Hello All!
Welcome. After being politely and dutifully informed by a moderator about pinning, I have withdrawn my exhaustive list of demands. With permission, I'd like to post this only once daily because it will help, and I will keep a day counter because I have issues, and it keeps me balanced. It just does; I don't know why. If it is considered spam, I will withdraw.
I am not a lawyer, doctor, VA Rep., or anything. I am just a guy who wants to help and is trying to improve his math skills.
Day 2.
I know it is explained in the knowledge base, but we are creatures of convenience, and I know this will help people, even if they don’t want to dig too hard for it. Please leave comments so I can improve! I have rewritten this; I hope it is more clear!
VA Math is based on the "Whole Person Theory," which essentially says your whole self, physical and mental, starts at the max, 100%, and you cannot exceed 100% of a whole. The VA will rate you at a 100% "Able-Bodied" level until you are compensable(receiving a monthly benefit from the VA of at least a 10% level).
CALCULATORS OUT IF YOU CAN SO YOU CAN FOLLOW IT; I BELIEVE IT WILL HELP. EVEN A PHONE CALCULATOR WORKS!
*NOTE: When doing VA Math with this guide, remember the VA is calculating based on your "Able-Bodied" percentage. When calculating, remember we are always taking away from that percentage. When converting to a compensable percentage, remember to follow this example: 100-50-25=25. This is the same as 25+50=75 for VA compensation purposes. The VA deems you 25% "Able-Bodied" and 75% Disabled and compensates you at 80% due to 10% increments and rounding.
This post must be read sequentially to be fully understood; no bouncing around! First, let's lay out our symbols:
KEY:
R=Right
L=Left
B=Bilateral Factor
*=symbol for multiplication/multiply - Your phone calculator may represent this as 'X.'
'='symbol for addition/add/give more
-=symbol for subtraction/subtract/take away
Remember that all of these numbers are PERCENTAGES. We will work with the easy number 50 because I'm not so good at math. First, we will cover VA Math; then we will cover Bilateral Factor; ready? Let’s go!
VA MATH BASICS
(You) are first granted a 50% rating for (Your) R Arm.
The math first involves multiplication represented by the symbols(*,x). After multiplying, we must subtract from our "whole person." The "whole person" will be represented by the words baseline or "Able-Bodied" where applicable.
Start with 100(%), which is the whole person (YOU) at the very beginning of your INITIAL CLAIM(or until you successfully get something compensable (paid for) at least 10% from the VA,) and put it exactly in your phone calculator as follows:
STEP 1: 100*0.5=50
STEP 2: 100-50=50
According to the VA, (You) are now 50% "Able-Bodied" and 50% Disabled and being compensated at the 50% rate.
!!!!!!STOP; PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING VERY CAREFULLY!!!!!!
(You) are no longer multiplying into then subtracting from 100%, (Your) new baseline is 50%!
This is the "Whole Person" concept I mentioned earlier.
Let’s continue!
(You) are granted a further 50% for your L arm.
YOUR CALCULATOR SHOULD STILL BE OUT
Start with 50(%), our NEW baseline, after applying our previous 50%. First, we must multiply, then we will subtract our number from our NEW baseline. Input it exactly as follows:
Step 1: 50*0.5=25
Step 2: 50-25=25
According to the VA, (You) are now 25% "Able-Bodied" and 75% Disabled.
!!!WAIT!!!
"Michael, your math is shit, and you know nothing of the VA; go back to your cave. The VA doesn't work with 2nd digits; you'd either be 70% or 80%."
WRONG, while my math is undoubtedly just okay at the best times, the VA works with every number 1-100, but they compensate at 10% increments. Keep this in mind, as it will become critical later.
REMEMBER FOR COMPENSATION AND ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN BENEFITS: When the number in the 2nd digit place (example: 7(1), 7(2), and 7(3)) is four and under, then we must round down to the previously passed increment of 10%, 70%, and if it is 5 and above (example: 7(5), 7(6), and 7(8)) then we round up to the next higher 10% increment, which would be 80%. It should look like this:
According to the VA, (You) are now 25% "Able-Bodied", and 75% Disabled, and (You) are being compensated at the 80% rate due to rounding.
"Wrong AGAIN, you damned lobotomite, Michael. You need to stop; you don't know what you're talking about. Since both arms have compensable disabilities, where is my BILATERAL FACTOR 10%?! I should be 90%!"
I am glad (You) asked, and I will explain because I was confused on my way to 100 by the BILATERAL FACTOR! Let's get into it!
Many people incorrectly believe the Bilateral Factor is a flat rate, 10% on top of their percentage. This is incorrect, and we will explore it and the correct way after.
Remember, we are still doing the same things; nothing has changed except additional steps have been added. Input it as follows with me:
Start with 100(%)
Step 1: 100*0.5=50
Step 2: 100-50=50
Step 3: 50*0.5=25
Step 4: 50-25=25
(You) are now 25% "ABLE-BODIED," 75% Disabled, and being compensated at the 80% rate.
Now we throw our b(Bilateral Factor) in there:
Step 5: 80+b(flat rate, 10)=90
!!!!!!!STOP!!!!!!!!
That is not how the Bilateral Factor works. The Bilateral Factor is 10% of our combined rating before rounding, which is then added onto the top of the combined rating*,* which is a substantial difference from adding a flat 10%. Below I will demonstrate the difference, input as follows:
Start with 100(%)
Step 1: 100*.5=50
Step 2: 100-50=50
Step 3: 50*0.5=25
Step 4: 50-25=25
Step 5 is where the disconnect happens frequently, and I'll show a common pitfall of Bilateral Factor VA Math; remember, they're both wrong. After that, I will show you the correct way. Please input as follows:
INCORRECT:
Step 5: 50+25=75
Step 6: 75+b(10)=85
or
Step 5: 50+30=80 (remember, the VA rounds)
Step 6: 80+10=90
Both are compensated at 90%, but this math is incorrect!!
The correct way to add ratings and their corresponding Bilateral Factor is to add, multiply, add, and then finally round, and is input into the calculator as follows:
Step 5 Correct: 50+25=75
Step 6 Correct: 75*0.1=7.5
Step 7 Correct: 7.5+75=82.5, rounded to 83.
Since the VA compensates at 10% increments, (Your) overall compensation rating will be 80%, but(Your) raw rating will be 83%. You do not just lose those three extra points; they are not substantial enough yet to entitle you to greater benefits. Yet.
Delayed is not denied, my friends.
According to the VA, (You) are now 17% "Able-Bodied" and 83% Disabled.
(You) will be compensated at the 80% rate.
(You) are free to stop reading if (You) understand, or press on as I walk us to 100%.
17% is now our NEW baseline number.
Following your previous two ratings decisions, (You) are granted an additional 50% for PTSD. Input as follows, we're almost there.
Start at 17(%)
Step 1: 17*.5=8.5
Step 2: 17-8.5=8.5
Now we take our COMBINED RATING and add our 8.5 to it
Step 3: 83+8.5=91.5, and 91.5(%) rounded up is 92(%)
According to the VA, (You) are now 8% ‘Able-Bodied’ and 92% Disabled.
(You) will be compensated at the 90% rate.
8% is now our NEW baseline number.
Finally, after your other three contentions are decided, (You) are granted the MAXIMUM possible award for cluster headaches, 50%. Input as follows, this is it:
Start at 8(%); that's all we have left to go off of (this is why the climb to 100 is so notoriously difficult)
Step 1: 8*0.5=4
Step 2: 8-4=4
Finally, we take our combined rating of 92% and add our brand new, shiny, beautiful 4-point award to it!
Step 3: 92+4=96
96% rounded up is 100%, and that is all she wrote for compensable ratings on Schedular VA compensation due to being unable to exceed 100%(whole person).
When calculating VA math, always use your LARGEST rated disability first because that is how the math is done. Go from largest to smallest.
Please let me know if this helps and how I can improve! I love to help, don't be afraid to ask anything!
ADDITIONALLY: 50% WAS JUST THE CHOSEN NUMBER, BUT THE FORMULA IS THE SAME
100*0.(YOUR RATING)
SOME EXAMPLES:
PTSD: 70%
100*0.7=70
100-70=30
NOW ADD MIGRAINES: 30%
30*0.3=9
30-9=21
The VA will compensate you at an 80% rate because you are 21% "Able-Bodied" and 79% Disabled.

I was once told on here people who like cold are fine except we make it our whole personality. Okay fair enough, and this thread isn’t about that. I understand people should wear what they want. I happen to enjoy cold, not Canada level cold, but Uk cold is great. Even in the middle of winter I’m uncomfortable wearing long sleeve here, and I can’t wait to get outside and feel the cold air on my skin.
I can survive though, until around now when it’s creeping up to 14 degrees in London. I’ve spent this week literally sweating and can’t wait to get home so I can rip the layers off.
Whilst I know I’m guilty of being self conscious here, I just really feel weird wearing a t shirt when everyone’s wearing a fucking coat on top of a sweater and probs another layer under that. If it’s a short trip to sainsburys I’ll wear a t shirt and shorts even in December and January and I’ve actually heard blokes muttering about me to their missus. It makes me very conscious.
So I said to my wife today when we went to central London tell me if u see anyone with any exposed skin at all. No not a single person. And it’s FUCKING WARM.
So when is it acceptable to not dress like an Inuit? I’ve lived here my whole life and one of the real quirks of being British always was that we would were t shiets in all weather like nutters. And no I’m not northern. I dunno if lockdown changed people but these days it’s like Italy or something, people think a square inch of exposed skin is gonna kill ‘em even in 14 degree temps.
When did it become this way? It’s absolutely a new thing.

This is my first post ever, so I apologize upfront if something is not presented as expected.
I have a PhD in Business Management from a non AACSB accredited institution from a Latin American country. Since I got my degree in 2017, I was able to work abroad, which was my goal due to the lack of research funding in my country.
I am currently in Colombia and things are stable as a full professor, however I have a high level of research commitments and I have been working on weekends, holidays and currently I'm not even getting enough sleep. My colleagues are used to apply unethical practices to achieve their points and I could never do the same. I am considered a reference to colleagues and I have my small but constant flow of grants and awards.Yet, I can't find the time to publish what I want and where I want it because deadlines are strict and I end up not having the time. They expect new Q1-Q2 publications every 6 months so I go for the fastest journals and the most practical approaches. I know the quality of research I wanna achieve is possible for me but with this dynamics, it is very unlikely. I also have a 12houweek class workload, besides administrative hours.
My previous job in Portugal was even worse in terms of workload and culture. I left after finding colleagues hiding in classrooms to cry out of stress. Before that, my experience in Brazil caused me multiple health issues due to stress and working on average 14 hours a day. Not a good experience in Peru either in terms of quality of life. I understand there are a lot of options in these countries but after some bad experiences I am afraid of what I can find.
I want to have kids soon and keep on building my career as a professor. I keep asking myself if this is what is available everywhere, because if it is, then I might have to leave something I love doing in order to find work-life balance.
What do you guys suggest as an alternative for me? Do you know any academic environment that I might be a good fit? Do you think a PhD from a non AACSB accredited institution might be an obstacle?
Your inputs will be very much appreciated.

3,659th Quarterly Meeting
Kilometer-long freighters docked and undocked from Port Vesta. Ventral doors opened to let in adamantine loading arms, the size of which existed only in tales of primordial titans for much of human history. Once reloaded, the ships departed for humanity's interstellar colonies at Tau Ceti, Aldebaran and Rigel. So choked with ship-induced warp bubbles was Vesta that stargazing was a fruitless pastime for many millions of kilometers out.
And all this was visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the most important conference room humanity had ever known.
Cool air circulated through the 40 by 20 by 5 meter room. 20.4 degrees Celsius, the perfect temperature to keep ambitious minds in line with corporate procedure. And no minds were more ambitious than those sitting in here.
9 of the most powerful human beings alive sat around the rectangular conference table, four on each of its long sides and one at the end farthest from the door. Their perfect faces were reflected in its polished black marble, craftsmanship reflecting in craftsmanship, one working in flesh and the other in stone. Their suits ran the gamut of subdued color, from black to gray to blue to beige to brown, though all but one had a metallic sheen. No one tried speaking before the meeting began. Everything that would be said today had been written and rewritten over the previous weeks. Today was a formality, a tradition practiced by an organization that had existed for 914 years.
Yet everyone in the room knew that the predetermined decision formalized today thrust their organization into foreign territory.
The man at the end of the table stood up. His dark brown suit was only two shades distant from his dark brown skin, most on display on his shaved and polished head. He removed his black-framed glasses from their perch 210 centimeters above the floor and tucked them into his breast pocket, 170 centimeters above the floor.
"Members of The Board," he said, "I declare this, the 3,659th quarterly meeting, open."
A woman, nearest on his left, stood up as he sat down. She wore a beige suit whose metallic sheen paled in comparison to her voluminous blonde hair. In her lilly white hands was the Quarterly Profit Report.
"Mr. CEO," she said in her most authoritative voice, "I'm proud to report that we have once again met the expectations of the founder. From July 1st to September 30th, 2999 CE, we maintained a profit margin of 80.0 %. As of September 30th, we hold a market share of 99 % and a market capitalization of 400 quadrillion credits."
The woman sat down. The other eight clapped their approval.
A man, nearest on Mr. CEO's right, stood up. His gray suit complemented the full head of silver hair installed on his scalp and chin. Strong and youthful hands, grown in a vat and transplanted onto this bicentenarian, held the Readiness Assessment Report from the R&D Department.
"The Instant Sassy program has achieved level 4 certainty as of August 16th, 2999 CE. They can now create a maximum of 1 kilogram of mass and replicate drink and bottle in one go. Mass production of the Instant Sassy vending machines awaits your approval, Mr. CEO."
The man sat down. Clapping ensued.
Five more members of The Board provided their tidbits of information, but everyone knew the best was saved until last.
A young man, actually young in contrast to everyone else's purchased youth, rose from his seat at the doorward end of Mr. CEO'S left side. He wasn't more than 30. He was only 160 centimeters in height. His hair and suit were both pitch black and without sheen. Most of the board wondered if the boy even combed. He certainly didn't shave. His delicate fingers held a one page legal summary.
"Mr. CEO," he said in a monotone lawyer-stating-the-facts voice, "it has come to the attention of the legal department that a small firm at Rigel is selling a 1-to-1 clone of Sassy Cola, though under the branding of Flash Cola. As there is no reliable intellectual property enforcement that far out, we suggest Sassy Cola Company perform a cease-and-desist operation."
The clapping that followed was, as planned, subdued to balance The Board's recognition of his work and the dire situation he described.
Mr. CEO stood once more to give the final address.
"Members of The Board, we stand at a precipice. Military action against a small firm is a bold move. Then again, the Sassy Cola Company is no stranger to bold moves. It was a bold move when in 2085 my great great grandmother started this company in order to sell her sassafras-enriched soda. It was a bold move when we spent the 23rd century expanding Earth's launch capabilities so that humanity could colonize the solar system and thereby create new markets for Sassy Cola. And it was a bold move when in 2610 we invented the FTL warp drive so that humanity could settle the stars and buy more Sassy Cola. So let's put this to a vote. All in favor of sending a cease-and-desist?"
Five members raised their right hand.
"All opposed?"
Three other members raised their right hand.
"Five for and three against. And I vote in favor, giving the issue the 2/3 majority it needs. A cease-and-desist will be sent to Rigel as soon as the ship is ready. I declare this, the 3,659th Quarterly Meeting, adjourned."
All nine stood and clapped, excessively, as if their noise could bury the question of ethics.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, a kilometer-long ship (built by Sassy Heavy Industries) docked at Port Vesta (technically Sassy Drive Yards) and loaded up with cargo containers (built and owned by Sassy Shipping) to be delivered to Aldebaran (Sassy Cola Aldebaran, subsidiary).
Dr. Megalomanovich
The walls and ceiling and floor of the office never stayed the same color for long. They meandered through the greens, brighter then darker, strolled along the beach with various tans, took a dip in the water with cyan blue and finished by going back to the greens. They were cymolds, cybernetic funguses, and they formed the surface of every room in the administration wing of Sassy Research Installation #544.
It wasn't a very well publicized installation. No research from here had ever appeared on Sassy Science Direct's Top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year. Of course, that meant what they were doing was very, very important. Another reason to locate the place so far from the rest of human civilization.
Far from civilization is a relative term. To be far on the surface of a planet, you got to be, eh, 100 kilometers away. To be far in the context of a star system, make that 100 million kilometers. To be far from humanity in the year 3535 CE, you have to be 100 light years away. And that's just what we were. 100 light years separated us from the nearest human outpost. Not the nearest built-up star system or lone asteroid city. No, I mean 100 light years from the nearest hitch-em-up, one warpship, sorry excuse for an outpost. Nothing lay in-between and no one was coming to rescue you if you broke down halfway.
But that was the price of admission if you wanted to meet Dr. Megalomanovich.
To the layman, his name means nothing. To the educated, resentment. To the dreamers, hope. He is the greatest mind of our time bar none. And, like all great minds, he has created controversy.
The cymold on these walls was invented by him while he was still in secondary school 150 years ago. He designed the meter-thick mycelium fibers which root Installation #544 to its carbonaceous asteroid in an undergraduate mycology class. Since then he has: led a team which developed an all-biological fusion reactor, led another team that made a proof of concept for matter-antimatter annihilation based metabolism and singlehandedly created a cow subspecies that produces Sassy Cola instead of milk.
This last accomplishment most impressed the one and only financial backer of all human science, the Sassy Cola Company.
It didn't matter that Sassy Cola was already made in the most efficient way physically possible, by assembling it, bottle and all, from the fundamental elements themselves via vending machine MDROM-derived replicators, because Sassy from an udder was cool to the average consumer.
And so Dr. Megalomanovich was scooped up and shipped off to Installation #544. Here he has remained for 120 years doing . . . something. I'm here to find out what.
A chubby man with pudge stuffed unsuccessfully into a white lab coat walked in to the office. His eyes had been replaced by cybernetics—not eyes, but an assortment of twitching miniature radar dishes and antennae. His thick white hair is gelled straight back like the racing helmet of a bicyclist. It took me a minute to realize that this man was the good doctor.
"Dr. Megalomanovich?," said I.
"Who else were you expecting in Dr. Megalomanovich's office?"
"No one. I mean you, but, but—"
"You have only seen my younger self. Likely from my exploits in producing that wondrous strain of cow which produces delicious Sassy Cola."
"I know you from more than just that."
"I don't know why, all my other stuff had nothing to do with Sassy Cola."
He ripped some of the cymold off the wall with one of his olive green gloved hands. Beneath it is barren rock, half-digested by the lithovorous cymold.
"I mean, the antimatter-powered life thing was pretty neat," said I.
"Pretty neat? PRETTY NEAT?!?"
I shrank in my seat and whimpered, "Yeah."
"I'll show you neat my boy. Follow me through the teleporter!"
Rubber fingers pressed a sequence on the door's keypad with inhuman speed. The metal door dissolved away and only a teleporter field remained.
For those who've not seen the new 2D intrabrane teleporters—or thresholds as their called—you're in for a treat. Not only are they compact and have ranges up to a light year, but they allow light to pass through so you can see where the hell you're going. Not all light; hard ultraviolet and above get filtered out as do large energy differences. So if you're traveling from a paradise planet to a spaceship and that spaceship's warp drive has an oopsie, the 1 billion kelvin nuclear fireball won't char your burgers.
We weren't traveling to a paradise planet, at least not in the traditional sense. To a neogeneticist like myself it was heavenly.
I noted three things when I first stepped through. 1, the whole environment was bathed in the orange light of a red dwarf star. 2, the environment was divided between land—the cliffside we were standing on—and a bubbling black sea of what turned out to be Sassy Cola stretching toward the horizon. 3, the animals.
I don't know why the animals stood out to me over what I assumed were plants. They weren't actually plants but a form of lichen—but, but, but the prejudice toward the animals was still there. In fairness, they were pretty enigmatic. One of them crawled along the ground with a head that was entirely tongue, licking up the lichen bulbs like pieces of candy. Another one looked like a tree, but on closer inspection was an amphibious anemone, its roots sunk into the shallow sea's floor and its tentacles reaching out of the water to grasp a third creature—a bird of some kind whose flight was aided by gas bags on its underbelly.
"Behold, my masterpiece," said Dr. Megalomanovich.
"It's beautiful beyond words," said I. "How did it come about?"
"By way of 120 years' hard labor. Shortly after my Sassy Cow achieved galactic fame, The Board granted me with a research installation of my own. In return, I was to do the impossible: abiogenesis."
"To create life from nonlife."
"Yes."
"You had gotten close with the antimatter metabolism trial."
"Indeed I had. And that is why I refused to take any hand-me-down help from Earth's biota. From the beginning I wanted my life to run differently. I couldn't find a way to replace carbon as the backbone, but I was able to swap out water for Sassy Cola."
"You're telling me that in every cell of every one of these creatures is Sassy Cola?"
"It is their water."
"How?"
"Do you have a few years?"
"Yes."
"Unfortunately, I don't. Even this little jaunt is wasting my precious time."
"Speaking of time, how did they grow so fast?"
"Accelerated evolution through computer-aided keystone transcription errors."
"What?"
"Again, I don't have years to waste teaching you. I waste enough time teaching the installation's staff."
"When do you plan on showing your masterpiece to the wider galaxy?"
"My masterpiece will show itself to the galaxy when it is ready. There is no doubt in my mind that a day will come when a creature on this world will take a rock and bash it against the head of another and say 'eureka!' before pondering the philosophical implications of taking a life."
"Anything is possible when your body is 70 % Sassy Cola."
The Bimillennial Celebration
Upon receiving the invitation, I couldn't wait to go to the Bimillennial Celebration at Sol, though I did worry how I'd be received in turn. Few humans outside my corner of space had ever met a nonhuman sapient before. It didn't help that I lacked so much as a species name to give them.
If it were up to me, I'd name us astrographically, by the planet we live on. In that case we would be called the Sasserines after Planet Sasser. It's not a good moniker; too nationalistic when our distinguishing characteristic is first and foremost biological. So I dropped the case and made it sasserine. Yes, much better. It's less proper, more grounded, more biological. It is this species name that I used in my travels.
The first stop on my journey was at the derelict Research Installation #544. Humans abandoned it long ago when the Sassy Cola Company's fortunes took a turn for the worse. Now it was kept up by us sasserines as a heritage site. I left a bouquet on The Good Doctor's shrine, shed a few sticky tears and moved on. The tiny warpship I had chartered had an impatient pilot.
That pilot turned into quite an annoyance during our two weeks together, for he asked questions that became more and more inappropriate with time. I'm not one to disparage curiosity—I'm a scientist after all—but I fail to see the scientific necessity of revealing which variety of Sassy Cola I urinate.
My next stop was Rigel, a blue giant star that shined 1 million times brighter than Sasser's red dwarf. Since Sassy Cola's monopoly of both power and soda had waned, I found many other brands on offering, including one called Flash Cola. Flash's slogan summarized its claim to fame: "Resist the Sass and Drink a Flash!" I briefly wondered what Sasser's biosphere would look like if it were based on Flash Cola instead of Sassy Cola. I purged this thought experiment from my mind upon realizing that the planet would likely be named Flasher and we the flasherines.
Onward to Sol by way of Aldebaran. This leg was much more pleasant than the last as I had booked a room aboard one of the last functioning warpships of Sassy Cruise Lines. Luxury abounded and even my rational mind almost succumbed to the temptation of using the rest of my money to stay aboard til death. But such an act would break the terms of the invitation.
Sol, the most ancient and most populous star in settled space, was the venue for the greatest party ever thrown by humanity. Derelict Sassy Cola freighters had each been converted into a single light bulb and arranged by the hundreds to create a sign at Neptune's distance from the sun reading, "2,000 SASSY YEARS!"
I'm not normally a party person. Secluded reading is my pastime of choice. Yet I couldn't help but crack a Sassy with every human who asked me to join them. Why not?, I thought. After all, without the Sassy Cola Company, I wouldn't be alive.
The solar system felt like it held the totality of settled space within its borders. Port Vesta alone held hundreds of distinct cultural groups from just as many star systems. I met 35 of them on my 5 kilometer walk from Sassy Cruise Lines' designated dock to the hotel where I was to be staying. Sassy Cola's monolithic corporate culture was no longer humanity's culture. People were being themselves again.
And that included being suspicious of outsiders, especially ones from a different tree of life.
I felt eyes all around me. I had drunk too much Sassy Cola, besting even the worst human junkies. I sweat the drink. I urinated the drink. Boys and girls inspected me like a zoo animal every time I went to one of Port Vesta's many street markets. It overwhelmed me and I left early for my meeting on Earth.
Orbital space around humanity's homeworld is so congested with infrastructure that teleporter range around Earth is limited, by law, to a mere 1,000 kilometers, 1 billionth of what it is everywhere else. To get to the planet's surface I had to leapfrog from orbital plate to orbital plate, often having to cross a single plate by way of a couple teleports. Yes, they are that large. Most contain surface areas and populations similar to Earth's 21st century nations-states. After visiting 57 nation-state-orbital-plates against my will, I arrived at Earth's surface.
At least I had reached the top surface. Earth is a shellworld with 15 surfaces, each named after a variety of Sassy Cola. I was on Sassy Orange and needed to get down to Sassy Cola Classic, 7 surfaces below. Teleportation law was even stricter here than in orbit. The technology was used exclusively to ferry people between surface levels and teleporters only existed in the atlas towers which held the next surface.
I was awestruck upon first seeing an atlas tower as they occur nowhere but Earth. From green pasture it rose into the cloud cover above. Through those clouds, ten kilometers up, lay gigatons of diamond hard plating topped with teratons of granite, soil, lakes, rivers and cities. I was under a planet-encapsulating house held up by countless pylons, themselves kept rigid only as long as the power flowed. Luckily, it always did.
The atlas towers also serve as propagandistic monuments, each shaped like a bottle of Sassy, though of the variety which matches the name of the surface level they exist on. The Sassy Cola Company had its detractors, but the fact that the corporate superpower had built Earth into what it is today went unquestioned.
I eventually arrived at surface level 7, or Sassy Cola Classic. The 7 surfaces above had replaced Earth's original troposphere and stratosphere. The 7 surfaces below existed where the planet's crust once did. Together, the 15 shells supported 20 trillion humans living in spacious luxury—though no one had more spacious luxury than The Board.
Their 1 billion hectare estate is a combination art piece, capital, pilgrimage site and tomb. No teleporters exist within its borders. The atlas towers there are disguised as steep mountains on their bottom halves and cumulonimbus clouds columns on their tops.
Dwarfed by these gigantic illusions are the many castles of the estate. One of these castles serves as the estate's north entrance and holds the Sassy Parliament Building. In here convene two houses, a lower house elected by the Sassy Cola Company's 100 trillion shareholders across settled space and an upper house chosen by The Board.
The lower house had drawn up the invitation program and voted 67,306 to 32,694 to pass it. The upper house hesitated, unsure whether they wanted "billions of yokels trampling through the estate." They passed it with the exact bare minimum of votes, 600 to 300.
The addition of a clause limiting it to 10,000 "yokels" that came in tour groups of 50 per hour was the deciding factor in passing the invitation program. Now I was part of one of those groups, an ordinary ambassador for the world of Sasser, though I doubted that cultural and economic exchange, two bullet point motives of the program, were occuring.
Oh well, I thought as I boarded the maglev train to the next destination.
The nine members of The Board lived in nine penthouses atop nine towers near the center of the estate. I'd remark on the penthouses' reported opulence if 200 stories of height and the estate's no-cameras policy hadn't isolated us from them. I imagine they like it up there, otherwise I can't fathom why they'd live so secluded from the rest of their species. I wondered what such recluses thought of Planet Sasser and the sasserines or the invitation sent to me by their personally selected managers. But I'd little time to ponder as the maglev neared my stop.
At the very center of the estate sits a diamondoid hemisphere 10 kilometers in diameter. Inside exists a full recreation of one late 21st century American small town. The maglev line terminated at the entrance to the dome where a bright green sign reading "Tupelo" hung.
The rest of the tour group was just as in awe as I when we walked inside and found ourselves surrounded by single family homes along four lane roads with no sidewalks. From the artificial blue sky above came laser beams which generated holograms of moving vehicles. They veered around our group even though the lasers would cause nothing worse than a slight tingle on the skin. A human dressed in a law enforcement uniform of the time led us to the predetermined sacred sites.
First we stopped at the hospital where The Founder was born, then the double wide trailer where The Founder grew up and, finally, the soda shop where The Founder introduced the world to Sassy Cola in 2085.
I obsessed over this last stop. Burned into my psyche is the memory of the artificial sun rays shining through the shop's stained glass windows and onto the stainless steel counter. I took in every scent and sound and touch; the bittersweet sassafras laying in sacks in the corner, the scratching of our shoes on the artificially cracked and yellowed linoleum floor and the coolness of the counter on my cheek when I laid my head down in defiance of the guide's orders.
At the end we all had a thimble full of Sassy Cola made from the recreated soda jerk. It was inferior to every drop of Sassy that I'd drunk since birth. Even my blood, filled with the wastes of cellular respiration, likely tasted better.
But taste alone didn't determine the value of this thimble. The drink represented conception, its serving the initialization of the two millennia of change that followed. Just as water was a prerequisite for all Earth life, so Sassy Cola was a prerequisite for all life on Sasser.
This soda was the origin of everything I am. I believe that's cause for celebration.
(END)

Hello everyone,
I dont even know where to start. Like many others (at least what I assume) in this forum I struggle getting into a relationship, building deep social connections and depression including suicidal thoughts and feeling stressed out. I really lose patience and get nowadays easily frustrated if things work out I hoped for. I even get frustrated if I lose an online chess game.
I excuse in advance if my text may seem kinda dosrganized but thats how my mind is currently working.
Let's start with depression because I think that's the main point. I can not really tell since when I started to feel depressed maybe since the death of my brother in 2012 when I was 14 yrs old, maybe at the moment I felt like I have no real friends, who knows.All I know in the year of 2020 I developed serious suicidal thoughts while being on an erasmus semester in France (Lyon). For the notice - After being like about one month in France, I prematurely terminated my eramus semester. I just couldn't hold my thoughts and emotions together and I tried to kill myself. Through my last energy and my last breeze of rational thinking I called my mum and told her that I would like to return to Germany.At the end of 2020 I then started a clinical therapy in my hometown which to be honest was not rlly helpful. At least it helped to get on other thoughts and to calm down, or better tried to calm down.On the 12thApril 2021 I then started an ambulant therapy which helped to reduce the suicidal thoughts to minor degree. From time to time I still feel hopeless and I can not imagine a Life which I would consider worthwile and which could satisfy my desires to a agreeable amount. Furthermore there are no more days where I stay in bed for the whole day.
Anyway, even considering that I really put effort in improving my life circumstance, mostly focused on finding deep social connections and a romantic partner, I still feel frustrated, impatient, hopeless, lonely, desperate, inadequate (to name my basic emotions - Anger and Sadness).I do not want to be that guy who just focuses on the negative side of his life, moreover the brain is designed to focus more on the negative as a survival mechanism, I rlly get that.
To name some acquisitions sicne the start of my ambulant therapy (12th April 2021):
-I find a job as a student employee-At workplace I managed to find a "friend" with whom I started bouldering -A said above, I find what I consider a loveable kind of sport - Bouldering (Climbing)
-At my climbing gym I managed to build up some confidence and get to know some people. I even once asked out a girl for coffee which she first replied positively but we didnt switch numbers. It was kind of a bumble story where she didnt text first (explanation: bumble is a dating platform, where women text first; kind of parity thing I believe, Idk) by coincidence I have seen her at my climbing gym and asked her out then. I told her to revive the match (function of the app) but she didnt or she couldnt (sometimes it is not possible to revive matches without paying). I believe it is the second one but I can not be sure. Another time I have seen her again but she was already with another guy.Little information on me: I would not say that I am a shy guy or have fear in asking out girls. Even yesterday I was at a karaoke bar where a woman got into my eyes and I have told her that she caughty my eyes and asked if she wants to drink sth. She replied that she has a boyfriend what I think waas just a lie to not hurt my feelings or to not directly reject me. I kinda have the feeling that I dont miss the confidence but further the ways to approach girl successfully.
-Currently I study mechanical engineering and had my problems passing exams. Currently it is going pretty well, thats also a good achievement in my eye.
I think that is all what I have achieved since the 12th April of 2021. The issue is that I still feel pretty lonely, like I have no real friends that care about me. I even got out of a toxic friendship in 2022. My romantic life is non-existent. I used to date some women in my lifetime but I never got the juice of a relationsship. Yes I am virgin, but that is not really the topic here. But yes I would like to have sex with someone, but what I miss more is the exchange of affection. In my head are all this strong emotions about missing out (currently I am 25 years old). I think that all other men got the taste of affection and love. Sometimes I think that their self-love just get improved just by the fact that people around them care about them. Now we get to one crux of my post:
In my mind it would be way easier feeling not the way I am, if I would at least get some affection and deep social connections reassuring me that I am worthwile. I know that I set up my own internal worth but experincing affection and connection is like a prove that you are worth and makes it a lot easier. What I mean or what my hypothesis is that self-worth is coupled or in interchange with your environment and your personal experiences.What do you guys think? Maybe my thinking is not conclusive, if so I excuse myself. I am currently not in a good state of mind.
By the way, If you guys are asking yourself right now "why did he write this long prologue?". Maybe it is a lot asked for, but I would really much appreciate it if you could consider my personal situation to the next question.
Another crux / question: What are ways to build up connections? From my experience you cannot force someone to love or like you. Actually it is more of a fact: nobody has the right of love. And here comes the part where I really get impatient since setting up social goals is way different than e.g. passing an exam. For passing an exam you need to put in the work (same for social goals), but for the goal "passing an exam" you can quantify the time and the effort which is needed to pass it. Differently for social goals. If my goal is "Having at least one deep relationsship at the end of this year" nobody can guarantee me that this happens, even If I meet people at social events, go to the climbing gym and having fun together, and put the effort in.All in all, I have no idea how to manage this thinking and not get frustrated. "Keep going, practise (stop generalizing, practise self-worth, smile) and be patient" is maybe nice meant advice but yeah, for me it is just a horrible thing to be alive accepting that I am socially unwanted.
I really appreciated and want to thank the people in advance for reading my text, taking considerations and taking the time to reply. I am really grateful that I can at least reach out to people because otherwise I just would have my therapist to talk to which is respectively a small amount of time.
Edit: my prologue may seem a bit redundant. I just kinda felt like telling my circumstances, my personality, my thoughts and emotions.

Today is the day, (14 years later) that I got my cat, my best friend introduced into my home and my life. I had him for almost 13 years (unexpectedly passed 3 months before his gotcha day) and I cried for months heartbroken and also harassed by someone else I don’t have in my life anymore. It was the toughest new years I have ever had. I used to have dreams where I would see him and want to hug him but I knew he just wanted to run around. At some point, I didn’t cry nearly as much and started the process of moving on. Even on the first anniversary of his death, the week before Christmas, I only cried when I thought about how devastating and impossible it was that it happened within 10 minutes, of him previously being happy and relaxed and normal. Last night and a few recent nights as well, I have a dream where he is actually in front of me or in my arms and I think “oh! He’s here, yay!” And then my next thought is “oh it will be weird for others to see he’s not really gone and to explain that to them”. It’s like I feel guilty for accepting he was gone and embarrassed about it and I’m trying to figure out how to make him feel at home again (all within the dream). And then I wake up and think “why do I keep thinking he’s alive in my dreams? I’ve been doing really well with my healing. I can look at pictures without crying immediately” I want to be happy seeing him in my dreams but I’m confused why I try to justify it when he is.
I cried today and I didn’t expect that even though it makes sense.
And to top it off, my partner that knows exactly what happened and was a witness to the death and the heartbreak for months, said “Why are you crying?” I said, “it’s his gotcha day” and he said, “ aww” and then went to read about video games and left me alone.

Tank-Watch

With the season coming to a close soon it's about time to start looking at our draft pick situation and where we are likely to end up as well as who is likely to be on the board for our pick.
First off, what spot are we ending up at? Currently we are tied with the Pacers for the 7th spot. 2 games ahead of the Magic (with a game left against them) and less than 4 games separate us from half a dozen more teams. We are far enough out that we could be anywhere from 5th to 15th and it wouldn't be that crazy. One thing to note, if we do make the playoffs, we are losing our first to the Knicks that we traded away long ago to the Rockets in the original Westbrook deal.
With 8 games to go, here are how things stack up in terms of standings currently (I am including all teams within 4 games ahead or behind)

Pos.	Team	Record	GD	Rem. SOS	Proj. Wins
5	Magic	31-43	-2	11	34
6	Blazers	32-41	-0.5	14	36
7	Pacers	33-41	-	13	36
8	Wizards	33-41	-	12	37
9	Jazz	35-38	2.5	7	38
10	Bulls	35-28	2.5	18	40
11	Mavs	36-38	3	24	40
12	Thunder	36-38	3	28	40
13	Raptors	36-38	3	4	40
14	Pelicans	36-37	3.5	3	40
15	Hawks	36-37	3.5	2	41
16	Wolves	37-37	4	21	42
17	Lakers	37-37	4	26	42

I hope that gives a decent look into where we are currently at. For the teams better than us none seem to be outright tanking AFAIK, but the Jazz are a team that could overtake us. Neither Chicago nor Dallas have any incentive to tank as they don't have their pick. It's somewhat of a crapshoot as to whether any of those teams will fall into our range so I won't dive that deep into it right now, but I will take a look at the teams that are ahead of us in the draft order.
Pacers: Haliburton is coming back from an injury and they are playing him. Myles Turner on the other hand is questionable with "soreness". Winning tonight against the Hawks would be huge for us (tie game 10 minutes in but Turner is out), but they only have one other easier game against Detroit the rest of the way.
Blazers: Dame, Grant, and Simons are all sitting for dubious reasons and with only one gimme left on the schedule I don't see us catching them without some shenanigans of our own.
Magic: They are a young team and don't seem to be tanking egregiously, but to pass them in the order we most likely have to lose to them at home.
With all this information, it's hard to see us moving up any higher than 7th in the draft order. We have a similar remaining strength of schedule but we have some easier opponents and games that I think we can win if someone like KP is playing.

Draft

First, let me address the lottery odds. If we do indeed land at 7 we will have a 31.9% chance of a top 4 pick and a 7.5% chance of #1 which really isn't that bad. Our lottery luck hasn't been great so maybe we finally will move up and get that franchise changing type of guy. In this case, on average, our draft position will be 6.2.
Fun Fact: In every draft since 2017 the 7th team pre lottery has moved up to the top 4!
For the sake of the post, I'll ignore the possibility of moving up and talk about our realistic options.
So, I'm no draft expert, but I've followed this class for a bit and here are the prospects I simply don't see falling to 7:
Victory Wembanyama
Scoot Henderson
Brandon Miller
Amen Thompson
That is pretty much the list. I could maybe maybe see Amen falling as there are concerns with his level of competition and shooting, but as a PG with that size athleticism combo, it's hard to see it happening.
This leaves me with a pretty decent sized pool of 7 guys that I think we could draft barring any shake ups and stock risers.

1. Ausar Thompson: The twin brother of Amen is similar physically but with a different skillset. More of a wing than a point, Ausar can shoot the ball better and has tons of upside. At the moment he seems likely to go a couple picks ahead of us, but he definitely could be on the board.
   
2. Cam Whitmore: A local wing out of Maryland that has shown great promise, but has some flaws. He is really young (only 18), a great athlete, and can score well, but at the same time may be a bit small height-wise, and his playmaking at Villanova was dreadful with a sub .5 AST:TO ratio. May go a bit higher, but his stock isn't cemented.
   
3. Jarace Walker: Big bodied freshman that played for Houston. Great size, awesome defense, and lots of things to like on the offensive side. Not super polished but there's a lot to like. This is the last guy on my list I think has a decent chance of being taken before we pick.
   

That rounds out the relatively consensus top 7 players at the moment (I have seen any of one of those first 3 at 7 in at least one big board or mock draft) and brings us to the guys that we can start getting excited about without being super scared of them getting stolen away.

1. Anthony Black: Freshman G for Arkansas, Black is a prospect I'm a big fan of and someone that I think we might take. Lots of playmaking potential, great size at 6'7", great airtime, and a plus defender. Not the best shooter yet, but he reminds me of Josh Giddey in the way he plays.
   
2. Keyonte George: Freshman from Baylor that gets a lot of Bradley Beal comps. Not super efficient in college and positionally pretty redundant as a score first guard. Not super high on him and don't think we pick him but he is a very exciting player that I could see excel in the right situation.
   
3. Gradey Dick: The freshman sniper from Kansas will remind us a lot of Corey Kispert so I don't see fans being enthused at picking another player in his mold just 2 years later, but he has his upsides. A lot younger than Corey and with a bit more length to him he could be a bit more versatile.
   
4. Cason Wallace: This Kentucky freshman is what we wanted last year, but unfortunately he's a year late. I still remember all the debates about what point guard we should take, but with no good PGs at our pick range last year we ended up with Johnny Davis. Cason is a great defender and just has a great feel for the game. Not particularly flashy but does his job well.
   

Some other guys that could eke their way into the conversation are Taylor Hendricks or Nick Smith Jr.
Personally I'm a big fan of Anthony Black, and he is probably the #1 guy I'm hoping we land in the draft. The future of this franchise is very unclear, but if we do intend on keeping Brad, KP, and Kuz around I think he could complement them really well.
If anyone liked this I might do another one as the season draws near a close and I can go into individual game outcomes more closely.
TLDR: I think the Wizards are likely to land as 7th or 8th in the draft order. This gives us a decent chance to move up to the top 4, but if we don't there are some solid prospects to choose from that you can read about above. This definitely feels like a deeper top 10 than last year and even if we fail at tanking I like our choices.

Charlotte Flair wins the title for the second time at Summer Slam 2018, pinning Becky Lynch which also Carmella also part of the match. After her victory, her & Becky hug but moments later Becky slaps the heck out of Charlotte and turns heel.
The SmackDown after Becky comes out to cut a promo, saying how it should've been her night and she should've walked out of the arena as the champion, Charlotte interrupts, tells Becky that before friends there's success in this business and she attacks Lynch right away & the two brawl. Paige next week announces a title match between Becky & Charlotte at HIAC but before that Carmella enters the frame and asks Paige for a rematch since she never got one and Paige grants Carmella her rematch next SmackDown.
SmackDown September 4th: Charlotte Flair (c) def. Carmella - SmackDown Women's Championship 14:58
After the match Becky brutally attacks Charlotte telling her, that these will be her last weeks as champ before the actual big night. A week before HIAC, Becky defeats. Mandy Rose which Charlotte shows herself in the big screen and congratulates Becky on her victory, but she also notes that at HIAC, Charlotte will go that far as to injure Lynch.
HELL IN A CELL: Charlotte Flair (c) def. Becky Lynch - SmackDown Women's Championship 18:21
Becky Lynch goes wild after Charlotte rolled her up out of nowhere for the 3 count grabs the mic and talks crap about Flair! Charlotte attacks Becky due to her not wanting to hear Becky offend her and the two brawl and hit each other with kendo sticks, chairs and other weapons! Next SmackDown Becky cuts a promo and goes on and on and on about what happened last Saturday, Paige interrupts Becky while Charlotte is right behind her and says how a certain someone was hungry to give you a rematch Becky and you'll get one at WWE Super Show Down show on Australia. Becky smiles while Paige & Charlotte leave the arena.
Super Show Down: Becky Lynch (c) def. Charlotte Flair - SmackDown Women's Championship 14:30
Number of Defenses: 3
Total Days: 48 days

For sale, for Steam gift cards (or gifted Steam Wallet balance):
​

• Dark Souls™: Prepare To Die™ Edition (removed from Steam Store; $350 $400 or best offer)
• Fall Guys (removed from Steam Store)
• Fall Guys - Dragon Hugger Pack (removed from Steam Store)
• Fall Guys - Fast Food Costume Pack (removed from Steam Store)
• Fall Guys - Icy Adventure Pack (removed from Steam Store)

​

• Humble Hunie Sakura Bundle (can also trade for a full "charity" bundle (Australia Fire Relief Bundle or similar))
• Humble Sekai Project Bundle (can also trade for a full "charity" bundle (Stand with Ukraine Bundle or similar))

​
For trade:
*tentatively up for trade, assuming I buy the bundle
​

• The Blackout Club

​

• BIOMUTANT
• Edge Of Eternity
• Golden Light

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• Call of the Sea
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

​

• 112 Operator
• 911 Operator
• The Amazing American Circus
• Armello
• Backbone
• Calico
• Cris Tales
• Euro Truck Simulator 2
• Farming Simulator 17
• Ghostrunner
• Gotham Knights
• Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
• Lust from Beyond: M Edition
• Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine
• Orbital Racer
• Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition
• PAYDAY 2
• Pilgrims
• Soulblight
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
• Starfinder Core Rulebook (Paizo key) and Starfinder Adventure: Junker's Delight (Paizo key)
• Strange Brigade
• Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
• Sunlight
• System Shock 2
• System Shock: Enhanced Edition
• Ticket to Ride
• XCOM® 2
• X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack

​

• Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
• Fallout 76
• Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel
• Othercide
• Shady Part of Me

​

• The Last Campfire

​

• Sakura Dungeon
• Sakura Swim Club

​

• Summer in Mara
• Townscaper

​

• The Long Dark: Survival Edition

​

• Spirit of the Island
• Stranded Sails - Explorers of the Cursed Islands

​

• Conan Chop Chop
• DOOM Eternal Standard Edition
• Grow: Song of the Evertree
• Tribes of Midgard

​

• Styx: Shards of Darkness

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• Hard West
• John Wick Hex
• Phantom Doctrine
• Red Solstice 2: Survivors

​

• Arizona Sunshine

​

• Backbone
• Blade Assault
• First Class Trouble
• Super Magbot

​

• Golf Gang
• Maid of Sker
• Monster Train

​

• Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Shadows of New York
• Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Heart of the Forest

​

• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl

​

• Baldur's Gate: Faces of Good and Evil
• Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
• Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition

​

• Crown Trick
• Crusader Kings III

​

• Guts and Glory
• Hello Neighbor

​

• Day of the Tentacle Remastered
• Grim Fandango Remastered
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• STAR WARS®: Knights of the Old Republic™ II

​

• Duke Nukem Forever
• PGA TOUR 2K21
• WWE 2K Battlegrounds

​

• Emily is Away <3
• In Sound Mind

​

• Little Big Workshop
• Not Tonight

​

• Brigador Deluxe Edition
• Verdun

​

• Resident Evil 0
• Resident Evil 6
• Resident Evil
• Resident Evil Revelations

​

• EVERSPACE™

​

• Dreamfall Chapters

​

• Cultist Simulator
• GWENT: The Witcher Card Game - Ultimate Starter Pack (GOG key)

​

• The LEGO® NINJAGO® Movie Video Game

​

• 2064: Read Only Memories

​

• Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager
• Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense

​

• STAR WARS™: Squadrons (Origin key)(?)

​

• Bionic Commando
• Street Fighter V

​

• As Far As The Eye
• Impulsion

​

• Command & Conquer Remastered Collection (Origin key)

​

• Orcs Must Die! 2 - Complete Pack

​

• Bartlow's Dread Machine

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• Blaston

​

• White Day: A Labyrinth Named School

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• The Walking Dead
• The Walking Dead: Season Two

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• Total Tank Simulator

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• Archangel: Hellfire - Fully Loaded

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• XCOM® 2

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• Black The Fall
• Goetia

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• Highway Blossoms

​

• Among the Sleep - Enhanced Edition

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• Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
• This War of Mine

​

• Tom Clancy's The Division™ (Uplay key)
• Tom Clancy's The Division™ - Survival (Uplay key)

​

• Highway Blossoms
• HunieCam Studio
• KARAKARA
• Sunrider Academy
• Sunrider: Liberation Day - Captain's Edition

​

• Civilization VI - Australia Civilization & Scenario Pack
• Civilization VI - Vikings Scenario Pack

​

• A Kiss For the Petals - Remembering How We Met

​

• Hacknet
• Satellite Reign

​

• The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut

​

• The Elder Scrolls: Legends: 2 Card Packs (Skyrim) 1 Event Ticket 100 Gold 100 Souls
• ESO Vanity Pet: Bristlegut Piglet and 15 Days of ESO Plus

​

• Puzzle Agent
• Puzzle Agent 2

​

• Ame no Marginal -Rain Marginal-
• KARAKARA
• Memory's Dogma CODE:01
• Narcissu 10th Anniversary Anthology Project
• Narcissu 10th Anniversary Anthology Project - Season Pass

​

• A Kiss For the Petals - Remembering How We Met
• Sakura Angels
• Beach Bounce
• Beach Bounce - Soundtrack
• Blue Rose

​

• Lionessy Story
• My Personal Angel
• Natural - Beyond Nature -
• Postmen Of Horizon (removed from Steam Store)

​

• The Reject Demon: Toko Chapter 0 — Prelude

​

• Koi-Koi Japan [Hanafuda playing cards]
• Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle
• Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle : School Girls Edition
• Poker Pretty Girls Battle: Texas Hold'em
• Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire

​

• Guns of Icarus Alliance
• Guns of Icarus Online
• Impossible Creatures Steam Edition
• Lethal League
• Tempest: Pirate Action RPG
• Tempest - Treasure Lands
• Tempest - Original Soundtrack
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf
• Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide

​

• *Book of Demons
• *For The King
• PlateUp!
• Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition
• Kingdom Two Crowns
• White Day: A Labyrinth Named School
• Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War
• Murder by Numbers
• Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
• Steel Rats™
• Hue
• Sifu Deluxe Edition Upgrade Bundle (Epic key)
• Gal*Gun: Double Peace
• The Invisible Hours
• Synergia
• ROCKETRON
• Project Nimbus: Complete Edition
• Dead Age
• Dusk Diver 酉閃町
• Spirit Hunter: NG
• Slain: Back from Hell(?)
• Cook, Serve, Delicious!
• Tower of Time
• Danger Scavenger
• Survive the Nights
• The Beast Inside
• Valfaris
• Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition
• This War of Mine
• My Time At Portia

​

• Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition
• Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Here Be Dragons

​

• 112 Operator
• 911 Operator
• Book of Demons
• Broken Age
• Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
• Crying Suns
• Crying Suns
• Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
• Driftland: The Magic Revival
• Liberated (GOG key)
• Moon Hunters
• Out of Reach: Treasure Royale
• Ring of Pain
• Rustler (Grand Theft Horse)
• Wanderlust: Travel Stories (GOG key)
• WARSAW
• X-Morph: Defense + European Assault, Survival of the Fittest, and Last Bastion DLC (I believe this redeems as the linked Complete Pack, minus the soundtrack)
• ΔV: Rings of Saturn(?)

​

• Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
• Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel
• Phoenix Point: Year One Edition
• Deliver Us The Moon
• Morkredd
• Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
• Spirit Hunter: NG
• Survivalist: Invisible Strain
• Warhammer: Vermintide 2
• ENDLESS™ Space 2
• Surviving the Aftermath
• The Long Dark

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• Fallout 76
• Othercide
• Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition
• ScourgeBringer
• Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
• HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED™
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition
• Sonic CD (removed from Steam Store)
• LEGO® Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO® Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• STRIDER™ / ストライダー飛竜®
• Bionic Commando
• Full Metal Furies
• Ultra Street Fighter® IV
• Starbound
• Mafia III: Sign of the Times
• Outlast 2
• Dreamfall Chapters
• BioShock 2
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition
• Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter
• The Mean Greens - Plastic Warfare
• Crusaders of the Lost Idols Legendary Starter Pack
• Project CARS (removed from Steam Store)

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WANT:
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• 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel
• A Hat in Time
• Avernum: Escape from the Pit
• Bendy and the Ink Machine
• CODE VEIN
• CrossCode
• Dead Rising 4
• Dungreed
• Mega Man 11
• Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition
• NBA 2K Playgrounds 2
• NECROPOLIS: BRUTAL EDITION
• Omensight: Definitive Edition
• Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
• Submerged
• Tower Unite
• Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap

​
IGS Rep Page: https://www.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/ti26nz/mizznos_igs_rep_page/

Well, it's been a long time in the making! But it's finally finished! This is an entire fan-made update I wrote up, complete with an Event Pass, Champion concept, and even balance changes made by considering a combination of a previous feedback thread and general community opinion. It's been a pretty fun project overall, and I really hope you all enjoy it, or even have further feedback to give to improve it. With that out of the way, let's get into the update notes!

New Champion: Aria, Idol On Tour

Lore: Melody and magic go hand in hand. Both are expressions of heart, mind, and spirit, and both hold great potential to help or hurt. None understand this truth better than Aria. In more peaceful times, she was a famous idol of the Realm that travelled near and far, weaving magic and song into dazzling shows that captivated the hearts of commoners and royals alike. Even Karne, the former Grand Magister, had called on her to perform at his more prestigious gatherings.
But as war broke out, the Realm fell under siege on all sides by otherworldly threats, and her fanbase dwindled in despair, Aria's talents fell out of demand, leaving her to wonder...What now? After some soul searching, she was finally hit with inspiration and newfound purpose: She would continue as she always had, mending the spirits of the broken, and using her talents and fame to someday help bring peace back to the Realm.

Overview:

Role: Support
HP: 2300
Primary Fire: Inspiring Voice Fire a note every .75 seconds that heals friends or harms foes hit for 400 HP. Hitting a target grants a stack of Inspiration, up to 5 maximum.
Passive: Inspiration Stacks of Inspiration are consumed on casting an ability, healing Aria and allies in close range 100 HP for each stack consumed.
Secondary: Echo Echo Your next weapon shot will project a powerful soundwave which will chain to two additional enemies or allies within range, depending on the initial target. Allies touched by the wave are healed for 650 HP, and enemies are hurt for 650 HP, with the first enemy hit being Stunned for 1 second. 5 second cooldown.
Ability 1: Twirl Swiftly spin in the held direction, evading 50% of all incoming damage for 1 second. 7 second cooldown.
Ability 2: Uplifting Song Generate an inspiring melody that follows an ally and grants those nearby a buff for 4 seconds, depending on the selected buff. Tap to cycle through the three buffs, and hold to target before pressing the fire button to cast. Each individual buff has a 10 second cooldown, but only one can be active at a time.
Pop: Movement Speed and Reload Speed +15%.
Hard Rock: Damage Reduction and CC Reduction +15%.
Symphony: +15% additional healing recieved and +150 HP heal on eliminations.
Ultimate: Crescendo Set the stage for a grand show! For the duration of the Ultimate, Aria stays at max Inspiration and has greatly shortened cooldowns on her abilities, as well as 50% increased potency on weapon shots and abilities. Lasts for 6 seconds.

Talents:

Good Acoustics (Level 0) Weapon shots automatically fire an Echo Echo at max Inspiration, which only deals 500 damage and doesn't Stun, but only consumes three stacks when it procs.
Pirouette (Level 2) Twirl now has 2 charges, and its cooldown is reduced by 1 second.
Jam Session (Level 8) Casting Uplifting Song on an ally now also casts a second buffing aura around yourself, and all buffs last 1 second longer. (Two auras of the same type do not stack.)

Cards - Echo Echo

Around The World: Allies hit by Echo Echo gain (3/6/9/12/15)% movement speed for 3 seconds.
Autograph: Heal self for (30/60/90/120/150) for each ally or enemy Echo Echo chains to.
Super Bass: Increase the duration of Echo Echo's stun on enemies by (.15/.3/.45/.6/.75) seconds.
Staccato: Increase the range Echo Echo can chain between targets by (7/14/21/28/35)%.

Cards - Twirl

Dance Floor: Increase the travel distance of Twirl by (10/20/30/40/50)%.
Limber: Grant (5/10/15/20/25)% increased movement speed for 3 seconds after using Twirl.
Strike a Pose: Gain (1/2/3/4/5) stacks of Inspiration after using Twirl. (This card has a 10 second cooldown)
Adoring Fan: Heal self for (50/100/150/200/250) HP on using Twirl.

Cards - Uplifting Song

Party Rock: Heal self for (15/30/45/60/75) HP every .5 seconds while Hard Rock is active.
Harmony: Gain (20/40/60/80/100)% of the healing done on allies affected by Symphony.
Under Pressure: Increase the reload speed buff granted by Pop by (5/10/15/20/25)%.
Encore: Reduce the cooldown of Uplifting Song's buffs by (.3/.6/.9/1.2/1.5) seconds.

Cards - Armour:

Tuning: Increase weapon projectile speed by (10/20/30/40/50)%.
Live For Fame: Increase base HP by (50/100/150/200/250) HP.
One More Time: On dropping below 50% HP, gain a (75/150/225/300/375) HP shield. (This card has a 15 second cooldown.)
Amplify: Hitting weapon shots grants an extra stack of Inspiration. This effect can only occur once every (30/25/20/15/10) seconds.

Cosmetics:

Minuet: Unlock for 60,000 Gold or 300 Crystals.
Lullaby: Unlock for 60,000 Gold or 300 Crystals.
Flamenco: Unlock for 60,000 Gold or 300 Crystals.
Golden Aria: Reach Level 50 with Aria.
Diva: Limited skin. Obtain from the Kawaii Chest, or Direct Purchase for 400 Crystals.

Event Pass: "Neon Light Night"

Turn up the beat, and light up the night with these rave themed skins and cosmetics! Instantly unlock the E-V13 skin upon purchasing, and unlock a total of 30 levels of rewards as you play!
Players can also purchase a Buy All option to get all content in the Event Pass instantly!

Rewards:

Instant Unlock: - 50% Experience & Gold Boost - E-V13 (Evie)
Level 10 Unlock: - Neon Smasher (Raum)
Level 20 Unlock: - Reiving Rabbit (Rei)
Level 30 Unlock: - Blacklight Rogue Caspian

Rerun: Dragon's Call

The game mode, Dragon's Call, will be getting a rerun! Capture the Warder's Key and bring it to the goal to score points in this fast-paced game mode!

Customizations:

Wayfarer Cassie: A Pirate themed Cassie and Ziggs. Obtainable from the Pirate's Treasure Chest, or Direct Purchase for 800 Crystals.
Unsalted Io: A Salt themed Io skin featuring default Io in Salt's attire, and a palette swapped weapon. Obtainable from the Electronica Chest, or Direct Purchase for 400 Crystals.
Cinnabun Moji: A sweets themed Moji and Po-Li skin. Available from the Just Desserts Chest.
(Continued in comments because word count or something.)

Hello all. I’m currently in Vík,and my itinerary takes me onwards to Höfn tomorrow (Sunday), staying there two nights (until Tuesday) then returning gradually to Keflavik for a late Wednesday night flight (just past midnight, so actually Thursday morning)
I’ve been following this group for a little while, so I’ve been keeping my eye on the road conditions (safetravel) and the weather (on vedur).
It looks ok tomorrow (other than rain) but on Monday there is purple and pink wind between Höfn and Vík, then on Tuesday, my travel day, the forecast currently shows purple wind just off the coast and then touching into Vík. On Wednesday there is even more purple wind if I’ve been stuck and don’t make it past Vík by then.
I’m an experienced winteice driver in a 4WD with studded tires, but this wind is strong.
So, what do you think…? Will the road be closed based on this forecast? Should I abandon the trip to Höfn?
And if I change my plans due to the weather, are hotels lenient with their cancellation policies? My Höfn hotel (Fosshotel) website says cancellations aren’t accepted within 48hrs of arrival.
Thanks for your advice.

"Once at the beginning of Time itsself i existed, with Brother Xarox, "The Prince of all Light's Shadows" some may call him. I began all life with a simple request alingside Xarox, to bring life along Olympus we come before. We created Olympus with mighty intent, With such beings We created the first god beyond ourselves, "Cthulhu". Cthulhu was created by main contributings of Xarox. He made his Ultimate demise, obly if we in our unite knew such horror. Life began to flurish as i took leadership in its creation, with the god of life and death "Thanatos" as we created. As life began its expansion and Olympus grew bigger we made more, and more. Eventually leading to the creation of "Gaia" the creator of "Earth". Humans existed with Gods, only i and Xarox where considered above as we created such glory. Untill that day... Xarox granted Cthulhu further power than needed leading to the creation of "The Arkh Lead" known for holding the powers of betraying and unobaying Gods. As my light glowed within the shadows of my brother casting it away further, within my blind thought Xarox created a legion of his own. A legion surpassing the Arkh Lead, "The Shadow's Leadership" he lead. The Shadow's leadership surpassed the Arkh Lead as expected leading all of the Arkh Lead to surrender and join them. I Decided this was enough and created "The Council of Light" i named. The creation of all Xerocs began as such. Xeroxia, Xenoc, Xezos, Xurof, Xanos, and Xehitus. The council i lead matched the Shadow's Leadership in power. Slowly their own empire outside of Olympus was created. With the Seed of Life from what Xarox and i created being mangled to the Seed of Death starting "Nightalus". Life was cut between realms, only whom powerful enough would be capable of escaping. The war had begun after arguements began. Within the wars Xarox and i where unchallanged by any of eachothers army leading to the strongest arriving. One of his Elite was "Ares" the God of War. With such strategy our plans where rushing through with i Xeroc leading as a barrier. Soon the war began to get out of control, Planets where formed in such wars from the heat created from clashes of Light and Dark. Stars from Victorious Light, and Moons from Victorious Dark. The war eventually lead to my choices of creating her, "The Devourer of Gods" they call her. Truly she is "Gelimo" for her exkstence may assist us. I tought her with passion as her power grew greater, woth such chaos all Xerocs decided to trade their lives for peace. All Xerocs perished creatong light from beyond, curing the dark void the Nightalus held. From such Nightalus joined Olympus after my passing i prodicted. From such war Apollo from ours and Artemis from theirs united. All may i say will be the past. Goodbye" -Xeroc

Hello, I’ve been reading so many post the last few weeks to try and compare to myself but feel like I need some thoughts and opinions.
I (M) had protected sex with a woman just over 4 weeks ago. No oral either way, just intercourse and that was with a condom the whole time. Condom didn’t appear to be broken or ripped when I pulled out.
3 days later I started getting an ache in my left testicle and got worried. On day 8 I went to the sexual health clinic. They examined me, said everything seemed/felt normal but due to the aching they gave me 2 weeks of ofloxacin antibiotics in case it was Epididymitis. They tested me for gonorrhea, chlamydia, HIV and syphillis - all negative but this was after only 8 days.
Once 14 days had passed, I did a home/postal urine test for chlamydia and gonorrhea because this was the window period. Both came back negative.
About 6 days in to the antibiotics my genitals felt really tingly… kind of like they were cold rather than burning. I was convinced I had herpes. After a few days I was getting a burning sensation on my inner thighs. A few days after that, the tingling/burning went away. I never developed any other herpes symptoms, no blisters etc. and then antibiotics were finished and I guess the testicle aching had gone.
Due to the tingling and potential herpes I went back to the clinic - again they said everything appeared fine. They told me my 14 day urine test doesn’t really count as I was on antibiotics meaning the negative result can’t necessarily be trusted and I’d need to wait 2 weeks after antibiotics to test. They did take bloods again to test for HIV and syphilis mainly because I was kind of freaking out. This was day 22.
Over the next few days, I started worrying about things like HIV, the whole thing was just making me super anxious and I started getting pins and needles/burning sensation on the side of my neck although no rash or marks showed… I thought that might be due to the anxiety? I got the blood tests back and again they were negative. The neck burning then faded.
Just over a week after the antibiotics were complete, the testicle pain has returned.. and that’s where I am now!
Even though I used a condom, surely I must have caught something for aching to appear 3 days after the encounter? Then the genital tingling and now testicle pain again 😔
Any thoughts on what’s going on?

My ex husband passed Monday. We’ve been divorced 20 years but I was with him for 11. I loved him fiercely and it was toxic, abuse, cheating, you name it.
It took me moving across the US twice to finally get away. He stalked me, followed me, and never wanted anything to do with my boys- he only always wanted me.
Both of my sons really didn’t have a relationship with him, although my oldest lived with him 6 months when he was 23. It ended up very bad and the two never spoke after.
My youngest son was going to meet his dad after 16 years of not seeing him, but after he hurt his brother he blocked him and ended communication. As did I.
He tried to foster a relationship with me in 2019. Said he needed a friend. Discussed on his side dreams of reconciling always stating intentions of being a part of his sons lives.
I ended up blocking him, it just was always threats of suicide etc complaints about dying alone with no family etc.
We’ll he manifested and predicted his fate. My son got the call on Monday as he was next of kin. He was living in the gazebo of his sisters backyard wasn’t discovered for 15 days.
After getting over the shock not so shock I went through my Skype messages and found about 30 messages he had left me. The last thing he left was “when I’m dead and you can never talk to me will you feel you took it for granted “ do I have any worth to you?”
The ones before were his death intentions, and a description of his regrets and dying alone suicide.
My sons are doing the honorable thing and driving across the country to retrieve his ashes. No one else missed or wanted him. But I raised the boys to be good human beings and to forgive and that no matter what be better than their father.
It’s tragic and sad and I definitely took it harder than my children.
It will be the last time he’ll have his power on me. My son told me when here’s discover cause of death in 18 weeks ( the body was bad) he may not tell me the truth. I’m ok with this but it will forever haunt me and I just hope in time I can put it in its place.

• Team: Minnesota VIkings
• Division: NFC North
• Record: 13-4, NFC North Champions
• Playoffs: at least it wasnt a lost to the Eagles

2022 Offseason (Free Agency, Draft) - Link to 2022 offseason review courtesy of uggsandstarbux .

Season review

Weeks 1-7: the good start

With the coaching changes in the offseason and the lost of some big name defensive players it felt like going into week one this might be the start of a rebuild season. A unexpected surprisingly good start with only the week 2 loss breaking up a fast start.
Week 1: 9/11 versus Green Bay Packers W 23 - 7 About as good as a starter as Viking fandom can ask for. GB seemed unwilling or unable to cover Justin Jefferson who had a outstanding 9 receptions, 184 yards 2 TD
Week 2: 9/19 at Philadelphia Eagles L 7 - 24 What GB was unable to do week 1 had Philadelphia ready for week 2 pairing Darius Slay squarely on Jeffersons hip holding his 6 receptions to a mere 48 yards
Week 3: 9/25 versus Detroit Lions W 28 - 24 In hindsight this game was closer than it should have been, though after the loss in Philly this was reassurance at the time.
Week 4: 10/2 versus New Orleans Saints in England W 28-25 Sneaking a lead in the last 30 seconds by a FB was unexpected, the Saints failing to make theres to tie it soon after even more unexpected.
Week 5: 10/9 versus Chicago W 29-22 This writer has no memories of this game outside noting this makes the third straight win by one score to that wont be more substantial to later in the season.
Week 6: 10/16 at Miami W 24-16 Like week 5 this was another one score win though more memorable was this was Dalvin Cooks first game in Miami where he was born and that made it a bit more sentimental a win. Also learned in this game that Miami's stadium is built such that the visiting sideline is never in shade and is often much hotter than the home team.
Week 7: Bye week

Weeks 8-13: the streak

what started as a good start to the season started to build momentum mid season as Minneosota would win 8 straight. None of these games would be as easy and were often determined by a TD or less, with Minnesota often putting points up early and surviving 2-3 quarters to win in dramatic fashion the fourth quarter. This is also when it starts to become clear to many that the defensive scheme was good on paper and making things difficult on the field.
Week 8: 10/30 versus Arizona W 34-26 Much like week 5 nothing comes to mind looking at this week off hand. Another closer then it should have been win to keep the streak alive.
On November 1, 2022, the Lions traded Hockenson along with a 2023 fourth-round draft pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round draft pick to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for a 2023 second-round pick and a 2024 third-round draft pick.
Week 9: 11/6 at Washington W 20-17 Apparently, a tradition started after the week 4 win on the plane ride home the team celebrated by having Kirk wear chains. Why this is significant now week 9 is a video of a shirtless Kirko Chainz went viral after this win.
Week 10: 11/13 at Buffalo in OT W 33-30 Two big takeaways this week: Buffalo effectively gave the game or in the very least kept Minnesota's chances alive through some bad moments though this is very much over shadowed by the catch of the year
Week 11: 11/20 versus Dallas L 3-40 All good things must come to an end, and so does the Vikings winning streak starting season 3. One glaring, obvious thing to note is a problem that has been lurking just under the surface all season: Ed Donatells infamous bend-dont-break defensive scheme was just delicious to Dallas.
Week 12: 11/24 versus New England W 33-26 Thankfully a quick bounce back and win after the loss earlier in the week, what is most memorable about this Thanksgiving Day game is afterward Adam saying the turkey is dry
Week 13: 12/4 versus NY Jets W 27-22 After the win week 12 this started to look like the start of another series of wins by one score, alas it was not meant to be.

Weeks 14-Playoffs

Starting with the week 14 loss the end of the season ended sourly. The long win streak was over, Minnesota will lose to teams they had won against earlier in the season. Even after clinching the NFC north and a playoff spot there was not much hope of a deep playoff drive.
Week 14: 12/11 at Detroit L 23-34 While this loss was not memorable at the time of the writing here, Detroit and Dan Campbell were on a hot streak and as close as the game was week 3 this outcome was not a surprise.
Week 15: 12/17 versus Indianapolis W 39-36 This was the game of two halves. First half the Vikings could not get anything going while Indianapolis took advantage of some big opportunities to run the score up 33 - 0 at halftime. Second half the Vikings mounted the greatest comeback in NFL history managing to tie the game up and surviving to overtime before sealing the win.
Week 16: 12/24 versus NY Giants W 27-24
Week 17: 01/01 at GB L 17-41
Week 18: 01/08 at Chicago W 29 - 13
Wildcard: 1/15 versus NY Giants L 24 -31
#Quick Stats
Offense
672 Pass attempts (3rd most in NFL)
66.7 Completion percentage (4th most in NFL)
7.2 Yards Per Attempt (10th most in NFL)
30 Passing Touch Downs (4th most in NFL)
15 Interceptions (7th most in NFL)
47 Sacks (8th most in NFL)
404 Rush Attempts (5th fewest in NFL)
4.1 Yards per Carry (7th fewest in NFL)
18 Rushing TD (7th most in NFL)
Defense
617 Passing Plays (4th most in NFL)
66.1 Completion percentage allowed (9th most in NFL)
7.3 Yards per Reception (3rd most in NFL)
23 Receiving Touchdowns (16th most in NFL)
15 Interceptions (10th most in NFL)
38 Sacks (12th fewest in NFL)
463 Rushing attempts (15th most in the NFL)
4.5 Yard Per Carry (13th most in NFL)
18 Rushing TD (10th most in NFL)

Position Groups: writeup courtesy of ehhhhhhhhhhmacarena

Offense I'd say the Vikings offense overall played well, but failed to break the barrier to being a great offense.
Quarterback This is probably the start of my above claim. While Kirk Cousins certainly isn't a bad quarterback by any means, time and time again it. More often than not, the team posting the Lombardi also carries a top 5 QB. Sometimes those borderline top 10 QBs manage with a strong supporting cast. Once you start getting to the those middle teams your chances off getting a super bowl seem nigh impossible. That's where Kirk Cousins currently sits. He's hit his ceiling, and I'm afraid that he's a weight on the Vikings cap at this point.
Receivers The Vikings receivers are likely their most shining group. Leading with the young Justin Jefferson, who broke into the short group of four wide receivers to ever win the AP Offensive player of the year. At 1809 yards, 8TD, and 128 receptions, Jefferson is an absolute thread that I fully expect should continue for years. Beyond that, the immemorial Adam Thielen continued to trudge on admirably. While I think it's clear that he's not his younger self, his continues to play a central part both on the field and in the locker room. K.J. Osborn is the the third notable receiver. While I don't quite see him reaching the heights of Jefferson or a younger Thielen, he's a quality third option to fill out the group. On a personal note, I'm a Colts fan who is helping out an this write-up and I hate K.J. Osborn for what he did to us.
Running Backs Dalvin Cook spent the last year acting like he's got no miles on his legs. He just continues being a constant runner, while being versatile enough as a receiver. While Alexander Mattison may pop in to give Cook some rest, I think it's clear the Cook is still the guy at this position.
Tight Ends After the mid-year trade, Hockenson became an incredibly important part in the receiving game, while being being an surprisingly adequate blocker. While he certainly isn't a master of the skill, something about the change of teams has rounded him out a bit. I'm interested to see if he continues to grow after another year with the team.
Offensive Line As mentioned earlier, I'm a Colts fan who is helping out with this write-up and we find one of my greatest regrets with Chris Ballard. No, it's not that we could have had Jefferson, but rather that we passed up Christian Darrisaw. This kid was absolutely great this year. I'll just quickly note that Ezra Cleveland, Garrett Bradberry, and Brian O'Neill were all quite good as well with only the rookie Ed Ingram having some struggled. Just one good offseason of growth could be all he needs to help out whoever likely replaces Bradberry next year.
Defense I'll be honest, as a Colts fan filling in, I'm not really sure what's wrong here. There's clearly a couple of holes, but a feel like the sun of the parts doesn't quite live up to the quality of some of these players. Given that the season ended with the firing of Ed Donatell, I think the players the survive this offseason might be capable of bouncing back.
Defensive Line Jonathan Bullard and Ross Blacklock both joined the team this year off free agency and spent much of the season trying to decided which is worse. Harrison Phillips was the bright side of DL free agency, having been fairly solid. Danielle Hunter and Za'Darius Smith continued to be fantastic OLBs.
Inside Linebackers While Eric Kendricks has started to age, he's still played fairly well for his play style. Jordan Hicks similarly played adequately. That said, This is probably the group that needs the strongest reset.
Defensive Backs Finally, the DBs were probably the most solid group on defense. Patrick Peterson came back from the dead to have one of his statistically best seasons. While Cameron Dantzler hasn't quite taken the next step like I hoped, he's still a pretty solid DB. Harrison Smith has basically looked the same every year for a decade. Absolute solid safety. Camryn Bynum had a decent second year, but again didn't quite live up to his expectations.

Coaching staff review

Might have been too obvious far too late, a lot of those one score games were due to Ed Donatels defensive scheme. Now I'm not a coach myself, it just seems easier to keep your opponent from scoring if you play defense all 100 yards and not just the red zone. The lost against Dallas week 11 wasnt even the start of the riot mob asking for Ed to be fired and it took far too long to happen for many Vikings fans.
KOC's first year as head coach brought much welcome change over all to the team. Whether true or not, many rumors have been said that the team culture the last few years of Zimmers reign have gone between sour and toxic and KOC brought fresh life with many stars on the offense side shining to new heights.

Upcoming free agents from your team

Eric Kendricks: Though not unexpected given the dire cap situation, the release of this 2015 draft pick was rough for many Vikings fans.
Adam Thielen: another victim of the dire cap situation plus some frustration with usage under the surface, best of luck in Carolina. A personal favorite, Thielens use and stardom with Minnesota was first overshadowed by Stefon Diggs and then Justin Jefferson. Next seasons game versus Carolina will be interesting.
Scheduled to become free agents:
Kris Boyd
Garrett Bradbury
Jonathan Bullard
Andrew DePaola
Ben Ellefson
Bisi Johnson
Greg Joseph
Alexander Mattison
Nick Mullens
Patrick Peterson
Irv Smith, Jr.
Austin Schlottmann
Duke Shelley
Chandon Sullivan
Dalvin Tomlinson
Olisaemeka Udoh
Kenny Willekes

Team needs

With the upcoming draft Minnesota has four, potentially five with a compensatory pick. Worth noting is additional picks could come through trades this offseason.

per the Athletic The Vikings need cornerbacks; only 2022 rookies Andrew Booth Jr. and Akayleb Evans are locks to return in 2023.

Minnesota also could benefit from additional youth at linebacker. Beyond 2022 third-rounder Brian Asamoah, the team does not have potential impact players at the position.

Why root for the Vikings

While at times not playing as well as expected, Minnesota consistently places toward the top of the division with over 20 division championships. Field goals are never guaranteed, Kirk Cousins and many of the teams stars are genuinely likeable people, and US Bank Stadium is legitimately beautiful.

Steam Profile: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198000411475
SteamRep: https://steamrep.com/profiles/76561198000411475
14 years Steam account with 111 Steam Level. Dota 2 Rank: Immortal

Dead Reckoning Tier 3 Sets

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Hero	Set	Availability	Reservation Status	Want
Io	Altar Ball	1 Left	None Yet	$45
Pudge	Doll of the Dead	1 Left	None Yet	$45

TI11 Cache

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Hero	Set	Availability	Reservation Status	Want
Invoker	Angel of Vex	0 Left	None Yet	$15
Marci	Blue Horizons	0 Left	None Yet	$15
Faceless Void	Chines of the Inquisitor	1 Left	None Yet	$5
Monkey King	Champion of the Fire Lotus	1 Left	None Yet	$5
Terrorblade	Forgotten Station	1 Left	None Yet	$5
Clockwerk	Seadog's Stash	1 Left	None Yet	$5
Witch Doctor	Deathstitch Shaman	1 Left	None Yet	$4
Snapfire	Whippersnapper	0 Left	None Yet	$5
Dawnbreaker	Starlorn Adjudicator	0 Left	None Yet	$5
Phoenix	Crimson Dawn	0 Left	None Yet	$5
Chen	Hounds of Obsession	1 Left	None Yet	$5
Riki	Scarlet Subversion	1 Left	None Yet	$5
Undying	Dirge Amplifier	0 Left	None Yet	$5
Ursa	Trophies of the Hallowed Hunt	1 Left	None Yet	$5

TI11 Rare/Very Rare/Ultra Rare Immortals/Sets

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Hero	Item	Availability	Reservation	Want
Bristleback	Blastmitt Berserker Bundle	2 Left	None Yet	$1
Centaur Warruner	Golden Infernal Cavalcade	1 Left	None Yet	$3
Templar Assassin	Golden Seclusions of the Void	1 Left	None Yet	$3
Disruptor	Tremors of the Tandem Storm	1 Left	None Yet	$1
Necrophos	Golden Sullen Sanctum	1 Left	None Yet	$3
Medusa	Jewels of Anamnessa	1 Left	None Yet	$3
Hoodwink	The Strings of Suradan Bundle	1 Left	None Yet	$40
Queen of Pain	Bloodfeather Finery Bundle	1 Left	None Yet	$50

TI10 Cache

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Hero	Set	Availability	Reservation	Want
Shadow Demon	Crown of the Calaphas	0 Left	None Yet	$3,5
Silencer	Silent Slayer	0 Left	None Yet	$11

Weather

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Weather	Availability	Reservation	Want
Sirocco	7 Left	None Yet	$1,5
Harvest	6 Left	None Yet	$1,5
Pestilence	5 Left	None Yet	$1,5
Spring	3 Left	None Yet	$3
Aurora	2 Left	None Yet	$3,5
Snow	3 Left	None Yet	$4
Rain	0 Left	None Yet	$4
Moonbeam	0 Left	None Yet	$4
Ash	0 Left	None Yet	$8

Reservation fee is 10% of an item's cost, for each item. Buyer goes first. Add me now to start the 30 days of friendship.

The last spot was the Cannery Pier in Bleak Inlet. Now I can leave this accursed zone. At one point I fell through the thin ice followed by a timberwolf attack. Luckily I knew where shelter was and the weather was clear. I survived, but I lost my precious ear wraps to the timberwolves.
Now I'm going to return to Mystery Lake as I try to finish up Skilled Survivor and a few other achievements. This was all done on Voyageur difficulty and I used the time capsule to keep playing on the Perilous Constraint version when the TFTFT update came out.
My path to Faithful Cartographer:
Spawned in Mystery Lake
Days 1 - 14: Mystery Lake Days 14 - 26: Mountain Town Days 26 - 29: Mystery Lake Days 29 - 30: Forlorn Muskeg (just transitioning to get to BR) Days 29 - 35: Broken Railroad Days 35 - 38: Mystery Lake Days 39 - 54: Pleasant Valley Days 55 - 82: Timberwolf Mountain Days 83 - 85: Pleasant Valley Days 86 - 94: Coastal Highway Days 95 - 99: Desolation Point Days 100 - 103: CH - ML Days 104 - 106: Forlorn Muskeg (finished mapping) Day 107: FM - MT - HRV Days 108 - 116: Hushed River Valley Days 117 - 120: HRV - MT - ML - PV - TWM - AC Days 121 - 125: Ash Canyon Days 126 - 129: AC - TWM - PV - ML - BI Days 129 - 134: Bleak Inlet
I probably had the most fun in Timberwolf Mountain. It's where I took the most time mapping and exploring. It's also where I killed my first moose and made the satchel. Hushed River Valley was a close 2nd, but it's not somewhere I would stay long term. Broken Railroad and Desolation Point were both instances where I mapped as quick as I could and got out. Just not very compelling areas to me. Ash Canyon was fun, but inhospitable.
So there it is. 134 days, 515 km traveled, 50 wolves killed, 5 bears killed, 1 mauling, and 50 blizzards.
Edit: I almost forgot. While making my way to the cannery workshop, the cannery filled with at least seven (seven!) timberwolves. I picked them off from my elevated platform. I am become death, destroyer of timberwolves.

Hiking the Skye trail (Scotland) in a week and want to see if my current gear would be ok.
Note on my lack of cook set: I'm not investing in a cooking system, I just don't feel like I need it. I will resupply when I get near a town. I'm in a group that is about half cold soak and half freeze dried meal cooking, so I can switch it up if necessary.
Not looking to upgrade, I just got my first UL tent (to be delivered on arrival at airport so fingers crossed) and rain gear so no budget left.
Weather forecast: -4C to 8C / 25F-45F
Trail: 6 days of hiking planned, 9 days trip total
Non negotiable: rain kilt is a test run so I bring it as an extra.
Any tips are welcome!
https://lighterpack.com/pr0j92