is effectively $3.99. I'll offer you the price for G&S or a discounted F&F price, you are free to choose whichever you like. I have quite a few references, so if you would like to save a few dollars I hope that helps to ease your mind about using F&F.
I will buy any card on my list at 80% TCGPlayer value, however many you have, it doesn't matter.

Trade Binder (Booster Box prices on pictures)

TRADE BINDER w/ TIMESTAMPS
WOTC Closeups 1 / WOTC Closeups 2 / WOTC Closeups 3
BW FA Closeups 1 / BW FA Closeups 2 / BW FA Closeups 3
Some of the cards in closeups might be traded, check main binder for updates.
World's 2017 Merch and Misc Stuff
PSA Cards Would prefer to trade these for some of my PSA 10 wants on my list but will sell for the right price.

Wants List

THIS LIST IS FOR RAW CARDS

Set Number	Card Name	Rarity	Quantity
Dark Explorers
111/108	Pokemon Catcher	Secret Rare	1
Team Up
174/181	Erika's Hospitality	Full Art	1
Unified Minds
235/236	Misty's Favor	Full Art	3
Cosmic Eclipse
228/236	Cynthia & Caitlin	Full Art	2
230/236	Lillie's Full Force	Full Art	3
234/236	Red & Blue	Full Art	2
236/236	Rosa	Full Art	3
SWSH Promos
SWSH251	Boss's Orders (Cyrus)	Full Art	4
Sword & Shield Base
200/202	Marnie	Full Art	MANY
Rebel Clash
192/192	Sonia	Full Art	MANY
Vivid Volage
180/185	Bea	Full Art	MANY
183/185	Nessa	Full Art	MANY
Battle Styles
159/163	Cheryl	Full Art	MANY
161/163	Phoebe	Full Art	MANY
Chilling Reign
189/198	Caitlin	Full Art	MANY
190/198	Doctor	Full Art	MANY
195/198	Melony	Full Art	MANY
196/198	Peonia	Full Art	MANY
Brilliant Stars
TG26/TG30	Gloria	Full Art	MANY
Astral Radiance
186/189	Irida	Full Art	MANY
188/189	Roxanne	Full Art	MANY
Lost Origin
196/196	Volo	Full Art	3
Silver Tempest
189/195	Candice	Full Art	MANY
193/195	Serena	Full Art	MANY
TG23/TG30	Friends in Galar	Full Art	MANY
TG26/TG30	Professor Burnet	Full Art	MANY
Crown Zenith
147/159	Elesa's Sparkle	Full Art	MANY
148/159	Friends in Hisui	Full Art	MANY
149/159	Friends in Sinnoh	Full Art	MANY
150/159	Professor's Research (Rowan)	Full Art	4
GG59/GG70	Colress's Experiment	Full Art	MANY
GG60/GG70	Cynthia's Ambition	Full Art	MANY
GG61/GG70	Gardenia's Vigor	Full Art	MANY
GG64/GG70	Melony	Full Art	MANY
GG66/GG70	Roxanne	Full Art	MANY

THIS LIST IS FOR PSA 10

Set Number	Card Name	Rarity	Quantity
PSA 10	PSA 10 GRADED CARDS	PSA 10	PSA 10
Team Up
161/181	Magikarp & Wailord GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
165/181	Gengar & Mimikyu GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
170/181	Latias & Latios GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
Unbroken Bonds
197/214	Muk & Alolan Muk GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
199/214	Marshadow & Machamp GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
201/214	Greninja & Zoroark GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
205/214	Gardevoir & Sylveon GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
Unified Minds
215/236	Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
218/236	Slowpoke & Psyduck GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
221/236	Raichu & Alolan Raichu GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
226/236	Mega Sableye & Tyranitar GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
Cosmic Eclipse
143a/236	Togepi & Cleffa & Igglybuff (Alt)	PSA 10	1
215/236	Blastoise & Piplup GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
224/236	Naganadel & Guzzlord GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
226/236	Mega Lopunny & Jigglypuff GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
Shining Legends
78/73	Mewtwo GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SM Promos
SM167	Celebi & Venusaur GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SM168	Pikachu & Zekrom GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SM169	Eevee & Snorlax GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SM191	Mewtwo & Mew GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SM192	Lucario & Melmetal GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SM193	Garchomp & Giratina GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SM201	Reshiram & Charizard GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SM210	Moltres & Zapdos & Articuno GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SM229	Venusaur & Snivy GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SM230	Charizard & Braixen GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SM233	Eevee GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SM240	Espeon & Deoxys GX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SWSH Promos
SWSH179	Flareon V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SWSH180	Flareon VMAX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SWSH181	Vaporeon V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
SWSH183	Jolteon V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
Pokemon GO
72/78	Mewtwo V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
Chilling Reign
166/198	Zeraora V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
170/198	Galarian Articuno V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
174/198	Galarian Zapdos V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
177/198	Galarian Moltres V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
185/198	Tornadus V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
201/198	Blaziken VMAX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
Evolving Skies
167/203	Leafeon V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
175/203	Glaceon V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
180/203	Espeon V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
184/203	Sylveon V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
189/203	Umbreon V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
192/203	Dragonite V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
194/203	Rayquaza V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
205/203	Leafeon VMAX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
209/203	Glaceon VMAX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
212/203	Sylveon VMAX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
215/203	Umbreon VMAX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
Fusion Strike
245/264	Celebi V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
251/264	Mew V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
255/264	Genesect V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
269/264	Mew VMAX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
270/264	Espeon VMAX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
271/264	Gengar VMAX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
Brilliant Stars
166/172	Arceus V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
TG1/TG30	Flareon (Gallery)	PSA 10	1
TG2/TG30	Vaporeon (Gallery)	PSA 10	1
TG4/TG30	Jolteon (Gallery)	PSA 10	1
TG14/TG30	Sylveon V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
TG15/TG30	Sylveon VMAX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
TG16/TG30	Mimikyu V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
TG17/TG30	Mimikyu VMAX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
TG22/TG30	Umbreon V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
TG23/TG30	Umbreon VMAX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
Astral Radiance
167/189	Origin Forme Palkia V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
172/189	Machamp V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
177/189	Origin Forme Dialga V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
TG7/TG30	Falinks (Gallery)	PSA 10	1
TG13/TG30	Starmie V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
TG23/TG30	Garchomp V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
Lost Origin
TG16/TG30	Pikachu V (Alt)	PSA 10	1
TG17/TG30	Pikachu VMAX (Alt)	PSA 10	1
TG30/TG30	Mew VMAX (Gold)	PSA 10	1
Silver Tempest
177/195	Unown V	PSA 10	1
184/195	Regidrago V	PSA 10	1
186/195	Lugia V	PSA 10	1
TG13/TG30	Serperior V (Gallery)	PSA 10	1
TG14/TG30	Blaziken V (Gallery)	PSA 10	1
TG15/TG30	Blaziken VMAX (Gallery)	PSA 10	1
TG16/TG30	Zeraora V (Gallery)	PSA 10	1
TG20/TG30	Rayquaza VMAX (Gallery)	PSA 10	1
Crown Zenith
160/159	Pikachu (Secret Rare)	PSA 10	1
GG35/GG70	Leafeon VSTAR	PSA 10	1
GG36/GG70	Entei V	PSA 10	1
GG37/GG70	Simisear VSTAR	PSA 10	1
GG38/GG70	Suicune V	PSA 10	1
GG40/GG70	Glaceon VSTAR	PSA 10	1
GG41/GG70	Raikou V	PSA 10	1
GG42/GG70	Zeraora VMAX	PSA 10	1
GG43/GG70	Zeraora VSTAR	PSA 10	1
GG44/GG70	Mewtwo VSTAR	PSA 10	1
GG45/GG70	Deoxys VMAX	PSA 10	1
GG46/GG70	Deoxys VSTAR	PSA 10	1
GG48/GG70	Zacian V	PSA 10	1
GG50/GG70	Darkrai VSTAR	PSA 10	1
GG53/GG70	Hoopa V	PSA 10	1
GG54/GG70	Zamazenta V	PSA 10	1
GG55/GG70	Regigigas VSTAR	PSA 10	1
GG56/GG70	Hisuian Zoroark VSTAR	PSA 10	1
GG67/GG70	Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR	PSA 10	1
GG68/GG70	Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR	PSA 10	1
GG69/GG70	Giratina VSTAR	PSA 10	1
GG70/GG70	Arceus VSTAR	PSA 10	1

Personal Collection (NOT FOR TRADE OR SALE)

These are my playset binders and personal collection that isn't for trade or sale. I have filled in a few since taking these but it's mostly accurate. If you have something I'm missing let me know, I probably want it! Also if you have a PSA 10 1st ED Dark Magneton, I really want one of those.
Supporters 97.5% Complete
Items 100% Complete
Energy 100% Complete
Reverse Holo Trainers
Old Decks
PSA
Sealed

^{^} NOT FOR TRADE OR SALE ^{^}

As stated this big tree in my sister’s neighbor’s yard seems close to falling (at least half of it) with the potential to fall on her bedroom. Looking for advice on how to handle it. They’ve gotten quotes from a few arborists, saying it would need a massive crane to be taken care of and cost them or the neighbor between 7-10k to be removed.
It appears to be rotting/splitting right down the center of the base. They can see almost a foot into the trunk of the tree at the split. Neighbor also doesn’t want to pay 10 grand to take care of it.
Sister’s house is to the left of tree. Seems like the right half of the tree might give first, but can anyone make an educated guess on if the left side( threatening sister’s house) would fall as well? Or how we could make a more educated guess/decision?
Really, really would appreciate any feedback! Even if it means they need to get a loan to take care of it. Love my sister and her family so much and would hate for this to wreck their home/lives. Let me know if more/different photos would help.

"Daddy, are you ready?"
I hear the son's voice call out to me from up the stairs in his bedroom where I left him, probably still with his head in the corner counting like I had told him to.
"Not yet, count one more hundred and then come find me!" I call back, trying to manufacture as much glee and enthusiasm into my tired and emotionless voice as I can. The son has to think I'm having fun, he has to think I'm playing along for this to work.
But I'm not playing, and fun is the furthest thing from my mind as I cross the last few steps to the front door, squeezing between the wall and the couch that was put in front of it to serve as a barricade. The son had almost two more minutes before he would start to look for me, and having finally been given this chance to play hide and seek after days of asking the son, I couldn't waste this opportunity.
My trembling hand reaches into my pocket for the key I had stolen from his bedroom two nights ago, grabbing it from its hiding place under his stuffed bear while he slept soundly. My other hand tightens its grip on my father's old revolver that I had just loaded before coming downstairs, the one he had given to me as an old wedding present in a life that seemed so far distant from me now. As I bring the key up to the padlock, I quietly count down in my mind how much time I have left. Eighty one, eighty, seventy-nine… I could make it. I had to make it.
But the key doesn't fit. A flood of sudden panic makes my stomach churn as I fumble with the lock, trying desperately to get the small silver key to fit into the padlock that was the only thing separating my nightmare from the outside world, but it refuses to fit. It was the same key I had used to lock it for the last time all those months ago, I was sure of it, but he had done something to it. After all this time, all this effort, all this hope, it was all for nothing.
As my heart now races so fast I start to worry that it'll make a noise, I briefly wonder if shooting the lock could work. Could I get out in time before he hears and gets down here? Could I run fast enough that I could leave him behind? The room feels cold and my mouth goes dry as the counting in my head keeps going as all other thoughts spiral out of control. Fifty-six, fifty five, fifty four. I could do it. I had time, I could still blow that lock clean off the door and leave this whole fucking place behind me. But that still wouldn't get me out, would it? There was always only one way to escape, only one key to freedom, and it was in my other hand all along.
I try not to think about the things I'll be leaving behind as I bring the gun up to my head. I try not to think about the pain it will cause, the instant of suffering I'll experience before I'll finally be able to silence my regrets forever. There are so many that haunt me. Choices I should have made differently. People I should have loved far more. Other lives I could have lived, should have lived. And that one choice, that fateful choice that caused everything to burn as the son came into my life. Now, they're all about to be silenced by doing what I should have done months ago.
"Daddy?"
I hear the son's voice call out to me from my study's doorway, and my hand freezes midway to my temple. I can hear the metal parts rattling together as the gun shakes in my trembling hands, as the sickening warmth of the heater vent next to me causes a bead of sweat to drip down my forehead, as my eyes open to see the son standing in front of me, illuminated by the streetlights outside my window. The shadows play off his face, and in this light, he looks almost like some sort of twisted monster. It's like his real nature is being pulled through by the light.
"Daddy, what are you doing?" he asks again, his head tilted in a confused, almost scared expression. He could have never understood, could he? He wasn't capable of it. Not anymore. And I can't meet his eyes. I can't look at him anymore with that same fake love I had shown for months, and in that moment, I knew it couldn't go on like this.
"I'm sorry, son," I manage to whisper, fighting the angry tears welling up in my eyes. My father had always told me, 'Real men never cried', and I wouldn't now. No matter how much I felt rushing roar of anger,, no matter how much this would hurt, I wouldn't cry.
"I'm sorry."
I pull the trigger. The hammer clicks in response, but nothing happens. I try to swallow past the lump quickly forming in my throat as I frantically open the chamber, trying to see if something had jammed, trying to understand what the hell had gone wrong, but the chamber was completely empty. There were no bullets.
"You weren't trying to leave me, were you daddy?"
I don't want to, but I look up from the floor. I see the son standing over me now, his previous expression replaced now with one of a chillingly calm smile, his teeth caked with old blood. His eyes shine with that twisted glimmer of anger that he had when he killed her, and in his outstretched hand were the bullets I had loaded only minutes before while he was still counting down in his room. How the fuck could he do that?
"You weren't trying to leave me like mommy did, were you?" he asks again, but now, his voice is completely deadpan. There is no anger, no sadness, no emotion. I knew I had failed for good.
"No, son, no," I stammer, giving him the false smile that he wanted. "I'd never leave you, never! You should have stayed in the room counting down, I was almost ready for you to find me and-"
I break off as one of the bullets leaps from his hand at dizzying speed and rushes towards me, as if thrown, although his palm had remained outstretched. In a split second I think that he's finally going to grant me release, but the bullet stops at my neck, pushing into the skin just enough to draw blood and a wince.
"Are you sure, daddy?" he asks, his voice still calm, but holding a challenge. Daring me to tell him what he's afraid to hear.
"N.. never," I whisper, as I shut my eyes in humiliated, submitted defeat.
"Good! Now come read me a bedtime story, I've already said goodnight to mommy." The bullet dropped from my neck to the floor and he was smiling now, and I knew I should be thankful that I wasn't being tormented more, but that terrifying spark of something dark was still in his eyes. It was always shining, always hungry, and I didn't know how much longer I could outrun it.
I left the gun on the desk as I walked out behind him as he led me upstairs to his room. The hallway was dark, like it always was, but my wife's room was still lit up. I tried not to look as we walked past, but it was impossible not to notice. It was impossible for the stench not to clog up my lungs, so rotten and heavy I could almost taste it. It was impossible not to turn my head as we walked past. It was impossible not to notice her bloodied, rotten body stretched out on those once-white sheets, the body still swarming with insects and worms that were finishing what the son had started so long ago. It had been four months, and he still wouldn't let me bury her.
Every time I pass by her room, I'm haunted by the reminders that I caused this. Every time I catch a glimpse of her decomposing face, I'm reminded of her smile the day we went to pick our child to adopt. Every time I hear the haunting silence as I pass her room, I hear my own words from all those years ago playing over and over in my mind, burrowing their way through my brain and unable to escape me: "What about that boy, Anna?"
When we reached his room, with its pastel blue paint and warm nightlight glowing in the corner, I tried not to think too much about that regret, but it was impossible. It was impossible as I stepped over the half eaten corpse of the last old coworker who had stopped by to check on me and I had lured inside for the son, the one whose screams had kept me awake all night as he fed. It was impossible as I tucked the son in under his soft, warm covers. It was impossible as I looked at the face that I had welcomed into our family with open arms, and the monster that hid behind it. It was impossible as I sat down next to him, a captive to the evil that I had invited in, with no more chance of ever getting free. A pawn in its control, blood on his teeth like the blood on my hands for being his own fucking monster too.
"What story do you want tonight, son?" I asked him, my voice hollow.
"The same one, daddy," said the monster that hid itself as a child. "You know how much I like it."
'Real men don't cry', that's what my father told me all those years ago. But as I opened up that old storybook, as his eyes burrowed into my mind as I flipped through the pages, as I saw the story that I had written seven years ago when my son was first adopted as a baby, so small and innocent, I felt the warm trails of burning tears cutting their way down my cheeks. My breathing heaved, and I sobbed as I read out those familiar words, once my joy, now my curse.
"One day, there lived a father, and a mother, and their son. They had a perfect little life, and they knew they'd never want it any other way. They wished that their happy life could last forever, just the way it was."
"Don't worry, daddy," the son whispered back. "I'll make sure we last this way forever."

Back again with my pile of funky little builds for people who want something different on their board.
These pedals are built on vero or point to point, many in upcycled tins, a few in hammond boxes. They all run on standard 9v pedal power.
I have valued them in 4 tiers:

• D tier are my trashy cheapies, made from reclaimed components. I don't feel right asking a lot for reclaimed components. I value them in the $40 - $50 range, not really picky about what I trade for.
• C tier are the cheapies made with new components. I value these in the $50 - $60 range, not very picky here either.
• B tier I will trade for pedals in the $65-$90 value range, depending on the complexity of the build. A little pickier.
• A tier are my favorite or most complex builds. I will be picky about trades for these. (But still not Boutique prices; I have no delusions). It's probably less about value here and more about how much I actually want the thing you have. Think in the $90 - $150 range.

I have prices for most of these listed here if you want to buy.
MOBILE USERS: There are 4 columns in the table below: Name, Tier, Links, and Notes. If you don't see all 4, scroll over or ask for more info.
Drives, Distortions, and Boosts

Name	Tier	Links	Notes
Delfterential Distortion	A	PIC Demo	Willmott Differential Distortion with an added tone control; knobs are Gain, Bias, Bass Cut, Tone, and Volume. Housed in an antique Delft-style tin. Has a big ampy sound to it, can get pretty crunchy and fuzzy.
Shining Hope Drive	B	PIC Demo	Differential mirroring drive, gives a kind of overdriven-mixer-channel distortion. Controls for gain, tone, and volume. Housed in a star-shaped Christmas tin.
PoormansSans amp sim	B	PIC DEMO	This is an all-in-one amp & speaker sim prototype in a small square tin. The preamp is custom designed, based loosely on a DOD 250 but with many changes. Soft clipping can be toggled on or off. The speaker sim is a 4x12 simulator designed by TruVAL. Controls for treble, bass, gain, volume, nd clipper toggle. No stomp on this one, it's always on.
Bright-on	C	PIC	MOSFET bright boost with loads of gain and adjustable bass cut. Built in point-to-point fashion and housed in a reinforced heart-shaped tin.
Phoenix Drive	C	PIC Demo	EasyDrive-type circuit with a symmetry knob. Sounds a little muffy on the symmetric side, more crunchy on the other.
Green Sparkler Boost	D	PIC	Just an Escobedo Duende JFET boost built point-to-point in a sparkly little round tin. Gives a little gain and a bit of warmth to the tone.
Christmas Goose Boost	D	PIC DEMO	Point-to-point build of Brian May treble booster made with old clock radio parts. In a little goose tin.

Fuzzes

Name	Tier	Links	Notes
Copper Top Harmonic Plonkulator	A	PIC DEMO	The "harmonic plonkulator" is a two-stage fuzz based on a harmonic percolator mashed up with a bazz fuss going into an octave fuzz. Lots of weird fuzz tones available from this one, it has controls for A and B gain (kind of acts like Fuzz and Bias), Tone (which is between the two fuzz stages) and an octave switch that changes the second fuzz stage from a non-octave to octave fuzz. Housed in a 125B with top jacks.
Vulpine Deluxx Timbre Contraption	A	PIC DEMO	My perversion of a Foxx Tone Machine, with a pot to dial in the octave and a battery drain simulator for nastier tones. Has a mid scoop switch for the Tone knob giving you muff-like sounds. In a 125B with top jacks.
Sparkly Sili-Face	A	PIC DEMO	Runoffgroove Siliface II, a wonderful silicon fuzzface implementation, built point-to-point style and housed in a sparkly 125B with top jacks. Controls for Bias and Volume, gain is always cranked on this. Bias goes from full, rich fuzz to choppy gated fuzz nicely.
OogieBoogie Scarecrow Fuzz	B	PIC Demo	Jordan Bosstone-based fuzz with controls for input gain, battery drain, and volume, as well as a switch to toggle between LED and Schottkey clippers. Capable of some truly horrific noises as well as stock fuzz sounds. Housed in a reinforced tin.
Creature from the planet Chyowngg	B	PIC Demo	Prototype of a unique fuzz I've been developing that I call the Chyowngg fuzz. It's a 2-stage octaver that gives a bright synthy tone with a distinctive envelope (hence the name). You can toggle each stage from octave to non-octave mode for a variety of interesting timbres. Also has a tone control, but the tone control is before the octave stages so it results in interesting behaviors depending on the switch settings. It's in a tin meant to be painted like an alien, though some say it looks more like a triceratops.
Lizard Monster of the Planet Chyowngg	B	PIC DEMO	This is like the "Creature from the planet Chyowngg" except it also has a glitchy sub-octave tone that you can blend in for some truly monstrous tones. Housed in a painted tin.
Happy ChrizzMuss Tree Fuzz	C	PIC Demo	Another gated double-bazz-fuss type fuzz, this one features a bias knob for adjusting the bias of the first stage and a bass boost switch. Housed in a Christmas tree tin.
Avenger's fuzz	C	PIC DEMO	Another harmonic fussulator (Bazz-fussified harmonic percolator) built into a little avenger's puzzle tin. Knobs control gain and volume, switch toggles "Hulk Smash" mode.
Pup Power fuzz	D	PIC DEMO	A trashy perversion of a harmonic percolator circuit, built point-to-point from recycled components. Housed in a painted paw patrol puzzle tin.
Stripedy Trashtone Fuzz	D	PIC Demo	A point-to-point perversion of a Jordan Bosstone housed in a bandaid tin. Only volume control here.

Non-Dirt

Name	Tier	Links	Notes
Splatter Funk envelope filter	A	PIC DEMO of identical circuit	Quackmire envelope filter with added knobs for attack and drive, as well as a smoothing switch. In a 125B with top jacks.
Koozebanian Spoobletron	A	PIC Demo	Not exactly a vibe, not exactly a phaser, not exactly a tremolo, but kind of all of them or thereabouts. Knobs control speed and depth, the switch goes from vibe-ish mode to phaser-ish mode. Housed in a hand-painted 1590b box, side jacks
Oh the flubbles you'll Wubble	B	PIC DEMO	Kind of a vibe, kind of a phase, but also a ring mod if you want it to be. This is an evolution of my spoobletron circuit. Controls for Rate, Depth, and Waveshape; switches for vibe/phase and ringmod mode. Housed in a giant oval tin that probably won't sit nicely on your pedal board. Read the full story here
Shay-key-tay-tur	B	PIC Demo	Simple colorsound Tremolo with knobs for rate and depths. Gives a pretty classic amp tremolo sound. Housed in a Mr Potato Head tin.

Little Amps

Name	Links	Description
Ample iMank	PICS	This is a Runoffgroove Ruby Amplifier built into this old multimedia speaker enclosure designed to look like an old iMac. Glows blue when you turn it on. It runs from a standard 9v pedal power. It's not terribly loud, nor terribly clean, but if you dig the classic mac vibe it might be fun. Controls for gain and volume, and a power switch on the back.

Some Non-DIY Stuff
Will be a little picky on the pricier ones. Make an offer.

Brand	Name	Condition	Notes
Olsen Interfaces	Mudwedge	Excellent	Boutique fuzz with tons of tweaking options and a second stomp with configurable functionality. Pretty deluxe item here.
Line 6	POD 2.0	Good	Had this for 20+ years, just not using it anymore. It toured and it looks it. Still holds up, though. Can throw in the FBV4 footswitch if needed.
Ammoon	Pock Loop	Excellent	Good looper, I just prefer some other loopers I've acquired. I have the box for it, if that matters.
Danelectro	Fab Chorus	Excellent	Cheap plastic chorus, but sounds great. Probably just a make-weight, too cheap to trade on its own.
Caline	10-band EQ	Good	Works fine, I just don't really need 10 bands of EQ. Has velcro on the back, and sometimes makes a weird noise when you turn on the pedalboard. Another make-weight.
Ibanez	PH7	Good	Tonelok phaser. Great pedal, has some glue on the bottom I couldn't get off, but works fine.

What would I trade for??
I'm really open to almost any sort of gear if it relates to music and audio (see the don't wants, though). Leaning more towards synth or recording gear than pedals, but still open to pedals.
Musical wants of various specificity:

• Fancy DSP type pedals (the kind I can't build)
• SM57 or similar mics
• Korg Volcas. Especially the sampling or FM one. Or other MIDI synths.
• Any yamaha reface keyboards
• A 4x4 MIDI interface
• Pedal power with multiple 300mA+ outputs.
• Mackie 1202 VLZ in good shape
• Cheap guitars or basses
• Unbuilt pedal kits/enclosures/parts, or DIY in need of TLC.
• A small 8-ohm cab
• Studio, drum, keyboard, or midi gear. Any interesting music-related equipment, really. Even boring stuff like power conditioners. I play keys, bass, guitar, some percussion, and record, so I'm into all kinds of gear.

Non-music-gear wants:

• DIY electronics tools (would love a decent scope or transistor tester)
• Your old laptop, especially if its a Dell, maybe in the 5-8yr-old range (let's say >4GB ram, >i5 processor). Don't even need the hard drive or OS, or much battery life, as long as everything else works.
• If you just want to do cash, some of this stuff is listed on my reverb.com store. Moving away from reverb due to fees, though. Paypal/venmo works if we want to avoid any Imperial entanglements, just DM me for a price (let me know your zip code too).

Probably not wants:

• Dirt pedals. Might make an exception for something really intriguing, though.
• Guitar parts and speakers. Haven't gone there yet, though I'm getting a bit into small DC amp building.
• Anything I can easily get on Amazon or Reverb for under $50, unless we're bundling items. Just not worth shipping one thing when it's that cheap.
• Behringer pedals. Just not a fan.

A Note about mods/repairs/custom jobs: I've been asked about this a few times. Right now, I think I'd just prefer not to. I enjoy doing what I do on my own terms. Cheers!

Selling bundled and unbundled cache sets. Prices are not negotiable.
Please leave a comment on my steam profile on which set you are interested in buying.
Payment methods I accept are CSGO items or TF2 keys.
Pay before month cooldown to reserve a set. Buyer goes first.
Prices are subject to change.
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https://steamcommunity.com/id/Trunga/
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https://steamrep.com/profiles/76561198071250362

Diretide 2022 Collector's Cache

Bundled Set Name	Hero	Quantity	Price (USD)
Shadowleaf Insurgent	Hoodwink	2	$7.5
Scarlet Subversion	Riki	5	$5
Whippersnapper	Snapfire	3	$7.5
Hounds of Obsession	Chen	2	$5
Seadog's Stash	Clockwerk	5	$7.5
Starlorn Adjudicator	Dawnbreaker	4	$7.5
Spoils of the Shadowveil	Spectre	5	$5
Chines of the Inquisitor	Faceless Void	5	$5
Trophies of the Hallowed Hunt	Ursa	5	$5
Crimson Dawn	Phoenix	5	$10
Forgotten Station	Terrorblade	5	$5
Dirge Amplifier	Undying	5	$7.5
Champion of the Fire Lotus	Monkey King	3	$5
Deathstitch Shaman	Witch Doctor	4	$5
Blue Horizons	Marci	5	$20
Angel of Vex	Invoker	5	$20
Dark Behemoth	Primal Beast	2	$30

Diretide 2022 Collector's Cache II

Bundled Set Name	Hero	Quantity	Price (USD)
Withering Pain	Clinkz	1	$5
Acrimonies of Obsession	Vengeful Spirit	1	$5
Unbundled Set Name	Hero	Quantity	Price (USD)
Grand Suppressor	Silencer	1	$5
Darkbrew's Transgression	Alchemist	1	$5
Transcendent Path	Oracle	1	$5
The Wilding Tiger	Brewmaster	1	$7.5
Dawn of a Darkness Foretold	Doom	1	$5
Cursed Cryptbreaker	Pudge	1	$5
Feasts of Forever	Night Stalker	1	$7.5
Darkfeather Factioneer	Phantom Assassin	1	$5
Withering Pain	Clinkz	1	$5
Freeboot Fortunes	Ogre Magi	1	$7.5
Acrimonies of Obsession	Vengeful Spirit	1	$5
Sacred Chamber Guardian	Huskar	1	$5
War Rig Eradicators	Techies	1	$5
Grudges of the Gallows Tree	Treant Protector	1	$7.5
Brands of the Reaper	Anti-Mage	1	$7.5

Ageless Heirlooms 2022

Bundled Set Name	Hero	Quantity	Price (USD)
Howls of the Northmarch	Anti-Mage	4	$2.5
Faction of the Feather	Templar Assassin	4	$2.5
Melange of the Firelord	Chaos Knight	4	$2.5
Heinous Exultation	Razor	4	$2.5
Tangled Tropics	Monkey King	4	$2.5
Fury of the Thunderhawk	Zeus	4	$2.5
Oaths of the Beloved	Death Prophet	4	$2.5
Twilights Legions	Night Stalker	3	$5
Jewels of Anamnessa	Medusa	1	$10

The Battle Pass Collection 2022

Bundled Set Name	Hero	Quantity	Price (USD)
Hides of Hostility	Huskar	4	$2.5
Heat of the Sixth Hell	Doom	4	$2.5
Nefarious Fixations	Lion	4	$2.5
Distinguished Forgemaster	Clockwerk	4	$2.5
Volcanic Sanctuary	Broodmother	3	$2.5
Obsidian Atrocity	Lifestealer	4	$2.5
Charms of the Firefiend	Batrider	3	$5
Molten Bore	Mars	1	$10

Aghanim's 2021 Collector's Cache

Unbundled Set Name	Hero	Quantity	Price (USD)
Scales of the Shadow Walker	Phantom Lancer	1	$7.5
Perception of the First Light	Dawnbreaker	1	$7.5
Apex Automated	Clockwerk	1	$15
Secrets of the Frost Singularity	Ancient Apparition	1	$10
Perils of the Red Banks	Chen	1	$7.5
The Chained Scribe	Grimstroke	1	$7.5
Widow of the Undermount Gloom	Broodmother	1	$7.5
Forgotten Fate	Mars	1	$10
March of the Crackerjack Mage	Rubick	1	$10
Cosmic Concoctioneers	Alchemist	1	$10
Pyrexae Polymorph Perfected	Ogre Magi	1	$15

Nemestic Collector's Cache 2021

Unbundled Set Name	Hero	Quantity	Price (USD)
Silence of the Starweaver	Oracle	1	$7.5

The International 10 Collector's Cache

Unbundled Set Name	Hero	Quantity	Price (USD)
Ravenous Abyss	Underlord	1	$15
Beholden of the Banished Ones	Warlock	1	$10
Fury of the Righteous Storm	Disruptor	1	$7.5
Heartless Hunt	Bounty Hunter	1	$10
Herald of the Ember Eye	Grimstroke	1	$10
Fissured Flight	Jakiro	1	$7.5
Flashpoint Proselyte	Huskar	1	$10
Signs of the Allfather	Natures Prophet	1	$10
Songs of Starfall Glen	Enchantress	1	$7.5
Forsworn Legacy	Mars	1	$30

The International 10 Collector's Cache II

Unbundled Set Name	Hero	Quantity	Price (USD)
Evolution of the Infinite	Enigma	1	$7.5
Beast of the Crimson Ring	Bristleback	1	$10
Clearcut Cavalier	Timbersaw	1	$10
The King of Thieves	Keeper of the Light	1	$7.5
Horror from the Deep	Tidehunter	1	$10
Talons of the Endless Storm	Chaos Knight	1	$7.5
Carousal of the Mystic Masquerade	Rubick	1	$7.5
Crown of Calaphas	Shadow Demon	1	$10
Wrath of the Fallen	Doom	1	$10
Blacksail Cannoneer	Sniper	1	$10
Secrets of the Celestial	Skywrath Mage	1	$7.5
Blaze of Oblivion	Phoenix	1	$7.5
Master of the Searing Path	Ember Spirit	1	$15
Steward of the Forbidden Chamber	Templar Assassin	1	$20
Claszureme Incursion	Faceless Void	1	$30

PayPal Friends and Family preferred; can also accept Venmo.
Split codes where possible - only redeem the portion listed.
Assume Disney points have been used, but Sony titles may still have registration available.
Disney movie Google Splits, WILL port to Movies Anywhere and other connected services.
Prices are SUPER low; but feel free to make bundle offers.
----------Bundles----------

• The Hunger Games Complete 4 Film Collection HD Vudu [4 films; 4 codes] - $4.00

----------Disney Section----------

• Aladdin (Live Action; 2019) HD Google Play [split] * will port to MA - $1.50
  
• Avengers: Infinity War 4K Movies Anywhere or Vudu - $3.00
  
• Beauty and the Beast (2017; Live Action) HD Movies Anywhere or Vudu (iTunes expired) - $1.50
  
• Captain Marvel HD Google Play [split] * will port to MA - $1.00
  
• Christopher Robin (2018) HD Google Play [split] * will port to Movies Anywhere - $1.50
  
• Finding Dory HD Google Play [split] * will port to MA - $1.00
  
• Iron Man 3 HD Google Play [split] * will port to MA - $1.00
  
• Lilo & Stitch HD Google Play [split] * will port to MA - $3.00
  
• Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch HD Google Play [split] * will port to MA - $3.00
  
• Maleficent (2014) HD Google Play [split] * will port to MA - $1.00
  
• Maleficent (2014) HD (4K) Movies Anywhere or iTunes (4K) / Vudu - $3.00
  
• Mulan (2020; Live Action) HD Movies Anywhere or Vudu - $1.50
  
• Oz The Great and Powerful HD Google Play [split] * will port to MA - $1.00
  
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi 4K Movies Anywhere or iTunes / Vudu - $3.50
  

----------4K----------

• Avengers: Infinity War 4K Movies Anywhere or Vudu - $3.00
  
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 4K iTunes - $2.25
  
• Deadpool 4K iTunes * will port to MA in 4K - $2.25
  
• Deepwater Horizon 4K Vudu - $3.00
  
• Despicable Me 2 4K iTunes * will port to MA (Should come with 500 Universal Rewards points) - $2.50
  
• John Wick 3: Parabellum 4K iTunes / Vudu / Google Play - $2.00
  
• Maleficent (2014) 4K iTunes * will port to MA in 4K - $3.00
  
• Saban's Power Rangers 4K Vudu - $2.50
  
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi 4K Movies Anywhere or iTunes / Vudu - $3.50
  
• The Hunger Games 4K iTunes - $2.00
  
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay: Part 1 4K iTunes - $2.00
  

----------HD----------

• Barbie and the Secret Door HD Movies Anywhere - $2.00
  
• Bohemian Rhapsody HD Movies Anywhere $3.00
  
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes HD (4K) Movies Anywhere or iTunes (4K) / Vudu / Google Play - $2.25
  
• Deadpool HD (4K) Movies Anywhere or iTunes (4K) / Vudu / Google Play - $2.25
  
• Divergent HD Vudu - $0.50
  
• Divergent: Insurgent HD Vudu / Google Play - $1.50
  
• Escape Plan HD Vudu - $0.50
  
• Friday the 13th - Part 4: The Final Chapter HD iTunes / Vudu - $2.50
  
• Les Misérables (2012) HD iTunes * will port to MA (Should come with 500 Universal Rewards points) - $1.50
  
• Les Misérables (2012) HD Movies Anywhere - $1.50
  
• Maggie (Arnold Schwarzenegger) HD Vudu - $1.75
  
• Non-Stop HD iTunes * will port to MA (Should come with 500 Universal Rewards points) - $1.50
  
• Pulp Fiction HD Vudu - $2.00
  
• Robocop (2014) HD Vudu / Google Play - $2.00
  
• Silver Linings Playbook HD Vudu / Google Play - $1.50
  
• Spider-Man: Homecoming HD Movies Anywhere - $2.00
  
• The Hunger Games HD Vudu - $0.25
  
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire HD Vudu - $0.50
  
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay: Part 1 HD Vudu - $1.50
  
• Tyler Perry's: A Madea Christmas HD Vudu - $0.50
  
• The Secret Life of Pets HD Movies Anywhere - $1.50
  

----------SD----------

• 21 Jump Street SD Movies Anywhere - $0.50
  
• Inglourious Bastards SD iTunes * will port to MA (Should come with 500 Universal Rewards points) - $0.75
  
• Looper SD Movies Anywhere - $0.50
  
• The Pirates! Band of Misfits SD Movies Anywhere - $0.50