I'll copy my wishlist below. I would love it if you helped me choose what to prioritize. Consider that my goal is becoming as self-sufficient as possible by 2040 (I have a piece of land) and take into account that I want to live without electricity as much as possible because

1. I want to do my part for the planet even if it's just a drop in the ocean
   
2. The power grid and the supply chain are a fragile thing in my mind
   
3. I like some aspects of anprim -anarchoprimitivist- philosophy (even if I don't like the inherent ableism and one infamous person who defamed the whole group with his disregard for human life) and think that humans evolved in a very different environment from the one we live in and that our brains are happier in that environment because they were shaped by it for hundreds of millennia
   

. . .
My situation and budget:
I get about 350€ every month (+ about 800-1000€ around Christmas) and have to use them to buy:
-food (not all of it, another person buys mostly fresh fruit, fresh vegs and fresh meat so I only need to pay for grains, legumes, canned and frozen things, -mostly vegetable- milk, and fish. We take turns for cheese and water. If I eliminated "my things" from my diet I'd still have to contribute about 50% of the expenses for food)
-small expenses like gifts
-occasionally courses and b&b stays (not for vacations, but to learn new skills and build community on the road to self sufficiency)
-relationship-building objects (things that people I want to be friends with make, like cheese and honey if I want to befriend some farmers I would like to be taken as an "apprentice" by, or attending a course I wouldn't sign up for otherwise because a friend is the teacher)
-other groceries like hygiene products
-hand-tools and materials for my goal of self-sufficiency
-hand tools and materials to hopefully teach a course about primitive skills in the future
-"preppers items" (like radio, water filter...)
-physical books
-private lessons (I would love to have a botany expert guide me occasionally for example, or to take some lessons from a good blacksmith I know)
-ideally I would want to keep some savings for emergencies, unexpected expenses, heavily discounted and second hand items, and opportunities that might open...But I'm also among the people that would be hit the strongest by hyperinflation (and I was a theft victim recently and lost quite a bit) so I don't want to have too much savings at the same time. Please DON'T tell me "forget about buying things and save at least 6 months of expenses blah blah": it's reasonable but it's not something I need to hear from other people and it's not ideal in my situation for many personal reasons
. . .
Now the ever-increasing wishlist:
-pressure canner (the only option I have is about 130+40€ shipping)
-jars (12 jars of 1 litre capacity each + lids cost about 40€)
-mylar bags and oxygen absorbers (the more the better)
-extra food and water (again, the sky's the limit. If I had to guess I'd say I currently have about 1 month's worth)
-GRAYL water filter (I have a SAWYER mini though)
-4 volumes of an excellent botany book about dichotomous keys to safely identify local flora (the first 3 volumes cost about 100€ each and the 4th isn't available at the moment... I also I have other books on local flora but nothing that gives me the peace of mind of a reasonably certain identification)
-book "The survival medicine handbook" that goes for about 40€
-book "Preserving food without freezing or canning" 22€
-plants of Plectranthus barbatus to use as sustainable toilet paper (8€ each and 12 € shipping so I would have to take at least 2 to make the shipping worth it I guess?)
-book about cheese making in my language 18€
-book "knife engineering" 34€
-book "slow tech" 26€
-book "the regenerative grower's guide to garden amendments" 24€
-book on macrame in my language 15€
-book on willow baskets making in my language 15€
-book on bike repairing in my language (I have a decent bike but I'm pretty out of shape, it needs repairing and it doesn't fit in the elevator of the apartment I currently live in) 25€
-book on vegetable milk making (I drink quite a bit of it and love it) 8€
-2 sprouting jars 28€
-flint (a friend of a friend could send it to me at 5€/kg) and steel stricker (26€)
-gorilla tape 10€
-fire piston fire starter 11€
-book "The complete guide to no-dig gardening" 25€ (I have other books on general gardening)
-a bracelet (a gift that can be postponed if needed) 7€
-hiking sticks 17€
-blacksmith pliers 34€
-anvil -I have a good hammer already- (price here varies greatly with weight but for 40kg you pay about 230€)
-cheesecloth 8€
-1kg beeswax 25€ (mainly to make a good pitch but also for candles and even soap maybe?)
-120 m candle wicks thread 12€
-25 m wire mesh 31€ (for a future animal coop or something like that) ...
There are many more things that I would love to buy if I had unlimited money, from "insects hotels" or the materials to build them to beekeeping protective suit and hives, from a higher quality and larger tarp to buckets (to extract clay, to put the mylar bags in...) and to other books and tools, but I want you all to give your advice on the objects in the list at the moment.
Please DON'T suggest alternatives to the items I listed, just help me decide what should be bought soon and what can wait.

Hi
How are you?
You know how you want to be bowled over and think, whoa, I think I've found my exact match who just fits me so well, it's like we're made for each other?
Yeah, let's find out.
We're not talking perfection or anything, just a really great match that makes our lives seem like our own little Heaven on earth. At least we try and make it that way every day.
With that in mind, here's who I am and what I'm looking for.

• I'm attractive and keep in shape. I'm not everyone's cup of tea, but most women have described me as attractive, some have said handsome, more than a few have said hot. I'll take it. And some not so much. They probably needed glasses ;)
  
• I'm confident and assertive without being an a-hole or a d-bag.
  
• I work hard and smart. I don't like to waste time. Unless it's intentional in a sit on the porch and enjoy the evening air kinda "wasting" time.
  
• I believe a man should provide. Am I going to shower you with gifts and you be my little sugar baby? NO. Will I work and provide while you stay home if that's your dream (as long as staying home involves you working and doing your part)? Yes. If you want a career, will I work with that and we split household duties? Yes. Will I surprise you on occasion with a thoughtful gift or something I think you'll cherish? I will. But if you're looking for a life of luxury and a meal ticket, I'm not your man.
  
• I'm funny and witty and have a great sense of humor. I should do stand up. I have my moments and I'm fairly certain you and I will share many belly laughs and tears streaming down our faces moments. Or seeing that cute little smile cross your face because I blurted out something you found funny, witty, endearing or even a little crazy in a good way. I'm cool like that.
  
• I'm a Christian and my faith is important to me.
  
• I'm a good blend of thoughtful and considerate but won't put up with your crap and will put you in your place.
  
• I'm on the dominant side and will lead you well. Not the overbearing, you be my doormat and I'll degrade you as I wipe my feet on you. I mean, I could be, but I'm not sure how well you'll keep my feet clean. We seem to have names and titles for everything. Hard dom, soft dom, this or that. I'm just dominant. In the best way.
  
• I'm right wing. Conservative. A little populist. Traditional. Old school. However you want to say it.
  

Here's what I want in you:

• You're fit and attractive. Not in a if I squint my eyes and the sun hits you just right you look kinda ok, but cute! Attractive. Hot. I find your face and body appealing. I mean, give me something to work with. I do like a woman with a flat or toned stomach. I could love you to no end and be committed like no other, but I can't get it up for a chubby or fat girl. Sorry. We all have our things. Please be committed to keeping the best body you can and staying in shape. Whether that's healthy(ier) eating, working out, whatever it takes. Just don't let yourself go and be a woman who loves looking good for her man!
  
• You're naturally obedient. Or submissive if you prefer that term. You're a woman who when your man makes a decision, you support and obey it. You treat your man's word as law.
  

Now, a quick note: I like a woman who shares her ideas and opinions and sees if something holds water when I say what I want done. Not in a sarcastic tone or questioning way, but tactfully and politely. If there's something you wrestle with, let me know. Ask if I've considered this or that, or give me a different perspective to consider. Or just as good, offer an alternative. Say I want to obey you and I will, but would be ok if I... (fill in the blank with your alternative idea) to try and get that same result for you?
Something like that. And if you're the quiet type and just want to obey without much input, I can work with that.

• You're a Christian and/or very open to learning and following what God says in the Bible. It'll be our guide, our road map for living our lives.
  
• You are very, very pro-sex. You can be a virgin or very experienced. If the former, you have no hang ups about sex because I won't be in a dead bedroom. Hopefully you have a very high sexual drive. That's relative, as what's "high" to one person may not be to another, but you're committed to meeting your man's needs.
  

Note: Be willing to talk about sex and answer any number of questions. Ask any you have. Sex is essential in a great marriage, and we need to know if we're compatible with our desires and preferences and what we expect or are looking for. If you're less experienced or a virgin, no worries. There are still things to talk about.

• You're looking for a serious and long term relationship. Marriage, eventually. Because I am.
  
• You're on the conservative side politically. Great relationships can be had with each other on opposite sides, but it does make it harder and more work.
  
• You love to please and cater to your man. It makes you feel good to serve and help and find ways to do things that makes your man's life better in every way.
  

This is getting long and you're not reading fast enough.
You should already be thinking of what you're going to say to me and stand out from the other women.
Hints: I love honesty. It's essential to me. I love longer replies (not just the first ones, but any). Not every one has to be some mini-novel but you get what I'm saying. I love details. I mean, I don't need the "I had this sandwich at 12:32 and it didn't sit well with me, and my boss has this habit where he walks the hall and I keep my door partially open so..."
More like you just fill me in who you are, what you believe, what you like or love, what you want in relationships, anything. "I love swimming, I try to go 2-3 times a week and mountain biking is almost my thing. I went on this trail the other day and it was..."
Or "OMG you described me to a T. You mentioned being obedient and loving to serve my man and I'm like, hey, if he only knew! I'm throwing up a hand here and making my way to the front of the line so you notice me because (fill in the blank with things you love to do)
OR the super honest route:
"You know what, there are prettier girls (I'm doing ok in that area, though ;) and I don't have all of what you're looking for but I do have (list the things you have) and most would probably win if you compared us in some of the things you listed, but I can say that no one will outwork me, no other woman will be as committed to you, or do her best to make your life better in whatever way I can, or love you like crazy (we'll get there) or not let myself go and try and look good. Those things I can control. So if you're looking for an "average" girl but who can offer extraordinary in some ways, and treat you like a king, you may want to write me back. We could have the best relationship!"
You get the idea.
I work odd hours sometimes.
So if you write me (and you should), don't disappear if you don't hear from me right away, or even in a few hours. I will find you. I will write and we'll begin our first chapter in what is hopefully, a wonderful romance that fills us with joy, love, happiness and a peace because we've found that right match for us.
Message or chat. Hit that button and tell me about you. Age and location and anything you want to share. Be willing to trade pics very soon.

Hey all. I've been thinking about building one of these bombeenduro type bikes where I can source the parts on Aliexpress. I don't really like buying expensive prebuilt batteries though, so I usually build something from parts sourced at batteryhookup. I noticed they have an auction for a pallet (40) of these Panasonic 48v backup modules that look like I wouldn't even have to disassemble. What I am thinking of doing though, is running them in serial pairs sandwiched (26s) at 96v and then chaining 3 (more or less) in parallel. If you follow the link and look at the wiring diagram, it seems like it would be easy to add a BMS to a single sandwiched pair (26s4p) with the connections and binding posts.
I have a few questions though. If I were to run a variable number of sandwiched 96v pairs in parallel (26s12p for example), is there a simple way that you can think of where I can set up the BMS so balance cables and the load out are on the first pair of batteries (master), and I utilize the binding posts to daisy chain as many (slave) pairs as I see fit? I'm sure I could wrap my brain around it better if I spent half the day scribbling it out, but I figured I would ask here first as I may get an immediate NO and go about my day. It's a steal at the price, but most of their batteries there are between $75 and $100 a kWh, so if I had to just pull them apart and build something, I would probably go higher capacity cells.
Also, what are your thoughts on 96v systems? I'm assuming 26s is acceptable for a 96v nominal controller and motor, even though its actually around 110v fully charged, but maybe not. Maybe you are all running LiFePo4 for 96v or something, not sure. Anyhow, if you read this far, cheers!

arduino Monthly digest for 2023-05

Wiki updates

During the course of this month we received our first wiki contribution from one of our members.
u/Bitwise_Gamgee has contribute a guide that explains the difference between delay() and millis() and some use cases for both.
Have a look at our latest wiki guide A better delay using millis supplied by u/Bitwise_Gamgee.
After checking out that page, you might want to browse some of our other wiki resources including:

• FAQs
• Glossary
• A list of Milestones that Arduino has achieved.

Other resources

If you are new, or want to provide guidance to new users who are unaware of how to properly create "please help me" style posts, you might want to refer them to any (or all) of these "how to post" guides.

• How to post tips - especially useful if you are seeking help,
• Getting started guides,
• Fixing Upload Issues
• Learning about Breadboards
• and even more guides

You can always access the Wiki (and these digests) by selecting the Wiki or Monthly Digest menu items situated at the top of the Arduino feed.
Don't forget to check out our wiki for up to date guides, FAQ, milestones, glossary and more.
You can find our wiki at the top of the Arduino posts feed and in our "tools/reference" sidebar panel. The sidebar also has a selection of links to additional useful information and tools.

Moderator's Choices

Title	Author	Score	Comments
A nuclear power plant with some issues	u/netzmensch	1,045	71
Testing Speech Recognition(Voice User I...	u/0015dev	578	54
PSA: You're probably using delay() when...	u/Bitwise_Gamgee	324	51
Robotic arm control with muscle command...	u/the_3d6	166	14
Coffee fountain	u/fire-marshmallow	130	21
Made a Newton's cradle that never stops	u/XienixPS	13	3
What have you accomplished with your ar...	u/simonniz	3	20

Top Posts

Title	Author	Score	Comments
A nuclear power plant with some issues	u/netzmensch	1,045	71
Finally AMOLED display on the developme...	u/Volos2016	783	77
Update	u/51herringsinabar	730	55
386V Multistage CoilGun	u/Cali_or-Bust	685	69
I made a mouse from toy gun	u/cevatssr	674	53
Testing Speech Recognition(Voice User I...	u/0015dev	578	54
This is T-display S3, ESP32 board porgr...	u/Volos2016	544	17
There comes a time in every person's li...	u/Working_Celery_8958	541	69
I made an Arduino-Based Breath-Controll...	u/Polypeptide	526	45
Esp32-iLi9341 Vader's Tie Hud	u/Kick-bak-AU	507	18

Look what I made posts

Title	Author	Score	Comments
I made a mouse from toy gun	u/cevatssr	674	53
I made a RC Truck LED Police Light Flas...	u/HAZI_TECH	473	45
Arduino spy tech - overhead satellite d...	u/okuboheavyindustries	467	24
I hit a milestone on my arduino journey...	u/Soggy_Stargazer	396	30
A little DIY universal remote control I...	u/cello-mike	389	20
I saw some Mohit Bhoite inspired sculpt...	u/Hookiebookie_	386	50
3D printed Hexagon Heat from Mario Part...	u/adamblake89	386	17
Getting friendly with FastLED.	u/SkyFoxIV	365	20
I made an Arduino gameboy	u/fueled_by_noodles	348	23
Robot lander circuit sculpture	u/okuboheavyindustries	340	32
Phone controlled door lock	u/koiyaboi	253	64
My first project!	u/Aardkak2	238	24
Just a simple little barometer	u/Akul_24	171	16
The next birthday present: A fully auto...	u/netzmensch	162	15
Prosthetic arm that works on any muscle...	u/jerzku	156	9
I couldn't find a wifi thermometer with...	u/keatonatron	154	20
Advanced Line Follower Version 2.0!	u/Sagnicbasu	141	7
Current Todos: fix the eye, give him a ...	u/Renegade_Designer	127	9
Robotic arm without 3d printer	u/Flashy-Specialist-69	112	12
Fun arm project	u/froggyCaller	96	13
Developed a Bluetooth Robot Car that ca...	u/parikshitpagare	88	22
Arduino to control the dinosaur game	u/klim_ma	86	12
LED Animated Keychain ATtiny85	u/HAZI_TECH	83	13
my first star wars droid!	u/fire-marshmallow	81	7
Checking which satellites are above the...	u/okuboheavyindustries	74	7
First Arduino project -- SOS	u/tobiasosor	64	14
My First kinematics and robotics projec...	u/Jaseemakhtar	52	9
Today i had the prestation of my agroro...	u/Cool-Foundation	49	13
Long range arduino drone plane: comms s...	u/DadGaveMeStepSis4Xms	47	19
Finally finished my IOT mood light proj...	u/mylvasur000	36	13
Update on the Arduino Gameboy I made fr...	u/fueled_by_noodles	26	4
I made a Modern LED Matrix Motorcycle /...	u/HAZI_TECH	23	14
My newest handwired macropad is actuall...	u/Joe_Scotto	17	7
Built a complete Smart Home Automation ...	u/parikshitpagare	16	2
I Made an App for My bluetooth controll...	u/potatoGOD_14	13	3
Anemometer wind speed sensor I made for...	u/toicsics	11	8
Simple LCD I2C game	u/Smart_Panda_430	11	1
Arduino-based robot that precisely thro...	u/Ski3989	11	15
Robot Hand Controlled Via Serial	u/Delicious-Power7793	8	0
Approved undergraduate research project...	u/shakemytable	7	0
Using an EMG sensor for gaming	u/iketsj	7	3
Enjoying my FM radio🥺	u/electric_potato_v1	7	1
CO2 air quality measurer (MH Z19C, wemo...	u/T0biasCZE	7	0
Spek Calendar	u/AlfaFoxtrot0	7	1
Beating Pokemon with an Arduino!	u/LjubomirMicic	6	0
TiMiNoo prototype board 01	u/tme520	6	2
I made a MIDI omnichord guitar with an ...	u/cryopotat0	5	4
Car game I made with gpt	u/CreativeAd5757	5	1
LCD display incorporated into led grow ...	u/hhcib_channel	5	2
My first Arduino project - Radio Alarm ...	u/Key-Candy-1644	4	1
Making my own robot companion! Part one...	u/jjxie1234	4	0
Stereo Digital FM Transmitter Circuit (...	u/MyVanitar	3	2
Feedback much appreciated for my IoT sm...	u/Westend1991	2	2
Arduino Spectrophotometer project	u/UnheardHealer85	2	5
Check out this cool Adafruit 64x64 RGB ...	u/Morten_Nibe	2	1
Finished grow light prototype	u/hhcib_channel	2	1
Chat with ChatGPT through Arduino IoT C...	u/beta_max_76	1	1
Motion activated Mjolnir from God of Wa...	u/TJL6012	1	0
210x WS2812b LEDs arranged as the lette...	u/SparkesCreative	1	5
DIY Electric Wheelbarrow (WORLDS BIGGES...	u/FitzDude	0	5
Buy me a coffee fountain	u/fire-marshmallow	0	12
I made an unusual beer cup holder	u/Thefedmogchallenge	0	0
Random amen breaks generator (Code avai...	u/Audiowanderer	0	0
Europe Truck simulator Brake Light Cont...	u/Prabeen1	0	0
I made a video about a universal remote...	u/aranjello	0	2

Total: 65 posts

Summary of Post types:

Flair	Count
Algorithms	2
Beginner's Project	36
ChatGPT	7
Fourth is strong in this one	1
Games	1
Hardware Help	1
Hardware Help I2S	1
Hardware Help Soldering	1
Hardware Help!	3
Hardware Help, maybe Software Help	1
Hardware/Software Help	2
Help	1
Libraries	4
Look what I found!	4
Look what I made!	65
Look what I'm going to make!	1
Mega	3
Mod's Choice!	7
Nano	4
Pipeline Diagnostics and Inspection w/ mmWave	1
Potentially Dangerous Project	2
Pro Micro	1
Project of the Month Entry	2
School Project	1
School Project (Geocaching Puzzle Box )	1
School Project Help	1
Software Help	1
Software Help (Mega/Due)	0
Software Help (Mega/Due) [Solved]	1
Software Help for Uno	1
Software Help, Arduino DUE timers	1
Solved	20
Uno	14
Wire Help	1
You choose!	1
beginner help	1
help	1
no flair	436
schematic	1

Total: 1020 posts in 2023-05

< Ep 4- Part 1
Based on the fourth round of the elimination contest
Spoiler tag only for basic character spoilers
[Team Looming Lions]
Kaito: Alright Lions we're winning this one again today, right?
Nekomaru: Absolutely! Of course I'm not sure which of us will be performing.
Kokichi: Well, Kaito's a bumbling moron so he's out.
Kaito: Hey, what the heck man! I mean sure being the Ultimate Astronaut isn't that impressive for a show but so is your talent.
Kokichi: So true Kaito! Glad to hear you didn't refute the fact of you being a moron though. Nee hee hee.
Kaito: Why you little-
Angie: Calm down, Tyler. Atua has foreseen what will lead us to victory. I shall take the lead and create a beautiful masterpiece in the name of Atua.
Mondo: Okay, so Angie's doing art. What are the rest of us supposed to do to perform along side?
Mahiru: I could take some action shots of her work. Though I'm not sure how impressive of a performance it will be.
Hajime: Your ability to take perfect photos is still impressive in its own right, Mahiru.
Mahiru: Hajime…
Celeste: So it's decided. Angie and Courtney will be performing with some artistic photography
Angie: Nyahahahah, wonderful though if we're doing artistic pictures, would it help to provide something more visual. Body models for example?
Mahiru: Absolutely not! These boys don't get to see anything like that. Speaking of which, how about you boys pitch in on the performance?
Celeste: Well, we've already established Max and Tyler are out. How about you, Trent. You could hit some tennis balls to add to the action shots.
Ryoma: Sorry, but I've sworn off using my talent ever again.
Celeste: Oh really, then how about a threat. Perform with the girls, or when we lose we'll vote you off immediately!
Ryoma: Go ahead, like this competition means anything to me anyways. This is merely just prolonging my time out of prison.
Chihiro: Stop it. Both of you. Celeste, I think it's clear Ryoma won't do it. Of course, I won't be much help either. Not without some kind of computer to work with.
Mondo: If I had a bike, I could do some tricks around Angie while she makes her art.
Nekomaru: Alright then I guess it's up to me. I'll be the manager to keep the show going and make sure we do it PERFECT!!!
Kirumi: If you need me, I could also be your assistant for the performance and clean up afterwards.
Mahiru: Then let's get started. Time to make something at least mostly coherent.
[Team Ominous Octopi]
Maki: So, who wants to volunteer for this talent show?
Korekiyo: I believe it's pretty obvious that Kaede and Ibuki should perform as a musical duo.
Ibuki: You got it! Izzy and Sky-ede here are gonna rock this camp!
Kaede: Sure, but that's only two. We need a third.
Chiaki: If I had a big screen and a console, I could play video games with you playing the music to it. Too bad they don't have any of that here.
Akane: I could do some flips over you two.
Taka: Too dangerous. Plus we don't want any of you to get hurt.
Maki: Then I guess killing someone to music is out, huh?
Taka: Absolutely!!!
Maki: I was kidding anyway.
Kaede: Haha, wow Maki, never seen that side of you before.
Maki: Don't push it. What about you, Shuichi?
Shuichi: Well, unlike Kyoko I'm not even that talented a detective, but I'm not certain how you'd perform that talent.
Korekiyo: I could give an archaeological lesson with a pleasant backing track by these wonderfully talented ladies.
Maki: No way, after that stunt you pulled with Kaede, I don't trust you alone with her again even with Ibuki there.
Ibuki: How about DJ do the robot to our music. Ha ha, get it!
Keebo: Hey, that's robophobic to assume I could do such a stereotypical dance.
Akane: Well can you?
Keebo: No, I can't dance, however I could sing with them if you'd like?
Kaede: NO!
Shuichi: No way!
Maki: Not happening.
Korekiyo: Oh please, anything but that.
Keebo: Wha….fine.
[Team Nasty Narwhals]
Junko: So let's see talent…talent…which one of you losers has the best talent.
Sakura: I think it has less to do with best talent and more to do with talents that can perform with each other.
Sayaka: If that's the case, I'll volunteer to sing for this talent competition. You guys can make the show more exciting with your talents.
Tsumugi: I like that. I could make a costume for your performance though I'm not sure how much is that me performing with you.
Junko: Besides Beth, if anyone's going to make Ella fashionable it should be me.
Toko: We get it, we have costumes down b-b-but that still not get any closer to who's performing.
Miu: Well it's obvious the moody writer and clumsy nurse shouldn't perform.
Toko: Not like I wanted to in the first place.
Mikan: I'd probably just get hurt either way and embarrass our team.
Junko: Then how about the boys then?
Rantaro: Well, I'm not even sure what my talent is but I could try singing with Sayaka if you need me to.
Gonta: Rodney could bring bug friends on stage to perform with Ella.
Sayaka: NO! NEVER! ABSOLUTELY NOT!
Miu: Guess that leaves you and me, baby gangster.
Fuyuhiko: Like I'd do anything with you and what about B and Himiko?
Miu: Washboard chest is too mopey to do anything, and I still have no idea what Big B's deal is.
[They look over at him, but Imposter merely shrugs]
Miu: Besides you should be grateful that I'm offering my genius for the performance.
Sayaka: Okay Miu, what can you do to help my performance?
Miu: Well I'm glad you asked Pop Princess. Behold first up I have a fantastic voice amplifier perfect for singing into.
Sayaka: Oh wow, that actually might be helpful. I'm surprised you came up with something so normal.
Miu: Of course it was originally meant those wild nights when you want your moans and cries to really shake the bed. Hoo Yeah!
Tsumugi: And there it is.
Sayaka: Okay but with me singing, what will you be doing during the show?
Miu: Why adding a little flair to the show. Get ready for your outfit to practically explode for the audience. [Points an invention at Sayaka] Literally I might add.
Sayaka: W-wait, what are you-Agh! [Miu shoots the machine and Sayaka is enveloped in a flash of light] Ugh…why does it feel cooler……. AAAAAAAHHHH!!!
Tsumugi: Quickly cover her up!
Sakura: You boys didn't see anything, right?!
Fuyuhiko[Blushed smirk]: Uh…no not all.
Gonta: Rodney shall not look at the indecency for he is gentleman.
Miu: See, what'd I tell you. Quite the show stopper really! Be glad you didn't go commando today.
Tsumugi: Miu, how is Sayaka supposed to perform when she's left in her underwear?
Miu: Well, four eyes, I thought this is where you'd throw her into a different outfit like the Ultimate Cosplayer you claim to be.
Tsumugi: It's not like I can dress her in an instant. She'll still be seen.
Miu: Well that's for you to work out then dip[bleep]. I merely just provided the genius with my inventions.
Sayaka: WELL YOUR INVENTIONS SUCK!
Sakura: It's alright, Sayaka. Let's just think this idea through.
Sayaka: I don't want her inventions near me ever again!
Miu: Pfft, your loss then.
[Confessional]
Sakura: I really, and I mean really hate to admit it....but Miu might've had something going there with her idea. The act of changing Sayaka's outfits while she's performing would be an impressive display. If only there was a way she wouldn't be seen during the swap.
[End]
[Team Looming Lions]
Nekomaru: Alright, Angie so how this is going to go is I throw tools to you and you work your artistic magic.
Mahiru: And I'll make sure to capture it all on film.
Angie: Absolutely, I shall let Atua guide me.
Celeste: Please dear, enough about Atua this time. Just perform your own talent.
Angie: Oh, but Atua is the one who blessed me with this talent so every work must always be an offering to him. Remember that Lightning and Courtney.
Mahiru: Sure gotcha…
[Confessional]
Mahiru: I don't want to disrespect Angie's beliefs but relying on her God for everything even just a simple talent show may be a little much. But it's fine we have this performance in the bag. Chris is going to be blown away by my photography skills.
[End]
[Team Ominous Octopi]
Makoto: So run it by me again why I'm playing with Kaede.
Nagito: I'm not sure I'm cut out for play the bass guitar either.
Korekiyo: Well Kaede and Ibuki are going to teach you two the routine and with your luck you'll each learn it and play a beautiful duet.
Makoto: I'm not sure that's what being an Ultimate Lucky Student will help with.
Akane: No time to worry about it now we've got two hours left. Besides when we rely on both of you we win…well at least we don't lose.
Miu: Hey Cockoctpi, quit hogging the stage. Some of us have a performance to practice.
Korekiyo: Sorry, but we were here first. You'll just have to wait your turn. Whenever that will be, kehehehe.
Junko: Look, I understand that you need all the practice to not suck complete balls, but right now we need an empty stage, so Sayaka's not seen in her underwear too much.
Sayaka: Junko?!
Makoto: W-w-what? Sayaka's going to be performing in her underwear?
Junko: Oopsie, did I let that slip. My bad!
Tsumugi: It's more we need to work out how a quick change would work on stage, but uh she might still be seen in her underwear while rehearsing.
Sayaka: Will you all please stop talking about my underwear!
Akane: A quick change performance, huh? Good luck, even when I was wearing the skimpiest outfits for gymnastics, it still took a good thirty seconds to change.
Shuichi: Sounds like you'd need a miracle to not be seen then.
Sakura: Wait…a miracle…or magic. I'll be right back.
Miu: What's gotten into the orge?
Junko: Nevermind all that, we still need a stage to perform on.
Maki: Well then you're going to have to get through me, so unless you want to die, I say go practice over on the side of the camp like the Lions.
Junko: ………Fine Miss Assassin, you win. But I won't forget this. Come on team we're leaving. [Narwhals follow her reluctantly]
Kaede: Thanks for that, Maki. Okay Makoto, let's just try a simple scale.
Ibuki: And Harold, how about we try an A-chord.
Hiyoko: Hey, what's the big idea hogging the stage?!
Korekiyo: Here we go again.
Sonia: If it wouldn't be much trouble friends, we'd like to use the stage to practice our act.
Keebo: Is Hiyoko going to dance in her underwear too?
Hiyoko: Ew, gross! What are you saying you perverted robot!
Keebo: Sorry, I just assumed that was how all the girls were performing these days.
Maki: Ignore him, like we told the Narwhals, we were here first.
Byakuya: While I commend your fighting spirit, just know that no matter how much practice you do, you'll never be able to force talent onto those two.
Hiyoko: Yeah besides, we at least have our routine planned out and everyone with actual talent who's going to perform.
Korekiyo: Really, and what would that be?
Leon: Like we're going to tell you guys. Just give us the stage so we can practice already. We need to use the wood backdrop of the stage anyway.
Akane: If that's all it is then-HIYAH! [she breaks the backdrop in half and tosses it to Kazuichi] There, practice with your backdrop somewhere else.
Kazuichi: Seriously…well fine. Let's go Rhinos.
[Cut to Himiko sitting by herself. Sakura approaches]
Sakura: Mind if I sit down with you?
Himiko: Nyeh sure…I'm guessing they called you over to make me help them.
Sakura: Actually, I came over of my own volition. But I am curious if you'd like to help. Sayaka could really use your expertise in magic.
Himiko: Yeah I get it, you just want to use me for my talent but when I'm no longer useful you'll just vote me off the team. Just like how they treated Tenko.
Sakura: I understand why you're upset. It seems the Octopi weren't committed to understanding Tenko; she was a person you comfortably called a friend. Why couldn't anyone else do the same?
[Himiko doesn't respond but gently nods]
Sakura: Well, I'm not forcing you to do anything. I'm just trying to understand your feelings. In the end, it's your decision whether you want to be part of the team or not and I'll respect that decision.
[Himiko still doesn't respond but gives a side glance to Sakura]
Sakura: However, if you do decide to participate, we could honestly use your magical talent to save Sayaka from embarrassment. I've seen your shows, you have a knack for misdirection. It would help to provide misdirection when Miu attempts the wardrobe change. But of course, that's if you decide to help.
[Himiko looks forward again still in silence]
Sakura: Well, that's all I came over here for. I'll be getting back to making sure Miu doesn't embarrass the rest of the team. I hope you feel better, Himiko.
[Himiko quietly watches Sakura get up and leave, before looking forward again in deep thought]
[Confessional]
Himiko: Nyeh, Tenko always believed in my magic but she believed in me as a person too. How can I guarantee the others see me as a person and not just the magician girl. Maybe I really can't…nyeh.
[End]
Junko: Well look what the Princess dragged in. You Rhinos got kicked off the stage too huh?
Hiyoko: Beat it, you skank. We're trying to rehearse and we've wasted enough time as it is.
Junko: Hey, I'm just trying to empathize with a fellow team. Those Octopi jerks shooed us away too. If only there was some way to get back at them. [Stares down Mukuro]
Sonia: Sorry Junko, but we need to practice right now, so no more distractions.
Junko: Fine fine, guess we should probably step away then. Don't want Sayaka's underwear to be a distraction.
Kazuichi: Wait, Sayaka's going to be singing in her underwear?
Sayaka: Stop telling everyone that!
Mahiru: Hey, would you other teams keep it down.
Nekomaru: Yeah, Angie needs complete concentration to work!
Sayaka: Ugh, let's just give up already there's no way Miu's invention is going to work without me being utterly embarrassed.
Miu: It could if you could change faster.
Tsumugi: And how do you suppose we do that. Hide her from plain sight everytime you shoot her.
Himiko: Sounds like you could use a little magic then.
Rantaro: Hey, Himiko's back. You feeling better?
Junko: Oh Staci, I knew you wouldn't let your team down.
Himiko: Nyeh…I didn't really want to do it for you but I'd feel awfully ashamed if I could've helped and didn't. So what's going on?
Miu: Well Shimplette, Pop Princess here is going to be zapped by my clothes cannon. It'll make it easier to change into a new outfit, but she's worried about everyone seeing her pink little panties.
Himiko: So you need a distraction to allow you time to change, huh? Okay, I can do that, just follow my lead.
Sayaka: Oh Himiko thank you so much, you're a lifesaver!
Kazuichi: Great you have your act figured out; now can we please have some room to practice?
[Confessional]
Kazuichi: It took a little bit of creative thinking but with Hiyoko, Gundham and Mukuro we finally had an idea. Mukuro is going to throw knives around Hiyoko's dance while Gundham's hamsters do some tricks on the knives that get stuck in the backdrop. Pretty brilliant, right. I bet Miss Sonia thinks so!
[End]
Kazuichi: Hiyoko, are you ready to begin?
Hiyoko: I was born ready, dummy. This is my talent after all. [She begins dancing]
Kazuichi: Okay Mukuro, now aim carefully as not to hit Hiyoko and strike the backdrop with the knives.
Mukuro: Sure, no problem. [Starts throwing knives around Hiyoko]
Hiyoko: Eeee! [She jumps a little every time a knife whizzes past her, stabbing into the backdrop making little platforms]
Kazuichi: Alright Gundham, you're up!
Gundham: Hmph, while this may be a mockery of your power, for the good of our team do not disappoint me my Dark Devas of Destruction! To the left San-D. The right Maga-Z. Jum-P, the high one. And of course Cham-P, harness all your power and get to the low one there. [They each take a knife pedestal] Now switch it up! [They begin leaping from knife to knife timing it to Hiyoko's dance]
Kazuichi: Yes, this is working. Now Mukuro, just a few more knives to bring home the finale. Just aim true; you've got this.
Mukuro: Aim true, right…
[Confessional]
Mukuro: I'm supposed to play dirty, right? I've never been more confident in my accuracy…and yet.
[End]
Hiyoko: Just throw it already, my dance is almost over.
Mukuro: *deep breath* [she eyes a slit through the backdrop and sees Kaede and Makoto at the piano] HIYAH!!!
[The knife speeds past Hiyoko and she feels the motion] Hiyoko: Hey, watch where you're throwing you clumsy-
Sonia: Oh no, Octopi, watch out!
Ibuki: Harold, come on, it's just a simple pluck and strum like this.
Nagito: Like this [strums his bass guitar. Immediately a string breaks near the top and whips Makoto in the arm]
Makoto: Agh! [He falls from the piano bench in pain] What the heck was that for?!
[As he falls, the knife flies passed and ricochets off the piano]
Kaede: Woah! What the? Makoto, look out!
[The knife comes flying back towards the Rhinos]
Peko: I got this. [She take out her sword and deflects the knife away]
Yasuhiro: Watch where you're throwing that thing, you could've hurt someone.
Mukuro: Apologies, it must have hit a weak part of the backdrop. I'll be more careful nex-
???: AGGHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Peko: Uh oh…
Mahiru: My….my….my camera!!! [The knife finally came to a stop lodging itself directly into her camera lens]
Nekomaru: HEEEEYYY!!! What happened over here?
Mondo: Yeah, what the [bleep] did you just do?
Mukuro: Oh crap…
Kazuichi: L-listen it was an accident, alright. We just had a mishap with the knife throws.
Kaito: You took out one of our performers!
Mukuro: I deeply apologize. It won't happen again.
Byakuya: You're right it won't because you're sitting this one out now.
Mukuro: What?
Aoi: Byakuya, please it was an accident. Besides, we need her for this.
Byakuya: Do we? Every time we rely on this incompetent soldier we either come in last place or second to last place. You're clearly putting too much faith in her. I don't care if we are in the same class, she's only become a detriment to the team even more than the little loudmouth.
Hiyoko: Hey!
[Mukuro looks over to Junko who simply gives a dismissive smirk]
Sonia: Byakuya, we don't need to be so harsh. Maybe Mukuro just needs a little break, if we just-
Mukuro: No, it's fine. If you don't want me anymore, I won't try to help you guys. See you later.
Byakuya: Finally, the girl gets the memo.
Sonia: Mukuro please, you don't have to do this.
Leon: Well, that's just great, so now who do you expect to perform for our team?
Byakuya: Figure it out yourself, and stop relying on one person to solve all your problems. I bet the swordswoman could do just as well. She hasn't been pulling her weight that much.
Yasuhiro: Dude, you can't just call her fat like that!
Byakuya: How about it, Pekoyama? Knives are just like mini swords, right?
Peko: If this is really how you want this competition to go, I'll give it a shot.
Aoi: But just know if we lose, we're blaming you for this, Byakuya.
Byakuya: Typical peasants. Putting all your actions into your emotions rather than your logic.
Sonia: Byakuya, that is enough. Even I, as a woman of nobility, know this is not how you should treat your friends!
Byakuya: So the Princess finally has a backbone.
Sonia: That's right, and I intend to use it and not let my friends be bullied around by you.
Kazuichi: You tell him Miss Sonia!
Byakuya: Fine then bring back the soldier girl but you better hurry because your time is up.
Leon: What do you mean?
[Loudspeaker feedback]
Chris: Attention all campers. Your three hours of preparation are over! Please join us at the stage. Narwhals you're up first.
Peko: Looks like he's right. It's fine, I'll do my best. Just know we're not afraid of you.
Byakuya: The feelings are mutual.
[Confessional]
Sonia: Ooh, that Byakuya. First driving away Mukuro then thinking he can just boss us around. If I weren't trying to be so proper I'd call him a…call him… a [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] with a [bleep] [bleep] in his [bleep] [be-
[End]
To be continued
Ep 4- Part 3 >

The Release Notes for 2023 Season 3 have been posted on the iRacing Forums!
Find them posted here:
https://forums.iracing.com/discussion/42721/2023-season-3-release-notes-pre-release-version#latest
​
Or read them below!
========================================================================

2023 Season 3 Release Notes [Pre-Release Version]

This is the iRacing 2023 Season 3 Release! This release contains both content and upgrades for 2023 Season 3, which officially starts on June 12th! This season update includes three new cars: Cadillac V-Series.R GTP, Ligier JS P320, and Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). iRacing also expands its track offerings to include MotorLand Aragón (7 configs) and Willow Springs International Raceway, as well as a new 2023 Cup config for Chicago Street Course.
Our Dirt Taskforce has completed their work on the Dirt Refresh Project shared with the community back in February, and we are excited for you to experience the fruits of their labors. The Spotter System has received a Race Control-focused set of updates and new calls that will liven up your racing and keep you better informed about what is happening on the track and in the race. New challengers approach - you will now have the ability to add AI Opponent Rosters to your Hosted Sessions that utilize the Heat Racing format! We are excited to announce we have been investing time into saving you time, loading time to be precise, and this Season Release includes a first phase of loading optimizations that should get you into the driver’s seat just a little bit faster. Willow Springs International Raceway is proud to pioneer a new 3D Foliage System that automatically populates the environment with grasses, shrubs, and other creations of Mother Nature. USB Audio Hot Swapping is now fully enabled and supported by iRacing for all of your headset and speaker needs. A new Graphics Option has also been added which controls the display of all cockpit obstructions instead of this parameter being car setup specific.
The New Damage Model has been put into practice on eleven additional cars. And last but not least our AI Drivers have mastered eight new cars and twenty-four new track configurations. Welcome to iRacing 2023 Season 3!
Season highlights include:

• Cadillac V-Series.R GTP
• Ligier JS P320
• Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
• MotorLand Aragón (7 configs)
• Willow Springs International Raceway
• New Track Configuration: Chicago Street Course - 2023 Cup
• Dirt Racing Refresh Project
• New Spotter Calls and Updates for Race Control
• Hosted Session AI Heat Racing
• Phase 1 of Loading Time Improvements
• 3D Foliage System
• USB Audio Device Hot Swapping
• Cockpit Obstruction Removal Graphics Option
• New Damage Model for 11 Vehicles (Cadillac V-Series.R GTP, Dirt Late Model (ALL), Ligier JS P320, NASCAR Truck Series Trucks, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992), Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), and Renault Clio R.S. V)
• AI Racing for 8 Cars (Aston Martin DBR9 GT1, Cadillac CTS-V Racecar, Cadillac V-Series.R GTP, Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1, Ford GT GT2, Ligier JS P320, Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), and Radical SR10)
• AI Racing at 24 Track Configurations (Autodromo Nazionale Monza - GP without first chicane, Junior, and GP without chicanes, Chicago Street Course - 2023 Cup and Prototype, Circuit of the Americas - East and West, Irwindale Speedway - ALL FIVE Configs, MotorLand Aragón - ALL SEVEN Configs, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway - Mini, New Smyrna Speedway, Twin Ring Motegi - East and Oval, and Willow Springs International Raceway)
• Hundreds of new and optimized official iRacing vehicle setups

Visit our 2023 Season 3 features page here: https://www.iracing.com/seasons/2023-s3/
Full 2023 Season 3 Release details are below.
​

iRACING UI:

--------------------------------------------------------------

Hosted Racing

• The Create Starting Grid functionality and button are now disabled whenever both Heat Racing and AI Opponent Roster are selected for an Event.

AI Racing

• AI Drivers have completed an extensive training course for participating in the Heat Racing format!
• - - Heat Racing is now available for Hosted Sessions using AI Rosters!
• - - This is a brand new feature implementation for both AI Racing and the Heat Racing format.
• - - - - It is important to note that this feature is only available for Hosted Racing events at this time. AI Drivers still need the support of real humans in their Sessions or artificial chaos would surely ensue.

Tracks

• All Track location information has been standardized and updated. All Track locations are now identified by: City, State/Province, Country.

Leagues

• Fixed an issue where the names of AI Drivers who won League Series Sessions were forgotten when viewing the League Season Schedule.

Paint Shop

• A new sponsor, Maconi Setup Shop, has been added to the Paint Shop!
• Fixed an issue with a missing font for the Stock Car Pro Series Class Cars.

​

SIMULATION:

--------------------------------------------------------------

Windows Support

• With the release of iRacing 2023 Season 3, the Windows 8.1 operating system is no longer able to successfully launch the iRacing application.
• - - Microsoft officially dropped support for Windows 8.1 on January 14th, 2023. As a result of this, it is no longer compatible with our software, and it will fail to launch.
• - - If you need help installing or running iRacing on Windows 10 or 11, please contact Customer Support here: https://support.iracing.com. Customer Support cannot get iRacing to work on Windows 8.1.

Race Servers

• Race Server capacity has been expanded to allow for nine different car models to be present within a Session.
• A user’s average lap time will no longer exclude laps that had been labeled as “invalid”.
• Fixed an issue where some Open Practice Race Servers were closing early due to inactivity.
• Fixed an issue where track temperatures were changing wildly if the Session was restarted (via AI Racing controls for example).

Loading

• Some adjustments have been made to how video memory resources are loaded.
• Some car loading algorithms have been optimized.

Dynamic Track

• The manner in which the dynamic track algorithm was calculated on surfaces has been improved, particularly along outside track edges.
• Fixed an issue where the visual display of some dynamic track data including dirt, marbles, and rubber was not functioning correctly on some track segments.

Race Control

• The algorithm for generating race splits based on car classes has been improved slightly.
• Short Parade Laps are now available for use at the following additional track configurations:
• - - Barber Motorsports Park - Full Course
• - - Brands Hatch Circuit - Indy
• - - Canadian Tire Motorsports Park
• - - Charlotte Motor Speedway - Roval, Roval - 2018, & Roval Long
• - - Circuit Park Zandvoort - Grand Prix
• - - Circuit Zolder - Grand Prix, & Alternate
• - - Daytona International Speedway - Oval - 2008, Road Course - 2008, & Moto - 2008
• - - Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg - PEC - Outer
• - - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Oval - 2009, Open Wheel Oval - 2009, Road Course - 2009, & Bike
• - - Long Beach Street Circuit
• - - Mount Panorama Circuit
• - - Phillip Island Circuit
• - - Talladega Superspeedway

Qualifying Scrutiny

• The Qualifying Scrutiny system has been adjusted to better handle cases where cars needed time to get up to speed after leaving their starting location.

Dirt Racing

• A variety of updates as a result of the Dirt Refresh Project have been enabled!
• - - This project enlisted a focus group of developers, vehicle dynamicists, and testers who did a deep dig through everything that makes our Dirt Racing tick, and they’ve emerged with some sweeping improvements and updates.
• - - Dirt track parameters as a whole have been updated, including:
• - - - - Racing dirt properties at all levels of wear and wetness
• - - - - Dirt height variance, depth, and hardpan behavior
• - - - - Track wear parameters
• - - - - Tire rubber accumulation
• - - - - Dirt displacement from tires
• - - - - The formation of track roughness and perturbation
• - - - - The progression of dynamic track data has been updated for all dirt tracks
• - - All Dirt Racing tires have been updated with some of the following improvements:
• - - - - New wear rates based on the hardness and wetness of the dirt racing surface
• - - - - Dirt displacement parameters
• - - - - The manner in which tires calculate their contact on undulating dirt surfaces has been improved.

AI Racing

• AI Drivers have completed an extensive training course for participating in the Heat Racing format!
• - - Heat Racing is now available for Hosted Sessions using AI Rosters!
• - - This is a brand new feature implementation for both AI Racing and the Heat Racing format.
• - - - - It is important to note that this feature is only available for Hosted Racing events at this time. AI Drivers still need the support of real humans in their Sessions or artificial chaos would surely ensue.
• AI Drivers are now fully trained and capable drivers for the following new vehicles:
• - - Aston Martin DBR9 GT1
• - - Cadillac CTS-V Racecar
• - - Cadillac V-Series.R GTP
• - - Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1
• - - Ford GT GT2
• - - Ligier JS P320
• - - Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
• - - Radical SR10
• AI Drivers have memorized and are ready to race for the gold at the following new tracks and configurations:
• - - Autodromo Nazionale Monza - GP without first chicane, Junior, and GP without chicanes
• - - Chicago Street Course - 2023 Cup and Prototype
• - - Circuit of the Americas - East and West
• - - Irwindale Speedway - ALL 5 Configurations
• - - MotorLand Aragón - ALL 7 Configurations
• - - Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway - Mini
• - - New Smyrna Speedway
• - - Twin Ring Motegi - East and Oval
• - - Willow Springs International Raceway
• AI Drivers have graduated from yet another season of advanced education classes. Training for 2023 Season 3 included the following programs:
• - - Kinesthetics for Preventing Pace Lap Panic
• - - [PHY-220] Drafting Speed Predictions
• - - White-Knuckle Door-to-Door Racing: A Retrospective
• - - Fast Cars Beware: Slow Cars
• - - Slow Cars Beware: Fast Cars
• - - AI Program Upgrade IV: Reaction Timing (Class: Pistol Shrimp)
• - - Danny S.’s Pre-School Seminar: Left-Hand Makes the “L”!
• - - The Technical Know-How Overlaps for GTP & Rocket Ship Piloting
• - - SuperTravel SuperProgram 2023: SuperSpeedways
• - - Lessons from Slot Car Racing on Racing Lines
• - - Tire Compound Connoisseur Magazine (Spring ‘23 Issue)
• - - Brake Pad Dissection - a Science Lab Qualified Course
• AI Drivers have improved their driving skills with the following vehicles:
• - - NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen Cars
• - - NASCAR Trucks
• - - BMW M Hybrid V8
• - - Dallara P217
• AI Drivers have improved their driving skills at the following track configs:
• - - Atlanta Motor Speedway - Oval
• - - Bristol Motor Speedway - Dual Pit Roads & Single Pit Road
• - - Canadian Tire Motorsports Park
• - - Daytona International Speedway - Oval
• - - Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle
• - - iRacing Superspeedway
• - - Talladega Superspeedway
• AI Drivers and their cars are now immediately removed from the world at the end of a Session. For safety.
• Fixed a handful of AI System issues including:
• - - Fixed an issue where custom Paint Schemes were not appearing on AI Drivers in Replays.
• - - Fixed an issue where AI Drivers could lag up to several seconds after the green before hitting the gas for standing starts in Hosted Sessions.
• - - Fixed an issue where AI Drivers could incur gain-time penalties while they were being towed back to their pit box. We don’t know what they were doing to Race Control staff to earn them, but it should be fixed now.
• - - Fixed an issue where multiple “Pitting In” notifications could be received.
• - - Fixed an issue with the display of AI Driver names on the Entries tab for Replays.
• - - Fixed an issue where AI Drivers appeared to be using the incorrect dive plane for the Dallara P217.

New Damage Model

• The New Damage Model is now active on the following additional vehicles:
• - - Cadillac V-Series.R GTP
• - - Dirt Late Model (ALL)
• - - Ligier JS P320
• - - NASCAR Truck Chevrolet Silverado
• - - NASCAR Truck Ford F150
• - - NASCAR Truck Toyota Tundra TRD Pro
• - - Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992)
• - - Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
• - - Renault Clio R.S. V
• Some New Damage Model system code has been reorganized to make future development easier.

Auto Fuel

• Spotters and Team Members may now control their driver's Auto Fuel state.

Spotter

• The iRacing Spotter System has received some updates to help make it more accurate and dynamic. It is now better able to read Race Control events as they occur on the track, and a variety of new Spotter Calls have been added:
• - - Car in Front/Behind is Pitting
• - - Faster Car Approaching
• - - Gaining/Losing the car in front
• - - Leader Change
• - - Leader Lap Time
• - - Leader is Lapping You
• - - Session New Fastest Lap
• - - Your Personal Best Lap Time
• - - Time Remaining in Session 20/10/5 Minutes
• - - Settings for these new messages have been added to the “[SPCC]” section of the “app.ini” file.
• - - - - These messages will only play if “Chattiness” is set to MEDIUM or HIGH, and they are turned on in the “app.ini” file, which they are by default.
• A new “Silence” function has been added for the Spotter.
• - - In the Sound Options Menu, users can bind a key press that will interrupt and stop any current spotter message and temporarily disable future messages for a short duration. The duration of the hush may be adjusted via the “hushDuration” variable in the “app.ini” file, found in the “[SPCC]” section.
• “Leader Car” calls now returns the leader car in the same class as the player car. This means all spotter messages pertaining to the leader will now reference the leader in the same class as the player, instead of the outright leader.
• - - Messages include:
• - - - - Leader is pitting now
• - - - - Leader is at Start/Finish
• - - - - You're catching the leader
• - - - - One lap to win (if you are the leader car)
• Both Italian spotter packs have been updated and improved!
• - - Many thanks to Renzo A. Olivieri and Marco Arcidiacono!
• The Race Laps remaining spotter message logic has been updated.
• Fixed an issue with the fuel spotter calls when the pit entry location was dramatically different from the Start/Finish line location.

Graphics

• A new Graphics Option has been added: Hide Cockpit Obstructions.
• - - This option hides several visually obstructive elements from the world, including: Halo, A-Pillar, and Rock Screen.
• Vehicles that utilize the New Damage model have had their car model format adjusted to reduce video memory demands.
• Improved the accuracy of steering angles for viewing your opponents’ cars’ wheels.
• Adjust brake light exposure on some cars to try to prevent them from turning white when viewed from a distance.
• Updated the system which processes the hiding and displaying of halos for Replays.
• GGX blended dirt texture shaders have been improved.
• SpeedTree lighting has been updated.
• The graphics Option for SpeedTree self-shadowing has been removed.
• - - The visual benefits were minimal and the processing needs were demanding.
• Tooltips have been added for SSAO parameters.
• A new SDK for SpeedTree has been integrated.
• Fixed an issue where the reverse and unseen sides of some SpeedTree faces were being rendered, wasting processing time.
• Fixed an issue where distortion particles were not rendering properly unless they were inside the car.
• Fixed an issue where motion blur would trigger whenever the garage was visited.
• Fixed an issue where motion blur was appearing at different amounts on different parts of the same car.

3D Foliage System

• A new environmental graphics feature option has been added to the graphics options menu: Foliage!
• - - The new Foliage system procedurally generates 3D foliage of an appropriate biome type at specified tracks. Foliage may include grasses, shrubs, boulders, cacti, flowers, and other small environmental assets. 3D foliage has no impact on driving or physics, but should decorate the world much more realistically.
• - - In the Graphics Options menu, there are several levels of detail that may be selected for use by the 3D Foliage System which can customize your visual experience and your rendering performance. You may also select to disable the system entirely.
• - - With this release, only Willow Springs International Raceway has been seeded by the new 3D Foliage system so far, but Mother Nature always finds a way to spread!

Visual Effects

• Lighting for particle effects has been improved.
• The PopcornFX SDK has been updated to the latest version.

Audio

• Audio Hot Swap support has been added to iRacing!
• - - Forgot to plug in your headset before the race starts? iRacing now detects your device when it's plugged in, even during a race. If you've selected "System Default" from the sound options, audio automatically moves to the new device when the default changes. If you have selected a specific audio endpoint, it activates once it's available.
• - - Runtime audio device switching is now supported. When the default device is selected, a new default device can be chosen in Windows, and the Simulator will use the new device. If a specific device is selected, it will be used in the Simulator when it is activated in Windows.
• - - - - disableWindowsCoreAudio=0 When enabled (1), this option disables any Windows Core Audio integration (native windows audio).
• - - - - disableAudioDeviceChangedEvents=0 When enabled (1), this option disables dynamic audio device changing.
• - - Please note: Audio Hot Swapping is enabled by default.
• A new Audio Options setting has been added which allows you to assign a System Communication Default Device.
• A new audio option, “ambientMusicDisabled”, has been added to the “app.ini” file.
• - - 0 is the default value. Setting this parameter to 1 will disable all environment music that is normally played over the PA system while in the Simulation.
• Dynamic brake sounds have been rebalanced.
• Audio for load transmission on a variety of cars has been improved.
• The engine audio for all Pace Cars has been adjusted and optimized.

Environment

• New color and texture variations have been added for a variety of parked vehicles found around the tracks.

Interface

• Enhanced the right-click pop-up menus on the Session/Replay screen, and the Driving screen, to provide the option for private messaging (PM-ing) an individual user, the current driver of a car, or a car's entire Team (which includes a driver's spotters/crew in non-team sessions).
• - - Existing Admin/Race Control operations applied to a car that would have PM-ed someone on the team have been updated to message the whole team, instead of just one team member.
• - - Manually PM-ing a car number using "/#N", with N being the displayed car number, including leading zeros if shown, will now PM the whole team.
• - - To PM just the team member that's currently driving the car, use "/#N@" (add the @ symbol immediately after the car number). If the team's car is in its pit stall but the driver has gotten out of the car, that user is still PM-ed. If the team's car is not even in the world, no PM is sent when attempting to message its current driver, and you will be informed of this.
• - - - - To prevent receiving duplicate messages, if you would receive a chat message you sent because the target includes you (you're on the target team, you're the target team's driver, or you're talking to yourself!), you only receive the message due to being associated with the target of the message. That is, the message is not separately echoed directly back to you.
• - - You can continue to manually PM an individual using the existing mechanism of specifying their name after the "/".
• Text chat responses to Race Control Admin commands now identify the targeted entry with the team name and car number, instead of the name of the driver. In non-driver-swap events, the “team name” is the driver's name.
• An option for the units selection has been updated to “English (USA)” for clarity.

Camera

• A new highest option level, “Ultra”, has been added for Motion Blur.
• Fixed an issue with Driver View Pitch/Roll chassis effects so that when the view is locked to the horizon the car can now roll farther without the camera following the position of the car. This should help reduce motion sickness in VR if you use this feature.
• Fixed an issue for whenever a car’s center-of-mass left the camera frame, all motion blur on the car was lost.
• Fixed an issue where the focus of the camera was getting unwanted motion blur for cockpit cameras.
• Fixed an issue with motion blur on cars when using multiple displays.

Controls

• The automatic parking brake that holds a car still when you come to a stop will now fully apply itself anytime the car comes to a stop, rather than waiting for the user to hold the brake pedal down once stopped. This should help prevent cars from accidentally rolling away when you come to a quick stop but fail to fully engage the brake pedal.
• The Reset Button now prevents users from putting you into the car if your steering wheel needs assignment. Doing this now will take you to the Controls Wizard and allow you to assign and calibrate your driving controls.
• The test for XInput devices has been simplified.
• Fixed an issue that could cause some joysticks to fail to calibrate properly if the previous calibration was similar enough to the new calibration.
• Fixed an issue in the Options screen where the inputs (shifter, wheel, etc) would not respond if a button was held down on a wheel.

Force Feedback

• When calibrating a wheel, iRacing now checks that your selected maximum wheel angle and Force Feedback status match what we expect based on your detected hardware. A notification will appear if these do not match.
• - - This is an effort to detect common errors with certain wheels, either that do not have the correct drivers installed or that have a maximum wheel angle set to a very low value by default. If you receive this notification, or need help setting up your racing wheel, please reach out to Customer Support.
• iRacing will now try to automatically detect your racing wheel’s maximum force, and adjust the wheel force slider accordingly. This is used to help us safely and automatically calculate the force levels to send to your wheel. We can't always know how your wheel is set up, so this may be an overestimate of your maximum force level. This is the safer guess, but in some instances it may limit how strong of a force you can request from the simulation. In those cases you can turn off the “auto-mode” and manually set your wheel’s peak value, if known.
• Improved the force auto tune button so that it takes the wheels maximum force into account. This will lighten up the auto tune as the wheel force increases.
• - - There is a new scaling parameter in the “app.ini” file, “autoForceFactor”. This value defaults to 0.5, and allows you to adjust the aggressiveness of the reduction. Setting “[Force Feedback] autoForceFactor=1” will remove all reduction, giving you a 1:1 force output. Setting it to 0 will effectively always give you 6 Nm of peak force at the wheel. Any value in between will blend between these two extremes. The default value of 0.5 should be a good value for most users.
• A mappable button (Ctrl-A) has been added to apply the Auto Force adjustment found in the F9 Black Box.
• For the Auto Force Feedback peak force detection, data collected when the car is out of control will now be suppressed. Also, data collection will be paused for several seconds immediately after an incident. The goal is to make this system more stable and consistent, even if you wreck.
• For Force Feedback, a safety check has been added to detect if the wheel jumped in position (ie: we lost/gained communication with the wheel). If a communication interruption is detected, Force Feedback will be suppressed momentarily for safety.
• A new slew rate limiter filter that is controlled via the smoothing slider is now available in the Force Feedback options tab.
• - - This filter limits the rate of change of the force feedback signal so your wheel can't accelerate beyond a fixed value. In essence it smooths out the large jolts while leaving the rest of the signal alone. A value of 25% will have almost no impact on your regular driving, while softenting out curb or wall impacts, and a value of 75% will smooth out most rumble strips and make curb hits almost invisible. If you find that you have to turn down the FFB forces below the level you would like because the jolts from curbs or accidents are too large, then try turning this filter up instead. Try a value of 50% to start, and turn it down to 25% if you feel it is too much.
• - - - - You can go back to the old boxcar filter via the “[Force Feedback] smoothingFilterType=1” entry in the “app.ini” file.

Replays

• Chat messages and incident point accruement are now saved and viewable with Replays.
• Fixed an issue where custom Paint Schemes were not appearing on AI Drivers in Replays.

Telemetry

• Live brake line pressure (LFbrakeLinePress) has now been zeroed out and will no longer show a value.
• - - Disk based brake line pressure is still available (LFbrakeLinePress), and now has any ripple from the abs modulation included in its value.
• - - A new BrakeABSCutPct value has been added to the disk based telemetry that shows the percent of brake force reduction being applied by the ABS system.
• Driver suit, body, face, and helmet type ids have been added to the session string.

Official iRacing Sporting Code

• A variety of updates have been made to the Official iRacing Sporting Code, including:
• - - A new section 6.8.3. has been added which describes the correct behavior for Starting from Pits.
• - - Restructured the paragraphs describing Rolling Starts for improved clarity for both Oval and Road racing.
• - - Better explained how multiclass cars grid, and defined what starts a multiclass race.
• - - License Class images have been updated.
• - - Identified that Joker Laps may not be used for time-based competitions at Rallycross Tracks.
• - - A reminder has been added that it is unacceptable for suspended or restricted Members to use alternate accounts.
• - - Identified that nefarious tactics may also not be used during Races, and removed a poor example of nefarious behavior.
• Review the latest version of the Official iRacing Sporting Code here:
• - - https://www.iracing.com/iracing-official-sporting-code/

UPDATE: I figured the issue out after a few more hours of head scratching and plenty of shredded fingertips from turning gears. My pulldown claw was rubbing against its bracket and that was causing the friction in the video I posted below. I took that whole mechanism apart, put it back together, and it started moving smoothly. I'm amazed at how little friction it took to shut the whole thing down.
Also while putting it back together, I was privy to the loose Soviet engineering that one always hears so much about. The tolerances are so poor on this thing that I had to reattach the gears no fewer than 10 times using the same screws, the same spacers, the same everything before it would work. It kept catching on itself once I had everything tightened down. I had to wedge extra tools in the space to get it to sit a certain way and run smoothly once tight. I'm used to building on old Japanese bikes; you put them together like the diagram says and they just work.
Alright, that's it for today — I spent about six more hours on this project than I meant to. Here's the original post:
I am a new owner of a K-3 and it was winding and firing as expected when I got it yesterday. I took it apart to replace the light seals, re-grease it, and remove the loop formers — and I'm glad I did, the foam was crumbling inside and all over the place. It really needed to be cleaned, it now looks fantastic...
...And does not fire at all. First I noticed that the front gears were locked up, and a little black set screw under the gate is what freed them — I guess I had taken it out and then re-screwed it too tight. So now I can hold the trigger button in and spin the gears in front with my thumb with not much resistance, which of course makes the mirror spin, but the motor still doesn't work. In fact, with the motor installed, I can still spin the gears in front with my thumb (and see the motor move very slowly one tooth at a time), but I can't spin the motor by hand the same way. It's just totally stiff.
With the motor out, I can turn the axle with pliers and feel the spring. It is definitely not disconnected on the inside as the motor snaps back to zero in my hand.
If I put the backing plate back inside, I can get it installed correctly and the spring winds and catches correctly, but the trigger button does not release any of the spring tension. I have to pull the plate back off and the spring snaps back violently — only did that twice before I swore to not try that again.
Now, this thing worked this morning. I didn't touch any of the gears or the motor before attempting to put it back together the first time, and so I am pretty sure the inside of the motor is just fine. Discovering that the set screw under the gate was locking up the gears was an "aha" moment that did not pan out, though it did free all mechanical components.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfgsontjvjo
This video was helpful because at the very end (16:30ish) he puts it back together without the backing plate and can hold the trigger while turning the crank to engage the mechanism — this is what I cannot do at the moment and I have tried for hours to figure out why. It looks like such a simple drive train, and I am totally confused about it.
Since all I did was unscrew screws, clean and add new grease to the parts that need it, and screw the screws back in, I'm wondering if there are others that are supposed to be firm-but-not-tight that I'm missing? Or is it even simpler than that?
Anybody? Bueller?

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20080104105659/http://www.goddess-project.net/index.php?pid=52
I am not the original creator. Posted on the old GoddessProject fansite
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Sora Unchained Examined to Unconsciable levels.
Part one of an as yet unknown number of posts listing assorted triva, observations, and other neat stuff from the Sora Unchained arc. I've been going back over my old posts on this series and collecting whatever I'd said about the stories while waiting for others to get their copies. Now I'm going to post them in chapter order along with whatever else I might have on that chapter. If anyone else wants to contribute, feel free. Afterwards I'm going to consolidate these posts into one article and post it for general information. If this works out well maybe I'll go back and do this for some of the other arcs.
Sora Unchained arc - Dark Horse Trade Paperback number 19/20 Issued Jan. 2005, To be Reissued Feb. 2012 Kodansha Tankouban Vol. 19 and 20
Part 1 - I Choose You, Sora. Dark Horse issue 105, Feb. 2004 release Let's Decide The New Chief Kodansha chapt. 119, July 1998 release Tankouban Vol. 19
Sora Hasegawa, closet debutant.
The cover illustration shows Sora wearing a "Lolita, Clash, Lolita Lempic... , Paris" shirt. While I'm still looking for details (My daughter seems to recall a punk/SKA group called Lolita Clash) it seems more likely this is a reference to a fancy french perfume label "Lolita Lempicka". It seems to be a fairly high end brand of fragrences with VERY fancy bottles. Further information is desired.
The idea of cheating when drawing lots is a common theme in manga and anime. It's been pointed out on other sites that Tamiya and Otaki are shown setting up poor clueless Keiichi to win the drawing for who gets to be the driver in the OAV's motorcycle contest, and cheating on such selection processes has been used in story plots in Sailormoon and Maison Ikkoku.
There are several ways this supposedly random drawing can be rigged, mostly by whoever sets up the lots in the first place. Hence the comments by the club members about irregularities by Sora's promoters and Keiichi's comeback line of "is this the face of a cheater?!" (Belldandy wouldn't cheat if life itself depended on it. She'd just be sure the right decision would come about.)
The untranslated names of the club members on the bottom of the Choosing Maze are Mitsuwa, Ishii, Hasegawa, Chikafuji, and Kawada. Exactly which name goes with which member other than Sora hasn't been firmly established, but I believe the one with the mustach is Kawada (kon) Suzuki (dou) and the large gentleman is Watanabe (based on wild speculation using information from the Hill Climb Motorcycle and Singing Contest stories). Exactly how this maze game works to select someone is something I'd love to learn, anyone know?
(Addendum - see next post)
Part 2 - The Shortcut To Winning. Dark Horse issue 106, Mar. 2004 release The Way Of Competition Kodansha chapt. 120, Aug. 1998 release Tankouban Vol. 19
The Racing Board shown is a real item. I found an advertisment and website for a Tanaka Paveracer, 40cc power cart that looks remarkably like the ones in the story.
The little creature Belldandy is using is called an Airbug Spiralee. It will be appearing in later chapters. Why Dark Horse felt the need to put an "and" in the name here is unknown.
A most important developement in this story is how a running theme that has existed throughout the series is made absolutely clear here. It wasn't really obvious at first, but a character trait BOTH Belldandy and Keiichi share is that they are gung-ho competitors and nothing makes them happier than squaring off against a new opponent. In the past, their pleasure in such competitions has been clouded by outside circumstances or unhappy results if they lose, but both Bell and Keiichi love a pure challenge they can devote themselves to totally. (This is first mentioned by Bell in the Anime Otoku story.)
This wasn't very clearly shown earlier in the manga, and many stories even made it seem as if Belldandy was rather timid about taking risks. (I know I thought that at first, and from the older posts on the subject I wasn't the only one.) That's why her occasional outbursts of excessive force or effort seemed so out of character. Actually, she's an all or nothing sort of competitor, who is just very choosy about what she decides to get involved in. Normally she tries not to upset things or push herself into situations, but when she decides to go for it (or she feels she's forced to), look out! This aspect of Bell's personality will become more noticable in the manga stories from here on, and if you go back and review the older stories I think you'll see what I mean.
Part 3 - The Director's Curse. Dark Horse issue 107, April 2004 release The Cursed Chief Kodansha chapt. 121, Sept. 1998 release Tankouban Vol. 19
If you didn't notice, Sora is still steering the racing board while riding tandem with Belldandy.
Belldandy HAS driven a go-cart before. She learned by copying Diana Lockheed's moves while racing her back in Winner Take All. However, this race WAS before Chihiro and the other current club members had joined the story.
This is also one of the story arcs where her competitive nature starts showing. (Observe her efforts to win in the races, fight off the sleep demon, and how she can ignore K-1's behavior without embarassment in order to get back on track.)
And for those of you following the TV anime, the next part of the arc (What A Miracle) is where we first see Tamiya in his cheerleader outfit.
It's interesting how Sora never questions just how Belldandy has such an accurate inventory of the interesting wildlife in the area in her head. (Especially as the animals in question would be in motion and not likely to be in the same places day after day. Well maybe the owl would, but otherwise how could a normal person know all those detail with such certainty?) Of course it is Bell saying it, and Sora was distracted.
Still its fun noticing how people just accept what Belldandy tells them without worrying about how she might know such things. (P. S. The Japanese text is just slightly less specific as to the racoons and owls locations, but more specific as to where the starlings are.)
Part 4 - Special Training Dark Horse issue 108, May 2004 release Crash Course Continues Kodansha chapt. 122, Oct. 1998 release Tankouban Vol. 19
The most fascinating aspect of this story is that it shows a 180 turnabout on the part of Bell's sisters. Skuld is going off on a rant about how Belldandy and Keiichi should always be together (at least as far as racing's concerned) , while Urd is saying (at least publically) that it's okay for them to do things apart.
We also haven't seen Skuld do the "PBTTT!" bit for awhile.
I try to not take sides in translation conflicts. I cannot speak or read any Japanese so I don't feel qualified to judge who's version is correct. (I do feel qualified to compare different versions however.) In this story however there are two places where the Dark Horse and independent translations differ in ways that I felt should be pointed out.
In the Japanese version, Keiichi is commenting on how Skuld and Urd are such sisters rather than Belldandy and Skuld.
More importantly, there's a joke in the sequence where the club members are preparing for Sora's next attempt to drive through them that Dark Horse left out. In the panel where the club member in the bandana is standing in front of the really large member, in the English version the smaller member is thinking, "Am I fast enough to dive for cover?" The Japanese version goes more like, "If I have to, I'll hide behind him... " That's what the arrow that Dark Horse left between them is refering to, and if they decided to remove the joke they should have removed the arrow.
Part 5 - Drive Dark Horse issue 109, June 2004 release Everybody Races Kodansha chapt. 123, Nov. 1998 release Tankouban Vol. 19
Not much trivia to report in this story.
The biggest discussion point here is how Dark Horse reinterpreted Keiichi's comments while he's practicing with Sora and what he and Belldandy say to each other that night in the temple garden. The Japanese text doesn't have him actually challanging Sora to follow him or making statements to Belldandy later that he thought he might have been considered as helping Sora. However, the drawings do seem to be depicting him doing just that, so in this case I think the Dark Horse/Studio Proteus version is closer to what Mr. Fujishima intended.
Part 6 - Miles and Miles Dark Horse issue 110, July 2004 release Keiichi's Distance, Hasegawa's Distance Kodansha chapt. 124, Dec. 1998 release Tankouban Vol. 20
Those stamps Tamiya, Otaki, and later Chihiro, are using at their check points are their signature stamps. The letters printed by them are their names.
Keiichi DOES have a Check Point list, his senpais are just choosing to stamp his face to aggravate him.
As a bit of speculation on my part, I'm sure you've noticed how Tamiya and Otaki put on hapi coats with the Whirlwind logos on them after they've stamped both Keiichi and Sora (so Sora and K-1 won't see them wearing them). Such coats are a form of advertising used by shops and worn by people employed by the shop to do things in public places. One of these things is handing out flyers and brochures at special events, which is what I think Chihiro is having them do for her after the racers have passed. More on this in the last story.
Part 7 - The Race Gets Hot, A Goddess Gets Hotter! Dark Horse issue 111, Aug. 2004 release The Race Begins! Goddess Acts Too! Kodansha chapt. 125, Jan. 1999 release Kodansha chapt. 126, Feb. 1999 release Tankouban Vol. 20
One can only wonder how Keiichi heard them tell Sora she might have to pay a toll.
As has been pointed out by many sources, the poster next to the locker room door for the sea slug society is the same poster found on the bulletin board next to the NIT-MCC recruiting poster put up by Keiichi in the movie. I believe this is the first example of a movie reference in the manga.
Urd and Skuld's assistance to Keiichi is interesting for a number of points, not the least of which is that it shows Skuld as probably being able to teleport and levitate the same as Urd. (She seems to have gotten there on her own, and later disappears behind her smoke cloud cover. It doesn't seem like she just ran away and does wind up in the tree with Urd. Now Urd may have been providing transport for both of them, but judging from their conversation I can't see them cooperating to that degree.
They both seem to feel they have a duty to help Keiichi, like he was family. Or to score points with Belldandy. Either way, Keiichi is now an insider in their world view.
The Freaky Potion - Stupid New Machine rivalry is finally firmly established.
Urd establishes the use of a kiss (first seen in the movie) as a method of passing on a spell to someone.
The car next to Belldandy in the parking lot where she's waiting for the race to end is a Caterham Super 7, the same car driven by Sena Wakabayyashi, Ken Nakajima's stepmother in You're Under Arrest. This is the first guest crossover between the two series that I'm aware of.
The conversation between Belldandy and the club members actual marks the end of Kodansha's chapter 125. Chapter 126 starts with the aftermath of Urd's kiss and Skuld's indignation at it. Chapter 126 is then split between Dark Horse issue 111 and 112.
For those (very) few readers who didn't get it, Keiichi is making steam train sounds (chuffa-chuffa! Whoo-woo!)
The trash stalls Keiichi lands in (marked flammable and non-flammable) is a recyling station. Wood and paper goes in the flammable side, plastics and metals are in the non-flammable side. Keiichi crashed in the side with the harder, sharper objects.
911 is not an emergency number in Japan. What Sora is refering to in the Japanese text are emergency procedure numbers in the community disaster response handbook. (There are guideline procedures for fires, floods, earthquakes, car crashes, injuries, heart attacks, etc.)
When Keiichi drives off the ledge and crashes into the recycling bin, he's saved from serious injury by Holy Bell spinning an air cushion for him to land on. But why was she there to save him in the first place? Belldandy is at the finish line in the parking lot, talking to the other club members and waiting for the race to finish, and Holy Bell should be with her. Unless . . .
Maybe Belldandy had already split off a copy of herself at the start of the race and had been keeping an eye on Keiichi, just in case. (The rules of competition are sacred, but she also has a prior commitment to take care of Keiichi.) Which is why she was in a position to dispatch Holy Bell just in time to save him. And also how she knew instantly that Urd had put a spell on Keiichi.
Which would mean she might also have known about Urd kissing Keiichi, but had dismissed it as just the method Urd used to get the spell into him. (So it was probably a good thing K-1 didn't finish saying "incredible kiss". Bell might have reconsidered just how harmless it was and gotten a little jealous.)
As an additional observation, I don't think that angels can be multipled, only the goddesses. As a seperate entity the angel would need to copied seperately and giving each mini-goddess their own angel would be just a bit too much power out there. Rather, I think its more likely that the angel can manifest itself through any one of the copies as needed. Thus, if mini-Bell needs Holy Bell to save Keiichi, she can summon her, but then Bell back at the parking lot cannot while mini-Bell is using her at the recycling center.
Part 8 - The Best Magic Dark Horse issue 112, Sept. 2004 release Aberrant Kiss The Strongest Magic Kodansha chapt. 126, Feb. 1999 release Kodansha chapt. 127, Mar. 1999 release Tankouban Vol. 20
Dark Horse issue 112 contains both Kodansha chapter 126 and 127 Chapter 126 is split between Dark Horse issue 111 and 112. Chapter 126 ends after Belldandy leaves Keiichi to fix his racing board and continue the race.
It was fitting that Dark Horse would celebrate its long established habit of recombining Kodansha manga chapters with its last two comic book issue releases.
When Belldandy and Holy Bell leave Keiichi after he wakes up, they transport themselves through a piece of chromed metal (a mirrored surface).
So Keiichi re-invents the motorized skate board with just the items in his pockets. Now that's a mechanic! I wonder if Mr. Fujishima wanted a chance to do a skateboard montage without making it look like that was what he wanted to do.
It's interesting to note that since the sign says "NO BIKES OR CYCLES" Keiichi is not actually breaking any rules since what he's riding doesn't fit either of those catagories.
As is revealed at the end of this story, a hidden sub-plot of this arc was how mercantile Chihiro can be. Her plot to use the Motor Club's race as an advertising stunt to sell the racing boards is foreshadowed by the scene in the first part of the story where we see how fast Chihiro can put on her "Salesperson Face" and Keiichi's comments on how she can "Turn It On." Later there are hints that she's doing something on her own behind the scenes, then we see she's got Tamiya and Otaki in Whirlwind coats at the check points, but doesn't want Keiichi or Sora to see the coats. Finally, at the end we discover they've been handing out sales brochures, that the race had been advertised as a sales stunt, and that Chihiro has already made a sign exploiting Keiichi's emergency conversion to a motorized skateboard as a sales feature.
This doesn't mean she wasn't honestly trying to help Sora and the NIT-MCC resolve their leadership crisis. It's quite obvious she was. It's just that its also being shown that she's not above using this as an opportunity to further her own mercantile efforts as well.
Kurthy133 Question and Answer
Tim, since you had some speculations about the cover illustration involving Sora's shirt in Part One of the Sora Unchained arc, I was wondering if you had any ideas about Bell's shirt in the cover illustartion of Part Two (39 hat and all.) It is much harder to read, but I figured that if anyone might know, it would be you!
While there might be some significance to the 39, I'm not aware of any. In general what she's wearing seems to be a fairly typical example of race crew wear.
In almost any motorized vehicle race (and many others as well) in Japan where there's enough money available for such things, the support team for a racer is dressed in similar, stylized, color coordinated, semi-casual clothes, often with the name of the sport, the racer's name or number, and the event or team's sponsers on them. (This is common for most professional sports around the world.)
What Belldandy is wearing seems pretty close to what other manga and anime characters I've seen wear at such events (including in the earlier AMG manga and OAV stories.) The board is a lap board where the driver's time is recorded for each lap and held up so the drivers can see how they're doing, Whatever that logo on the shoes is, it's probably a parody of some real sneaker label. And the visible lettering on her sleeve starts with a "G" and ends with "RT", the rest being to my eyes unreadable. While in no way defendable, I'd guess it reads "Go-Cart".
Now, did you notice that Belldandy seems to be wearing the same shirt while sitting on the motorcycle two stories later? The printing on the sleeve is either missing or not visible, but the shirt back has what appears to be "Team Hasagawa" printed on it.

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Developed by Hangar 13, DICE, Ripple Effect Studios, EA Gothenburg, and Criterion Games and published by EA.
Additionally former EA Black Box and Ghost Games employees who would help access game assets and code from previous NFS titles to streamline the development)
Cartel (or alternatively as “Cartel: Palm City” or "Cartel: Miami" ) would be an open world title based on the Mafia Games, the GTA games and the Saints Row games, with elements of Battlefield: Hardline thrown in with an array of weapons and vehicles based on their real life counterparts.
Gameplay wise the driving would be like Need for Speed titles, and on foot and shooting mechanics like BF: Hardline and Saints Row. Plus you can customize your cars and weapons to the same extent in BF: 2042 and some cars would allow for mounted weapons,on foot you can execute people with your equipped weapon like in The Godfather games. On foot would be an FPS view (you can change to a third person view as well) same with having an FPS view in your car.
There would an single player experience point system (like in BF Hardline single player) you gain XP from killing gangsters, and cops blowing up or capturing enemy vehicles and completing main missions, side missions and activities also there will be 15 levels to achieve with each level up unlocking new weapons, vehicles and customization for your weapons and vehicles. As well as a New Game Plus (NG+) where everything you unlocked is carried over and you can also play on the higher difficulties through NG+.
Also there would be five wanted levels for police and five vendetta levels for the gangs should you reach level five gang vendetta you start a Gang War there are three ways to stop a Gang War either bribe the feds, blow up a gang stronghold, or hide out in a safe house. Police wanted levels one and two local units would come after the player, at police wanted level two or three the state police would come after the player. At wanted level four and five the feds would come after the player. The military will only come after the player if they trespass in Fort Rockport or the Palmount Naval Shipyard
The Storyline
In Cartel: Palm City; in a different universe and timeline where there's a total prohibition of all narcotics in the United States in 2010; tells the story of Jack Rourke (the player character) a hardworking rideshare driver at day and a street racer at night who's scraping by in Palm City circa 2019. One fateful night, Jack Rourke has an inadvertent brush with the Blackwell Syndicate (mainly Carl Stoddard and that showcases a life of reward too big to ignore. As he joins the Blackwell Syndicate who are fighting for control of Palm City against five other criminal groups and take the city for the Blackwell Syndicate including recovering evidence that could not only convict the Blackwell Syndicate, as well as a network of crime lords in many countries, (including the other gang’s backers) including the Blackwell Syndicate's backers the Mob and it would also directly implicate the CIA in Palm City’s drug trade with Jack Rourke earning the nickname “El Sicario” for his efforts in driving the other gangs out of Palm City. When he learns how much the drugs were hurting the people of Palm City and all over the country as well as learning that the Blackwell Syndicate had gotten into the drug trade themselves, he contacts FBI agent Chase Linh who relays the story to her and offers the evidence and his testimony in exchange for full immunity for him and his associates, and the evidence on the computer was enough to convict everyone form all the five gangs, but also their crime lord backers from at least half a dozen countries, as well implicating the CIA in this as well as lobbying efforts to keep all narcotics prohibited, leading to a new administration repealing the Narcotics Prohibition law and legalizing low level cannabis. However six months later after the repeal of the Narcotics Prohibition Jack Rourke would be gunned down by Russian Mafia hitmen, Dimitri "Dima '' Mayakovsky and Henry "Black" Blackburn.
The Cast

• Sean Faris - Jack Rourke
• Erik Armando Alvarez - Marcus Blackwell
• Kieth David - Julian “Julius” Little
• Philip Anthony-Rodriguez - Nick Mendoza
• Kelly Hu - Khai Minh Dao
• Travis Willingham - Carl Stoddard
• Eugene Byrd - Marcus “Boomer” Boone
• Adam J. Harrington - Tyson Latchford
• Jack Derges - Tyler "Ty" Morgan
• David Ajala - Sean "Mac" McAlister
• Jessica Madsen - Jessica "Jess" Miller
• Ramon Tikaram - Ravindra "Rav" Chaudhry
• Brooke Burke - Rachel Teller
• Josie Maran - Mia Townsend
• Jonny Cruz - Lucas Rivera
• Ana Marte - Ana Rivera
• Maggie Q - FBI Agent Chase Linh
• Bentino Martinez - CIA Agent Julian Dawes
• Coolie Ranx - Benny King
• Jason Michael Zumwalt - Roman Barkov
• Michael Andrew Hollick - Niko Barkov
• Fred Tatasciore - Tony Alpert
• Josh Coxx - Frank Mercer
• Shontae Saldana - Eva Torres
• Josh Collins - Danny Shaw
• Moti Margolin - Dimitri Glebov
• Jack Yang - Chan Wu
• Graham Shiels - Leo Ray
• Mark Rolston - Neil Roark
• Dean McKenzie - Jonathan Cross
• David Rees Snell - Gregory "GMAC" MacDonald
• Heather Fox - Rose Largo
• Joshua Alba - Zack Maio
• Kurt Caceres - Hector Maio
• Lawrence B. Adisa - Brad Rogers
• Dominique Tipper - Lina Navarro
• David Palffy - Caleb Reece
• David Menkin - Hector "Ming" Domingo
• Bruce Johnson - Wes "Webster" Allen
• William Roberts - Joe "JV" Vega
• Jun-Yamazaki - Toru "Bull" Sato
• Derek Hamilton - Clarence "Razor" Callahan
• Chuck Norris - Chief Norris
• Paul Pape - Jack Keller
• Christina Hendricks - Sam Harper

List of activities

• Story Mission: Missions that advance the plot
• Side Mission: Missions that do not advance the plot but earns extra experience/money
• Street Race: Just like it is in Need for Speed, finish first.
• Combat Race: Just like Street Race, but weapon use is allowed.
• Mayhem: Cause as much destruction as possible and get the highest Cost to State score.
• Car Snatch: Steal a car from the cops or one of the four gangs and bring it to a chop shop and also unlock the car you stole for free.
• Drug/CigaWeapon Trafficking: Deliver drugs/military-grade weapons/Cuban cigars to dealers and avoid the cops and rival gangs.
• Car Delivery: Deliver a load of high-end cars to car dealers.
• Assassination: Find and kill a named character, bonus if you fulfill a special condition

Vehicles
Civilian

• Acura NSX '17, Acura RSX-S '04,
• Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio '16,
• Aston Martin DB5 '64, Aston Martin DB11 '17, Aston Martin DB11 Volante '19, Aston Martin Vulcan '16,
• Audi R8 V10 Performance '19, Audi S5 Sportback '17,
• BMW i8 Coupé '18, BMW i8 Coupé K.S. '18, BMW i8 Roadster '18, BMW M2 Competition '19, BMW M3 '06, BMW M3 '10, BMW M3 Evolution II '88, BMW M3 GTR L.E. '06, BMW M4 '18, BMW M4 Convertible '17, BMW M4 GTS '16, BMW M5 '18, BMW X6 M '16, BMW Z4 M40i '19,
• Buick Grand National '87, Buick Cascada '16
• Chevrolet Bel Air '55, Chevrolet C10 Sidestep Pickup '65, Chevrolet Camaro SS '67, Chevrolet Camaro Z28 '14, Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 '17, Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport '17, Chevrolet Corvette Z06 '13, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 '19, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray (2020), Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible (2020), Chevrolet Corvette ZO6 (Cross’ ZO6)
• Dodge Challenger SRT8 '14, Dodge Charger '69, Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat ‘18
• Ferrari 458 Italia '09, Ferrari 458 Spider '11, Ferrari 488 GTB '15, Ferrari 488 Pista '19, Ferrari F40 '87, Ferrari FXX-K Evo '18, Ferrari LaFerrari '13, Ferrari Testarossa Coupé '84,
• Ford F-150 Raptor '17, Ford F-150 SVT Raptor L.E. '17, Ford Focus RS '16, Ford GT '17, Ford Mustang '65, Ford Mustang BOSS 302 '69, Ford Mustang Foxbody '90, Ford Mustang GT '15, Ford Crown Victoria ‘08
• Honda Civic Type-R '00, Honda Civic Type-R '15, Honda NSX Type-R '92, Honda S2000 '09,
• Infiniti Q60 S '17,
• Jaguar F-Type R Convertible '19, Jaguar F-Type R Coupé '16,
• Koenigsegg Regera '16 (Roman’s Regera)
• Lamborghini Aventador S '18, Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster '17, Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Coupe '19, Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster '19, Lamborghini Countach '89, Lamborghini Diablo SV '95, Lamborghini Huracán '18, Lamborghini Huracán Performante '18, Lamborghini Huracán Performante Spyder '18, Lamborghini Huracán Spyder '18, Lamborghini Murciélago SV '10, Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 '08
• Land Rover Defender 110 '15, Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR '15,
• Lotus Exige S '06,
• Mazda MX-5 '15, Mazda MX-5 '96, Mazda RX-7 Spirit R '02,
• McLaren 570S '15, McLaren 570S Spider '18, McLaren 600LT '18, McLaren F1 '93, McLaren P1 '14, McLaren P1 GTR '15
• Mercedes-AMG A 45 '16, Mercedes-AMG C 63 Coupé '18, Unlocked at REP LVL 18, Mercedes-AMG C 63 Coupé K.S. '18, Mercedes-AMG G 63 '17, Mercedes-AMG GT '15, Mercedes-AMG GT R '17, Mercedes-AMG GT S Roadster '19
• Mercury Cougar '67
• Mini JCW Countryman '17
• Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX '07, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X '08, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X K.S. '08
• Nissan 180SX Type X '96, Nissan 240SX '98, Nissan 350Z ‘03, Nissan 370Z ‘09, Nissan GT-R ‘07, Nissan Fairlady 240ZG '71, Nissan GT-R '17, Nissan Silvia Spec-R Aero '02, Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R '71, Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec '93, Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec '99, Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec '02,
• Opel Astra '09
• Pagani Huayra BC '17
• Plymouth Barracuda '70
• Polestar 1 '20
• Pontiac Firebird '77, Pontiac Firebird '99, Pontiac GTO '05, Pontiac G8 '08
• Porsche 718 Cayman GTS '18, Porsche 911 Carrera GTS '18, Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet '18, Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 2.8 '73, Porsche 911 Carrera S '97, Porsche 911 GT2 RS '18, Porsche 911 GT3 RS '19, Porsche 911 Targa 4 GTS '18, Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet Ex '18, Porsche 911 Turbo S Exclusive '18, Porsche 918 Spyder '15, Porsche Cayman GT4 '15, Porsche Panamera Turbo '17, Porsche 911 Carrera S (991) '12
• SRT Viper GTS '14
• Subaru BRZ Premium '14, Subaru Impreza WRX STI '06, Subaru Impreza WRX STI '10,
• Volkswagen Beetle '63, Volkswagen Golf GTI '76, Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport '16,
• Volvo 242 DL '75, Volvo Amazon P130 '70

Military

• Light Vehicles: M1161 ITV, VDV Buggy, LYT2021, MRAP, SPM-3, ZFB-05, Quad Bike, Dirt Bike. Desert Patrol Vehicle. Skid Loader
• Infantry Fighting Vehicles: LAV-25, BTR-90, ZBD-09, AAV-7A1. AMTRAC
• Main Battle Tanks: M1 Abrams, T-90A, Type 99 MBT, HT-95 Levkov
• Anti-Aircraft Vehicles: LAV-AD, 9K22 Tunguska-M, Type 95 AA
• Mobile Artillery: HIMARS
• Helicopters: AH-1Z Viper, Mi-28 Havoc, Z-10W, AH-6 Little Bird, Z-11W, KA-60 Kasatka, UH-1Y Venom, Z-9 Haitun
• Naval Craft: DV-15 Interceptor, RCB-90, RHIB Boat, PWC, ACV
• Emplacements: .50 Cal, M220 TOW Launcher, 9M133 Kornet Launcher, HJ-8 Launcher, Centurion C-RAM, Pantsir-S1, LD-2000 AA, Schipunov 42. Launch Pod

Weapon attachments

• Optics (Pistols): Iron Sights, Improved Iron Sights, Ghost Ring, Mini (RDS), Deltapoint (RDS), Comp M4S (1X) Magnum Scope (2x)
• Optics (Rifles): Short Range; Barska Reflex (RDS), Kobra (RDS), Coyote (RDS), EOTech Sight (1x), PKA-S (1x), HD-33 (1x), F2000 (1.6x) (F2000 only). Medium Range; M145 (3.4x), PK-A (3.4x), PRISMA (3.4x), Mark 4 HAMR (3.5x) ACOG (4x), PSO-1 (4x), JGM-4 (4x). Long Range: CL6x (6x), PKS-07 (7x), Rifle Scope (8x), Hunter (20x), Ballistic (40x), IRNV (1x), FLIR (2x)
• Accessories: Canted Iron Sights, Magnifier (2x), Variable Zoom (2x-14x), Flash Light, Tactical Light, Laser Sight, Tri Beam Laser, Green Laser Sight, LaseLight Combo, Range Finder, Target Detector, Stabilizer.
• Barrel: Standard Barrel, Heavy Barrel, Light Barrel
• Muzzle (ARs/Carbines, DMRs, LMGs, PDWs, and Sidearms): Muzzle Brake, Compensator, Suppressor, Flash Hider, Flash Enhancer.
• Muzzle (shotgun): Duckbill, Full Choke, Modified Choke
• Underbarrel: Underslung Rail (M320, GP-30, M26 MASS), Bipod, Ergo Grip, Angled Grip, Stubby Grip, Vertical Grip, Folding Grip, Potato Grip
• Auxiliary: Straight Pull Bolt, Bipod
• Ammunition: Shotshells, 12 Gauge Buckshot, 12 Gauge Dart, 12 Gauge Frag, 12 Gauge Slug

40mm Grenades, 40mm HE, 40mm Incendiary, 40mm CS, 40mm Dart, 40mm Flashbang, 40mm LVG, 40mm Smoke, 40mm 3GL.

• 25mm Grenades - 25mm Airburst, 25mm Dart, 25mm Smoke.
• Arrows - Broadhead Arrow, Bullet Point Arrow, Explosive Tipped Arrow (Tek Arrows), Poison Arrow

Weapon list
Key: Base weapon (special variant)

• Melee Weapons: Blunt Weapons, Knives, Collapsible Baton, Machete (L.S 16 Machete), Breaching Hammer, Sledge Hammer, Axe, Inquisition Sword, Shovel, Bayonet, ACB-90, Shank, Machete, Bowie, Carbon Fiber, Scout, Survival, Trench, Boot, SEAL, Dive, Tactical, BJ-2, Precision, Baseball Bat, 2x4, Lead Pipe
• Light Pistols; P226, M9, QSZ-92, MP443, G17 (Street Racer Special), FN57. Machine Pistols; CZ-75. G18, TEC-9, MAC-10, MP9, 93R.
• Heavy Pistols: M1911, Compact 45, SW40, DEagle .38, DEagle .357, DEagle .44, DEagle .50, DEagle .501, DEagle .700, 45T (Mercer’s 45T), .40
• Revolvers; Unica 6 .38, Unica 6 .357, Unica 6 .44, Unica 6 .50, Unica 6 .501, Unica 6 .700, .38 Snub, .38 Special, .357 RS, MP412 REX, .44 Magnum (.44 Magnum Force), .501 Magnum Enforcer, .700 Magnum
• Short Rifles/Shotguns; Mare's Leg, Lupara, Shorty 12G (Modern Lupara)
• Personal Defense Weapons/SMGs: MP5, MX4, PP-2000, UMP-45, CBJ-MS, PDW-R, CZ-3A1, JS2, P90, UMP-9, MP7 (Combine MP7) , AS VAL, SR-2, MPX, Groza-4, K10 (Dillinger II), M1A1, M1928 (Dillinger), MP5SD
• Shotguns: QBS-09, 870 MCS, M1014, Hawk 12G, Saiga 12K, SPAS-12, UTS-15, DBV-12, DAO-12, USAS-12, AA-12, 870P Magnum, 37 Stakeout (Cross’ 37 Stakeout), Double-Barrel Shotgun, KSG12, M26 MASS
• Carbines: AK5C, ACW-R, SG553, AKU-12, A-91, ACE 52 CQB, G36C, M4, ACE 21 CQB, Type-95B-1, MTAR-21, Phantom, Groza-1, RO933, AKS-74U, CAR-556, ACWR.
• Assault Rifles: AK-12 (Shovak AK-12), SCAR-L, SCAR-H, M416, SAR-21, AEK-971 (Russian Dillinger), FAMAS, AUG A3, CZ-805, QBZ-95-1, ACE 23, L85A2, F2000 (SC-20K), ARX-160, Bulldog, AN-94, M16A3, M16A4, AKM, L85A2, ARM, MDC, SAR-21, AUG A3, HCAR, SA-58 OSW, HK51, FN FAL, SG510.
• Light Machine Guns: U-100 MK5 (Modern Dillinger), Type 88 LMG, LSAT, PKP Pecheneg, QBB-95-1, M240B, MG4, M249, M60-E4 (M60-ULT), AWS, L86A2, RPK, RPK-74, RPK-12,
• Designated Marksman Rifles: RFB, Mk11 Mod 0, SKS, SVD-12, QBU-88, M39 EMR, ACE 53 SV, SCAR-H SV, M39 EMR
• Sniper Rifles: R700PPS, TRG-42P, CS-LR4, M40A5, Scout Elite, SV-98, JNG-90, 338-Recon, M98B, SRR-61, FY-JS, Dragunov SVD, L115, GOL Magnum, SR338, CS5, .300 Knockout, M200 Intervention, M82A3 .416, M82A3 .50, M82A3 .501, M82A3 .700, M82A3 .900, M82A3 20mm Vulcan, AMR-2 .416, AMR-2 .50, AMR-2 .501, AMR-2 .700, AMR-2 .900 AMR-2 20mm Vulcan, HVM-II, M136 CS, Vidhwansak, Rorsch Mk-1, Rorsch Mk-4, 20mm Vulcan Grenares: M67 Frag, V40 Mini, RGO Impact, M34 Incendiary, M18 Smoke, M84 Flashbang, Hand Flare, CS Gas Grenade, Molotov, AA Mine, AT Mine, SLAM, C4 Explosive, M18 Claymore
• Launchers: M32 MGL, M203, M320, GP-30, M26 MASS, RPG,MBT LAW, FIM-92 Stinger, RPG-7V2, SA-18 Igla, Mk153 SMAW, FGM-148 Javelin, FGM-172 SRAW, XM-25
• Gadgets: Defibrillator, First Aid Pack, Medic Bag, Repair Tool, Ammo Box, Ammo Pack, M224 Mortar, MP-APS, XM25, UCAV, Ballistic Shield, MAV, Motion Sensor, PLD, Radio Beacon, SOFLAM, T-UGS, SUAV, RAWR M240B, RAWR M203, XD-1 Accipiter

Other: Nail Gun
Mission Structure
Prolog (2019)

1. The Birth of Art - After winning a big race, Jack Rourke collects the winnings at the Palm City Historical Museum
2. An Offer you Can't Refuse - Jack Rourke must evade Volk sicarios with Tyson Lachford and Carl Stoddard members of the Blackwell Syndicate
3. Race Day - After the events of the last mission, Jack Rourke partakes in a race day event and wins three events with his Porsche 911 Carrera S (991) '12
4. Running Man - Volk sicarios Niko and Dimitri crashes the race day and Jack must get to the Blackwell Garage

Chapter 1 (2019-2021)

1. M34 Party - Jack Rourke joins the Blackwell Syndicate and gets acquainted with everyone before going with Tyson in a Pontiac GTO '05 to burn the Volk's cars with M34 Incendiary Grenades as well as stealing GMAC's Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4
2. Standard Routine - Jack Rourke rolls with Tyson, Stoddard and Jonathan Cross to collect protection money but things go south when they collect from a hotel out of town and Jack Rourke chases after the hotel owner in Cross' car.
3. Fair Play - Jack Rourke is tasked with stealing Ryan Cooper's Nissan 240SX and sabotaging it on the eve of the biggest Speedhunter race of the year, the SpeedHunter Championship Finals and in a last minute swap Jack Rourke has to race in place of Tyler Morgan
4. Mia Townsend - Jack Rourke is tasked with taking Mia Townsend out for a night at the city... until a gang of Wraith street racers led by Caleb Reece hassles her and Jack Rourke takes them on in a fight
5. Get Used To It - After the events of the previous mission Jack Rourke and Tyson Latchford are sent to teach the Wraiths a lesson But Caleb Reece makes it serious and Caleb Reece is wound up being killed by Tyson after a chase around the city alongside Danny Shaw.
6. The Saint and The Sinner - It's revealed thtat Caleb Reece was Chief Norris' best friend, and Danny Shaw survives the crash however Stoddard would handle Shaw as Jack Rourke is tasked with infiltrating the Elmore Plaza Hotel and has to kill the manager, Nikki Morris and bomb the hotel before escaping to a funeral and confronts, Danny Shaw and Frank Mercer who are also in attendance. Jack Rourke kills Shaw and nearly kills Frank as well. But Frank tasers Rourke and escapes. It would be revealed that some of the Volk sicarios recognized Sotddard and had to deal with them, then the two escaped in a hearse.

Chapter 2 (2021)

1. A Trip to the Countryside - In order to get a large supply of cannabis from Mexico, Jack Rourke takes a team to retrieve the Mexican from Mexican smugglers only to be ambushed by Los Zetas L.S 16 and Volk sicarios, then it's revealed that Roman had paid off the FBI to go after Rourke and his teammates then they came off with the cannabis killing their pursuers in the process.
2. Code of Silence - The evidence that Tyson and Stoddard had ripped from the Volk had fallen in the hands of Hector Maio who cut a deal with the FBI, total immunity for the evidence and Jack Rouke is tasked with killing him and retrieving the evidence
3. Visiting Rich People - Jack Rourke is tasked with sabotaging a federal proscutor's case against The Mob, the Blackwell Syndicate's backers as well as killing the federal prosecutor in charge of the case.
4. Visiting Powerful People - Jack Rourke is tasked with meeting and protecting a powerful member of Palm City's elite, the owner of Prefered Outcomes Julian Daws... though he more than meets the eyes of Jack Rourke
5. Agent Dawes - Julian Daws is revealed to be a CIA agent who is tasked with keeping the flow of drugs to Jack's surprise and that he is backing the Blackwell Syndicate through Prefered Outcomes.
6. The Drug Trade - Julian Daws walks Jack Rourke through Palm City's drug trade and how the illicit street racing scene is used as a cover to smuggle drugs.
7. Great Deal - Tyson Lachford scores a major deal with a drug farm in Georgia who promises to supply them with large amounts of drugs in exchange for access to databases concerning highway patrol routes; however when the deal goes down at a parking garage, the Volk and L.S 16 ambush them.
8. Bon Appetit - Jack Rourke drives Eva Torrez, Marcus Blackwell and Julian Daws to the rebuilt Elmore Plaza Hotel for brunch only for Niko and Dimirti with a Volk hit squad to blast the entire lobby with gunfire and C4 explosives, Jack Rourke vaults over with Eva Torrez, Marcus Blackwell and Julian Daws, there Jack Rourke and Eva Torrez rush out through the side entrance and confronts the hit squad with Jack Rourke killing both Niko and Dimirti. However Blackwell wants Jack to confront Jonathan Cross at a doughnut store and reveals that the Volk threatened to turn him over to IAD and is chased throughout the city with Marcus Blackwell putting Cross on permanent retirement by killing him with a Lupara.

Chapter 3 (Finishing the other gangs and downfall of Jack Rourke) (late 2021)

1. Happy Anniversary - Jack Rourke is tasked with completing a contract hit against Frank Mercer at the fifth anniversary of the formation of the High-Speed Task Force by firing a sniper rifle stashed in a bathroom
2. You Lucky Bastard - After a failed attempt to kill Razor; Roman's personal driver and #2 of the Volk, Jack Rourke is given the contract to kill Razor, first by car bomb but ends up killing Deputy Chief Jack Keller. instead of Razor. Jack Rourke, Tyson and Stoddard would later find Razer at a Burger King. In this Rourke can choose to kill or spare Razor. Rourke would spare him after he tells him that the CIA is deeper in Palm City's drug trade than Jack Rourke is led to believe
3. Creme de la Creme - Marcus Blackwell plans to kill Roman, Niko, Demintri and Chan Wu in front of the city's Creme de la Creme, the mayor, the police chief, the FBI director and even the city's richest elite. However things go south and Jack Rourke chases Roman and Niko at the airport where they get to a private jet but is shot down and crash lands on the Cross Mermeroral Bridge Chan Wu is still alive and Jack Rourke executes him and leaves before the cops show up.
4. Plugging the Chief - After the events of Creme de la Creme; Chief Norris places to take on the Blackwell Syndicate and to dismantle them, and a contract hit is placed on him where Jack Rourke accepts the contract and kills Chief Norris.
5. Election Campaign - The State Governor had launched his reelection bid with the promise get tough on the cartels that had plagued Palm City and like Chief Norris has a contract hit out on him which Jack Rourke is tasked with taking, using a sniper rifle
6. Just for Relaxation - Marcus Blackwell tells Jack Rourke about a shipment of Cuban cigars as well as a hidden shipment of diamonds (hot ice) straight from Africa however and Jack Rourke takes a crew to retrieve the shipment from federal customs however it's revealed that instead of diamonds it's Cold Shot... the same drug being pushed by the other gangs.
7. The Truth - Jack Rourke and Kahi Minh Dao eavesdrop on Marcus Blackwell and Julain Daws and they learn the truth.
8. Moonlighting - Jack Rourke after knowing about the truth takes Tyson to rob the Palm CIty First National in order to retire from the sicario lifestyle and gets into a massive shootout with the PCPD Heat-style.
9. The Death of Art - After the heist of Palm City First National Jack Rourke finds Tyson dead and meets Stoddard at the museum only to find out that Stoddard knew about the heist, and used his share of the drug money and clout at Prefered Outcomes to buy out The7 as his personal hit squad, however Jack Rourke manages to kill every member of The7 but spares Stoddard (the player can also kill him but canonically Jack Rourke spares him)

Epilogue (2022)
After the trial and the repeal of the Jack Rurke is placed in the Witness Protection Program in Lakeshore City but six months later after the repeal of the Narcotics Prohibition Jack Rourke would be gunned down by members of the West Side Club, Dimitri "Dima" Mayakovsky and Henry "Black" Blackburn.
The Gangs of Palm City
L.S 16 (Los Salmos 16) - Also known as The Salmos. Backed by the most powerful Mexican drug lords and the most powerful arms traffickers in the world, L.S 16 once ruled all of Palm City In fear until The House stepped in. They’re also the strongest gang in the game with access to military grade weapons and vehicles and each gang kill from them awards 500-1,500 XP depending on the enemy type. They are led by Neil Roark.
The House - The House is a gambling gang with strong ties and backed by the Sicilian Mafia; they run the street scene and the casinos in Palm City. They’re pretty strong but weaker than L.S 16, and they have access to military grade weapons and vehicles each gang kills from them awards 250-800 XP depending on the enemy type. Headed by Lina Navarro.
The Volk - The Volk is a Chinese-Russian gang led by Roman Barkov with Niko Barkov as their enforcer backed by the Triads (Chan Wu), the Russian Mob (Dimitri Glebov), and GMAC's crew (Gregory "GMAC" MacDonald, Rose Largo) for cars who control the weapon smuggling and arms dealing in Palm City. With this backing and access to military grade weapons. They are a mid tier gang and each gang kill from them awards 200-600 XP depending on the enemy type. They are also the ones who go after the Blackwell Syndicate the most.
Palm Kings - The Palm Kings (PKs) is a Black gang made up of Black nationalists who controls Palm Harbor’s rackets and extorts store owners. Led by Benny King, they’re equipped with police-grade weaponry and has strong ties with the PCPD despite this, they are the second weakest gang in the game and each gang kill from them awards 150-500 XP depending if it's a regular to elite
Dixie Paladins - The Dixie Paladins are a white supremacy gang and a militarized version of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) who controls the Gold Coast Mountains in the mountainous regions of Palm City. they’re the weakest gang in the game and each gang kill from them awards 100-250 XP from regular to elite members. They are led by Tony Alpert
Blackwell Syndicate - The Blackwell Syndicate is a underground criminal organization based in Palm City and is led by Marcus Blackwell with Julian “Julius” Little as underboss, Hector Maio before "Code of Silence" and Zack Maio after "Code of Silence". Nick Mendoza. Khai Minh Dao and Carl Stoddard are caporegimes and Tyson Latchford, Tyler "Ty" Morgan, Sean "Mac" McAlister, Jessica "Jess" Miller as soldiers. Other members include Ravindra "Rav" Chaudhry as the gang's car expert Rachel Teller as the gang's customization expert, Marcus “Boomer” Boone as the gang's weapon experts. The Blackwell Syndicate would be the gang that the player would join. In Act 1, they're an outside and fast tracked to soldier, but in Act 2 the player would be a capo until the end of the game. They are secretly backed by both The Mob and the CIA through Agent Dawes. Jonathan Cross and Mia Townsend are also on the gang's payroll until "Bon Appetit" where Marcus Blackwell executes him with a 870P Magnum to the head. Also Mia would also go with Jack Rourke as well
The police/military force
PCPD - the police force of Palm City/Miami if the player does hostile acts (killing civilians, firing unsuppressed weapons in public, etc) will attract police attention and each kill from them awards 50 XP for regular members and 100 XP for armored members, However the player can bribe the PCPD to look the other way or will even help the player fight the other gangs but would be the target of higher level police forces. (Sort of like it was in The Godfather game) The player can also buy favors from them as well. Also they’ll deploy stronger units at higher heat level alongside the FBI. The cars PCPD drives are the Ford Crown Victoria, Dodge Challenger, Pontiac GTO, and the Chevy Grand Sport
Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) - The state police force and Only appears in wanted levels 3 and above, Each kill from them awards 75 XP for regular state troopers and 150 XP for tactical state troopers. Regular state troopers drives Ford Mustang GTs tactical state troopers drives Nissan GT-R
FBI - Only appears in wanted level 5 the FBI will be called in if the player continues to retaliate against the PCPD. Each kill from them awards 125 XP for regular agents, 250 XP for FBI SWAT and 375 XP for FBI HRT, Like the PCPD the player can bribe the FBI to look the other way, or even help the player fight gangs, or the PCPD but at the second highest price. The FBI also has the second widest array of favors the player can buy. regular agents drives the Nissan 350Z or Porsche 911 GT3 RS, FBI SWAT drives the - Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster or Ford F-150 SVT Raptor L.E. and FBI HRT drives the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X or Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR
Military - Only goes after the player if they trespass in Fort Rockport or the Palmount Naval Shipyard. Each kill from them awards 200 XP for regs, 400 XP for experienced troops and 600 XP for elite troops. Like the PCPD, State Police and the FBI, the player can bribe the military to look the other way, or even help the player fight gangs, the PCPD, State Police or even the FBI but at the highest price and The military also has the widest array of favors the player can buy in large part due to Agent Dawes’ connections in Washington.
Multiplayer portion of the game would take place during the five cartels war where the Blackwell Syndicate, The Volk, Palm Kings, Dixie Paldines, Los Salmos 16, and The House (basically where Jack Rourke glosses over saying "It was non-stop chaos for weeks")
Also there would be a free ride mode where the player can explore the city at their leisure or pick a fight with either other cartels or the cops.

(If this is the wrong subreddit please let me know)
Lengthy post, tldr at the end.
I have this here no name gem. My stepdad got it for free from a neighbor and we want to fix it up. I’m not an expert on go karts or small engine things by any means, I am a “mechanic” by trade, but in the world of go karts I know next to nothing.
The engine starts and runs however, the stuff surrounding the engine is where the problem lies (motor is a HF 212 predator btw)
For one, brakes are completely dead, the master cylinder is seized and to my understanding the caliper leaks. (So my stepdad says).
For the brakes I’m not sure if I should replace the parts with new ones from the same company “CRG” or swap em out with something different.
Two, I think the clutch is worn out as it will turn the tires in the air but on the ground it does nothing but kind of lunge like it wants to move. I’m split on either replacing the clutch or swapping it out for a torque converter. I’m not sure if that’s only a mini bike thing or applies to karts as well. (I have a Coleman mini bike I screw around with once in a while)
Any and all help is greatly appreciated, I’m really new to powersports and small engines and this seems like an awesome hobby to get into.
TLDR: Want to fix go kart, new to go karts, brakes and clutch no worky.

Hello, everyone and thanks in advance for any words of wisdom!
Let me begin by explaining my situation: I've been out of work since January. I'm a graphic designer and the market has been feeling slower and slower every month, it's really difficult to get customers lately and it's getting too stressful. Both my frustration and my professional situation have put me in a situation where I feel the best I can do for myself and my mental health is try something different that I can enjoy.
I was recently talking to a friend who regularly participates in bike racing events, and he was telling me about the total lack of people offering drone videography services in my area, specially when it comes to sporting events. This, to me, sounds like a huge opportunity.
I already have experience in traditional photography and my video editing skills are more than suitable to offer professional results, all I'm missing is a drone.
I guess my question is divided in two parts:
First, do you guys think offering drone videography services is viable and profitable, considering I live in a part of South America where not many people are offering this service?
And my second question, would a DJI Mini 3 with 3 batteries suffice and be professional enough to get footage of, say for example, a bike racing event?
Thank you for your input!

Just got back from a solo trip through South Africa, and despite all the cautions and reservations I heard on- and off-line, I loved every bit of it! Sharing some quick notes here for reference, and happy to answer any queries from people thinking of travelling there.
Profile
34 yo Indian man. Not the primest of targets for crime, admittedly, but I didn't really look like a poor write-off as well.
Dates
21 May 2023 - 31 May 2023
Itinerary
2N in Johannesburg with visits to Apartheid Museum, Soweto, and Rosebank Mall. Stayed at Clico Boutique Hotel in Rosebank. Found the city to be pleasant and well worth the stopover, also perfectly safe if navigated using Uber or through join-in tours.
3N in Greater Kruger, specifically at Nyati Safari Lodge in the Balule Reserve, with 2x game drives daily (morning and evening). Saw 3 of the big 5 (missed out on Rhinos and Leopards but have seen them earlier in India, so no heartache) as well as animals unique to Africa - hippos (right outside my room!), zebra, giraffes, and more antelopes than I can remember the names of. Also did a bushwalk, and loved all the bush sundowners and breakfasts. It was absolutely safe inside the lodge, the bigger threats mere mischeivous monkeys raiding the mini-bar. This was my first African Safari experience, and I loved every bit of it - can definitely see myself become a safari hoe in the years to come.
2N in Franschhoek, with a day-long self-cycle through the region (the road from Berg River Dam to Huguenot Memorial is beautiful), and more wine tastings (highly recommend Eikehof and Glenwood) than I'd had in the entirety of my life till the day. The place was my favourite in SA - beautiful, delicious, creative, and a bubble of safety. Stayed at the lovely Chanteclair guesthouse (the host Allan is a gem).
3N in Cape Town, with visits to Table Mountain, the waterfront, a peninsula tour (Camp's Bay, Hout Bay, Chapman's Peak, Cape of Good Hope, Boulders Penguin Colony, and Muizenberg), Kirstenbosch, Company's Garden, Zeitz MCAA (fantastic if you're into art) and Bo Kaap (with the lovely and free Cape Town Walking Tours). The city is easily one of the most, if not the most, beautiful in the world - the setting is spectacular, even in the cold, windy, rainy weather I was there in. It was also markedly safer than Joburg, and there were several parts of town where walking around didn't make me feel as on-edge. Stayed at Taj Cape Town (stellar downtown hotel which allows easier access to the actual city than the tourist enclave hotels of the lively but sterile Waterfront area).
Safety
Almost everyone I spoke to before visiting South Africa painted it as a free-for-all crime zone. I'd be mugged, raped, killed, or whatnot here, they said. Don't go alone. Don't go at all. All of it, ofcourse, turned out to be overblown, panic-stricken hogwash. I navigated the country without incident. BUT I didn't just stroll into town with an open wallet either - I made sure to stay at good hotels (within my budget), keep my valuables hidden away like in a secure backpack or an inside pocket, check locally for safety advice, and use Ubers or tours wherever recommended. These weren't special safety procedures designed for South Africa, mind you, they were just common precautions I'd use in any country I was visiting. It helped my travel remain incident free, and the only time I was approached by someone mildly unsavoury was when a drunk man stumbled past saying 'Good day brother' in Bo Kaap. The biggest threat to my safety in SA turned out to be marauding monkeys at my lodge near Kruger who raided the neighbouring room's minibar and made away with milk and coffee sachets. Also, contrary to some advice, things left lying around in my hotel room as well as check-in baggage at the airports remained absolutely safe and untampered.
Power (Cuts)
Load shedding is rife, and Joburg was seeing 10-12 hours of load shedding while I was there. However, all my hotels had power backup, and all the spots I visited had power backup (wherever needed), so I effectively only ever noticed loadshedding during the switch-overs between supply and gensets in my smaller Joburg and Franschhoek hotels. I even disabled the push notifications for the power supply app (ESP) because it was of no real use to me any more. Moral of the story - make sure your hotel has power backup, and carry a power bank in the unlikely event you find yourself at a cafe without electricity. Also, check up on the power points - I didn't do my research properly and had to buy two overpriced plugs in Joburg.
Weather
Joburg had crisp weather with lots of sun, but cool temperatures. Kruger had warm days and cool nights - layers were essential! Franschhoek was kinda like Joburg weather, while Cape Town was windy and rainy. The only place I could contemplate swimming was in Kruger and in the heated pool of my Cape Town hotel.
Food
EXCELLENT everywhere, even in remote Kruger. Franschhoek, however, was a highlight - if there's one place you'd want to splurge for good food, it's here. Also helps that the wine is cheap and plentiful and sublime. For vegetarians and vegans, most restaurants had symbols identifying suitable menu items, and everyone speaks English so its easy to clarify. Would recommend making online reservations at the more popular fine dining spots.
Costs
On the whole, South Africa is very affordable for someone used to American or European or Japanese or Singaporean prices, especially with the unabated fall of the ZAR. Coming from India, however, it was a bit of a mixed bag - dining out was very cheap, and hotels were great value, but domestic flights and longer taxi transfers (like Cape Town - Franschhoek or the day tours) felt expensive. Uber rides and high street shopping were just a tad pricier than I'm used to in India while the coffee and alcohol prices were an absolute delight. Entrance tickets to most sights, however, are fairly steep and much closer to the European norm than the African or Asian. That said, major sights are professionally managed, clean, safe, and have power backup.
Tipping is expected, I'd round things upward of 10% of the bill amount, except at a fine dining experience in Franschhoek where a service charge was explicitly included and informed about. Tips can be added to the card machine and need not necessarily be paid in cash.
Paying by card is practically universal in tourist-friendly spots (including entry tickets and even for smaller payments), and I didn't need to exchange any extra cash or use an ATM. Visa and Mastercard work everywhere ofcourse, and Amex has appreciable reach as well. Diner's Club and others, however, won't help.
It's good to exchange a small amount like 100 USD to help with petty payments like parking tickets or small tips or quick bites from convenience stores.
Communication
I purchased a Vodacom sim on arrival at Johannesburg, and it worked well everywhere, even giving 5G in most of Joburg, Cape Town, and Franschhoek centre. Data and talktime prices were a tad expensive (I'm spoilt because it's dirt cheap in India), but it was easy to top things up online or at stores on-the-go.
Free WiFi was widely available at airports, tourist sights, restaurants, malls etc, and worked quite decentl
Getting around
Uber works well in Joburg and Cape Town, with many local recommending Uber X. Bolt, however, was universally NOT recommended because it wasn't very reliable. I didn't try public transport, but heard that the Gautrain in Joburg and the Myciti BRT in Cape Town were safe and good quality.
I also flew from Johannesburg to Hoedspruit and Hoedspruit to Cape Town with Airlink, which was a great little regional airline with good service, punctual arrivals/departures, and a very tourist-friendly schedule and network. The tickets were quite overpriced though, and Amex refused to work on their own website, but I did get to check-in on to business class seats on economy tickets so I guess it was good overall.
I didn't self-drive. However, I met several travellers who did it (including a German lady who was campervanning solo across the entirety of southern Africa), and they reported it being easy and safe. The only precautions were to make sure you were hiring from a reputable company, not driving too much at night (out of fear of being stranded more than anything else), and purchasing the insurance plan with the agent. I did use plenty of roads, and generally observed that most highways were in decent shape and allowed for 100+ kmph speeds. Petrol stations were plentiful, and many came attached with convenience stores and mini-malls, usually with power backup. For parking, you'd usually have a local tout popping up helping you manouevre the car and watch over it for a small 5-10 ZAR tip (don't skimp on this, as petty thieves have been known to break into unattended cars to pilfer whatever they can, though I never ever saw this in action - practically every street in every town had a parking attendant on hand).
I did cycle around Franschhoek by myself and it was fantastic, much better than the kitschy Wine Tram experience. It was also very safe, and I even biked through town for dinner and some moonlight photos. The only bugbears were car traffic on the main roads, and a caution by the bike rental shop against leaving the night lamp on the bike unattended (had to unlatch it and keep it on me instead - but still, safer than biking in Amsterdam lol).
Getting there
Joburg is the biggest international airport with the better flight deals and has direct flights to all inhabited continents. It's a fairly modern and easy-to-use terminal, and I didn't observe any of the usual scams. Cape Town is the better looking airport, but has fewer connections, although it's still easy to get here with a simple transit at a major hub like London or Dubai. Durban also has a middle-sized airport with a handful of long haul links.
Most other airports are small - Hoedspruit was basically a collection of open-to-air pavillions - and have only domestic flights to the likes of JNB or CPT. Nelspruit, in southern Kruger has a few Airlink connections with Victoria Falls and the Mozambique coast, aimed at holidayers.
As an Indian, I was eligible for an evisa but the system never worked, taking my documents but never letting me pay the application fee. I instead applied manually at Delhi's VFS centre, and got my visa in 2 days (the VFS staff also told me that the evisa portal was hopeless and I shouldn't even have bothered). The evisa system finally budged while I was en-route to JNB, telling me that my application was rejected because I never submitted a bank statement (which I did) and completely ignored the fact that I never paid for my application (thanks to the inactive payment link). The rejection clearly didn't get slotted in anywhere because Immigrations was absolutely fine with my stamped-visa and didn't bother asking me anything other than why I was visiting and when I'd leave.
I flew in on Etihad via Abu Dhabi (decent airline but the airport needs a lot of work to compete with its neighbours) and back on Emirates via Dubai (excellent airline with very generous meals and a great IFE, as well as a huge and modern megahub airport experience albeit with overpriced food and shopping). Flight timings were fairly convenient both ways, with day-time arrivals and check-ins.
People
Some of the friendliest I've ever met! Everybody is happy to have a zany chat, and conversations can quickly become pal-ly and banter-ful if you're open enough. On the whole South Africans felt fairly extroverted and loosened up - very informal and sleeves-rolled-up. You'll have to excuse yourself out of a conversation, else you'll be left talking to them the whole day and not have any time left to sightsee.
Race
Speaking as an outsider who only observed things for 10 odd days, I felt that there's still a decent amount of racial segregation at play in SA.
While many lower-paying jobs are almost exclusively held by blacks and the colours thanks to the country's history of institutionalised racism, Blacks and Coloured peoples can now also be commonly seen in upscale areas as guests and visitors. However, the majority of patrons in these locations appeared to be white and Afrikaans speaking. I also only ever saw one mixed group - a white lady entertaining a black man and his daughter at a Cape Town waterfront restaurant where I was having dinner.
I did share a few drinks with Joburg-based white couples at my safari lodge, and on the whole, they didn't feel inherently racist. They in fact remembered the Mandela and Mbeki days with pride, and felt that most of the crime in South Africa was thanks to the corruption in the African National Congress (they were all praises for the opposition who holds sway in the Cape) and immigrants from neighbouring countries - they rather trusted Black South Africans for everyday affairs. At my Cape Town hotel, meanwhile, I met a few black businessmen and politicians at the pool and gym, and they told me similar things - that the ANC was corrupt, immigrants are to blame for crime etc, and didn't really have any strong opinions about whites. These experiences contrasted greatly with my conversation with a white Afrikaner pensioner in my Zanzibar hotel ten years ago, who was spewing hate against black crime after two whiskeys.
Since I'm Indian, I was often mistaken for a local - everybody (regardless of their race) would be taken aback when they heard my accent and learnt I was actually not South African (which has a large South Asian origin community) or even African (many South Asian origin peoples in eastern Africa and Mauritius especially). This spoke volumes to me - in the UK, where I studied and which now has an Indian-origin PM and a hugely visible South Asian diaspora, people would still ask me 'what country are you from?' on appearance alone. It really did emphasize how SA was more of a rainbow nation than just a slogan.
What did I like?
Practically everything, even Joburg. The safari experience was better than I expected, Cape Town was breathtaking, and Franschhoek became my favourite little town in the world. Also loved the food and the wine, and loved meeting and chatting with the locals. Of all the countries I've visited, SA is the one I'm surest about wanting to return to - and I'm not trying to be diplomatic - I honestly felt like I need more time here.
What didn't I like?
I disliked how such a great country with excellent basic infrastructure is being mismanaged. EVERYONE I spoke to was complaining about how corruption killed the country's power supply system and railways and is now threatening other aspects of life. None of these directly or visibly impacted my travels, but I would've liked being able to take a train instead of flights or not spend a premium to stay at places that had generators.
Anything I'd change?
While Joburg turned out to be a pleasant place, had I the option, I'd have skipped it to spend more time in Cape Town. I'd also spend a few more days in Franschhoek and around - the area turned out to be my favourite. Now that I've also had a lay of the land, I'm more confident about self-driving next time I visit. Also, I only realised how convenient it is to travel from SA to neighbouring countries, and would like to latch on visits to the Namibian desert, Botswana's game parks, the Victoria Falls on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border, and the beaches of Mozambique alongside a return to SA.
I realise I could have managed some things better on this trip, but bottom line is that I enjoyed it, and that this is not a 'who had the best trip' competition. I'm just sharing my positive experience of South Africa in the hope that it encourages others to properly and safely plan a trip to the place instead of avoiding it out of second-hand-scares.
Happy to take any follow ups in the comments :)

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Hey all,
So that has to be a record for me I think - I finished and posted about Double Agents less than 2 days ago, and am now here with my All Stars post. That should give you a good indication of what I thought about this season. Lets’ discuss!
Disclaimer: At this stage I have only seen seasons 5-36 of The Challenge, plus the VS spinoffs, and AS1. Please refrain from spoiling any other seasons, or returning players. Thanks :)
TL;DR Summary
All Stars is a love letter to the old-school Challenge. OG cast members are brought back and inject new life into the show, falling back into familiar roles, or in some cases, showing tremendous growth and maturity. This season SLAPS, and is a return to form in many ways. Dailies and eliminations are honed back to simple, yet effective, much like we saw around The Duel era. Gone is the over-production of the mainline season, instead showcasing fun and entertainment. The cast brings it across the board, fantastic characters, loveable moments and inspiring growth. The entire vibe of the season is a throwback, with 80s-00s music, a house that calls back to old-school moments, familiar formats and challenges, and of course, the old-school cast. The season is capped off with a genuinely fun and tough final which was a joy to watch, and whilst the season isn’t perfect due to a one-winner final, and it feeling a little short, it’s an A-Tier through and through.
The Good

• The cast - amazing to see so many of these people back
• Yes, Darrell, Jonna, KellyAnne, Kendal, Laterrian, Katie, Syrus, Teck in particular all standouts
• The love and respect between the cast is so evident here - so much lifting each other up instead of dragging each other down
• The dailies and eliminations are simple but effective and are a blast to watch
• The uncensored swearing allows people to fully express themselves and it’s incredible.
• The music is on point all season long
• The final is tough and really interesting to watch unfold. The points system is a great approach to running a staged final.
• More genuine drama and hookups than the main show.
• Diverse casting that feels genuine - race, body types, sexuality, I loved it.

The Not So Good

• It SUCKS that the final is one winner. Especially because Day 1 was incredibly fair for a one-winner final, with Day 2 then ruining that and ensuring a male win. KA and Jonna robbed.
• The season is a touch too short - before I knew it, it was over. Needed more eliminations and a few less people making the final.
• Jemmye has good confessionals but feels a little out of place on the cast
• I wish elimination nominations were anonymous - people putting themselves into elimination was dumb.

The format
The format this simple is so simple and it’s fantastic.
This season is essentially an individual game, with some dailies performed in pairs/teams depending on the episode. The usual daily/elimination structure remains, with all contestants participating in a daily challenge each episode. Each day is either a male or female elimination day. Depending on the day, the top and bottom performing male/female earn immunity or a direct ticket into elimination (LOVEEEEE seeing daily losers going straight into elimination). Their opponent is then chosen by majority vote in the cast, although much of the time people end up self-nominating this season.
For the first half of the season the ‘additional twist’ is the lifesaver - a twist we haven’t seen in a long, long time. The top performing alternate gender from the daily gets access to the lifesaver, and can use it to save the nominated/voted contestant from going into the elimination. It’s only used once, and when it is, involves a majority re-vote on the spot to find the new contender.
For the second half of the season, the lifesaver is dropped and the individual eliminations turn into double eliminations. The bottom performing male AND female are made a pair and go straight into elimination. The top performing male/female get immunity. The house still continues to majority vote the opponent, but only vote for one person. That person then gets free choice from the whole cast on who they want as a partner, for the elimination. This was a little clunky and unfair I thought. Probably the weakest part of the format, and robbed Kendal from a final spot.
Overall though, I enjoyed the down-to-earth feeling of this format. It was simple. No ‘security breaches’, no ‘kill cards’ (as much as I love that twist) - just straightforward. It’s a perfect match to the OG feel of this season.
The cast
The cast this season is mostly fantastic. You can all tell that are having such a great time being there. We get contestants falling into familiar moulds, contestants who have grown and changed, and most importantly, contestants that want to win.
Yes: This is my first true exposure to Yes as a contestant. I previously saw him in Battle of the Seasons where he was first boot, and for a few episodes in Sexes 1, but I couldn’t tell you a thing about him from that season. This one showing has made me a huge Yes fan though. I love his attitude, and his positivity, I love his approach to the game, and I think he put in a powerhouse performance in that final, playing not only harder, but smarter as well. I was definitely rooting for him (among pretty much everyone in that final LOL) and was glad that we got a brand new Champ this season. Congrats to Yes and hope to see lots more of him - also him calling out the ‘punks on those other shows’ is iconic.
Jonna: Jonna was absolutely fantastic this season. I LOVE the maturity and grace that she has come back to The Challenge with. The Jonna we had previously known was much younger, much more fiery and immature, and going through a bit of a rough patch in her life (including getting partnered with Zach). This new and improved Jonna was a delight to watch. She’s a mom now, and come onto the show a mere 7 months post-partum, and she does FANTASTIC. I think she was such a likeable and enjoyable presence all season long, and then went on to perform so well, unexpectedly, in that final. I cannot wait to hopefully see her back on AS2 - I truly think she could smash it.
Darrell: This might be one of my favourite Darrell seasons ever. After he was robbed of all airtime on Double Agents, we get huge exposure to Darrell this season, with him being one of the main narrators and confessionalists. He is in prime form when it comes to his comedy this season. I don’t know if it was cause he could swear, or what, but he was more hilarious than ever before. I have a ridiculous number of quotes from him that I want to call out below. Great, strong performance throughout, and was the second TRUE threat to win in that final, alongside Yes. Loved their friendly rivalry, and whilst I’m happy Yes won… I was rooting even harder for Darrell. So close!! I hope he gets more time on the All Stars show because it really suited him.
KellyAnne: Those that have followed along with my posts will know I’m a massive fan of KellyAnne, and so I was extremely happy to see her cast this season. It’s been way too long. It’s probably not one of her most memorable seasons, she plays a pretty low-key game and doesn’t have a huge amount of screen-time, or memorable moments, but I loved watching her make another final and essentially ‘winning’ for the girls side alongside Jonna. The two of them 100% deserved at least some prize money, and should have received a title.
Mark: Mark is one of the challengers this season that hasn’t changed a bit, for better or worse. Mark has always been an interesting character to me - he’s obviously prolific for being a S1 Road Ruler, a big part of early challenge seasons, and producing All Stars (idk when I found this out, but I know he had something to do with it), but aside from that, and having no personal attachment to those things, I don’t always find him genuinely entertaining or fun. He tries really hard for the camera this season, and really plays up his role as the ‘godfather’, which comes across as a little cringe and overdone at times. He’s ridiculously in-shape though, and I’d be surprised if he didn’t win an AS season.
Jemmye: Jemmye is the one person on this cast I was a bit shocked to see. Almost like, Faith on the US team in WotW1 levels of shocked. She feels a little out of place in this cast, which is a little strange because she debuted at a similar time to Jonna, but Jonna feels like a better fit. Perhaps because Jemmye continued to be quite prominent on the main show up until quite recently. With that out of the way, I think she was fine throughout the season. Alongside Darrell, I’d bet she had one of the highest confessional counts all season, and I have always appreciated her narration capabilities so I think that’s completely fine. I also think she performed unexpectedly well at times, both at certain stages in the final and at some dailies.
Alton: Alton is someone I predicted on this season but didn’t genuinely expect to see, so I was surprised to see him here after his experience on Bots2. I can tell this season was a much better fit for him though, with much of the youthful partying and drama gone. I think he was a pretty good contestant this season. He still has a little of that trademark arrogance and doesn’t always come across the best, but he’s a fantastic partner to the everyone in the final, even whilst taking Aneesa’s yelling, and always remains a good sport. I also loved how he picked Aneesa to come into elimination with him, giving her some respect, and surprising her at the same time. I also loved the little Syrus and Alton drama and hope we get to see it continue in AS2.
Ruthie: Loved seeing Ruthie back as well this season - it’s been a huge amount of time since seeing her. A very, VERY low-key season for her overall though. I was a bit disappointed to never see too much from her, especially because I remember her for her powerhouse performances in those early seasons (especially that line-drop challenge challenge, forget its name). She remains fun throughout though, and I loved when she called out Aneesa, but she ends up performing surprisingly poorly in the final, at least compared to my expectations. If she gets to come back on another season I’d love to see the edit showcase her a bit more.
Big Easy: Much like Mark, Big Easy is a contestant who has not changed at all. He still has this weirdly misplaced arrogance and attitude that makes him comes across extremely poorly at times. I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for him, because he debuted in my first season and continued to have a storyline over the few after that, but I can’t really excuse how he talks to some people, particularly in the final. Also, how he tried to convince Jemmye to quit the food portion so he could quit too. Saying that, he has some good moments this season as well. He has some surprising puzzle performances, one quote in particular which rocked me and had me dying, and I appreciated his storyline of ‘finishing a final’, and that he was able to accomplish that.
Aneesa: This feels like a MUCH better spot for Aneesa to stay as opposed to the main challenge. I actually thought she was quite likeable again this season (after thinking so on DA too), albeit it seemed she was having even more fun here. Yes, we get the EXACT SAME STORY as the main show ‘I get booted before the final every time, I can never win, this is my season’, which is old and a bit dry, but she had a few moments which I found quite sweet - her reaction to getting picked by Alton as a preferred partner into elimination. Her reaction to making the final, etc. She’s never going to win, and has to drop that thought (and those confessionals), but I didn’t mind her this time.
SIDENOTE: I can’t believe I’m STILL talking about finalists. Pretty crazy that half the cast makes the final.
Derrick: Has Derrick always been this cringe? I think he might be my least favourite contestant this season, without a doubt. The whole season is just him being a bit of a cartoon character and playing up to the camera, or sucking up to Mark. It’s not a great look and not really how I remembered Derrick from way back. Hopefully it’s a one-off and he comes back with a bit more maturity, but was really not a fan of his at all this seaosn.
Jisela: Jisela was another contestant I didn’t really remember. And I went on a bit of a rollercoaster with her this season. I initially adored her after that first episode - coming in as a bit of an underdog and putting in a fantastic, gutsy performance at the first challenge to prove herself. I think she had a really nice storyline there. Over the course of the season I soured a little though. She had a whole bunch of seemingly misplaced anger towards to Kendal which I didn’t appreciate, but also a weird and uncalled for reaction to Aneesa ‘not giving her her first choice’ into elimination, ending their friendship over it?!? Did the cameras not show something here? She’s quite funny though, has a bubbly personality and some good confessionals.
Nehemiah: Is dead to me after pulling Kendal into her THIRD elimination and sending her home before the final. Up until that point I was really enjoying his return. His win against Teck was solid, and he was injecting a little bit of drama into the house. I’ve always enjoyed his personality and think he speaks well and is able to tell a story. Bummed that his season ended with the aforementioned Kendal thing though as it has soured me on him a little, especially when he was the number one person saying ‘new people should go into eliminations’ - a bit hypocritical.
Kendal: I couldn’t tell you a thing about Kendal from Inferno, but I adored her this season. She was an underdog from the get-go, with the entire house hating on her non-stop (do we have details on why this is btw?). That automatically endeared me to her, who doesn’t love an underdog story, but she went on to be a solid competitor. She wins two eliminations, both of which aren’t super easy, and goes in a THIRD time in a season with only six eliminations. She’s good at dailies as well, and has a really enjoyable, down to earth personality. I love how real she feels, which is actually a bit of a theme this season, aside from a few exceptions in the cast. Completely robbed, deserved a place in that final. Hope she’s back for AS2.
Laterrian: Laterrian went from being an absolute nobody to me, to one of my favourites coming out of this season. I loved everything about him. His drive, his determination, his fleeting aggression, his need to win no matter what. He’s such a real friend to those in the house, speaking up for and supporting Syrus with the Alton altercation, and then being the ONLY person to happily throw their name in the ring to be Katie’s partner - so much humility and grace in how he handled that situation and resulting loss. He also had a fantastic showing against Ace and in the mini-final. I think Laterrian has turned into a serious winning threat.
Katie: I’m a massive Katie fan and continued to love her this season. She’s just fantastic. You can tell she has definitely matured and grown as a person, and she’s often biting her tongue, but we still get so many memorable moments from her - the many times she had to fall from heights and flashed back to Cutthroat, her fight with Trishelle, and her trademark dry humour. Katie is probably someone I don’t expect to see on AS2. She seems like she enjoyed herself this season but is maybe happy with where her story is at, and whilst I love her, I have to agree. She’s had a good run and this is a great season for her to end with, if that is the case. Quotes from her below for sure.
Syrus: Really enjoyed Syrus this season. I don’t remember a huge amount from him, even though I HAVE seen him on a few seasons, but despite being an earlier boot he’s memorable here. I loved his relationship with Beth, really appreciated his drive to win, and loved the little rivalry he developed against Alton. He got SO unlucky with his injured leg, and then heading into an elimination which involved landing on said leg. Regardless I loved that his ego got in the way and he called out Alton for that elimination when he could have had anyone else. Was a great storyline, hope to see him on AS2-3.
Beth: Beth came back this season to prove she’s matured, I think. I always hated Beth on the show, I could never enjoy her and just found her grating and annoying. But she’ so different this season, and I think accomplishes a lot in improving my view on her. She’s more mature, she’s likeable, and she avoids all the drama and crap she used to stir up in the past. I loved seeing glimpses of her family, and think she got a little screwed with the sudden shift to double eliminations. Much like Katie I could see this being her only AS appearance with a young family at home, but we’ll see. If it is, it’s a great place to leave things. Loved her humility in defeat, and how that was juxtaposed to Syrus’ swearing and anger. She clearly had a great time this season.
Teck: My first season seeing Teck, I believe. The only person on this cast that I’d never seen before (even though I didn’t remember a few others). I could not get enough of him. Teck is absolutely hilarious. He’s fantastic at confessionals, such a shit-stirrer and so entertaining. He put in a genuinely strong elimination performance against Neh, coming THIS close to taking that win. A bit of a quote machine in his short time on this season, very reminiscent of Darrell, and gone way too soon. Because he hasn’t done ANY seasons I’ve seen, I expect he may be one and done with AS1, but I hope I’m wrong and he is back again!
Arissa: Arissa has a crazy few episodes on this season. She turns from hippie, chilled, weed-food lady who prays to the sun into this swearing, loud quitter in the span of one episode and it’s ridiculously memorable and fun. She’s a great early boot.
Ace: I actually feel so bad for Ace. He’s never performed that well on the show, but my heart just broke for him this season. He seems like such a pure soul. Loved how he didn’t even want the money for himself, but to donate, and how he said he missed his dog. So sadddd and was absolutely brutalised by LT in that elimination.
Trishelle: omfg Trishelle has not changed at ALL. She had me in the first half though, not gonna lie. She starts off so strong, with an apology to Aneesa for what happened on Rivals 2, but that quickly devolves into CRAZINESS when she unleashes on Katie for ‘not coming right up to her’, which in turn sets Katie off briefly. She’s promptly sent into elimination, and looses with humility, taking her trademark brand of insanity home with her. A short stint, but so in-character.
The challenges
The dailies
Dailies were so different to what we’ve grown used to on the main show. They are so much more simple and low-key, no explosions or over-production, and it work so well. It’s such a return to form imo.

• Deep Blue Dive is a great start to the season, and involves swimming out quite far in deeper water, and diving for numbers which are used to solve math equations. This was HILARIOUS, with almost every contestant getting rescued at some point. Great commentary from Teck here and really nice scenery. A good opener.
• Ancient Challenge History is the first trivia in quite a few seasons that I haven’t zoned out a little whilst watching. All questions are based around the history of the challenge, which was fantastic to play along with. I wished they would have shown all the questions rather than skipping through, and think it was a bit of a strange choice to base falling on weight, as some people could get three wrong answers and some only two, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. And Ruthie had an impressive knowledge of the show considering how long it has been since she was on.
• Melt Away is such a call back to old challenges, involving melting a huge block of ice, in teams, in any way possible. It flops a little, because TJ has to introduce hammers after the contestants aren’t able to make any dents, but it’s a silly little challenge that’s memorable, if gross.
• On The Ropes is so simplistic but I love the little twists it introduced. Contestants are in teams and have to make their way between two platform using a series of four ropes. After completing a leg of the challenge, a contestant can release a rope from the other team, reducing the number of ropes they can use and sending some people down into the water. A really fun challenge.
• Connect Em All is a fantastic mini-challenge, with puzzle checkpoints, endurance, and strength all involved. Some really food performances from individuals here, loving seeing LT take the win.
• Escape The Room might, strangely, be my favourite daily of the season, which is strange because it’s so simple. In teams of four, players are placed into a floating shipping container on top of a trapdoor. They each have a puzzle in front of them, but the trapdoors open one by one from right to left, and whichever team completes the most puzzles wins. I just loved the fear introduced by the trapdoors, and also the visuals of people getting suddenly dumped out. Easy has a surprise win here, being the only one to solve the puzzle.
• Rib Cage Pass is the most similar to a current day challenge, and also my least favourite this season. It involves navigating a simple beam obstacle course down the side of a moving semi truck, delivering balls from one end to another.

The eliminations
Eliminations are closer to what we’ve seen on the main show, but it’s a curated choice of games, all of which are interesting and fun to watch played.

• Pole Wrestle starts the season and is an absolute blow-out in LT’s favour as he crushes Ace. It’s a classic for a reason, loved seeing it here.
• Knot So Fast is another classic, and very welcome here as well this season. A great win by Kendal, the first of two for her.
• Going Out Of Tile involved Nehemiah and Teck each having to consume two Carolina Reaper peppers before having to enter a ceramic cage and punch out your coloured tiles. It’s a little weak, probably the weakest of all eliminations this season, but it’s entertaining. Also, I was so confused when TJ was pulling out the peppers. Why was he so suss about it, putting on a glove and then pulling this random bag out of his pocket lmao.
• Over and Under is the first of our double eliminations, a truly gruelling challenge. It involves a sequence of four walls with hollow insides, covered in plasterboard. As a team, one of each duo must climb and go over each wall, with a ball, whilst the other punches through the wall and goes under. They need to deliver five balls this way, from one end to the other, before winning. Strength and endurance are both required here, and everyone involved puts in a great amount of effort. The Syrus / Alton rivalry comes to fruition as well. Good elimination, perhaps my favourite this season.
• Pull Me Over is pedestal tug of war, and one we’ve seen in the past, such as when Jordan absolutely embarrassed Josh. Laterrian selflessly volunteers to go into elimination, like a madman, alongside Katie, and unfortunately is not able to pull out the win against Mark and Kendal. I would have been sad to see Kendal go here, but I wanted LT and Katie to stay in the game so bad. Proud of them to at least take the first round though.
• Ring Cling is a bit weak in design, largely because it removes any agency Jisela and Kendal had in the game. Not only did Kendal get dragged into her third elimination by Nehemiah, but then she gets and elimination where it’s essentially all up to him to win it for them. It involves using a series of chains and hoops to form makeshift ladder up a wall, with first person to ring a bell winning. Jisela is injured form the get-go, and unable to stand on her foot, and Big Easy SOMEHOW goes on to clutch up and beat Nehemiah. It’s a hilarious outcome, but losing Kendal to it is rough.

The final
This final was really special to me. I haven’t enjoyed a final so much in so long.
Everyone involved was having the best time, and they were all so supportive and uplifting to eachother. Everyone was a fantastic partner, outside of Big Easy - Alton, Yes, Darrell and Mark all showcasing how to treat and support your partner. Everyone is keen for the win and trying their hardest.
I’m usually not a fan of staged finals but the approach taken here was fantastic and kept things really fair. Instead of stages being timed, and leading to an arbitrary advantage at the next stage, all stages were scored with points, 5/4/3/2/1 depending on placements. The entire first day was ran in duos, with partners rotating between every stage. I was initially thinking this was an insanely smart way to make a one-winner final fair. Day 2 goes onto ruin this, but Day 1 is incredibly smart in keeping things even. There’s a bunch of running, swimming and cycling through beautiful jungle and waterways, with stages between involving eating, assembling bicycles, puzzles, and the overnight endurance portion.
Day 2 is a straightforward long race up a mountain, and at this point the final becomes completely individual, ensuring a male would take home the crown - this is annoying, and my least favourite part of the final. Points from Day 1 STILL MATTERED though.
Overall, despite one-winner, it’s still a fantastic final and one I really enjoyed watching.
Random remaining thoughts from throughout the season

• Mentioned above but the inclusion of uncensored swearing this season is incredible - so much more expression from everybody.
• The house was such a throwback - the pictures, the quotes, the named helmets. So cool to see.
• ‘Nehemiah, Tenderoni?’ ‘Oh. My. God.’
• Teck: ‘welcome to The Challenge. We got the medics out here, the wheelchairs, the walkers’
• Laterrian, fully drowning: ‘I look like a f*cking punk’
• Ace taking his nom personally ‘you’re all f*cking monsters’ - I can’t believe he actually called everyone monsters just for nominating him lmao.
• Laterrian: ‘What the f*cks a Pole Wrestle?’
• Aneesa: ‘Ace looks like he’s getting plunged. Like in a toilet’
• TJ: ‘Who said: I will cut you with words’ Katie: ‘it sounds like Coral’ Aneesa: ‘KATIE’ Katie: ‘who was it?’ Aneesa: ‘ME, AND YOU WERE THERE!’
• ‘I hit my face again you f*ckers’
• Kendall v Trishelle ‘Listen To Your Heart’ - one of many great musical moments, and the first I’ll note down here.
• Arissa trying to summon the sun had me dead
• The Jonna butt scooting montage along the rope was your standard ‘empowering’ moment, and I love that it was upended, and the music cutofff, as KellyAnne JUST beats her to the end and drops her rope.
• It seemed like TJ was having such a great time this season - he was always smiling or laughing. It was great to see.
• The first revote. TJ: ‘Alright Darrell we’re going to start with you’ Darrel: ‘Oh you motherf*cker’
• I loved how much history this season pulled on - so much of what happened on RRW and the early challenge seasons mattered here. That’s something I think the main show has lost.
• Arissa actually goes out in a crazy way, saying the whole house is living foul, and if ‘she can’t box’ she doesn’t want any part of it. ‘F*ck you, I’m done, you can kiss my motherf*cking ass, and that’s my motherf*cking game’
• TJ drops a ‘don’t take care, hope to see you never’ - um, where was this last season for Fessy
• Alton leaving Syrus’ handshake hanging, and then Syrus sipping on water from a wineglass. What a mood.
• So many hook-ups this season - more than we’ve seen on the regular show lately. Jisela and Alton, Aneesa and LT, etc
• Aneesa so flattered and emotional that she would be first picked by Alton - it was as sweet moment.
• Derrick to Syrus: ‘don’t jump like that, hang off the side, you’re going to f*cking hurt yourself’
• The I NEED A HERO needle drop for Syrus’ perseverance and elimination attempt was epic.
• Syrus fired up at the end. ‘I’m not done, I need a f*cking physical 1:1 with that motherf*cker’ - please give it to us next season
• ‘Paramount’ - TJ looks to camera ‘see what I did there’
• Here I Go Again by Whitesnake as Katie waits for her trapdoor to drop. Flashbacks to her past falls. Yes saying ‘Keep your elbows in’ - it was SO GOOD. Editing top tier.
• After Katie falls you can see Mark offscreen ask if she’s ok and she says yes - there’s so much love between the cast this season, it’s great.
• Laterrian is such a real one for being the only one to go up to Katie and say she can call his name out. ‘You call me in and I’ll come down and let the dog out’ - everyone else with excuses was a bit pathetic.
• ‘Would I be able to sleep at night knowing I had a friend in need and didn’t help? Hell no’ - badass
• Nehemiah saying ‘I’m not scared of you. Nobody is’. Easy: ‘You should’ve been. When I sent your ass home in motherf*cking Duel 1, cousin’ - I know he’s boasting about a nothing elimination, but the line itself absolutely destroys Neh. It almost had me spit-take. It was so good. Even reading it back has me laughing. He really ‘cousined’ him.
• I mentioned above but the season is TOO SHORT! We needed just a few more eliminations I think, things were over as soon as they began.
• ‘When TJ tells us we’re pairing up with the girls I’m pretty stoked. I mean, I’d rather them than Big Easy’
• Yes waiting on finishing his tangram to secure himself a good kayaker, making sure he wouldn’t be purged, was an incredibly smart move from him. The first of many this final. He was switched on.
• Darrel talking from the canoe ‘They’ve got Alton in the front, they f*cked uppppp’
• ‘Waterfalls’ whilst Aneesa and Alton struggle to get back into their boat had me dead
• Jisela: ‘I’m f*cking reversing this b*tch’
• Easy and KA last Minute overtake for the final spot over Jisela and Derrick - I was SO happy. Jisela and Derrick deserved to be first out, and whilst Easy performed awfully at the puzzle and deserved it too, KellyAnne absolutely did not. Jisela and Derrick both couldn’t kayak, so fairs fair.
• Jemmye: ‘Darrel can you check my tires right’ whilst it’s literally sideways
• Darrel to the bike tool: ‘I’ll take this f*cker with me’
• Darrell JOGGING up the hill carrying Ruthie to secure first place in the stage was epic.
• Carolina Reapers knocking down half the cast - these probably shouldn’t have been included in the final right? Becayuse gross food is gross food, but people have different spice tolerances.
• KellyAnne pulling DARRELL up the hill - she was fantastic at this stage.
• ‘Flagpole Sitta’ aka ‘I’m not Sick’ during the gross food portion was great, as was Alton treating the food like a delicacy.
• Easy trying to convince Jemmye to quit so he doesn’t need to eat was such a scummy move. Loved that Jemmye saw right through him and persevered.
• Alton: ‘I’m done with Yes’ fake positivity BS, I’m done with KellyAnne complaining, but I’m hanging in here for Jonna.’ - loved that he stayed up and let Jonna sleep for as long as possible.
• TJ riding in on a horse for Day 2 had my dying. And the fact that it kept trotting away.
• Yes quickly making two walking sticks and then shedding some layers - he is so switched on, and these choices probably clutched him this win.
• ‘All I know is suddenly I hear something… and there he is… With his two sticks, like he’s on an elliptical at NordicTrack’

Conclusion
So yeah, I bloody loved this season. I had so much fun and was smiling from ear to ear all season long. It’s such a great love letter to the show, and I’m beyond excited for AS2 and AS3, if they are more of the same. A great cast, good challenges, a good final, amazing music and uncensored swearing, and a cool new winner. Slightly marred by the one winner final and some other nitpicks, but it’s an A-Tier season. SO MUCH FUN.
Next up will unfortunately be S37, even though I badly want to skip straight to AS2. I’m staying chronological! So check below for my predictions for the next season, and please let me know your thoughts on this season!
Rankings
This will be ranked quite high. Perhaps too high, but I had too much fun with it. It’s holding a special place for me at the moment. It’s possible it drops slightly over time, with less recency bias.

1. S25: Free Agents
2. S24: Rivals 2
3. S33: War of the Worlds
4. S21: Rivals
5. S34: War of the Worlds 2
6. The Challenge: All Stars
7. S13: The Duel
8. S30: Dirty 30
9. S10: Inferno 2
10. S29: Invasion of The Champions
11. S20: Cutthroat
12. S8: The Inferno
13. S19: Fresh Meat 2
14. S12: Fresh Meat
15. S26: Battle of the Exes 2
16. S22: Battle of the Exes
17. S32: Final Reckoning
18. S17: The Duel 2
19. S15: The Gauntlet 3
20. S18: The Ruins
21. S31: Vendettas
22. S36: Double Agents
23. S28: Rivals 3
24. The Challenge: Champs v Stars 2
25. The Challenge: Champs vs Pros
26. S6: Battle of the Sexes
27. S14: Inferno 3
28. S11: The Gauntlet 2
29. S7: The Gauntlet
30. The Challenge: Champs vs Stars
31. S5: Battle of the Seasons
32. S9: Battle of the Sexes 2
33. S23: Battle of the Seasons (2)
34. S27: Battle of the Bloodlines
35. S35: Total Madness
36. S16: The Island

https://imgur.com/a/B3ZlxLa
Karma thread: https://www.reddit.com/MiniSwapKarma/comments/vq0832/casp3risreal_karma_thread/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Looking for tyranids, necrons, or new dreads NOS / NIB / Built but unpainted. Looking to trade even value. Also looking for arks of omens book. Interested in certain fetch lands especially foils. Let me know what you have.
Votann
Complete army box - NIB $250
Hekaton Land Fortress - NIB - $100
Chaos
1x Warpforged: 2x obliterators & 1x venomcrawler - NOS - $60
Legionaries (missing pieces)- NOS - $50
Chaos sorcerer- NOS - $30
space marines
Contemptor dreadnought (mono pose) - NIB - $50
Large blood angels lot (some broken in shipping all parts there) - $300
10x death watch 10x sanguinary guard Chaplain on bike 2 dreads Assault intercessors Firstborn Plus much more
Kharadron overlords
Torrk Lennsen, Admiral of The First Fleet - NIB - $60

Just reaching out to see if anyone here has had any issues with dimensional tolerance issues with and products from Rick's Motorsports.
A couple weeks ago I ordered some parts from them as I had read some very positive reviews about their charging system. The OEM alternator rotor on the spare engine I'm rebuilding was damaged in its previous life from what looks like the starter chain being too worn and grinding against the area of where the alt rotor and starter clutch mate. When I got the parts I went to test fit everything for the engine rebuild I'm doing and the rotor and the clutch starter assembly didn't drop in as expected. I figured this was due to some galling I previously mentioned and went out and got a replacement starter clutch assembly. Per test fitting again the parts do not drop into one another. I even pulled the assembly from my complete bike to find the same results.
The ID of the rotor is smaller than the OD of the OEM starter clutch assembly, and the locating pin hole ID is smaller than the OD of the OEM locating pin. I measured them on calipers and we're talking tenths of a millimeter in these cases. I reached out to Rick's to see if their parts were designed for fitting or were expected drop in replacements so I didn't modify anything to null the warranty on their parts. According to their 'Tech' I spoke to on the phone, the part is an expected drop in part, which was what I thought. The 'Tech' then claimed that the part I ordered wasn't for my model bike and that I can send it back for a refund but they will be charging a 20% restocking fee... First off, the part (Rick's part # 41-100H) is for the right bike, a 1975 Honda CB360T and is the same part for the 74's and 76's. The tech is claiming since the "T" isn't on the model name on their site the product isn't compatible with the bike I ordered this for.
From my understanding the difference between the CB360 and CB360T are the front brakes, and per checking the Honda part diagrams and part numbers the part in question that I have not mating to the Rick's part is the same part number... I've reached back out to them, but I have a feeling I'm getting suckered into a lack of dimensional tolerance issue on their machinery/tooling as being my fault and because I ordered a part without confirming the "T" in the model name on their site (even though the parts from Honda on the non T and the T based models are identical) that this product isn't compatible with my model...

I wish I found this subreddit sooner so I could expand my research prior visiting Japan. I only found this subreddit after I returned from the trip so after reflecting upon the trip I will write my mistakes that I made and things that I have learned so I can perhaps help other first time travellers going to Japan. It will be also useful for me in the future. PS: forgive my grammar, English is not my first language. Also a late report + numerous trip fumbles ahead so please be kind xDD
Me (30M) and my gf (25F) went on a trip to Japan April 24 - May 11, 2023. This was our first time travelling to Japan and our first time travelling in a different country by ourselves in general. We both had no experience travelling without family/experienced travellers with us so it was a bit stressful but we still had fun in general.
What we learned:

• Get a very good shoes for extensive walking/hiking. I cannot stress this enough. Man, I returned with bunch of callouses on my toes+heels and blisters on my pinky toes that turned into some sort of stage 2 pressure sore. It was not fun walking with pain that I feel bad for unable to keep up with my gf. I had to sit many times to give first aid and end up buying some products for my feet. Was still able to complete all itineraries but it could have been prevented. No more Sketchers for me.
• 1 month prior to flight, my vegetarian gf attempted to become omnivore for the trip. She was sick for a couple of weeks for eating meat but she braved through it because she did not want to miss out on food while in Japan. She adapted in the end although she had nauseous from eating meat at times. In the end, there were actually numerous vegetarian options for her that she did not have to adapt in the first place.
• We needed more time to prepare for the trip. Our trip was kind of spontaneous and we booked the flight ticket around late March so we have to pay hefty amount of money more. The itinerary was too much than we could have accounted for. We should have given ourselves free time in between destinations and not clump them like there is no tomorrow.
• Check the weather forecast. Preparing for the itinerary while considering the weather can be very difficult as the weather in Japan fluctuates very easily. Good thing we group our itineraries that can be done indoors vs outdoors so would switch up the plan depending on the weather. I also did not know cherry blossom forecast was a thing. I visited places expecting some cherry blossoms and they turned out to be green when we get there. This is a good thing to consider while visiting during spring season.
• Be flexible for the trip. Our trip was supposed to be Osaka -> Kyoto -> Nagoya -> Kawaguchiko -> Tokyo. Then we switched up Tokyo and Kawaguchiko due to price increasing during the Golden Week. We visited within the Golden week period (we did not know this event was a thing) and we realized the price of hotels skyrocket within this period. I wanted to experience some high end ryokans in Kawaguchiko with a view of Mount Fuji but then the price was like 3-4 times the price during the Golden week, hence, we switched up the places. We saved money for lodging because of that.
• Popular restaurants + Tourist trap places can have long lines. If you have tighter schedule like we did, I highly suggest making reservations or come earlier to get into the lines. Even a lot of restaurants that open at 11am, I saw a line already around 9:30am. I did not have time for that that we end up visiting not so pupular places and yet still experience delicious food. Tourist trap places tend to be overrated and expensive. It is a good thing that we went to try other places. Our restaurant policy if there are more locals eating vs tourists eating, it is good and most likely cheap. Some restaurants also do not appear on google maps due to not adapting to the English language so you can usually find hidden gems here and there.
• I think it is better to check in a hotel with breakfast services as most restaurants open around 11am. We had hotel with breakfast service and some have dont. We end up buying food at combini and also got lucky with Denny's near our first hotel as it opens at 6am.
• Note for type of train traveling within your station. I only realized this during the middle of our trip. There is Local, Rapid, Express. Local stops station to station, rapid seemed to skip some stations, and express seemed to only stop at key stations. It is good that the stations have English translations and even the train pre recorded voice also had English parts.
• Check exchange rate before withdrawing money from ATMs. The currency exchange fluctuates but it is not a huge difference. It is still good to win as much money in the exchange to have more cash in hand. The money I lost due to the exchange were minuscule at first but they accumulate since I did not check exchange rate until I returned.
• I should not have been afraid to ask for help. I had this impression that Japanese people don't like to be bothered and they seemed resourceful themselves to not bother themselves asking. At least I learned this the second day of the trip. Hotel receptionists are good resource to ask.

What saved us the trip:

• Being an anime fan/hololive fan helped me with the language. I watched so many animes that it surprisingly helped improve my vocabulary and I was able to understand people speaking in Japanese. Although I cannot read their language(thank god google image translate), I was able to hold conversation even though I speak like a toddlekindergartener. It is almost funny that some anime characters speak unnatural that I even used their kind of speech at times. I am ever so proud when some people told me "Nihonggo Jouzu"-d 4 times during this trip. Some people take that as an offense but I was so delighted when I received that.
• Booking online for reservation. We avoided spending more for this trip since we did not go to theme parks and focused on temple visiting as we preferred. We only had few reservations to do without much competition.
• Renting wifi device. I was about to use roaming but it was too expensive for a 17 day trip. Thank goodness for renting. Things would have been a disaster without my internet. Everyone should get their internet access as their priority.
• Get a power bank device. Since I use my phone all the time, the device dies easily. There are charging stations around but if you want to keep moving, bring your own and charge them while you walk. I had my 20000mah power bank and it is more than enough for charging 2 phones, 1 tablet, 1 wifi device for the day. I just charge the power bank while I sleep.
• Getting a Suica pass. This is self explanatory. I almost got into the hype of getting a JR pass too but I thought it was too expensive for me. I did not need a JR pass. With the help of google maps and Suica pass, I was able to go to my destination. I am amazed they put the price of the transport that I was able to choose which method of transport should I be getting. No taxis for me in this trip since I heard they tend to be expensive.
• Buying unlimited day pass also saved us some money for transport during the trip. It is a good practise to calculate your itinerary beforehand before deciding whether an unlimited day pass is a good option. There were days we did not buy unlimited pass.
• Putting Akihabara near end of trip than early. I would have ran out of money to spend for other places if I went there first.

Brief trip report:

• Day 0 (April 25) - Arrive to Osaka after Layover from Narita around 8pm. Checked in the hotel and ate combini food before turning in for the night.
• Day 1 - Osaka Castle (entered with an entrance fee) -> Izakaya Toyo (watched the episode on netflix and decided to visit) -> Sumiyoshi Taisha -> Nagai Park (it was at this part I realized about the Golden Week as we saw construction of stalls as preparation) -> Team Labs Botanical. The botanical experience was underwhelming for me. I was only impressed with the blue lights on the foliage.
• Day 2 - Yoshino. This is the part where I wished I knew about the Cherry blossom forecast. I checked google to see where in Japan has best place for cherry blossom and it recommended Yoshino. The cherry blossom was already over but the place was still very nice and visited some temples there. I will definitely come back for the actual cherry blossom viewing. At least the Blue Symphony train was a cool method of transport to Yoshino. Then spent the rest of the day/evening at Tsutenkaku.
• Day 3 - Shittenoji Temple (they were building stalls for the festival? got few good pictures due to stalls within sights) -> went to Kobe and tried their Kobe beef from a golden cow plate restaurant in Kobe -> cable car to Nunobike Herb Garden -> hang around BE KOBE sign -> Dotonbori for the rest of the evening (VERY CROWDED).
• Day 4 - Nara. Rented bike there and went to various places. Nara Deer Park -> Sage Ike pond -> Kasuga Taisha shrine. Feeding deers everywhere. -> Todaiji temple (entrance fee) -> Kofukuji temple -> Higashimuku Shopping Street -> returned bike then train back to Osaka-> going first time trying bath house in Solaniwa.
• Day 5 - Checked out hotel. Used Kyo Train Garaku to Kyoto. Used a coinlocker since check in starts at 3pm. -> Jonangu Shrine (entrance fee for garden) -> Fushimi Inari Taisha. Attempted to climb up but my poor feet were screaming. We turned back after reaching the second station before Mount Inari. -> Gion for the evening before checking in to the hotel.
• Day 6 - Arashiyama Bamboo Forest (I was underwhelmed by this place as it was small. Make sure to come early as it gets crowded later on) -> Nearby Temples (Nonomiya, Mikami, Jojakkoji, Nisonin) -> Tenryuji Temple (entrance fee but most impressive garden I have visited this trip) -> Tenryuji Shigetsu to experience their vegan cuisine -> Sagano Romantic Train to Kameoka -> train back to shop around Arashiyama -> Kinkakuji Temple -> Nishiki Market for the rest of evening.
• Day 7 - Kiyomizu-dera (entrance fee) -> Sannenzaka (they have Starbucks in tatami there, also my gf visited "My Only Fragrance" shop and made her own perfume there). -> Yasaka Shrine (there were numerous food stalls everywhere I think this is how they celebrate Golden Week and I ate good) -> Heian Temple (entrance to garden). They also had numerous food stalls and a concert stage and I ate good -> Kodaiji Temple (entrance fee but they had a nice light show there during the evening).
• Day 8 - Nijo Castle (Expensive entrance fee compared to other entrances. Imo, there are other better places that should be more worth the fee compared to this place). -> Kyoto Imperial Palace (free entrance) -> Rokusonno Shrine -> Higashi Honganji Temple (free entrance. More stall constructions) -> Gion for the rest of evening.
• Day 9 - Check out Hotel. Used Hinotori express train to Nagoya. Always wanted to try capsule hotel and checked in to 9 hours hotel. -> Visited Nagoya Castle (entrance fee but I was disappointed we could not enter the castle itself compared to Osaka Castle). There were also numerous food stalls inside and I ate good. -> Visited their Malls -> Slept at the capsule hotel. To be honest, I slept really well compared to other hotels we have booked. It was surprisingly comfortable despite the random fire alarm that woke me up during that night.
• Day 10 - Checked out Hotel. Used Shinkansen to Tokyo. Checked in at the next hotel. -> Teamlab Planets (way better than Teamlab Botanicals) -> Dinner at Gonpachi (Kill Bill reference). The movie was old and it is the theme of the restaurant. Their food was mid though. It is just a nice ambiance where noise seemed to be welcome here.
• Day 11 - Suga Jinja (Your Name reference). Still surprised there are still visitors there due to that movie. Did some cringe Your Name photos. -> Meiji Jingu -> Explored Harajuku (visited Aoyama flower market tea house) -> Shibuya Crossing (ate good food there). Visited Tower Records + Don Quijote + Miyashita Park. Wanted to do Shibuya Sky but they sold out their tickets. End up getting lost among the crowds for the rest of evening.
• Day 12 - Nezu Shrine -> Sensoji Temple (It was raining too hard that day so we decided to come back another time. -> Shopping at Asakusa ROX + tried their conveyor belt sushi -> Akihabara (spent quite a lot of money here for anime merch). Anime store hopping + visited maid cafe for the first time.
• Day 13 - Sensoji Temple (better weather) -> Ate at Happy Pancake (I find it overrated but I still enjoyed their pancakes) -> Visited a big Muji store in Ginza -> Akihabara part 2 (more anime merch).
• Day 14 - Check out hotel. Left all check in baggages in a coin locker for 3 days prior heading to Kawaguchiko. Used bus from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko station. Took shuttle bus to hotel. Check in at ryokan with a bath house + footbath on their rooftop with nice view of Mt. Fuji. Walked around the lake + view of Mount Fuji. Found myself a waifu Kawaguchiko-san seemed to be the mascot of the town since I see the character on various tourist spots. Had myself a mini scavenger hunt to find all of her cut outs around the town and I found them all!
• Day 15 - Shopping for souvenirs around. -> Took the boat going around the lake with nice view. Took car cable up to have a better view of Mount Fuji. Walked up more higher to have better vantage point. Proposed to my GF, now I have a fiancée.
• Day 16 - Check out Hotel. Bus back to Shinjuku. One more stop at Akihabara for merch. Retrieved coin locker baggages. Train to Narita Airport then flight back to Canada.

EDIT: post formatting

I should have known the job was too good to be true.
Make two hundred dollars a night to sit in an undisclosed location from sun down to sun up. No previous experience required. Non Disclosure to be signed before hiring. Candidates who break NDA will be sued for breach of contract. Must have a strong constitution and high moral fiber. Interested parties call (number below)
For a college student who was struggling to pay tuition, car insurance, and keep food in the dorm fridge, this sounded too good to be true. I looked at the party offering the service and discovered that I knew them. Doctor Crandler was a BioMed teacher who had a bit of a reputation for being out there. He was said to conduct experiments after hours in the science lab and if he hadn’t had tenure, it was pretty likely that he would have been fired. These were all rumors, of course. I’d had Doctor Crandler last year for entry level human biomes and he was a delight. He turned out to be a huge Romero fan and loved to talk about zombies and old horror movies. We had really hit it off, and when I called the number, he sounded happy to hear from me.
“Oh thank god, I was hoping someone reliable would call. I’ve lost three this week, and I’m beginning to think I’ll have to stoop to drastic measures.”
Whatever drastic measures were, Doc C didn’t elaborate.
He just told me to come to the science lab at five fifteen sharp.
“And not a minute later!” he added before hanging up and leaving me with more questions than answers.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but two hundy was two hundy, and that would be able to put something in my body other than ramen noodles this week if the job was legit. So, about four thirty, I hopped on my bike and made my way across campus to the Verner May Science Building. It’s a huge old brick building that's been on campus since the nineteen forties. They say its been home to a lot of famous research and more than one questionable clinical trial. I had started to wonder if Doctor C was gonna try to experiment on me, and that's why he was being so secretive. I decided that if that was the case, two hundred was not enough. I had enough trouble scoring ladies with my pizza face and I doubted having four arms or two heads would help matters much.
I stepped through the doors at five o'clock sharp and Doctor Crandler looked up excitedly. “Prompt as always! I remember that from my classes. You were always early, and I like a student who is punctual. Come this way and let me show you what I’m working on. Before we start out though,” he set a Non Disclosure Agreement in front of me and I looked over it before signing my name to it. It was pretty standard stuff. Don’t talk about what you see, don’t talk about what I’m working on, don’t tell the media, don’t post it on the internet (guess I messed that part up), yada yada yada. After that, he tossed a black hood onto the table and told me to put it on.
I hesitated, not having asked him anything about what we were doing yet.
“You’re, uh, not gonna experiment on me, right Doc?”
He laughed, but it didn't sound particularly merry.
“No no, my boy. I would never experiment on you. I have specific parameters and I'm afraid you just don't meet them.”
I wasn't sure whether to be glad or insulted, but I put the hood on either way. He led me through a door, down some stairs, outside, back inside, and then down more stairs. Finally, we came to our destination, and when he took the hood off, I was in a little room about the size of your average dorm room. Inside was a table, a chair, and a glass jar with something floating inside. It was roughly the size of a spud, though if it was a potato it was one of those big ole Idaho job. I'd say it was about two feet tall, maybe half a foot wide, and it just sort of floated there placidly.
“This is your job.” Doctor C said, pointing to the jar.
“What? Just watch this thing? Easy peasy!” I said, not yet understanding what I was agreeing to.
“Just watch it till I get here to relieve you. Be careful, it's very tricky. It may try to get you to let it go. Do Not let it go under ANY circumstances. For that, I'll pay you two hundred dollars a night.”
I put out a hand, being a man who signs deals with a shake, and Doctor C pumped my arm one good time before saying he was going to leave now.
“I'm going to lock you in. If you have to urinate, there's a bucket in the corner. There are snacks and water in the mini fridge over there, though I would prefer it if you don't take your eyes off that jar.
I started to protest about having to wizz in a bucket, but I just nodded and told him not to worry about it. A deal was a deal, as my old man liked to say, and when he left, I heard the door lock behind him. So, I settled in and took out my phone as I surfed Reddit. I kept an eye on the jar, looking up about every thirty seconds, but mostly I just sat there and tried not to fall asleep. That was the hardest part. It was so boring, just sitting there for ten to twelve hours, and I made a mental sticky to bring coffee tomorrow. Doc had some snacks in his fridge, but Kale chips and pita chips with hummus are not what a man desires when he's trying not to zonk out.
The weird little thing in the jar didn't help much either. It was boring. All it did was float there, but I guess thats not quite true. Sometimes I would look up and find it looking at me, its weird brown body seeming to watch me. It couldn't really be doing that, since it didn't have eyes, but I still felt very seen as I sat there on my phone. I made a note to bring a charger too, but luckily it lasted till the doc came back, and he smiled as he handed me my two hundred dollars in cash at the end of the shift.
“Do you feel anything? Any headaches or nausea?” he asked.
I told him I didn't and he invited me to come back tomorrow night.
I told him for sure, and left two hundred bones the richer.
I kept watching the little science project for the next week and ended with an extra fourteen hundred bucks in my pocket. I agreed to do it seven nights a week, and as spring began, the nights got a little shorter too. Soon the sun was going down closer to eight, and I didn't have to show up till seven thirty or eight o'clock. Getting a couple of hundred bucks for ten hours of work was boss, and I got a lot of Raid Shadow Legends played and Reddit scoped while I sat there and collected mulla for sitting on ass.
When I arrived Tuesday of the next week, however, something had changed in my little potato cash cow.
The thing had an ear.
Doc sat me down and as the hood came off, he asked if I noticed anything different about the little blob. I looked at it critically, but couldn't really see anything different. Doc didn't really like this answer, and told me to look harder. After a few minutes of coming up with nothing, he sighed in exasperation and pointed.
“It has acquired an auditory openings for vocal registration.”
The look I gave him must have told him all he needed, because he just shook his head and tapped the tank.
“It has an ear hole.” he said, and I finally got it.
After some looking, I realized what he was talking about and he seemed pretty proud of himself.
“We've been working with chemical stimuli and had a breakthrough when it finally developed some form of communication peripheral.”
“How do you know it can hear you?”
It was his turn to look puzzled, until I pointed out that it didn't have any way to let them know if it could hear them.
“Well, it kind of wiggles around when we talk to it or play music. It hadn't done that much before, so we think it must be able to hear us.”
He left after that, and I made sure to turn the volume up on my videos so the little dude, or dudette, could listen too. It definitely bounced around a little, dancing in the water a bit as it moved around in its glass tank. I thought it was a little funny, and turned the volume way up as it wiggled and wobbled.
By the end of the week, it had two ear holes and some little baby ears to go with them. The Doc told me to take a week off after that, saying they had some experiments to run on the little thing, and I told him to call me back when he needed me. I took some time and spent a little of my money paying bills and settling debts. By the end of the week, I was praying for a call from Doc C, and Sunday night, he obliged.
“I could use a set of eyes next week, if you're free.”
I told him I'd be there, and pumped my fist in excitement. When he took the hood off monday, he was rewarded by a “whoa” of interest from yours truly. The little sucker had a toothless mouth that it seemed to be opening and closing like a fish out of water.
“I came in Sunday to find that it had grown it. It's pretty interesting stuff,” Doctor C told me, “Has it spoken to you before tonight? Some of my assistants claim it has spoken to them by way of telekinesis, but you don't seem to have suffered from any of the symptoms they've talked about.”
“Thankfully not, Doc. All the little guy does is float and make me money.”
Doc C nodded, looking thoughtful before leaving and locking me in for the night.
I had just brought my phone out to start scrolling Reddit for the night, when I heard a muffled voice from somewhere. I looked up, thinking someone was outside the door, but the door was solid wood. I looked at my phone to make sure I wasn't accidentally butt dialing someone, but thats when I heard the slight tap from in front of me. I looked up to see the little potato thing as it bumped the glass with its body, its toothless mouth forming words from behind its prison.
“Hello? Are you there?” it asked, its words muffled by the water and the glass.
I looked at it, not sure if it could even hear me when I responded, but when it floated back a little, I guessed it probably could.
“Hello, you sound different than the good doctor or his friends. Are you someone new?”
“Not really,” I said, half laughing, “I've actually been here watching you for a couple weeks.”
“Oh,” it said, very interested, “You must be the one I couldn't reach. I'm glad we can finally speak properly.”
I sat my phone down, leaning in a little closer as I watched the little brown thing float in the off color water that held it.
“What do you mean? You only just got a mouth.”
“Yes, well, there are more ways than one to communicate, aren't there? I've been trying to touch your mind for weeks, but you don't seem overly receptive to my advances. Thus, I had to find alternative means of communication if we were to speak.”
Its voice, despite being muffled by the glass, was very smart sounding. Little dude was the smartest floating potato I had ever met, though the list was just him for the moment. He sounded like the doc a little. He used a lot of big words, and sounded like he knew a lot of stuff. I put my face a little closer to the glass as I looked at him, watching him float there, and wondering what he might know?
We talked a lot that night. Well, I talked a lot. The little just kind of floated and listed, throwing something out every now and again. He wanted to know where he was, how he had come to be in a fishbowl, and what the Doc intended to do with him? I didn't know most of these things, and I told him that. He didn't seem too thrilled with that answer, but he still kept talking to me. He asked about me and what I was studying and what sort of things I liked to do. I didn't pick up my phone much that night. Instead, I told the little guy about myself and we talked for hours about nothing in particular.
The clock said it was about four am when the subject finally turned to what he really wanted.
I wish now that we had just kept talking about me.
“So, despite the fact that you cant leave this place, you could still take me out of this tank, right?”
I snorted, “Why would you want to? It's really not much better out here than in there.”
“True, but I would very much like to experience life outside my bowl. I lack hands or I would do it myself, but you could help me out.”
“Sorry, little dude,” I said, and I found that I was kinda sorry, “you're a good hang, but I promised the Doc that I wouldn't take you out. I think it was one of those papers I had to sign to get this job.”
“No one has to know,” it said, its voice kind of sneaky as it pressed its brown side against the glass, “you could take me out for just a second and then put me right back in.”
“No,” I said, looking at the door like I'd been doing something wrong, “I...I really shouldn't.”
“Please,” it begged, “You have no idea what its like to live in your own filth. Now that I have a mouth, I can constantly taste the stagnant water I live in. It's pure hell.”
“Dude, stop it. That's not cool. You know I can't take you out, I told Doc I,” but then it did the last thing I would have expected.
It started to cry.
I don't mean it was pretending to cry, the thing started loosing these tortured sounds that made me think of someone going through a bad break up. It sounded super hopeless, and it began to bump it's body against the side of the tank. I picked up my phone and tried to ignore it, but its hard listening to something just cry and cry like that. I had a room mate once who just kinda gave up after his girlfriend dumped him and he just lay on his bed and cried until his parents finally came to get him. I never saw ole dude again, but I can still hear his sobs sometimes when I close my eyes.
It was heartbreaking, and infuriating, and I wanted to console him as much as I wanted him to shut the hell up.
“Please! Please just let me out! I can't stand this anymore! I need to get out! I need to get out! I NEED TO GET OUT!”
It yelled and screamed and begged and cried for another hour and a half, and when the key turned in the lock, I was never happier to see the Doc.
Doc C looked at the little creature in the jar and asked me what had happened?
“Nothin,” I said, “It started talking after you left and then when I wouldn't let it out, it started screaming and crying.”
Far from being angry or disturbed, Doc C seemed amazed. He started studying the thing through the glass, before I reminded him that I was done for the night and needed to leave. He pulled himself away begrudgingly before handing me my money and putting the sack back over my head. I found an extra hundred in the pile that night, for my suffering I supposed, and thought about not coming back that night. The blubbering and crying had been a lot to handle, but I couldn't deny that the money was good and it was helping me pay down a lot of my outstanding debts. Another month of this, and my rent would be paid for the next year. Another two months and my credit card would be paid and I could afford that new flat screen for the living room. The things wailing had been a lot to handle, but what was a little more next to financial freedom?
I made sure to pick up some earplugs before I came back the following night and that's how I spent my next week.
In that week, the little creature grew an eye and four small fingers, two on each side of its body.
The night I arrived to find it had an eye, it told me all night how I looked like a kind person, and how it didn't understand how I could just sit here and watch it suffer. The earplugs helped a little, but it seemed like I could still hear it through the plugs. It would start out trying to talk to me, trying to flatter me, trying to reason with me, but we would always end up with it crying and me trying to ignore it. It became harder and harder as time went on, and every night seemed to be a battle to not open the tank and let it out or to just flip the table and smash its tank into a thousand pieces. In the end, it always came down to the money and I always managed to stop myself from doing something stupid.
It was a Tuesday when something I hadn't considered happened.
Tuesday night started out just like any other. Doc C brought me into the room, took off the hood, and there sat the little creature in its glass prison. It smiled at me, and I could see a couple of teeth breaking the gums. It had six fingers now and they made it look a little like a bug as they wiggled energetically. It still had only the one eye, but the beginnings of a nose had started to form under it. It was a repugnant little thing, and as the Doc left and I settled in, I kept my mind on the money, reminding myself that I just had to power through tonight.
It would be over in ten hours and I could go back to my room and sleep.
It spent the next ten hours talking, pleading, crying, and trying everything it could to gain its freedom. Well, that's not quite true. It never tried to threaten me. It probably realized that such a thing would have been pointless. It could no more have hurt me than my two year old nephew could and had decided on a different gambit. When it started its piercing wailing again, I popped the ear plugs in and shut most of it out. The plugs tuned the thing down to about a two, and made it easier to ignore. I was just thinking that I might treat myself to some really nice noise canceling headphones and forgo the tv for another week, when I saw someone familiar in a piece of Reddit News.
I almost dropped the phone as I read over the article, not sure what to make of it.
“Doctor Joseph Crandler arrested after trying to buy biological materials from an undercover agent.”
The picture showed Doc C looking very unhappy as he was led away in cuffs. He was wearing the same clothes I had seen him leave in the night before, and the article that followed didn't cheer me up. He had been buying materials from his experiments from some disreputable people, and finally he had put his trust in the wrong one, or maybe the right one, I guess. The agent had arrested him and they were holding him for questioning. I felt a cold chill as I looked over at the little freak in the tank. Was this the sort of experiment he'd been buying materials for? I had never thought to question if this thing was something the college had sanctioned or not, and now I realized that I might be part of an illegal experiment. They'd be coming for me next, me and this thing, and they'd assume I was the Egor to his Doctor Frankfurter or whatever.
As the creature wailed and thrashed, my brain started putting blocks together that it should have a few minutes ago.
My biggest problem wasn't that they would think I was involved, it was that if they didn't come and the Doc didn't come, then I would have no way out of here.
I was trapped with this little crying dude for god knew how long.
I thought about calling for help, but that could be bad too. What if they thought I was part of this? I'd have a hard time convincing them that I had nothing to do with this when they found me with the evidence. What's more, all the Doc had to say was that I was his assistant, that he had paid me, and I'd be in the same prison chow line as him. I started looking around the room for escape routes, but there was nothing but the very locked door. The little creature kept asking what was happening, but I just kept ignoring him. There were no windows, no other doors, not even a vent to squeeze into, like in the movies. All the while, the creature wailed and pleaded to be released. It knew something was wrong, and it wanted to be set free. It could help me, it could get me out of here, it could do anything as long as I would take it out of the tank.
After searching the little room again and again, I finally just sat and tried not to go crazy.
My phone will make calls, but I have no idea how to tell anyone to find me or even if they could. I tried to explain to the police what was happening, I even mentioned Doctor C, but I think the dispatcher thought I was high. They started hanging up on me when I called back, and if they trace my number, all their going to find is my dorm room, which is empty. Luckily, I have a charger on me, so I can keep calling out and trying to get someone to help me.
I checked the fridge, and there's enough bottled water and snacks in there to last for three or four days. Less if I feed this little bastard, but I'm not even sure what he eats. I've never been given any feeding instructions for him, and I'm not going to waste my food on this squalling thing. I threw a tarp over him, but it isn't doing anything to dull the screaming. It sounds like he might have grown more mouths because I can hear his shrill little voice from every angle as it bounces off the wall.
One things for sure, if it doesn't stop screaming soon, I'm going to give him some kind of release.
If it goes on much longer, I'm going to wrench the lid off that tank and stomp the life out of him.
If someone doesn’t come soon, I’m going to release him from his suffering forever.

I should have known the job was too good to be true.
Make two hundred dollars a night to sit in an undisclosed location from sun down to sun up. No previous experience required. Non Disclosure to be signed before hiring. Candidates who break NDA will be sued for breach of contract. Must have a strong constitution and high moral fiber. Interested parties call (number below)
For a college student who was struggling to pay tuition, car insurance, and keep food in the dorm fridge, this sounded too good to be true. I looked at the party offering the service and discovered that I knew them. Doctor Crandler was a BioMed teacher who had a bit of a reputation for being out there. He was said to conduct experiments after hours in the science lab and if he hadn’t had tenure, it was pretty likely that he would have been fired. These were all rumors, of course. I’d had Doctor Crandler last year for entry level human biomes and he was a delight. He turned out to be a huge Romero fan and loved to talk about zombies and old horror movies. We had really hit it off, and when I called the number, he sounded happy to hear from me.
“Oh thank god, I was hoping someone reliable would call. I’ve lost three this week, and I’m beginning to think I’ll have to stoop to drastic measures.”
Whatever drastic measures were, Doc C didn’t elaborate.
He just told me to come to the science lab at five fifteen sharp.
“And not a minute later!” he added before hanging up and leaving me with more questions than answers.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but two hundy was two hundy, and that would be able to put something in my body other than ramen noodles this week if the job was legit. So, about four thirty, I hopped on my bike and made my way across campus to the Verner May Science Building. It’s a huge old brick building that's been on campus since the nineteen forties. They say its been home to a lot of famous research and more than one questionable clinical trial. I had started to wonder if Doctor C was gonna try to experiment on me, and that's why he was being so secretive. I decided that if that was the case, two hundred was not enough. I had enough trouble scoring ladies with my pizza face and I doubted having four arms or two heads would help matters much.
I stepped through the doors at five o'clock sharp and Doctor Crandler looked up excitedly. “Prompt as always! I remember that from my classes. You were always early, and I like a student who is punctual. Come this way and let me show you what I’m working on. Before we start out though,” he set a Non Disclosure Agreement in front of me and I looked over it before signing my name to it. It was pretty standard stuff. Don’t talk about what you see, don’t talk about what I’m working on, don’t tell the media, don’t post it on the internet (guess I messed that part up), yada yada yada. After that, he tossed a black hood onto the table and told me to put it on.
I hesitated, not having asked him anything about what we were doing yet.
“You’re, uh, not gonna experiment on me, right Doc?”
He laughed, but it didn't sound particularly merry.
“No no, my boy. I would never experiment on you. I have specific parameters and I'm afraid you just don't meet them.”
I wasn't sure whether to be glad or insulted, but I put the hood on either way. He led me through a door, down some stairs, outside, back inside, and then down more stairs. Finally, we came to our destination, and when he took the hood off, I was in a little room about the size of your average dorm room. Inside was a table, a chair, and a glass jar with something floating inside. It was roughly the size of a spud, though if it was a potato it was one of those big ole Idaho job. I'd say it was about two feet tall, maybe half a foot wide, and it just sort of floated there placidly.
“This is your job.” Doctor C said, pointing to the jar.
“What? Just watch this thing? Easy peasy!” I said, not yet understanding what I was agreeing to.
“Just watch it till I get here to relieve you. Be careful, it's very tricky. It may try to get you to let it go. Do Not let it go under ANY circumstances. For that, I'll pay you two hundred dollars a night.”
I put out a hand, being a man who signs deals with a shake, and Doctor C pumped my arm one good time before saying he was going to leave now.
“I'm going to lock you in. If you have to urinate, there's a bucket in the corner. There are snacks and water in the mini fridge over there, though I would prefer it if you don't take your eyes off that jar.
I started to protest about having to wizz in a bucket, but I just nodded and told him not to worry about it. A deal was a deal, as my old man liked to say, and when he left, I heard the door lock behind him. So, I settled in and took out my phone as I surfed Reddit. I kept an eye on the jar, looking up about every thirty seconds, but mostly I just sat there and tried not to fall asleep. That was the hardest part. It was so boring, just sitting there for ten to twelve hours, and I made a mental sticky to bring coffee tomorrow. Doc had some snacks in his fridge, but Kale chips and pita chips with hummus are not what a man desires when he's trying not to zonk out.
The weird little thing in the jar didn't help much either. It was boring. All it did was float there, but I guess thats not quite true. Sometimes I would look up and find it looking at me, its weird brown body seeming to watch me. It couldn't really be doing that, since it didn't have eyes, but I still felt very seen as I sat there on my phone. I made a note to bring a charger too, but luckily it lasted till the doc came back, and he smiled as he handed me my two hundred dollars in cash at the end of the shift.
“Do you feel anything? Any headaches or nausea?” he asked.
I told him I didn't and he invited me to come back tomorrow night.
I told him for sure, and left two hundred bones the richer.
I kept watching the little science project for the next week and ended with an extra fourteen hundred bucks in my pocket. I agreed to do it seven nights a week, and as spring began, the nights got a little shorter too. Soon the sun was going down closer to eight, and I didn't have to show up till seven thirty or eight o'clock. Getting a couple of hundred bucks for ten hours of work was boss, and I got a lot of Raid Shadow Legends played and Reddit scoped while I sat there and collected mulla for sitting on ass.
When I arrived Tuesday of the next week, however, something had changed in my little potato cash cow.
The thing had an ear.
Doc sat me down and as the hood came off, he asked if I noticed anything different about the little blob. I looked at it critically, but couldn't really see anything different. Doc didn't really like this answer, and told me to look harder. After a few minutes of coming up with nothing, he sighed in exasperation and pointed.
“It has acquired an auditory openings for vocal registration.”
The look I gave him must have told him all he needed, because he just shook his head and tapped the tank.
“It has an ear hole.” he said, and I finally got it.
After some looking, I realized what he was talking about and he seemed pretty proud of himself.
“We've been working with chemical stimuli and had a breakthrough when it finally developed some form of communication peripheral.”
“How do you know it can hear you?”
It was his turn to look puzzled, until I pointed out that it didn't have any way to let them know if it could hear them.
“Well, it kind of wiggles around when we talk to it or play music. It hadn't done that much before, so we think it must be able to hear us.”
He left after that, and I made sure to turn the volume up on my videos so the little dude, or dudette, could listen too. It definitely bounced around a little, dancing in the water a bit as it moved around in its glass tank. I thought it was a little funny, and turned the volume way up as it wiggled and wobbled.
By the end of the week, it had two ear holes and some little baby ears to go with them. The Doc told me to take a week off after that, saying they had some experiments to run on the little thing, and I told him to call me back when he needed me. I took some time and spent a little of my money paying bills and settling debts. By the end of the week, I was praying for a call from Doc C, and Sunday night, he obliged.
“I could use a set of eyes next week, if you're free.”
I told him I'd be there, and pumped my fist in excitement. When he took the hood off monday, he was rewarded by a “whoa” of interest from yours truly. The little sucker had a toothless mouth that it seemed to be opening and closing like a fish out of water.
“I came in Sunday to find that it had grown it. It's pretty interesting stuff,” Doctor C told me, “Has it spoken to you before tonight? Some of my assistants claim it has spoken to them by way of telekinesis, but you don't seem to have suffered from any of the symptoms they've talked about.”
“Thankfully not, Doc. All the little guy does is float and make me money.”
Doc C nodded, looking thoughtful before leaving and locking me in for the night.
I had just brought my phone out to start scrolling Reddit for the night, when I heard a muffled voice from somewhere. I looked up, thinking someone was outside the door, but the door was solid wood. I looked at my phone to make sure I wasn't accidentally butt dialing someone, but thats when I heard the slight tap from in front of me. I looked up to see the little potato thing as it bumped the glass with its body, its toothless mouth forming words from behind its prison.
“Hello? Are you there?” it asked, its words muffled by the water and the glass.
I looked at it, not sure if it could even hear me when I responded, but when it floated back a little, I guessed it probably could.
“Hello, you sound different than the good doctor or his friends. Are you someone new?”
“Not really,” I said, half laughing, “I've actually been here watching you for a couple weeks.”
“Oh,” it said, very interested, “You must be the one I couldn't reach. I'm glad we can finally speak properly.”
I sat my phone down, leaning in a little closer as I watched the little brown thing float in the off color water that held it.
“What do you mean? You only just got a mouth.”
“Yes, well, there are more ways than one to communicate, aren't there? I've been trying to touch your mind for weeks, but you don't seem overly receptive to my advances. Thus, I had to find alternative means of communication if we were to speak.”
Its voice, despite being muffled by the glass, was very smart sounding. Little dude was the smartest floating potato I had ever met, though the list was just him for the moment. He sounded like the doc a little. He used a lot of big words, and sounded like he knew a lot of stuff. I put my face a little closer to the glass as I looked at him, watching him float there, and wondering what he might know?
We talked a lot that night. Well, I talked a lot. The little just kind of floated and listed, throwing something out every now and again. He wanted to know where he was, how he had come to be in a fishbowl, and what the Doc intended to do with him? I didn't know most of these things, and I told him that. He didn't seem too thrilled with that answer, but he still kept talking to me. He asked about me and what I was studying and what sort of things I liked to do. I didn't pick up my phone much that night. Instead, I told the little guy about myself and we talked for hours about nothing in particular.
The clock said it was about four am when the subject finally turned to what he really wanted.
I wish now that we had just kept talking about me.
“So, despite the fact that you cant leave this place, you could still take me out of this tank, right?”
I snorted, “Why would you want to? It's really not much better out here than in there.”
“True, but I would very much like to experience life outside my bowl. I lack hands or I would do it myself, but you could help me out.”
“Sorry, little dude,” I said, and I found that I was kinda sorry, “you're a good hang, but I promised the Doc that I wouldn't take you out. I think it was one of those papers I had to sign to get this job.”
“No one has to know,” it said, its voice kind of sneaky as it pressed its brown side against the glass, “you could take me out for just a second and then put me right back in.”
“No,” I said, looking at the door like I'd been doing something wrong, “I...I really shouldn't.”
“Please,” it begged, “You have no idea what its like to live in your own filth. Now that I have a mouth, I can constantly taste the stagnant water I live in. It's pure hell.”
“Dude, stop it. That's not cool. You know I can't take you out, I told Doc I,” but then it did the last thing I would have expected.
It started to cry.
I don't mean it was pretending to cry, the thing started loosing these tortured sounds that made me think of someone going through a bad break up. It sounded super hopeless, and it began to bump it's body against the side of the tank. I picked up my phone and tried to ignore it, but its hard listening to something just cry and cry like that. I had a room mate once who just kinda gave up after his girlfriend dumped him and he just lay on his bed and cried until his parents finally came to get him. I never saw ole dude again, but I can still hear his sobs sometimes when I close my eyes.
It was heartbreaking, and infuriating, and I wanted to console him as much as I wanted him to shut the hell up.
“Please! Please just let me out! I can't stand this anymore! I need to get out! I need to get out! I NEED TO GET OUT!”
It yelled and screamed and begged and cried for another hour and a half, and when the key turned in the lock, I was never happier to see the Doc.
Doc C looked at the little creature in the jar and asked me what had happened?
“Nothin,” I said, “It started talking after you left and then when I wouldn't let it out, it started screaming and crying.”
Far from being angry or disturbed, Doc C seemed amazed. He started studying the thing through the glass, before I reminded him that I was done for the night and needed to leave. He pulled himself away begrudgingly before handing me my money and putting the sack back over my head. I found an extra hundred in the pile that night, for my suffering I supposed, and thought about not coming back that night. The blubbering and crying had been a lot to handle, but I couldn't deny that the money was good and it was helping me pay down a lot of my outstanding debts. Another month of this, and my rent would be paid for the next year. Another two months and my credit card would be paid and I could afford that new flat screen for the living room. The things wailing had been a lot to handle, but what was a little more next to financial freedom?
I made sure to pick up some earplugs before I came back the following night and that's how I spent my next week.
In that week, the little creature grew an eye and four small fingers, two on each side of its body.
The night I arrived to find it had an eye, it told me all night how I looked like a kind person, and how it didn't understand how I could just sit here and watch it suffer. The earplugs helped a little, but it seemed like I could still hear it through the plugs. It would start out trying to talk to me, trying to flatter me, trying to reason with me, but we would always end up with it crying and me trying to ignore it. It became harder and harder as time went on, and every night seemed to be a battle to not open the tank and let it out or to just flip the table and smash its tank into a thousand pieces. In the end, it always came down to the money and I always managed to stop myself from doing something stupid.
It was a Tuesday when something I hadn't considered happened.
Tuesday night started out just like any other. Doc C brought me into the room, took off the hood, and there sat the little creature in its glass prison. It smiled at me, and I could see a couple of teeth breaking the gums. It had six fingers now and they made it look a little like a bug as they wiggled energetically. It still had only the one eye, but the beginnings of a nose had started to form under it. It was a repugnant little thing, and as the Doc left and I settled in, I kept my mind on the money, reminding myself that I just had to power through tonight.
It would be over in ten hours and I could go back to my room and sleep.
It spent the next ten hours talking, pleading, crying, and trying everything it could to gain its freedom. Well, that's not quite true. It never tried to threaten me. It probably realized that such a thing would have been pointless. It could no more have hurt me than my two year old nephew could and had decided on a different gambit. When it started its piercing wailing again, I popped the ear plugs in and shut most of it out. The plugs tuned the thing down to about a two, and made it easier to ignore. I was just thinking that I might treat myself to some really nice noise canceling headphones and forgo the tv for another week, when I saw someone familiar in a piece of Reddit News.
I almost dropped the phone as I read over the article, not sure what to make of it.
“Doctor Joseph Crandler arrested after trying to buy biological materials from an undercover agent.”
The picture showed Doc C looking very unhappy as he was led away in cuffs. He was wearing the same clothes I had seen him leave in the night before, and the article that followed didn't cheer me up. He had been buying materials from his experiments from some disreputable people, and finally he had put his trust in the wrong one, or maybe the right one, I guess. The agent had arrested him and they were holding him for questioning. I felt a cold chill as I looked over at the little freak in the tank. Was this the sort of experiment he'd been buying materials for? I had never thought to question if this thing was something the college had sanctioned or not, and now I realized that I might be part of an illegal experiment. They'd be coming for me next, me and this thing, and they'd assume I was the Egor to his Doctor Frankfurter or whatever.
As the creature wailed and thrashed, my brain started putting blocks together that it should have a few minutes ago.
My biggest problem wasn't that they would think I was involved, it was that if they didn't come and the Doc didn't come, then I would have no way out of here.
I was trapped with this little crying dude for god knew how long.
I thought about calling for help, but that could be bad too. What if they thought I was part of this? I'd have a hard time convincing them that I had nothing to do with this when they found me with the evidence. What's more, all the Doc had to say was that I was his assistant, that he had paid me, and I'd be in the same prison chow line as him. I started looking around the room for escape routes, but there was nothing but the very locked door. The little creature kept asking what was happening, but I just kept ignoring him. There were no windows, no other doors, not even a vent to squeeze into, like in the movies. All the while, the creature wailed and pleaded to be released. It knew something was wrong, and it wanted to be set free. It could help me, it could get me out of here, it could do anything as long as I would take it out of the tank.
After searching the little room again and again, I finally just sat and tried not to go crazy.
My phone will make calls, but I have no idea how to tell anyone to find me or even if they could. I tried to explain to the police what was happening, I even mentioned Doctor C, but I think the dispatcher thought I was high. They started hanging up on me when I called back, and if they trace my number, all their going to find is my dorm room, which is empty. Luckily, I have a charger on me, so I can keep calling out and trying to get someone to help me.
I checked the fridge, and there's enough bottled water and snacks in there to last for three or four days. Less if I feed this little bastard, but I'm not even sure what he eats. I've never been given any feeding instructions for him, and I'm not going to waste my food on this squalling thing. I threw a tarp over him, but it isn't doing anything to dull the screaming. It sounds like he might have grown more mouths because I can hear his shrill little voice from every angle as it bounces off the wall.
One things for sure, if it doesn't stop screaming soon, I'm going to give him some kind of release.
If it goes on much longer, I'm going to wrench the lid off that tank and stomp the life out of him.
If someone doesn’t come soon, I’m going to release him from his suffering forever.