Timestamp:
https://imgur.com/a/MLOGjSs

• Dibs the item and PM/Pay right away.
• PayPal Friends/Fam. Or you pay 3% on top of item for G/S (under 10 flair).
• Ships in 1-2 business days

Order of barrels is Top to Bottom.
1) Glock 19 low round count Combat Armory barrel with polished feed ramp Has salty exterior from break in and racking , perfect inside chamber. $30 shipped.
2) oem Glock 19 barrel, low round count. Polished feed ramp. $60 shipped.
3) used Glock 17 Swenson barrel less than 500 rounds. $45 shipped
4) new Glock 23 .40 s&w Gorilla Machining SS threaded barrel, no thread protector. $55 shipped
5) new Glock 26 Polymer80 brand spiral fluted, gun metal gray $75 shipped.
6) Glock 43 holster in fde from Amazon. $20 shipped.

I'll just post what was said.
Absolutely! Let's dive into an exciting cooperative scenario, set within the universe of BattleTech.
Scenario: The Falling Star
The year is 3025. Your team is a band of mercenary MechWarriors, contracted by the government of the planet Aldebaran IV, located within the Periphery. An unknown force has taken control of an old Star League-era orbital defense satellite, named the "Falling Star", and has begun bombarding the planet's major population centers.
Your team's objective is to infiltrate the enemy's ground-based control facility for the Falling Star, neutralize the defense systems, and override the control of the satellite. The facility is located within a fortified mountainous region, and it is swarming with enemy Mechs and armored units.
Automated Enemies:

1. Patrolling Mechs: These Mechs patrol predefined paths around the facility. If a player's Mech is spotted (enters their line of sight), they break their patrol pattern and pursue the player, attacking on sight. After losing sight of a player for three consecutive turns, they return to their patrol.
   
2. Turret Defense Systems: Turrets are scattered throughout the facility. They have a fixed firing arc and will shoot any player's Mech entering their field of fire. Turrets are immobile but heavily armored, making them a substantial threat.
   
3. Reinforcements: Each turn after the alarm is triggered (either by entering a turret's line of sight or attacking a patrolling Mech), roll a dice. On a roll of 4 or higher, a new enemy Mech is deployed from the facility's hangar and starts moving toward the players' last known position.
   

Victory Conditions:
Your team is victorious if they can infiltrate the control center and override the satellite controls. This requires a player to reach a specific point within the control center and spend two uninterrupted turns overriding the system (without being attacked).
Loss Conditions
The mission fails if all player Mechs are destroyed or disabled.
Remember, cooperation is key. Players should share information about enemy movements and plan their approach strategically to avoid the alarm triggering too early. Making use of the mountainous terrain for cover, coordinating attacks, and prioritizing targets based on threat level can all contribute to a successful mission.
This should give you a high-stakes, cooperative scenario with a variety of challenges for your team to overcome. Adjust the number and strength of enemy units as needed to maintain balance and keep the game enjoyable.
He then asked to expand on the fallen star campaign. There were several options created from prompts but he chose to do that scenario. Here is the expanded information.
⭐ Falling star scenario details.. The enemy loadout and total Battle Value (BV) of your team will greatly depend on the skill level of your players, how challenging you want the game to be, and the specific Mechs you have available for play. However, I can provide you with a balanced starting point that you can then adjust to fit your needs.
Let's set up the enemy forces:

1. Patrolling Mechs:

• Locust LCT-1V: Light Mech, known for its speed and agility. It's armed with a medium laser and two machine guns. BV around 400.
  
• Hunchback HBK-4G: Medium Mech, heavily armored and armed with an AC/20 and two medium lasers. This Mech is slower but can deal significant damage. BV around 1,000.
  

1. Reinforcements:

• Centurion CN9-A: Medium Mech, balanced in speed, armor, and firepower, armed with an AC/10, two medium lasers, and an LRM-10. BV around 900.
  
• Thunderbolt TDR-5S: Heavy Mech, sturdy and well-armed with a large laser, LRM-10, SRM-2, and three medium lasers. BV around 1,300.
  

To keep the game balanced, I suggest giving your team a total Battle Value of about 4,000-4,500. This should provide enough firepower to deal with the threats while still making the scenario challenging. For example, your team could include:

1. Raven RVN-3L: Light Mech, well-equipped for scouting and evasion, and armed with an SRM-6 and two medium lasers. BV around 1,000.
   
2. Griffin GRF-1N: Medium Mech, a good all-rounder, equipped with an LRM-10 and a PPC. BV around 1,200.
   
3. Warhammer WHM-6R: Heavy Mech, packing a serious punch with two PPCs, two SRM-6s, and four medium lasers. BV around 1,700.
   

Remember, these are just guidelines. Feel free to adjust the enemy composition, your team's total BV, and the specific Mechs used to fit your group's preferences and the miniatures you have available. The goal is to have an enjoyable and challenging game, so tweak the parameters as needed to achieve that.
Turrets in BattleTech can come in various forms and can be armed with a variety of weapons. For the "Falling Star" scenario, it might be best to include two different types of turrets: Laser Turrets for direct damage, and LRM Turrets for long-range bombardment. Here are their suggested stats:

1. Laser Turret

• Armor: 30
• Structure: 10
• Weapons: 2 Medium Lasers, 1 Large Laser
• Heat Sinks: 10
• Battle Value: Approximately 150

These turrets are stationary but pose a significant threat if not taken care of. They have a good range and firepower but can't track targets that are too close.

1. LRM Turret

• Armor: 30
• Structure: 10
• Weapons: 2 LRM 10 Launchers
• Ammo: 24 rounds each
• Heat Sinks: 2
• Battle Value: Approximately 200

LRM Turrets can be a threat to even the farthest targets on the battlefield. However, they're less effective at short ranges due to the minimum effective range of LRM launchers.
Turrets can't move or evade, but they're typically heavily armored, making them hard to destroy. They have a 360-degree firing arc, but remember that weapons in BattleTech have minimum as well as maximum ranges. Players will need to consider this as they move around the battlefield.
Feel free to adjust these stats as you see fit to maintain the balance and fun of your game.
The number of turrets in the "Falling Star" scenario would depend on the balance you want to maintain and how challenging you'd like the scenario to be for the players. A mix of both Laser and LRM Turrets can keep the players on their toes and make them strategize their moves more cautiously.
For the scenario, you could consider having:

• 2-3 Laser Turrets: Positioned strategically around the facility or guarding crucial access points.
• 2-3 LRM Turrets: Spread across the map to provide a wider coverage and to dissuade players from staying too far from the facility.

Having around 4-6 turrets in total should provide a challenge without overwhelming the players, especially when combined with the patrolling Mechs. The Laser Turrets will prevent players from rushing directly into the facility, while the LRM Turrets will deter them from staying at long range and picking off enemies without any danger.
Remember, the goal is to create an engaging and challenging scenario, not to overwhelm the players to the point of frustration. If the players find the game too challenging or too easy, adjust the number of turrets or their placement as necessary.

Preface: There’s really no way to look back at the Chargers’ 2022 season without starting at the end. The team blew a 27-0 lead to the Jaguars in the wild card round in what can only be described as the peak of decades of cruelty by the football gods directed at the Chargers. In a year that began with Super Bowl aspirations thanks to an extremely talented on-paper roster, and included a regular season of injury after injury after injury (Justin Herbert, Rashawn Slater, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, etc.), the finale could not have been more crushing. Criticism and ridicule has rained down on head coach Brandon Staley and offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, and the latter was promptly fired at the end of the season to the rejoicing of fans everywhere.
But now we begin, again. The Super Bowl hopes are very much alive. The roster saw very few changes in free agency as the front office and coaching staff clearly believe the failure of the 2022 season was generally not an issue with the assembled players. But there is a much higher sense of urgency this year, and it’s not an exaggeration to say the team is going “all in” on the final cheap year of Justin Herbert’s rookie deal. Contracts have been structured in a way that will force significant cuts after the 2023 season just to get the team to salary cap compliance. This year may be do-or-die for both Tom Telesco and Brandon Staley.

Free Agency Recap

Losses: G Matt Feiler, LB Drue Tranquill, EDGE Kyle Van Noy, QB Chase Daniel, CB Bryce Callahan, WR Deandre Carter, S Nasir Adderley, LB Troy Reeder, DL Breiden Fehoko, WR Michael Bandy, OT Storm Norton
Five starters on this list: Feiler, Tranquill, Callahan, Carter, and Adderley. Letting Drue Tranquill leave is by far the most controversial decision here, especially since he ended up going to the Chiefs. He played very well last year, but seems like the idea here is that he was a factor in the defense’s struggle against the run. Feiler was a disaster last season after a great 2021, and Jamaree Salyer should be an immediate upgrade. Callahan is still a free agent and a reunion is not out of the question. Van Noy was great as a fill-in when Bosa was injured, but the team wants to get younger at the position. Carter was a quiet signing who outperformed his contract and provided much needed depth but again, too old. Adderley was benched in the season finale and then retired. The rest were backups and rotational players.
Additions: LB Eric Kendricks, DL Nick Williams
That’s it, that’s the list. Eric Kendricks steps in as the starter next to Kenneth Murray who he can hopefully help mentor into being a good linebacker. And theoretically, he will be an upgrade in run defense over Drue Tranquill. Williams was signed after the draft as insurance for the injured Austin Johnson and Otito Ogbonnia. He may not make the team. The Chargers used most of the rest of their cap space re-signing free agents like Trey Pipkins, Morgan Fox, and Donald Parham. They still have about $12.5M to work with, pending the upcoming Justin Herbert mega-deal.

Draft Needs

WR: The trio of Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Josh Palmer is one of the best in the league. However, with their contracts, there’s really no chance Allen and Williams will be Chargers in 2024. This group also lacks a speed element.
EDGE: Similar to WR, the starting duo of Bosa and Mack is elite but they are expensive and getting older. The depth behind them is just Chris Rumph.
TE: Gerald Everett is solid but on the last year of his deal. Donald Parham has potential but can’t stay healthy. Tre’ McKitty is a blocking TE who isn’t a very good blocker.
CB: JC Jackson is an enormous question mark, both from a health and performance standpoint. Michael Davis is a free agent after 2023. Ja’Sir Taylor is penciled in as the starting slot corner after very limited playing time last year.
OL: This is the strongest starting five the Chargers have had in a decade but the depth behind them both inside and out is weak.
LB: Eric Kendricks and Kenneth Murray will start, but Murray is auditioning to be on the team next year and Kendricks is old. The depth behind them is just Nick Niemann and Amen Ogbongbemiga.
S: JT Woods was a 2022 3rd round pick but barely played in 2022. Alohi Gilman stepped up when needed, but relying on him to start is risky.
RB: Austin Ekeler requested a trade, and even though it looked very unlikely to happen, the team needs to think about life after him in 2024. Neither Josh Kelley or Isaiah Spiller have shown they can handle a full workload.
KPR: With Deandre Carter’s departure, the team has no one with real return experience.

The Draft

1.21: Quentin Johnston - WR, TCU
In hindsight, this pick should have been more obvious. The Chargers have been very strict about their size thresholds for wide receivers over the years, and despite countless debates about Johnston vs Zay Flowers vs Jordan Addison, the big guy from TCU won out. This was an immediately controversial pick among fans as many believed the speedy Flowers or the crafty Addison would be more suited to filling the biggest need in this position group: speed and separation. But while Johnston may not be your traditional deep threat, his game speed and GPS tracking data suggest a more dynamic skillset than he showed at the combine. And one area where he does beat those two guys that was probably overlooked as a need: run after catch ability. Johnston was elite at that in college, and that looks to be his primary role for the Chargers. New OC Kellen Moore will use him like he did Ceedee Lamb in Dallas. And since he will start the year at number three on the depth chart at best, he won’t be under pressure to carry the offense as a rookie while he learns from the veterans in front of him.
2.54: Tuli Tuipulotu - EDGE, USC
After WR, the Chargers’ clear next biggest need was at EDGE and Tuli was the consensus best available. The team has also shown a penchant for drafting local kids from USC and UCLA over the last few years. He was extremely productive in his final season in college where he put up 13.5 sacks playing both on the edge and the interior. In the draft process, many people questioned if he would bulk up to be a full time DT or slim down to play the EDGE. It ended up being the latter as he weighed 266lbs at the combine. Tuli will provide valuable depth behind Bosa and Mack as a rookie, while also having the opportunity to play inside on passing downs like he did in college.
3.85: Daiyan Henley - LB, Washington State
The Chargers lost two linebackers to free agency: Drue Tranquill and Troy Reeder. Tranquill was the team’s best coverage linebacker, and Reeder was key depth while also being a core special teams player. Enter Daiyan Henley, who could fill both of those roles by himself. With Kenneth Murray likely off the team in 2024, Henley has the opportunity to earn a starting job over the course of the season. He is a recent convert to the linebacker position and there is still much room for growth. At the very least, he will be an immediate special teams contributor. Staley and Telesco both raved about his prowess in that phase of the game after picking him.
*4.125: Derius Davis - WR, TCU *
Another TCU receiver! This pick was definitely a surprise, as many people projected him to be a late day 3 pick. But the Chargers coaching staff said after the draft that they believed he was the best return man available, and that they wanted to draft a starter in the 4th round. Davis was indeed one of the best returners in the country at TCU, and also can add some juice on offense even if he ends up limited to a gadget role. Either way, here’s some killer speed for the Chargers offense.
5.156: Jordan McFadden - OL, Clemson
In the last few drafts, the Chargers have shown a lot of love for late round tackle-to-guard converts. Jamaree Salyer was the steal of the 2022 draft in the sixth round. McFadden played both tackle and guard in college on both sides of the line, and some scouts believe he may even be able to play some center. For the Chargers he will compete with Brenden Jaimes for the swing guard role, and maybe even push Foster Sarrell to be the swing tackle. Key depth for a position group that needed it.
6.200: Scott Matlock - DL, Boise State
Matlock is a solid run defender with some pass rush upside who will get to learn behind a strong trio of veteran starters. And with Austin Johnson and Otito Ogbonnia both rehabbing major knee injuries, he may end up seeing some decent playing time this season. I’m very intrigued by his upside, and Staley has a good track record of getting good play from late round DTs.
7.239: Max Duggan - QB, TCU
The Los Angeles Horned Frogs are ready to take the NFL by storm in 2023 (hopefully to face the Philadelphia Bulldogs in a championship rematch). The Chargers historically have carried three QBs on the active roster, and with only two signed going into the draft, it seemed like a strong possibility they would pick one. So here’s Max Duggan, who despite leading TCU to the Natty was generally not loved by scouts. He has a ton of athletic ability but the finer points of playing QB need to be worked on. There is absolutely potential to be a long term backup to Justin Herbert though, if he can beat out Easton Stick.
Notable UDFAs
Jerrod Clark - DL, Coastal Carolina: Most people expected Clark to be drafted, and the Chargers gave him a lot of money for a UDFA. I would not be surprised at all to see him make the roster as an additional run defender.
Cam Jones - CB, Ohio State: Another guy who could have been drafted, there are depth spots at corner up for grabs and Jones is an intriguing option.
Tiawan Mullen - CB, Indiana: Mullen used to have a pretty high draft stock but fell hard in the process. The Chargers are thin at slot corner and he could earn a role.
Mikel Jones - LB, Syracuse: There’s a wide open competition for ILB5 that will most likely be decided by special teams.

Roster Prediction

QB (3): Justin Herbert, Easton Stick, Max Duggan
RB (5): Austin Ekeler, Joshua Kelley, Isaiah Spiller, Larry Rountree, Zander Horvath
WR (5): Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Josh Palmer, Quentin Johnston, Derius Davis
TE (4): Gerald Everett, Donald Parham, Tre’ McKitty, Stone Smartt
OT (3): Rashawn Slater, Trey Pipkins, Foster Sarrell
OG (4): Zion Johnson, Jamaree Salyer, Brenden Jaimes, Jordan McFadden
C (2): Corey Linsley, Will Clapp
EDGE (4): Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack, Tuli Tuipulotu, Chris Rumph
IDL (6): Sebastian Joseph-Day, Austin Johnson, Morgan Fox, Otito Ogbonnia, Scott Matlock, Jerrod Clark
LB (5): Kenneth Murray, Eric Kendricks, Daiyan Henley, Nick Niemann, Amen Ogbongbemiga
CB (5): Michael Davis, Asante Samuel Jr., JC Jackson, Ja’Sir Taylor, Deane Leonard
S (4): Derwin James, Alohi Gilman, JT Woods, Mark Webb
K (1): Cameron Dicker
P (1): JK Scott
LS (1): Josh Harris

Conclusion

Super Bowl or bust.

1. My favorite weapon, the STG, has too little horizontal recoil and overall feels like the best weapon in the game. It's too effective at long ranges to the point where I feel extremely comfortable challenging any SVT's down the hallway or ANY gun for that matter. It's overall just an extremely effective weapon in all scenarios which feels odd since it doesn't even require any attachments to reach it's full potential [unlike the L1A1].
   
2. The Krasa's very fun and a great niche weapon with high damage, RoF, and recoil. Great example of a gun with clear identity.
   
3. I think the EM2 is a fun short to mid-range rifle but I really wish there was an extended mag attachment for it. 20 round clips are a big limiting factor and I fail to see why I'd ever pick an EM2 over a K1 or a Stoner.
   
4. The M16 feels like filler with too much recoil to make it an effective mid-range option. What if we add compensator attachment to try to increase it's viability?
   
5. I'm glad the L1A1 needs the additional attachments to make it so powerful. Absolute S-tier weapon.
   
6. The MP-40 with attachments is also wonderful and is my go-to when I want to try-hard without a rifle. Extremely quick reload time, low recoil, quick ADS, and very clean iron-sights. I recommend all new players to master it, especially when all the attachments and the weapon is craftable.
   
7. The Thompson by comparison, is kinda bad? Although I do love role-playing as a 1920's thug.
   
8. A naked Mac-10 slaps and one of my favorite ship-breaching weapons when I want to cheese someone and take their hard-earned Panzer Rig + Radio Backpack.
   

tl;dr: The STG is the best gun, MP-40 with attachments is the 2nd-best.
For anyone who cares: https://imgur.com/a/9q84Ufm

Currently they seem to only be 1 shot kills up to 200m. I think that should be increased to 300m (maybe even 400m), for a few reasons:

1. It gives more reason to use bolt actions over the semi-automatic rifles (you trade off fire rate for the ability to kill at longer distances);
   
2. The movement speed changes make it too difficult to land follow-up shots with unscoped bolt-actions at larger distances (noting that bullets travel too slowly right now, the kar98k has a muzzle velocity of like 750m/s) and its too easy for targets to dash/dive to cover and bandage (undoing the effect of your first shot, which they can do twice) or zig-zag to cover and bandage;
   
3. The scoped variants of the rifles are 1 shot kills to the torso at those longer ranges and seem to use the same rounds;
   
4. It will make unscoped bolt-actions more competitive with not only the other rifles, but also the machine guns. Currently, on maps like El Alamein it is easier to get kills at a distance with a machine gun than a bolt-action, as the machine gun has the advantage of the increased fire rate and magazine capacity, as well as tracers to allow easy adjustment on the fly (noting there is no sight zeroing for bolt-actions). The solution is not to nerf machine guns at distances (they are fine as they are), but to buff bolt-actions.
   

The cycling and reload speed of the bolt-actions should also be increased slightly (and the lee enfield cycling more than other bolt actions by a fraction) as currently the animations are of a speed which doesn't seem to account for battle adrenaline.

📷
The days of the sub-$10,000 new car are long behind us, and the days of the sub-$20,000 new car may not be far behind. But if a rock-bottom base price is what you’re looking for, a variety of models still deserve consideration. Many of them also get good gas mileage, which will help keep a lid on ownership costs for as long as you own one.
To help with your cheap-car search, we rounded up the 10 least expensive new cars. They’re ordered by base price from least to most expensive, and all prices include the destination charge, but not any cash incentives or taxes and fees. To make the list useful to as many car shoppers as possible, all prices include an automatic transmission, which bumps the price for some models that otherwise offer a manual. For cars with more than one transmission choice, the EPA-estimated combined mpg rating is for the automatic version.
Cheapest New Cars

1. 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage ES: $17,650
   
2. 2023 Kia Rio LX: $17,875
   
3. 2023 Nissan Versa S: $18,595
   
4. 2023 Kia Forte LX: $20,815
   
5. 2023 Hyundai Venue SE: $20,985
   
6. 2023 Nissan Sentra S: $21,145
   
7. 2023 Kia Soul LX: $21,215
   
8. 2024 Chevrolet Trax LS: $21,495
   
9. 2023 Hyundai Elantra SE: $22,065
   
10. 2023 Subaru Impreza: $22,115
    

2023 Mitsubishi Mirage ES
Price: $17,650 (including $1,095 destination) Combined fuel economy: 39 mpg
📷
2022 Mitsubishi Mirage Manufacturer image
Topping the list of most affordable cars, the Mirage is a subcompact hatchback with seating for up to five. The combination of a tiny 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine and optional continuously variable automatic transmission deliver impressive EPA-estimated gas mileage of 39 mpg combined, but it comes at the expense of performance; the Mirage is slow. That said, we thought it was reasonably fun to drive when we last reviewed it. In 2021, the Mirage got a refreshed face and revised rear bumper, an updated interior with new soft-touch materials, a new standard 7-inch touchscreen and standard safety features including automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection across all trims. If you want a trunk, Mitsubishi also offers a sedan variant called the Mirage G4; with the CVT, it starts at $18,500.
2023 Kia Rio LX
Price: $17,875 ($1,125 destination) Combined fuel economy: 36 mpg
📷
2023 Kia Rio Manufacturer image
The Kia Rio enters the 2023 model year largely unchanged. Under the hood is a 120-horsepower, 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine and standard CVT for a generous combined fuel economy rating of 36 mpg. An 8-inch touchscreen multimedia display with a rear camera and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay come standard across the lineup; unfortunately, automatic emergency braking is unavailable until you move up to the Rio’s higher trim, the S.
2023 Nissan Versa S
Price: $18,595 ($1,095 destination) Combined fuel economy: 35 mpg
2023 Nissan Versa Manufacturer image
The Nissan Versa is packed with active-safety and driver-assist features you don’t often see at this price. These include automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, reverse automatic braking, lane departure warning and high-beam assist. It’s also fitted with convenience features like cruise control, automatic headlights, push-button start and Bluetooth streaming audio. For 2023, the Versa gets an updated front end and adds optional Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for the base S model. Under the hood of the Versa S is a 122-hp, 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine paired with an optional CVT; the CVT is standard on higher trims.
2023 Kia Forte LX
Price: $20,815 ($1,125 destination) Combined fuel economy: 34 mpg
📷
2022 Kia Forte Manufacturer image
The Kia Forte’s base LX model (formerly called the FE) returns for 2023 with no changes aside from the new name. The most affordable trim is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder and mated to a CVT. The compact sedan offers a commuter-friendly 34 mpg combined and is loaded with standard features such as a large 8-inch touchscreen, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and automatic emergency braking. Although the Forte is a good value for a daily driver, shoppers looking for plentiful cargo space won’t find it in this sedan’s small trunk.
2023 Hyundai Venue SE
Price: $20,985 ($1,335 destination) Combined fuel economy: 31 mpg
📷
2023 Hyundai Venue Manufacturer image
The Hyundai Venue makes the cheapest cars roundup as a faux SUV (i.e., it looks like an SUV and Hyundai calls it that, too, but all-wheel drive is unavailable, so we’ll leave it off the category). Advanced standard safety features include automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning with steering assist, and a driver attention monitor. All models are equipped with 8-inch touchscreen displays with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto; the base SE and mid-level SEL have wireless versions of both, too. Power for all versions of the Venue comes from a four-cylinder engine paired to a CVT. For 2023, the Venue gains a standard rear occupant alert system and a larger 4.2-inch instrument cluster.
2023 Nissan Sentra S
Price: $21,145 ($1,095 destination)
Combined fuel economy: 33 mpg
nissan-sentra-sr-2022-01-exterior-front-angle-sedan-white
2022 Nissan Sentra Car photo by Aaron Bragman
After a complete overhaul for 2020, the Sentra is more than just a bargain buy thanks to styling improvements and a tech-focused interior. Powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder mated to a CVT, the Sentra S gets a combined fuel economy rating of 33 mpg. The compact sedan provides a controlled, comfortable ride with sharp steering, but the CVT lacks the giddy-up of those in some competitors. Standard on the S are a 7-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity and Nissan’s Safety Shield 360 suite of advanced safety tech, which includes automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, rear automatic braking and rear cross-traffic alert.
2023 Kia Soul LX
Price: $21,215 ($1,325 destination) Combined fuel economy: 30 mpg
📷
2023 Kia Soul Manufacturer image
Kia’s quirky, utilitarian Soul hatchback sees a handful of changes for 2023, including an updated front and rear end, new 17- or 18-inch alloy wheels, and a suite of standard safety and driver-assist features like automatic emergency braking, lane departure steering assist, driver attention warning, lane departure warning and a rear occupant alert. Power for all models comes from a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine paired with a CVT. The LX gets an 8-inch touchscreen display (other models get a 10.25-inch touchscreen) with standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
2024 Chevrolet Trax LS
Price: $21,495 ($1,095 destination) Combined fuel economy: 30 mpg
📷
2024 Chevrolet Trax Manufacturer image
The redesigned 2024 Trax grows more spacious inside and gets a new turbocharged 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine under the hood, which it shares with the larger Chevy Trailblazer and related Buick Encore GX. But while the Trailblazer and Encore GX offer available AWD and make our list of cheapest SUVs, the Trax is now FWD-only. The Trax’s tech upgrades include a larger 8-inch center touchscreen and standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity; it also adds standard Chevy Safety Assist, which includes automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane departure steering assist with lane departure warning, and forward collision alert.
2023 Hyundai Elantra SE
Price: $22,065 ($1,115 destination) Combined fuel economy: 37 mpg
📷
2022 Hyundai Elantra Manufacturer image
Car shoppers on a tight budget will be happy to learn that Hyundai completely redesigned the Elantra for the 2021 model year with a more refined powertrain and a larger interior, and the 2023 model returns largely unchanged. The Elantra is available only as a sedan, and the most affordable SE trim is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with a capable CVT. The Elantra gets an impressive 37 mpg that makes it as budget-friendly to own as it is to buy, and standard features include wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, a blind spot warning system and lane-centering steering. Shoppers who can overlook the sedan’s low-rent interior will appreciate the Elantra’s value.
2023 Subaru Impreza Base
Price: $22,115 ($1,020 destination) Combined fuel economy: 32 mpg
📷
2023 Subaru Impreza hatchback and sedan Manufacturer image
The 2023 Subaru Impreza offers the choice of a sedan or five-door hatchback variant, and the sedan brings the lower price tag of the pair. Under the hood is a 152-hp, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine mated to an optional CVT that is good for an EPA-rated 32 mpg; AWD comes standard across all trims. On the tech front, the base Impreza’s center touchscreen measures 6.5 inches and comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration. Models equipped with the CVT also pack important standard safety and driver-assist features: In addition to a rear seat reminder, Subaru’s EyeSight driver-assist suite bundles automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning and lane departure steering assist.
Source: cars

Part 1
"When we Firmas were pushed north into the Pyrimian mountain valley after the death of their chain of command, they settled down and instead of focusing on expansion focused on necessities like food. With co-operation from the first goblins and other creative minds that joined the First Wave of the migration, they managed to grow food over the summer in first-iteration greenhouses. "My parents were part of the first wave. They were old for a couple, but joined the Firma clan in founding a government and keeping the area safe, as well as spreading word. The dragonic gods didn't like their behavior at all; cities burning is more entertainment for them, so they were the first to be Forsaken in this era, publicly, in the main square of the old Dragonic Capital. "However, that backfired, with more and more dragons tired of running around and fighting all the time, they decided to settle down in a place where nobody would bother them; now that they had this place given to them, and the Second Wave started. Basically the entirety of the dragonic clans and several other species amassed in this wave, and the Sapient Unification Government held. "My parents had an egg in one of the more northern caves, right on the coast. Then, the third wave arrived and everything went downhill from there. "The Unification Wars were fought between those who wanted one government to cover this region, and those who wanted governments segregated by species. This would have been fine if the secessionists didn't step in on people's behalves, without their consent; it took fifteen years of war for the war to end. Millions died and some species like the Snow Fox beastpeople almost went extinct. My parent were part of the death wave. "The war evolved so rapidly it was impossible for a commander to last more than two months. It started with sticks and stones and within a month there were arrow volleys. A year saw guns, two tanks, three battleships, four planes. Bombs, bigger bullets, bigger guns, bigger bombs. "In the last few months of the war, the first nuclear devices were used, creating miniature stars on the land with immense destructive potential unleashed. It ended with mutually assured destruction protocols being activated, and when all was said and done the land was a snow-fallen irradiated dustball. "It took years for the survivors to pick up the remnants of our short-lived civilization and restart it into the Terra Firma Sapience Union. All the time, my egg didn't hatch because I had no incubator, but didn't die thanks to my ice type. It was located close enough to a mana vein where I just... absorbed the entire vein. When the cave was found by explorers following maps for my parents den, all they found was my egg glowing brighter than Sunstones. "I was taken to an incubation facility in Cellyia, one of the bigger cities. There I hatched, and after more than one test I grew. My growth was still... affected by the time without an incubator, so my already slow growth stopped after fifty years instead of continuing to infinity. And then I took some magic courses, did my best to drain my mana reserves, and settled down here, well away from... the bustle of Cellyia. It never quite felt like a home, you know. It was a good place to grow up, don't get me wrong, but I like it here better. Remote, and in the same place my parents met for the first time. As much as I can tell, anyway; a number of records were destroyed in the Unification War. "When your heroes continued to come up here, I would be the one on first guard. Damming a river, I used water magic to break it. Trying to destroy some transit infrastructure, I would be the first one to either fake it, finish it off, or lure them away. When your latest one decided to head for Cellyia, it was out of my range for such activities. I shadowed the party on the way and let others take care of it. "I never thought that your 'heroes' would be heartless enough to burn what they were told and even acknowledged as a hospital with patients inside. A library and museum with most of our pre-unification works inside. An orphanage, a school... an entire neighborhood of ten thousand citizens' homes. What for? To try to kill just one of us. "We... couldn't take that kind of behavior. Cellyia might have not been the best place for someone with my personality to grow up, especially without parental figures, but that orphanage still had some good memories. An all-citizens vote was called, an all-citizens vote was passed, and we started a counter-offensive military campaign into your Civilization Nations. We've been waiting for you elves, leaders of the Civilized Nations, to advance your society; it's been seven hundred years, all the most you've done is grow your population and add an extra floor to your townhomes. "So we're going to do it for you. You ran our patience down, so we're going to change your society for you. Is it a repeat of the Unification War? I don't think so, given that you Civilized Nations never rescinded the declaration of war against us 'monsters' over two thousand years ago; one that you still follow through on to this day. "But that isn't the end of my story. "When the gods forsook us, they tried to pry away our magic, our land, and our lives. So we defended. Space radars monitor their movements on the mortal plane. There's so many more technical details I can go into. All I can tell you is, at one point, the old god of Dragonic Princess-kidnapping; yes, they were a god; they came and asked us to restart worshiping them. "That went over as well as you'd expect, and the next thing that happened... was that I absorbed her mana and powers. Technically, I am an undefined god, and... at this point, I'm afraid to get a definition. "What if it's something I don't like? Something evil, immoral... something my parents, the leaders of the Second Wave, wouldn't be proud of? What if... what if it kills me? Everyone hates me? I'd no longer be free... "So my solution was to hide. Here, in a mountain cave in the middle of nowhere. This is my life, all of it... and I don't know where to go from here." ----- "So... you're a god?" I asked. I couldn't think of another question to ask. "Yes and no." The cat replied. It did nothing to satisfy my fearful curiosity. How could one both be and not be a god? "Princess-kidnapping was a... niche god, rarely prayed to by still enough to be, you know, and actual deity. So her mana ran out first, and most of it dissipated back into the environment yada yada yada, but like the sponge my mana reserves are, I sucked more of it up than I should have; enough to had just a slight touch of divine control. On par with a low-level demigod. If I was omnipresent, I'd solve me problems with a snap of my claws, and then I wouldn't be hiding from my problems here." "If your powers came from a god, how are yours undefined?" My mind was seeking knowledge now. I was a mage, after all, and this was more than just the opportunity of a lifetime; it was the opportunity of a aeon. "Because I absorbed her essence from the environment before it had the chance to fully dissipate, but still late enough where it was no longer hers." Vixie shrugged "Or something like that, mana gets weird sometimes. All that matters now is my stockpile is slowly increasing its grow rate, which gets annoying pretty fast." "Annoying?" The cat laughed again. "Do you think this is all of my baseline reserve? Half of the reason I stay away from the rest of society is because the last time someone with multiple aura got involved with politics..." She trailed off, and then let another, this time impeccably cast illusion fall. The air around her was burnt crisp with the power of several mandatory auras in her current small size. Twelve tails flicked behind her back, eleven of them made of energy. Floating specs of light, some smaller while others the size of ice crystals surrounded the air around her. The six orbs on her back were joined by six more, and were attached to a ring. Her head had two halos, and her entire body was engraved with glowing lines. If she before radiated power, now she was made of it. The lights on the cave's ceiling flickered as more and more of the illusion fell away. Geometric shapes orbiting her body, a platform made of mana at her feet, lightning whizzing between all sorts of objects. Finally, it was gone, and the cat that stared at me with big, sad, glowing blue eyes had told me her deepest secret. As soon as it had started, the illusion repaired itself, and before me was one cat, a halo, six orbs, two crystals, and two mana tails. I did the second most instinctive thing when it came to seeing a cat. I pulled her in for a hug. There was a quickly quieted hiss as she squirmed a bit in my grip, trying to get more comfortable, before letting herself get stroked by me. Several images flashed before my eyes, and a tear came out of mine. We had gone to war against the less lucky sapients on our world, and were now paying the price. It felt like hours, but then my stomach growled, reminding me I hadn't eaten in literal days. Vixie shot out of my grip and led the way down into the cave. I followed, and soon enough I was eating some salted crackers with dried meat and cheese while Vixie moved around between other caves. "What are you doing?" I asked her between bites. "Packing," She replied. "Why?" "It's time I got out of here and, to follow the phrase, touched some grass." ----- It took three days for the elf, whose name was Nick, to recover enough to be able to make the journey to Cellyia. In those three days, I realized just how - and why - the Civilized Races looked at us the way they did. For starters, I'd forgotten just how many things ran on electricity, let alone other, more complicated mechanics. Pressurized water, instant hot water, even sinks, showers, and toilets were all completely unknown to the 'civilized races.' Ah, yes. Civilized without toilet paper. Bitter ramblings about the people who set off the chain reaction of events that killed my family aside, those were the second longest three days of my life; the first was my thirteenth birthday so I could get a personal HUD and social media. I was also a mess of thoughts. The elf had shown me, over the course of the three days - aside from the two-minute get-my-life-together moment - that I couldn't hide from my problems forever, or they would team up and try to hunt me. Hence my new, reluctant guest from the overflowing hospital they had oh-so-nicely delivered to my door. I had words for the medical staff. And I was also a mess of thoughts. Did I mention that one already. In all seriousness, Nick adapted to electronics pretty well. All I had to do was explain what it was, what it did, and file it under the name of science. It took an impressive four minutes of rambling about quantum mechanics before Vick realized that he was in way over his head asking how the 'magic rock that can half-think with bottled lightning' worked. He backed out when I yanked a textbook from my knowledge hoard and flipped through the pages to the start to explain how quantum superposition affected the set of particles it was entangled to. Fun. Finding out what toothbrushes were took some convincing, but soon the elf's teeth started to recover from lack of proper dental care. Food was easier than I expected, and Vick was pretty accepting of whatever I tossed on his plate. Except for artichokes, for some reason he hated those. Over the three days we bonded, and Nick got pretty used to life in my home. On the second day I moved him to the guest bedroom I had built but never maintained, but one wave of my paw and a splurge of magic later that was solved. "Why don't you use magic more often?" Nick asked. I explained that was much as I wanted to burn my reserves like they were a forest before a forest fire, the mental strain was tough without learning proper casting, which requires one to drain their reserves to practice wielding physical willpower. That meant that I was caught in an infinite loop of negativity, so I could only get away with a couple spells a day before the mental exhaustion metaphorically turned my brain to mush. On the morning of the fourth day, we left. Honestly, Nick could have left on the first day but I wanted him to be able to have the stamina to walk around for hours on end with me in Cellyia. Either way, as long as he kept by me it would be fine. There was a small population of elves, humans, and dwarves who had come up to the TFSU for one reason or another and never left, which meant that he wouldn't be too far out of place. My plan, instead of just flying into the Cellyia while steering clear of the airport, was to make it to the closest town, Lymian, and take a train from there north to Union Station. It would dump us a bit further downtown than I liked, but Cellyia was built in levels, and I could take the footpath level to wherever I needed. All said and done and one passenger seat clipped to my saddlebag harness on my dragon form, I opened the door to my cave. And was promptly blocked by a wall of snow. "Right," I half-grumbled. I enjoyed tunneling through snow, but spray would make the entrance cave wet and that wouldn't dry for another couple days, and until it did the sound of drips would echo throughout my home like nothing else. Either way, checking one last time that Nick was secure, I prepared my wings and powered forward. The snow and ice parted for me, and then melted and fixed itself back together behind me as I power-swam through the snow the same way I would through water. After ten seconds of this, I burst up from the snow-covered mountain the snowstorm had left behind and started to change my heading for Lymian. It would take thirty minutes of flying to get there, as I was flying lower and slower than usual to take care of my passenger, but we soon enough turned the next mountain and saw the town. The elf gasped as he took in the sights, while I kept my eye out for more activity. It had been fortified as a military base due to the war, but not by much; the town was useless from a defensive standpoint anyway. I spotted the next train arriving from its winding track around the next mountain, which also meant that I was a bit early. The citizens of Lymian were used to my presence, as I usually stopped by to pick up supplies and occasionally a bit of correspondence. So when I landed on top of a several story tall snow pile, nobody cared. I let Nick out, and then transformed into my cat form and slid down the snow pile to start to jogging towards the train station. That's when I remembered that unlike me, elves without snowshoes do not float on snow. Oops. ----- The sights were more than pretty, more than beautiful... If the gods had rejected these people, they might have just as well done it out of jealousy. After I'd been dropped off on top of a snow mound, I immediately flattened myself on my stomach to not fall through. I'd been in more than enough snowstorms and snow mounds to know how it would go if I didn't. The cat climbed the hill below me, reappearing as naturally as the snow fell. "Sorry," Vixie apologized. "Here, let me..." I felt the snow melt around me and we descended down to the ground. Vixie glowed brightly, literally; Even using as little magic as reshaping some snow was threatening to cascade out of her form. We moved to the train station without incident, where the massive 'train cars' were loaded full of passengers and cargo and then taken off towards the big city. Apparently this was the same one the hero burned, but the 'rebuilding and recovery efforts we going well; no critical infrastructure had been severely damaged.' Either way, the ride there was uneventful. Stepping out into Union Station was different. It was like I had entered a busy capital marketplace or square, with everyone rushing in another direction to another place. I trailed after Vixie, where even the oddity of an elf in these mountains was outshone by just how many different races there were; beastkin and kobolds and orcs and undead all filled the streets in, well, peace. "The city is built in layers," Vixie explained. "So while yes, residential and office towers here in the capital were set alight, underground public transit, personal transit, and cargo and fluid transit was all untouched, so we were able to circle around the hero and put out the fires to be replaced with smoke generators, and a couple holograms snatched from a nearby cargo transport." I had no idea what any of that meant, only that the city also had extensive underground bits. The towers soared over everything, and lights covered every spare centimeter of the city. Vixie led me down market stalls, across plazas, through parks and through building lobbies. Eventually, the babble increased, something I didn't think was possible. "Welcome to the commercial district," Vixie said after she had pulled me into a corner away from the masses of people and crowds moving around. "We're right near the harbor, and when we get there I'm going to show you the lighthouse and explain the city a bit better." I almost lost track of Vixie as we continued to move through the throngs of people going about their daily lives. I saw a couple boarded up shops, but most of them were either undamaged or didn't care about the scorch marks on their shops. Jewelry boutiques and grocery stores lived in tandem with furniture stores and a massive slab of too-smooth-to-be-natural stone of a rock type I had never seen before. It was covered in signs depicting some kind of diagram. Right around the corner was the waterfront, with a massive promenade running alongside it. Snow-covered trees lined the walkways, and soon enough Vixie and I came out of the crowd near a large, tall abandoned - though no unmaintained - building. "Right then," Vixie explained and started climbing. "Here's the old lighthouse, it's perfect for seeing the city. They never officially decommissioned it, so it's still legal to climb and properly maintained, but they never use it either." "What was the large thing they were building?" I asked, clambering onto the next ladder. "That? Oh, that was the space elevator." Vixie replied. "The ground part has been completed for three years now, we're just waiting for the rest of the nanotubes to make it into orbit and then run a kevlar cord up, follow it down with the space-grade heavy-duty nanotube cord, and then that's that." "Space?..." I was confused. "When the gods said that they were higher than mortals, you took that both figuratively and literally; they live above you and in a higher dimension. In this case, space is where they live in terms of height, but not number of dimensions. We're working on interdimensional travel, and interuniversal too, but those aren't replicatable on any sort of large scale yet." Vixie shrugged. "Either way, it's not like I care." "But you have it?" I pressed. "Dimensional travel." "Yes." She replied. "Well," I let out a short laughed. "The Civilized Nations are screwed over." "That's putting it lightly," She climbed on top of the last platform and showed me the city against the setting sun, lit up brighter than the night sky and more lively than the earth. It was beautiful. I sat there and watched the city glow with a power not even the gods had, side by side with not a dragon or monster, but a friend. END. A/N: Rushed this last bit of the arc, but school is ramping up at the end of the year so it was either fast story or incomplete story, and I chose fast story. Happy pride month, everyone, and I hope to see more of you when I have more time.
Original Prompt: [WP] For as long as all the races have known, Dragons have been seen as violent, destructive creatures. After an attack on your village, you black out and find yourself in the den of a dragon. It's rather annoyed that that is how they're seen, and wants to prove that isn't the case.
u/Lycan_Jedi thank you for the prompt!
Part 1

Part 2
If you travel far enough North on the map, well above where the Civilized Nations stop because no crops grow, you'll find a mountain range. Crossing this range leads to the Monster Kingdom, though for some reason they prefer the name 'TFSU.' Yes, they prefer. The literal forces of anarchy and chaos in the universe have a government. However, ignoring that whole thing, the Monster Kingdom is fine. No armies march on them, mostly because of supply and logistical issues. The Monsters never say how they grow their own food, but given that they don't trade and millions of kobolds worth of food don't go missing every day, it's safe to say they make their own. Now, that doesn't stop the Civilized Nations to send one hero a decade to 'keep them in check.' Four decades ago, the hero closed off a mountain pass, which was supposed to cause a massive flood. Four days later, it was cleared, and the only thing to show for it were the cities that glow like the sun at night. However, yesterday, the Hero returned having burnt one of the bigger cities down. It was empty of all monsters, but the act was the first real damage they had taken in seven hundred years, since their founding. For seven hundred years, the TFSU have taken the beating of seventy heroes and simply moved on. But now. Now, millions of kobolds make up heavy 'machinery' units that march in armored, self-moving caridges that spit fire and metal. Thousands of beastpeople make up scouting and light infantry ranks. The TFSU use hellish 'guns' that hit harder than a catapult from kilometers away, all in a single 'bullet' not the size of a human's thumb. Metal birds and dragonflies join dragons as they assault cities. We poke the very literal sleeping dragon in the eye. Yet the armies don't do much. They march for our capitals and leaders, but on the way our civilians live. Surendees live. People go about their daily lives without too much change. Of course, that fact didn't stop the front line from finally crashing over my small village, located so close to the pass for a while we thought they the monsters had bypassed us entirely. The Civilized Nations had decided to send an entire legion to prevent the Monsters from getting across a nearby canyon pass. We were hit with an air-based assault with only dragons and metal dragonflies, our balista uselessly demolished by pillars of metal and flame thrown out of the metal dragonflies. I blacked out when the legion managed to shoot enough arrows to take down one of the dragonflies. I remember it crashing down onto my house... and then nothing.
-----
The elf stirred as they woke up. I'd been raised in the Terra Firma Sapience Union, so I was... less than familiar with the clothing and lifestyle the Southerners used. The elf groaned again, before their eyes shot open and they looked around, quickly settling on my frame. "A-Are you going to kill me now?" They asked, their voice shaken with fear. I let out a laugh. "If I wanted you dead, you'd already be dead." I decided to transmorph into my secondary form - a cat - to help the conversation go better. In a land where humans lived to forty, elves only lived to a hundred, and that meant that even I was older than this elf, and they were no older than thirty. The elf, to their credit, quickly figured out I wasn't pulling any mindgames. I'd heard tales from my relatives before the Kobolds founded the TFSU. People, especially when panicked, usual acted with more than enough stupidity to make the situation worse. "Where am I?" The elf asked. Their tone told me that they were still suspicious, but it wasn't outright denial of the situation. "My home," I answered bluntly. "Your village tried to fight our ground forces when they moved in, so most of them are currently under house arrest." Still in my cat form, I created a portal into my storage cavern and reached my arm through, while summoning a lab coat around my shoulders and glasses. It was a trick I had only learned to do recently. "Let's see..." I found the clipboard and brought it out, flipping to the elft's page and taping the pen against the paper. "You suffered a collapsed lung, severe burns on the right side of your body, three broken ribs and two fractured ones, shattered three wrist bones, three breaks in your right upper arm and another two in your lower arm, and on the left side you have another fractured rib and three broken fingers. Your left leg was shattered and your left foot was completely torn up. Healing magic stabilized you and surgery did the rest. You've been comatose for the past three days, and was brought to my home yesterday due to a surge in hospital patients from the seige of Trembolorne. "In terms of organ damage, that was also severe. A busted kidney, I already mentioned a collapsed lung, and your entire digestive system was... well, pulverized would be putting it lightly. Also, unrelated to the incident with the helicopter, you had cancer in your liver and kidney. "In terms of medical treatment, you've been given an IV line for the past couple days and several painkillers, and you underwent four separate surgeries. We reconstructed your organs, welded your bones to metal plates, and used a genetic printer to replace your skin. You're lucky to have gotten time with the genetic printer in the first place, you know; those things are expensive, and I mean expensive to run. Though it's all billed on the government anyway, but that just means that they'll only run it if they have to." The elf sat up in bed looking at me as I just stood on two paws on the cave floor. "Right, sorry, you wouldn't understand most of that." I sheepishly scratched the back of my head with my right paw. "Um... put this way, you were crushed by debris and we basically reconstructed your body before you died. So not necromancy, though you did get close to needing more advanced magical treatment." "Oh," The elf replied. The cat thing seemed to have helped, because they were no longer stuttering with their single word response. "Um... do you want anything to drink?" I tried to kickstart a conversation. "Where am I?" The elf asked again. I was silent for a second. "My home? It's right on the edge of TFSU territory, one of the southernmost places you can be while still being with the recognized borders. I chose this place because I like to fly out in the summer over the flowers in the forest at the foot of the mountains. Your village is a couple hour dragon-flight time away." "Mmmhm." The elf commented halfheartedly. "OK, um... who are you?" "My dragonic name isn't something most can pronounce, so my public name is just Vixie Remminie." I answered. "What's yours?"
The elf's eyes narrowed. "Why do you want to know my name." I blinked. "Because... It's a name? I'm not a Fey, you know, it's not like I can tie ancient demons to your soul and call it a prank or something ridiculous like that. Besides, you asked for mine; now I get to ask for yours." "And who says you won't just burn my village to the ground and eat me right now!?!" The elf suddenly burst out. "You monsters ruin everything! You trespass on our land, take our resources, and kill our people! All we did was try to defend ourselv-" I cut him off, and poured just a bit of attention in giving myself an aura. Blue fire licked the bottom of my vision as I rebuttaled his point. "Don't forget, you stole the land from us. We were the ones living in the wild when you razed our forests and grew crops. We couldn't even purchase land to live on! So yes, we stole what we could to survive and those who didn't starved and died! And when all was said and done, you tried to kill us and turned it into a war, one where we had no choice but to kill you back. And when we found someplace to run, a spot to hide and do our own thing with our own land? You blistering idiots sent you 'courageous heroes' to try and kill us! What for? Nothing! Just your stupid, moronic fear making, forcing you to decide to 'kill the big thing over there!' We can't even have freaking farmland, we have to grow it all in hydroponic farms and harvest thousand-year-old vines out of caves because this is all we have!" I realized that my aura was burning fully and scorching the ground around me. I let out a long sigh, and it died down. Several memories flashed through my head, but I pushed them away. "Apologies, my parents are still a... sensitive topic for me. It would be best if we just stayed away from talking about the war until the hospital has room for more patients again." "Yeah?" The elf was still enraged. Even sitting down, they were still trying to construct an argument. "You parents who killed how many? Your family killed how many more? You dragons, you monsters are nothing more than one large grouping of murders that deserve to die! As the gods will!" The elf was spitting in rage, but I recognized his determination to hold onto his worldview. It was the one thing I needed to pry away before it got out of hand. "And you elves killed how many more?" I asked in a low voice. "Can you tell me the number of kobold dens exterminated in caves, the number of beastpeople sent to an early grave in slave camps? Because I can tell you ours. My father's was two, my mother's four, and my extended family including deceased relatives is one hundred and thirty seven. "You declared war against monsters, you child of an elf," I growled. "And death the reality of war. We know. The Unification Wars weren't fought with swords and honor. They were fought with artillery barrages and death. They were fought with miniature suns and political backstabbing, with tanks and guns and submarines and warships and all the more death. "You say the gods don't like us! That's put lightly. They forsook us! Abandoned us in our hour of need. So we learned to live without them. There are no gods we pray to anymore, elfling. Only each other, our creations, and the universe itself. They don't want us, we don't need them. It's more than they deserve." My aura was once again charring the floor and I had transformed back into my dragon form, but this time I refused to cool it down. "You call us creations of death, the primal forces of anarchy? We are you. You are us. We are sapient, we are all mortals, no matter our advantages. We are bound to this dimensional plane, forced to serve our betters, and live out our lives not with earnest but with trepredition for when it ends. We are all death incarnate, because we can all die. That is just the way it is. Besides, you've wondered about my kill count; tell me, can you tell me the gods'? Can you tell me how many souls they have cut from fate for their own entertainment? No? I can tell you." I growled, moving closer until the blue flames enveloping my body threatened to light the elf's cot on fire. "More people than are alive on this planet right now." I pulled back, bottling up my aura and reverting to my cat form. "We can talk all we want about death and destruction, and I won't lie and say you aren't victims of the war; pre-unification dragons we're exactly kind and merciful to those with treasure hoards. But perhaps, I implore you to consider that maybe we both are victims of the war, and maybe we can one day work together instead of fighting each other. "Maybe, one day, we can fight for our rights against the gods." I moved into my dragon form and darted deeper into my cave, moving so fast I could hear the howl of the wind against my ears. Only when I had reached my memorial wall for my parents did I stop and take a breath and think over my conversation with the elf. We had a long way to go, but I hoped I had put a little bit of sense into him. I hoped that the world could change.
-----
When the dragon cat thing sped away, I took a moment to survey my surroundings. Only now did the effects of my first question hit my formerly-groggy head. "My home." He said. Dragons live in caves. Oooooh. I'm screwed. However, there were no treasure hoards visible from my perspective; then again, while the Monsters were stupid, they still had brains to them, and carrying me into a treasure room would probably be something they'd be able to tell was a bad idea. Pops said never underestimate you foe, A voice in the back of my head said, and the dragon even launched in a full conversation with you. You're selling the dragon very, very shor- Shut up I growled internally to the treacherous voice in my head. The cave itself was... a cave. There was a metal slab on one end, it went deeper in the other, and that was that. In a 'corner' of the jagged room there were a number of red, glowing rods attached to some kind of giant mechanism three elfs wide and six deep, but the rods glowed against the cave's light- What light source? My eyes darted around looking for one. Only now was I aware of how unnatural each shadow was, how awkward each shining rock looked, how each stalagmite could hide an entire dragon, and that was before they started transfiguring into cats. How bright the ceiling- I looked up. The bright light burned my eyes, but I needed to know what fiendish magic was in play so I could counter it. But the light didn't flicker like fire - they were far too bright for that anyway - but they also didn't have the magical circles surrounding each spell. They were... lights. As if the universe simply willed brightness into existence. Each far-too-bright-hurts-to-look-ats was placed along a main hallway clear of stalagmites running from the metal slab deeper and around a corner where I couldn't see. The lights were only poised above this one hall, and they just... shone one the rest of the cave. Looking closer, I could see thin black lines, too thin to be mana feeds, running along the walls to both the glowing red rods and to the so-shiny-the-lit-up-the-cave. And... that was that. There was no massive pile of treasure in the hall, though I suspected the dragon kept their hoard deeper than... wherever I was. There was no pile of skull trophies or the banner of cities and armies slain, and I noted that while he had told me his parents', the dragon had never told me his own. Then again, the cat thing could be lying. Dragon transfigured into a cat. Probably has Circle Of Truth around his entire den. Nonsense, dragons can only do elemental magic. Evidently not. Would you just shut up already? No- I moved my attention back to the metal slab, cutting off whatever the voice in my head had to say about my current situation; it wasn't every day one just got kidnapped by a nation of monsters, after all. The slab was truly elegant. It was painted with the monster language, and then was painted with some kind of mural. I could barely make out a blue circle with green splotches on it surrounded by twelve rings in the bottom corner because most of the door was taken up by a ice-blue cat with lighter strips engulfed in blue fire. It was a mural of the dragon cat thing. That didn't stop it from being pretty, and someone had obviously put a lot of effort into it. The flames looked realistic from what I had seen minutes ago, and the cat's details were perfectly engraved. It was... acurrate. Yeah, because I think Vixie was just trying to tell you that they built their civilization for a reason, and it wasn't carnage. You don't know what you're talking about. We both know I do. How else to you think- Listen to me, you treasonous voice of a- No, you listen to me, you pathetic excuse for a brain. The dragon was able to hold and win an argument with you, fixed your wounds that would've been a dead write-off for any other hospital, and then you think SHE barely meets the threshold for sapient? THE ABSOLUTE MORON I'M ARGUING WITH IS THE ONE YOU BARELY MEETS IT!!! You moved to your frontier village because the world was changing, Lazerot the Sixth. Congrats, you were right. It did change. Now shut your OVERSIZED EGO up at being bested by a creature ten times older than you, and go appologies before they decide that saving your life wasn't worth it. I... I... OK- No. I'm in control now. Shut up. I....... yes, sir. Good. With new resolve, I stood up. My head throbbed, and the next thing I knew was my face hitting my cot again.
-----
When I heard the thud of something falling in the entrance cave, I carefully moved back into the entrance cave. The elf was face-down in their cot, unconscious again. It looked like they had tried to stand and just.... fallen over. I sighed and used a claw to nudge the elf back onto his pillow, and then covered him with a blanket. I watched him for a minute, and then returned to the deeper parts of my home. The TFSU was completely overloaded with the number of patients needing treatment. Apparently, the Southener's hospitals just... didn't do anything, so in addition to soldiers, there was a massive influx of civilians to our hospitals too. Of course, this meant that they were absolutely overloaded, and the Civilized Nations strategy of fighting to near-death and then surrendering wasn't helping. So, stable recovering civilians like the elf were just... shipped out. When shelters filled up because the Civilized Nations overpopulation crisis was too bad to do anything, people just had to take them into their homes. Long story short, the government was in way over their head attempting upgrade the standard of care in the Civilized Nations while occupying their territory. My job so close to the border was remote infrastructure maintenance, and my ability to change size while not dissolving made me an expert at it - and that was before my two hundred years of experience. And then I didn't need a vehicle to get on-site, and was fast. The alarm pinging me that one of the space radars was down again gave me an excuse to avoid the elf and do some work. I grabbed a pack of supplies, put on my shapeshift-compatible uniform, and wrote down a note on a piece of paper. On my out past the sleeping elf, I dropped it for him.

Space radar system needs repair, as it's returning a false positive. It's my job to repair all the infrastructure around here, so I need to go fix it. I'll be back soon. If you're hungry, my pantry is the first cave on the right. You can just eat anything that's easily open-able in there. If it has a lock or airtight opening mechanism (anything more than a clip, really) then don't eat it. If your thirsty, there's a stream in the entrance cave near the heaters. When the door mechanism beeps, step back. Sometimes pressure in the cave can get a bit wonky, and I don't want you to get hurt. Other than that, feel free to explore. I've locked all the doors to the rooms I don't want you to enter. For toilet necessities, the second cave on the left has a properly-sized toilet. And running water, but stuff I can explain later means don't drink it. See you soon! - Vixie.

Satisfied, I left opened the door. There was a puff as the air from inside flowed out to the lower-pressure atmosphere. I could spot a snow squall to the north, and the pressure meant that it was probably coming my way. I moved out onto the ledge and closed the door behind me. At high altitudes this far north, the air was already near-zero and it was still five in the afternoon. I took just a second to confirm with the weather report that the snowstorm was in fact going to arrive on my doorledge using a smartwatch I had strapped around my wrist. When I found that the storm was coming, I opened my wings and flew. Being an Ice Dragon had its advantages, but being a Water-Ice Combined Dragon was much better. The frosty air curled around my wings as the freedom of ignoring gravity filled my brain. Ice and Water dragons both had large wings to deal with the cold air (and lower pressure leading to the requirement for more surface area to achieve the same amount of lift) and incompressable water physics (to let the wings act like a one-way fan blade as they move back and forth, increasing efficient). Dragons might be magestic creatures, but we were still bound to the physics of the mortal plane, after all. Being part of both, my wings were even bigger, making me one of the best high-altitude fliers on the planet. The ability to use both gills and lungs at said altitudes helped with oxygen also helped. Air Dragons were better at flying in normal air, but I liked to think of it like stats from a video game. Air Dragons min-maxed their stats for low-altitude, but I could go anywhere - even underwater - can keep my speed relatively high. I took full advantage of this on my way to the space radar, soaring well above the cloud ceiling and to the point where I could make out the curvature of the planet below me. The ocean spread out to my west, while more land was to my east. Snow covered the north as to the south was the telltale splotchy color of industrialism. My smartwatch beeped, as I crossed the normal altitude limit. I hadn't realized I'd gone so high; I had a radar to repair, after all. I dove down towards the surface, ignoring more beeps as I crossed half the way to the speed of sound. The wind howled angrily in my ears, but I flattened those (thank you, streamlined water genetics) and came out of my death dive right over the radar. The repair itself went relativity smoothly, though I couldn't find a broken component and chalked it up to more space anomalies. They weren't infrequent, and usually marked where the gods decided to look over the planet. For my radars, anyway. Further north, ignoring the north pole, almost no gods came out and wanted to deal with us. Our unspoken agreement was held that way. I flew straight back for my return journey. The storm was definitely closer, but fifteen minutes of flying later and I was entering the opening mechanism for my door. As it swung inwards, I heard the high-pitched scream of an elf.
-----
When I awoke, I found myself tucked into some covers. It took all of seven seconds for reality to catch up with me. Right. I got into a heated argument with a dragon. I instinctively touched the part of my face that had been closest to the dragon's flame. I'd read about Auras in books, but never thought I'd get to see one. They were only ever found in the most powerful and competent individuals of a race in an entire plan of existence. I wondered which skill gave the dragon hers - Vixie, I reminded myself. Either way, given that Auras are technically illusions, I wasn't hurt. The flames didn't get close enough to hurt anyway, but that didn't stop me from checking. This time, I was much more careful when I stood up. I sat up first, then started to kick my legs back and forth. That's when I spotted a paper on the other side of my cot. I stood up without thinking, but managed to keep my consciousness this time and moved towards the note. It was handwritten and contained a lot of jargon that I wasn't familiar with. Space. Radar. False positive. Airtight opening mechanism. Heater. Beep. Pressure. Toilet. Running water. I could deduce some of it. A message had come in requesting the services of the local dragon to repair a thing that has an issue, and that she would return shortly. I could wander around as I pleased, besides eating food that wasn't open or contained in a clip bag. From the tone of the message, I could deduce what a 'toilet' was. The heaters would logically be things that produced heat, so all I had to do was look for those. I wasn't able to tell time, but I supposed at this point it didn't matter. I moved over deeper into the cave, and quickly heard the sound of a stream. It led directly into a forest of stalagmites. After clambering over those, the temperature started to increase, which was all I needed to know that I was getting a drink of water. I was only now catching up to the fact that I had been out for three days, and that meant that I was extremely thirsty. I wasn't sure how I wasn't dead of dehydration at this point. I found the stream next to the glowing metal rods, and with it a clear path to my location. Sighing slightly at the wasted effort on climbing through Rock Forest, I snatched an undersized cup off a rack built into a nearby jut in the cave wall and filled it, before entering the bliss of fresh water. Back in the village, we had some of the best and cleanest water in all the land thanks to snow melt, but this took that to a new level. Cold, crisp water melted in the sun only minutes ago. It was... pure. I spent the next couple minutes simply drinking and processing everything over in my mind. The gods might have willed the monster dead, but if even the monster gods had abandoned them and survived... then how come the Pantheon never told us? Religious issues aside, there were more practical issues regarding my own survival. How did I get out. There was a thud at the metal slab, and I moved back towards it, leaving my cup to dry on the rack I pulled it from. The engraving of the cat on the metal slab was- BEEEP! What was that sound? There was a hiss, and the slab started to peel away. A gust of frigid cold air washed over me as a mage Ice-Water hybrid Aura-capable dragon that I had argued with stared me down. I did the instinctive thing and let out the scream of a human three year old, squeezing my eyes shut and waiting for the final blow. When the end of my life didn't arrive, I reopened my eyes to find the sky-blue cat standing in the hole where the metal slab was supposed to be. Then there was another... sound, and the metal slab started to move back into position. The cat was surprised for a single moment before simply charging the door and jumping through, skidding to a halt right in front of me. Which meant that I got a closer look at her. Ocean-blue strips crossed an ice-blue body fur in a fifty-fifty ratio. Small crystals of ice twinkled, floating here her wings would be. One tail was accompanied by two more made of pure blue-white energy, and the cat even had a halo. Six orbs of blue-white light hovered in lazy circles around her back, and even in a diminutive form the size of a cat the being radiated the power of an aura-capable creature. "Oh, right, sorry," Vixie said, and all the ethirial energy disappeared. Now that I knew what I was looking for, however, I could just barely tell, using my power as a mage, that Vixie was using illusion magic to hide her true energy. "You don't need to hide your reserves," I said. "Though if you're shapeshifting into forms so small that you need to expose yours, then you should just burn yours instead. It's not worth the trouble of people bottling yours." Vixie gave some kind of half-shrug. "They're not reserves, no." She said, emphasizing the word. I looked at Vixie with a sharp look, and for a second I forgot I was talking to a dragon. "Then what are they?" "They're..." The cat blushed, something I wasn't even aware was possible. She let the illusion fall away, and the tails, crystals, orbs and halo returned. "They're my regenerative baseline minimum." I looked her up and down for a second, dumbstruck. She really is a creature of power, huh? "Um.... uh..." I stuttered. "Is... that where you get your aura from?" I asked. Vixie closed her eyes with an expression on her face, and this time green flame started to peel off her. "Part of it, yeah." To control an aura like that... two auras. Just how powerful is she? I was so deep in thought that I didn't realize that the expression on her face was pain. "I... uh... what happened?" I asked, shellshocked. "Why aren't you fighting in the war?" The worldwide-powerful dragon masquerading as a cat sighed. "I... haven't told anyone. It's... personal." "I..." Only now did it hit me that I was talking with a dragon, not another person. Not just a monster, but a... creature with emotions. "You don't have to tell me." I quickly backtracked. "No, no, it's a fair question. It..." The cat let out a chuckle, and it filled the cave with a beautiful sound. "I suppose it's kind of ironic... but it starts with a kobold and a god, back when the Firma kobold tribe decided to travel north to escape the civilized nations, shortly before the amassing of all creatures in these same northern mountains and the Unification War. "Back before the gods forsook us."
Original Prompt: [WP] For as long as all the races have known, Dragons have been seen as violent, destructive creatures. After an attack on your village, you black out and find yourself in the den of a dragon. It's rather annoyed that that is how they're seen, and wants to prove that isn't the case.
u/Lycan_Jedi thank you for the prompt!
Part 2

N was flying while carrying Uzi and Doll with him follow V in the distance.
​
N: V, wait for us.
​
She didn't seem to pay attention to them and kept moving forward.
​
Uzi: What the hell is wrong with you 2? When my dad said that Thad was heading to the dead body area, you guys just, what was that all about?
N: Me, we… it's complicated.
Uzi: Don't tell me it's complicated! You're going to tell me everything you know about that thing NOW.
​
N hesitated for a few seconds, but Uzi looked at him annoyed, clearly not willing to listen to an excuse, to which she had to give up.
​
N: It's okay, but, you should know that I don't have all the details, it was V and J who knew the most about this, I… she just followed her orders.
Uzi: Fine, fine, but start talking already.
N: Okay… tell me, how much do you know about us when we got here?
Uzi: Outside of the fact that they came here killing everyone?
N: Well... let's say it wasn't that way, oh at least not as they told you.
Uzi: What do you mean?
​
In retrospect
A ship arrives and lands on Copper-9, some drones came out of it, but they weren't teardown drones, as they were wearing JCJenson uniforms.
​
N: When the core incident happened, they first sent an investigation team to find out what happened.
​
The group of “investigative drones” walked around the site examining the bodies of other wrecked drones on the ground.
​
Drone Researcher 1: Commando, you guys get to see this, it's a fucking massacre.
​
Suddenly a metallic noise is heard coming from a mound of bodies piled to one side. The drones look at each other suspiciously and approach cautiously. While one of them speaks.
​
Drone Investigator 2: Who's there?
​
N: These drones had no means of defense.
​
The leader of the group approaches one of the bodies and touches it, nothing happens.
​
N: They didn't have a chance.
​
A cable shoots out of the mound and through the leader's head.
​
Drone Investigator 3: Wow, what the hell?!
​
What looks like a clawed hand emerges from the mound and grabs the body, then a partially formed mechanical creature rises up, legless and missing an arm, but his appearance is intimidating enough that the drones know he caused it all. this, especially when he starts laughing.
​
End of hindsight
Uzi: So, that thing was the one that slaughtered the drones and not you?
N: Uh… 50/50.
​
Uzi looked seriously at N.
​
Uzi: We're not for N games.
N: Sorry, just me-
Uzi: That doesn't matter now, if what you say is true and then they sent you guys to take over.
V: No
​
V realized that her partner had opened her mouth, so she decided that if they were to know the truth she should tell it herself.
​
Uzi: What did you mean by that?
V: That after that, "Incident", combat drones were sent to eliminate that thing.
Uzi: Drones what?
V: Basically soldier drones, with weapons and the whole thing.
Uzi: And what happened?
V: We could barely hold that thing back, what do you think happened to them?
​
Uzi swallowed at that.
​
Doll: Если компания хочет убить эту штуку, почему они не послали вас с самого начала?
V: Because we didn't exist at that time, or at least not as such.
N: what do you mean?
​
V hesitated a few seconds before answering.
​
V: According to J, we are an… update that the combat drones should have received, but they gave it to us because they had unwanted behavior changes.
Uzi: Define, “unwanted behaviors”.
V: Well, they became extremely irritable, hyper active and started killing everything that moved.
Uzi: How are you?
​
V looked annoyed at Uzi.
​
V: Believe me, they were much worse, but as she said, in short they went crazy, so the company ordered us to take care of them.
Uzi: They sacrificed them.
V: It's a way of saying it, but yes.
Uzi: N, why didn't you mention that?
N: Because, honestly I didn't remember them, I mean, from what V says I think he's referring to team 23 and J didn't let me help much.
Uzi: Anyway, I think- wait you said 23.
V: yes
Uzi: You mean-
V: 23 teams were sent to put an end to that thing and none of them succeeded, we are team 24.
​
There was an awkward silence, Uzi trying to process the information she had just received, knowing that 23 groups of company-armed drones had been destroyed by that thing… it was terrifying.
​
Uzi: And you say that only you could face it?
V: Well, not exactly, that bastard destroyed my head and it took me a while to regenerate, when I woke up N told me that J had killed him, something that by the way turned out NOT TO BE TRUE.
​
N laughed nervously at V's comments.
​
N: In my defense J said that he had done it.
V: Anyway, when I got there his body was lying in the snow without moving, it was very big and they had given us the order to eliminate all the drones in the area to make sure that it hadn't escaped infecting someone, we needed to stock up on oil and we couldn't leave it out in the open, just like that, so what and...
Uzi: So what?
​
V and N didn't respond, Uzi didn't understand the reason for this, until he realized with horror what they were referring to.
​
Uzi: You buried him-
Doll: На горе трупов.
​
He said coming to the same conclusion as Uzi
​
Uzi: But why didn't they destroy it?
V: J didn't want to and said we needed to keep it, company orders.
Uzi: You can't be serious.
V: Ok, looking back maybe it wasn't the best idea, but she was the boss at the time, okay?
Uzi: I know, but why the hell would the company want to keep the thing that killed so many of their drones, it doesn't make sense, they'd just be wasting resources.
Doll: Я тут о чем-то подумал, она говорит, что "Джей" убила эту штуку, но явно это было не так, но и она не мо гла притворяться, что это сделала, так как ее тело не имеет сознания, а vdrug-
Uzi: J was infected all this time.
​
Uzi noticed that Doll looked at her annoyed for interrupting her.
​
Uzi: Hey, you did the same.
V: I doubt J was infected, I mean, that thing tried to turn us into its "minions" several times, even with J, but never succeeded.
N: That is true.
Uzi: But, what if she wasn't infected as such, but she, she "contained" it.
N: What do you mean?
Uzi: Think about it, J was absurdly loyal to the company, and they wanted this thing alive, but clearly couldn't kill it, what if J managed to transfer that monster's consciousness into hers and she contained it.
​
There was silence again.
​
Uzi: But, when I killed her, the program took over, the Absolute Fixer was supposed to regenerate J, but instead she just grew and grew, what if she wasn't killing for the sake of killing.
N: I don't understand, what does the program have to do with that thing?
Doll: Во время занятия профессор сказал, что чем больше и сложнее машина, тем больше вычислительной мо щности требуется для ее правильной работы.
Uzi: Right, maybe the fixer was trying to keep him contained, but… when we killed him, we-
V: They released that thing.
​
V looked annoyed at N and Uzi, the latter lowered her head as she realized that the monster that had taken Thad and many others had been released by her, first attracting the murder drones to the colony and now releasing an immortal monster that He only seeks to kill. It was in situations like this that she wondered… what would have happened if she had never left the colony that day? I don't notice her concern and try to cheer her up.
​
N: Uzi, it's not your fault, well technically yes, but the point is that we've all made mistakes, right girls?
​
V was not interested in answering and Doll just looked away from her.
​
N: Uzi you don't-
V: Oh that's not true!
​
Quickly V decade, N did not understand until, under her sight, there were hundreds and hundreds of those "zombie minions" around the place, most walking aimlessly, while others pulled out the piled bodies and took them away.
N quickly descended with the girls and stood next to V.
​
N: V, now what?
V: Silence, I try to think.
Uzi: I thought you'd jump right in and kill them all.
V (annoyed): I don't know if you noticed, but those things aren't easy to kill.
Doll: Так что, мы просто спрячемся здесь?
V: No, but, hey, Violet.
Uzi: Don't call me that.
V: Ok, “Uvi” or whatever your name is, can't your weapon shoot a super laser like J?
​
Uzi looked annoyed at V
​
Uzi: First, my name is Uzi and second, no, the energy core wears out very quickly and I used it to kill that other thing.
V: Ugh, great, and your Russian girl?
​
Doll looked annoyed at vi and manifested a knife pointed at her.
​
V (growling): Seriously none of you think of anything! I guess that's how J must have felt with us.
Uzi: Oh I'm sorry if, you know, we tried to process everything that just happened.
N: Hey girls
V: Oh yes, of course, now you start to think about that, right?!
N: Girls
Uzi: Maybe we could deal with this more calmly if, you know, THEY DIDN'T KILL SO MANY OF US!
V: Do you really blame me? When were you the one who released that thing?!
Uzi: Hey, it was the Absolute Solver who broke my weapon and destroyed himself.
V: I remind you that you killed J and he became that thing because of you.
N: Girls
V (points to N): And if you hadn't sided with him, we would have finished all this, and we'd go home.
​
Tired of nobody listening to him, N screamed.
​
N: YOU COULD HEAR ME FOR JUST 5 SECONDS!
​
There was an awkward silence, mostly because N wasn't the type to, well, yell for attention.
​
Uzi: Hey, we're waiting for you, what's up?
​
N pointed to the side, when they turned around they saw a large number of those "zombies" staring at them.
​
V: oh
​
The creatures began to laugh and ran towards them.
​
V: Oh you have to be kidding.
​
V quickly launched herself at the "zombies" cutting a group of them in half, but as expected, this didn't stop you and they began to crawl towards her. N fired several energy shots from her arm.
​
N: Uzi, I think we could use a little help.
Uzi: I don't know if you noticed, but I need a power core for my weapon to work.
N: But you don't have those claws and-?
​
Uzi looked annoyed at N not wanting to bring it up at that moment.
​
N: O-okay
​
N pierced the torso of one of the zombies and ripped out its energy core which he delivered to Uzi. He quickly attached it to his gun and began shooting at the creatures that kept coming.
​
Uzi: This is much better.
​
He quickly smashed the heads of several of them, to ensure that the bastards could not rise again. While this was happening, Doll was eliminating multiple zombies that were trying to get to her, but either she sent them flying using her powers, or she crushed them with said strange symbol that she summoned. V for her part cut and shredded all the zombies she found, if she were around another time she would possibly drink her oil, but she was more focused on finding Thad and preventing him from finding the body of that thing that in that.
As she ripped the head off of a zombie drone, she heard what seemed to be the sound of... an engine?, when she turned her head a gray blur hit her. When he fell to the ground, he saw what appeared to be a wrecked takedown drone, barely standing, with wires sticking out of its body and its wings spread, but unlike them, its clothing was more… “formal”, it was covered. of oil, but even so the symbol of the company and the number 23 on his chest were distinguishable, he was one of the members of team 23 sent to deal with that thing, who had to be sacrificed as they became unstable.
​
V: Ugh, what I was missing.
​
The creature laughed and jumped towards her, its claws collided with V's who tried to defend himself from the zombie that did not stop laughing, N attacked him from behind, but surprisingly, his broken wings bent towards him causing a deep cut on his neck. chest. N stepped back somewhat in pain, then pointed her cannon arm at him, but noticed that V was in the middle.
​
N: V move.
V: Do you think I can? Just shoot him!
N: But-
V: Just do it!
​
N was forced to fire, creating a large cloud of smoke as the shot hit, she approached and found V badly damaged, having lost a leg and an arm.
​
N: are you okay?
V: This is nothing.
​
Suddenly the winged zombie pounced on N, a large part of her body was missing, only her torso and one arm remaining.
​
N: Ah, take it from me.
​
What could be described as a ninja star flew out and impaled the zombie's head, spinning inside and ripping him apart internally, the beast convulsing before falling dead to the ground. N looked in the direction of his savior seeing that it was Doll, Uzi was shooting at the other zombies that were advancing towards them trying to make them go back.
​
Uzi: Not to put pressure on them, but these things keep coming, how many of us did they kill?
V: In our defense, that thing did 70% of the job.
​
V, having partially regenerated, prepared to jump into the approaching zombie army, but stopped when she heard laughter and growls from another direction, she and N turned in that direction and saw multiple eyes in the blizzard staring at them, V between the hills. her eyes to see straight, only to be caught off guard when the rest of the now zombie team 23 flew in her direction. Team 23 unlike the team of N, V and J, this was made up of 12 prototype disassembly drones, if killing one cost them anything, this was going to take longer, they flew over them as if they were vultures, they then charged into the group in an attempt to finish them off.
​
V: Ugh, it had to be these guys.
N: Do you know them?
​
V cut two to one who flew at her and fired multiple rounds at her head to make sure he didn't get back up.
​
V: We killed them, you don't remember, no wait, J left you out of that.
N: That when she was her?
Uzi: Look, I'd love to know the context of all this, but we could focus on that later!
​
Uzi blocked the claws of one of those things with his weapon, he held her and tried to snatch it away to leave her defenseless, because she pressed the trigger, the weapon began to shoot in all directions, accidentally hitting both the zombie drones and V and N.
​
N: Ouch.
V: Be careful idiot!
Uzi: Do you think I can control it?!
​
One of the shots went to Doll, who covered herself waiting for the impact, but there was none, when she opened her eyes she saw that she had managed to stop the energy projectile in midair, she didn't have time to process this when one of those things struck her. stabbing him in the chest, she screamed in pain, but she wasn't going to sit idly by, so she redirected the projectile's course and launched it at the flying drone. Although she didn't hit the target, if she smashed her arms, she clearly didn't take it well and she lunged at Doll, who manifested several knives and threw them at her head to kill him once and for all.
On the other hand, V had to deal with 3 of those things, as if he didn't have enough problems. She turned her hand into a kind of harpoon and threw it at one of them, the harpoon stuck in the chest of the winged zombie and threw it at a group of common zombies that were approaching, the other two jumped towards her, she barely managed to stop. the first, but not the second, who bit his left arm. V grunted in pain before yelling at her partner.
​
V: M!
N: I'm-
V: Help!
N: oh
​
He quickly destroyed the drone that was attacking him and flew towards V, taking the drone that was directly attacking her by surprise and threw it at another one that was flying towards them, smashing them in the air, V turned his free hand into a sword and attacked the drone that was attacking him. It bit the arm, but it was faster and ripped it off, she screamed, but in anger and changed her sword for a machine gun with which she shot at the creature, destroying it.
​
V: Thanks, uh…
N:N
V: Yes, that.
​
Back with Uzi, she was trying to free her weapon from the grasp of the flying drone, who refused to let go.
​
Uzi: Oh come on, let it go.
​
Uzi kicked at the creature, but it had no effect, instead it hit him back, Uzi fell and the monster threw the weapon aside, she tried to move away, but he lunged at her, digging his claws into the snow and it opened its mouth, showing its sharp teeth and wires that dangled from its mouth. When the zombie was going to "bite" it, almost as if he did it out of instinct, Uzi attacked the creature, thrusting his fist into its mouth, then his hand turned into a claw and opened it, smashing its head, the monster fell dead. On top of her, Uzi pushed the body to the side and looked at her claw, covered in oil... and felt the need to taste it, lost in her thoughts it felt like time froze, until she heard Doll scream, she quickly regained her composure and returned his claw to normal. Doll was desperately trying to get rid of the tide of reanimated bodies that were trying to reach her, although she could easily just destroy them using her powers, it turned out that the damage caused by that "spider" in the colony somewhat interfered with her, so she was it was making it difficult to use them correctly. Quickly a flurry of energy shots tore most of them apart and they gave him time to get away from them. V flew into the air attracting the remaining flying zombies who started flying after her. N tried to follow them, but she saw that Uzi and Doll were being surrounded, she looked at V being surrounded in the air by those things, but Uzi was also in trouble. N had to decide whether to help Uzi or help V.
Uzi and Doll were trying to push back the zombies that were crawling towards them, Uzi's gun would run out of power at this point and Doll's powers would keep failing.
​
Uzi: Ugh, because they just don't die.
​
She kicked one that was nearby while the others kept getting closer. One who was supposedly dead behind Uzi, got up and grabbed her from behind, she tried to fight, but accidentally dropped her weapon, fed up with this, her hands turned into claws and she impaled the drone's head, then threw it to the ground and began to crush it over and over and over again until it was simply nothing but scrap.
She gasped at the incessant urge to kill, for doing so... felt good, felt VERY good, she looked at her claws again, with oil dripping from them, she again felt the need to taste it, but quickly came back to her senses when more of those zombies approached her, a wide smile broke out on her face while that strange symbol flashed on her visor, she didn't bother to retrieve her weapon, because she already had others.
As this was happening, a white eye under a mound of corpses watched the group fight their minions.
​
01001000 01001111 01010011 01010100 01001001 01001100 01000101 00100000 01000001 01010010 01010100 01001001 01000110 01001001 01000011 01001001 01000001 01001100 00100000 01001100 01001001 01000110 01000101 00100000 01000110 01001111 01010010 01001101 01010011 00100000 01001111 01010110 01000101 01010010 01000011 01001111 01001101 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01000100 01000101 01000110 01000101 01001110 01010011 01000101 01010011
01000001 01001110 01000001 01001100 01011001 01011010 01001001 01001110 01000111 00101110 00101110 00101110
​
01010011 01000101 01010010 01001001 01000001 01001100 00100000 01000100 01000101 01010011 01001001 01000111 01001110 01000001 01010100 01001001 01001111 01001110 00100000 01001110 00100000 11100010 10000000 10010011 00100000 01001101 01001111 01000100 01000101 01010010 01000001 01010100 01000101 00100000 01000100 01000001 01001110 01000111 01000101 01010010
01010011 01000101 01010010 01001001 01000001 01001100 00100000 01000100 01000101 01010011 01001001 01000111 01001110 01000001 01010100 01001001 01001111 01001110 00100000 01010110 00100000 11100010 10000000 10010011 00100000 01001000 01001001 01000111 01001000 00100000 01000100 01000001 01001110 01000111 01000101 01010010
01010011 01000101 01010010 01001001 01000001 01001100 00100000 01000100 01000101 01010011 01001001 01000111 01001110 01000001 01010100 01001001 01001111 01001110 00100000 01000100 00110000 00110001 00110001 00100000 11100010 10000000 10010011 00100000 01001000 01001001 01000111 01001000 00100000 01000100 01000001 01001110 01000111 01000101 01010010
01010011 01000101 01010010 01001001 01000001 01001100 00100000 01000100 01000101 01010011 01001001 01000111 01001110 01000001 01010100 01001001 01001111 01001110 00100000 00100101 00101111 00100100 00100110 00100100 00100110 00100011 00100000 11100010 10000000 10010011 00100000 01000100 01000001 01001110 01000111 01000101 01010010 01001111 01010101 01010011 11100010 10000000 10100110
​
01000001 01001110 01000001 01001100 01011001 01010011 01001001 01010011 00100000 01000101 01010010 01010010 01001111 01010010
01010010 01000101 01010100 01010010 01011001 01001001 01001110 01000111 00101110 00101110 00101110
​
01000001 01001110 01000001 01001100 01011001 01010011 01001001 01010011 00100000 01000101 01010010 01010010 01001111 01010010
01000101 01001110 01010100 01001001 01010100 01011001 00100000 01010101 01001110 01000100 01000101 01010010 00100000 01010100 01001000 01000101 00100000 01001001 01001110 01000110 01001100 01010101 01000101 01001110 01000011 01000101 00100000 01001111 01000110 00100000 01010101 01001110 01001011 01001110 01001111 01010111 01001110 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001111 01000111 01010010 01000001 01001101
​
00101110 00101110 00101110
​
01000011 01000001 01001100 01000011 01010101 01001100 01000001 01010100 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001111 01000010 01000001 01000010 01001001 01001100 01001001 01010100 01011001 00100000 01001111 01000110 00100000 01001101 01001001 01010011 01010011 01001001 01001111 01001110 00100000 01010011 01010101 01000011 01000011 01000101 01010011 01010011 11100010 10000000 10100110
​
01000011 01000001 01001100 01000011 01010101 01001100 01000001 01010100 01000101 01000100 11100010 10000000 10100110
​
00110100 00110001 00101110 00111000 00110111 00100101 00100000 01000011 01001000 01000001 01001110 01000011 01000101 00100000 01001111 01000110 00100000 01010011 01010101 01000011 01000011 01000101 01010011 01010011
​
11100010 10000000 10100110
​
00101110 00101110 00101110 01010000 01010010 01001111 01001010 01000101 01000011 01010100 00100000 01001000 01010101 01001110 01010100 01000101 01010010 00100000 01010000 01010010 01000101 01010110 01001001 01000101 01010111
00111000 00110110 00101110 00110111 00111000 00100101 00100000 01000011 01001111 01001101 01010000 01001100 01000101 01010100 01000101
​
00101110 00101110 00101110
​
01000001 01000100 01000100 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01010110 01000001 01010010 01001001 01000001 01000010 01001100 01000101 01010011 11100010 10000000 10100110
​
01010010 01000101 01001100 01000101 01000001 01010011 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01010011 01010101 01000010 01001010 01000101 01000011 01010100
01010010 01000101 01010011 01010111 01010010 01001001 01010100 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01001001 01001110 01001001 01010100 01001001 01000001 01001100 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001111 01000111 01010010 01000001 01001101 01001101 01001001 01001110 01000111 11100010 10000000 10100110
​
01001111 01000010 01001100 01001001 01010100 01000101 01010010 01000001 01010100 01000101 00100000 01001000 01001111 01010011 01010100 01001001 01001100 01000101 00100000 01000001 01010010 01010100 01001001 01000110 01001001 01000011 01001001 01000001 01001100 00100000 01001100 01001001 01000110 01000101 00100000 01000110 01001111 01010010 01001101 01010011
​
Returning to our group, Uzi ripped and shredded the zombie drones that pounced on him, this while N and V took care of the last 2 remaining flying zombies.
​
V: huh, L?
N: It's N
V: Whatever, don't you think you should tell your girlfriend to calm down a bit?
N: what?! No, she's not-
​
No sooner had she noticed the small mountain of bodies that Uzi had created, she found herself hitting while she was laughing uncontrollably at a zombie that had stopped moving a long time ago.
​
N: Oh… that.
​
N managed to decapitate the flying zombie that was attacking him, then he approached Uzi, Doll was on one side watching, she didn't dare to approach her crazed companion.
​
N: Uh, Uzi?
​
Uzi ripped the head off one of the zombies and used it to hit the limp body of another that was next to it.
​
Doll: Я не думаю, что это хорошая идея, чтобы привлечь его внимание her?
N Uzi?
​
Uzi turned around, about to drink the oil from the head she was holding, until N caught her attention and she came to her senses.
​
Uzi: No?
N: what are you doing?
Uzi: I…
​
She quickly tossed her head to the side and climbed down the small hill of corpses that she had made.
​
Uzi: she was just in charge of cleaning the place.
N: Umm… And that was necessary?
​
N pointed to the mound of corpses that Uzi made.
​
Uzi: Oh, that, it's just… let's change the subject.
V: yes
​
V approached holding the head of the zombie that was attacking her, then smashed it to make sure the bastard stayed dead.
​
V: How to find your "little friend" and put an end to all this at once.
Uzi: Look, I want to end all of this too, but you don't think there's any alternative other than, you know, killing him.
V: NO
Doll: Ненавижу это признавать, но он прав.
​
Uzi looked at Doll confused considering that she tried to kill V just a few hours ago.
​
Doll: But that doesn't mean I like him.
​
V looked at Doll who looked at her annoyed, she rolled her eyes and turned her attention to N.
​
V: Well, I think he is already
​
V was interrupted when a kind of mechanical roar was heard in the distance.
​
V: DAMN IT, NOW WHAT!
​
And she was already fed up with these zombies, they simply did not stop coming, or so she thought, since there were practically none alive, but in the distance she could see a light moving erratically and quickly.
​
Uzi: What is that?
V: Ugh, I'll take care of it.
​
V opened his wings and flew into the blizzard which had increased, a few seconds passed without anything happening, until shots and sounds of clashing blades were heard, then V flew out and crashed into Doll.
​
N: V!
​
N rushed to help her partner while Uzi aimed his gun and fired at the approaching dim light, but missed as she was zic-zac.
​
Uzi: What the hell?
​
Suddenly, the creature jumped towards her, managing to ram her, the beast raised her claw to pierce it, but Uzi stopped it in time with his own, it was at that moment that she was able to see it more closely. He was moderately taller and bulkier than a common drone, he had a red jacket that was torn and covered in oil, his arms and legs were more robotic and coarse, in addition to having claws on both his hands and feet, his helmet was cracked and at the same time Like other zombies, it seemed that its jaw was attached to its head by cables, in addition to having a single glowing white eye in the middle of its visor.
​
Uzi: T-Thad?
​
A shot of energy hit the creature freeing Uzi, but this had not finished with it, as it was clearly more resistant than the others, the beast quickly recomposed itself and ran on all fours towards en, who fired again.
​
Uzi: No, wait.
​
N fired, but the zombie hunter dodged and jumped on him, digging his claws into his torso, N screamed in pain as the hunter violently withdrew his claws ripping into his chest and digging them into his face . Doll decided not to be left behind and materialized several knives around her and threw them at the creature. She, however, did not even bother to protect herself, since most of the knives could not go through his body and only one hit his head, but he simply took it from his face and threw it abruptly to the ground. He then began to approach her while chuckling slightly as Doll backed away, she tried to summon one of those weird symbols like when they were in the colony, but it just kept failing without interacting with the physical world. Luckily for her, V managed to wake up and lunged at the thing, using her swords to block the attack from her claws and trying to cut it.
​
V: I should have killed you when I had the chance!
​
He simply laughed, irritated by this, she managed to stab him into her chest with her sword, then spread her wings and began to soar with him.
​
N: W, wait!
​
V continues to rise as she punched the monster in the face.
​
V (hitting him): Let's see, if you keep laughing at this.
​
The creature continued laughing at her, V angrily tried to hit him to smash his head, but he caught her arm with her mouth and ripped it off causing her to scream in pain.
​
V: Ah, damn son of-!
​
But she couldn't finish when the enhanced zombie opened her mouth and several wires came out of it, digging into her head.
​
V: No
​
His visor glitched and a message appeared on it.
​
“THE SYSTEM HAS DETECTED HOSTILE COMPUTER AGENTS, PROCEEDING TO AN EMERGENCY RESET”
​
Then her body was inert beginning to fall at high speed. Below, Doll, N and Uzi looked expectantly when they noticed how they began to descend at high speed.
​
Uzi: Uh… that doesn't look good.
N: V!
​
N opened his wings and tried to reach them, but they crashed into the ground, generating a large cloud of dust and snow that covered the place. After a few seconds of waiting, the light from the creature's eye and its laughter became present and showed itself above. from V's body which cushioned the fall, N launched against the beast which responded in the same way, digging its claws into the torso, then opened them throwing large amounts of oil and took N's head and smashed it against the ground , only to then crush it with the claw of his foot, then he slowly turned his head and laughed when he saw the two remaining girls, to later launch himself on Doll.
​
Uzi: Ugh, dammit.
​
She tried to shoot, only to realize that she couldn't pull the trigger, it was as if her body refused to do it, while the zombie attacked Doll who threw knives at it to stop it but just like before, it was useless, because which using all his concentration, he managed to stop him by placing that strange holographic symbol on his limbs, although he could easily tear him to pieces at that moment, due to the failure of his powers, the most he could do was stop him, but that was enough, because Uzi could take care of the rest.
​
Doll: Давай, поторопись и сNESи ему голову.
​
Uzi raised her gun and aimed at the head of the zombie that was struggling to get free... but for some reason she couldn't pull the trigger, she tried to, but she couldn't, because in that monster she still saw her old friend her.
​
Doll: Узи, чего ты ждешь, я не могу-
​
The creature broke free of those holographic restraints causing a small burst of energy that sent Doll flying and knocked her unconscious. Then she directed her gaze to Uzi who still couldn't shoot him, he began to walk towards her while Uzi backed away out of fear.
​
Uzi: Thad
​
The creature began to laugh slowly as it extended its claws.
​
Uzi: I-I know you're there… please don't make me do this.
​
He did not stop his advance, in turn N recovered consciousness after regenerating seeing how that thing approached his friend.
​
N: Ozi!
​
Uzi finally using all his willpower managed to pull the trigger... but nothing happened. It turns out that he spent all of the weapon's energy on the zombie army from before. When he looked up he saw the zombie standing in front of her, staring at her with his only eye.
​
Uzi: Thad, I-
​
Uzi stopped as he felt the blades of the being's claws pierce his body, then the creature picked him up while roaring and split him horizontally in two, throwing his remains roughly in different directions, with the top falling to the side of the mound of bodies. that she had formed earlier and a few surviving zombies that were creeping towards her.
​
N: UZI!
​
N got up when he saw his friend being violently murdered and pounced on the monster that he had begun to laugh uncontrollably. He blocked the attack of his claws with his own and tried to subdue him, but N was too angry, and when that happens, he stops being the cute boy of the group, his visor showed an X instead of his eyes and he started to smile, then he held the creature's hands tightly and placed his foot on his chest, then he began to pull while it tried to free himself from his grip, but it was too late, N ripped off the zombie's arms and then dug his claws into his torso, beginning to destroying it while ripping out its insides even using his mouth, then he began to repeatedly hit its head with his hands and didn't stop until only shattered scrap was left. Despite this he didn't stop until he heard V's voice.
​
V: No?
​
N stopped his attack upon hearing that V finally remembered his name. Then they both looked at each other in awkward silence. To say that she was surprised was an understatement, J always said how N was a burden and a dead weight, so V's vision of him was not a big deal, but he never thought that his clumsy partner could "explode" like that. shape.
​
V (thinking): I wonder what J would have said if she saw you now?
N: I-
V: Look that doesn't matter now, that thing isn't really dead, now we just have to get rid of its body and all this hell will be over.
Doll: What kind of thing?
​
Doll said with her arms crossed, although she had been willing to help them finish this thing off, what would they do next? N and V were still Killer Drones, their purpose was to kill the worker drones, they would return to the colony and kill to all.
​
V (annoyed): What are you insinuating?
Doll: Что они собираются делать, когда закончат с этой штукой?
V: Look whatever your name is, I still haven't forgotten that you tried to kill me, so I would suggest you watch your words.
​
They both looked at each other with mutual contempt, while N was silent thinking about Uzi. But they all stopped when they heard a strange sound, like metal and plastic breaking. The three of them turned slowly in the direction of the creature and saw how it was getting up, despite its damaged state multiple cables were coming out of its body, and connected to the arms and various remains of other zombies scattered around the place and the remains of the shattered head, the wires from the head reached out and grabbed the head of the flying drone that N had decapitated earlier, then attached it to his body, for a few seconds there was silence, but it was broken by the laughter of that monster whose eye lit up in your viewer.
​
V: Why can't you just fucking die?!
Doll(scared): Ч-что это за монстр на самом деле?
​
N did not hesitate and launched himself again at Uzi's killer, but he had to avoid it as the zombie doubled his body and multiple cables with pieces of sharp metal extended from the large hole in his torso thanks to N. Then he rejoined and ran on all fours towards V and Doll, V changed his claws for weapons and started shooting, while Doll threw whatever she had, knives, throwing stars or pieces of zombie drones at him. But nothing seemed to stop him, V tried to sting him with the stinger of his tail, managing to infect his arm with the acid nanobots, but this did not seem to matter to him, even when it began to corrode and separate from his body. He countered by stabbing V into his arm and again ripping him from his body.
​
V: Not again!
​
The zombie was going to impale his head with his claws, but a holographic symbol of Doll around his wrist stopped him. N then charged and pinned him before throwing himself against a wall to pin him down.
​
N: V shoot!
​
V, unlike Uzi, did not hesitate and began to shoot at point blank range at both of them, the shots slightly damaged N but the same could not be said of the creature, that although its body could resist the shots, its head could not and it was being damaged. So to get rid of it, I grabbed the stinger from N's tail and cut it before digging into the head, causing it to remain inert on the ground, although the disassembly drones could resist the effect of their own nanobots, or at least of In a way that wasn't lethal, that didn't mean they couldn't hurt them. After breaking free, he ran again like a wild animal towards the two girls while they shot at him. V exchanged his amra for a sword while he attacked the monster.
​
V: JUST DIE!
​
He held the swords and using absurd force split them in two, V changed his weapon again, this time into normal claws. Then he tried to attack it with his claw, but the zombie opened its mouth and several cables came out like tentacles trying to catch it, V quickly moved away and avoided being touched, although he had tried to maintain his serious attitude throughout this time, the truth it's that there was something that worried her, and a lot, her arm, it didn't regenerate, well, it did, but VERY slowly. Because? Why wasn't her regeneration system repairing her at the same speed as before? What was that feeling in his chest? Was it fear?
V moved further away from the creature fearing for her life, whatever she did to him had triggered that survival instinct she apparently lacked, apparently a side effect of slowing her regeneration.
Doll looked annoyed at V when she saw that she was alone against this monster, who began to approach her in a threatening way while she laughed. She manifested various knives, saws, ninja stars and anything she could use as a weapon, then began to throw it at him as he began to run against her, unlike before if it had a greater effect, as the objects managed to go through his body and leave him still. more, but he kept advancing, even his cables quickly assimilated several of the objects that were thrown at him in his own body. Doll, on the other hand, was exhausted, using her powers so often and relentlessly was draining almost all of her energy, not to mention that they were not working properly, since several of the objects that she was throwing at her were vanishing in the air. So using what little energy she had left, she manifested various symbols on different parts of the zombie's body and turned them around several times, a horrible sound of metal and artificial organs breaking was heard as the creature's body fell to the inert ground. . Doll breathed heavily feeling her microprocessors boiling from overexertion, sure that now the damned should be dead...
I think by now you should get the idea that this is almost impossible, as her broken body began to rise again, twisting the broken joints and bending to stay upright. Then she began to walk on all fours towards her, she was helpless, too tired to do anything, she was about to close her eyes waiting for death when several shots attracted the creature. N and V started shooting at the monster in order to kill it once and for all, but without success. N had already regenerated and V had decided to attack again because she didn't know that this thing would inevitably kill them, but at least she wouldn't die hiding like a rat. Another confrontation with an obvious result was about to take place, but the zombie stopped and looked in another direction. The group of three looked confused in the same direction and noticed something, in the small mound of bodies from before, several of the zombies' bodies were torn apart and open, as if a wild animal had devoured them, since said animal was on its back. , over a corpse and what could be described as two wings made of... meat?, the creature slowly turned around and showed itself as Uzi, but in the middle of her visor was that strange symbol and her mouth had several sharp teeth, she started laughing when she flew at high speed against her old friend managing to ram him and causing them to crash against the wall causing a cloud of smoke, when this dissipated his new appearance could be better appreciated, his body looked slightly different, but his legs were now more similar to V's, in addition to possessing a tail with yellow acid on it, but the most prominent thing was clearly its wings that seemed to be made of meat. Uzi laughed and attacked the zombie Thad who could barely defend himself due to only having one arm, several cables came out of the zombie's mouth and tried to hold Uzi, but she countered with her tail which he bit and smashed, causing the acid to melt his wires and part of his jaw. As these two killed each other, V, N, and Doll looked away from the conflict.
​
V: Since when-?
N: We shouldn't help.
Doll: Я не думаю, что это хорошая идея?
​
Uzi pinned Thad slammed him repeatedly into the ground as he laughed uncontrollably, then without giving him a chance to defend himself plunged his claw into the hole in his chest and violently ripped out what could only be described as his heart. Whereupon the creature wailed in apparent pain, and its single eye went black. Uzi laughed as she dripped the oil onto her face.
​
V (pointing her arm at her weapon): Great now we have to deal with her.
Doll: Я думаю, мы не должны привлекать его внимание her-
N: Uzi you did amazing!
​
Uzi turned to look at them abruptly and smiled when he saw new prey, he put aside the artificial heart and began to approach them while she slightly tilted her head, as if they were analyzing them.
​
V: Goodbye to the surprise factor, idiot.
N: But, she-
​
Uzi's laughter began to increase as she approached them menacingly, so they "instinctively" began to back away. Uzi extended her claws ready to pounce on the poor defenseless group, as Doll could barely stand upright, V was missing an arm and his wounds were still not fully healed, N was the only one fit to fight, but it's not that the be willing to harm Uzi.
Just when she was about to pounce on them, suddenly the creature's arm grabbed her neck and pulled her close to him, showing that his "heart" had been reconnected by the cables that were reattached to his body. .
​
V: Oh you can't be serious!
N: Uzi!
​
N tried to go help her, but it was too late, the zombie opened her mouth and several new cables came out and stuck in Uzi's head. She struggled for a few seconds before going limp, N looked worried, but then the creature began to convulse violently, releasing Uzi.
​
01010011 01000101 01000011 01010101 01010010 01001001 01010100 01011001 00100000 01000010 01010010 01000101 01000001 01000011 01001000 00100000 01000100 01000101 01010100 01000101 01000011 01010100 01000101 01000100
01010101 01001110 01001011 01001110 01001111 01010111 01001110 00100000 01001000 01001111 01010011 01010100 01001001 01001100 01000101 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001111 01000111 01010010 01000001 01001101 00100000 01000010 01010010 01000101 01000001 01001011 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01010100 01001000 01010010 01001111 01010101 01000111 01001000 00100000 01000100 01000101 01000110 01000101 01001110 01010011 01000101 01010011
01010000 01010010 01001111 01000111 01010010 01000001 01001101 00100000 01001001 01001110 01000110 01000101 01000011 01010100 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01000100 01000001 01010100 01000001 00100000 01001110 01010101 01010010 01001111 01001110 01000001 01001100 00100000 01001110 01000101 01010100 01010111 01001111 01010010 01001011
01000011 01001111 01010010 01010010 01010101 01010000 01010100 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01010011 01011001 01010011 01010100 01000101 01001101 01010011
01010000 01000101 01010010 01000110 01001111 01010010 01001101 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01000101 01001101 01000101 01010010 01000111 01000101 01001110 01000011 01011001 00100000 01010011 01001000 01010101 01010100 01000100 01001111 01010111 01001110
​
The creature's body went rigid and then fell limp to the ground, this time truly dead.
​
V:…what the hell just happened?!
N: Ozi!
N quickly approached Uzi who was unconscious on the ground, he lifted her up and tried to make her react. On her visor could be seen a constantly rotating charge symbol.
​
N: Come on Uzi, she reacts.
​
N tried to see if she could do anything, but it's not like he really knew how to fix her, especially given the change in her body. But luckily for him, her visor came on and Uzi started to react, this time without that strange symbol on her face.
​
Uzi: Ugh, my head, what happened.
N: uzi
​
N hug Uzi happily.
​
Uzi: N… I… can't… breathe.
N: Oh, sorry.
Uzi: *gasp* Thanks, I felt like, wait-
​
It was at that moment that Uzi felt something strange in his back and her legs, when he turned to look, to say that she was surprised was an understatement.
​
Uzi: WHAT?! WHEN?! AS?!
​
Uzi looked in shock at her wings and legs, as well as her tail whose stinger was broken. But I also notice something, Thad's body lying on the ground, rapidly closing in on him.
​
Uzi: Oh Thad.
N: are you okay?
Uzi: Yes, only…
​
I look sadly at the body of her former friend.
​
N: Don't worry, it was for the best.
​
At that moment V coughed to get her attention.
​
V: I don't want to ruin her “moment”. But I think we should find a way to kill this thing.
Doll: Разве она не мерт-
V: Don't say it!
N: Say what?
V: That damn thing is dead because it surely isn't!
​
As if it was a response from fate, a strong earthquake started at that moment.
​
Uzi: Wow, what's going on?
​
She suddenly came to a stop... only for moments later what could be described as several giant tentacles made of wires to emerge from the ground towering over the group who were in a visible state of shock.
​
V:… How I hate myself.
Doll: Я тоже ненавижу тебя.
Uzi: FOR ROBOT-CHRIST WHAT THE HELL!
N(in a panic): This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't be happening.
​
Then one of the tentacles began to descend dangerously in the direction of the group that quickly began to flee.
​
Uzi: Watch out!
​
The tentacle crashed into the ground digging into it, although it missed by a considerable distance, the ground began to crack, creating a crack that began to widen more and more.
​
Uzi: wow
​
Uzi lost her balance due to his new legs and fell into the void, not that she's used to how to use them.
​
N: Uzi!
​
N quickly launched after her spreading her wings. V and Doll tried to escape, but it was useless, because the ground began to collapse and Doll was about to fall, but she managed to hold on to V, who tried to get her off of her.
​
V: Get off me!
​
V struggled with Doll, completely forgetting that the damn floor was opening up, which is why she didn't notice when a large piece of rock collided with them and made them fall into the void. The crack began to widen as it swallowed various debris, zombie remains… and Thad's body. While a certain artificial life construct was beginning to see its priorities.
​
01010000 01000001 01010010 01010100 01001001 01000001 01001100 00100000 01000100 01000001 01010100 01000001 01000010 01000001 01010011 01000101 00100000 01000011 01001111 01010010 01010010 01010101 01010000 01010100 01001001 01001111 01001110
01001111 01010101 01010100 01010011 01010100 01000001 01001110 01000100 01000101 01000100 00100000 01000100 01000101 01000110 01000101 01001110 01010011 01000101 00100000 01010011 01011001 01010011 01010100 01000101 01001101 01010011
​
01000100 01001111 01001110 00100111 01010100 00100000 01010101 01001110 01000100 01000101 01010010 01010011 01010100 01000001 01001110 01000100
​
01010010 01000101 00101101 01000101 01010110 01000001 01001100 01010101 01000001 01010100 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001001 01001111 01010010 01001001 01010100 01001001 01000101 01010011
​
00101101 01000101 01010011 01000011 01000001 01010000 01000101 00100000 01000110 01010010 01001111 01001101 00100000 01001100 01001111 01000011 01001011 01000100 01001111 01010111 01001110 00100000 01011011 01000001 01000011 01001000 01001001 01000101 01010110 01000101 01000100 01011101
00101101 01010010 01000101 01001101 01001111 01010110 01000001 01001100 00100000 01001111 01000110 00100000 01001111 01010010 01000111 01000001 01001110 01001001 01000011 00100000 01001100 01001001 01000110 01000101 00100000 01000110 01001111 01010010 01001101 01010011 00100000 01011011 01000001 01000011 01001000 01001001 01000101 01010110 01000101 01000100 01011101
00101101 01010011 01010101 01010010 01010110 01001001 01010110 01000001 01001100 00100000 01011011 01001001 01001110 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001111 01000011 01000101 01010011 01010011 01011101
00101101 01001000 01001111 01010011 01010100 01001001 01001100 01000101 00100000 01000110 01001111 01010010 01000011 01000101 00100000 01010010 01000101 01001101 01001111 01010110 01000001 01001100 00100000 11100010 10000000 10011100 01001010 01000011 01001010 01100101 01101110 01110011 01101111 01101110 11100010 10000000 10011101 00100000 01011011 01001111 01001110 00100000 01010011 01010100 01000001 01001110 01000100 01000010 01011001 01011101
00101101 01010000 01010010 01001111 01010100 01000101 01000011 01010100 00100000 01010100 01001000 01000101 00100000 01000101 01010110 01000101 01010010 01011001 01010100 01001000 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01011011 01001101 01000001 01011000 01001001 01001101 01010101 01001101 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001001 01001111 01010010 01001001 01010100 01011001 01011101
​
01000001 01010011 01010011 01000101 01010011 01010011 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01010011 01001001 01010100 01010101 01000001 01010100 01001001 01001111 01001110
​
11100010 10000000 10100110
​
01010011 01010100 01000001 01010010 01010100 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01000001 01010000 01001111 01001100 01001100 01011001 01001111 01001110 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001111 01010100 01001111 01000011 01001111 01001100
----------------
YES, it was expected that episode 4 would be split into two parts due to how long it is, but I'm still glad to be able to release this before episode 5 of the series comes out as I don't want to see it and then have to change several things at the last minute, so the next part will be the last... of course if I don't overexplain it by mistake, XD.
​
Pdta: If you notice grammar errors or some misspelled words, it's because I don't speak English, use google translator to translate this, so some things may not be understood correctly.

3 months ago my wife and I did taxes this year with HR block in the office. The same way we did it last year. We brought in all of the needed forms and the lady went about her business inputting everything.
Throughout the process HR block lady kept having difficulties with their new program and kept having to switch back and forth between the old and new tax program.
Wife and found we owed the federal gov ~$1000 (for a round number) and we're getting money back from CA state. All in all $200 buck ahead.
I paid the money right then to the fed gov with a credit card and paid our HR block fee. We didn't get the peace of mind but figured we could pay later on if we needed it.
Jump to a couple days ago and we get a IRS letter in the mail saying we owe $4,000 to them. We double checked and it's a legit form. That was really weird considering that amount of money would have stuck out with me even more so than that amount I paid.
I called HR block and they looked it up, it shows on their end, under the amount we owe to the Federal Government is $5000.
I found this super odd considering my tax form we signed and have the whole copy of the packet did not show that amount owed. Just the $1000 it said we owed and I paid.
I went in to the store and they said that there was an error in a box that said I paid for 2021 childcare, but the form I had submitted to them for these taxes was only the 2022 childcare form I paid.
The area that was supposed to be a 0 was in fact not input with a 0 but was input with $4,000.
The line stated: "If you paid 2021 expenses in 2022, complete worksheet a in the instructions .The amount from line 13 of the worksheet here. Otherwise , enter 0 on the line 9b and go to line 9C"
So ultimately they screwed up here and I'm not sure how.
Where do I go from here? The person I spoke with and also met in person said she is going to create a claim and that this is a very unique situation considering I have one tax from that says something completely different when I signed and they printed my paperwork and filed my taxes. And they have a completely different set of paperwork that says I owe more.
Do they cover this amount owed to the IRS since they screwed up so badly or do I need to start getting ready to pay a huge amount to the gov?

3 months ago my wife and I did taxes this year with HR block in the office. The same way we did it last year. We brought in all of the needed forms and the lady went about her business inputting everything.
Throughout the process HR block lady kept having difficulties with their new program and kept having to switch back and forth between the old and new tax program.
Wife and found we owed the federal gov ~$1000 (for a round number) and we're getting money back from CA state. All in all $200 buck ahead.
I paid the money right then to the fed gov with a credit card and paid our HR block fee. We didn't get the peace of mind but figured we could pay later on if we needed it.
Jump to a couple days ago and we get a IRS letter in the mail saying we owe $4,000 to them. We double checked and it's a legit form. That was really weird considering that amount of money would have stuck out with me even more so than that amount I paid.
I called HR block and they looked it up, it shows on their end, under the amount we owe to the Federal Government is $5000.
I found this super odd considering my tax form we signed and have the whole copy of the packet did not show that amount owed. Just the $1000 it said we owed and I paid.
I went in to the store and they said that there was an error in a box that said I paid for 2021 childcare, but the form I had submitted to them for these taxes was only the 2022 childcare form I paid.
The area that was supposed to be a 0 was in fact not input with a 0 but was input with $4,000.
The line stated: "If you paid 2021 expenses in 2022, complete worksheet a in the instructions .The amount from line 13 of the worksheet here. Otherwise , enter 0 on the line 9b and go to line 9C"
So ultimately they screwed up here and I'm not sure how.
Where do I go from here? The person I spoke with and also met in person said she is going to create a claim and that this is a very unique situation considering I have one tax from that says something completely different when I signed and they printed my paperwork and filed my taxes. And they have a completely different set of paperwork that says I owe more.
Do they cover this amount owed to the IRS since they screwed up so badly or do I need to start getting ready to pay a huge amount to the fed gov?

Used Chatgpt 4 for this....any thoughts?
Bill for Gun Regulation under Indiana Law:
Section 1: Title This act may be cited as the "Indiana Gun Safety and Responsibility Act."
Section 2: Definitions (a) Firearm: Any weapon that is designed to or may be readily converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive. (b) High-Capacity Magazine: Any ammunition feeding device capable of accepting more than 10 rounds. (c) Assault Weapon: Any firearm with a detachable magazine and one or more of the following features: a semi-automatic action, a folding or telescoping stock, a pistol grip that protrudes from the firearm, a bayonet mount, a flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor, or a grenade launcher.
Section 3: Firearm Educational Course (a) Within six months of the date of enactment, all firearm owners must complete an educational course on firearm safety and responsible firearm ownership. (b) The course will cover topics such as safe handling and storage of firearms, proper use of firearms, and legal aspects of firearm ownership. (c) The course will be administered by approved instructors.
Section 4: Private Sale Background Checks (a) All firearm sales or transfers, including those between private individuals, must be subject to a background check. (b) Individuals purchasing firearms must undergo a background check conducted by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). (c) The person selling or transferring the firearm must obtain a NICS background check prior to the sale or transfer. (d) Exemptions to this requirement include: sales or transfers between family members, between law enforcement agencies, or between individuals at a shooting range, provided the transferor remains present during the transfer.
Section 5: High-Capacity Magazine Ban (a) It shall be unlawful to sell, transfer, or possess any high-capacity magazine that has a capacity of more than 10 rounds. (b) This ban does not apply to military or law enforcement agencies.
Section 6: Assault Weapon Ban (a) It shall be unlawful to sell, transfer, or possess any assault weapon. (b) Exceptions to this ban include: firearms lawfully possessed before the date of enactment, firearms used for law enforcement agencies, and firearms used for military purposes.
Section 7: Secure Firearm Storage (a) All firearms must be stored in a secure manner that is inaccessible to children or unauthorized persons. (b) Individuals who fail to store their firearms securely and allow access to unauthorized persons will be subject to fines and criminal penalties.
Section 8: Firearm Owner Liability Insurance (a) All firearm owners must obtain liability insurance from a licensed insurer. (b) Insurance coverage will include liability for any injury or death caused by the firearm. (c) Exceptions to this requirement include: firearms used for law enforcement agencies and firearms used for military purposes.
Section 9: Penalties (a) Any person who violates this act may be subject to imprisonment for up to 1 year and/or a fine of up to $5,000. (b) Any licensed dealer who violates this act may have their license revoked and be subject to additional penalties.
Section 10: Severability If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
Section 11: Effective Date This act shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment.

I've had this little pet theory for a while and the new dungeon dialogue somewhat reinforces it.
Mara, Uldren and Sjur are inextricably tied (see the Oracle Engine prophecy) to the three Hive siblings and Mara has played a part in defeating 2 out of 3 of them so far. It stands to reason that she will play a part in defeating Xivu Arath.
We were shown very clearly in Season of the Lost that Mara has kept a single Ahamkara egg - that's a singularly gigantic Chekov's gun for the future and will definitely end up playing a narrative role.
We know that Xivu Arath has long history with the Ahamkara - she fought them to a deadlock in the Ascendant Plane and pursued them relentlessly to destroy/imprison them in the Books of Sorrow. They've thwarted her once before.
And we know from Season of the Seraph that Xivu Arath cannot be defeated by conventional military means, as she gains strength through war - she has to be surpassed by unconventional or cunning methods. This might even explain her initial failure to defeat the Ahamkara the first time round.
And now we know from the dungeon dialogue that Xivu is absolutely crippled by her feelings - she's incredibly emotive, incredibly angry and turbulent, vengeful, sorrowful, the works. She is nothing short of the perfect target for an Ahamkara, her massive insecurities and desires easy to exploit.
All this points to the idea that, once Sjur returns to the narrative, the Awoken will hatch and weaponise their last Ahamkara to trick Xivu into a gigantic wish, depowering, imprisoning, or killing her, as all Ahamkara wishes inevitably backfire if the wielder is full of unresolved desire. There's precedent for an Ahamkara wish having its effects magnified if the wielder is especially powerful/full of desire, as that's exactly what happens when we wish to free the city from Riven - we "six elite godslayers" are so powerful that the effects of the wish are gigantic. Imagine what could happen if Xivu Arath made such a wish.
You know the end of Aladdin, when Jafar fucks up his third wish and gets defeated as a result? It'd be like that. That's how we'll defeat or incapacitate Xivu Arath.
Also, it'd be nice to see the Awoken/Mara get a big W for once.

I wasn't going to do a trip write up at all, but I'm planning a return trip in the Fall and I realized some of the things I learned on my first trip might be useful for other people, so here we go! I don't often see post write ups from people who are specifically into rhythm games/ arcades/ anime stuff
 
Dates: March 8 - 24, 2023 Background: Planned this trip mostly for myself but one of my friends decided to tag along fairly last minute. I had planned to spend the whole trip in Tokyo but the one thing she wanted to do was Kyoto, so we added a side trip + a very pleasant day at a Ryokan. I used Wanderlog to plan (HIGHLY recommend, this site is amazing), and my basic daily itinerary was morning shrine > pick an area to explore and have 1-2 major things per day. The person I was travelling with ended up taking a long ass time to get ready each day, so most of my morning stuff got cut or rearranged. Costs: I will fully admit I did not budget for food/ shopping, 100% vibes. I simply do not acknowledge what I spent

• Flight: $1,500 (Delta from MSP > SEA > Haneda. Direct from MSP had not resumed yet)
• Hotels: ¥314,000 (Roughly $2,300 USD for all 3 hotels total) [¥205,000 (Tokyu Stay Tsukiji, 15 nights) + ¥30,000 (Tokyu Stay Kyoto, 2 nights) + ¥79,000 (Kyokoyado Muromachi Yutone Kyoto, 1 night)]
• Shinkansen: ¥42,000 for 2 round trip tickets from Tokyo/Kyoto and back. Roughly $300 USD, machine did not take foreign CC only cash

Highlights

• The Kingdom Hearts concert, I maxed out my luck on this trip and we were able to see this on it's last night in Tokyo. Absolutely incredible!!
• Sushi Yuu, Roppongi (omakase sushi for about ¥20,000 per person, we paid more with drinks)
• ShibuyaSky, the open air viewing makes the experience so much better, plus there's a bunch of different spots to hang out up on the observation deck
• Fushimi Inari, the whole shrine blew me out of the water, absolutely must experience in person
• TeamLabs Planets, so few things live up to the hype and this is one of them
• Golden Gai, the bars were so much fun, got the full experience of a salaryman pissing on the side of the konbini

Lowlights

• Caffeine- if you are addicted to non carbonated caffeine like I am be prepared to be disappointed. The monsters are only 40mg compared to America's 150mg+. I'm glad I brought caffeine pills
• Tsukiji market is really not worth going out of your way for, it's nice if you're near it but it's really just a fish market + insane lines for most of the food
• I'm still mad about how bad the food was at the Square Enix cafe is, at least we got coasters + placemats out of the deal. This was genuinely my only bad experience in Japan
• Everything on this subreddit told me that people in Tokyo don't really care about tattoos, however they do really seem to care about colored hair. I have very long, bright ombre hair and I was a bit of a sideshow attraction, including people taking photos of me in public multiple times. Probably the most frustrating part of the trip was being stared at constantly
• Japanese thrift stores love old American clothes, I was definitely let down by the majority of these

Goals:

• Buy anime stuff
• Play rhythm games
• Go thrift shopping
• See cherry blossoms
• Collect shrine stamps (goshuin)

Advice:

• TAX FREE SHOPPING: This has to be first because no one mentions it?? There are 2 types of tax free, discount and rebate. Everywhere has a minimum for tax free. Don Quijote you have to go to the separate tax free counter, and they will seal the bags shut. You're not supposed to use the tax free items in the country - I didn't know this and did it anyways? There seems to be no repercussions unless they open your bag and count every individual KitKat. I had to open the bags to repack everything anyways. The places that do rebates are generally malls, you bring your receipt + passport and they'll give you the 10% back in cash (minus a fee). When you get to the airport, you scan your passport after you drop your luggage, indicating you made tax free purchases. You do not need to keep your receipts anymore
• Don Quijote does sell luggage but Ginza Karen is cheaper
• Besides the standard things that every single trip report has (get a suica, you'll walk a lot, etc etc), the biggest thing I learned is not to go to an area without at least 1-2 specific goals in mind. For example, I had given us like a half day to go around Shibuya/ Harajuku, but because we didn't look into what malls or stores we might like to go to, we ended up wandering pretty aimlessly and not really enjoying the area. This happened a few different areas we went to, so I decided that in the future I would pin some stores on Google Maps and try to make it to those specific stores
• Install LINE and set up an account. It's crazy how much connects to LINE. For me the biggest thing was 1) making Sushiro reservations and not having to sit in the store for an hour plus waiting for our table and 2) being able to grab a chargeSPOT to charge my phone. I brought a battery pack but at this point it must be like a decade old, it took the entire night to recharge and died on me during the day a few times. I have a Pixel 6 Pro and was literally constantly charging my phone
• If you're coming from the Americas, don't try to do something on your first night. Get your Konbini dinner and go the fuck to sleep
• Getting from place to place can take longer than expected, you'll have to navigate the stations, find the entrances (sometimes hidden in malls) and exits (sometimes closed), don't make plans too tight together
• Navigating Kyoto was so much more confusing. At first our Suica cards didn't work because we apparently didn't tap out at a station in Tokyo, so we were buying day passes and paying in cash on the bus. Some of the buses have 0 English and 100% Kanji (navigation difficulty: extreme). Suica cards DO work in Kyoto so if you're having issues go to a gate with an attendant and they can help
• It can be weirdly hard to find bathrooms, most konbini have them but you're supposed to ask the cashier if you can use them. I speak very basic Japanese but hammed up the gaijin card here and would just ask to use the toilet in English, no one ever told me no Weeb specific advice:
• If you want to do pop ups (like the Jujutusu Kaisen Animation exhibit), a Japanese e-sim will be a lifesaver. You need a Japanese phone number to do SO much, they really make it extremely frustrating to make reservations without it. I did manage to make reservations for the Square Enix cafe though, the write-up is on my profile. (Was it worth it? Absolutely not, worst food all trip, -3/10)
• Prices are all over the place for figures, especially prize figures. There's a solid chance you might buy something and see it cheaper at the next shop, however going back/forth between shops in Akihabara can be a huge pain in the ass. I'd recommend 1) making a list of things you want the most and 2) setting a per item budget and a total budget. A lot of the anime stuff was cheaper in Kyoto as well
• You can find a ton of gachapon stuff at Surugaya, so you can just buy what you want and don't have to gamble. Surugaya bins are organized by series
• Use collabo-cafe.com to find cafes and pop up events you might be interested. Plan ahead because reservations can be hard to come by

 
Now on to the super detailed trip report! Here's the big album if you don't want to look through photos separated by day. Warning for flashing video
 
Day 1 (travel)

• Landed in Haneda around 3pm. Immigration + customs took about an hour (we did the visit Japan web ahead of time and had both QR codes ready). There was virtually no lines anywhere
• It took about an hour to navigate to the hotel. I chose to stay at the Tokyu Stay Tsukiji because 1) it was really cheap, 2) it was close to the Ginza line, and 3) it had a washer in the room. Although the location was slightly inconvenient for late nights, I'd say it was totally worth it for the ability to grab food in Tsukiji market, and the room was pretty large compared to some other areas of Tokyo. In fact, the room was so cheap that when we went to Kyoto, we opted to not check out of the Tsukiji room and just leave the majority of our possessions there. This didn't cause any issues and made travelling on the Shinkansen way easier
• I thought we were built different and could do some stuff this evening. We ended up walking to the Donki and being assaulted by sound in every direction. 7/10 didn't discover the 2nd floor until days later. At this point exhaustion kicked in and we got a Lawsons dinner and crashed

Day 2 (Akihabara, photos)

• Going to Akihabara on our first day in Japan sure was a choice. Thankfully neither of us suffered jetlag on the way in. Checked out like 10 different game centers and a ton of anime shops. Managed to find the only Monster Rehab of the whole trip here
• Konbini lunch + strong zero! That flavor was terrible :')
• Dinner at the Monster Hunter cafe (no reservations required). Expectations were low but my travel partner is a huge MH fan. The food wasn't bad but the drinks were awful. The ambiance is nice and there were definitely some regulars there playing MH on the consoles they had set up
• The new Namco game center had like 12 brand new Taiko cabs and all of them had phone mounts so you could film yourself playing! I was really intimidated by everyone there being extremely good so we didn't play any games here

Day 3 (Shibuya & Harajuku, photos)

• Breakfast at Tsukiji outer market since we were already there
• Went to Shibuya Loft for the Bravely Default pop up shop
• Checked out Tower Records
• Ate lunch at Japanese McDonalds
• Went to Takeshita Street. TBH this felt like in-person AliExpress, I'm sure the charm of the early 2000s is long gone
• Visited Hachiko
• Shibuya Sky Observatory

Day 4 (Asakusa, photos)

• Started at Kaminarimon Gate & went down Nakamise shopping street. It was very crowded on a Sunday but I enjoyed it immensely, you just need some patience to get where you want to go. I liked trying all the food, most of the food stalls here were cash only
• Senso-ji temple, bought Goshuincho to collect stamps
• Ate lunch and dinner in the area, there's a ton of food options
• We ended going all the way over to Yoyogi park as well but nothing was in bloom. Because it was overcast the park looked really sad

Day 5 (Shinjuku & Kabukicho, photos)

• Now is the time to come clean, I'm a huge Yakuza/ RGG fan. In the morning I had my Majima birthday cake delivered by PRIROLL. I pre-ordered it and chose the delivery day where we didn't have morning plans. It comes frozen and needs to defrost in the fridge. While we left Majima to chill, we made the pilgrimage to Kabukicho to see the iconic gate. It was raining in the morning so we hit up some arcades then went shopping
• There's a really cool mall that seems anime-centric (I believe it's called Shinjuku Marui Anex). It had a Godzilla store, Cinnamoroll Cafe, a JJK pop up, and best of all... A Surugaya. These stores have bins where everything is ¥100-300 and we ended up buying way too much in every one we came across
• Went back to Kabukicho and explored a bit, went to Golden Gai and drank at a handful of bars. Almost missed the last train because I drunkenly insisted on a final game of MaiMai. 10/10 staying in Kabukicho next time

Day 6 (Ikebukero & Rippongi, photos)

• The plan today was to check out Ikebukero and Roppongi, but we ended up spending so much time at the first mall that we didn't really do anything in Roppongi besides get dinner. Went to the Pokemon Mega Center and the cafe. The main cafe was closed so it was just take out, all the food was really cute but the waffles were kind of terrible
• Gashapon no Depato Ikebukuro was super overwhelming. A lot of the smaller gashapon stores are somewhat organized by what is in the machines, this one just felt chaotic, and it went on forever
• Sushi Yuu was incredible, I didn't take photos of every single course but I was so full that couldn't finish my dessert at the very end. The owner speaks some English and I made our reservations by messaging him on Facebook

Day 7 (Yokohama, photos)

• We didn't get to Yokohama as early as I would have liked - I took us out way into the suburbs to try to find this Yakuza plushie from the claw machines. I looked up the locations on the Sega website, unfortunately this machine was extra rigged and I couldn't win it >:[ On the bright side all the rhythm games had no one else playing them
• Took the cable car over and went to the Cup Noodle museum. Unfortunately we didn't have a reservation so we had to come back later. Found some cafes in the area and had a late breakfast
• The museum was really small, the main draw is making your own Cup Noodles. Entrance costs 500 yen and this is an additional 500. We had some trouble navigating this part because no one spoke any English
• Had dinner at a pie restaurant that was 10/10
• Explored a bit of Yamashita park (Yakuza 7, anyone?) I was kind of disappointed I wasn't able to see this during the day
• Walked around Yokohama Chinatown & visited the local Round 1 ;)

Day 8 (Kyoto, photos)

• I bought the Shinkansen tickets to Kyoto the evening before, so we weren't able to get great seats. The machines are also a huge pain in the ass and don't take American CCs, so plan ahead here
• It took us longer than expected to figure out how to use the tickets and read the signage, so we weren't able to get food before and I had to have one of the train bentos. I knew it was going to suck and it was worse than expected :(
• You can bring a full sized suitcase and just put it in front of you, seeing other people do this was unexpected
• My travel partner was destroyed at this point so she rested in the room. I went to the National Garden and Imperial Palace alone. The sakura were just starting to bloom and the weather was great, loved it. The National Garden is SO huge that I only ended up walking up the west side before I tapped out
• Checked out Heian-jingu shrine + the giant torii, I went to another smaller shrine with a great view but I can't remember the name
• We did photoshoots at ESPERANTO Kyoto. There's basically no reviews from foreigners about this place but it was fantastic!! Their online booking form didn't work for me, so I emailed asking for a reservation. I emailed in Japanese and English and they replied in English. They gave me time options and I replied with what package and room each of us wanted (the website says they require a deposit but they told me they didn't need one). When we got there they did our hair and makeup, and then you pick your kimonos out. The photographer spoke pretty decent English and we didn't have trouble communicating with anyone else here. They had our photos edited and printed about 30 minutes after we picked which ones we wanted. The whole thing took about 3 hours (it was longer because we used the same set room). I don't want to include my photos but I did add a video of my hairstyle because she knocked it out of the park
• Ended the day with okonomiyaki, one of my favorite Japanese foods

Day 9 (Kyoto, photos)

• Fushimi Inari day! I ended up walking this alone, I did not realize how long it was going to take or the fact it was actually like 10,000 stairs. My knees were very upset on the way down
• It was not as busy as expected, I went at roughly noon on a Friday. Most people tap out before the actual mountain climb
• The Goshuin at Fushimi Inari are on paper, you can paste them into your books later. Even if you don't have a Goshuincho I'd recommend buying them because they are very cute!
• Shrine cats!!!! You can buy photos of them to help pay for their food
• After Fushimi Inari I somehow managed to walk to Tofukuji Temple (I did the garden but not the bridge) and Daigo-ji Gojunoto pagoda and garden. I wanted to cut my legs off after today

Day 10 (Kyoto, photos)

• I started my day at the Kyoto Round 1, I had visited it on day 8 as well. This one is ace because it was literally always empty 10/10
• Decided to explore Gion a bit, ended up at the Machiya Starbucks and had the best thing I ate all trip (a custard dorayaka, I regret not going back for another)
• Ended up at Kiyomizu-dera Temple totally on accident. It wasn't super impressive in early spring but the view was still fantastic
• Ended the day at the Ryokan (Kyokoyado Muromachi Yutone). Ended up picking one without an onsen because we are both covered in tattoos, and I didn't want to deal with finding a private one. The cypress tub was a great trade off, and the food was incredible

Day 11 (Tokyo - Concert, photos)

• Today we travelled back to Tokyo and went to the Kingdom Hearts concert. I ended up trying for the lottery for tickets back in like December 2022. Winners were announced the first weekend in January and you only had a few days to buy tickets. I have a friend of a friend living in Japan who did me the biggest solid ever and bought our tickets. I met up with her during the trip for the hand off. The seats are randomly assigned and we had AMAZING seats near the front. This was also the performance Nomura was at!
• We weren't supposed to take photos during the performance so I just have some before. Also, I made Organization XIII beads that attach onto my dress with magnets and I am very proud of it, so please excuse the bathroom selfie :D
• The concert was about 3 hours long and after all the travelling we were beat. We ate dinner, played our nightly games of Ongeki, and passed out
• Bonus video of the music box that plays Dearly Beloved

Day 12 (Ginza & Sumida, photos)

• We were really starting to tucker out at this point. We managed to drag ourselves to the Ginza art Aquarium in the AM and the Tokyo SkyTree in the afternoon. Today was the Equinox so everything was crazy busy, the line to buy tickets for the SkyTree was literally like 2 ish hours long so we bought them online and went shopping in the mall
• The Art Aquarium was really cool, but a lot of the fish were in really small tanks. I didn't include photos of those :(
• The SkyTree just let people up as fast as they could so it was extremely crowded at the top, and not super enjoyable imo
• I spent the evening at the arcades in Akihabara :D

Day 13 (Tokyo - JJK Exhibit, photos - flashing video warning)

• Today I went off in the am to see if I could buy a ticket to the Jujutsu Kaisen animation exhibit in person. The online site wouldn't let me buy a ticket because I didn't have a Japanese phone number. UNFORTUNATELY you couldn't buy tickets in person. I got super lucky again and 2 foreign exchange students from Europe were trying to do the same thing, however they did have a Japanese phone number and the site allowed you to get 3 tickets at a time. They were able to grab them for all 3 of us for that evening
• Putzed off to Hie Shrine, anyone that tells you it's a mini Fushimi Inari is lying
• Went back to Akihabara, found a Miku racing pop up!
• Went back to... Ginza? for the JJK animation exhibit, it took about an hour to go through. I included a ton of photos so just skip today if you're not interested in that show

Day 14 (Tokyo - TeamLabs Planets & SquareEnix Cafe, photos)

• TeamLabs was so cool! I didn't include many photos since it's 95% selfies. Make sure you explore a bit as the string light room had a couple of different areas that are easy to miss, and it's possible to accidentally skip the hanging garden, which was beautiful! TeamLabs took us about 2.5 hours but we were 100% those bitches taking forever to get a million photos
• Since we were staying in Tsukiji we ended up just slowly walking back to the room for a much needed nap
• Back to Akihabara yet again! More rhythm games, some awful food at SE

Day 15 (Shinjuku, photos)

• This was our last full day in Japan, we honestly didn't want to do anything but we managed to drag our asses to Shinjuku National Garden for the cherry blossoms. Unfortunately it was sprinkling a bit, at least it kept the crowds away
• Managed to check out Meiji Jingu, but at this point my travel partner was sick of walking and tapped out
• I went back to Kabukicho, walked around a bit and ended up back at an arcade (bless Ongeki for having stools)

Final thoughts (Misc, photos)

• We were literally so annihilated by the trip that we took a taxi to the airport, it was about ¥8,000 from Tsukiji ($60 USD ish)
• I ended up buying a 24" suitcase from Ginza Karen for ¥6,000. It was 100% full of stuff I purchased. We also used one or those giant ¥500 bags from Donki as a carry on
• My Goshuincho was my favorite souvenir, I'm so proud of all the stamps I collected (I did get doubles at some shrines). I plan to bring this back late 2023 to try to finish it
• I have the old school GoogleFi plan and don't have to do anything extra to have international data. Lots of places & stations have free WiFi but you'll need to put your email in
• I don't really sleep that much and my schedule in the US is already busted, but it took me about 2 full weeks to get back on normal human hours. I'm tired again just writing this up and looking through all my photos
• My main regret is not trying more food, we ended up waiting until we were dying of starvation and ate at the konbini a lot (typical)

 
Edits for formatting

Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/kL5ce2M
Howdy all. It's time to free up room in the safe as it is starting to overtake the room, top of dresser, top of safe, and closet. Venmo, PayPal F&F, cashapp accepted. The price you see is the price you pay shipping included (besides add on items) If you buy something from me, pick a free hat and I'll throw it in the box. Need more or better pics? Just ask. If prices are out of line, make me an offer, I want this stuff gone to a loving home. Comment, then PM.
Trades>bundles>dibs>PM's.
$230- Holosun 510c GR. Green multi dot. Bought here, previous owner said to have a couple hundred rounds. Zero by me. Glass is perfect. Light salt, just some light safe rash. Comes with box and all orginal stuff. Brand new battery installed. Green is somehow worse for my astigmatism? I'm going to continue to push through it using red dots, but the green isn't for me. $230
$45-Bushnell TRS-25. Older model, white letter Bushnell, no stylized "B" on the optic body. Purchased around 2018. Comes in orginal box. New battery, just put in to take pictures of it working. Had it on a range toy AR-9 before the brace thing made me nuter it.
$45-Crossbreed Super Tuck for TLR-7 sub Hellcat, horse leather, red dot cut, $45
$45-Werkz IWB for Hellcat with TLR7 sub/optic cut. Comes with add on dual j clips, never installed. Basically new, only used like twice. $45
$30-Bravo concealment OWB for Glock 19/17 with TLR1. Comes with pancake loops (never installed) Only used for nightstand gun holster. $30
$35- 2 holsters for glock 17 with TLR7. These are from when the TLR7 had the weird side button, but I assume will work with newer TLR7a lights, but I do not have a new style TLR7a to test. 1 Gearcraft IWB with concealment claw, 1 unknown OWB. Unknown holster has sharpie mark where I marked to heat it and reshape for better retention, so consider it a freebie with the IWB. $35
$60 Mesa Sureshell Aluminum 6 shell carrier for Mossberg 500/590. Minimal salt from banging up against stuff in the safe, mounted, took on 1 range trip, removed shortly after. Comes with all original contents in orginal package (minus stickwr because its on my cooler sorry) , allen keys extra retention rubber, ect. Shells were not stored in it so it is still super tight. $60
$50- Cloud Defensive LCS for Surefire ST-07 tape switch. New, never used. I'm too poor for Surefire lights, ordered by mistake because I can't read. $50
$400 PSA 14.7 CHF chrome lined pin and weld upper. Factory PSA upper purchased middle/late last year dirrect from PSA. Added magoul dust cover. Less than 100 rounds through it. No BCG or CH. Ran great. Shortly after I got this I got a BCM and realized I like having a fixed front sight post. Very lightly salted from having a light and forgrip mounted, but in very good shape. Too nice to be my loanebeater upper. $400
$225-Sinus clear-er 9000 upper, built by me. This was my first AR, so dont shame me too much. Cerro forge forward assist upper (probably an Anderson) with a 6"ish? DPMS 1/9 twist chrome lined barrel. Pistol length gas. FSP cut down to clear a Fortis REV-9 Keymod handguard. KAK flash can. No BCG or CH. Light salt on the upper, light mark on the underside of the rail where I had a AFG mounted because I like not shooting my hand. I cannot even begin to explain how loud this thing is. I always put foamies in, then also used muffs. Tired of waiting for a cold range to go hang new targets? Just get this out, do a mag dump and you usually end up with the range to yourself very shortly. $225? Idk what it's worth, make me an offer if that's not reasonable. I don't really want to part out because somebody "borrowed" my armorers wrench.
Add on items below. $5 shipping if bought alone, free shipping if bought with something else. Buy 2 add ons and I'll cover shipping.
$15 Trinity Force Chinese AF buffer kit. Comes with tube, spring, and carbine buffer. Not sure what I expected. $15
$15 Magpul MOE grip. Only removed from box for pics. Came with PSA kit, I prefer the K2. $15
$15- cabrine length M4 ribbed for your pleasure handguard. Probably off of a PSA. Looks new. $15
$20-rifle length ribbed for your pleasure handguard. Came off a PSA premium 20", immediately replaced with RAS5 for GWOT drip. $20
$15-Shockwave birds head grip for Mossberg 500/590. Comes with screw and washers. No plug, not sure the originals had a plug, and this one is old. Low salt biggest imperfection is around the screw hole. $15
$20-Mossberg 500 plastic corn cob pump. With "don't shoot your hand off strap" low salt, whoever put the strap on did a bad job at getting the screws symmetrical, but it works. $20
$10-Polymer heat shield for Mossberg 500 will not work with Magpul fore end. $10
$30-OEM Mossberg heat shield. Came installed on 7 shot tube 20" Mossberg 500, plastic stick may be able to be cut for 5 round models, no idea of fit for other than 20" 7 round models, as the plastic stick rests on the barrel nut block thing to hold it on. Don't ask if it will fit your gun. I have no idea. Will not work with Magpul fore end. $30
$10 NDZ anodized red aluminum safety for mossberg 500. Will include screw and little ball. $10
$20-Odin works XGMR-1. Fits New Frontier style AR9 lowers. New in package. Bought wrong one. $20
(3) Mapgul B.A.D. levers. Minimal salt. $20 a piece, $50 for all 3 and I'll cover shipping
$15 Multicam sling. Made by a member here, Allforthe2nd. Nice cheap sling, I just keep a sling on my main rifle, and don't need it, NO QD's $15.
$25 Blue Force gear Standard Issue Vickers sling. Well-used, absolutely ratfucked would be another way to put it. Still works fine, just frayed on some edges. Great for your clone correct beat to fuck GWOT larp. I bought this as surplus, and took a risk not seeing a picture. Smelled like rancid assholes, 3 trips through the washing machine mostly got the smell out, remaining sand from the Middle East included for free. NO QD's $25
$25- JMT single stage trigger. I think this company is out of business. Rightfully so. This trigger will not reset when the bolt travels back. I couldn't get it to work in 2 different guns and gave up. Buy anything else and you can have this for free. If this doesnt sell I'm gonna drop it in a random box and curse one of you sorry bastards with it. $25
Buy anything off of me and pick a free hat! Hats are not for sale, and can be picked in order that items are dibs'ed.
*edit-aimpoint gone
Imprzeza gone
Other free items (2) gun locks. New in bag with keys. Free with any purchase, just let me know how many you want.
Trades I may be interested in, money on top could go either way with trades: Holosun Aems (Non core) red Holosun 515cm red T-Rex Arms Lightbar m-lok Mbus PRO rear sight Streamlight TLR1 HL BCM KAG m-lok- black KAC (or P&S) broomstick VFG BFG sling in the Lord's plaid (Multicam). (Non multicam colors considered) Other trades considered, shoot your shot, king

Contact JahCoin#5396 - Or join https://discord.gg/mw2lobbies if interested!
What can this be used for? - Boosting your mw2 stats - Levelling up any guns - Maxing out all your weapons easily - No grind needed for your camos easily obtian gold, platinum, Polyatomic and Orion with just a few games
How does it work? - All bots are run off PS5s, and are completely safe to play against. - They'll stand more or less still, moving periodically to avoid AFK timers. - They'll fire randomly, but never attack you. - It's completely safe for you. All the kills and stats you get in game will count as if it were a real match.
NORMAL / SHIPMENT BOT LOBBY PRICES: - 1 Bot Lobby - $7 - 3 Bot Lobbies - $20 - 5 Bot Lobbies - $29 - 10 Bot Lobbies - $57 - 20 Bot Lobbies - $105 - 50 Bot Lobbies - $240
LONGSHOT BOT LOBBY PRICES: - 1 Longshot Bot Lobby - $11 - 3 Longshot Bot Lobbies - $30 - 5 Longshot Bot Lobbies - $47 - 10 Longshot Bot Lobbies - $87 - 20 Longshot Bot Lobbies - $165
NUKE SERVICE - Get the calling card, skin, and emblem! - $85 - ( will need account details, can be done in ~a day )
PAYMENT METHODS - PAYPAL THROUGH FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND MOST MAJOR CRYPTOCURRENCIES ARE ACCEPTED
RULES / MUST READ - 1.If there is another player running around Do Not Kill! They are not a bot, bots will all have the same operator for easy identification! - 2.Never use any Player Killing kill-streaks! Replace your streaks for a UAV and Advanced UAV only! This is going to help speed up your kills and tracking of the players. Do not use counter UAVs, SAEs, Chopper Gunners, VTOLs, Ect. You may effect the lobby of the another person. - 3.Equip a grenade! Equip a Tactical Insert! Equip Scavenger Perk for ammunition. Equip Eagle Eye! When you have 20-25 kills (shortly after an advanced UAV is recommended so you don't accidently NUKE), place a Tactical Insert near the spawn to avoid running around and run 15 feet to kill yourself, and pull your standard grenade and hold in hand until it blows. - 4.Never use nuke! Nuke will end the game, and nuke is a high risk of being banned. You may be penalized one game if you call in a nuke.
Notice of how to play: Domination: Spawn and capture your nearest flag. Avoid B. Run to their spawn and murder! Capturing B will cause the game to end faster. This is at your own cost!
Discord: JahCoin#5396 - Discord with Vouches: https://discord.gg/mw2lobbies

Contact JahCoin#5396 - Or join https://discord.gg/mw2lobbies if interested!
What can this be used for? - Boosting your mw2 stats - Levelling up any guns - Maxing out all your weapons easily - No grind needed for your camos easily obtian gold, platinum, Polyatomic and Orion with just a few games
How does it work? - All bots are run off PS5s, and are completely safe to play against. - They'll stand more or less still, moving periodically to avoid AFK timers. - They'll fire randomly, but never attack you. - It's completely safe for you. All the kills and stats you get in game will count as if it were a real match.
NORMAL / SHIPMENT BOT LOBBY PRICES: - 1 Bot Lobby - $7 - 3 Bot Lobbies - $20 - 5 Bot Lobbies - $29 - 10 Bot Lobbies - $57 - 20 Bot Lobbies - $105 - 50 Bot Lobbies - $240
LONGSHOT BOT LOBBY PRICES: - 1 Longshot Bot Lobby - $11 - 3 Longshot Bot Lobbies - $30 - 5 Longshot Bot Lobbies - $47 - 10 Longshot Bot Lobbies - $87 - 20 Longshot Bot Lobbies - $165
NUKE SERVICE - Get the calling card, skin, and emblem! - $85 - ( will need account details, can be done in ~a day )
PAYMENT METHODS - PAYPAL THROUGH FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND MOST MAJOR CRYPTOCURRENCIES ARE ACCEPTED
RULES / MUST READ - 1.If there is another player running around Do Not Kill! They are not a bot, bots will all have the same operator for easy identification! - 2.Never use any Player Killing kill-streaks! Replace your streaks for a UAV and Advanced UAV only! This is going to help speed up your kills and tracking of the players. Do not use counter UAVs, SAEs, Chopper Gunners, VTOLs, Ect. You may effect the lobby of the another person. - 3.Equip a grenade! Equip a Tactical Insert! Equip Scavenger Perk for ammunition. Equip Eagle Eye! When you have 20-25 kills (shortly after an advanced UAV is recommended so you don't accidently NUKE), place a Tactical Insert near the spawn to avoid running around and run 15 feet to kill yourself, and pull your standard grenade and hold in hand until it blows. - 4.Never use nuke! Nuke will end the game, and nuke is a high risk of being banned. You may be penalized one game if you call in a nuke.
Notice of how to play: Domination: Spawn and capture your nearest flag. Avoid B. Run to their spawn and murder! Capturing B will cause the game to end faster. This is at your own cost!
Discord: JahCoin#5396 - Discord with Vouches: https://discord.gg/mw2lobbies

Howdy to the people of CFB! Welcome to my ranking of the 2022 uniforms for TCU Football! Sorry for the lengthy delay. It’s been a very busy few weeks. And even though my Wildcats got horse kicked by TCU in the Big 12 Baseball Tourney, I’m still so hyped to check out the Horned Frogs suits from this last football season. I intend on ranking each Big XII team and new additions (BYU, Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati) soon. If you are interested in my thoughts regarding the Big XII uniform season, check out my 2022 Uniform Awards post and Big XII Uniform Tracker 2022: Season-in-Review post. If you want to see more rankings, I just reviewed WVU a while ago, plus KU and OSU earlier. But for now, let’s see the Frogs uniforms from 2022, featuring some facts, stats, and history.
As always, feel free to disagree with me or tell me if my rankings hit home. I’m interested in hearing what you think, or in seeing how y’all would rearrange the rankings! TCU is a great purple bro, I have some associates that went to TCU, and in general, really respected their program this past year.
Season Gallery Link: https://imgur.com/a/4aLKooA
I’m u/matte_purple, and let's 3,2,1 go!
11. Purple/White/White Week 9 @ WVU (W 41-31) and Week 4 @ SMU (W 42-34)
Link: https://imgur.com/CTvWhrT
Okay, first things first: I love the color purple. Part of that is my alma mater, of course, but it’s also just a great look. Plus, there’s only about two dozen D-1 schools that use purple as a main color. The perceived rarity makes it a treat to look at on the field. Second, TCU has some of my favorite uniforms from this past year. That means that despite this look and others being lower on the list, I really like most of them. You could make the case that many of these should be full-time.
Anyways, I think the reason why TCU’s icy white look is so beloved is because of the “Black Panther-esque" collar. It not only looks cool but adds more purple than a normal uniform would have. Because of this, the purple helmet (which wasn’t my favorite helmet from this season anyway) kind of throws off the balance. I don’t doubt this will be a controversial take.
10. Black/White/Purple Week 11 @ UT (W 17-10)
Link: https://imgur.com/W108RdO
Anyone who has kept up with my tracker knows I have a general disdain for tri-color looks. This tends to be more pronounced with warmer colors, but I still just can’t get over it with purple and black. There is a distinct lack of flow and symmetry that I just can’t get past. I love the helmet, which was first announced in Week 5, but I just don’t think it matches up with the rest of the uniform. More about the helmet, they released a helmet identical to this (except for a purple horned frog instead of silver) in 2016 that was worn as recently as Game 11 of 2021. The silver is a FAR better option, and it really pops. I called these “Sooner Slayer” helmets after such a great win, and they worked pretty good on the Longhorns too.
9. Purple/Purple/Black Week 10 vs TTU (W 34-24)
Link: https://imgur.com/AeLbp8s
And just like that, we have already made it to some spectacular uniforms. While this is the same helmet worn in spot #11, it is instantly uplifted by those purple shirts. These tops only showed up 3 times this season, which seems like a pretty small number for a very purple-centric school. The fact of the matter is, however, TCU, like Johnny Cash, looks great in black. Plus, the purple helmet is arguably my least favorite helmet the Horned Frogs wore this season. Black was just the better color this season. These are sensational, but the upper echelon is yet to come.
8. Black/White/Black Week 6 @ KU (W 38-31) and CFP vs UGA (L 65-7)
Link: https://imgur.com/xWKuT5I
I’ll refrain from talking about the CFP game too much, but TCU should still be very proud of that game, regardless of the score. They should also be proud of those dope-ass “Oreo” uniforms. The purple on the collar, facemask, and font provides a welcome tinge of color to a still very dark look. And honestly, it looks fantastic against that big bold red. I was delighted to see it used against KU when they wore their red uniforms, and was thoroughly excited when I saw it would be used against UGA as well. There are some better away uniforms here, though. Let’s get into it.
7. Purple/White/Purple Week 1 @ CU (W 38-13)
Link: https://imgur.com/eE0OqRI
Oh darling, these are a treat. With black being such a staple of this season, the purple is a stunner. It’s still not my favorite mostly purple look on this list, but it was featured on my 2022 Uniform Awards post as one of my top OOC matchups uniform-wise. TCU’s darker shade of purple contrasted CU’s old gold nicely, and similar to the #9 and #11 spots, that helmet is nice. But it’s no coincidence the next few looks (sans one) feature a white or black helmet. We’re about to get to the top!
6. White/Purple/White Week 2 vs Tarleton (W 59-17)
Link: https://imgur.com/BTVIUXT
Similar to the last combo, this is a sharp contrast to the darker palette. And while I like the change and idea behind this look, there’s just a few changes that would really make this elite. First, white pants are EXCELLENT. They are professional, slick, and simple. Perfect when combined with the color purple. The reason the black “Sooner Slayer” helmet works so well is because of the silver logo blending with the silver font of most of the uniforms. In this combo, the silver font really confuses the rest of the “feng shui.” It doesn’t help that they also played against another purple team. The purple will lead to some top tier outfits later on, but we have now officially passed into the top half!
5. Purple/Gray/Gray Week 7 vs OK-State (W 43-40)
Link: https://imgur.com/FKa0Hnm Everybody has an opinion on these. Me personally, I’ve come around to them. I know this may totally invalidate my rankings, but these are AWESOME! There are 14 (17 in some circles) species of horned lizards that live in desert areas from Central America up through the western US. But eight species (including P. cornutum, the true inspiration for TCU’s mascot) can contract the muscles around their eyes, cutting off blood flow back to the heart. This builds pressure until the blood shoots from the eyes in a wildly metal defensive technique. The red is a wonderful tertiary color to purple. Honestly, if the recruits love them, and the equipment staff has the balls to release something like this, they should be applauded, good or bad. My taste is certainly debatable, but enough people seem to agree that they didn’t make a big fuss over these being my 3rd best alternate in my 2022 Uniform Awards. What do you think? Damn, I want one of those helmets bad.
4. Black/Black/Black Week 8 vs K-State (W 38-28)
Link: https://imgur.com/k5uMGq4
Nothing screams power like the blackout game. This was the only true blackout game on TCU’s docket. They even painted the logo at the 50 and the endzones black for this special showdown. I love the continuity of the silver on the helmet flowing through into the font, the special black facemask in lieu of the standard purple, it all leads to a pretty menacing uniform. But it just doesn’t have quite enough purple. I think it would have been pretty rad to try and lean into the lack of color more as well, maybe going with a charcoal and silver collar to really sell the blackout. But hey, I evidently like it enough to put it at just about the halfway mark!
3. White/White/White Week 12 @ BU (W 29-28) and vs Michigan (W 51-45)
Link: https://imgur.com/jJpeFDj
Going from a blackout to an icy white look, TCU knows how to get it done. Sheesh, these are gorgeous. As we have clearly discovered from the rest of the Horned Frog’s repertoire, the collar sells it. I went back to the 2019 announcement to get some info on these Nike Vapor Untouchable refresh and discovered that the geometric shapes on the collar actually dates back to the 2000 uniform, when Gary Patterson was coaching the great LaDainian Tomlinson. Neat stuff. There isn’t a ton to say about these besides the fact they were worn in two of TCU’s best games this season and look spectacular. The purple in the numbers, collar, logo, and facemask really accentuate what would be a pretty normal whiteout look.
2. Black/Purple/Purple Week 13 vs ISU (W 62-14)
Link: https://imgur.com/BK3ztvS
According to TCU’s main site, students in the late 1890’s chose new school colors: “Purple for royalty, white for a clean game.” And boy howdy, these guys are royal. The mostly purple look is only the third time this season that more than two of the three uniform pieces were purple. That automatically makes these special, but they also flow the best out of the other options. It makes perfect sense that the top spot is the inverse of this.
1. Black/Black/Purple Week 14 vs K-State (L 31-28 OT) and Week 5 vs OU (W 55-24)
Link: https://imgur.com/hBoyahV
Okay okay, I know your first inclination is to say that this uniform was obviously picked by a K-State fan, I can honestly say that this is a top look for a reason. I mean have you seen this thing? I went back to the release video for these bad boy helmets and man, I don’t think anyone had anything bad to say about these. The “Sooner Slayer” lid was released to wide praise, and ended up getting worn in 7 games (with one instance replacing a purple facemask with black). Each piece of the uniform features a small amount of purple, and the silver numbers complement the oversized Horned Frog logo in silver. The black and purple balance well while looking aggressive, punctuated by that sharp silver that shines nice under the lights. It helps that K-State also wore mostly white and silver, making TCU look even better, but the look obviously worked versus OU as well. What else is there to say about these? To end, I thought I’d relay how the horned frog was supposedly chosen as TCU’s mascot.
Older Texas and New Mexico natives will tell you about the days when you would find them everywhere, but the widespread use of pesticides and invasion of the harmful fire ants from South America has depleted their main food source, the harvester ant. The desert lizard species has been endangered since 1977. The reptile became TCU's mascot after its appearance first on the school's yearbook publication. The book was named "The Horned Frog" in 1887 and was selected over the other option "The Cactus." Gradually, the name was accepted into athletics, and sports teams began calling themselves Horned Frogs as well. According to myth, the name was selected by the yearbook because of the plentiful number of lizards that would bask in the sun on the football field. TCU has also had a goat named Samuel and a dog named Blackie as unofficial mascots in the 1930s and 1940s. Let’s just say I like that lizard a little bit more than the past options.
How about a round of applause for Head of Football Equipment Jason Jones? The Decatur, TX native has done an awesome job, and preparing the equipment for the blitzkrieg of Big XII Champ game, then Fiesta bowl, then CFP Champ game all while traveling must be a huge headache. Great job to the whole TCU football staff for a great season, let’s see how the next one goes!
Well, I think that does it! I hope you enjoyed my 2022 season TCU Football uniform rankings. What a year for the Horned Frogs. I’ll be slowly releasing more rankings for each of the Big XII teams as the offseason goes along. Again, feel free to comment or message me with any suggestions or changes to the rankings! What do you think of the “Bloody Threads” TCU wears? Did your favorite look seem properly placed? Let me and all of CFB know! Have yourself a great day, and remember, "Fight 'em until hell freezes over. Then fight 'em on the ice!"

This is a long post. I included a summary at the end
How much does strength of schedule matter to winning the national championship? This has been a big topic when it comes to LSU. I imagine a lot of coaches are the thinking the same thing: Is it better to have a weak strength of schedule so the players are more rested? What if teams are taking too hard of schedules causing them to be too fatigued by tournament start? This is to see if there's any merit to the claim.

Methodology

I will look at the past 2 tournaments, post covid era. I will use Warren Nolan rankings as basis of SOS. Ideally several years should be used, but there's no record before 2021. I'm not using 2021's dataset because teams had to schedule completely different than they normally would because of covid. The teams who made the final four will be used. If the team is in the bold, that means they had a top strength of schedule going into the tournament. I believe top 10 is a reasonable assumption as a difficult schedule.
​
2022 Tournament Final Four:

• South Carolina (#1 SOS)
• Stanford (#2 SOS)
• Uconn (#5 SOS)
• Louisville (#17 SOS)

2023 Tournament Final Four

• South Carolina (#4 SOS)
• LSU (#55 SOS)
• Virginia Tech (#18 SOS)
• Iowa (#6 SOS)

Results

In 2022, 3/4 final four teams had a top 10 Strength of Schedule. One of them won the national championship. In 2023 2/4 teams had a top 10 strength of schedule, but they did not win the national championship game. It should be noted in the past 2 years, LSU is the only team to make the final four with a below top 20 strength of schedule. Did they crack some secret formula? More on that later.

Teams that were hurt by high strength of schedule

• Maryland: There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that a high strength of schedule screwed Maryland over. It caused them to be over seeded and underseeded at the same time. They gave them a 2 seed because their wins against their tough schedule, but their losses made them be the lowest #2 seed, forcing them to play South Carolina. Considering how much problems they gave scar before getting into foul trouble, they definitely would’ve been a problem in the other divisions.
• Indiana: They looked completely exhausted in the Big 10 tournament, and ultimately underperformed. Then they lose to Miami at home in the round of 32. There's a strong possibility weaker schedule would've helped them out.

Of course, there a lot of teams with high strength of schedule that didn't do anything. But that had more to do with roster strength than schedule strength. For example, Iowa State had the 4th strength of schedule, but by no metric are they top 10 team in 2023.

Teams helped by a strength of schedule

• Uconn - They historically have the some of toughest schedules - I think the results speak for themselves
• Stanford - yes they choked in the R32. But their SOS allowed them to steal a #1 seed, they just didn't take advantage. It also doesn't erase the fact they won in 2021 and made the final 4 final in 2022
• South Carolina - 3 straight final 4 appearances and one NC in the last 3 years. Mind you their final four losses were decided in the final 4 seconds in the game.
• Iowa - I would very hard to argue that Iowa beats South Carolina without getting battle tested in several prior games leading up to the final 4 matchup.
• Virginia Tech - the toughness of the ACC definitely got them ready.

What about LSU?

LSU had one of the weakest ranked schedules out of any team in the tournament, and won the championship. How can you possibly say having a high SOS is good? The answer is simple. The SEC was much stronger than most of the community and the committee thought. The SEC's tournament success if proof of that. It's not a simple as play bad teams = win. Kims 2019 national title run included battles against several ranked teams in the regular season Kim had a bad schedule this year because she had a bunch of new players and they needed time to chemistry build. If you look at the past champions for the past several years, they all played tough teams prior to the tournament.

FINAL CONCLUSION

Having a tougher strength of schedule generally helps, but a tough OOS isn't important if your conference is strong. However, there's a caveat: the team needs to actually be good enough to play those tough teams. A team like Oregon isn't going to benefit as much from a hard schedule as much as Uconn for example. It's easy to say LSU won because of weak schedule but in hindsight a lot of SEC teams can be argued as top 25.

Help me choose between these 2 dumb lists I made to bring to my last 9th Ed tournament.
TLDR: list one is triple storm surge, triple hammerhead. List two is astra miliTAUm. Help me choose.
Which one do you think I should bring.
++ Arks of Omen Detachment (T'au Empire) [94 PL, 1,995pts, 4CP] ++

• Configuration +

Arks of Omen Compulsory Type: Heavy Support
Battle Size [6CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points)
Detachment Command Cost
Game Type: 5. Chapter Approved: Arks of Omen
Sept Choice: T'au Sept

• HQ +

Cadre Fireblade [4 PL, 60pts, -2CP]: 5. Exemplar of the Kauyon, Puretide Engram Neurochip, Stratagem: Relic, Stratagem: Warlord Trait, Warlord . Marker Drone

• Troops +

Strike Team [4 PL, 80pts] . Fire Warrior Shas'ui: Pulse Rifle . 9x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle: 9x Pulse Pistol, 9x Pulse Rifle
Strike Team [4 PL, 80pts] . Fire Warrior Shas'ui: Pulse Rifle . 9x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle: 9x Pulse Pistol, 9x Pulse Rifle
Strike Team [4 PL, 80pts] . Fire Warrior Shas'ui: Pulse Rifle . 9x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle: 9x Pulse Pistol, 9x Pulse Rifle

• Fast Attack +

Vespid Stingwings [3 PL, 60pts] . 4x Vespid Stingwing: 4x Neutron Blaster, 4x Stingwing Claws . Vespid Strain Leader

• Heavy Support +

Hammerhead Gunship [8 PL, 145pts]: Railgun . 2x Gun Drones . . 2x Gun Drone: 4x Pulse Carbine
Hammerhead Gunship [8 PL, 145pts]: Railgun . 2x Gun Drones . . 2x Gun Drone: 4x Pulse Carbine
Hammerhead Gunship [8 PL, 145pts]: Railgun . 2x Gun Drones . . 2x Gun Drone: 4x Pulse Carbine

• Lord of War +

Stormsurge [17 PL, 400pts]: Early Warning Override, Pulse Driver Cannon, Twin T'au Flamer, Velocity Tracker
Stormsurge [17 PL, 400pts]: Early Warning Override, Pulse Driver Cannon, Twin T'au Flamer, Velocity Tracker
Stormsurge [17 PL, 400pts]: Early Warning Override, Pulse Driver Cannon, Twin T'au Flamer, Velocity Tracker
++ Total: [94 PL, 4CP, 1,995pts]
Or
++ Arks of Omen Detachment (T'au Empire) [109 PL, 1,999pts, 4CP] ++

• Configuration +

Arks of Omen Compulsory Type: Troops
Battle Size [6CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points)
Detachment Command Cost
Game Type: 5. Chapter Approved: Arks of Omen
Sept Choice: T'au Sept

• No Force Org Slot +

Kroot Hounds [1 PL, 24pts] . 4x Kroot Hound: 4x Ripping Fangs

• HQ +

Cadre Fireblade [4 PL, 70pts] . 2x Marker Drone: 2x Markerlight
Ethereal [5 PL, 115pts, -2CP]: 1. Storm of Fire, 5. Exemplar of the Kauyon, 6. Wisdom of the Guides, Hover Drone, Stratagem: Relic, Stratagem: Warlord Trait, The Humble Stave, Warlord . 2x Marker Drone: 2x Markerlight
Longstrike [9 PL, 170pts]: Railgun, 2x Seeker Missile . 2x Gun Drones . . 2x Gun Drone: 4x Pulse Carbine

• Troops +

Breacher Team [5 PL, 85pts] . 9x Breacher Fire Warrior: 9x Pulse Blaster, 9x Pulse Pistol
Breacher Team [5 PL, 85pts] . 9x Breacher Fire Warrior: 9x Pulse Blaster, 9x Pulse Pistol
Breacher Team [5 PL, 85pts] . 9x Breacher Fire Warrior: 9x Pulse Blaster, 9x Pulse Pistol
Kroot Carnivores [3 PL, 70pts] . 10x Kroot: 10x Kroot Rifle, 10x Quill Grenades
Kroot Carnivores [3 PL, 70pts] . 10x Kroot: 10x Kroot Rifle, 10x Quill Grenades
Kroot Carnivores [3 PL, 70pts] . 10x Kroot: 10x Kroot Rifle, 10x Quill Grenades
Strike Team [4 PL, 80pts] . Fire Warrior Shas'ui: Pulse Rifle . 9x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle: 9x Pulse Pistol, 9x Pulse Rifle
Strike Team [4 PL, 80pts] . Fire Warrior Shas'ui: Pulse Rifle . 9x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle: 9x Pulse Pistol, 9x Pulse Rifle
Strike Team [4 PL, 80pts] . Fire Warrior Shas'ui: Pulse Rifle . 9x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle: 9x Pulse Pistol, 9x Pulse Rifle

• Elites +

Stealth Battlesuits [9 PL, 115pts] . Marker Drone . 3x Stealth Shas'ui w/ Burst Cannon: 3x Burst Cannon . Stealth Shas'vre: Fusion Blaster

• Fast Attack +

Pathfinder Team [5 PL, 105pts] . 6x Pathfinder: 6x Markerlight, 6x Pulse Carbine, 6x Pulse Pistol . Pathfinder Shas'ui . 3x Pathfinder w/ Rail Rifle: 3x Pulse Pistol, 3x Rail Rifle
Vespid Stingwings [3 PL, 60pts] . 4x Vespid Stingwing: 4x Neutron Blaster, 4x Stingwing Claws . Vespid Strain Leader
Vespid Stingwings [3 PL, 60pts] . 4x Vespid Stingwing: 4x Neutron Blaster, 4x Stingwing Claws . Vespid Strain Leader

• Heavy Support +

Hammerhead Gunship [8 PL, 145pts]: Railgun . 2x Gun Drones . . 2x Gun Drone: 4x Pulse Carbine
Hammerhead Gunship [8 PL, 145pts]: Railgun . 2x Gun Drones . . 2x Gun Drone: 4x Pulse Carbine

• Dedicated Transport +

Devilfish [6 PL, 95pts] . 2x Gun Drones . . 2x Gun Drone: 4x Pulse Carbine
Devilfish [6 PL, 95pts] . 2x Gun Drones . . 2x Gun Drone: 4x Pulse Carbine
Devilfish [6 PL, 95pts] . 2x Gun Drones . . 2x Gun Drone: 4x Pulse Carbine
++ Total: [109 PL, 4CP, 1,999pts] ++
Created with BattleScribe (https://battlescribe.net)