“She’s a witch.”
“I think you said bitch wrong.”
It’s hard to laugh when you’re exhausted, but Marti was never not able to get one out of us. Between panted breaths we laughed. Tommy’s face growing red with anger and embarrassment at the joke at his expense.
“I’m serious!” He managed to blurt when the laughter finally died down enough to get a word in.
“So am I!”
Again, laughter erupted from the bottom of our thirteen year old hearts once more breaking the silence of the forest we were supposed to be hiding in if by chance the cops were actually called as a result of our impromptu prank just a few minutes prior.
Living in a small town meant a lot of boredom. Some kids had big problems like gang violence and drive-by shootings, drugs, and crippling poverty, and even though those problems existed for your typical small town Ohio kids, at least to some extent. Our biggest problem was always boredom.
As a matter of fact, every problem that every small town had ever had could probably be traced back to boredom in one way or another. Why is that guy doing heroin behind a Walmart? Because once upon a time he was sixteen and bored, so he stole some of grandmas pills. Why did the schools football teams locker building get burned down? Because some kid was bored and decided to ruin the football team’s stuff. Why are there a bunch of kids laughing in the middle of the forest just outside of town? Same reason, they were bored and decided to ding dong ditch the senile old lady down the street.
If I’d had known for half a second . . . If I’d even had a hint of foresight about how everything would’ve turned out for us then I’d have suggested something else. Anything else, but hindsight’s 20/20. Especially for young kids.
“Guys, I’m freakin serious. Okay?” Tommy doubled down. His fists now balled up. His voice breaking a little bit with the overwhelming irritability at the laughter. “Anyone who’s ever messed with Ms. Abernanthy has been cursed.”
“Come on man.” I said trying to diffuse Tommy’s anger a little bit. “There’s a lot of places in this world, beautiful places! Jamacia, Hawaii, Switzerland. All sorts of places a powerful witch could have a good ass life, and you think there’s one living in that little brown double wide on Sycamore street? In London Ohio?”
A few more chuckles amongst the group of friends before Tommy finally resigned his argument with an exasperated sigh. As we came around from our fits of laughter and jokes we began to realize that the sun was setting.
“Wow, what a surprise.” Charlie spoke up. “No one cares that their doorbell got rang! Looks like our outlaw days are done y’alls. Just in time for dinner too. Convenient full pardons are convenient!”
“No doubt.” I responded as the group made their way out of the forest and began to cut across the large meadow towards town. “Marti, you eating with us tonight? Dad says it’s fine.”
“Appreciate it dude, but mom says we’ve got plans tonight. We’ll steal your dads Marlboros some other time okay?”
More laughter as the friend group split ways and headed home . . .
Ding
Dong
Diiing Doong
At first when I heard the doorbell ring, I just sort of brushed it off. I’d thought that maybe it was just some part of a dream I’d been having or something. Even in my almost full sleep state I knew that no one in their right mind would be ringing our doorbell at three in the morning. As I adjusted my pillow and threw my head back down on it though I heard it again. Resonating throughout the otherwise silent house in a way that was almost maliciously haunting given the time of night.
Ding
Dong
Diing Doong
It hadn’t been my imagination. There was someone at the door. Before I could even get up however, I heard the gruff and commanding voice of my father as his heavy footsteps stammered groggily past my room.
“I swear to Christ if that’s one of your goofy friends.” He mumbled to himself as he staggered past my room in his barely lucid state.
Several moments later I heard the front door open. Followed by my father shouting in surprise as several loud bangs and clashes filled the house with a chaotic cacophony of sound.
I ran out as quickly as I could towards the front room of the house to see my fathers silhouette fumbling for the light switch. As he turned it on, and my eyes adjusted to the sudden flash of light. I could see that he was intently scanning the front room. His bright green eyes bouncing back and forth like a radar scanner. Laying on the ground around him was a broken ash tray and several books that must’ve gotten knocked off of the shelf they’d previously been resting on.
“What happened dad?”
Quickly he put his finger out in a sort of ‘stop talking’ gesture as his eyes remained transfixed on the room around him. After a few moments of nerve wracking silence, he finally responded.
“There’s a bat somewhere. Flew in when I opened the door.”
“Who rang the doorbell?”
As if remembering what it was the led us to the front room in the middle of the night in the first place my dad looked back over his shoulder to the wide open front door, and the dimly lit street beyond it. He peaked his head over the threshold and looked around for a moment before closing it.
“No one . . . Some kids ding dong ditching maybe. Crazy ass teenagers, when do you guys even sleep nowadays?”
I laughed quietly at dad’s remark before looking around the front room to try and spot the bat.
“You’d think it’d be freaking out or something you know? Like, fluttering around and trying to find a way out?”
“Yeah . . . You’d think.”
A thorough search of the front room gradually turned into a thorough search of the entire house, but aside from the fallen books and ash tray in the front room there was nothing amiss. Just another normal small-town house in its small town neighborhood. Finally after about an hour and a half of searching my dad threw his arms up in defeat.
“Screw it, guess he’s staying. I gotta get ready for work anyways. Go back to bed kid, we’ll find it tomorrow. No one ever got killed by a stray bat.”
Although I wasn’t necessarily comfortable with the idea of sharing a house with a wild animal for the night. I knew he was right. It was almost four thirty in the morning now, and I was tired. Besides, if it’s afraid then it’ll probably just hide, and they sleep during the day so it shouldn’t be a huge issue . . . Hopefully.
“Alright, night dad. Have a good day at work.”
“Yeah. . . .”
Ding
Dong
Diing
Donng
I had just slipped into that sort of half realm between awake and asleep when I was abruptly brought back to consciousness by the doorbell ringing again. The red digital illumination of my alarm clock read 6:33am. I sighed to myself in annoyance and frustration as I turned over on my back to prepare to pull myself out of bed once again to try and discover who was ringing our doorbell again, and that’s when I saw her.
Suspended from the ceiling upside down was the darkened shadow of a person. Long tangled hair draped low and messy, almost touching the floor. From within the tangled mess of hair were two bright yellow eyes that burned through me like fire. As I screamed and clambered my way to the headboard of my bed to try and pathetically create some distance between myself and this horrible thing in my room the figure reached its arms out in a sort of ‘crucifix’ posture. From the aurora of its terrible yellow eyes I could see a wide mouth full of sharp teeth. I screamed again at the top of my lungs as the room filled itself with the mind numbing sound of the doorbell coming from the figures wide open mouth.
DIIIINNNNNNGGGGGG
DOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGG
DDIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGG
DDDOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGG
DIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGG
DOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGG
As the deafening noise trembled every ounce of my being the figure contorted its way off of the ceiling and plopped onto my bed in an awful and grotesque fashion. Even in my panicked state I couldn’t understand how it could’ve moved the way it did without breaking its neck and spine.
I tried to make a jump from my bed to the door, but I wasn’t quick enough. I got to the edge of the bed before I felt a tremendous weight pin me back on to the mattress and hold me down. Sitting on my chest was the figure. Those horrible eyes burrowing into my soul. That wicked mouth hanging open as if it were going to swallow me whole.
She’s a witch.
The memory of Tommy’s voice echoed in my head.
I don’t know what came over me. I don’t know if it was just the fear, and Tommy being the only name on my mind in that moment. I don’t know if I’m just a selfish coward. I just . . . Don’t know, but as that god awful thing sat on top of me. As her mouth and those evil yellow eyes drew closer and closer to my face I shouted at the top of my fear fueled lungs.
“IT WAS TOMMY! IT WAS TOMMY! HE RANG YOUR DOORBELL! IT WAS TOMMY! PLEASE!”
Suddenly, with no warning, and no possible way of occurring. The weight was off of my chest, and the figure was gone.
I don’t know how I managed to fall back asleep, maybe it was just the adrenaline dump that knocked me out, but before I knew it I was waking up to the image of my sun filled room.
After a lot of talking to myself. I had barely managed to convince myself that last nights events were just the result of a horrible dream. I had read somewhere that waking up in the middle of the night and then going back to sleep could result in very lucid dreams. That, I decided. Was what caused that awful dream.
Ding
Dong
Diiing
Doong.
I felt an anchor drop into my stomach as the doorbell rang. Slowly I made my way to the front door and with a lot of hesitation finally managed to open it.
Standing at the other side of the door was Tommy’s mom. A look of obvious concern on her face.
“Did . . . Uhm, Did Tommy by chance come to your house last night? I’ve been to everyone’s house that he knows, and no one’s seen him. I don’t understand why he would just leave the house like that. Please. If you know something, please just tell me.”
They never found Tommy. Not even the faintest glimpse of a clue. Everyone eventually stopped looking for him after about a year. Everyone but his mom, she never stopped looking. She died last year. I heard she was staring expectantly at the hospital door the entire time. Waiting for her son to come walking through . . . The police say he either ran away, or was kidnapped and killed by some vagabond who had seen us in town the day prior.
I’m the only one who truly knows what happened to him, and I’ve never been able to tell anyone that It was all my fault.
Tommy was right.

Hello WCSIB Reddit community,
I hope this message finds you all well. I am currently in the market for a car to get me through my last year of school, and I am considering a 2014 BMW 328xi. However, I am aware that BMWs can be expensive to maintain and that there have been some reported issues with the engine and Timing chain on these models.
My dad had a 2013 BMW and the engine blew probably because of the timing chain, and I don't want to fall into a 5-10k repair rabbit hole. However, I am wondering if the 2014 model is a better option and if it would be a solid choice to get me through my final year of school. AWD is also nice as I am in New England. I am starting to commute more (50 miles to school, 15 miles to work, 50-60 miles to MMA gym) so I want something that will make me feel more secure and something I can count on.
Should I scrap the BMW idea and shoot for like a 2016-20 civic/Subaru that's pretty out of the wrapper for a similar price? I know it will be biased cause the sub haha, but any input/wisdom/opinion will help.
Mom and sister say civics and dad say BMWs lol
I would appreciate any insights or experiences you have had with this specific model or BMWs in general. Thank you in advance for your help and advice!
Considering: 2014 BMW 328XI with 17,000 miles for $22,400 US(All fees included) Has the premium package and honestly looks out of the wrapper. Comes from a reputable/trustworthy dealer we work with previously.
I previously owned a 2007 BMW 328xi, which was my first car, and the maintenance was high but I honestly beat the crap out of it. Sold that for a 2005 Honda Civic with 82k miles and it just lit up like a Christmas tree. Getting tired of dealing with car issues so looking to try.
​
Sorry for the drawn-out post. Thank you in advance,
Ney

TimestampSelling my whole collection, been sitting there and just want to sell everything. For Everything is 1150$ free shipping OBO I’ll list what I can remember of the names: (FONTAINE:brain dead, good company, Halloween{2}, RIPNDIP v2{2}, aqua berry{2}, pineapple{2},kogan, hacker, Babylon{2},pine green{2}, neon pink and green, chocolate, carrots v2, horchata, army of darkness{2}, pink panther, cranberry{2} and 3 other from fantasy drop. Plus 9 brick boxes 2 are signed)(theory 11: gold artisan, mandarin monarchs, and Star Wars) (6 Jerry’s nuggets and red brick box) (2 D&D aristocrats) (3 anyone runaway) the rest you can see by the pics plus 1 more brick box dm for more questions.

Hello Honda Reddit community,
I hope this message finds you all well. I am currently in the market for a car to get me through my last year of school, and I am considering a 2014 BMW 328xi. However, I am aware that BMWs can be expensive to maintain and that there have been some reported issues with the engine and Timing chain on these models.
My dad had a 2013 BMW and the engine blew probably because of the timing chain, and I don't want to fall into a 5-10k repair rabbit hole. However, I am wondering if the 2014 model is a better option and if it would be a solid choice to get me through my final year of school. AWD is also nice as I am in New England. I am starting to commute more (50 miles to school, 15 miles to work, 50-60 miles to MMA gym) so I want something that will make me feel more secure and something I can count on.
Should I scrap the BMW idea and shoot for like a 2016-20 civic/Subaru that's pretty out of the wrapper for a similar price? I know it will be biased cause the sub haha, but any input/wisdom/opinion will help.
Mom and sister say civics and dad say BMWs lol
I would appreciate any insights or experiences you have had with this specific model or BMWs in general. Thank you in advance for your help and advice!
Considering: 2014 BMW 328XI with 17,000 miles for $22,400 US(All fees included) Has the premium package and honestly looks out of the wrapper. Comes from a reputable/trustworthy dealer we work with previously.
I previously owned a 2007 BMW 328xi, which was my first car, and the maintenance was high but I honestly beat the crap out of it. Sold that for a 2005 Honda Civic with 82k miles and it just lit up like a Christmas tree. Getting tired of dealing with car issues so looking to try.
​
Sorry for the drawn-out post. Thank you in advance,
Ney

I’ve written about this issue here before, but I/we need help, people. Any advice is appreciated…
So we have a three and a quarter year-old. Mostly a great kid. He definitely has his moments and likes to push his mom and I but… overall he’s sweet. Polite.
The thing is he’s gotten himself into a MASSIVE sleep regression that’s been going on for months now. He wakes us up EVERY NIGHT. And not just once. Two, three, four times. His mom and I are like zombies. We exist on caffeine (and sugar, for me). It’s brutal.
Nothing in his environment has changed. He has routines which we stick to. Nothing at his kindergarten has changed. He’s happy at school. Happy at home.
People suggested we get a sleep training clock. I did. Even came up with a little rhyme: “When it’s red, we stay in bed. When it’s green, time to be seen.”
Hasn’t worked. He just ignores the light, leaves his room and comes to ours.
Sometimes it’s a nightmare (which we’ve told him he can always call us for). Other times he comes to our room… just because he woke up. I tell him to just lay back down when he wakes up but that doesn’t work. He walks over to our room no matter what. Wake us up.
We’re at our wits need. My partner can fall back asleep relatively quickly but not me. Takes me at least fifteen to pass out again once he wakes me. Either way, we’re like zombies just… exhausted.
So again, if you have suggestions, send our way. Thanks in advance.

Hello MA Reddit community,
I hope this message finds you all well. I am currently in the market for a car to get me through my last year of school, and I am considering a 2014 BMW 328xi. However, I am aware that BMWs can be expensive to maintain and that there have been some reported issues with the engine and Timing chain on these models.
My dad had a 2013 BMW and the engine blew probably because of the timing chain, and I don't want to fall into a 5-10k repair rabbit hole. However, I am wondering if the 2014 model is a better option and if it would be a solid choice to get me through my final year of school. AWD is also nice as I am in New England. I am starting to commute more (50 miles to school, 15 miles to work, 50-60 miles to MMA gym) so I want something that will make me feel more secure and something I can count on.
Should I scrap the BMW idea and shoot for like a 2016-20 civic/Subaru that's pretty out of the wrapper for a similar price? I know it will be biased cause the sub haha, but any input/wisdom/opinion will help.
Mom and sister say civics and dad say BMWs lol
I would appreciate any insights or experiences you have had with this specific model or BMWs in general. Thank you in advance for your help and advice!
Considering: 2014 BMW 328XI with 17,000 miles for $22,400 US(All fees included) Has the premium package and honestly looks out of the wrapper. Comes from a reputable/trustworthy dealer we work with previously.
I previously owned a 2007 BMW 328xi, which was my first car, and the maintenance was high but I honestly beat the crap out of it. Sold that for a 2005 Honda Civic with 82k miles and it just lit up like a Christmas tree. Getting tired of dealing with car issues so looking to try.
​
Sorry for the drawn-out post. Thank you in advance,
Ney

The thoughts of frogs clawing their way out of the mud turn to love when the pits of their ears reach the surface of the warming water, and they hear the daylight singing to all of life to rise on stem or leg or wing, or jubilantly wriggle in place until the body feels an urge to proceed. Then the nostrils on the roof of the mouth next appear above the bog, taste the breeze skipping along the slime, and the frog of spring swoons before daylight’s momentum, the way all of nature’s terraria are inviting life to return to the surface and leap out. Welcome to Terraria! we might enthuse, as frogs fill the air with first-leaps, spring unfurls its green bunting, and each of the frogs thus propelled dreams of continuing through the air. The spirit of flight shoots out of their glistening crowns, reappears as buds speckling the twigs of trees, about to leap again.

Hello F30 Reddit community,
I hope this message finds you all well. I am currently in the market for a car to get me through my last year of school, and I am considering a 2014 BMW 328xi. However, I am aware that BMWs can be expensive to maintain and that there have been some reported issues with the engine and Timing chain on these models.
My dad had a 2013 BMW and the engine blew probably because of the timing chain, and I don't want to fall into a 5-10k repair rabbit hole. However, I am wondering if the 2014 model is a better option and if it would be a solid choice to get me through my final year of school. AWD is also nice as I am in New England. I am starting to commute more (50 miles to school, 15 miles to work, 50-60 miles to MMA gym) so I want something that will make me feel more secure and something I can count on.
Should I scrap the BMW idea and shoot for like a 2016-20 civic/Subaru that's pretty out of the wrapper for a similar price? I know it will be biased cause the sub haha, but any input/wisdom/opinion will help.
Mom and sister say civics and dad say BMWs lol
I would appreciate any insights or experiences you have had with this specific model or BMWs in general. Thank you in advance for your help and advice!
Considering: 2014 BMW 328XI with 17,000 miles for $22,400 US(All fees included) Has the premium package and honestly looks out of the wrapper. Comes from a reputable/trustworthy dealer we work with previously.
I previously owned a 2007 BMW 328xi, which was my first car, and the maintenance was high but I honestly beat the crap out of it. Sold that for a 2005 Honda Civic with 82k miles and it just lit up like a Christmas tree. Getting tired of dealing with car issues so looking to try.
​
Sorry for the drawn-out post. Thank you in advance,
Ney

I’ve only had my very large hoard for about a year now and I always water them once a week and they’ve all been happy but here lately I’ve had to keep them watered about 2-3x / week it seems or they get a little wilty, thanks.
Thirstiest seem to be the lime and lemon trees, the Crotons, the foxtail ferns, and the monstera, but seems like the fiddle leaf fig wants more too. Well they all do. Thanks!

Warning: Opinions are present, proceed with caution
TL;DR: Although the feeling of getting a red item is often great, because of their rarity and generally being interesting items, it's really kind of unusually rare that it will actually end up helping out your run at all.
I know the gut reaction to the title, it just sounds wrong, every time a red item drops I'm willing to bet that all of us get a bit of a dopamine hit, but how often do you just end up being let down?
Even the items that used to feel amazing and like my run was instantly won, now lead to my run being very much loseable despite me still being hyped whenever I see them drop.
I'm not saying that the red items changed in any sort of way honestly, it's purely that I've gotten better at the game, and therefore I'm more likely to play monsoon/eclipse, and I don't enjoy just looping 50 times for the hell of it anymore. Yes in edge/silly cases, they can end up popping off super hard, and feel amazing, but it feels like that rarely ever comes up unless the run is already going nuts.
​
I get that this is partly intentional design, and leads to the skill-based nature of ror2 gameplay loop, but we'd be lying if we were to say that those rng high rolls weren't a key part of any roguelike's appeal (yes, obviously they still happen in a different way, more that it's unusual reds don't really end up being a major influence when they appear).
​
Obviously, ror2 has its own really neat way of treating item rarities where white items are the foundation of your build and where you get most of your stats and power, with green items then being the means through which you translate the power of your white items into an exponentially better build, with reds at the wildcard which can steer your build into performing amazingly in one area. However, it feels more like in practice they're the sprinkles on top of your build. Like, they're nice to have, but rarely make much of a difference as to whether your build is good or bad.
​
In comparison, greens seem to be forced into their role such that they "seem" on average weaker than reds because so many of them are just scrap fodder that waters down the roster (stealthkit, polyp, lepton, harpoon, leeching seed to name a few) which are rarely of any use unless you have a super specific situation. If you look at all the items that don't fall into this category, you'll see that practically all of them are extremely strong, flexible, potentially run-changing items (wotw, bands, atg, uke, feather, shuriken) which I would honestly prefer to many (if not most) reds.
​
To clarify, I do not have a specific solution in mind, nor am I claiming this is a game-ruining flaw, if anything this could be entirely intentional in terms of balancing. If it makes more sense to you this way, treat this post as just an observation on an unusual pattern in ror2 item balance
​
To illustrate my point, I've gone ahead like a nerd and wrote out my perspective on how impactful each of the red items are. This is the end of the post basically, feel free to not read the rest unless you want my lukewarm take on red items. I just feel like when you look at them all side by side my argument seems much more reasonable:

• * 57 Leaf Clover: Best item in the game right? Well I am trash but I've gotten smacked in MANY runs where I've gotten a clover, although it's amazing with even just a few synergy items, and keeps getting better the more you have, you do need to have them, and something like a band build, or any other build that doesn't rely heavily on random chance items, or if you just get unlucky with collecting crit items, and 57 leaf clover may not shine until you would've otherwise won anyways. In most situations in runs that haven't looped yet, although you would be happier to find a clover, realistically it is unlikely that a good green items wouldn't overall boost your build much more.
• * Aegis: Really bad. I mean I get that you can do funny things with it and I like that it exists to enable meme builds as well as being one of the only good ultra-late game post-loop defensive items, but even though it's decent in that scenario, at that point you a. rarely need it b. could easily get oneshot regardless c. isn't even as good as other lower quality items such as safer spaces, ruckler, opal, even elixir. Also, even more points taken away for being usually worse than a single brooch in eclipse.
• * Alien head: good sometimes, but honestly never build defining. Only time it's really amazing is when it helps you pass certain breakpoints like mercenary iframe godmode or pillar skip, but otherwise it's just nice to have and doesn't really massively buff you. If anything, it's nice to have super early game when you don't have many damage items, but later on it can be restricted by band timers for example. I would say very rarely does alien head end up being better than a good green.
• * Ben's raincoat: kind of the same as alien head, it's nice, but nothing incredible. It's easy for it to get bonked off and block something inconsequential while letting through a massive imp bleed, but then let through a lethal status, kind of like tougher times (status effects are less predictable than damage imo so I think it is worse than safer spaces). Honestly, depending on how you see it, it's either only good on, or useless on characters that have a self-status effects like corrupted void fiend, but I'd be suprised if anyone thought ben's is a run changing item.
• * Bottled Chaos: The ONLY practical use for this absolute troll of an item is pillar skipping with vase while keeping a good equipment. Even in equipment cd builds like fmp soulbound or gesture sillyness, it ends up being unbearable because of the forced volcanic egg, and rarely reliable or really that strong, feels like it's more of a lunar item than anything.
• * Brainstalks: I want to like this item so bad but it really sucks so much. Yes there are a couple of edge cases where it's cool like slicing winds merc or nuking the world with diablo, but at best these are just neat interactions and practically never actually that good or reliable enough unless the run is so won that you don't even need to really use many abilities at all. Even many fun theoretical applications end up being mediocre because of the 0.5s global cooldown ruining it.
• * Behemoth: Great item, you're usually happy to see this, at worst it's just a slight bump to your aoe, at best it massively increases your procs. It's not always or even probably that frequent that it completely makes your run, but it's still so consistently good I'd say it lives up to its color.
• * Ceremonial Dagger: Everyone's said it before me, but this is the classic case of the item seeming strong because it lets you walk away from your pc on a god run, while actually doing not much unless you have a lot of items that help make it work, at which point you were probably doing pretty well already.
• * Dio's: Not the most exciting item but it's definitely always strong and useful, befitting of being a red, is an actual good defensive item red (might be the only one tbh) because late game you usually get oneshot if you take a big hit.
• * Frost Relic: Suprisingly enough, although it's not super exciting, one of the more applicable reds to get, at least without having already borderline won the game. Provides a hefty cushion against melee enemies, a really strong source of damage, good interactions with a variety of items, yeah it's not the flashiest but it's definitely always good to get, even without having a god run going. Unfortunate part is it sucks when stacked unless you get a LOT.
• * Headstompers: Contender for the best item in the game, probably the best *single* item in the game, stupid damage such that it's always your best ability, even without that, the fall damage removal and jump height is so massive for limitless reasons such as trimp pillar skips. It's not just an amazing red item it's like one and a half amazing red items in one. Also amazing on eclipse for obvious reasons.
• * Happiest Mask: So rare that you get any use out of this, sucks when stacked, bad in general, never reliable, less useful than most greens. It's fun for the memes when you've basically already won the game but it's never a serious good item, it can even kill you by having your ghosts backstab you like the dunestrider sucking you (not sure if these got patched)
• * Hardlight Afterburner: Situationally amazing, but never necessary to making a build work. The most consistent value/highest impact you get out of this is either on loader or to enable pillar skip, quite frequently it ends up being dead weight. Feels like a green item with buffed stats, although some utilities are too strong for a green to give more stacks so idk.
• * Desk Plant: Not exciting, but I guess not terrible either? Healing sucks in general in eclipse unfortunately but it's still one of the better healing items, you can't tell me you're really ever happy to see this unless you have, like, some stupidly specific build with fmp/rejuv/n'kuhana's. Also stacking does not increase the heal, albeit the stacks aren't useless.
• * Laser Scope: The only crit item that does not give crit chance, I really don't get it. This one writes itself, it can be really good, but needs setup, and the more it's good, the more likely you are to already be having a run that would be amazing without it.
• * N'kuhana's: Unusable on eclipse, bad otherwise, healing in ror2 is generally kinda underwhelming and rarely saves you past first couple of stages, stacks kinda shittily too, and requires a massive setup to have any value (not even really worth it, i'd still scrap useless healing items)
• * Pocket ICBM: Ridiculously strong item, probably to the point where it's a little out of line, but only *if* you already have one of three specific build conditions that make it great, but otherwise a red paperweight. Most consistent way to get value is probably shrimp, with atg also decent, if you're trying to make fireworks work you need a caffeinator or some other setup, dml is good but doesn't compare to the others. So it's good, but fairly situational, so you'll often get it and have no use for it.
• * Rejuv Rack: No one's happy to see this. I'm kind of confused as to why it's a red, it's so out of place compared to the other reds even just in that it's litteraly just a stat change. Healing is bad in general, which makes this unnecessary and bad outside of very specific builds, also additionally extremely bad in eclipse of course.
• * Resonance Disc: Straight up not good. Like it can be fun sometimes to see it get a big proc off, but it's so inconsistent, and the conditions for it to proc are so arcane and stringent, I'd rather have any of atg/uke/wotw/bands any day.
• * Sentient Meat Hook: Good for same reason as uke and atg, kind of a bastard child of both but also can be uniquely powerful in some situations. It's definitely strong, and mostly feels like a red because it's like those two greens in one. It's not that crazy on its own though, and in a lot of applications a small stack of atgs could probably outperform it, it stacks well but weirdly.
• * Shattering Justice: Noticeable and potent DPS boost, most survivors on most builds can reliably proc it enough to get some value, but even at its best it boils down to a damage multiplier, in the same way crit/atg/bands/etc. are. It's definitely not bad, and it's uniquely strong on survivors that have high uptime with the debuff, but again, it's nothing run-making, and often less consequential than a strong green.
• * Soulbound Catalyst: So unbearably situational albeit a really fun item when you get it going, you're either really happy or sad to see this drop. The most nuts synergy it had, fmp, got nerfed even, although it still works and even works with other actives like dml. But it's in that weird spot without FMP where before mithrix it's literally just a minor time saver if you've found the meta actives (recyclecard), and not useful really at mithrix when you'd want a combat equipment because you're starved for resets. So either specifically with FMP and other on-kill items, or an okayish crutch item with a damage equipment to get you through the early game, and otherwise not useful.
• * Spare Drone Parts: You know there's something weird with reds when this is one of the more generally applicable reds. It's not bad early-mid game although obviously has little impact in already god-runs (not that you need it). Uniquely good because you actually get to *choose* ways to get more value out of it by buying drones, or fishing for a gun to use on solus, as well as other items it synergizes with.
• * Scorpion: Basically a more extreme shattering justice, and therefore more situational. The dps bump on builds that make good use of it is so much bigger than shattering justice that the general consensus is that it's a "better" item (I would agree). I guess this is probably because despite being situational it enables a really powerful combination beyond just being a flat damage multiplier.
• * Tesla Coil: Similar to ceremonial daggers, but actually really strong in most cases even without a crazy amount of synergies unlike ceremonials. It does need some items to proc but even still it's flexible enough to be an all around good item. I still wouldn't necessarily say it outclasses the stronger greens. Kind of sucks that it's not useful for mithrix and can even get you killed phase 4 if you're not careful.
• * Wake of Vultures: Same unreliability as brainstalks, but instead of giving you a buff that can be situationally pretty powerful, gives you a buff that is somewhat difficult to anticipate and isn't even that strong. Especially given short duration it's completely unpractical, pretty much always a novelty practically never useful except by accident on rare occasions, most likely value tbh is to yoink perfected from mobs so you can't take fall damage on the moon if you suck like me and fall.

​
So in total, if you were to open a large chest on first loop, without an already strong build, and got a big dopamine rush from seeing the red droplet, what are you actually going to end up with? If you high roll, you would get the 4/26 items that are a really huge boost to your power no matter what. Otherwise, you could end up with the 5/26 chance for an item that's at least a bump in power, but requires a few items to be really impactful, or instead, the same 5/26 chance for an item that could be decent as long as you're lucky enough to be already building items that work well with it, albeit the ones I'd put in this category have prerequisites that are fairly common and rather achievable in builds at this point. Otherwise? You're really kind of out of luck, rolling either a 7/26 chance for an at least helpful mostly inconsequential item (or one that is very difficult to get value from), or worst case, the 5/26 items with practically no impact at all (especially if you're on eclipse).
So in this situation, you'd have a less than one fifth chance to get an item that will just give you a big power increase no matter what, almost a 50/50 chance of getting an item that will do basically nothing, and the remaining two fifths-ish of the items are wildly inconsistent and can range from barely any use to actually pretty good if you have the right situation, but if you're hoping for a red item to turn an unlucky run around, the odds are really not great, you're more likely to claw back into the game with good greens if anything.

Loved almost all aspects of the game but…
There needs to be a super hard/survival mode or at least tailored difficulty for combat. I feel like the last part of the game was way too easy. I started stripping back some of the higher damage attacks in favor of crappier ones just to experience a challenge. Even the final boss fight seemed super anticlimactic. Does anyone else feel the same?
Photo mode would be a great addition; this game is gorgeous. It deserves photo mode.
Sit/lie down functionality - can we please be allowed to sit on a chair or bench? Or lie down? We create all these seats in RoR but we can’t use a single one. Kinda silly.
Vivarium cottages - can we get extended functionality to furnish and use our tiny vacation homes?
Selling items - why can’t we sell herbs and supplies? It’s almost compulsive for gamers to loot everything in sight. It seems weird we’re just hoarding crap in this game we don’t always get around to using.
We should be allowed some melee combat as well, considering trolls, inferior and goblins rely heavily on melee. It would be fun (while spells are recharging) to actually have to use some sort of melee defense/attack with say, a sword of gryffindor…
Outfits - love, love, love the ability to apply a style overlay to everything. But can we get a way to customize color for each outfit (like we can do for furniture in RoR)? Some of the styles are amazing but the colors are pretty terrible. It’s like shopping at Forever 21 - awesome cut but what is up with that lime green???

Name: The Predator
Height: Tall
Movement Speed: 4.6m/s
Terror Radius: 32m
Power:
ARSENAL:
The Hunter begins the trial with a cloaking device that acts very similarly to Wraith's without any movement speed increase. however this is not your only weapon as the rest of your arsenal is littered around the map in caches. If any weapon is used, you automatically go back to the cloaking device:
Combistick - The Hunter retrieves a large spear from their chest that they can throw at survivors. They act like Wesker's charge from a distance. Once a survivor is hit they will be dragged in the direction the spear was going for 2.5 seconds. If they hit a wall they are pinned to it and must perform a skill check to escape the pin, once escaped the survivor is left in deep wound and you cannot get your combistick back, the same happens if you down a pinned survivor. If the survivor does not hit a wall however, they are only injured but you may retrieve the spear and use it again
Smart Disk - The Predator throws this object like a boomerang that curves around in a wide arc before returning to your hand. If the disk hits a survivor or wall it is consumed and you lose it.
Claymore Mine - The Hunter gains 3 mines and leaves them on the ground as traps that deal damage to survivors that walk over them. They will flash red for 30 seconds after being placed before faintly glowing green once those 30 seconds are up
Plasma Caster - The Predator's most iconic weapon: you gain a 1 shot plasma caster that fires in whatever direction you are looking. The projectile can blast through breakable walls and paletes to hit the survivor on the other side. It also instantly downs survivors. The range is not very long and can go through regular walls
SELF-DESTRUCT DEVICE
When the Gate is opened, the Hunter may retrieve this from a highlighted cache which vastly increases the rate at which the end-game collapse occurs, though it takes 5 seconds to activate
PERKS:
Sore Loser - When a gen is finished you grants you haste for 2/4/6 (4/6/8) seconds and your terror radius increases by 10/15/25 Meters
Hex: Bloodhunt - Whenever a survivor is hit you can see the aura of other survivors for 2/4/6
Requiem - Whenever a gen is finished, this perk gains a token.
1: 1/2/3 Seconds (only affects those on the gen)
2: 3/4/5 (Same 1)
3: 6/7/8 (16m radius of gen)
4: 8/9/10 (everyone)
5: Permanently Hindered

Hello everyone, and welcome to Elemental UHC Season 3!

Elemental is a reddit recorded round organized by azoof. This round focuses on putting elementals from the real world and implementing them into minecraft.
For our third season, it will be Rigged Teams of 2 and we will be focusing on the element of earth.
The scenarios for the season were:

• Custom Armor: Players could craft a custom armor set known as Obsidian Armor. Upon wearing the full set of Obsidian Armor, the player will take less fire/lava damage. Helmet Craft, Chestplate Craft, Leggings Craft, Boots Craft
  
• Custom Structures: Seven different biome related structures were possible to locate on the map, with various loot within the structures. The biomes correlating to these structures were plains, taiga, forest, jungle, swamp, desert, and savannah.
  
• Custom Terrain: The surface terrain was replaced with a mix of grass, dirt, coarse dirt, stone, cobblestone, and gravel.
  
• Custom Weapon: Players could craft a custom weapon craft known as an Obsidian Sword, which comes pre enchanted with sharpness 2 and upon right clicking gives resistance for 5 seconds. This ability has a cooldown of 30 seconds. Sword Craft
  
• CutClean: All food and ores will automatically drop in their smelted form.
  

Enjoy the season!
Alive Players

Player	Link
Orange Team	-
ceije	Episode 1
omchris	Episode 1
Dark Green Team	-
Livin423	Wacky World
strategy	Full Footage Combined
Blue Team	-
Jordtim	Episode 1
Vynil	Late
Yellow Team	-
ArcticSeagull	Episode 1
ethodog	Late
Gray Team	-
Arich	Combined With Episode 2
lexicuhl	Episode 1
Dark Red Team	-
Charrlottie	Episode 1
Kelawesome	Episode 1
Pink Team	-
527Max	Catboy Leash
GamerNthn	Episode 1
Cyan Team	-
azoof	Episode 1
ninja3214	Episode 1
Green Team	-
Klickacat	Cocoa Beans
wizarde	Corrupted Episode
Purple Team	-
ColdBacon	Episode 1
fruitlogic	Episode 1
Dark Gray Team	-
ItsColinn	Episode 1
WackoFlipper	Tomato Soup
Dark Blue Team	-
Glarza	Episode 1
SpyroJ	Rockin’ Out

Death Tracker
No players dead yet...
Previous Episodes

• Intro

Credits:

• Intro: Psykl0ne
  
• Renders: LetTheJaePlay
  
• Logo: Brodator
  
• Host: MarcusWest (Inferno)
  

I was driving and saw a red-shouldere hawk fly across the road in front of me, then land in a tree before being harassed by crows and flying away. It was clearly and definitely a red-shouldered hawk in adult plumage. However, when it first flew in front of me, I got the distinct impression of a white rump. I was pretty confused because I've always used a white rump as a definitive field mark of a northern harrier, and I've never noticed that on a red-shouldered before. Has anyone seen this before? It seems some locality morphs have white rumps as juveniles, could it be a near-adult just losing the last of its immature plumage?
I appreciate anyone's thoughts!

TIME STAMP Just selling a few off to a better home. I’ll try to get them out by tomorrow.
DEMKOS
Demko ad20.5 sharksfoot dlc aus10a blade and black grivory scales. Great shape. Factory edge and all. Never been disassembled but does have a small mark on the clip. Sv120
Demko ad20.5 clip point dlc aus10a steel. Red grivory scales. good shape. Been sharpened and deep carry clip shows wear but have original. Been disassembled to change out scales. Sv110
scales blue g10 scales and the green grivory scales and spacer. Have the original pocket clip for the clip point ad20.5 as well. Toss a offer
mini kryo factory edge and in great shape. Hasn’t been carried. S35vn blade and titanium scales. Sv 99 dropped from 110 per rules.
kershaw dividend 20cv blade and aluminum handles. never carried. Been sharpened. Sv 72 dropped from 80 per rules.
Elementum tanto dlc s35vn tanto blade. Jade g10 scales. Never cut or carried. Perfect shape. Sv 70
civivi keen nadder n690 blade micarta scales. Great shape. Pocket clip shows some wear. Nice and mirrored sharp edge. Sv40

$5 Shipping in the U.S PayPal goods and services only. Going to post office today so anything purchased during business hours will ship. Any type of damage will be mentioned in post.
• Estee Nack - IWANNAFXCKJADAFIRE (black, came unsealed, played once)...$75
• Jay Nice - Pompeii (black, seam split, opened but unplayed) $80
• Westside Gunn- Fourth Rope (black, opened but unplayed) $220
• Tha God Fahim - Blvck Pearl 2 (blue, played once) $110
• Mach-hommy - Bulletproof Luh (black, opened but unplayed) $115
• Camo Monk x Mach - Priye Pou Ayiti (blue) $40
• Crimeapple x Muggs - Medallo (tk cover, played once) $100
• Dj Muggs - Dia Del Asesinato (Og cover, black, unplayed) $45
• Observe since 98 ($35 a piece)

• Warts and All (green obi, unplayed)
• Muerte De Un Salvaje (Red marble obi, unplayed)
• Le Dernier Royaume (Piano cover, unplayed w/minor crease)

Take all 3 for $90 shipped

“She’s a witch.”
“I think you said bitch wrong.”
It’s hard to laugh when you’re exhausted, but Marti was never not able to get one out of us. Between panted breaths we laughed. Tommy’s face growing red with anger and embarrassment at the joke at his expense.
“I’m serious!” He managed to blurt when the laughter finally died down enough to get a word in.
“So am I!”
Again, laughter erupted from the bottom of our thirteen year old hearts once more breaking the silence of the forest we were supposed to be hiding in if by chance the cops were actually called as a result of our impromptu prank just a few minutes prior.
Living in a small town meant a lot of boredom. Some kids had big problems like gang violence and drive-by shootings, drugs, and crippling poverty, and even though those problems existed for your typical small town Ohio kids, at least to some extent. Our biggest problem was always boredom.
As a matter of fact, every problem that every small town had ever had could probably be traced back to boredom in one way or another. Why is that guy doing heroin behind a Walmart? Because once upon a time he was sixteen and bored, so he stole some of grandmas pills. Why did the schools football teams locker building get burned down? Because some kid was bored and decided to ruin the football team’s stuff. Why are there a bunch of kids laughing in the middle of the forest just outside of town? Same reason, they were bored and decided to ding dong ditch the senile old lady down the street.
If I’d had known for half a second . . . If I’d even had a hint of foresight about how everything would’ve turned out for us then I’d have suggested something else. Anything else, but hindsight’s 20/20. Especially for young kids.
“Guys, I’m freakin serious. Okay?” Tommy doubled down. His fists now balled up. His voice breaking a little bit with the overwhelming irritability at the laughter. “Anyone who’s ever messed with Ms. Abernanthy has been cursed.”
“Come on man.” I said trying to diffuse Tommy’s anger a little bit. “There’s a lot of places in this world, beautiful places! Jamacia, Hawaii, Switzerland. All sorts of places a powerful witch could have a good ass life, and you think there’s one living in that little brown double wide on Sycamore street? In London Ohio?”
A few more chuckles amongst the group of friends before Tommy finally resigned his argument with an exasperated sigh. As we came around from our fits of laughter and jokes we began to realize that the sun was setting.
“Wow, what a surprise.” Charlie spoke up. “No one cares that their doorbell got rang! Looks like our outlaw days are done y’alls. Just in time for dinner too. Convenient full pardons are convenient!”
“No doubt.” I responded as the group made their way out of the forest and began to cut across the large meadow towards town. “Marti, you eating with us tonight? Dad says it’s fine.”
“Appreciate it dude, but mom says we’ve got plans tonight. We’ll steal your dads Marlboros some other time okay?”
More laughter as the friend group split ways and headed home . . .
Ding
Dong
Diiing Doong
At first when I heard the doorbell ring, I just sort of brushed it off. I’d thought that maybe it was just some part of a dream I’d been having or something. Even in my almost full sleep state I knew that no one in their right mind would be ringing our doorbell at three in the morning. As I adjusted my pillow and threw my head back down on it though I heard it again. Resonating throughout the otherwise silent house in a way that was almost maliciously haunting given the time of night.
Ding
Dong
Diing Doong
It hadn’t been my imagination. There was someone at the door. Before I could even get up however, I heard the gruff and commanding voice of my father as his heavy footsteps stammered groggily past my room.
“I swear to Christ if that’s one of your goofy friends.” He mumbled to himself as he staggered past my room in his barely lucid state.
Several moments later I heard the front door open. Followed by my father shouting in surprise as several loud bangs and clashes filled the house with a chaotic cacophony of sound.
I ran out as quickly as I could towards the front room of the house to see my fathers silhouette fumbling for the light switch. As he turned it on, and my eyes adjusted to the sudden flash of light. I could see that he was intently scanning the front room. His bright green eyes bouncing back and forth like a radar scanner. Laying on the ground around him was a broken ash tray and several books that must’ve gotten knocked off of the shelf they’d previously been resting on.
“What happened dad?”
Quickly he put his finger out in a sort of ‘stop talking’ gesture as his eyes remained transfixed on the room around him. After a few moments of nerve wracking silence, he finally responded.
“There’s a bat somewhere. Flew in when I opened the door.”
“Who rang the doorbell?”
As if remembering what it was the led us to the front room in the middle of the night in the first place my dad looked back over his shoulder to the wide open front door, and the dimly lit street beyond it. He peaked his head over the threshold and looked around for a moment before closing it.
“No one . . . Some kids ding dong ditching maybe. Crazy ass teenagers, when do you guys even sleep nowadays?”
I laughed quietly at dad’s remark before looking around the front room to try and spot the bat.
“You’d think it’d be freaking out or something you know? Like, fluttering around and trying to find a way out?”
“Yeah . . . You’d think.”
A thorough search of the front room gradually turned into a thorough search of the entire house, but aside from the fallen books and ash tray in the front room there was nothing amiss. Just another normal small-town house in its small town neighborhood. Finally after about an hour and a half of searching my dad threw his arms up in defeat.
“Screw it, guess he’s staying. I gotta get ready for work anyways. Go back to bed kid, we’ll find it tomorrow. No one ever got killed by a stray bat.”
Although I wasn’t necessarily comfortable with the idea of sharing a house with a wild animal for the night. I knew he was right. It was almost four thirty in the morning now, and I was tired. Besides, if it’s afraid then it’ll probably just hide, and they sleep during the day so it shouldn’t be a huge issue . . . Hopefully.
“Alright, night dad. Have a good day at work.”
“Yeah. . . .”
Ding
Dong
Diing
Donng
I had just slipped into that sort of half realm between awake and asleep when I was abruptly brought back to consciousness by the doorbell ringing again. The red digital illumination of my alarm clock read 6:33am. I sighed to myself in annoyance and frustration as I turned over on my back to prepare to pull myself out of bed once again to try and discover who was ringing our doorbell again, and that’s when I saw her.
Suspended from the ceiling upside down was the darkened shadow of a person. Long tangled hair draped low and messy, almost touching the floor. From within the tangled mess of hair were two bright yellow eyes that burned through me like fire. As I screamed and clambered my way to the headboard of my bed to try and pathetically create some distance between myself and this horrible thing in my room the figure reached its arms out in a sort of ‘crucifix’ posture. From the aurora of its terrible yellow eyes I could see a wide mouth full of sharp teeth. I screamed again at the top of my lungs as the room filled itself with the mind numbing sound of the doorbell coming from the figures wide open mouth.
DIIIINNNNNNGGGGGG
DOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGG
DDIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGG
DDDOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGG
DIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGG
DOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGG
As the deafening noise trembled every ounce of my being the figure contorted its way off of the ceiling and plopped onto my bed in an awful and grotesque fashion. Even in my panicked state I couldn’t understand how it could’ve moved the way it did without breaking its neck and spine.
I tried to make a jump from my bed to the door, but I wasn’t quick enough. I got to the edge of the bed before I felt a tremendous weight pin me back on to the mattress and hold me down. Sitting on my chest was the figure. Those horrible eyes burrowing into my soul. That wicked mouth hanging open as if it were going to swallow me whole.
She’s a witch.
The memory of Tommy’s voice echoed in my head.
I don’t know what came over me. I don’t know if it was just the fear, and Tommy being the only name on my mind in that moment. I don’t know if I’m just a selfish coward. I just . . . Don’t know, but as that god awful thing sat on top of me. As her mouth and those evil yellow eyes drew closer and closer to my face I shouted at the top of my fear fueled lungs.
“IT WAS TOMMY! IT WAS TOMMY! HE RANG YOUR DOORBELL! IT WAS TOMMY! PLEASE!”
Suddenly, with no warning, and no possible way of occurring. The weight was off of my chest, and the figure was gone.
I don’t know how I managed to fall back asleep, maybe it was just the adrenaline dump that knocked me out, but before I knew it I was waking up to the image of my sun filled room.
After a lot of talking to myself. I had barely managed to convince myself that last nights events were just the result of a horrible dream. I had read somewhere that waking up in the middle of the night and then going back to sleep could result in very lucid dreams. That, I decided. Was what caused that awful dream.
Ding
Dong
Diiing
Doong.
I felt an anchor drop into my stomach as the doorbell rang. Slowly I made my way to the front door and with a lot of hesitation finally managed to open it.
Standing at the other side of the door was Tommy’s mom. A look of obvious concern on her face.
“Did . . . Uhm, Did Tommy by chance come to your house last night? I’ve been to everyone’s house that he knows, and no one’s seen him. I don’t understand why he would just leave the house like that. Please. If you know something, please just tell me.”
They never found Tommy. Not even the faintest glimpse of a clue. Everyone eventually stopped looking for him after about a year. Everyone but his mom, she never stopped looking. She died last year. I heard she was staring expectantly at the hospital door the entire time. Waiting for her son to come walking through . . . The police say he either ran away, or was kidnapped and killed by some vagabond who had seen us in town the day prior.
I’m the only one who truly knows what happened to him, and I’ve never been able to tell anyone that It was all my fault.
Tommy was right.

Hi!
Of course, anyone 18 or older is welcome but I’d love to befriend someone older in their 30s or 40s etc who is perhaps in need of some company as I know how it feels to be feeling alone.
My name is Dylan and I’m a 21 year old single guy from northeastern Illinois in the US. Ever find yourself nice and cozy and really wishing you had that special someone to look forward to talking to and hearing from?
I’m seeking some kind of close connection, whether that’s something where we remain friends yet can be flirty or romantic such as a friend with benefits.
Sexually I’m very open and have been very affection starved and touch starved lately, haha.
I like to say upfront that I will always be mindful and considerate of your feelings and boundaries, especially concerning anything flirty or more intimate that we might get into. It’s important to me and we’d never have to do anything we weren’t comfortable with or ready for.
Physically I'm 6ft tall, I'm average/slim build, and I'm white/Caucasian with hazel eyes and dark brown hair. I wear glasses too :)
Now that we've established who I am and what I'm looking for, here are a few interests of mine to get to know me better!
• Fall/Autumn season
I had to list this one because I just adore the fall and everything that comes with it. My birthday is in October too so it's always been my favorite month. I much prefer fall and winter over a muggy humid summer. In the cooler seasons there's always ways to warm up.
• Candles and Incense
I love candles and incense and stuff like this!! I feel like you don't find guys into this stuff that much but I definitely am an exception.
• Technology
I'm good at fixing electronics and I'm quite nerdy in that aspect. So if something breaks I can fix it ;) I'm also good with my hands and quite inclined mechanically and quite the nerd :P
• Music
I love genres such as classic rock, alternative rock, psychedelic rock, gothic rock, heavy metal, punk, post punk, hardcore, etc. My current favorite bands are The Cure and Joy Division/New Order. But I like tons of older and newer bands as well. such as: Bauhaus, Velvet Underground, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Type O Negative, Nirvana, Rush, Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, the Wipers, Spacemen 3, Meshuggah, Megadeth, Buzzcocks, MC5, Stooges, 13th Floor Elevators, Screaming Trees, Green Day, Alice in Chains, Asylum Party, My Bloody Valentine, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Jefferson Airplane, etc.
• Cooking and Baking
I like to cook and learn new recipes, as well as bake fun things too! It's always nice when the house feels nice and cozy and smells good. I appreciate the simple pleasures in life, a cozy cup of tea and music or a movie in bed or sitting outside is so nice! I believe in veganism and I've been trying to become more vegan lately in what I eat.
• Animals
I love animals of all types, and I currently have an older cat which I adore to death! We rescued her from the local shelter. She's the sweetest thing. (I think I love her more than anyone in the house lol, she just makes me so happy) :) I also don't kill insects or bugs, I catch and release them outside.
• Art
I enjoy art, both creating it from time to time such as drawing, and admiring other peoples work. There's just something so fun about it and seeing things so beautiful.
• Houseplants
I love houseplants and really anything nature related and also spiritual such as crystals and rocks. I love to help my mom in caring for all of our plants and also gardening outside when its a good growing season. Its fun! I also like cottage core and goblin core type vibes and enjoy sitting out on the deck burning incense, its peaceful :)
• Photography
I recently got a DSLR camera, a Nikon D5500 and a D200 and I've really been enjoying taking photos of my cat and nature landscapes! This includes closeups, photos of trees, the fields, etc. I've been working a lot on composition, long exposures, getting nice blurred backgrounds, depth of field, etc. It's interesting.
Thanks for taking the time to get to know me.
Thank you for checking out my post and if I seemed to catch your interest I'd love to hear from you soon!

Aren't the reward chests that you get for watering your tree supposed to get better and better as you go on? That's what the description on the game says, yet I'm on 105 trees and am still getting gray tech parts for completed trees (the last chest before a new one is planted). Once in a while I'll get 150 gems, and ONE single time I got 1,000 gems but that was the best I've ever gotten and nowhere close to anything that good since then.
As I said, most are simply just gray tech parts, gray or green equipment, and maybe some gold or a 50-150 gems. It's quite ridiculous since I had to spend a shit load of gems to get to 100 trees and it's not even worth it to get golden watering cans after you reach 100 because the prizes aren't worth the 200 gems a piece for the gold cans.
The game description of the event literally says "different tree grades will yield different rewards at 100% progression", meaning the higher number of trees planted, the better the rewards should be. But that's not the case, it seems. Anyone know why or experiencing a similar issue?

(Author here, didn't realize I put an apostrophe in the first title. RIP, it's there forever now)
First Next
Date: May 3rd, 2235
"My what?" Tom asked, completely confounded.
Surrender? Is this alien actually asking for my surrender? The poor thing is shaking like a leaf, He pondered.
"Y-Your surrender. I'm here to accept it... Accept it from your leader or leaders specifically," Teresh stuttered, the device around their neck blinking blue with a robotic voice delivering it in sterile English.
"Okay, well... can we talk about that after you get medical attention? You look to be wounded," Tom explained, seeing a bit of dark red on its neck.
It looks more superficial than anything, not a deep cut. That knife though, did he try to stab himself? Tom analyzed, falling back on some of his training.
From what Tom could make out, the creature before him was bipedal like himself. Looks to be around four and a half feet tall, tops. Almost no muscle to speak of, clearly not a very physically strong species; or individual at the very least. The alien resembled a large avian in many ways, though it had two arms in addition to two sets of wings. What really stood out to him was the aliens face. It was shockingly human in many ways; in that it was able to express itself with the movement of its eyes and shorter beak. Tom was clearly able to see fear in its eyes, the slight shake of its feathers. Even more interestingly, it had a crown of feathers around the back of its head that dipped up and down, with its green feathers even shifting colors on occasion. He had thought it was the lighting at first, but it seemed this alien possessed some kind of camouflage ability or similar. Good lord, the biologists were going to have the discovery of the millennia when they got to him.
However, for now, he needed to assess the situation. Starting at the beginning:
The alien hailed all available frequencies and made no attempt to hide itself. It wasn't aware of the local electromagnetic fields so it's message was garbled and self-contained. The craft it arrived in didn't look to possess any weapons, and it freely complied to relinquish its ship. It is terrified of me to an extent, that much is obvious. At some point recently it had cut itself, either accidentally or an attempt to take its own life. Lastly, it is here to accept my surrender, or the surrender of humanity.
With all this in mind, Tom came to the most probable conclusion: Wherever this alien is from, it was sent here to perform this task but without any aid or support from armed forces. Meaning that it is considered expendable in some way or belonging to a pacifist organization. If I can discern what entity or government sent it here, we can begin to form a strategy for the defense of earth if need be.
While he was thinking, the alien was still shivering and terrified. Mustering a weak, "I will accept aid if you offer it. As a diplomat, I simply ask that you do not maim, brainwash, or torture me. It will not reflect well on your species."
He seems to think that we're a cruel, violent race for some reason. He's not entirely wrong, but I doubt he knows our history, Tom surmised.
"Again, not going to hurt you. If you'd allow, I'd like to take you to our medical ward. I can take care of that wound for you, if you'd allow," Tom relayed, keeping his tone calm and steady.
"W-What of the others, how do I know you will not attack me once I'm surrounded?" Teresh chirped.
"I'll get them to wait in the bridge. All I ask is that you put the weapon away. I won't be armed either," he replied.
He could see the gears in the alien's head turning. Building a repour with Teresh would help make the process easier. He'd could get Ally and Maxim to head back to the bridge, but man the comms so they could record and monitor everything. Cleaning and helping them with their wounds should build a level of trust, one that he can use to discover more about the alien.
"That is... equitable," they paused for a moment, "I accept. Just please make the others leave first."
"That's, that's great. Thank you Teresh, I'm happy to help you. Just set that off to the side, and I'll make sure it's just us," Tom replied, letting his posture ease.
Still facing Teresh, Tom slowly backed up and then out of the ship. Despite the other two wearing their helmets, he could tell exactly what they were thinking.
"The hell's going on? You've been in there for ages. Pilot dead or something?" Maxim asked. His voice reverberating inside their helmets.
"This ship too, computer had nothing on it. New model, old model?" Ally asked. She had a data pad in her hands and was tapping at the screen.
"Guys, I need you to trust me on this. You need to get to the bridge and shut off all comms. Nothing in or out. Keep this ship impounded and get on the cams and record everything that happens in med bay," Tom spoke rapidly but concisely. There was a pregnant pause in the air.
"Tom, what's going on?" Maxim asked, sounding worried.
"Haven't heard you talk like that in ages, what-?" Ally began.
"This is a matter of national security. I need you both to trust me. Man your posts, radio silence. Understood?" Tom interrupted, putting on a stern voice.
Seeing the man come back into his own, the two straightened their posture and saluted out of pure muscle memory. Delivering back a: "Sir yes sir!"
"At ease, now get the hell out of here," he commanded. Watching the two jump up and head for the door.
How long's it been, four, five years? He asked himself, shaking his head.
Tom climbed back up into the ship, just in time to watch his crewmates exit through the far door. He glanced over and saw Teresh's knife on the ships controls. The alien now standing and holding their neck with one of their clawed arms. It still looked terrified of him but was mustering up courage as far as he could tell.
"Are you ready?" He asked, holding out a hand.
"Y-Yes, thank you," Teresh replied. Slowly stepping forward, the click of his talons echoing through the ship.
Click, click, click, click.
With a great deal of hesitation, the alien eventually held out his other hand and allowed Tom to take it. Now slowly leading them both out of the ship and into the greater cargo space.
"You're doing great. The medical bay is on the right-hand side of the ship. I'll escort you up to the door, then take you down a few hallways to get there. Does that sound agreeable to you?" Tom asked again, making sure to keep his tone steady.
"It does. I will cooperate as long as my safety is assured," Teresh answered.
"And it is. I give you my word," he replied.
"Your... word?" They replied.
Right. Different species, different metaphors.
"It means my honor, my trust. My… respect. If that makes sense," he explained.
Their eyes widened, something seemed to garner recognition, "Honor, yes. I understand. I will take your... word."
"Good, thank you Teresh," Tom replied. Letting out a breath inside his helmet.
He had no idea what kind of eggshells he was walking around. This was completely out of his depth. He was just going to do his best to remain as civil and neutral as possible. No more metaphors or complicated concepts just in case it might cause offense. They are a diplomat after all. Best not to muddy earth's politics so early in its new development.
The two began to travel towards the side of the ship. Tom turned the valve on the rough metallic door, and it let out a hiss, the door slowly opening. Not the best first impression of humanity. His ship wasn't the prettiest out there but damn was she dependable. Never a problem he couldn't fix or a mission she couldn't complete. Tarva never disappointed. She could, however, use a new coat of paint.
Much of the interior was varying degrees of brown or gray. They passed through several closed doors, vacant crew rooms or extra storage. The lights tracking their progress as they went, some flickering ever so gently to show its age. This went on for another fifty to sixty feet, before Tom opened the door at the end of the hall. Entering into a small white room, fit with two cots, a cabinet full of OTC meds, and a few IV's. He had no clue what effect the drugs would have on the alien, so best to avoid those for now. Instead, he gestured towards the cot on the side.
"Please, sit. I'm going to grab some gauze and medical tape. It should be enough to stop the bleeding," he explained, watching Teresh clamber up onto the cot.
He actually couldn't help himself from smiling under his helmet. It was adorable, but he knew that was an inappropriate attitude to have for the present situation, so he suppressed it for now. Teresh sat with their skinny avian legs hanging of the side and waving like a child's, which was even more adorable than before. He turned towards them with the gauze in hand.
"If you're uncomfortable, you could apply it yourself. It just might be difficult considering..." Tom explained, only to see Teresh put up a claw.
"I will be fine. You may administer aid without worry," they offered, though he could still see them shaking from here.
It was then that Tom had an idea, though it might be a bad one. The alien seemed frightened by his helmet, he could remove it and hope it made the interaction easier. However, if there were any microbes present it may be disastrous for the human race. Maybe he'd be even more terrified of his human appearance. Admittedly he wasn't the most handsome guy, but he was more concerned that he may perceive him as some kind of "predator species" or something similar.
Biting his tongue, Tom decided to play it safe and slowly stepped towards Teresh. Once he was in front of them, he began to dab the wound with gauze before covering and taping it. He wasn't sure what kind of effect alcohol would have on their biology, so he kept it away for now. Once outfitted, he could see Teresh's breathing begin to slow, and become calmer. The avian gave him a look, the feathers around their head turning a deep blue.
"Thank you, Tom. I will not forget this," Teresh said, giving him a feeling of pure pride.
"I'm happy to help anytime. I hope this is the start of something great," he replied, exhaling.
"Yes, I think so too," Teresh affirmed.
Thank God I can still do something right in my life. Now, I need to make sure Ally and Maxim haven't lost their minds and contact an old friend. Things are about to move really quickly at home. He pondered.
"I'm going to step outside a moment to contact someone who can get us where you need to go. Do you mind staying there for me?" Tom asked.
"Of course, do what you need to. I'll do whatever it takes to get my mission done," Teresh replied, his translator concluding his speech.
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Meanwhile...
Mikael had just finished making breakfast. A small bowl of corn flakes, a side of toast, and half a glass of orange juice. It was what he considered the most luxurious breakfast. He sat down at his table and looked out into a beautiful vista. Neo Washington may have had the most pretentious name he had ever heard, but the colony itself was a wonder to behold. Set on the moon, is was the first permanent settlement outside of earth's atmosphere. Even though the job could be an absolute bore at times, the view was well worth it. He could pick out almost all the continents from where he was. Sometimes catching a passing satellite, green and red blinking lights in the distance. He took his spoon and hand and went to take the first bite of breakfast.
Zzzzz! Zzzzz!
"Ugh," he groaned, his face curling into a scowl. "It's my day off. What could it possibly be."
With a click, his holo-projector whirred to life. Seeing a familiar face appear, a light blue sheen over his features. Mikael cleared his throat, "Tom, why are you calling me on my day off? I was just about to enjoy my cereal, and you know how much my breakfast means to me."
"Sir, this is an emergency. I need you to authorize an impromptu docking as soon as possible," Tom replied.
"What? On the base? You should still have clearance to land," Mikael asked, confused.
The hologram fizzed for a moment, reforming into Tom's exasperated look, "Sir, I need to dock at the private hanger."
"Why in God's name would you need to do that? I hope you know my clearance isn't something to be tossed around willy nilly," Mikael continued, growing increasingly frustrated.
With a huff, Tom looked him right in the eyes and replied, "Sir, I need that clearance as soon as possible. This is a St. Louis situation sir."
Now that, that caused him to pause. It was a code word that he and only few others knew. There were only a few scenarios that afforded such severity. He knew Tom wouldn't exaggerate something of that nature, he was serious.
"My ship is out for maintenance, dock in hanger 10. I'll meet you there," Mikael concluded. With a nod, the projection shut off and he sighed.
Never a dull day in my life... he reflected.