I have had a H610PRO V2(8192) tablet for a few years now with few if any problems.
I just purchased a Huion Keydial KD100 and I am not sure what to do. Everything works poorly if at all and mostly it's a software issue, I am sure.
For starters, on their website there are 2 drivers you can download for the KD100. Already I felt bad vibes when I saw that because there is no explanation whatsoever. One is older by a month, but otherwise they give no explanation which one you should use.
After I installed the older one, it recognized my tablet as well as the KD100, except that it wiped out all my shortcuts. No big deal, right?
Nope, big deal.
To make a long story short, the two devices don't work well together.
First it was the Keydial wheel that refused to let me program it. When I finally it allowed me to change it, it wouldn’t go back to the default settings.
Then the tablet disappeared completely., I restarted, changed USB ports, prayed at the temple of Athena. Nothing worked.
Finally I had the brilliant idea to look for the tablet drivers. Bingo, those found both devices, except that when I am assigning and naming shortcuts every other time it crashes my... Keyboard?
I don't know how else to describe it. My keyboard stops working, in all apps (including the driver settings) but not completely. I use Notepad to check the keyboards (I tried a BT, a Logitech wireless and my old, cable one that I keep on my tower desktop in case I need to work on the BIOS.
Nothing works, except that randomly it would try to exit Notepad (asking me to save, cancel, etc. or it would bring another app to the front.
I have taken to saving a backup for each time I make a change (I lost too many) so that saved me from having to redo my shortcuts over and over.
I submitted a ticket, but Huion are notorious for not giving a crap. Plus so many different things went wrong with the keypad and the tablet, I had to summarize a lot (like I am doing here).
Crazy stuff. It was like they intentionally wrote code to drive their customer nuts.
If anyone else has such a combo, I'd like to hear how it's going.
Next I am going to try to open the backup files and see if I can make my own and I wait for new drivers to be released.
Other than that, I love the keypad. It make working in Photoshop so much faster. I was going to buy one for my wife, but she may inherit mine and I'll switch to something a bit more reliable.

Pics: https://imgur.com/a/A39gbvT
Long story short, I got off my ass a year ago and started eating less. Went from 210 lbs to 173 lbs as of today. I'm 5'10'', so that just barely puts me at a regular BMI of 25. Though apparently Asians have stricter BMI guidelines and 23 is the cutoff point for regular BMI in Asians. I know BMI is a metric with some flaws, but it helps me to have a ballpark goal otherwise I spin my wheels.
I've been mostly consistent with alternating between lifting and running with an occasional rest day when life gets in the way. I still got some fat around the gut and face, but hopefully it'll melt away soon enough.
Anyways, I need some advice about my hair and fashion. And some general opinions about my appearance because I can't count on my family to be objective.
Musings on hair:

• The current length of my hair is usually when I go out and get a crew cut or trim because I don't know any better.
• I know Korean perms are the thing right now, but I've never been a fan of super wavy hair and the middle part look. However, I am willing to reconsider if people have opposing opinions. I can afford to experiment.
• Looking for something low-maintenance. I want to be able to just roll out of bed, comb, and be ready to go.
• Random haircuts I've pinned on Pinterest but don't know if they would look good on me.

Musings on fashion:

• I basically have to replace most of my wardrobe because my old clothes are too big on me, so consider me a blank slate.
• I see Uniqlo being mentioned on this sub here and there. Picked up some basic stuff from there, but would like some suggestions on other places to check out in the same-ish price range.
• I've always worn rectangular frames. Not a big fan of circular ones, but again, willing to reconsider if people think otherwise.
• I like plaid for some reason.

Other random thoughts:

• I don't have a skincare routine, but I should get on that. Anyone have a moisturizer they like?
• Playing with the idea of LASIK, but I don't want to deal with dry eye if I get unlucky.
• If it matters, the type of girls I would like to attract are down-to-earth girls that lean more introvert and nerdy. Not having much luck in that department, but the single life has been treating me well so I'm not in a rush.

Fun fact, I accidentally posted this in Gothic at first.
I love doing a permadeath attempt for my first time playing RPGs because it increases my immersion and I rp better when there's risk involved. I'll admit I didn't count fall damage that seemed like bs cus, but I'm not doing this for clout. Aside from that though I didn't do any savescumming. I'm also using Union patch, controller plugin, and stamina plugin, which I'd argue that sprinting is kind of "unfair" compared to the original. But again, not in it for the clout.
Anyways, I got to old camp and got hooked into a fued with Bloodwyn as his goons began screwing with me. I was basically dealing with that in between attempts at feeling out the monsters in the area and hauling ass from the ones that I couldn't handle. I was starting to get stumped on how to make cash and was scared of exploring too much because I know OHKOs were guaranteed, and from my time with Risen I knew that running away likely wasn't always going to be safe, even with sprint. After farming a couple levels, beating up the diggers outside of town for presumably helping Bloodwyns lackey mug me and getting a Withered Axe, I got some cash from random looting and some smart plays and used it to get to get the ability to loot lizards and wolves. I was then stumped because now I had just spent my only income on the ability to loot things I couldn't fight, and I thought that claws would include the talons of scavengers for some reason. I was sad when I realized they can only give meat. After realizing the Templars were pot dealers I was instantly intrigued and got one of them to escort me to their camp. I hadn't made any money yet, so letting him bully every monster along the way while I looted and chipped my XP closer to level 3 was a treat. I began luring random monsters to him for him to beat up, abusing the shit out of sprint. We were almost to the cultist village before I saw a pack of lizards off the side of the road. I ran up, aggrod them, and had them chase me back to my guide. Only, they ran right past him and absolutely destroyed me. I was dumbfounded by my own hubris, as it had been 3 or 4 hours of meticulously exploring what little I could and trying to manipulate the game to the best of my ability. As I stared at the screen for a few seconds, my buddy just kept swinging at the lizards. As he killed the last one, I leveled up. I saw my life bar go up a little bit. I wiggled the stick, and my corpse started turning. I opened my hot bar (union controller plugin adds an item wheel), and it worked. By leveling up, my corpse was alive. Normally I wouldn't count something like that, but I just said screw it, the game counted me as somewhat alive and I was too invested to give up. In the most hype moment of my life my corpse got up and gobbled down some cooked meat. I rationalized it for my rp that my templar friend had saved my life, resuscitated me. I was now very excited to join these virtuous stoners.....then I got there and realized they're a bunch of authoritarian pricks who follow Gurus that are sickeningly pretentious. So, I just figured I'd take them for what they've got and leave. I wandered around grabbing herbs and stray pot plants, I did the quest where you beat up the guy who's supposed to take over for another worker at the weed mashing (?) area. Upon completion, a Guru finally spoke to me. I was pleasantly surprised with a task to collect a butt load of plants and deliver them to an alchemist hut. This was my time to shine. I went and collected the harvest in the middle of the night because I couldn't find a bed. I was surprised to be promoted about asking to find a buyer. Intrigued I nervously clicked the dialogue choice and was relieved to find the dude didn't just attack me or rat me out. He wanted 50 ore I didn't have, so it took me a good ten minutes to find the blacksmith and unload. One more trip across town and he tells me to find cypher by the lake in new camp. Ight bet. So, worried that I would get ratted out or something, based off of my escalating encounters with Bloodwyn, I decided it was best to leave in the middle of the night. After almost getting massacred by wolves I just barely made it back to old camp. With a decent amount of extra cash, NO ARMOR, and all the healing items I could ask for, I very very stupidly headed the direction of my best guess towards new camp. I was in such a rush from heisting the Templars that I couldn't help but just go for it. I followed the river outside of old camp into the woods, avoiding creatures above my level. I'd love to say that from here my adventure continued in an epic fashion, but just as I was scouting out a molerat to go in for a safe kill, I was bit in the back and OHKOd by what appeared to be a velociraptor. No heroic death, no blaze of glory, not martyr moment to relish in. Just, a bite to the back and a corpse with 50 pot plants left out in the woods....

I am suddenly extremely hateful of everything... and I can't understand why...
Ehh... probably just one of THOSE days...
Enjoy!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Memory Transcription Subject: Marcel Fraiser
Date [Standardized human time]: November 13, 2136
God… Dammit… construction isn’t even completed, and we already have a riot…
GOD FUCKING-...
I hate the fact that I’m already having to deal with this so soon… I sighed as I turned to walk over to a part of the wall where I had a hidden compartment. Pressing in the code on a concealed keypad revealed a hidden compartment where a special pack was kept. I slung the pack along my back and clipped a special bracelet interface on my wrist.
I hope I can deter them away, I really don’t want to use violence if I can avoid it.
“M-Marcel?! What are you-? Are you planning to go down there?!” Slanek spoke up with much concern in his voice. He was always someone who cared greatly for my safety.
“Don’t worry Slanek… I’ll be fine. I’ll handle this.”
I walk out of my office and make my way to the security office where I see the many cameras of the parking lot. The rioters waved their signs which had the shapes of humans on fire and earth with a cross over it… These fuckers…
I take my seat next to the security officer, and begin to speak into the intercom. “Cease your aggression, predatory behavior from you lot will not be tolerated.'' The moment I speak through the intercom, the rioters seem to show offense to the idea of me calling the predatory. I continue, “You are transgressing on human institutions which are meant to improve your ways of life, and deter you away from the horrid practices of the Federation, your anti-human sentiment is unacceptable under new development. You are to disperse immediately, failure to comply will be met with defensive action against you.”
I let the words hang as the people in the crowd seemed to reconsider the course of action they should take. A Venlil spoke up however, “See?! THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE ARE AGAINST THEM! They will use violence against us if we don’t get them off our planet!”
…
Fucking idiots…
The riot went back to what it was doing before…
I checked to see the status of the defensive perimeter of the station, the turrets were loaded with the standard bean bag rounds and the water cannons were ready to fire highly pressurized water. The water heated quite a bit as well…
“I will give you one last warning… disperse immediately… your behavior is predatory in all ways and will not be tolerated.”
They did not cease… if anything they just got worse, they began to hurl rocks into the building. They were breaking several windows and seemed to be getting closer to the main door. I saw that a few had what seemed to be hair spray and lighters…
… So be it…
I nodded for the security officer to activate the defensive grid to rid us of this riot. I watched from the cameras as six turrets were revealed from their underground storage containers along the building and began to fire into the crowd. Bean bag rounds were fired from gatling turrets and launched tear gas from along the top into the largest parts of the crowd. The water turrets began to blast the crowd with heated water, blasting them back and causing many to drop their signs… They began to scream as the turrets began to fire, many in the crowd began to bolt out of the parking lot to escape the barrage of water and beanbags. Many were stumbling as they began to scramble and scatter. Once the smoke cleared, it revealed at least a dozen that were in the parking lot splayed out on the ground.
I got worried and figured the best course of action was to notify the paramedics regarding the riot. Maybe provide government officials with a recording of the riot as well… Not even until construction is completed… Fucking-...
I’m just… Tired…
Memory Transcription Subject: Jasuri, Zurulian Paramedic
Date [Standardized human time]: November 13, 2136
The Headquarters was fucking rioted… Their headquarters was fucking rioted!
…
They’re going to murder us all!
These morons! They riot and bring us closer to death with every bit of anti human propaganda they spout! Don’t they understand what they’re doing? Do they not have brains to think with?! Humanity was enraged enough as is! To dare to step on a twig while they’re sleeping is a recipe for extinction! People like them have already done enough!
We pulled up with three ambulances outside of the parking lot of the Police Headquarters. I burst open the ambulance rear door and ran out with the stretcher… There are several people scattered across the parking lot. I wheeled it over to the nearest person, a krakotl, who seemed to be a young adult.
My partner and I carefully lifted her onto the stretcher and began to wheel her away. We began to roll her over to the ambulance before I looked back at the entrance of the building. Walking over to us was the Overseer, Marcel…
Oh Great Protector be with me…
I was the higher ranked paramedic among my peers so they gestured me forward to converse with the human… I was terrified, but he seemed docile. I was lucky he didn’t express any anger. His facility was rioted, yet he seemed, collected.
“Hello there… M-Marcel… I am Jasuri… is there anything I-I could h-help y-you with?” I stuttered as he stared at me with a blank face.
“I am simply concerned… I don’t want anyone to have suffered fatal injuries…”
…
Really?
I would have figured the human to be furious with the offenders… to show empathy for them when they were assaulting a human institution. I found that baffling… Humanity clearly had empathy, and Marcel clearly showed that they had the most with how he seemed to care for transgressors.
“Oh… From what we can tell. They should make full recoveries… No one seemed to have suffered lethal damages…”
“I’ll leave you to it then…”
The human then proceeds to walk back to the entrance of the building… I didn’t know what that was all about. How Marcel seems to show so much concern for people like this…
…
I really hope he’s not the only human that’s like that…
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(LORE DUMP!)
:: Exterminators a more controversial topic now more than ever... With humanity calling them enforcers of the federation's will, many have begun to think upon their words with actually curiosity... quite a few has begun to dive into research, and without exterminators around to silence them, it's only a matter of time before things about exterminators begin to become revealed... ::
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So the Dwarves had a huge debt over humans, humans helped a Dwarven ally of the king overthrow them to cancel the debt, now the new King of Dwarves is instituting Communism. Is this a good speech? (Humans overthrew the Dark Lord and the story picks up with all the sons of the Dark Lords' administration picking up the pieces and trying to rebuild the kingdom,
the Compact is a treaty the three kingdoms, elf dwarf and man, signed about 300 years ago dictating the laws of trade (Economics is a huge focus in this story)
------
Watts had been successful in his first mission. The Dwarven capital was reclaimed by Man’s ally Okgruli Caskmaster, salt-born savior and rightful King of Dwarves, rightful in the eyes of Man at least. It was rumored that once the Dark Lord was fallen and his work in the Throne of Man was completed, Anthorn would send his forces west and aid his good friend Okgruli to reclaim his throne. Those words had been invoked, even if by Mason’s hand rather than Anthorn’s himself.
Now Ellis Watts, the representative of the Throne of Man, stood by the side of Okgruli Caskmaster, who was holding his great golden war axe high in the air, gathering cheers from the Dwarves celebrating the new order. Sure, the wealthier class of their people thought it madness, to cancel a debt of that size, of that magnitude, that they held over the mightiest of the three nations. But Okgruli promised them a new world, a new order, where the alliance with man by bond of battle would outway any petty concerns of gold.
On the stage next to Okgurli, were three of the old order, the Gold Beards, hanging with hands bound and necks in nueces, two had already dropped and snapped. The third, a Dwarf by the name of Gemhold, Ellis remembered, stood proud and ready for death.
Okgruli’s voice was low and commanding, “State your crimes, Gold Beard,” he said, ready to again swing his axe and consign the next pretender to Dwarven leadership to death.
“I am guilty,” Gemhold said, earning a great hissing and jeering from the audience of proud Dwarves, “I am guilty!” he said louder, “I am guilty of bringing our nation gold, wealth, trimuph, and in this revolution on the order of man of all people, you cheer for our wealth to be taken from us!” he said. He knew he was about to die, she didn’t really give a damn about being civil, “Do you not see what this Dwarf you all support so much has already taken from us, the dream of the Dwarven empire from mountains to coast, trade, wealth, gold, gold damn you, gold, the gold we have lost by this mad dwarf cancelling a fair debt. You are all Dwarves, you’ve been raised and taught the power of debt and taught how debt has given our kind more political power then any standing army this pretender could hope to build,” he said, “Revolution is an addiction, you lesser than dwarves think because you can’t make a good deal to save your lives that the system must be rigged, so when some wild dwarf comes and says he will seize the capital on your behalf you dare not question him!”
A rock came flying out of the audience and caught Gemhold on the side of the head, drawing a bit of blood from him. He took the hit and stayed strong in his resolve.
Okgruli tried to calm the audience, “This criminal will face his sentence, on the honor of being a Dwarf he is allowed to speak,” Okgruli said as he waved his hand and tried to calm the mob.
“Do you even realize what you will be living under should this so-called King of Dwarves ideals be put into place? Do you know who he aligns himself with? We the ones you call the Gold Beards, the Dwarves proud and strong in their ability to bring wealth to our people, we spoke to men and we defeated man at every turn, this Caskmaster has never spoken to a true throne, a true man of business, he speaks to the men called Duradan, simple men who live in trees, wear leaves and trade skins and meat. Men who wouldn’t know gold from iron, all of you, look all of you, to the trappings and luxuries the Freehold under our leadership has provided you, think of the wealth you will lose if you follow this pretender when your nation is wrecked when you’re striking stones for fire and clinging to whatever bread his society will allow you to have, remember, dwarves, remember the wealth our nation once gave you, when you find yourselves with nothing, remember a time where a dwarf could have anything,”
“Could have anything if they were a damn Gold Beard,” a Dwarf cried out as another siege of stone came upon the stage. “Remember!” Gemhold called out, “Remember you are proud dwarves, when you're reduced to trading skins and hunting your own food with only a memory of the wealth of gold, you remember what this revolution you cheered for brought you, and you remember what you gave up,” he said, taking a few more hits to the head.
“Enough!” Okgruli raised his hand, and the barrage stopped, “This Dwarf has spoken for himself,” he raised his axe and sliced the other end of the rope holding Gemhold’s neuce. Gemhold dropped and his thick neck snapped as he hung there, dead next to the other Gold Beard leaders.
“Look at this bead, Dwarves,” Okgruli said, running a hand through the brown hair hanging down his face, “You will never see a flake of gold on this beard, you will never see the Dwarf you’ve made your leader tout and carry about like he is wealthier than you, I am a Dwarf, a proud Dwarf born of the salt of the earth, no gold in this beard,” he shook his head, “Wealthy as our people are, it is sin to display wealth in such opulant manner, I think myself not above a Dwarf amoung you, no Dwarf should be over another, we are one people, one nation,” Okgruli turned to held his hand up to the great mountains behind him, “Within these mountains is the petty gold we’ve drawn as much strength as we could from, man harbors over this gold, in that we have power over him, as the true deciders of this world, but no more will we be the deciders from only another races lusts for our resource,” he said, “This gold does not belong to me, it does not belong to you, it belongs to all of us, to every dwarf that has ever taken hammer to mountain to bring our kind wealth, as my first decree from the Throne of Dwarves I say that all gold belongs to all dwarves, the wealth of the land, the wealth of the salt we have all been birthed from is as much yours as it is mine, no more no less, from this day forward, know that every dwarf will bask in wealth,” he raised his hands to the cheers of the dwarves, “What is gold, what does gold mean other than the value that man gave it when he first came to our mountains and lusted after its luster, let man chase gold, we Dwarves have something wanted, something coveted, we own the gold, it does not own us, I commission that we will use or gold not for for trappings of wrapping it in our beards and blazining our weapons, what does gold mean to you, you of the salt and stone, a Dwarf will never again be judged by the gold in his pocket, but instead by the sweat from his brow, the gold belongs to all and none, the Dwarves united will use the gold that the Throne of Man, our allies granted, but the Throne of man covets what is by blood and right property of the Dwarves, if this gold belongs to Dwarves, then let it be spent in the service of Dwarves, all Dwarves, great and rich, small and poor, the wealth of our nation belongs to our nation, and no Dwarf will ever again be able to connive or coax his way to the fortune of our people that belongs to all our people, no more will Dwarves fleck their beards and think themselves a higher station then any of you. I may be your ruler, but in my rule you find yourselves led by an equal, not by a supremacist who puts mercantilism above mercy. By the power restored to me as the true King of Dwarves, is to declare that all gold still resting in these mountains, belongs to all dwarves, to you proud dwarves who will work the mines not for your own glory, but for the strength and prosperity of your people, you will work under me Dwarves, and know that I, your king, will be with pick-axe and cart right next to you. So I commission, that we drain this mountain of its wealth, and spread that wealth useless to us to the petty concerns of Man and Elf. Let them war for gold, let them die for gold, we will take the riches of it first and formost, and we will spread that wealth to all the Throne of Dwarves, while they will fight and kill eachother for the wealth that only we can create, our nation will thrive!” he raised his arms, receiving cheers from a populace ready for hope and change, “Let it be said, and let it be written in the stone, to each Dwarf according to his needs, and from each Dwarf according to his means, and we have means, we have the greatest source of wealth in the three kingdoms, I say we use this wealth and build for ourselves the mightiest kingdom since the singing of that damn compact, we will supply Man and Elf with their gold, with their trappings, and in that we will trap them, from this day forward, no Dwarf will be more wealthy then his peer, for we will all be wealthy, invest in me brother Dwarves, pay into my new world with your labor, for labor is the only value that this world has, do not buy a trapping by paying for it in gold, receive a blessing by giving your labor, it has been said, the Dwarves do not pay the price of kings, I seek to build you a world where you will never pay a price again!”
The crowd was roaring now, the populace of the Dwarven kingdom had grown tired of the Goldbeard’s fixation of generating wealth. It was alluring, this idea Okgruli had, no more buying, no more selling, a world where a Dwarf could work with his hands and earn enough sustinance to be prosperous. It was a grand idea, why should a Dwarf slave for the wealth of one stationed above him only by means of capital? Why should a dwarf work for anyone save himself, or all Dwarven peoples? The Interlopers of capital hung dead before the people, and they cheered for their new king.

Hi y'all,
I know that this site isn't exactly unknown, it is actually probably the most popular and talked about currently, but, I want to take a different route in this post. I want to review WHY Freecash is the BEST earning site, not just review the website itself.
​
This. This is FreeCash.
​
Not too complex of a website, yet, not rudimentary either. Lets dive in as to why they are the best:
​
(1) Promotions. Promotions. Promotions.
​
Promotions are free stuff, or at the least, cool events. It is no shocker to me that Freecash managed to capture a very large portion of the GPT market in such a short time because they really excel here.
- Freecash regularly holds offerwall boosts, upwards of 50%, for multiple offerwalls at a time. This makes it seem like, by doing their offers, you are getting a great deal! In that sense, you are. Boost promotions are great to take advantage of.
- Jackpots. Every now and then, Freecash offers a Jackpot event, where they open up multiple roulette-like wheels with multiple buy-ins onto the platform. Instead of being roulette though, the odds are even and you play against other users. It's basically just coin-flip gambling. If that is your thing, it is there for you! The only other site I can think of with something similar is Gain.GG with a roulette wheel.
- Leaderboards. Freecash offers $500 per day towards the top earners on the site, as well as $5000 monthly. This is an absurd offer. It is easily the highest in the industry and very attractive.
​
(2) The Best Earning Rates.
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This is, perhaps, the greatest attraction or reason to their success. It is hard to gather exact numbers, but Freecash's offers are around 20%+ higher than other sites, for the same task. Why? Well, most likely because that is their way to attract users, offer the best rates. Naturally, this means that they probably have lower profit margins than other sites, but with higher volume they more than make it up.
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(3) Variety!
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Variety. Variety. Variety. Not just with the types of tasks to complete, but also the payout options. With regards to tasks, their are 10+ offerwalls with around another 10 survey panels as well. Some of these offerwalls also have video watching options. They really have everything anyone could offer, on one site. Building off of this, they have about every payment option as well. Bank Transfer, PayPal, Crypto, Gift Cards, etc. This allows them to capture a large target niche.
​
Conclusion:
​
I think the simple answer as to why Freecash is the best, is that it offers the most, it is as simple as that. Perhaps this review wasn't necessary, I could've just said that, but I had to provide some reason too. If you found this useful, please consider using my referral code: "GenZCash"
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-ProKoyote

Seems like there are some electrical gremlins is my wife’s 16 Outback. For probably six months or so the lift gate hasn’t opened if the car is running most of the time. It will give the three of four beeps like the doors are locked when you push the button on the dash or the fob. If you turn the ignition off it will open normally. Almost like it thinks the car is in gear so it won’t open.
Just in the last month or so the horn has quit working. It still honks if you lock it with the fob multiple times. Fuses and relay are all good. My next thought is the clock spring but all the other controls on the steering wheel work fine. I pulled the airbag out and the ground wore for the horn is intact.
Anyone else deal with these issues on their Subaru?

My father developed an acute psychosis on his 86th birthday. He is legally blind and partially deaf, but has refused hearing aids. He now has three voices in his head, he believes it is a radio show coming out of the wall telling the "truth of what's going on around here". He believes my mother is sleeping with the entities that fly through the walls, with everyone in the neighborhood, and with ME when I visited for two months to try and help. There is more to the delusions, but this is most relevant.
While I was visiting he made numerous threats to kill my mother, to kill me, to kill himself. He violently swung his cane at mom several times, but was unable to reach her. He tried to grab the streering wheel of the car as I was driving us across a bridge. I had to remove weapons from the house, he was cleaning the guns. He had a few meetings with doctors before refusing to see them anymore- they are the crazy ones-- his words. My mother continues to speak with his psychiatrist to keep the appointments he refuses. He has stopped taking all medications, including those he needs for physical issues. My mom tries to hide his psych meds in his food, and he sometimes refuses to eat.
On the psychiatrists orders, we called 911 when he would threaten to kill us. I had numerous videos of this taking place, but the sherrifs would refuse to take any action. Once when city police arrived, they baker acted him for three days but he was released with no examination and no instructions to us on what is wrong or how to deal with him. We were given a caseworker who gave us many numbers to call for assistance, all who denied to help. The police refused to view my father as a threat to my mom, and instead seemed to investigate our care of him.
My mother sleeps with her door locked. Medication has reduced the threats and violence, but his refusal to take medications in recent weeks is bringing a resurgence.
My brother is trying to arrange a long term home for my mother. We do not know what to do, my father is unable to care for himself, wracked by delusions, and without my mother would simply rot in the house or end up on the street. He is considered competant because he can answer a few simpe questions-- what is your address, who is the president, ect.
All the advice we get is advice you would give an alzeimers patient. My father's memory and intellect work fine, we cannot lie to him to get him to a doctors office.
So I am at a loss. I don't even know what kind of advice I am asking for. It looks like my mother may end up going to an assisted living facility, which he will not consent to join, and my father would simply rot in the house, in the street, or at best in a state facility.
If anyone has any great ideas, or ideas for another subreddit that may be more appropriate, I'm open. We are past our wit's ends.

First Chapter
Chapter Eighteen
Chao peered at the holographic display at the front of the landing boat as she talked to an international audience. “Okay, folks! You can now see the Coalition Exploration Bureau’s ship Exultant Finger of Rithro. It’s missing its usual armor configuration; normally, this corvette would have triangular cones of armor at the front and back. But they re-configured that armor material into a shell to prevent us from seeing them as they flew towards Earth. Merely as a precaution; they flipped the shell around a few weeks ago to display their ship to us. They even extended their radiators towards our planet, which to them is a signal of surrender.”
She smiled at Parvati, who floated next to her. “Pretty cool, right?”
“Very cool indeed!” exclaimed Parvati. “So where is the damage?”
Chao pointed. “See these toroidal tanks around the middle of the ship? They hold hydrogen for the ship’s fusion drive, but after tangling with that Breaker some of them got punctured. You can see the holes there, there, and there. That means they’re now limited in how long they can burn the reactor. Plus the FTL drive is now pretty much kaput. It apparently uses a lot of energy.”
Parvati pondered the display. “Faster than light,” she mused. “We need that. After we get the fusion drive technology, of course. Assuming that ever comes out of committee.”
Chao laughed. “Well, that’s why we’re here, right? To show all of humanity what could be ours.”
“Will we go outside? I mean, for real outside?” The actress reached towards the display, halting when she realized there was no physical screen.
“We’ve got pressure suits. Should be okay, we did plan for going out for a few minutes to get some direct video. It’ll be limited in time, those suits aren’t really meant for proper EVAs…”
“Oh, that’s no problem!” said Takh from behind them, causing both women to do the equivalent of a zero-g jump. For someone so big, he somehow managed to just…arrive on the scene. “We’ve got plenty of components on board, we can make you all some proper hardsuits!” He grinned at the camera on Chao’s chest; watching an udhyr grin was an awe-inspiring sight, what with all of the teeth and mandibles. “It’s all snap-together for any body type, it works just like your Legos!”
Parvati, of course, was the first to regain her composure. “Thank you Takh, I’m sure that will be very welcome. One thing has occurred to me; even if our material is successful in allowing you to patch your tanks, you will still require hydrogen to fill them, yes?”
The XO’s cheer didn’t fade. “Of course. We’ll find a nearby ice-containing body and extract us some hydrogen. We already have a few candidates chosen. You can all come and ride along! It should be fun to watch.”
“Yes, very fun.” Parvati met Chao’s eyes in a clear unspoken message of is this guy for real?
A much smaller hand crept its way around Takh’s leather-armored shoulder. “Now, my dear,” said McCoy. “We mustn’t interrupt the PR people. They’re half the reason we’re out here, after all.” She winked at the two other women; both of the latter winked back.
“Oh, of course!” Takh bowed formally to the two. “Forgive me.”
“No worries,” said Chao.
“There is nothing to forgive, my good sir,” replied Parvati with an equally formal bow.
The huge alien and petite corporal vanished, leaving the two women to watch the ship as the boat headed for its docking cradle.
“They are utterly adorable,” said Parvati.
“So are you two,” said Chao.
“Sorry?”
“You and Ravindar. I’m not saying to make your move right now. We’re gonna be on camera for a while, and I know I just made a bunch of people on Earth go squee. But you need to tell him how you feel.”
For once the actress looked flustered. “I…I couldn’t, he’s so brave and strong…”
Chao’s voice sounded out like the slamming of a vault door. “Stop. I had the same problem. I was into someone who was brave and strong. Not as big as Ravindar, but then again few people are. Then I found out he was into me too, but because he thought I was smart. I’m not as smart as he thinks I am, but I’m not going to tell him that.”
Parvati glanced into the rear of the landing boat, where Martinez was in the midst of puttering around with the human and alien crew. The actress now looked thoughtful. “I see.”
“All I’m saying is, you don’t need to be exactly in-sync in terms of what you see in each other.” Chao smiled. “Heck, you might even find out that you’re in-sync in ways you didn’t see coming.”
The dark-haired Indian fixed Chao with a stare. “I sense there is a story somewhere in there that you’re not telling me. Ah well, as you say it can wait until we are all no longer under the camera’s gaze.”
__________
Master Sergeant Wilkes smiled down at the spidery alien. “Kifa, there’s someone I’d like you to meet. Consider it part of your helping us to train. This person made a living while driving one of the highest, fastest aircraft we’ve ever made.”
“Oooh!” Kifa looked very pleased at the idea. “That’s a good area to focus on! Where orbital mechanics and aircraft mechanics meet.”
“Indeed.” Wilkes nodded at the near door. “You may come in, sir.”
A man walked in, his face stretched taut in the way which only scar tissue can appear.
Kifa peered up at him. “Forgive me, this is probably very insensitive, but…were you injured?”
He laughed. “I sure was! Burned to a fare-thee-well!”
“Oh, I am so sorry!”
He smiled. “No need to be sorry. Hey, do you want a headpat? Word on the street is your species like that sort of thing.”
The xyrax rocked back and forth on its legs. “Well, a human headpat is always welcome….”
The man reached up and wiggled his fingers, making a great show that his pinky had full range of motion. “See this? Pure miracle that I can do that. The surgeon putting my hand back together, just on a whim, decided to put a pin in here so’s that my pinky finger can grasp properly. Good thing too, otherwise I would’ve never made it through the physical training.”
He then reached forth and with that rebuilt hand dispensed quite a few righteous headpats onto Kifa. After a mutual moment of happy bonding, the xyrax spoke again.
“What training were you pursuing?”
“The same thing you and I are gonna be doing for a week or so.” His eyes, narrowed with scar tissue, lit up. “My dear Kifa, I’m gonna make you into a Sled Driver. God willing and the creek don’t rise, we might get to do it for real and not just in the simulators. They’re already pulling a bunch of Blackbirds out of mothballs. Hell, even the Russians are offering us titanium for building new ones. Seems like everybody’s got a fire lit under their kiester.”
Kifa’s eyes, already big and black, got even bigger. “What is a Sled Driver?”
“Why, it’s only the best profession on the planet, my little blue-furred friend. We get to go fast.”
__________
Joachim regarded the cylindrical, human-sized tank with some trepidation. It looked far too much like a transparent coffin. “You want to stick me in that thing?”
Zawahir nodded. “I know it’s a lot to ask, sir. It is entirely up to you, in the end. But if this works…” He waved at the tank. “If this works, then you will emerge from that tank physically in your twenties.”
They both regarded the tank for a moment, which was full of a clear and, at the moment, a very exclusive liquid.
“Corina too, of course,” said Joachim as he leaned back in his wheelchair. “If it works on me first.” He still wasn’t quite sure where he was; there had been a lot of back-and-forth with planes and whatnot.
“Of course,” said Zawahir. “That goes without saying.”
“Then the two people injured in the DC attack. This will regrow their limbs, correct?”
“Well, naturally.” Zawahir smirked. “They’re the Borlaug Institute’s big publicity stunt, after all. Testing on two people before-hand should be enough to let us know if it’ll work on them.”
“Of course.” Joachim gazed at the tank. “I’ll do it, on one condition.”
“Name it.”
“If…if I don’t come out okay, I want everyone to know that I tried, right? And I do mean everyone. All of humanity.”
“I’m just one person. At the moment, I can only promise that I’ll say what I can.”
After a moment, Joachim nodded. “Then put me in there. I just need to talk to Corina beforehand.”
“Of course, sir.”
__________
The blue-suited woman with a blonde pony-tail smiled as she stared into the camera. “Welcome to Summit Technologies’s livestream of Point-Counterpoint, I’m Amy Coulson. We are currently talking about and debating the latest announcements in space-based systems. As everyone is aware, this has become a source of great concern in the last month or so.” She nodded to the beige-suited man next to her. “This is Walter Higgins, formerly of TRW and who now works for Northrop-Grumman. Walter, to start with can you tell us what the current status is of the repair effort for the alien craft?”
Walt leaned forward, putting his forearms on the desk in front of them. “Well, the main concern is if the plates we’re providing for patching will actually work. So only one of the Rithro’s boats was launched…the one with Chao Me Chu and Parvati Devdhar, they’re towing the fifteen-ton loft provided by ULA to avoid wasting too much energy. Just in case the patching doesn’t work.” He winked at the camera. “I assure you, as someone in the aerospace industry, ULA is going to be very proud of that for a good long while. Anyways, at the moment, they are approaching the L5 point and we should be able to get some spectacular pictures of, well, everything. Of the Earth from near the Moon’s orbit, of the Moon itself, and most importantly of the Rithro.”
Amy nodded in a comradely fashion, but Walt was not fooled. He’d dealt with reporters before. “Sounds intriguing, and I’m sure everyone on Earth looks forward to such sights. But mere patching will not be enough to solve the ship’s issues, correct?”
He sighed. “You’re right. One of the ship’s fusion engines was damaged, and that limits their top speed. Think of it as…you’re a big ocean liner with three propellers, and one goes down. You might still be able to steer using just the other two, but you’re not going to be as effective or fast as you might be.”
“Effective,” she mused. “I suppose that our helping fix their fusion drive is among those bits of alien tech currently prohibited?”
“Yes. I have heard some rumors that the Borlaug Institute in Iceland has had some great initial success, so I hope that soon we will be able to tackle the fusion drive problem.”
She stared at him a bit, which he knew was a bit of theatricality. “Such a repair would make them more capable against these so-called ‘Breakers’, correct?”
“So-called? Now, Amy. Don’t tell me you’re agreeing with those lunatics?”
In the weeks since the simultaneous attacks, a few manifestos had cropped up online. All mostly spouted the same nonsense; at least, nonsense in Walt’s eyes. They all said the same thing; that the Breakers were fake. That this whole rigamarole was a false flag effort by the Coalition, one intended to get all of humanity under their thumb.
“I don’t agree with them,” said Amy, to her credit. “I’m merely stating the other side of the conflict. Yes, I think most people agree that there is an alien ship up at the L5 point which has been grievously damaged. I do trust the evidence of my eyes. I’m sure our two…”
“Five.”
“…five brave souls heading out to that very point at L5 will see exactly the same thing as the Hubble did. But. Have you considered, just for the sake of argument, that evidence of an attack is not evidence of Breakers? Perhaps this is some local dispute, and the crew has set up some sort of fake attack. They could intend to use us as shock troops to settle it.”
Walt leaned back in his chair as he went through the longest twenty seconds of his life. He knew things, thanks to his role. He also knew that if he spoke them aloud he would be burning his entire career right down to the waterline. “That is somewhat possible. But not probable.”
She leaned forward, as if sensing she had him on the ropes. “Why?”
“Because they didn’t need to.” His gray eyes were calm as he stared at her and measured his words. “Do you have any notion, any single clue, of the firepower that ship possesses?”
“Um…well, no, that part’s still classified.”
“I will give you a hint. They have a spinal railgun that could, with around three shots, turn any metropolitan area on earth into a molten crater. They have nuclear-tipped missiles, even one of which could burn a city to the ground. They didn’t need to play nice, Amy. Those aliens could have stood off in orbit, smacked a few cities, and then gotten on the radio to dictate terms of our surrender. We’d have no choice but to comply.”
He stared daggers at her, half expecting some black-suited guys with earpieces to jump in and haul him away. But nothing happened, it was as if the world was holding its breath. “They did their very best to treat with us fairly, to treat us as equals.”
Amy looked away. “I…I hope that is true.”
“It is.” He glanced behind his shoulder for any Men In Black, but nobody was there so far. Maybe he should continue. He assumed a smile, one which he did not feel. “Anyways. We will see what they see, when they get there. There is, also, the international consortium’s proposal for the Sea Dragon.”
The reporter rallied, clearly grateful for the change in subject. “Ah, yes. You’ve reviewed the designs of this craft. Is it really necessary?”
“At the moment, yes. Starship holds a great deal of promise, but they’re still trying to crack the reusability and multiple-refueling issue. This design does permit reusability…of the first stage, if nothing else…but it isn’t strictly necessary for success. Success, in this case, consists of tons to orbit.”
“Why something so big, though? Won’t it be an issue?”
He chuckled, feeling surer of himself. “That’s why we’re launching it in the ocean, in the middle of nowhere.”
She actually looked troubled, so he figured he’d throw her a bone. “The first launch won’t have anything…controversial.”
“But Walt, the second launch is the issue! Nobody has launched this much radioactive material into space.”
“We need to, Amy,”
“But on an almost untested rocket? From a design which is decades old?”
“We have top people on it,” said Walt. “Including people from that era, who know exactly the pitfalls and also have access to modern technology.”
“Which people?”
“It’s still secret as to their identities. But like I said, I can confirm rumors that the Borlaug Institute is already paying significant dividends.”
Amy rolled her eyes. “Over a billion dollars funneled into a figurative black hole in Iceland. Why would you believe anything they say?”
“They’re going to have some serious proof soon,” said Walt.
__________
Iceland. Joachim had never, ever expected to visit Iceland. But yet here he was…again. He stood with no cane, with nothing supporting him but his own two legs. He stared at a nearby volcanic massif, one covered with green lichen. The spring was coming in, and the ground around him was similarly strewn with fuzzy green growth. His beard and hair were now coming in dark again, with only a hint of gray at the tips to betray his true age.
He heard some light-footed steps coming up the trail behind him. It must be Zawahir.
“Why the hell am I back in Iceland?” Joachim replied.
"This is where the tech is, at least for the moment. How are you feeling, sir?”
“I feel…like my old self, Zawahir. I forgot what it was like to have knees that don’t hurt anymore. How is Corina’s, er, ‘tanking’ proceeding?”
“Very well, sir. I am overseeing the procedure of her ‘tanking’ myself, I just wanted to come and let you know that everything is looking good.”
Joachim looked down at the back of his hand. It was no longer wrinkled, no longer showed a welter of age spots. “When?”
“She should be out in…seventy-two hours. That’s how long it took you.”
“Good to know.” He turned to face Zawahir. “My friend, I am going to need every single internet connection you have for the next seventy-two hours. I have a lot of design work to take care of in that time frame; I will need to have a lot of meetings using those oh-so-clever ‘online’ apps. I’ll be indisposed after that.”
“Sir?”
Joachim stepped forth and placed a newly-strong hand on Zawahir’s shoulder. “My dear Zawahir. I am now physically twenty again. In the next three days my wife, the love of my life and she who I hold dear above all else, will also emerge from your magic alien goo and she will also be physically twenty years old. What do you think will happen after she is thus reborn?”
Zawahir’s eyes widened. “Oh. OH! Yes, of course. Please, follow me.”
Joachim chuckled to himself as he followed the man towards the low-roofed buildings of the Borlaug Institute in the distance.
__________
Chao was now clad back in her pressure suit; fortunately, the aliens were quite adept at helping the humans back into their cloth-and-glass cocoons. She looked over at Parvati. “Neil can bite us.”
Parvati grinned. “For sure. Neil was a very great man, but sadly he never got to see an alien starship.”
Chao checked the readout at her wrist, ensuring that she was indeed sealed up and pressurized. She looked over at her four fellow humans, and received nods in return. “We’re go, Captain Sadaf.”
The on-board crew of the Rithro were now back in their chromed, faceted hardsuits. “Depressurizing,” said Sadaf. “Please monitor those to either side, sing out if you see any stress.”
Chao reminded herself to breathe normally as things just got…quiet. Very quiet. She managed, through sheer willpower, to not have an utter panic attack as she realized that there was nothing between her and a life-sucking nothing except for a few layers of fabric and plastic.
She glanced over at Parvati, who looked to be also in the midst of trying (and fortunately succeeding) at combating her own panic attack behind her Plexiglas helmet. “Doing okay?” asked Chao, and immediately felt like an idiot for asking such a stupid question.
Still, Parvati nodded. Chao felt a tap at her shoulder, and looked over at Martinez. The corporal grinned at her from behind his own transparent head-cocoon. “Doing okay?” he asked with just the right bit of cheekiness.
Chao slapped his shoulder, but it was a playful slap. “Dipshit.” She forgot, in the moment, that she was begin transmitted live to the world. Her curse was thus broadcast to pretty much every kid on the planet, who then gleefully repeated her curse-word until they all got smacked by their parents.
She didn’t know that at the time, her entire world was the airlock door that now opened to reveal…black.
Utter black.
Chao had enough experience in zero-g maneuvering to push herself towards the door. “Oh. Man. Folks, this is it. Gonna step outside, for at least a little bit.”
She could feel both Martinez on one side and Sadaf on the other. The latter figured; the captain struck Chao as a ‘lead from the front’ type.
“Grip the frame,” said Sadaf. Through the translator bead her voice was deadly calm. “No big muscle movements, just kind of…drift where you want to go.”
Chao obediently swung herself up and out of the boat, reveling in the fact that now she was seeing the Exultant Finger of Rithro in real time. The long ship stretched alongside a clamshell-like shield, its radiators stretched out towards the Earth in a gesture of surrender.
Speaking of which…
Chao kept a firm hold on the doorframe as she looked behind her. A small, fragile, blue-and-white marble floated before her, a sphere which looked to be the size of her thumb-tip held at arm’s length. Chao did so with her free gloved hand, watching her thumb occlude that fragile-loooking sphere. And in that moment, her world was completely changed.
It is one thing to know a fact. It is one thing to meet aliens, to accept that they are from oh so very far away, that your world is but one little dust mote drifting in the vast and limitless cosmic ocean. But it is quite another to see that fact laid bare before you, where you can witness it in real-time through nothing but a Pexiglas helmet. Chao now knew. Everyone she’d ever known, everyone she’d ever heard of, every king or warlord or emperor or internet celebrity who anyone had ever heard of had lived down there, upon a sphere that looked to her like the most ephemeral of soap-bubbles. She had the crazy notion that she could just reach out one gloved finger and pop it.
She also knew that millions, perhaps billions, were watching this live via her bodycam. Perhaps they were going through the same epiphany.
Her breath caught in her throat, and she knew she was on the verge of tears. No, that was a bad thing. She was in freefall; there was no way for those tears to stream down her face. They would just collect over her eyes and blind her. So Chao breathed in deep and managed to tamp down those threatened tears.
“Chao?” called out Sadaf through her comm. “Are you all right?”
“I’m good, Captain. Just…next time…, we send up a poet.”
__________
Shaw hated, hated, hated having to use a wheelchair to get around. Most of the time he could wheel himself around using his substantial arms, but every so often the nursing staff would try to get oh so helpful and try to push him towards where he was going. Several of them had nearly lost limbs of their own thanks to such efforts.
Still, he was alive and that was a good thing. Although…watching Agent Milton Vila and his family, who were nearby as he went through his own convalescence, made Shaw reevaluate his life choices. It would be nice to have a wife and kid to hug while one went through the worst thing ever. But he was too old, such things were well behind him. While on autopilot, Shaw wheeled himself down the tiled and very off-white hallway with a sour air. One which told the entire staff that he was Not To Be Disturbed. He was thinking of a particular girl, one with the cutest pigtails and the sunniest smile. Yeah, she would have been the one, if he’d had his head on straight back then.
And then, in spite of his ‘Fuck the Fuck Off energy’, someone did block his path.
He stared at a pair of narrow legs, clad in narrow pants, then looked up with a distinct lack of humor. “I do believe you are in my way.”
The dark-skinned man blocking his path smiled, but it was a gentle smile. “I am. But, I am very sure you will want to hear my offer. Both you and Agent Vila.”
Shaw regarded him with gimlet eyes. “Oh, really? What’s your name?”
“I’m Zawahir Ibn Harith. I am the head of the…”
“I don’t give a single solitary fuck,” said Shaw. “I’ve had plenty of people trying to get me to tell them my life story since I got my leg removed with extreme prejudice. I don’t know how you got in here, but you strike me as someone just like them, Harith. So. I may be minus one leg, but I can still fuck you up but good. I can fuck you up so bad you’ll never shit right again. Do you wanna get out of my way now?”
The man’s smile didn’t change. “Borlaug Institute.”
“What. Really?”
“Really, sir. Both you and Agent Milton Vila. It sounds…very cynical, but you were the two that we wanted to heal first. As an object lesson to humanity. Do you understand?”
The notion made Shaw’s mind reel. “Heal?”
“Fully. We have successfully restored two people to the prime of life, and we are now certain that we can do the same for you and Agent Vila. With all of your limbs intact. We have done a great many tissue-sample experiments, and it appears that the regeneration also re-grows limbs.”
Shaw looked down at his missing lower leg. “And you’ll do the same for Milton?”
“Of course, sir.”
“Stop calling me sir, I work for a living. Call me Mack.”
“Very well…Mack. I won’t lie to you, this has been planned well in advance. But it turned out that limb re-growth for humans also unlocked certain regeneration within our cells, particularly the telomeres…”
Shaw held up a meaty hand. “Just…I’m a dumb grunt in such matters, don’t bother to tell me how it works. So you have some kind of magic goo that you slather over me and hey presto I’m twenty again?”
“That is more or less the shape of it, si…Mack. You will need to be immersed in the ‘magic goo’ for at least three days. Perhaps more, since this will also be regenerating a limb.”
“Either way, I go first,” said Shaw, with a flinty glare up at Zawahir. “I’m the test subject, and you need to test me good after I get re-birthed from your goop. I know you said you’d done it on two people, but we need to make sure this doesn’t give me some kind of bullshit super-cancer before Milton goes in. He’s got a wife and a kid. If he has to use a prosthetic instead of magic alien goo, then he has to use that instead. Understand?”
Zawahir gave Shaw a little bow. “Of course. I do believe you are quite the appropriate test subject.”
“Oh, go fuck yourself. Where is this shindig taking place, anyway?”

Chapter 6: Two Girls, One Cuck
Me: Is he always like this during gaming weekends, or is this all my fault?
Athena: He’s always ranting and raving about his crusade of the week. And he usually gets into a screaming match with Mori over something dumb. But this is some next-level rage.
Sage (to Athena): You ummm... told...
Athena: She knows, babe. She already knew.
Sage: Okay. So sorry about that, by the way.
Me: It’s fine. It’s nothing new.
Sage: He usually has some nasty chick come over on Friday or Saturday. They go... do whatever they do, and then he comes back either completely chill or completely enraged. And fucking RANK.
Me: Maybe I should have packed his fleshlight for him.
Axton: Why the hell does he need a fleshlight when he’s got you?
Me: Oh, he hardly ever tries to do anything with me. And the last few times he tried; he was too plastered.
Snorlax: Whisky wang?
Me: Bingo.
Axton: That’s criminally negligent. Do you need a hug?
I smiled. “It’s fine. The whisky wang lets me off the hook. But I’m not gonna turn down a hug.”
I crawled over to him and let his arms envelop me. As I had been starved for affection for nearly a year, this was better than sex. Underneath the general aura of cigarette smoke and whiskey that permeated the room, I could smell his skin. It was intoxicating. So I nestled into that rare, delicate balance of euphoria and tranquility until we heard the back door open and close. Axton and I scrambled to opposite sides of the room. But it was just Mori.
Mori (grinning mischievously): What did I walk in on?
Athena: Nothing that would excite you, Mori.
Mori approached me and sat down. “I think he’s chilled out. Right now, he just needs to know that you’re not mad at him. Are you up for going to talk to him.”
I blinked. “I am mad at him. I’m embarrassed. And anything I say to him is just gonna piss him off.” Plus, I was high as a fucking kite on Adderall and affection. “Let me think about it for a minute?”
I considered a novel approach. After the puke-inducing fight that he’d had with Mori last night, they had made peace. I decided I would mimic Mori’s actions and try call a truce with as few words as possible, which would ideally prevent FPB wasting hours playing the victim and assassinating my character.
Me: I’ll let him know that it’s chill. That’s all I can do.
Mori nodded.
I headed for the back door and stepped onto the porch.
Me: FPB?
He grunted. He was sitting slumped in a chair on the porch, smoking a cigarette. I moved around so that I was standing in front of him and I offered my hand.
Me: Peace?
FPB: From now on, you only talk to Athena and Sage. No talking to ANY of the single dudes.
He was pointing his cigarette at me and punctuating each phrase with a little jab of the cherry in my direction.
Me: That’s not reasonable. Would you prefer it if I just left? How am I supposed to play if I’m not allowed to talk to half the people on the team? Or the GM?
FPB: Then you only talk about game-related stuff. Mori’s junk doesn’t go anywhere near you, you don’t share beer with Snorlax, and you don’t so much as look at pretty boy, Axton.
Me: If it’s game-related stuff, Axton’s the one I need to be talking to the most. You talk to Snorlax when we’re planning an attack.
FPB: That’s different.
Me: HOW?
FPB: Because Snorlax isn’t trying to get in my PANTS.
So much for a succinct truce. I decided to try and steer the conversation in a different direction.
Me: I’m being serious. I tagged along this weekend so that I could try to have FUN learning to play this game you love so much. (I extended my hand more fervently.) Peace?
FPB: Swear to me that you won’t so much as look at that jizz-mopping pretty boy.
Me: Only if you swear to me that some girl didn’t come over here to hook up with you last night.
FPB went white.
Me: It is what it is. But if you get to receive booty calls here, I’m allowed to interact with your friends. ALL of them.
FPB grunted dismissively.
I wanted to say, “If you’re allowed to LICK, I’m allowed to LOOK.” Again, I refrained from deliberately angering FPB out of respect for the other people whose time was being disrupted by his rage. And he was no longer snarling and shouting. That was as about as good as it was gonna get. I went back inside and took my seat. Everyone looked at me, appearing anxious to hear what had happened.
Me: Well, he had some unreasonable demands... I refused them. But I think he’s calm enough to play again. No promises.
FPB slammed the back door and trudged back to his assigned seat.
Mori: Axton and Sage, please trade places.
FPB: Why? Do you think I’m gonna...
Mori held up his magic Funky-silencing hand. “My run, my rules.”
It was FPB’s roll. It wound up being successful. Very successful. As he entered the media station, a swarm of heavily armed guards surrounded him, but he managed to obliterate all of them, wielding a sword in one hand and an SMG with homing bullets in the other hand. This might have been just the thing we all needed to calm his ass down!
Mori: Show of hands for all who consider this an epic success!
We all voted affirmatively.
Mori: Then my Assistant GM shall prepare the finest tincture in the land for our supreme Street Samurai, Funky P. Beard.
Sage soon returned with a shot of Johnny Walker Blue. FPB sniffed it deeply, toasted to the team, and slugged it back in one gulp. I think I even saw a small smile on his face, although it was hard to tell underneath that behemoth of a beard.
I exhaled and felt myself relax as much as I could with Adderall fueling my wakefulness. I planned a super sick (albeit risky) complex action, rolled, and... got hit with Tar Baby. That was a giga-glitch.
FPB looked over at me with menacing eyes. But I had an idea.
Mori: OP, come accept a staff punishment!
Me: Game Master... Sir? FPB, our epically successful Samurai, suggested to me that I should kiss Athena instead of kissing your staff.
I glanced nervously at Athena. She was giggling. Good. I hadn’t offended her. I also glanced nervously at Sage. He was grinning from ear to ear. Good. I hadn’t offended him, either.
Mori pretended to ponder...
Mori: ACCEPTABLE! You shall kiss for 15 seconds. Assistant GM, you keep time.
Sage: No way, dude. I’m watching.
Snorlax: I’ll do it. No promises that I’ll keep my eyes on the timer.
FPB growled at him.
Athena and I turned to each other, trying to keep from laughing. This was nothing new to me. I had kissed girls onstage, at theatre parties, during games of truth or dare... And I was confident that this wouldn’t anger FPB in the slightest. If anything, it might put him in a better mood.
Snorlax: 3... 2... KISS!
Everything was fine at first. Athena was giggling, which made me giggle, but we kept our lips locked. Then, after only a few seconds... she seemed to vanish. I opened my eyes and saw that FPB had grabbed her, pulled her away, and was now dragging her to the corner of the War Room near the staircase.
FPB: YOU WICKED THUNDER-SEE-YOU-NEXT-TUESDAY! HOW DARE YOU KISS MY GIRLFRIEND?!?!
With an almost feline stride, Sage crossed the room and put FPB in a chokehold. FPB was screeching and furiously thrashing about, but Sage seemed to be trained in martial arts (couldn’t tell you which one, specifically).
FPB: OP, YOU’RE A DEMENTED SLUT. I KNOW YOU’VE BEEN HOOKING UP WITH AXTON. I KNOW YOU AND MORI HAVE BEEN SNORTING COKE OFF EACH OTHER’S ASSES. NOW YOU’RE KISSING GIRLS, TOO! I SHOULD MA...nhjsnjvB...SVJLjvvvvvv... And then he passed out.
Silence fell over the War Room.
Mori: So... You wanna go snort coke off my ass?
I laughed. “I’m good with the Addy, Mori. But thank you.”
I glanced over at Axton, and he raised his eyebrows, silently making the follow-up to Mori’s joke. I felt the corners of my mouth involuntarily turn upwards and I raised my eyebrows in return.
But the beard stirred. Sage was still in full attack mode and Athena stood by at a safe distance. I crossed the War Room and asked if FPB had hurt her. She shook her head.
Athena: No, I’m fine. I just don’t want another fight to break out.
Me: I’m so sorry. I had no idea he’d get mad about THAT.
Athena: Right?! What’s wrong with him? I thought all guys liked to watch girls kiss.
Mori made his way over to a defeated FPB and an enraged Sage.
Mori: Gentlemen... Shall we take a break from the planning phase and settle this score with some PVP?
Sage: NO. We’re not settling this in game. Funky P. Beard called my girlfriend a horrible name, he physically attacked her...
Athena: I’m fine, babe. Can we just play without FPB for a while?
Sage: Okay, maybe he didn’t hurt her. But he definitely crossed a line.
Mori: I agree. There should be consequences.
Sage: No dick slaps or looking at your butthole or sitting in your lap as “punishments” this time. Actions have natural consequences. The natural consequences are that he scared my girlfriend, he embarrassed his girlfriend, and he pissed me off. He also disrupted our game, so I assume the rest of you are pissed off?
Before anyone could answer, FPB played the victim and pretended to cry over Sage choking him out after he grabbed Athena and called her that awful name. Nobody cared. Once he realized that he wasn’t getting any sympathy, he began to rage about being forced to watch his girlfriend “cuckold” him and how he was being made to feel like he wasn’t manly since he was offended by the sight of two girls kissing. Mori used the magic Funky-silencing hand and invited the rest of us to express our grievances. He also challenged Funky to take it all in without verbally (or physically) attacking anyone.
Snorlax offered FPB some weed to help him calm down, and FPB launched into an irrational tirade about how much he hated drugs. He also mocked Snorlax for his weight, which isn’t cool. If your personality sucks, your physical appearance is fair game for mockery. Otherwise, it’s just rude. Plus, Snorlax is a cute chubby guy. They do exist.
Axton basically told him he needed to take the stick out of his ass, and FPB barked out some more accusations of lust. In the midst of these accusations, he referred to me as “his property,” and declared that I was too “shallow and FEMALE” to make my own decisions. Axton clenched his fists and took a few steps towards FPB, but Mori intervened and gave a very flowery speech about going outside and letting the fresh air carry away the aggression.
Snorlax followed Axton outside, merrily carrying a bong. The whole thing wrapped up when I said, “I’m not your property. I agreed to be your partner once upon a time, but this isn’t a healthy partnership. I’m out. I’m done trying to be a girlfriend to someone who thinks so little of me.”
This was far from the first time I’d delivered this speech to FPB, so I had it memorized. Of course, it never “hit” the way I hoped it would. FPB wasn’t contrite. He didn’t seem sad to lose me. He seemed, as always, righteously angry over having a possession confiscated. So I went to join Axton and Snorlax on the porch. Athena whispered, “Good for you, girl!” as she followed me out, leaving the principal and the vice principal to deal with the delinquent.
A lot of commotion ensued in the corner of the War Room after FPB muttered a very offensive term for “lesbian” at Athena as she exited. Mori had to physically restrain Sage from beating the tar out of FPB. Mori also apparently got a little excited whist restraining his Assistant GM, and they traded some colorful words. Athena closed the door on the hullabaloo.
The bong was bubbling away and the sweet, skunky scent of gonja filled the air.
Snorlax: Want a hit?
Me: Nah. I feel like I might have to dash any minute now if FPB keeps raging, so I need to keep my head clear.
Axton: You’re not leaving with him, are you?
Me: Hell no! I’ve got my car here, and he’s NOT coming with me if I feel like it’s time for me to ghost.
Axton: Is there any way we can vote his ass off the island and convince you to stay?
I cautiously approached the bench where Axton and Snorlax were sharing the bong. They shifted a little to make room for me, and I sat down next to a still shirtless Axton. Athena pulled up a chair next to the bench and took a tiny flask from the pocket of her PJs and slugged back a few sips of liquid tranquility.
Me: For the sake of the other people on the road, I wouldn’t let his drunk ass get behind the wheel. Does Sage have a soundproof basement where we can lock him up?
Athena: I WISH.
Axton unapologetically threw his arm around my shoulder, and I brazenly laced my fingers through his.
Athena: OP, why did you start dating FPB? That might be too personal...
Me: No, it’s fine. Believe it or not, he was incredibly nice to me at first. He thinks I keep pulling away from him because he’s too nice, but... Let’s just say that he and I have very different definitions of “nice.”
Snorlax: Maybe I’m just high, but I think he was pretty chill when we first formed the team.
Axton: I didn’t join until last year, so I’ve only known him as a raging psycho.
Me: You’re both right. That’s his M.O. He’s nice and normal until he’s secured his place.
Before I had the chance to fully explain my perception of FPB’s uncanny ability to simulate sanity, Sage and Mori stepped onto the porch, with FPB trailing dejectedly behind them.
Mori: We’ve decided to wrap it up for the night. Feel free to get drunk as hell, smoke weed, snort coke off each other’s asses, party like rockstars! We’ll reconvene at noon tomorrow.
But fucking Funky lifted his head and roared, “You’re cheating on me AGAIN???”
Me: I told you, Funky. I’m out. I quit. We’re done. And you hate my living guts, so what the hell do you care???
FPB: I didn’t agree to that. So we’re still together.
Sage: That’s not how breakups work, FPB. And what exactly is your definition of cheating?
FPB: She’s cheated on me with EVERYONE. Except you, Sage. You’re actually the only one I still trust. OP’s a SLUT.
Me: WHEN have I cheated on you?
FPB: You let Mori put his dick on your face...
Me: So did literally EVERYONE here...
Mori: Hell, I’d put it on my own face if I were flexible enough!
FPB: I’m still talking. You also stuck your hand in Mori’s butt crack. You shared a beer with Snorlax. You kissed Athena. And now you’re sitting there canoodling with Pretty Boy in front of everyone. CHEATER.
Mori threw his arm around FPB. “This? Is this a good canoodle, or is your noodle still limp?”
FPB shrugged him off. “Barf me a river, Mori. It’s the intention.”
Mori (hugging FPB around the waist): Okay, suppose I’m imagining going to Pound Town with you right now. (He added a few demonstrative pelvic thrusts.) Does that mean we’ve hooked up?
FPB flailed about until Mori let go of him, bellowed some barely intelligible insults towards everyone, made some random animal noises, and stomped back into the house. As much as I hated to see my new friends on the receiving end of his wrath, I don’t think I would have ever been able to effectively stand up to him without five witnesses to his bizarre behavior who miraculously had my back, despite having a long history of friendship with FPB.
I had tried to discuss our problems with close friends in the past, but FPB would always be on his best behavior in front of them, so I always wound up looking like the asshole. It took the presence of people with whom he felt comfortable enough to stomp around (sans mask) in order to gather witnesses to the insanity. And gather them, I had. I was FREE.

Was advised to get inducted at 39+1 - had gestational diabetes - in hindsight probably shouldn’t have agreed too early!
Went in on Saturday - had a lovely private room to get settled into. Had a cervix check to see if I was dilated at all (nope) - it was beyond painful for me - something I really didn’t see coming! Turns out the midwife had done a sweep at the same time without asking me! This made the next 24hrs quite unbearable! Then proceeded to insert the propess which was also painful as she made it very sore down there. Was told to wait 24hrs - they would monitor me and baby’s heart rate every 4hrs.
Was told I got to 1cm after 24hrs and would need a 2nd dose of propess. Very discouraging! But went ahead - again painful insertion but I was given gas and air this time. 🤷‍♀️ kind of helped.
Made no progress!! So they decided to give me the gel Prostin to see if that would start anything. And was told to wait 6hrs for it to kick in. It didn’t. So I was taken to the delivery suites to get an epidural and start the oxytocin. Boy this was the hard part - start off on a small dose age whilst constantly monitored to get those contractions going. Doseage upped every 6hrs.
I was making the smallest progress in terms of CM dilation. It went from 1cm to 3cm to 7cm (!) only to be told it was more like 5cm ….. after 2 days of trying to get fully dilated - I developed a fever!!!!
Was told I should really consider a c section and so I did!
C section is such a quick turn around (could have been given my situation) but probably within 30mins of signing the forms I was wheeled into theatre.
The whole process is so quick - 5mins to get baby out and 10mins to sow me back up!
Recovery in postnatal ward is brutal though. My hospital grouped 6 in a room. All the babies were setting each other off. Everyone trying to deal with their battle wounds. Check ups from the midwives at random times throughout the evening and mornings. The worse 3 days ever.
Speaking on c section recovery - its still early days but my gosh is the exhaustion real. The heaviness of the scar and not be able to sneeze or cough without pain is horrible. Plus having to deal with a newborn! The sleepiness nights really have commenced and I don’t know how I’m pulling through!
Hope this story helps anyone and gives some insight into my experience! Onwards and upwards with my baby girl :)

Hey folks,
Here’s what I’ve got today.
https://imgur.com/a/U0m24ln
3 sets of infinitely adjustable watch straps. Here’s the deal, this is how they work.
If you’re in between holes on all of your straps, and it fills you with rage, these are worth considering.
They’re 20mm straps, each pair comes as a set. What I mean by that is there’s one rubber strap and one sailcloth strap in each set. The buckle is interchangeable with a simple spring pin removal. The clasp may have light scuffing, but the one I opened and kept for myself was perfect. Ymmv. $30 for each set shipped.
Up next- 2 NH35 movements with a 4 o’clock crown. Not 3, not 3.8, 4 o’clock.
If you have a watch with a 4 o’clock crown that needs a new movement, or you want to do a build, this is what you’re looking for. No cutting dial feet, no switching date wheels, this is a drop in replacement. $30 each shipped.
I also have a SPB149 dial, a Seestern 62 mas complete case with matching bracelet, a Seiko 7002 case with new glass and an OEM MIJ dial. I need to disassemble some of this stuff though and don’t want to break the sub rules. If anyone has an interest please let me know.
Cheers.

Prices do not include shipping unless stated, bundled will save on shipping. $5 to ship to US for most smaller items and calculated for international.
Accepting payment with Paypal F&F
Playstation Pocket Station Clear: $30
Gameboys:
Gameboy DMG Black Boxy Pixel: $300

• Anodized Aluminum shell & buttons
• IPS screen with OSD & brightness controls via wheel
• Fully Recapped
• New FP speaker
• Cleanpower board
• Glass Lens

Gameboy Pocket: $135

• OEM Shell/buttons/membranes
• FP IPS screen with touch sensor for palets
• Brightness control wheel
• Helders GBP power regulator

Gameboy Macro Black: $50

• helders flex amp
• aftermarket shell/buttons

PS2:

• Cold Fear no manual $40

SNES: Loose

• Donkey Kong Country 2 (Player's Choice) $28
• NHL 97$10

GB: loose

• Bo Jackson $8
• NFL Football$2

GBC: loose

• Quest for Camelot $5
• Powerpuff Girls Battle Him $8
• Driver $9
• Toy Story 2 $6
• Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (label damage) $12

GBA Video: loose

• GBA Video All Grown Up Volume 1 $6

GBA: loose

• Backyard Baseball $6
• Backyard Sports Baseball 2007 $5
• Cabelas Big Game Hunter $5
• Cartoon Network Speedway $5
• Cruis'n Velocity $10
• Danny Phantom The Ultimate Enemy $6
• Disney Princess $5
• Dora the Explorer Pirate Pigs Treasure $3
• Dora's World Adventure $3
• Duel Masters Kaijudo Showdown $10
• Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls $20
• Final Fantasy IV $25
• Finding Nemo the Continuing Adventures $7
• F-14 Tomcat $3
• Ford Racing 3 $5
• Froggers Adventures Temple of Frog $3
• Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets $8
• Hot Wheels All Out (no label) $4
• Lego Bionicle $6
• Mario Kart Super Circuit $20
• Monster Truck Madness $7
• Midnight Club $5
• Midways Greatest Arcade Hits $7
• Namco Museum $7
• Nicktoons Freeze Frame Frenzy $6
• Pac-Man: Classic NES Series $10
• Pac-Man Collection $5
• Peter Pan Return to Neverland$7
• Pokemon Pinball (holographic repro label) $20
• Power Rangers Dino Thunder $5
• Power Rangers Wild Force(no label) $5
• Shark Tale/Shrek 2 2in1 $10
• Shrek Hassle at the Castle $5
• Spy Muppets License to Croak $6
• Spy Kids Challenger $6
• Spyhunter $10
• Sword of Mana $20
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (label damage) $4
• Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (label peeling)$5
• Trollz Hair Affair $3
• Wild Thornberrys Movie $5

GBA JP:Loose

• JP Dragon Ball Z $10

GameGear: Loose

• Sonic the Hedgehog & Sonic the Hedgehog 2 $15

DS:

• My Sims Kingdom(loose) $5

If you see something you like, let me know. I'm sure we can strike a deal!

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Preamble
This draft ranking does not reflect who I believe will be taken at each draft position, nor which player fits best with each team at each draft position. This draft ranking is solely a reflection of who I think should be taken in each draft position based on their most likely (read: median or 50th percentile) outcome. My draft philosophy generally values players based on how well I think they would do on a typical NBA championship contending roster. I typically value shooting a lot, because historically it matters a lot.
TLDR:

1. Wemby
2. Scoot
3. Brandon Miller
4. Taylor Hendricks
5. Kobe Bufkin
6. Cason Wallace
7. Anthony Black
8. Brice Sensabaugh
9. Gradey Dick
10. Jordan Hawkins
11. Amen Thompson
12. Jarace Walker
13. Cam Whitmore
14. Derek Lively

Long form:
1. Victor Wembanyama: I think he has a very clear path to be the greatest defensive player of all time. His improvement on the defensive end this season from Game 1 to Game 48 was utterly remarkable, and I think he profiles to be a top 5-10 Centre in the league as a rookie on the back of this ability alone. I think his offense needs a lot of work, and while it’s possible he could become an unstoppable force on that end, I don’t really see him reaching the heights of KAJ or Hakeem or Shaq. He doesn’t really have any moves to get him easy points, and NBA teams will soon figure out that undersized PFs with a strong and low centre of gravity (PJ Tucker, Al Horford, Draymond Green, OG Anunoby types) can get into his body and completely take him out of the game. He never really figured out how to overcome these defenders this season in France, whereas he improved in every other respect. Aside from that, I think the shooting will become very good with time, and I think it will be a privilege to watch his career. Oh, and I have no real injury concerns, nor would they change my evaluation of him when his ceiling and floor are both this high.
2. Scoot Henderson: I think he’s going to be a franchise PG, simple as that. Will he reach the top echelon (top 5-10 player in the league) or not, I don’t know. However, I need a PG who has a good handle, who has athleticism, who has good vision and playmaking, and who can shoot off the dribble. While most will not be impressed by his 3P shooting numbers, he shot 31% from 3P off the dribble (NBA 3P line), and 42% on small volume catch and shoots. He also shot 38% from midrange on the highest volume in the entire class, which would be 4th best behind Sensabaugh, JHS, and Cason Wallace. If he can hit C&S 3s, and he is a great midrange pull-up shooter, I believe the pull-up 3P shooting will come around. He’s also a rock defensively when he’s engaged. This is not really a discussion imo.
3. Brandon Miller: I’m lower on Miller than some, but I still think it’s impossible to deny what he accomplished this season. I like his premium shooting, positional size, and the fact that he has no glaring holes. I think there is very little argument for him to be above Scoot, because he just does not have on-ball juice as a lead handler. He has a good handle for his size and he can make basic reads, but he’s not going to be a guy who can get to the rim 20 times a night like Scoot can. Yes, he has a high floor because he will always have his shooting, but a 3 & D player or #2/3 option is much less valuable than a star lead handler (Ja Morant is more valuable than Khris Middleton).
4. Taylor Hendricks: Taylor Hendricks has three major strengths – high level rim protection (especially as a secondary rim protector), excellent switchability and versatility, and excellent shooting for the PF position. In today’s NBA, on a contending team, that literally the only three things you need from your perfect PF role player. Unlike many of the players I’ve ranked lower, Hendricks only has to continue to do what he already does well in order to be a valuable player for a contending team. His weaknesses – on-ball creation, handle, iffy-but-passable finishing on layups – are not things I NEED from him to feel good about him. If you told me those things will not improve for him until his 5th or 6th year of his career, it still wouldn’t change my mind. As long as his strengths translate (and I think they will), he will be a top 5-10 PF in the league for a long time IMO. That’s worth a top 5 pick to me, even if he won’t be a lead creator.
5. Kobe Bufkin: For me, Bufkin and Hendricks are neck and neck, and I would be fine with either one being #4. With Bufkin, Michigan was +10 with him on the floor and -11 with him off this season. He shot 40% from 3P after his first 5 games this year, and he shoots 85% from the line. He shoots 70% at the rim, and 66% at the rim in the half court. These are all elite numbers. He also shot 37.5% from midrange pull-ups, which is Scoot-tier (albeit on half the volume). Lastly, he shot 34.5% on pull-up 3s, which is solid and very valuable for a guard prospect. I also love that Bufkin just has amazing hands, I liken him a bit to Kyrie, though of course he isn’t that level. Defensively he is a rock, he’s got good positional size, he’s a solid athlete, his passing vision is good-not-great but he’s a score-first guard, and he’s freshman-aged despite being a sophomore. Overall, I guess I just think he’s possibly the most skilled guard in the class, and he has everything else.
6. Cason Wallace: Wallace has been miscast as a “defense-first” guard IMO. He offers excellent defense at the guard position, but he’s also just a great point guard. I think people underrate his shooting – 35% from 3P, including 33% on pull-ups and a staggering 45% on midrange pull-up 2s. At the rim, he shoots 65% which is excellent, and 56% on halfcourt layups which is not quite Bufkin-tier, but the same as Scoot. Essentially, I have no concerns about Wallace’s scoring ability in the NBA – the 3P shot will improve and he’s already great everywhere else. I think his passing vision is a good even if not elite, and he makes the right reads almost everytime. His defense is better than Bufkin’s but I also think he’s become overrated – he doesn’t have the physique to be a Marcus Smart or Jrue Holiday. He’s just going to be a solid POA defender, get steals, get blocks, and make smart rotations on defense while giving you some switching. I understand the qualms about his shot creation ability because he doesn’t really pop off the page, but I think it’s being overstated – he can drive and get to the rim, even through the bad spacing he had to deal with. Also, realistically, most guards use a screen in today’s NBA anyway.
7. Anthony Black: AB has two elite skills – perimeter defense, and vision/playmaking. If you haven’t seen the Maui invitational, I highly recommend – specifically his 4th Q performance against Creighton. This guy does not miss any reads. He’s an absolute gifted passer, and he’s over sized. I think on a team with a good roll man, he is going to be a devastating PnR passing threat. He’s got good athleticism to get to the rim and he’s a monster on defense. The shooting will always be a question with him, and I am not optimistic. If I felt better about his ugly ass form and ability to hit 3s, I might even have him at #4. Unfortunately, pull-up 3P and 2P shooting matters a lot for NBA guards, and I’m not sure how good he can really get at those. Still, I think his game is extremely similar to Josh Giddey except more athletic and much better defensively, so I think he has a good role to play in today’s NBA.
8. Brice Sensabaugh: I think it has become lost on us how elite Sensabaugh is as a shooter and scorer. He shot a blistering 52.6% on pull-up 2s on high volume, and shot 40% from 3 (only 26% on pull-up 3s, which I cannot explain other than the fact that it was low volume). He is a gifted scoring prospect, and these are KD/Derozan tier numbers. His defense is bad, but if you watch the film, it’s largely when he’s not engaged/focused. Doesn’t get into his stance, doesn’t pay attention to rotations, etc. However, late game and early game (i.e. when he is focused), I was surprised at how adept he was as a post-defender and I would even say he had decent lateral movement when he was in his stance. I think the offensive upside is so high that he merits a pick here, and a bet that he can be a focused defender in a more limited role playing less minutes. AJ Griffin was a similarly horrific defender last season in addition to being a highly skilled scorer, and his defense has been totally fine this past year. I think at #8, the upside you get if you can coach him to be engaged defensively like Griffin is worth the swing. To be clear, if he was a plus defender, I’d have him over Brandon Miller at #3.
9. Gradey Dick: Everyone knows about the elite shooting with prospects like this. The question is always “what about the defense and the rest?”. To me, Dick is actually a plus defender, I don’t understand why his defense is so hated. He moves his feet excellently, he’s got good positional size, he’s scrappy, and he gets steals. Ultimately, this is your SG – there’s only so much you can ask of defense from that position. He is an adept cutter, plays with a high IQ, he’s athletic, finishes well at the rim… I honestly don’t know what there is to not like. He takes the odd midranger and attacks closeouts well too. This type of player is never going to be a star, but I view him as a Kevin Huerter-type. If he puts on muscle, I could even be convinced that he could be better than Huerter. Kevin Huerter is easily worth a #9 overall pick.
10. Jordan Hawkins: Hawkins is probably the best shooter in the class IMO. He is also a plus defender, probably better than Dick. The reason I don’t have him above Dick is because I don’t think his IQ is as high as Dick’s. He’s not the same level cutter, he isn’t as good at making the next pass or attacking closeouts, he’s not gonna crash the class and get a clutch rebound the way Dick does, and he’s a year older. Still a valuable role player.
11. Amen Thompson: Flat out – I put >50% chance Amen is going to be a bust. I buy his athleticism, but that’s about it. I agree he has some passing vision, but it’s super overrated IMO. A lot of it is transition (near worthless to me), and within the halfcourt he has some flashy highlights, but I don’t even know if he’s a smart decision-maker in the PnR, because we didn’t really see him face good PnR defenses in OTE. I don’t see him finishing around 7 footers, or making difficult passes to the roll man. Despite his athleticism, if you watch the OTE Finals series, he actually struggles to beat his defender in crunch time, which makes you wonder how that’ll go in the NBA. The shooting is broken as hell, I don’t think itll ever come around since he’s been working on it for 2 years and it hasn’t improved. The handle is loose, the motor is not high and he didn’t exactly dominate OTE… he’s older too. I just think he’s going to bust, simple as that. On the off-chance I’m wrong about his passing, and he sorts out his aggressiveness issues and puts more pressure on the rim in the NBA, I think he’s worth a flyer in this range. I think he’s a huge mistake as a top 5 pick though, he’s not an NBA player today or in the near future.
12. Jarace Walker: Some will be confused as to why I have Walker so far behind Hendricks. I think Walker has a high chance of busting, and I don’t consider them to be the same caliber of prospect. To begin, he is not a great point-of-attack defender, unlike Hendricks (despite Walker being smaller). He gets blown by way too often, and this will only get worse in the NBA. Interestingly, when Caitlin Cooper did a breakdown of his game, I noticed she didn’t mention or notice this at all but I care about this a lot. For this reason, despite being smaller than Hendricks, he’s also not as switchable (Hendricks is the better lateral mover). I do agree he is a breath-taking helpside rim protector, so that makes up for it a little. I also think he has good IQ on both ends which helps. Offensively though, I think people will be disappointed. The shot just doesn’t fall for him, and FTs are an issue too. He has the perfect physique to play bully ball and put guys under the rim, but he just doesn’t. He plays remarkably soft for a guy with his build, it almost reminds me of Deandre Ayton – a guy who should be physically dominant but just doesn’t want to be. His handle is good for a PF/C, but certainly not good enough to be a ball handler in any capacity. Yes he can pass, but when is he going to use that skill if he can’t shoot and you’re not going to be running sets for him? I cannot imagine taking the ball out of a lead point guard’s hands to give isolation or PnR reps to Jarace Walker lol. People talk about the Draymond role all the time, but that’s a pipe dream. There have been 100 prospects since Draymond Green who we think will work as well as Draymond does, and they never do. Especially not Jarace, since he has some defensive flaws with his slow lateral movement, while Green is near flawless as a defender and played with the greatest shooters of all-time. Personally, I think Walker can be attacked on defense or in the PnR, and I think you can help off him because he isn’t a credible shooting threat, so I think he has significant bust potential.
13. Cam Whitmore: This is another guy I think has high bust potential. Cam’s elite skill is that he is an explosive one-footed leaper, and he can be a big threat driving to the rim in a straight line. Unfortunately, you need a lot more than that to be a real NBA player. For a guy who makes his living at the rim, for some reason he has a really low FTr which I can’t explain. His biggest red flag is his ball stopping nature and his lack of feel for the game/BBIQ. IF you’re going to be a ball stopper, you gotta be absolutely elite at scoring. He just isn’t. The shot looks good but his misses are so awfully bad, I have to believe he has a long way to go before he becomes a credible 3P threat, given that the NBA line is 2 feet further away. I think his top end outcome is basically Norman Powell, and I don’t think he will become good enough of a shooter or dynamic enough to get to the level of a Miles Bridges-type. On the off-chance his shooting comes around, he’s worth a swing in this range imo.
14. Derek Lively: I view him as a prospect who you feel confident in defensively, but the question will always be his role on offense. I like his defense so I think at worst he can be a bench Centre for a long time in the NBA, but you’d like more than that from a lottery pick. His finishing numbers are solid, so hopefully it’s a good sign.

With the last version of Sumeru arc looming upon us in month (5 July or so), it's time to discuss some speculation about Fontaine arc. It's now a year since there was the thread about Sumeru arc meta discussion and prediction, which you can see here: https://www.reddit.com/Genshin_Impact/comments/vd5me9/30_meta_discussionprediction/
I am not too good at making guesses, so it will likely be off the mark. At that time, the user mentioned that the enemies may be more nimbler or move around a lot more. They were partially rigth, but we also saw the releases of the desert enemies in 3.1 that go invisible and require a few reactions, like the electro reaction, in order to then deal damage to them again. There were the 3.4 and 3.6 enemies though, in particular the consecrated enemies, which as we know were famously very annoying to deal with, especially in Abyss. In particular, it was as the person guessed, these new infused enemies WERE a way to try to 'nerf' Kazuha utility. Even though it wasn't a good attempt.
This might be biased since I haven't really done too much Abyss, but I think Yoimiya DID end up being very useful for me in terms of exploration. However, the biggest surprise is just how strong the Dendro reactions were. Like in fact it's a little bit of powercreep even though it wasnt meant that way, but it also ended up buffing electro characters, like Keqing, Kuki Shinobu and the likes.
There was an elite or boss enemy in I think version 3.6, that was like a hard counter against Nilou teams. I think they swap around elements a lot, so it was a counter to not only Kazuha, but also teams that are based around Nilou's niche. (lmao Nilou mains)
Now we'll look at the enemies in 3.x version. If we follow the pattern along with the 3.x characters, in my opinion, giving an oversimplified or condensed opinion... I think that there is a good possibility that in the Fontaine arc, we might see enemies that will be a hard counter to Dendro units, but also the possibility that they will have attacks that may not necessarily favor you moving around like in 3.x, like slowing you down significantly or even possibly stunlocking you.
I will need your help in trying to guess what will the meta in Fontaine arc be like. It's going to be hard to guess, since it's possible this time it might not reinvent the wheel like Sumeru did and reinvigorating the gameplay, but it's possible they wlll want to keep older characters more relevant. Especially with a very old character... you know who is supposed to be getting the rerun by now? Eula. It is possible that in the Fontaine arc, there will also be emphasis on physical damage. It is possible that we will have a new character that will bring back Eula into meta.
Please leave your comments or reviews on what would possibly be the meta going forward into 4.x version! I do want to appreciate the thoguhts put into this discussion. Thanks in advance!

The episode resumed on the giant octopus with its spiked tentacle held menacingly over the Maggots. It growled and reared the appendage back, prompting Geoff to quickly jump to the back with his teammates just before the front was slammed down upon, launching all four into the air.
They flew screaming across the lake, their shadows passing over the swimming Rats, and finally they crashed down onto the rocky beach of Wawanakwa. They groaned in pain, and Anne Maria was the first to lift her head and look around.
"Hey," she said, "we're in first place!"
"Rad," Geoff weakly groaned.
"The Maggots win," Chris called down from above, leaning out the open door of the helicopter, "and get these as a reward!"
He dropped down two objects, which Molly quickly caught – one was a compass, and the other fell open to reveal a map of the island. "A map and compass," the indie chick said flatly as her teammates looked at their reward.
"I'll keep those so I can navigate us better," Scarlett said, swiping the objects away from Molly.
"Weellll, look who just washed up!" Chris said, turning his attention to the edge of the water as the Rats finally swam ashore.
"I blame the octopus for leaving us like this," Sierra said.
"You can say that again," Scott responded.
"Put a sock in it!" Chris called down to them. "Now, the second part of today's challenge started off as a practical joke involving classic Total Drama competitor Amy. Buuuut, it's turned into more of a rescue mission," he said, pointing a remote down at the beach and pressing the button.
The shot cut to both teams on shore as they turned and looked at a television cart that had just been wheeled over by a long-haired white male intern. The screen cut from static to none other than Amy trapped inside what appeared to be a somewhat spacious wooden coffin. She woke up and bumped her head on the lid. "What? Where am I?" she asked, looking around in confusion. "I'm buried alive?!" she exclaimed and pounded on the low ceiling with her fist in a rather panicked fashion. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
"Burying someone alive is super dangerous," Trent scolded, "even by your standards."
"That's why we're using the buddy system," Chris told them. "And instead of letting last year's losers have all the fun, we brought in one of this year's duds!"
The cast's direction moved back to live feed of Amy as the sound of snoring was heard coming from within her prison. The camera zoomed out to show Katie curled up and asleep in the coffin with her.
"Katie! She's back!" DJ exclaimed excitedly. "What happened to her?"
"She ate a lot of Chef's buttolini," Chris explained as the focus cut back to the beach, "so she's gonna be out for a couple more minutes," he laughed.
"That is just messed up for you to do!" DJ scowled.
Confessional: Sammy
"Is it just me, or does Chris become more and more deranged with each passing season?" Sammy talked to the camera.
Confessional Ends
Chris carried on. "Maggots! You've got your compass and your map to the general vicinity of the chests at the other side of the island. First team to rescue the girls wins the challenge. Now go!"
Geoff, Molly, Anne Maria, and Scarlett ran off into the woods without another word, but as the Rats moved to follow, Chris landed his helicopter on the sand in front of them. "Uh-tu-tut-tut," he said, "not so fast. To the losers go the penalty belts. Chef," he turned to his grinning assistant, "lock 'em in!"
The cook stepped out of the pilot's seat and walked over to the five Rats, and the footage skipped ahead to him locking a metal belt around Trent's waist, with handcuffs attached to each side to keep his arms in place. The camera zoomed out and revealed that identical belts had already been locked onto his teammates.
"These things must weigh a hundred pounds!" Trent complained.
"120 pounds to be exact," Chris replied before slotting a metal detector onto his back.
"How is a metal detector supposed to help us find a chest?" Sierra asked in confusion.
"It's not," Chris smiled, taking out a red megaphone and shouting "Now GO! GO-GO-GO-GO-GO-GO!"
The Rats promptly ran off into the woods.
Confessional: Scott
"We're behind the Maggots and disadvantaged, and I'm going to keep it that way," Scott grinned.
Confessional Ends
The camera moved to a nondescript patch of ground somewhere, a muffled pounding sound coming from below it. Amy was then heard grunting in annoyance, and the scene cut inside her chest as she frantically pulled out a cellphone. "Chris and his crummy show can just burn to the ground," she complained as she started dialing.
A ringing came over the phone, and the screen split down the middle to show Chris answering on the left. "Hello~?" he opened with an almost mocking singsong voice.
"You've gone too far," Amy said. "You can't just-"
She was interrupted by a loud snore coming from within the coffin.
"Was that you?" Chris asked.
"No it wasn't," Amy responded. "This girl's a heavy snorer, and it's driving me nuts."
Chris shrugged as he stowed his phone back in his pocket. "I'm sure she's fine," he said to himself.
\
The scene moved to the Maggots, the four of them arriving at the edge of what the camera soon panned over to show was a massive swamp with smelly, bubbling green water dotted with toxic waste barrels.
Immediately the four began to cough. "This smells like gym socks and skunks in one big burrito," Molly griped.
"According to the map, there's a path around the swamp," Scarlett said, looking at the map in her hands, "but it'll take too long, though."
"We'll just have to go through the stink," Geoff shrugged.
"As long as the Rats don't follow us, I'll go along with it," Anne Maria said before they ran into the swamp.
\
A large purple dragonfly landed atop a stump in another part of the swamp. A pale purple frog sitting on a lilypad nearby promptly shot its tongue out at the dragonfly, only to yelp as the insect caught the tongue in its mouth and bit down hard.
The camera panned to the left, showing the edge of the swamp again as the Toxic Rats arrived.
"Ugh," Sierra immediately complained, her face scrunched up in disgust. "That smell is disgusting!"
"Smells like home," Scott sighed happily.
"We have no other choice. We have to go through here," Trent said.
"Now you're speaking my language," Scott smiled before the two ran through the swamp.
DJ and Sierra were about to jump in, but were stopped by Sammy holding them. "Why did you stop us, Sammy?" Sierra asked.
"You may or may not believe me before, but I need to tell you to vote Scott off if we lose," Sammy begged.
"Why do you want Scott gone?" DJ wondered.
"I've been thinking about it, and I eventually realized that Scott's the one who framed Leshawna," Sammy said. "And I also realized he's the one who paralyzed me with the seagull."
"Why would Scott do that?" DJ asked curiously.
"I don't know, but he's probably trying to sabotage us and pick us off one by one," Sammy replied.
"Scott did try to leave during the trivia challenge," Sierra remembered.
"Are you sure you're telling the truth?" DJ asked the cheerleader. "I wasn't on this team to start with."
"If you don't believe me when I say he's throwing the challenges, then just help me vote him off," Sammy pleaded.
"To be fair, he's super obnoxious and rude," Sierra considered. "I'll definitely vote for him next."
"So will I," DJ agreed. "Mama always taught me to stay away from negative influences." The three jumped into the swamp when their conversation ended.
The camera lingered after they left, just long enough to catch the the dragonfly from earlier buzzing out of the swamp still carrying the frog by its tongue.
\
The scene moved back to the Maggots, Molly and Geoff trailing behind their teammates.
"I say we dispose of Molly should we lose this round," Scarlett said to Anne Maria. "She's not the most supportive player here, and I know you don't want to separate from Geoff."
"Well, Molly hasn't left us behind again, and I'm not going to hold that over her," Anne Maria said, looking back at her map...and unwittingly walking up onto something rough and green and scaly.
She was cut off by an ominous growling below her, and looked down and ahead just as the small, beady eyes of an alligator rose above the surface of the swamp.
The mutant beast promptly reared up, revealing its long tusks, spines, and tentacle-like forelimbs and tossing both Anne Maria and the map into the water. She and Scarlett quickly went back and regrouped with Geoff and Molly, and all four screamed and ran forward just before the mutant alligator pounced onto the spot they'd just been standing in.
"We can hide in that tree!" Molly exclaimed, the camera following to a large tree in the swamp ahead of them. The four quickly ran over to it, Molly giving Scarlett a boost into it before scrambling into the branches herself.
"It's coming back!" Scarlett told them as Geoff pulled Anne Maria up into the tree next. The tanned girl looked back over her shoulder and gasped in fear as the shot quickly cut to the massive mutant swimming towards them, then roaring and pouncing. Anne Maria was pulled up just in time and the alligator slammed head-first into the tree's protruding roots. The whole tree shook, but the camera panned up to show that the Maggots had managed to hang on.
"You're a lifesaver, Party Hat," Anne Maria told the boy who'd pulled her up.
Confessional: Anne Maria
Whenever we're together, Geoff tends to act cool or dumb around me," Anne Maria stated to the camera. "And who can blame him? Check me out. The tan, the hair. Look at me, I'm hot!"
Confessional Ends
"We better leave before that thing wakes up," Anne Maria said, the camera panning up from a shot of the stunned mutant alligator lying at the base of the tree.
"Good idea," Geoff told her before dropping back down into the water. His teammates joined him, and the shot quickly focused on Anne Maria as she pulled out the tattered remains of the map.
"The map's ripped," she spoke.
"That's not a big deal," Molly told her. "We still have our compass, so we'll know where we're going."
"And lucky for us, I kept a hold of the compass," Scarlett said as she held up the object.
Confessional: Scarlett
"I let Anne Maria hold the map for us so if it got ripped, it'll give Molly a reason to try and convince Geoff to vote for me," Scarlett confessed. "Irresponsibility is a big factor as to why previous players got eliminated."
Confessional Ends
The static cut to the five Rats watching the alligator looking around from behind a tree.
"Okay," DJ said, "if we circle around a bit, we can avoid the alligator."
"I don't think we can avoid all of them," Sammy spoke nervously, drawing the team's attention behind the group to a pair of smaller, paler alligators that were swimming towards.
Sierra turned around and smiled confidently. "Don't worry, I'll take care of them," she said. "You guys go get that chest!"
"But-" Sammy said.
"Just go!" Sierra demanded, prompting her teammates to leave.
The two smaller alligators hissed menacingly while Sierra stood her ground and said "I'm not going out without a fight!" The two alligators pounced on her as she let out a scream.
\
"So which way do we go next?" Geoff asked his team.
Scarlett walked ahead a bit. "Moss grows on the northern side of trees and Chris said our goal is to the north, so we need to go that way," the brainiac pointed to the right.
The camera cut to the outskirts of a massive forest of thorn bushes. "We have to go through a thorn bush forest?" Geoff asked in shock and horror.
"Of course not. We go through there," Scarlett pointed to a route closer to the camera and around the thorns.
The Maggots shared a look of wide-eyed shock. "Okay, that's better," Anne Maria nodded.
She, Scarlett, Molly, and Geoff quickly ran off to the right.
\
A flash took the scene to the edge of a clearing with the thick thorn bush forest visible a little ways in the background. The Maggots arrived from the left, and immediately looked around.
"This clearing is just like the one on the map," Anne Maria said as the group moved further into the clearing and started digging.
The Rats were shown arriving later. "The Rats are already digging!" Scott complained.
"And where's Sierra?" Trent asked.
As if of cue, the obsessive uberfan -now sporting a black eye and tattered attire - arrived. "I told you I could fend them off," she woozily bragged. "They gave up after I lost most of my blood." She then passed out and fell near a rock that caused her metal detector to go off. DJ smiled and kicked the rock away to reveal a ring with two keys.
"Two keys?" DJ mused. "The small one must be for the cuffs!"
\
The footage skipped ahead to an unlocked penalty belt falling around DJ's feet. The camera panned up to show him and Sammy examining the other key.
"This one must be for the treasure chest," DJ said.
"Hey guys, I can feel Amy pounding below me!" Scott lied to his team. "We must dig here!"
"Got it," Sammy nodded.
As Sammy and DJ used their metal detectors to dig through the dirt, and Sierra still looking passed out, Scott dragged Trent to a distance away from the team.
"If I tell you something, do you promise to keep it a secret?" Scott whispered.
"Of course. What is it?" Trent pondered, to which Scott took out the invincibility statue. "The invincibility statue?"
"I still can't believe I found it," Scott said. "I looked up a tree and the statue was hidden in the leaves."
"And why are you showing me the statue now?" Trent wondered.
"I just wanted you to trust me," Scott followed up. "Our teammates are obviously going to vote for me, and if I use this, it'll cancel out the votes against me."
"I'm not ready for you to leave yet," Trent smiled. "Thanks for letting me know you'll be safe."
The shot cut to the Maggots digging their hole with Scarlett poking her head out. "The Rats are here, so we need to hurry!" she called out. "How deep did Chris bury them?"
"You don't need to worry about that anymore, because we just found the chest!" Molly said as the lid swung open and Amy quickly hopped out.
"That was insufferable to go through!" Amy panted before walking away from the scene.
"And the Maggots win," Chris called down to them all as he arrived in the helicopter.
With the exception of Scott, the Rats gasped in disappointment while in their hole. "You said you heard them here!" Sammy told the devious boy.
DJ pulled himself out of the hole and ran over to where the Maggots were standing. "Don't worry, Katie! I'll get you out of there!"
He jumped into the Maggots' hole and held Katie in his arms. "Katie! Are you fine? Please wake up!" he told her.
Katie's eyes began to open up, and when she saw DJ holding her, she smiled joyfully. "DJ? Is that you?"
Confessional: Katie
"If eating a lot of turkey makes me fall asleep and wake up into the arms of a really cute guy, I'm ordering 100 packs of turkey when I get home!" Katie confessed.
Confessional: Trent
"Scott told me to vote off DJ with him so we wouldn't be dealing with a threat," Trent admitted. "I don't want to do this to a past and current teammate, but Scott does bring up a good point."
Confessionals End
It was now night time, and after a brief focus on the moon accompanied by a hooting owl, the camera panned down to DJ and Katie sitting together on the steps of the Rats' cabin.
"Sorry you had to go through being buried underground like that," DJ talked to the perky influencer.
"Chris is very underhanded. I'll tell you that," Katie responded.
"I remember you telling me you liked me the day you got hurled out of the island," DJ smiled awkwardly.
"You do?!" Katie's eyebrows raised up.
"Yep, and I never got to respond to you about that," DJ said.
"Well, if you feel differently about what I-" Katie tried to say, but got cut off by DJ touching her lips with his own.
They kissed for a few seconds before they stopped, the two of them looking awkwardly happy.
"That was my way of saying I love you too," DJ said. "I'll have to talk to Mama about this, but once she approves, we can begin our relationship."
"Oh, definitely. I have to go now, but I want you to know I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines," Katie eagerly replied back before they hugged each other affectionately.
\
The scene flashed to a long-distance shot of the island. Another flash, and the camera cut to the campfire pit where the Rats - except for Sierra - were waiting nervously. Chris was in his oil drum podium bearing not a tray of marshmallows, but four slips of small, yellowed paper.
"Okay, players," Chris opened. "The votes are tallied. And by a tied vote, tonight's losers are none other than..."
"Wait," Trent interrupted. "Where are the marshmallows? And more importantly, where's Sierra."
"The marshmallows were eaten by a hungry me," Chris bragged, "and Sierra was deemed too injured and woozy from the alligator attack, so we had her evacuated from the game for good."
"Really?!" Sammy's eyes widened. "Aw. I hope she gets better soon."
"Regardless, I'm still carrying on with the ceremony," Chris continued and read from his slip. "The people with the same amount of votes are…"
Sammy looked at DJ nervously, and DJ took a look at Scott narrowing his eyes at them, to which Trent started feeling worried.
"DJ and Scott."
Trent gasped at the news while Scott looked taken back at first. The dirt farmer soon composed himself and said "Sorry. But I ain't going nowhere." Scott pulled out the statue and flipped it on his hand.
"What!?" Sammy yelped in surprise with DJ gaping as well.
"The invincibility statue! Nice! That means Scott is safe," Chris announced jovially. "This also means that the tiebreaker will be avoided, because tonight, thanks to Trent and Scott, DJ is going home!"
DJ was stunned to hear the news and looked down in disappointment.
"But... no hard feelings, dude. You will be missed," Chris reminded the eliminated contestant.
Trent stood up from his seat. "Sorry for eliminating you, but maybe a group hug can sort things out."
Scott and Sammy followed suit, and eventually, DJ, Sammy, Scott, and Trent were all embracing each other and hugging happily.
\
The scene cut to the docks, where DJ was on the Hurl of Shame as Chris and Chef watched on.
"Ready to fly, DJ?" Chris asked the gentle giant.
"The sooner I'm out of here, the sooner I can talk to Mama about Katie," DJ confirmed, and then, without warning, he was sent flying into the night with a scream.
The camera panned to Chris as he faced the camera with his usual smiling demeanor as the usual cymbal beats opened the series' capstone theme. "And that's another loser out of the game. Come back for even more painful awesomeness, next time, on Total! Drama! Revenge, of the Island!"
(Roll the Credits)

I love my g602. Its basically the perfect mouse for me. I am a gamer and a programmer and it basically checks all the boxes of what I want in a mouse. It's getting pretty old and I have replaced several parts on it and I've been looking for a good replacement for it because the dongle head came off so I kind of have it rigged together this point and every time I take it out of the usb slot it comes apart.
I got the g604 thinking that it would be a good replacement for it and really like almost everything about it but there is one big deal breaker. THE MOUSEWHEEL IS GARBAGE AND BASICALLY UNUSABLE!!!. The rachet scroll is so tight that your finger slips around on it when you try to scroll. The infinity scroll is so frustrating to use because every time you stop scrolling if you don't take your finger off the wheel perfectly without touching it there will be some kickback scrolling that happens. Also the thing rattles and doesn't feel like it is very well built at all. I feel like these issues could be so easily with a little bit of programming but they totally dropped the ball with this one.
So I really like the side buttons on my g602 and i liked the ones on the 604 even more. I can program cut, copy and paste to them along with back, forward and close tab. I need a mouse that has good response time for gaming because I can tell when I take my 602 out of performance mode. I also like the ergonomic shape of both the 602/604. I also like the fact that I can use my own batteries. I don't like the idea of having to plug the mouse in every night or when it dies that I can't just pop a new battery in and keep going. Most people have rechargeable batteries nowadays I don't know why everyone is going to the built in batteries. I guess probably because of weight but I don't like it. I also need a mouse that is wireless.
Does anyone have any recommendations on mice that are similar to the 602 with similar features to what I stated above?

Where do you guys think the B1G teams will rank amongst each other most consistently?
I’ll provide my rankings. Full disclosure, I am an Iowa fan, but I tried to limit my bias.
Obviously, there are some questions around certain teams and not every team will play each other. It’s more for fun/speculation.
Tier 1 1. Ohio State (matter of time before Jim goes back to the drawing board, plus best recruits)

1. Michigan (What happens when Ohio State wins again? Jim has tried everything)
   
2. Penn State (we know why they are here, struggle annually vs top 2 now)
   
3. USC (I think travel will hurt against top 3. Literal time zones. If Iowa State could figure out Riley’s offense/defense, I think the top 3 can easy)
   

Tier 2

1. Wisconsin (New coach/new offense, could be interesting)
   
2. Iowa (Defense is why they are here, if offense gets good or even average, they can threaten anyone above them)
   
3. UCLA (I think travel will hurt. Good defensive teams will hurt)
   
4. Nebraska (Matt Rhule has a big history, but wait and see if it works here. I think it will, but I thought the same with Frost)
   
5. Michigan State (very in flux now, but could shoot up)
   

Tier 3

1. Minnesota (I like where they are now vs the rest)
   
2. Illinois (improved quite a bit last year, usually good for an upset)
   
3. Purdue (Spoilermakers thrive here)
   
4. Maryland (what happens when they lose Tagovailoa?)
   
5. Indiana (very hit or miss, mostly the latter)
   
6. Northwestern (they have been hurting and I feel how you are trending is going to be a big factor in this new system)
   
7. Rutgers (I’m sorry)
   

Edit: I will address the most common complaints here:
I don’t put USC above the other 3 because they have the most amount of factors counting against them. They will have to deal with potential back to back road games, a single week to prepare, crossing time zones repeatedly, and potentially weather issues. Yes, they can recruit better than Michigan and Penn State, but that doesn’t necessarily matter. Texas A&M proved that this year by having an outlandishly talented roster and not making a bowl game. Lincoln Riley’s weaknesses are well know. He could address them, but we haven’t seen a team, yet, that does. The other teams play both sides of the ball quite well and recruit pretty darn well themselves. I tend to think those other factors have a bigger effect than who has a better 5 star or 4 star.
Tier 2: any give year, they could probably beat up on one another. They are closer than further apart. So mix and match at will. I put Iowa higher because of defense and I think their offensive issues will be resolved this year, one way or another. I see Wisconsin and Iowa as the deciders in that tier, but Fickell has some questions about him too. Michigan State can be good, but they are struggling right now. UCLA will have the same issues as USC, plus they aren’t as good of a team.
The Nebraska conundrum. I will not rate them top tier until they can consistently threaten. They need to consistently be bowl eligible first. No, they don’t belong at the bottom because Matt Rhule is that good. No, he isn’t the same as Scott Frost. Matt Rhule’s coaching history looks much better. Scott Frost had a decent year and an undefeated year at a non-power 5 school that had a crap year before he took over, but was a pretty solid team before that blip. Matt Rhule has turned 2 programs around in 2 years before the transfer portal. Baylor was improved in a conference against Lincoln Riley’s Sooners during his tenure there, with Gary Patterson doing well at TCU, and Texas being a existing potential threat. Most of his loss record can be accounted for when he comes into a program and cleans shop. If that happens at Nebraska, I wouldn’t be surprised. At the same time, they have the Nebraska money and NIL and transfer portal. It could be a dud of a season or a straight up threat. Who knows. They are the biggest wildcard team. I thinking slotting them relatively in the middle for now was more than fair. It respects their program, but doesn’t over sell it either.
Past history counts to a certain extent. Changing coaching staff arguments don’t always matter. There is, at least, one different team in the equation. So, the fact Minnesota has beaten Nebraska the past 5 years means nothing. The second season from now could be a completely different Nebraska team.

Hi I'm trying to get my TrackPoint functioning properly, so I removed libinput and installed evdev
The instructions I found here: https://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_configure_the_TrackPoint#Configuration_using_xinput say to set the "Evdev Wheel Emulation" to 1, but I get an error saying that wheel emulation doesn't exist.
Sure enough when I check input list-props "Elan TrackPoint" I get

Device Enabled (189): 1 Coordinate Transformation Matrix (191): 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000 Device Accel Profile (324): 0 Device Accel Constant Deceleration (325): 1.000000 Device Accel Adaptive Deceleration (326): 1.000000 Device Accel Velocity Scaling (327): 12.500000 Device Product ID (310): 1267, 32 Device Node (311): "/dev/input/event6" Evdev Axis Inversion (328): 0, 0 Evdev Axes Swap (330): 0 Axis Labels (331): "Rel X" (199), "Rel Y" (200) Button Labels (332): "Button Left" (192), "Button Middle" (193), "Button Right" (194), "Button Wheel Up" (195), "Button Wheel Down" (196) Evdev Scrolling Distance (333): 0, 0, 0 

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Other people get a more complete list. Don't ask me why mine doesn't have "TPPS/2" in the name, I do not know.
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EDIT: Another weird issue I just noticed is the touchpad, which is disabled in the BIOS, will still click on the side scroll in certain windows. Not in firefox, but yes in the terminal. Very odd behavior from evdev.
SOLVED: uninstalled evdev, reinstalled libinput, just dealing with it moving funny