Plot
The year is 3037, and Humanity has lost complete control of the planet to a vicious alien species called the Ascendant. These beings come in various forms, and are all capable of adapting to new environments. Constantly reworking themselves to ensure that they are the Apex Predator of the land they find themselves in. From developing active Camouflage to blend into the jungle to sprouting wings to soar through rocky mountains, and even transforming into snake like forms to easily traverse the sewers of cities. Their objective is unknown to humanity. Their leader is unknown. All that is known is their insatiable hunger for all things organic, and that if nothing is done to combat them... then Humanity is doomed to destruction. One of the few remaining Bastions for Humanity, Mintaka, has been working with its sister cities to create the Artemis. Complex lifelike Androids designed to wield weapons of mass destruction deemed to dangerous or impractical for humans to wield. These androids were originally designed to occupy the borders of the cities, and to keep the Ascendant from advancing into the city. But defending isn't enough. The Higher ups of these three cities don't want to protect what little humans remain within the world, they want to reclaim the land that humanity once occupied centuries ago. To do that they've begin the production of Special Ops Artemis units. Androids built with the ability to think more freely and critically so that they can be deployed far from the city to operate independently for days at a time. Of course an Android can't be trusted to always do what is in the best interest for Humanity, and so special human operatives have been created to accompany these Androids into the field. Though they are incapable of wielding such powerful weaponry, and therefore more reliant on their Artemis unit for heavy combat, these humans are augmented to ensure that when conflict does occur they can keep themselves safe while providing a variety of tactical support for their Artemis. This story will follow one such Artemis unit as they are assigned a Human as a part of the Special Operations program, and given the goal of delving deep into Ascendant controlled cities to perform a variety of missions meant to set up the foundation for Reclamation of the planet.
Extra Info Hello!
As of late I've been super invested in Post Apocalyptic stories such as Nier: Automata, and Nikke! So I've decided to create my own plot, and am looking for someone to play as an Artemis Android! If you're interested, or have any questions at all about the story, please don't hesitate to ask! Below are some extra bits of info I feel you'll need to know!
- I am over the age of 21, and therefore you do need to be over 18. I just don't feel comfortable rping with anyone younger. - I only rp on Discord, as I find it much easier to manage things there instead of here on Reddit. - I am always happy to listen to your ideas, so please don't hesitate to share any and all you have with me! Even if its one you may think aren't good, I'm always happy to work with you to make it work for the story! - There will be some setup for the Rp, such as a small questioning bit in which a companion will be chosen based on your characters answers! I do plan to include a variety of events that will change the course of the story, which does mean that some decisions made can carry some weight!

Anybody know this clown? Even found his address. I’m a Brigadier General in the United States Air Force Reserve serving full time at a joint reserve naval-USAF Reserve/National Guard military installation in Ft Worth, Texas. I was TDY to S.C. And at my brother’s house while he was on a business trip to Atlanta. He asked me to talk to this clown he booked an appointment with regarding some life insurance and had him on speaker phone. The plan sounded like garbage but the most disturbing thing was this guy started hitting on my brother’s 14 year old granddaughter who was at the house. It was awkward as he kept looking at her funny and asking questions like how school was and stating she was beautiful. He even touched her. I took the guy to the side afterwards and he denied doing anything but had this smirk on his face. He said he’s genuinely nice to everybody but he knew from my mannerisms, that I was not buying his shit.
Off topic, I know he said he has a wife and bragged how he carried 4 cell phones and she only knew about one. I would love to find out who the wife is and tell her a thing or two about him.
The jerk seems to remove all his poor ratings for his business (MediCarolinas) and since about March, a little after this occurred, I have attempted to post a 1 star rating with this explanation 5 times and each time, my review has gotten deleted. Look up the business on google and you will see he has all 5 star ratings… hmmm? He also (unlike other businesses do) thanked any of his eaters. Even major chain restaurants do that or apologize to the ones who leave low ratings.
I’ve had years of experience as a general officer sitting on court martials for suspected pedophiles and many acted the same way this guy did. Guess what? They all were also found guilty with unanimous evidence.

Anybody know this clown? Even found his address. I’m a Brigadier General in the United States Air Force Reserve serving full time at a joint reserve naval-USAF Reserve/National Guard military installation in Ft Worth, Texas. I was TDY to S.C. And at my brother’s house while he was on a business trip to Atlanta. He asked me to talk to this clown he booked an appointment with regarding some life insurance and had him on speaker phone. The plan sounded like garbage but the most disturbing thing was this guy started hitting on my brother’s 14 year old granddaughter who was at the house. It was awkward as he kept looking at her funny and asking questions like how school was and stating she was beautiful. He even touched her. I took the guy to the side afterwards and he denied doing anything but had this smirk on his face. He said he’s genuinely nice to everybody but he knew from my mannerisms, that I was not buying his shit.
Off topic, I know he said he has a wife and bragged how he carried 4 cell phones and she only knew about one. I would love to find out who the wife is and tell her a thing or two about him.
The jerk seems to remove all his poor ratings for his business (MediCarolinas) and since about March, a little after this occurred, I have attempted to post a 1 star rating with this explanation 5 times and each time, my review has gotten deleted. Look up the business on google and you will see he has all 5 star ratings… hmmm? He also (unlike other businesses do) thanked any of his eaters. Even major chain restaurants do that or apologize to the ones who leave low ratings.
I’ve had years of experience as a general officer sitting on court martials for suspected pedophiles and many acted the same way this guy did. Guess what? They all were also found guilty with unanimous evidence.

https://www.startribune.com/former-minneapolis-landlords-stripped-of-properties-in-2

Former Minneapolis landlords stripped of properties in 2017 allege that city violated their rights

The landlords say the city owes them millions for forcing them to liquidate their properties.
By Susan Du Star Tribune JUNE 6, 2023 — 1:51PM
With just two months to go before the six-year statute of limitations runs out, the real estate company of former landlords Stephen Frenz and Spiros Zorbalas is challenging the city of Minneapolis to another duel in court.
Frenz and Zorbalas' tumultuous history with Minneapolis seemed to conclude in 2017, when the city revoked their rental license and forced them to liquidate their vast apartment empire. But their company, Equity Residential, now argues city officials failed to follow the proper procedures, violating their constitutional rights and causing them to lose "multiple millions" of dollars they hope to recoup.
"The city will no doubt try to distract from its failings by attacking our clients' character, but no amount of distraction can obscure the simple truth of this case: the city of Minneapolis acted arbitrarily and capriciously to take away our clients' constitutionally protected rights," said Equity Residential lawyer Jack Perry in a statement. "Any right that a bureaucrat can take away with the stroke of a pen is no right at all."
On Tuesday, the city attorney's office had yet to formally respond to the lawsuit filed Monday, and officials there declined to comment. Mayor Jacob Frey's office also declined to comment on the suit, saying Frey was just a City Council member when Equity Residential's licenses were revoked in 2017.
Once owners of dozens of Minneapolis apartment buildings, Frenz and Zorbalas were forced by the city to relinquish many of their properties years ago.
In 2010, officials began the process of revoking Zorbalas' license owing to tenant complaints. Thousands of code violations were found, including inadequate heat in winter, overflowing garbage, pest infestations and broken fixtures. Zorbalas was allowed to keep his rental license for two more years pending appeal, but ultimately lost.
To avoid displacing many low-income tenants, city officials then negotiated a plan to transfer Zorbalas' approximately 50 properties to Frenz, owner of the Apartment Shop management company. Officials were adamant that Zorbalas have nothing to do with the properties.
Frenz assured them that would be the case, but he later admitted in subsequent proceedings that Zorbalas secretly remained an owner of Equity Residential. When city officials caught wind, they moved to strip Frenz's licenses as well.
Around the same time, tenants organized with the renter rights group Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia (United Renters for Justice) to take the landlords to court. Frenz tried to get the suit dismissed, submitting fake leases to show that a majority of tenants in one building hadn't signed on. The landlords ultimately settled the class-action lawsuit for $18.5 million, and Frenz was slapped with an unusual felony perjury conviction.
In the suit filed this week, Equity Residential is alleging that a narrow procedural mistake entitles them to damages worth unspecified millions.
According to the complaint, Noah Schuchman — then Minneapolis' inspections director, who now serves as Duluth's chief administrative officer — wrote Equity Residential tenants on Oct. 26, 2016, that their landlord's rental license wouldn't be revoked until "all legal challenges are exhausted." This would have been in line with how the city dealt with Zorbalas in 2010-12.
But nine months later, Schuchman wrote Equity Residential that its licenses would not be renewed once they expired at the end of the month. The complaint alleges this was an "about-face" that amounted to "effective revocation," bypassing the landlords' "constitutionally protected property rights" to appeal.
The landlords were forced to liquidate some 30 buildings with less than a month's notice at a steep discount, according to the complaint. While they ultimately lost their appeal, waiting for that process to play out would have given them three and a half more months to sell their properties at market rate, the suit claims.
Many of the Equity Residential buildings were sold on contracts for deed that allowed Frenz and Zorbalas to retain their interest in the properties until the buyers paid the full purchase price, or reclaim ownership upon failure to pay. Minneapolis officials refused to issue the new owners rental licenses, and Equity Residential was entangled in a series of additional lawsuits. The company's complaint speculates that the city intended to "punish" Frenz and Zorbalas.
Susan Du covers the city of Minneapolis for the Star Tribune.

Anybody know this clown? Even found his address. I’m a Brigadier General in the United States Air Force Reserve serving full time at a joint reserve naval-USAF Reserve/National Guard military installation in Ft Worth, Texas. I was TDY to S.C. And at my brother’s house while he was on a business trip to Atlanta. He asked me to talk to this clown he booked an appointment with regarding some life insurance and had him on speaker phone. The plan sounded like garbage but the most disturbing thing was this guy started hitting on my brother’s 14 year old granddaughter who was at the house. It was awkward as he kept looking at her funny and asking questions like how school was and stating she was beautiful. He even touched her. I took the guy to the side afterwards and he denied doing anything but had this smirk on his face. He said he’s genuinely nice to everybody but he knew from my mannerisms, that I was not buying his shit.
Off topic, I know he said he has a wife and bragged how he carried 4 cell phones and she only knew about one. I would love to find out who the wife is and tell her a thing or two about him.
The jerk seems to remove all his poor ratings for his business (MediCarolinas) and since about March, a little after this occurred, I have attempted to post a 1 star rating with this explanation 5 times and each time, my review has gotten deleted. Look up the business on google and you will see he has all 5 star ratings… hmmm? He also (unlike other businesses do) thanked any of his eaters. Even major chain restaurants do that or apologize to the ones who leave low ratings.
I’ve had years of experience as a general officer sitting on court martials for suspected pedophiles and many acted the same way this guy did. Guess what? They all were also found guilty with unanimous evidence.

I was diagnosed with Type 2 N about 6 years ago. It was pretty clear cut. At the time I tried Modafinil but it only worked for a couple of months and I stopped it. They wanted me to try Xywav or something else but I wanted to get pregnant shortly anyway and none of those meds are safe for pregnancy. Fast forward to being pregnant and nursing for 3 years and now I’m finally ready to investigate treatments further. My health plan requires a referral to sleep medicine every 3 years if you haven’t been seen in the last 3 years.
I ask my primary for a referral and they said no problem. Then they forgot. So a week later I reach back out and request the referral again. They get back to me a week later and say they put it in but wait a week for the schedulers to call me back. I wait and they do but then I’m told that the primary put in for a sleep study not a general appointment with sleep medicine. They message my doctor and ask for the appropriate type of referral on my behalf. While I’m asleep (of course), my primary’s office calls and leave a message that the referral is in as of June 1st and call scheduling not understanding it’s the WRONG REFERRAL.
So now I’m 4 weeks out from the initial request and I just need some relief. I’m so tired and chasing a 3 year old is not for the faint of heart. I’m just sure they’re going to say I need another sleep study which I refuse to do by leaving my kid at home that long without me. I have a diagnosis already. I just need to talk to a doctor.
Rant over (but deep down I just want to cry)

Two weeks ago, I spoke on the phone with Tom Ono, the manual writer for Heroes of Might and Magic III. As usual, Tom asked how things were going. I said things were good... then proceeded to whine and complain for the next five minutes (much to Tom's amusement).
When the conversation concluded, Tom said, "Don't complain too much. Some people would give their eyeteeth to be in the game industry." I responded, "Who are these people and why haven't they been beaten for their own good?"
My name is Gregory Fulton, game designer for Heroes of Might and Magic III (developed by New World Computing, published by 3DO). You may call me Greg. Like most game designers, I'm sure you'll find me a bitter and cynical man, aged beyond my years, full of sarcasm, and inexplicably drawn to the horrors of game production like a lobotomized moth to the "pretty" flame.
As I guide you through your weekly tour of my memories, I promise the recollected images will be truthful and sincere but written with a smirk and a wink.
Undoubtedly, we will interact with the following animals: artists, level builders, managers, producers, programmers, testers, and monkeys. To help ensure your safety, I request you fasten your seat belts, keep your hands to your sides at all times, and be sure to not make any quick and sudden movements. Remember... we will be passing through the game production process.

12/05/98
It's Saturday. I'm at work with three other members of the Heroes3 team. I'll be in again tomorrow.
Smells like "crunch time."
Everyone in the game industry knows the term "crunch time." Those not in the industry may ask, "What is crunch time?" Long hours: 10-18 each day. We're starting our fourth crunch month. We have at least one more after this.
Bad take-out food: Mexican and Chinese food are New World's favorites. Today we had Taco Bell and Domino's pizza as part of NWC's "work for food" program.
Social Life: To work in the game industry you must already have some form of social retardation. When crunch mode begins, you may only speak in code to coworkers. Immediate family and friends may be seen on brief occasions so they don't file a missing-persons report. I'm one of the lucky ones; I don't remember having any friends or family.
Hygiene: Haircuts and showers become optional in favor of more sleep time. For me, showers are a must, but my hair is sprouting wings and a tail. Pretty soon I'll look like the lead singer from Flock of Seagulls.
Stress: Anger and frustration are frequent companions. If bridges are burned, this is usually the time. Earlier this week morale was low. In a fit of anger concerning team interactions, I was heard shouting, "I feel like a kindergarten teacher. Can't everyone just keep their hands to themselves and play nice!"
Murphy's law: Any potential hazard will be encountered. I'm writing this diary from the NWC conference room. My computer refuses to function for more than five minutes without seizing up.
12/06/98
This weekend I'm taking care of my PR duties (hence this diary). Not the most exciting stuff, so I'll relate a short story from earlier this week.
David Mullich (producer), Mark Caldwell (NWC vice president and programmer), Jon Van Caneghem (NWC president, creator of all things Might and Magic, and company design visionary), and I found ourselves crowded into the sweltering office of Scott White.
Scott did all the town screens in Heroes III except the Rampart, Necropolis, and Fortress. Since he finished his 3D duties, he's turned his skills to the game's interface. Believe it or not, we were in Scott's office arguing about color: interface colors and player colors.
After much arguing about the interface colors, we decided to leave it virtually untouched. Player colors were a different subject.
Originally, we used light blue, dark blue, red, green, purple, brown, black, and white. These colors needed to change. Light blue looked like the blue used in the main menu. Brown clashed with the brown used in the general game interface. Game text disappeared against white. Black and green disappeared with the terrain colors shown on the game mini-map.
OK. We agreed some of the colors needed to change. After this, the agreements stopped. I don't know what is more ridiculous... arguing over what colors to use or the twisted logic behind the arguments. Red, blue, and dark green were safe choices. We still needed five other colors. The conversation went something like this....

"I don't want yellow. Yellow is the urine color."
"What about brown?"
"I don't like brown."
"Brown is the s**t color."
"What about pink?"
"Pink is a sissy color."
"We won't call it pink. We'll call it 'rose'."
"Rose?"
"The rose player?"
"I don't know. If I saw a pink hero, I'd turn and run away. You know any hero secure enough to use pink as his color is bad ass."
"What about magenta?"
"What about cobalt? What about cadmium?"
"Have we accounted for all the fecal colors?"
"What about orange?"
"Phelan (our art lead) doesn't like orange. It looks bad."
"So. I don't think it looks bad."
"Fine. You tell her you want orange."
"She'll kick your ass."
"Oh. Fine. We won't use orange."

So it went. Fifteen minutes later everyone agreed to disagree, and Jon was made the final judge. Here are the final colors: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, aqua, and rose (pink).
12/07/98
Today we stopped all map production. From here until we ship, I join the mapmakers and testers in playing maps and writing bugs... or so I thought.
Today, I had dropped into my lap the assignment of converting the 144-plus pages of the game manual into a help file. Anyone who has written a help file knows how huge this task can be. I could probably finish it in a day, but it requires no one bothering me for an extended period of time. Ha!
At this late stage of the production cycle, my entire day is spent meeting with people, making sure people are doing their work, and confirming that what is being done is correct. I don't have time for work. I've made the ugly evolution from game designer to middle manager.
It wasn't like this at the beginning of the project. At the beginning of the project the game designer is the screaming prophet, lost and alone in the desert (or the design process if you prefer).
In the middle of the production process the prophet is being screamed at by all his fellow coworkers who are wondering what to do because the design doc is behind schedule.
At the end of the project, everyone's a screaming prophet, and everyone is screaming at everyone else.
Sometime in the middle of all this screaming I've got to write this help file. Maybe I could give the assignment to Christian Vanover (H3 assistant director). Isn't it the job of a middle manager to delegate?
12/08/98
Yesterday I was wondering where I would find the time to write the game help file. Today I have the answer.... I think I have the flu. This doesn't feel like any 24-hour "see-ya-bye" flu either. This feels like "kneel before Zod!" flu.
All right. I've got a story for you.
Earlier today we "officially" stopped making maps. From here on out, we play, test, and polish the game. This could mean a little, or a lot. If the maps play well the first time out, revisions will be minor. If we end up chucking whole maps, we may find ourselves back to making maps. Thus, we started playing them today. JVC (Jon Van Caneghem, New World's president) ended up playing a notorious map named "Barbarian Breakout."
Ten minutes after he starts, JVC pages me over my phone intercom: "Hey Yoda." (He's been calling me Yoda lately. I don't know why. I'm not sure if I should be honored or offended. On one hand, Yoda is wise and he trains Jedi Knights. On the other hand, he is a short ugly green dude with big ears.) "Enemy hero with six behemoths (one of the highest-level creatures) knocked on my front door on week two, day one."
"Oops. I'll be right there."
As soon as I walked into JVC's office, the razzing began.
"What's with the six behemoths? Is this one of the balanced scenarios?"
"OK, OK. Something's wrong. Turn off the fog."
Jon restarts the scenario, turns off the fog of war, ends turn four times in a row, then right-clicks the enemy hero to see the extent of his forces. Aside from his other three stacks of creatures... he has one stack of six behemoths. Oops.
"All right. Open the map in the editor."
Jon opens the map in the editor. What do we discover? First, the enemy hero starts at level three, and the mapmaker (Dave Botan) has given him four stacks of creatures. In addition, the enemy hero's starting town has three of seven creature generators already prebuilt.
No wonder the enemy was able to recruit behemoths on day four.
Remember the story about the father who comes home from a bad day at work and yells at his wife? She in turn yells at her kid. The kid in turn kicks the dog.
At this point, I'm looking for a dog to kick. So, I hunt down Dave Botan. Immediately, Dave states his defense.
"Everyone says the map's too hard. It isn't. The AI's cheating." (Recently, we discovered the artificial intelligence was exploiting an undiscovered bug allowing it to recruit more creatures than were actually available.)
"The AI doesn't need to cheat. It's already got a huge advantage."
"There's a bug."
"Doesn't matter. Set all players to normal starting conditions."
At this point everyone begins to playfully dog-pile on Dave telling all the reasons why his maps suck. In the end he relented and fixed the map.
12/09/98
I'm not writing from work today. I'm writing from home. I have seven-way-straight-from-the-bottom-of-the-Amazon-flu.
With this kind of flu the logical course of action would be to rest, drink lots of fluids, watch lots of movies, maybe see a doctor. However, I am a game designer and unfamiliar with the ways of logic. A day at home with the flu means I have the opportunity to finish the H3 help file.
Wow.
How pathetic can you get? On my day off to rest and get better, I use the uninterrupted time to convert a 144+ page manual into a help file.
I should get sick more often. I get more work done.
12/10/98
I'm back at work today. Good news... I finished the help file. Bad news... I still have the flu, and because I was so efficient in writing the game help file... I've been given the task of writing the map editor help file. Oh yeah, finish it by Monday.
Monday? There's so much pressure in my head, when I sniff, my eyes want to flee their sockets. My voice has the auditory consistency of sandpaper. Monday? Sure, I'll have it done by Monday.
12/11/98
Well, it's Friday night, and I have yet to see Star Trek: Insurrection. Doubt I'll be seeing it anytime soon.
One of the unmentioned symptoms of crunch time is cultural unawareness. In my time at a previous company I almost missed the entire O.J. trial. I haven't seen a movie since Starship Troopers. I'm not kidding.
12/14/98
I shouldn't have come in to work Thursday and Friday. It really pushed me over the edge. For the past two days I've been laid up with fever and chills. Remarkably, it was the one thing to take my mind off work. Aside from a froggy throat, it seems to have passed.
Enough about my illness. From here on, assume I'm always ill with the flu.
12/15/98
Today NWC (New World Computing) took a brief pause from game development to listen to Trip Hawkins (president of 3DO, NWC's parent company).
Twice a year, Trip makes a formal visit to talk about the company and where we're going as a company. It's a nice break from things.
However, Trip wasn't half as exciting as David Richie (our tools programmer) who sat next to me. Turns out David is coming down with the flu.
Over the course of the meeting, the air conditioning didn't turn on. With over 50 people crammed into a room, it got hot very fast. As the minutes passed, I could see David slowly whither.
I thought he was going to vomit. So basically, for most of the meeting, I sat envisioning how I was going to get out of the way when the volcano erupted.
Luckily, the volcano did not erupt. David left in the middle of the lecture and I haven't seen him since.
12/17/98
Welcome to the end of another working day at NWC. There is still no sign of David Richey. Another one of our programmers, John Krause, called in sick today. David Mullich (the Heroes III director) was ready to take bets on who would call in sick next. Of course, everyone blames me for getting them ill.
As far as your average NWC workday goes, this one was hectic and full of revelation.
Revelation?
Yes. Revelation. Only today did I look at my calendar and realize Christmas was next Friday.
Hectic?
Yes. Hectic. Every now and then I need to wipe my desk clean. This means catching up on all the hand-scrolled notes and stray post-its littered about my desk. When my desk is clean, I'm caught up.
This very act of cleaning makes for a semi-chaotic day. There is much gear shifting and subject changing to close dangling issues.
Add to this my usual parade of visitors, and my first chance to test multiplayer, and it takes great effort to avoid turning into a screaming monkey. Yes, I said screaming monkey.
Frequently, I find myself held hostage in my own office as a line of visitors (testers, programmers, artists, producers, etc.) quickly assemble outside my office in a short period of time, all wanting a piece of my brain.
Today it happened to occur while I was in the middle of a multiplayer game with Jeff Leggett (H3 multiplayer programmer). Simultaneously, I had three people show up and cram themselves into my small office. Each began jockeying for position to ask a question. Meanwhile, Jeff waited on the phone intercom, with Heroes III continually chiming in the background, letting me know it was my turn to play.
At this point you may apply the screaming monkey metaphor.
Despite the great potential for chaos, I asked Jeff to wait, gave my three suitors a number, told them to wait in line, then answered each of their questions.
On the surface, everything looked under control. Little did these poor souls know there was a screaming monkey, trapped in my mind's steel cage, wildly thrashing about in a desperate attempt to escape and turn me into a volcano of anger and lunacy.
When it was over, I took a deep breath, noted the walls weren't sprayed with the blood of innocent coworkers, and returned to my multiplayer game with Jeff.
Heroes II multiplayer wasn't friendly in the least. When it wasn't your turn, all you could do was sit at the computer and stare at the screen like a moron.
Well, thanks to our wonderful network programmer, Jeff Leggett, a moron you will no longer be.
Jeff has finished implementing multiplayer support. Now we're on a bug hunt. So, today, Jeff and I played a multiplayer game in the background while we went about our work.
I must admit, I had a blast. Moments like this make me forget my job is serious work.
12/18/98 Friday
Today I actually managed to catch up on all my notes. Next up, International Translation Kit. It can wait until Sunday. I don't get to enjoy these moments of accomplishment very often.
Being a game designer is nothing more than a life of delayed gratification. You spend the first month of the project "being creative," then spend the next 17 as a bricklayer implementing low-level details and boot-strapping the game design when unforeseen consequences arise.
Tomorrow we have our annual company Christmas party. I won't be going. I see my coworkers every day at work. I don't want to see them in a social environment. It'd be too weird. They'd have, like, spouses and dates and stuff, and wear dress clothes.
We've been told we can dress formal or casual. To me this means torn jeans and a food-stained white T-shirt. To everyone else, this means dress formal, because no one wants to underdress.
I don't want to see any of my coworkers dressed up. The thought frightens me. We're a bunch of geeks. We don't look good in casual wear. Formal wear will only amplify our geekiness.
Only one thing could entice me to go to the Christmas party - seeing the wives go off on the management for working their husbands so hard. I'd pay to see that... provided I wasn't on the receiving end.
By the way... hello to Chris Cross and Brian Reed, two friends I made when I briefly worked at Dreamworks Interactive (I didn't work on Trespasser). They called me today. They'd read the first entry in the Designer Diary and called to tell me what they thought. They then tied me up on the phone for the next 30 minutes while simultaneously sending me e-mail with bizarre and obscene attachments.
01/02/99 Saturday
Well, I'm back at work. The Christmas break was needed. I spent the first three days drinking eggnog, sleeping in 12- and 16-hour shifts, and watching Clinton get impeached.
After I was well rested, the eggnog was all gone, and Clintion was impeached, I did what any game design loser would do... worked on the game while on vacation. Ugh. I'm so pathetic.
My initial goal was to play existing maps. After playing five maps, it was obvious the AI hadn't been fully tested. It tended to sit back and never struck out until it had enough forces to guarantee a win.
This made for very extreme game experiences. Either you never saw the AI, or it came storming out of nowhere, knocked on your door, and politely introduced itself as your doom.
When our AI programmer (Gus Smedstad) gets back from vacation, I'll need to share my findings with him.
Well, seeing as I couldn't really play the game, I turned my attention to our 144-page game manual... much to my horror.
It turns out our second draft of the manual was full of errors. So, with red pen in hand, I promoted myself from game designer to fact checker. Over the next three days, I proceeded to bloody the pages of our beautiful manual.
To say it was tedious would be an understatement. When it was all over, I couldn't read anything if it wasn't written in fine print.
01/04/99 Monday
Today was another screaming monkey day. Why? One word: programmers.
I won't say who, but one of our programmers came into my office and proceeded to yell at me over a feature request he'd been given to program.
Why was he yelling at me? On the surface, it was because I hadn't given him enough details, or I hadn't thought through its impact enough. Or it could have been because it was simply a stupid feature, I didn't know what I was doing, and I was ruining the game.
The real reason? He wasn't sure how to program the task he'd been given, and the specified time frame was short. Instead of calming down, thinking it through, and telling me whether it could or could not be done in the given time frame, he panicked, and chose to vent at me.
Programmers are a unique breed. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Some of my best friends are programmers.
I must admit I am fascinated. I've watched each of our team programmers code. It's very amusing. How they code gives me a unique insight to their personality. For instance...

John Bolton (lead programmer): When John programs, it looks like he's playing chess.
David Richey (tools programmer): David doesn't code. Beforehand, he thinks about his task in depth, like contemplating philosophy, then simply writes it up. Quite often you can look through David's office window and see him bent over in his chair, chin on fist, like The Thinker.
Mark Caldwell (NWC VP): You need to know Mark to really understand, but when Mark codes, it's like he's in a boxing ring, ducking shots, trading blows, and trash talking with the program.

Now take such individuals and do the unthinkable... Make them into a team. Worse yet, force them to have meetings in which they must interact on a social level and agree to work together. Worse yet, force them to interact with right-brained artists and game designers.
It's a wonder any games ever get made.
Join designer Greg Fulton as gives us his very last Designer Diary entry, which tracks the last days of Heroes of Might and Magic III. In these last few days, the team waited anxiously to approve the gold candidate. But there is no rest for Greg, as he mentions a little something about the expansion disc. Join us as we count down the final development of Heroes III.
01/07/99
Ever heard the phrase "thousand tile stare"?
It's a phrase used by our mapmakers. You get the thousand tile stare from making H3 maps all day long.
Today I got the thousand tile stare after making a map for our eventual game demo.
It's a very simple, small map, letting players experience a portion of the game. Hopefully they'll experience enough and feel compelled to buy the game. I've been calling the map "Dead and Buried."
When I finished, I gave it to Chris Vanover (H3 assistant director) to play. Chris is an expert Heroes player. He's a good gauge of the map's difficulty.
Watching Chris play was a lot of fun. It allowed me to take a break from work and finally see the game in action. However, I am the worst person to have over your shoulder when you play.
Why? I'm a backseat driver. It's a bad habit from playing console games with friends.
Thus, I watched Chris play and second-guessed him all the way. We were like two old men spitting and complaining about the best strategy as Chris clicked his way through the game. It was rather humorous.
01/08/99
Today I gave the Dead and Buried map to a few select people to see if anyone could beat it in the allotted time frame of four game weeks.
One of my candidates was Jen Bullard. Jen is the only female tester in the QA area.
Upon entering the test area, I found Jennifer burning a candle at her desk. She wasn't afraid to comment aloud how everyone else in the test area doesn't wash their clothes often enough. She thinks they stink.
No sooner did I sit down to watch Jen play than the verbal bantering between the testers began.
Ryan Den, another one of our testers, was sure he found a bug and asked aloud if anyone had encountered the same bug. No one had. Immediately everyone began shouting "user error." Ryan thought they were all high... until he realized it was user error. Everyone then proceeded to playfully tear into Ryan yet again.
I must admit, our testers are pretty cool. Their interactions are quite amusing. They banter with the voracity of a knife fight, but it's rarely cruel.
01/14/99
Last night was my last chance to revise the game manual. Thus, I decided to pull an all-nighter to finish it. This was my first time being at NWC so late. I also experienced something completely new.
I had been drinking many free Cokes when my bladder reminded me who was really in charge. Without hesitation, I raced to the bathroom. I opened the door. It was dark. This is not unusual. The lights are hooked up to a motion sensor. To save energy, they turn on and off based on the presence of a moving body. Confident the lights would turn on, I strode into the bathroom.
The lights did not illuminate.
Fumbling around in the dark, I was able to find the light switch and flip it on.
Nothing.
Fumbling around some more, I found the door handle and exited the bathroom.
Moving quickly to Mark Caldwell's office (Mark and George were also working late), I told him, "The bathroom lights won't turn on." He said, "Yeah. The bathroom lights don't turn on after midnight." I asked, "How do you go to the bathroom with the lights off?" He answered, "Usually I just feel my way to the urinal."
"I need to take a crap."
"Hey, I wouldn't know anything about that. Get the flashlight from George."
"I need a flashlight?"
"Yeah."
So, I walked to George's office.
"I need the bathroom flashlight."
Giggling to himself under his breath, George reached into his desk and gave me a pocket flashlight. With flashlight in hand I returned to the bathroom where everything went according to plan.
I know game production has its odd moments, but... this one was really odd.
01/18/99
In the last days of a game's production, the game designer makes a desperate attempt to prevent features from being cut to make the deadline. However, if I got all the features I wanted, the game would never ship. Thus, there is always a tug of war between the game designer, management, programmers, and artists, to decide what gets into the game and what gets pushed back to the expansion or sequel.
Today I was doing my best to get a new hero into the game without too much additional programming or art. I realized I could get the results I needed by simply adding a new graphic and customizing an existing game hero. Even better, I could get the graphic from existing art in the intro movie. All the artist had to do was crop a freeze-frame from the movie and give it to our asset manager to be put into the game. I could customize the hero in the editor. All the programmers had to do was recognize the character's unique identification.
Well, we did.
I wonder how much longer I can push my luck.
01/19/99
I have become the Walmart floor manager.
No. I haven't quit my job.
Let me explain.
At this stage in the making of the game, I find myself spending most of my time walking the halls with my Notepad of Oppression waiting for people to call out my name.
The notepad is a list of issues needing resolution. Most people find the notepad humorous unless their name is on it. Ironically, I end up putting my name on the notepad more than anyone else's (I'm oppressing myself).
Regardless, when I am walking the halls and someone calls out my name, I duck into their office to answer their questions. Sometimes this means getting on their phone and calling someone else to clear up an issue. If I don't have the answer, I'm the intermediary.
Thus, I feel like the Walmart floor manager, roaming the isles, taking care of arising issues. All I really need is the blue vest.
01/20/99
For a moment, consider most game manuals. Usually, a manual details the game interface and introduces you to the various game elements. Rarely do these manuals give you true game statistics.
For Heroes III , we wanted to buck this trend. Using the Heroes II strategy guide as a model, we decided to make a big manual loaded with information. This is exactly what we did - 144 pages.
Today we signed off on the manual. Well, no sooner did the ink dry than we discovered some errors. It was terrifying. I literally sat at my desk, looking at the errors I had discovered, and heard the manual mocking me with the chittering of a wild hyena.
There was nothing I could do. It was carved in stone. Now understand, most manuals ship with some errors. This is what the Readme is for. However, several people had gone over this manual time and again, and still there were errors.
I'll never make a big manual again. It's too much upkeep considering the fluidity of game design.
I'm sure I'll lose some sleep over this.
1/25/99
Today the Coke machine caught fire.
Let me repeat this.
Today the Coke machine caught fire.
Since we started crunching, around 7:00pm each night, Mark Caldwell (NWC VP) has been unlocking the Coke machine for free drinks to go with our evening meal. We don't continue pressing the selection buttons for the various drinks. Instead, we literally open up the front half of this big, red, half-ton refrigerator, made to withstand the assaults of the most juvenile of delinquents.
Now, I'm not exactly clear on the details, but one of the testers pulled open the front door to grab a soda from inside. Apparently, some of the electrical wires were sheared, followed by fire and smoke.
Upon seeing the fire and smelling the smoke, the tester grabbed Ben Bent (NWC office manager and part-time game director). He then pointed out the fire in the Coke machine.
With perfect calm, Ben simply unplugged the Coke machine. Poof. The fire went away.
I must admit, I can't help but see the fire in the Coke machine as a metaphor for Heroes III in production. A fire starts, someone panics, and someone else calmly solves the problem.
Truthfully, it's the story of the game production process.
2/07/99 Sunday
Today could be the day.
We've decided to make a "final candidate" CD-ROM for 3DO approval. A final candidate is what we consider "ready to ship." We then send the final candidate to 3DO for them to do shrink-wrap testing.
Tonight, no one leaves the building until the game is finished.
2/08/99 Monday
It's 5:00am Monday morning.
We just started burning the final candidate.
About half the team is still here.
We've been crunching too long. Everyone's burnt.
About 15 minutes ago, Mark starting broadcasting Money For Nothing over everyone's speakerphone.
Ironic.
02/13/99
I am literally weak-kneed. Except for writing this entry, all I intend to do is just sit in my office chair and do everything I possibly can to do nothing.
As of 8:30 Saturday, February 13, we're calling it good Barring last-second crash bugs, the game is done.
It's 9:30, and with the realization the game is done, already I'm beginning to crash.
After crunching for so long, the crash is the aftereffect. This is the time when you finally realize you can relax and return to a somewhat normal life. This is also the flag signaling the release of all the pent-up stress and illness you've been holding off by sheer will for the past six months. Thus... crash.
Wow.
We're done.
02/14/99
Four days after announcing Heroes has gone gold, we're already talking about the expansion pack. Already, I've assembled my map makers. They're good people. With H3 under their belts they should make even better maps for the expansion.
The downside? Chris Vanover is moving onto a different project. Technically Chris was H3's assistant director, but I adopted him as my assistant designer. He was a big help in many of the grunt areas. I was hoping to hand the expansion off to Chris so I could concentrate on the next Heroes.
No such luck.
Ultimately, this means vacation must wait.
(whimper)
Where is a monkey boy when you need one?
02/19/99
David Mullich's (Heroes III director) wife was pregnant and expecting about the same time as E3 last year (Atlanta '98). So, he couldn't go and demonstrate the game.
I was the next logical choice. I know the game better than anyone else, and when needed, I can turn on the charm.
Now don't get me wrong, when I have demoed the game, it has been a delight. Yet, as a game, Heroes III doesn't demo well. It's a turn-based game. It's not a first-person shooter or real-time strategy game. There's no real immediate reward for your attention span to latch onto.
However, Heroes does have a very large, very dedicated following. Thus, most people who want to see Heroes are already fans. This was the case at E3.
At E3 I did the vast majority of the presentations. I did so many I ended up losing my voice. Almost all the people who saw the game were fans of Heroes and liked what they saw. We were so successful, people were taking chairs from the other game stations to sit in front of ours.
Well, the downside to my work at E3 was... I became the demo guy. The downside of being the demo guy is traveling.
I hate traveling.
Once I arrive at my destination, there's no problem. I'm just impatient by nature. I'm also 6'1" and hate sitting in supercramped airline seats.
So, today I got to fly up to 3DO with Peter Ryu (MM7 producer), Keith Francart (MM7 director), and Jeff Blatner (new Heroes producer) to give presentations on MM7 and Heroes III to our Ubi Soft partners and a smattering of European journalists.
As much as I hated getting up at 5:30am and traveling to San Francisco (less than one week after going gold), the trip was amusing for a number of reasons.
Since I have been at New World, Peter Ryu has always worn shorts and sandals. For the presentation, Pete was ordered to wear pants and shoes. Throughout the day, he was wincing as the shoes rubbed his feet raw.
The other amusing part was hanging out with the French chicks from Ubi Soft and the European press.
Last time I was at 3DO I did an H3 presentation to a number of European journalists. Not a French woman among them. It was different this time, and dare I say, worth the trip.
02/22/99
David Mullich (H3 director), George Ruof (H3 programmer), and I are the only members of the team in the building today. Everyone else is on vacation.
Over the weekend I began my self-rehabilitation for returning to the real world.
When you do nothing but work 12-14 hours a day, seven days a week, and then it all comes to an abrupt halt, you suddenly find you have all this spare time on your hands.
Ultimately, you become bored. You don't know what to do with yourself because your "normal" situation meant working on the game... but the game is finished. Normal has become different and no longer normal.
A logical assumption for curing this boredom would be a vacation. Not yet. I've got to write the design for the expansion disc. I've got two weeks before it is due. After hammering out the specs, everyone will be briefed, then I can go on vacation.
I've got it all planned out. I haven't seen my parents since Christmas of 1997. So, I'm going to go back home and sit in the rocking chair in front of my dad's big-screen TV and watch nothing but cable television for at least two weeks. You heard me. Nothing but CNN Headline News for two weeks. If by then I'm not properly vegetated, I'll watch it for another week. Then I'll track down my old high school girlfriend and see if she's still single.
I've set up an e-mail address for your feedback about the game when it hits the shelves. This e-mail is merely for player feedback and suggestions. I will be the one reading the e-mails, and most likely, I won't be answering any of them. So, don't flame me if I don't respond. [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).
I've enjoyed writing these diaries. I wish I had been able to dedicate more time to them.
My apologies to Elliott Chin (who made these diaries possible). Elliott wanted me to talk about the design philosophy behind H3. After practicing design philosophy 12-14 hours a day, I couldn't bring myself to write a diary about it. So, I thought I'd do "a day in the life." I hope you enjoyed my tongue-in-cheek account.
I leave you with the following words I once heard the great Jon Van Caneghem speak, "When it's all over you'll forget how hard it was and do it all over again."
He's right. We will.

Part 1
Part 2
We were driving rapidly down Main Street as a horrible creature from another dimension followed behind us, its long strides keeping pace and making the car shake with each step it took. The engine roared as we sped away from the butcher shop. Randy was sitting in the seat next to me and it took me a minute to realize he was eating something.
It was a bucket of KFC.
"Seriously!? How can you be hungry at a time like this?? We're about to die, Randy!"
"We got bigger problems than that right now," he said, patting down his pockets with greasy fingers and leaving stains as he searched for something. "We're all out of booze! We need to make a pit stop as soon as you get a chance."
Normally this would be an absurd statement. But unfortunately the lack of alcohol was a bit of an issue, since there were plenty more monsters ready to come through into our world, and the only thing keeping them out was our ability to stay intoxicated so we didn’t see them. I had kept my percentage down below the legal driving limit, but I was starting to feel like that wasn't cutting it anymore.
"You need to start drinking more," Randy explained. "You're the one who saw it first, remember? If anything, this is kinda your fault."
I gripped the steering wheel with white knuckled rage and continued driving.
Regardless of what he said, I want to make sure it's on the record that this was all Randy's fault. He had admitted to making at least one wish using a cursed magic monkey paw - and we all know how that usually plays out.
I saw a convenience store and immediately slammed on the brakes. Reaching over Randy, I threw open his door and kicked him out. It was easy since he wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was already beginning to fall asleep.
"What the fuck, dude?" He yelled as I pulled away.
"Get us more booze! I'm gonna circle the block," I shouted at him out the window, picking up speed.
Then I took out my gun and aimed at the monster which was getting closer by the second. I took three shots at it over my shoulder and missed two of them. But the third caught it squarely in the neck and it began to howl a guttural cry, dripping black blood all over the street from its fresh wound. It slowed down momentarily, but then picked up its pace again, coming after me with renewed rage.
My goal had been accomplished, though. I’d been trying to keep it away from Randy, since he was on foot and more vulnerable. We would need to abandon the car, though, I realized. If I was going to start drinking more I wouldn’t be able to drive safely. As bad as things were getting, I wasn’t about to start breaking the law - especially that particular one. I’d seen enough death and destruction caused by drunk drivers over my years on the force. I wasn’t going to go down that road.
I looked back to see the creature still gaining on me.
My mind was racing trying to think of a way to evade it, to outwit it. I needed to do something to kill it. But what?
Suddenly my cell phone was ringing. I picked it up and looked at the caller ID. It was Jay, the delivery driver. He was in the car ahead of me and I had kind of forgotten he was there.
“Listen,” he said quickly. “I got a plan. We need to lure that thing to the swamp. Just follow me and keep up the pace.”
“It’s a cop car,” I said dryly. “I’m pretty sure I can keep up with your piece of shit-”
My words were cut short as the line went dead and the car ahead of me began to accelerate rapidly. I floored it but found the guy was still gaining distance between the two of us.
Whatever he had under the hood was making that little car go a lot faster than I would have thought possible.
My phone dinged and I looked down to see a text from Jay. It was an eggplant with a water spray emoji.
This fucking town…
*
We reached the edge of the city limits of Hollow’s End to find a parking lot which sloped at an unnatural angle downwards. At the bottom of this strange gravel lot was a murky-looking swamp full of brackish green water. A small copse of trees stood to one side near the shore.
No other cars were parked there which was good, since the creature was still close behind us.
I was following Jay as closely as I could and imitating his car’s movements, although my vehicle was sluggish and clumsy by comparison. He was still driving at top speed, and I figured it was important that I keep up with him for whatever he planned to do.
When we reached the edge of the water, near that little grouping of trees, he hit the brakes and swerved to the right. His tires stayed on the gravel, but just barely. The entire parking lot was sloped so severely towards the water that the force of gravity was insisting on taking us into the swamp.
Realizing that my bigger vehicle wouldn’t make the turn in time, I hit the brakes early and tried to slow down, knowing that otherwise I would crash right into a tree or go into the water trying to make the move.
As soon as I slowed down I could hear the creature’s breath and its movements just behind the car. I avoided the temptation to look back, since I knew it would be my death if I did. Instead, I yanked hard on the wheel and turned it to the right, skidding to a stop on the grass, my fender just inches away from a large pine tree.
The creature’s brakes were not quite as good as mine, since it was desperate to kill me and hadn’t really slowed down. Instead, it went skidding into the green water, coated with algae and looking much thicker than was normal. It was like a giant bowl of pea soup. The creature was thrashing around, looking as if it were in pain, and then I noticed the tendrils of swamp water moving on its skin, pulling it in deeper, like an enormous squid wrestling with a shark.
My phone rang again and I picked it up, my eyes still focused on the creature trying to get out of the swamp. It looked like it would not be able to escape from whatever was holding it there, and I breathed a sigh of relief that I hadn’t gone in with that wild last minute maneuver.
Then it was as if an enormous hand reached up from below and pulled the creature under. Despite the fact that there were only dark empty sockets where eyes should have been, I could have sworn I saw them widen as it was dragged under, and then was gone.
“Problem solved,” Jay said when I answered the phone. “You can thank me later. And we’ll definitely owe Swampy a favor. Now let’s get back into town and grab Randy. Maybe the three of us can figure out a solution to this whole mess.”
*
I managed to convince Jay to let me ride shotgun in his car, telling him that mine was having engine trouble. This was partly as a ploy to make him our designated driver, but also to cover for the fact that he was clearly the superior driver of a far better automobile than my cruiser. And who knew when we’d have to outrun one of those monsters again?
After applying copious amounts of duct tape to all of the mirrors on the vehicle, we were off, heading back towards the convenience store where I’d left Randy.
We found him out front with a large paper bag full of bottles in his arms, sleeping in the grassy ditch near the road. There were several children taking turns at poking him with a stick.
“Okay, beat it, kids!” I yelled at them as we approached.
The children ran off and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a few of them looked very odd. One had a furry face and ears like a dog, while another had red eyes, and yet another was running on all fours. They scattered in every direction, making it difficult to pinpoint any other discrepancies.
“What’s the deal with this town?” I muttered to nobody in particular.
“How much time do you have?” Jay asked, laughing. “This place is weirder than you could possibly imagine. There’s a lot of history here. Sorry to say, you didn’t really know what you were getting into when you moved to this place.”
“Can you give me a quick summary?” I asked, kicking Randy gently in the ribs. He snored and swatted the air like an annoyed cat, then rolled over on his other side. His right leg began to pump up and down as if he were chasing a rabbit in his dreams.
“I’m not really at liberty to discuss all of it. People in Hollow’s End prefer to keep their secrets to themselves. But if you get to know them, you’ll find most folks are nice enough. As long as you live here, anyways. Tourists do tend to occasionally go missing if they stay out past sunrise. And if you meet anyone wearing a hooded robe your best bet is to avoid them. Oh, and there’s this guy named Frank who-”
Randy sat bolt upright, screaming at the top of his lungs, clutching the bag of liquor bottles so tightly against his chest that I thought they would shatter.
“It’s okay, man,” I said, leaning down to pat his shoulder in what I hoped was a comforting gesture. “It was just a nightmare.”
He was breathing heavily for a few moments and didn’t respond. But then finally he unscrewed the cap of one of the liquor bottles and took a long gulp.
“Right. A nightmare. That’s all it was.”
He didn’t seem entirely convinced.
“Alright, what’s the plan, guys?” Jay asked. “I’m happy to help out if you need me to.”
I took one of the liquor bottles from Randy and took a long drink from it. After wiping my mouth, I screwed the cap back on and stuffed the bottle in my pocket. Thinking hard about the next lead to follow up on, I came up short. We didn’t really have anything.
“Do you know anyone who would be interested in buying a monkey paw?” I asked. “Is there anyone in town dumb enough or reckless enough to take ownership of it? Because I feel like that fucking thing is at the center of all of this. It’s like a murder investigation - if we can find the weapon used to commit the crime, we might be able to solve it.”
Jay looked at me and Randy looked at the ground between his legs.
“I know just the guy,” Jay answered. “You know how I was telling you to stay away from Frank? Well, we might need to disregard that advice, just temporarily.”
*
The three of us pulled up outside a house a short while later, now with Jay behind the wheel, chauffeuring us around town.
We went up to the front door and he continued explaining the protocol for how to deal with this Frank individual.
“Remember, whatever you do, don’t stare. And don’t go inside his house - whatever he wants to tell us he can tell us outside. People who go in there are usually tourists, and they’re never, ever seen again. That’s like guaranteed death just stepping into that place.”
I tried not to think about how many rules I was breaking, how many vows in my oath as a Sheriff were completely null and void now.
“You know I’m a police officer, right? Most people don’t speak so freely about the kidnapping and murder of tourists.”
Randy slapped my arm.
“Come on, man. Just when we’re starting to think you’re cool, you go and say something like that. Killing tourists is a proud tradition in Hollow’s End. If you don’t like it then you shouldn’t have moved here.”
I didn’t have time to debate the subject anymore, as Jay was now knocking on the front door of the house.
The door swung open on the first knock, as if it had been slightly ajar.
“Hello,” Jay called into the darkness. “Frank? Are you there? I need to talk to you about something.”
He stuck his head into the dark gap afforded by the open door. For a moment I had a horrible mental image of it slamming shut on his neck, squeezing and choking him as blood poured from wounds created by the pressure of sharp wood on his flesh.
But instead, something worse happened.
Jay let out a gasp and then disappeared through the gap. As if he had been picked up by his hair and was dragged inside by a hungry bear.
My heart was pounding fast as I realized I was going to have to ignore all of Jay's warnings if I was going to save him and the town. Despite the dangers, we were going to have to go inside after all.
YT
TCC

I am a senior in college and plan to take two gap years, meaning I'll ideally turn my application in June 2025. I am worried about my EC's, specifically clinical experience and volunteering, looking like they are bunched too close to the time of my application cycle.
I'm involved in a few leadership positions (Mentoring, RA, President for sports club) and research and they took up majority of my time during my junior year, I didn't do much during my freshmen year (covid) and sophomore(partly covid) year unfortunately, which is why I've decided to take gap years.
I only got about 30 hours of volunteering in last semester, and have no clinical experience as of now. I've been looking for some courses for CNA, EMT, or PCT that I would be able to take with my classes next semester but they all seem really hard to fit in and i can't do them this summer due to money issues, and I already have a mentoring program I'm doing this summer that is pretty time consuming. Taking the classes during my upcoming fall semester seems like it may be possible to fit in but I know it will be super stressful and maybe impossible to do them while trying to keep up with my current EC's, classes, volunteering, and hopefully a social life( it's my senior year, so I do plan to be pretty social)
So as a solution I was planning to just focus on my current EC's and volunteering and graduate and then become a PCT and work full time and volunteer until I submit my application, and then maybe go to part time/per diem from there. I known this would get me more than enough clinical hours, but would it looked rushed to admissions officers? Should I take another gap year to keep working and volunteering?
P.s I'm mainly worried about volunteering because the schools I want to go to have a large emphasis on service

Hi all. So I posted a 1000 point list just a couple of days ago and was reassured I was on the right path. I played my brother in a straight up fight to the death. No other objective but just destroy the other army - as it should be between brothers (and high elf vs dark elf) our reasoning was we’re just getting a feel for our armies so kept it simple. Next battles will be with a battleplan.
My list was as planned: Ironscale Shrine 10x bow snakes 10x spear snakes
Playing against Cathallar Wind fox 5x Windchargers 10x Sentinels 10x Wardens 5x Bladelords Rune of petrification endless spell
I finished deploying my army around the shrine, won priority and took the first turn. Moved my shrine and spear snakes up towards his line. Bows stood still in range of his sentinels and my Ironscale was between the two snake units as she has the Zealous Orator trait so wanted her close for any rallys. My bows unleashed at the sentinels and I spiked good taking out 8 of them. Battle shock was passed with inspiring presence and I awaited retaliation.
My brothers turn he moved the fox and Windchargers into shooting range of my spears and failed to rally any sentinels. All magic was either failed to cast or dispelled. Although he did forget re-rolls from his faction terrain all game. Shooting took out half of my snake girls. I used my Inspiring Presence to keep them around and a quick round one was over. I felt good if I was to gain priority with snakes readying a charge backed with a shrine.
Takeaways from turn one was my shooting is good! But that fox is annoying with d3 damage per shot and hitting on 2s
Turn 2 I predictably lose priority roll and my brother takes it. He shoots and charges my snakes wiping them out before they strike back. His fox targets my bows and his wardens and bladelords castle up around the cathallar as she managed to get protection of Hysh off giving them ward saves. I lose 3 more bows to the fox but the fox stays away from combat retreating to the protection with that annoying move they have. My turn I charge my shrine into the Windchargers hoping for some revenge and my bows target his bladelords. Neither plan is successful killing only 2 bladelords due to good ward saves and decreased shots due to casualties. Even rolling rally on 4+ I only brought one back. My shrine was equally disappointing killing two and being wounded 3 times (to be fair this was due to unleash hell but still!)
Takeaways from turn to was to respect the Windchargers ability to remove ward saves and that a shrine is poor in combat. Additionally again the magic phase was uneventful other than the aforementioned ward spell
Turn three I won priority. I decided to castle up my bows and Ironscale behind them and keep my shrine on the offensive. Through magic and combat I managed to kill his Windchargers and my bows finished off the bladelords. In retaliation all my brother could manage was killing two more bows. Which was coincidentally the amount I rallied back in my turn. I feel this was a swing in my favour.
Turn four I lost priority and my brother decided to test the foxes ability in combat. He charged my bows. With shooting and combat they were reduced to five which struck back causing one wound. (Plus two with unleash hell). He has a good ward which is annoying too. He also decided to charge his few remaining sentinels into my shrine. The Lumineth ability to pick two units to fight knocked my confidence but shrine was unharmed further and killed them back In my turn shooting and a charge of my Ironscale saw to the fox I charged my shrine into the wardens, causing him to lose three models. In retaliation he took me to four wounds remaining. Takeaway from this turn is that wardens are very good when charged!
Turn five I felt confident. I won priority and saw off the wardens with shooting and shrine leaving just the Cathallar in her little shrine. He concede at this point. I had a full wound Ironscale and shrine with four wounds remaining and 7 bow snakes after more rallies
My takeaway from the battle is - 4+ rally on bows is good - shrine seems underwhelming and 5+ save is bad - don’t leave spear snakes open their save is no good too - disappointed by both sides magic
I think being able to remove my brothers shooting early was the deciding factor so if I’d lost first turn priority it may have been different? Adding objectives may have caused different decisions but I’m not certain
Sorry this ended a little long. I really enjoyed the battle and reliving through this post. Thanks for reading..

Up North, we are still in school. Thirteen days to go.
I am an experienced teacher, finishing up my 25th year, in 13 days. I know what I am doing, and am well versed in many management techniques. This ain’t my first rodeo.
The plan was to have my Science/STEM class build robots, code them, and conclude the last days of school playing robot contests. Think of fancy Lego robots driving around, knocking stuff over, playing soccer, scooping up golf balls into goals, and battle bots.
Well, after a few days of poor results, I hit my limit. Rude behavior, failure to follow (or even care about) instructions, and just a glaring disrespect for not only me, but the students in the room.
We put away our materials, sat down, and I said, “Our unit in robotics has concluded. You are dismissed.”
So, we will spend the last days working on science, technology, reading, and STEM passages and question sets. State website documents will be reviewed, all sorts of traditional information connected to the curriculum.
So, you’ve crossed the line, despite constant attempts to avoid this.
Such a shame. The previous session of the course had a grand time, lots of fun, laughs, and creativity. Welcome to class, grab your gear get building! Let’s listen to music while you work! Cool, come battle this kids robot!
Alas…

TLDR; I wanted to do some casual gaming on a Frankenstein PC build, and within 2 weeks my office has become a sim racing dojo.
After trolling Reddit for years, I’ve found something I am interested and “proud” enough to post about. So here it goes -
I've recently gotten into sim racing. While I am a noob and have a lot to learn, I have learned a lot in a short time so far, and am enjoying just being immersed into a hobby, both while doing it and doing "for" it. I have learned to research a lot, spend $$$ where you need to, and DIY where you can. I'm not looking to be competitive or beat the Joneses, rather just have a fun experience where I can turn off the world and feel like I am somewhere else by sight, feel, and sound. Hopefully this post is inspiring to others, educational, reminiscent of your beginnings, or just a fun read. I would also be interested to know your thoughts on my setup. Did I do it right/wrong? What would have been a better decision/route? What can I do for the next big thing?
I built my first and only PC close to 10 years ago and played shooter games/GTA. It’s long since gone and I’ve been wanting to get another “lazy” hobby.
I had an old HP PC lying around I got off eBay about a year ago. Decided to buy a high-end GPU and do some casual gaming on it. Wanted to do 4k so went ahead and got a used rtx 3090 on eBay for $700 shipped. I knew the CPU would be the bottleneck if I really wanted to push things eventually (i7-7700) but decided the build was enough for what I was wanting for now. Well… I have always been interested in cars and within the past 2 years, more interested in Formula 1 (thanks Drive to Survive). I got an old Xbox controller and loaded up steam/F1 22 and was pretty intrigued by how fun it was just using my thumbs lol. I decided I would go ahead and get a wheel/pedal combo to see HOW much more fun it could possibly be… whoops…
I got the Logitech G923 and was delighted with the novel sense of "driving" for the first time. I decided to keep looking at other ways to make the experience more "complete" as I was sitting in a dining chair, had my wheel clamped to a sliding keyboard drawer, and had my 38in ultrawide as close to the wheel as possible. Seeing as I did not want to upgrade my monitor, I figured it would be a great time to try VR for the first time. I had always wanted to wait until VR was a little more mature and I wasn't in a grainy, cartoon world. I read great things about the implementation in sim titles and started doing my research on which headset to go with.
HP Reverb G2 v2 (even despite the WMR situation) seemed to be the way to go in regard to visual fidelity and price point, so again... I found a really great deal on eBay for about $290.
Side note - At this point, I had already saved up birthday, Christmas, and other fun monies, so I felt ok with making some additional purchases (the GPU was planned and saved for aside from subsequent items in this post).
Well... first time ever in VR and my mind was blown. I was instantly hooked. I have played all sorts of racing games in the past, but I have never in my life felt so immersed into a game, even thinking back to my childhood days of Zelda OoT- different genre, but same concept. Back to racing... The spatial awareness and depth perception of racing in a different world made any prior racing game/sim experience obsolete to me. I knew I could not go back to a monitor, at least as my primary way. The only problem was that my Frankenstein PC came back to bite me much sooner than I had wanted. The CPU was choking the GPU. I would get 60-70 FPS but even worse, so much stuttering and inconsistent FPS. So... I decided if I really wanted to go any further, I had to take care of this before anything else.
I ended up building a new PC while salvaging what I could from my current build. I added a Gigabyte z690 MB, i7-12700k, Dark Rock Pro 4 cooler, and Antec FT1 case- all AW deals excluding a new i7 for $250 shipped. Once I got it all together, smooth 90 FPS all the way.
During the same time of the VR experience and PC build, I knew I wanted a cockpit/rig, but could not swallow the price tag in order to do it right. Well, I started woodworking last year, and have built a few furniture items for my house, so I figured I could give the DIY route a try- I just didn't want something that was sketchy or an eye sore. I studied lots of different consumer rigs as well as other DIY builds, and I ended up jotting down some dimensions and forms I thought would work and just started building- making decisions/changes as I went. I found some scrap wood on the side of the road in 2 different instances. Used some black paint left over from painting a few walls in our house, put together what I thought to be a pretty decent rig. During all of this, I still did not have a seat... another pricey purchase I just didn't want to swallow. I also did not want to have a crappy looking junkyard car seat on my rig in hopes of avoiding the aforementioned eye sore. I eventually said to myself, "just go look," so I went to the junkyard one random day. Low and behold, not even a week earlier, a 2009 Audi TT had been delivered to the lot with 2 pristine front seats. What I was sure to be a bust ended up being the best part of my rig. I brought home both seats (bc why not?), cut the seat belts, wires, etc; cleaned them, and got one mounted on my rig- $25 of bliss. I would have hated myself if I had ended up sinking so much $$$ into a seat, let alone a rig. Between the rig and seat, I spent less than $50. Super solid, compact, and fits my needs exactly.
Around this time, I also decide to go ahead and build out a triple monitor setup.. Yes I know... VR is king... never go back... yaddie yah yah. However, I have 2 little babies, friends, family, etc. who I want to share this with and I am sure there will be times I don't want to wear the VR headset. All that in consideration, and the fact I already have 2 matching 27in 1440p monitors, and a triple monitor mount, it was a no-brainer to me. I got a third monitor (thanks eBay) for $100 and picked up 3x 2x4x8's from Lowes. Painted it black and it's now part of the sim corner of my office lol.
So now I have a pretty slick cockpit with triple monitors that I can move forward and backward separate from my rig. As my setup has matured from the start(literally the span of 2 weeks time), the experience has been more and more enjoyable. The only problem I have remaining is the G923. While it was a great first time experience, the "realness" of it quickly went away and it felt like a toy. On top of that, it was a loud wheel- annoyingly loud. Well... I've done everything else... might as well just get a direct drive and have a complete, all around experience.
After much research and deliberation on what to buy, where to buy, when to buy, etc. I decided on a Moza R9, SRP Pedals, and GS v2 wheel. Side note - Thanks to u/neebsd whose post told me exactly what I needed to know for my wheel/base, pedal decision! Being brand new with little experience, I wanted to know what it was like to go from a G923 to Moza r9 and his post sealed it for me.
I went back and forth on getting a Moza r5... also whether to get an ES wheel with a formula mod paired with the R9. At the end of the day, I was worried the r5 would be too little for me (I think I was right and am VERY happy I went with the r9) and that the ES wheel, while cost effective ($500 for a wheel???) would leave me wishing I did a nicer wheel for both form factor and quality of materials/feel.
So here I am today, a little delayed on my post, but not even a month later and I am VERY happy with all of my decisions. I can usually find things I wish I had done differently, either regret or just "meh, if I could do it again" feeling, but I am 100% happy with all of my decisions along the way. Whereas I spent some cash for a wheelbase/wheel, and pedals, new PC components, a VR headset, etc., I am proud of how I saved at least $800 on a good(relative) cockpit/seat combo and instead leveraged recent new found skills and somebody else's trash.
And of course... so much fun actually enjoying this new hobby.
Pics (or it didn't happen) - https://imgur.com/gallery/vNdGbYY

next time i rewatch evangelion i’m going to analyze it from a kafkaesque lens and relate it to kafka’s works.
i definitely think they are a lot of parallels between the metamorphosis and evangelion. especially with shinji’s character. they both wake up one day and suddenly are dehumanized – gregor turns into a giant bug and shinji pilots a monstrous eva unit. both gregor and shinji are worked like a dog, and serve little purpose/value to their peers and family outside of their work. gregor’s family rebuffs him because he can no longer make money. when shinji has a breakdown about being a pilot, he is discarded because he is no longer useful to NERVE. honestly i could write a whole post about just illustrating these parallels.
additionally the defining hallmarks of a work being kafakesque is “oppressive or nightmarish qualities,” or the merriam-webster definition, “having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality.” this rings true for the world of evangelion, an oppressive and scary world marred by war, violence, and destruction. the people of japan blindly follow authority in hopes that will save them from the apocalypse. the main cast (misato, shinji, asuka, and to an extent rei), blindly follow the authority of NERV in order to survive their apocalyptic world.
as a autobiographer for kafka, frederick karl states:
“What I’m against is someone going to catch a bus and finding that all the buses have stopped running and saying that’s Kafkaesque,” he said. “What’s Kafkaesque […] is when you enter a surreal world in which all your control patterns, all your plans, the whole way in which you have configured your own behavior, begins to fall to pieces […] What you do is struggle against this with all of your equipment, with whatever you have. But of course you don’t stand a chance. That’s Kafkaesque.”
this mindset is a hallmark of the sequence of human instrumentality as shinji finds himself in the surreal and brand new world where he can’t rely on normal human conventions anymore. all of his previous coping mechanisms and his behavior patterns are scrapped in an instant.

First
Capes and Conundrums
“This is so much fun! I didn’t think that something like this was around here before!” Migalla says and her mother laughs.
“Last time we were here you were so small that chasing the family Purriz was the most excitement you’d get in a day Migalla.”
“Mom!” Migalla protests as Echosong giggles.
“Daughter!” She says back in amusement as they climb in through the window of the building that the clue they had frisked from those very fetching men had on them. If she wasn’t a married woman then she’d be looking to cure that with these men. They were clearly both dedicated and fun loving with all the shame of an exhibitionist but the self control you need from a soldier.
A pity her little Migalla is still a little too young to do more than occasionally have a wandering hand or find herself staring. The sort of thing you chide someone for or at worst give them a swat or two to get them to stop. Although... at this rate... between the sheer amount of CHEST shown by ‘Maxie Zeus’ and how tight the suit on ‘Firefly’ was... she might start developing a little early in the interest category.
“So... what IS your name ma’am? Did that... Mighty Zeus say it right when he called you Nyx?” Echosong asks and The Huntress perks up a little before letting out a bit of a laugh.
“Oh! Oh this must have been awkward! Oh no, my name is Migalla as well. It’s tradition in my family that the tenth daughter is always named Migalla. Little Migalla here is my tenth born and I am tenth born to my own mother, who was ninth born.”
“So Migalla and Migalla? How does that...”
“Call me Patience. It’s the family name after all. Huntsmistress Migalla Patience, and my adorable daughte Huntress in training Migalla Patience.”
“And granddaughter of Huntsmistress Migalla Patience right?”
“Actually mother’s a botanist. When all three of us are in a room she’s Doctor Migalla.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” Patience responds with a very amused tone. “Now if you get my great aunt in the room then Huntsmistress Migalla will get more than one answer. Much like Huntress in training Migalla will get my adorable little girl and at least three cousins.”
“Family reunions must be a lot of fun.” Echosong states as she tries to make sense of the strange acoustics of this place. There’s no echo despite the fact their should be. Furthermore there’s utter darkness and no source of light. But the light should be moving past certain areas. Something’s going on. What though? She’s not sure.
“The Migalla table at the gathering is always full of the funniest and most confusing conversations.” Migalla says and Echosong laughs. Migalla then smiles at a memory. “Mom, was it Migalla or Migalla that was telling Migalla that last time she saw Migalla she was in a fight with Migalla and it was such a relief to see her and Migalla had made up?”
“Yes, yes it was. Now back to the game at hand... we’re looking for a Ra’s Al Ghul. Some kind of immortal mad eco-terrorist that wishes to crash economies, destroy cities and leave the nature of the world pristine.” Patience notes.
“Wrong world for that. If we let that happen then Skathac gets set on fire again and again.” Echosong notes. “Also... hang on... I have the booklet here. Right! The resurrection method he uses has been slowly driving him insane.”
“Insane little creature? How very base and untoward to use such childish insults.” A refined voice with a slight accent states clearly.
“Speakers, he could be anywhere between here and Centris.” Patience warns.
“Indeed I can miss... Patience was it? Hmm... I expected the detective. I am torn between concern and relief that the rest of the sleeping masses upon this wretched and ruined world are beginning to awaken. Tell me, will you use your awareness and strength to save the world, or doom it?”
“Skathac isn’t a world that needs saving, it needs saving from.” Migalla states in an incredulous tone.
“Seriously old man! Haven’t you been outside? It’s a roasty nine hundred and eighty degrees outside the thermal shields! And it’s the cooler part of the year!” Echosong exclaims.
“I am certain that the world will cool when...”
“What craziness are you up to this time Ra’s? Are you sure you don’t need a retirement home?” Patience mocks him and there’s a silence.
“I am certain that...”
“They even have diapers your size now! So you don’t even have to figure out where the bathroom is!”
“Migalla that’s too far! Incontinence is nothing to joke about. Unless it’s funny.” Patience chides her before laughing.
“Mercenary, get in there.” Ra’s states coldly. Suddenly the darkness is pulled away revealing the warehouse they’re in to be a full of machinery and the trick they used to disguise this to be sound absorbing curtains that blended perfectly in the darkness.
They’re surrounded. Dozens of men in black outfits and only their eyes exposed glaring down. But most importantly are two. One an older looking man with a pointed hairstyle, grey streaks in his beard and a high collared green cape on. The other a very large and powerfully built man in black and grey armour with a half orange facemask. He looks like he walked right out of the Teen Titans cartoon.
“Decisions, decisions...” Deathstroke states.
“I am not paying you dither. Attack!” Ra’s Al Ghul orders and Deathstroke MOVES. His open palm slams into Patient’s stomach and sends her skidding backwards even as her footclaws dig into the concrete below. She leaves four foot long trenches and staggers back a step to regain her footing.
She deflects his left jab, blocks the right cross and then takes a brutal kick to the side of the knee and is sent sprawling. However she still has more limbs to play and her knife hand slams into the sides of his stomach in a powerful cross chop. She gets an impression of far more organs in there than most life, and she knows she hit at least one of them painfully.
His answer is a snap kick that takes her in the stomach and sends her staggering.
Meanwhile Migalla and Echosong are set upon by the ninja horde with a single wordless command from Ra’s. Echosong responds by letting out a sonic scream infused with Axiom that batters back at least three of them and send them sprawling in midair to crash into the machinery uselessly.
Migalla on the other hand jumps back at them and with Axiom infused hands coutners their swords and, after a bit of fumbling, grabs them by the shirt and tries to land on a pipe. She slips and begins to slide backwards, but she wraps her tail around it and firms her footing so they turn on the pipe instead and simply fall off. Leaving her hanging upside down with a ninja in each pair of arms.
She gives them both a few shacks before bonking them together and then dropping them before shifting and skittering to the top of the pipe instead.
She’s then met by a pair of ninjas to either side. She takes a stance that allows both of them access to her sides and uses Axiom to expand her field of vision. Fighting off two people at once will be tricky. But with her four arms and tail, they’ve got a grand total of one limb on her. Hopefully it won’t make that much difference.
Patience meanwhile is having a blast. Deathstroke... or is he Slade when he’s more Teen Titans style? Anyways, Mister Wilson is all sorts of fun. Sure, she has a few limbs on him. The tail nearly gets him as she sweeps for the legs or stabs with the blade, but he downright slithers out of the way of that, showing that he’s as flexible as he’s physically strong and... and...
“Tell me Mister Wilson... do you offer lessons?” Patience asks.
“Oh?” Slade asks. Nothing grand in his tone as he deflects two attacks and shifts to the side to try and get her with an elbow. Unfortunately there’s a distinct lack of organs in the place he hits her, and he’d have had more impact if he slammed into her thigh instead.
“Oh yes... I’m a married woman, but if I could my husband to MOVE like you do... He’s not much of a fighter your see.”
“A brawl before bed to spice up the marital life?” Slade asks in a scornful tone.
“Something like that. A poet can make a woman melt with words alone, but there’s something to be said if he can scoop her up afterwards to carry her to bed.” Patience says and there’s a scoff from under the mask.
“Okay, that needs to come off.” She insists making a grab for the mask. It’s latched on though and it’s not coming off.
She gets a flurry of body shots as she tries to grab at the helmet and then as she lunges for it again she’s instead grabbed and the flip is turned into a hammer throw that sends her hurtling through the factory. She aborts the flight by twisting in the air and grabbing the underside of a walkway and stopping her flight.
She paces along the underside of the walkway, easily keeping grip as she keeps track of Slade. Who throws down a smoke bomb and she senses movement behind her. Her tail lashes out but something binds it and she decides to go all out.
The metal of the walkway bends and cracks under her sheer strength as she bursts through the underside of it to attack Slade, only to find his solid boot slamming into the top of her head with enough force to break her grip, break the line he tied her with and break the pipe underneath them clean through.
“Oh!... Oh wow! You’re good!”
“Of course I am...” Slade begins even as the walkway he’s standing on creaks and groans. It then snaps under his feet and he falls. He falls in perfect control as he angles himself to avoid the edges of the pipe and he lands in a crouch right in front of Patience. “Deathstroke The Terminator.”
“I think this is a bit much for most contestants.”
“You’re a bit much for mere level four. We have you on record fighting Lava Serpents without protective gear and with only the most basic weapons. You can handle it big girl.” Deathstroke The Terminator states. “Now then. Shall we?”
Her response is a lightning fast charge that phases right through him. She skids to a stop and turns. Red runes are glowing over his armour with a jagged mark over his forehead.
“Really?” Patience asks.
“Really.” Deathstroke says before gesturing and half the equipment in the factory hurls itself at her. The Huntsmistress laughs in glee at the challenge.
While mother was having her fun, Migalla was having some of her own. She had managed to swipe a quartet of swords from the ninja and wasn’t so much as using them as flailing them around in their vague directions as she swung from her tail. On the walkway above a Ninja finally gets up there and dislodges her tail, causing her to start to fall, but Echosong swoops in, grabs her and helps her stick the landing even as she sweeps with her Axiom infused voice.
Between the blades, the fury and the scream the ninja fall back and one of them is dramatically killed by Ra’s Al Ghul.
“Incompetent fool.” The older man says in a dark tone as he bares the ‘bloody’ (sauce covered) falchion. “All of you. Out. I will deal with this myself.”
The ninjas scatter and Ra’s Al Ghul throws away his cloak to reveal that he has an armoured vest, pants and boots underneath. “A pity that one can only depend on a mercenary. I will need to increase my training of them.”
In the background Deathstroke’s and Patience’s fight has escalated into a two person war. Literal magic is being used on both sides as Slade reveals enormous teleportion, pyrokinesis and just kinesis in general as Patience shows that she can easily match the teleportation. Knows her way around throwing lightning and can cause the ground to quake with every move she makes.
“Now then. Let us begin.” Ra’s states before suddenly charging them both. Migalla’s swords are outright shattered against his falchion in a single swipe and the round kick to the side sends her sprawling as Echosong opens up with a sonic scream.
He DODGES the scream and lands some feet away, skidding from the sheer speed of the movement.
“All this effort and you still haven’t fully uncovered the plan. I expected more of someone taking up The Detective’s mantle. Perhaps his faith in you is misplaced?”
​
First Last

https://preview.redd.it/hpha65609g4b1.jpg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=910a0bd5f6ec426a9355db1126f30e0f59cbc5ed

Sephronar makes a speech about the Government

With just a couple of days left until this Government hits the 50-day mark, I wanted to take some time to put my thoughts onto paper as to how we have done so far. GroKo, to many, was an atypical coalition to be pursuing - but not to me, to me it made sense as the perfect opportunity for two parties seemingly at different ends of the ideological spectrum to set aside their differences and come together to govern in the national interest. As the Leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party I believe that we have done exactly that these last few weeks, and I wanted to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation and enthusiasm still for the coalition government that we have formed with the Labour Party over the past seven weeks - as well as my gratitude to Labour for making the experience so thoroughly enjoyable in general. This collaboration has not only been fruitful for our two parties, but has also brought significant benefits to our beloved country.
The Grand Coalition Government has allowed us to bridge the ideological divide that often separates political parties. And by working closely with our allies in the Labour Party, we have been able to find common ground on various policy issues and effectively address the concerns of a broader spectrum of citizens as well - we now represent 48.81% of the nation which is likely to increase at the next set of opinion polls, 55.56% if you factor in our confidence and supply partner(s) too, whom it would be remiss of me not to mention as a part of this bold plan to regenerate the nation too. This inclusiveness has fostered a sense of unity and stability that our nation desperately needed at a time when it often felt as if all hope had been lost for the nation. Of course, Solidarity is still doing what they can to play to political differences between all parties - but in GroKo, we are focusing on that which we have in common and for that reason we are so much stronger.
This Government has demonstrated the power of collaboration and compromise. In a world increasingly marked by political polarisation and infighting, we have shown that we can set aside our differences and work together for the greater good - and that this can prove to be extremely fruitful too! We have both consistently engaged in open and constructive dialogue with one another, and we have been able to develop robust policies that draw from the strengths and insights of both parties. This approach has resulted in well-rounded and pragmatic solutions that benefit the whole nation, regardless of political affiliation. That is something that any Government can be proud of, and I know that I certainly am.
One of the key achievements of our coalition government in my view with my Chancellor hat on is the rethinking of our approach to the economy. Our conservative principles, in collaboration with the Labour Party's traditional focus on social justice, have struck a delicate balance that promotes economic growth (through the Department for Growth!) while also ensuring a fair and just society for everyone - where no person gets left behind. We can stimulate business innovation, create job opportunities, and provide a safety net for the most vulnerable members of our society - that is both a sensible, and a morally right, approach to our economy.
The Government has also already prioritised investments in education and healthcare, through Bills such as the Ofsted Reform Bill and the Advertisement of Vape Products (Regulation) Bill respectively - recognising that these hugely pivotal sectors are fundamental pillars of a progressive society. By pooling our resources and expertise, we have been able to significantly improve access to quality education and healthcare services. This investment in human possibility and the core belief in the principle that doubling down on that investment not only empowers individuals to reach their full potential but also strengthens our nation's overall resilience and competitiveness on the global stage is, I believe, key to this Government’s mantra and success to-date.
Furthermore, we have been governing for the whole United Kingdom - with our new Secretary of State for Devolved Affairs working hard to ensure that we always think about the United Kingdom and our precious union; we are, after all, unionists and should work hard to safeguard that union for future generations.
So far, the Government has I believe played a central role in promoting national unity and stability. We immediately put aside our partisan differences and embraced a spirit of cooperation, we have demonstrated that our shared goals and values are stronger than any political divide. This unity has not only reassured the Country (if the polls are anything to go by!) but has also instilled confidence in our international allies and partners, showcasing our ability to navigate complex challenges as a unified force - not least through our brilliant Foreign Secretary BlueEarlGrey’s work to rebuild our presence on the national stage too.
To all who said we would never make it past a month - we’re still here, and we are stronger than ever.
This Grand Coalition Government between the Conservative and Unionist Party and the Labour Party has proven to be a resounding success so far. Through collaboration, compromise, and a commitment to serving the best interests of our nation, we have achieved remarkable progress in a short span of time - imagine what we can do with the four more months that lay before us. I can honestly say, as I did in the recent session of Prime Ministers Questions that I substituted for the PM, that I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Labour - they have a fantastic work ethic, an amazing breadth of knowledge, and more than that are brilliant people who knows what it means to work for consensus.
We stand before the nation as a shining example of what can be accomplished when political parties come together to pursue a common vision. Together, we are well on our way towards building a stronger, fairer, and more prosperous country - and we have no plans of slowing down.
Thank you, in particular to the former Prime Minister Frost_walker2017 for helping to make it happen in the first place - but also to the new Prime Minister Chi0121 for immediately picking up the torch and fighting for what is right; long may it continue.

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Respecting KGBeast

"I am to be killing you, and you are to be dying."

Origin: Anatoli Knyazev's past is a mystery, but wherever he came from he soon became the Soviet Union's greatest assassin. Trained by the KGB and enhanced with cybernetics, he became responsible for the deaths of hundreds of individuals before Batman put a stop to his career as an assassin.
Working for a variety of other super villains through the remainder of his career and suffering a fall from grace after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the KGBeast was ultimately murdered during a botched mission for the Penguin.
Abilities/Gear: An elite KGB assassin who uses a variety of weapons, KGBeast is outfitted with physical-enhancing cybernetics that include a prosthetic gun in the place of one of his hands

Source Key: Batman = BAT Robin III = RI Robin v.2 = ROB Detective Comics = DC Vengeance of Bane = VoB Batman: Blackgate = BB Batman Plus = B+ Batman/Wildcat = BW Batma Blackgate: Isle of Men = IoM Nightwing v.2 = NW Action Comics = AC 

Strength

Striking

• Carries large chests of gear and uses them as weapons as he starts to kill 8 men ^{BAT 417}
• Karate chops apart a block of stone as it's said his strength is cybernetically enhanced to make him as strong as any four healthy men and that he's capable of tearing a person in two ^{BAT 417}
• Hits a man in the face with spiked knuckles and hoists his body overhead to dispose of it, and it's confirmed the man's neck was broken ^{BAT 417}
• Briefly outfights and escapes Batman ^{BAT 418}
• Smashes through a barricaded door and throws a man out a window ^IoM
• Smashes Huntress' head into a wall, breaking off pieces of the wall ^{RI 4}
• Engages in a prolonged brawl with the venom-enhanced Willis Danko and comes out victorious ^{BW 2}

Throwing/Lifting

• Throws cinderblocks down an elevator shaft, with the added momentum giving them the power of an anti-tank rocket as they rip through the elevator ^{BAT 419}
• Throws Tim Drake out a window ^{RI 1}
• Throws a ball over 100 feet into the air ^{ROB 14}
• Hoists a barrel of chemicals overhead and throws it at Bullock so hard it puts Bullock in a coma ^{DC 682&ROB 14}
• Carries multiple bodies without impediment ^B+
• Lifts a large piece of debris ^IoM
• Carries two men ^{NW 35}

Misc.

• Rips a door out of its frame ^{RI 1}
• Crushes a gun in his hand ^IoM

Durability

Concussive

• A man who hits KGBeast hurts his own hand ^{RI 2}
• Kicked and then smashed in the face by Robin, hurting him but not impeding him ^{RI 4}
• Tim Drake's bowstaff warps around his head with the force of a strike that does not bother KGBeast ^{RI 4}
• Falls out of a building and smashes a car below, but gets up and runs away ^{RI 4}
• Fights through hits from Tim ^{RI 6}
• Takes multiple hits from King Snake before going down ^{RI 6}
• Shrugs off a kick to the face from Tim that Tim believes should have broken his nose ^{ROB 14}
• Quickly beaten down by Batman while KGBeast is without his cybernetic appendages ^BB
• Takes a kick from Batman that breaks him through a wooden wall, then takes subsequent hits from Batman without injury ^B+
• Engages in a prolonged brawl with the venom-enhanced Willis Danko and comes out victorious ^{BW 2}
• Takes a beating from Batman, fighting back just long enough to get crushed by Monsoon ^{BW 3}
• Shakes off hits from Blackgate prisoners ^IoM
• Taken down after a brief fight with Batman ^IoM
• Takes hits from Nightwing, including having his head craters into concrete ^{NW 35}
• Takes hits from Nightwing and a fall down a tunnel ^{NW 37}

Piercing

• Batman's darts cause him to wince and drop his weapon ^{BAT 419}
• Chops off his own hand with an axe and escapes Batman right after ^{BAT 419}
• Hit in the face with one of Batman's darts and makes his escape while bleeding ^{BAT 420}
• Bleeding but unhampered by a shotgun blast to the shoulder ^{RI 2}
• A 12 gauge shotgun blast to the gut does nothing to him ^{DC 682}
• Blasted in the chest with a 12 gauge shotgun and shakes it off "like a headcold," appearing uninjured thereafter ^{ROB 14}
• A shuriken thrown in his cybernetic eye spurs him to counterattack ^B+
• His corpse resists gunfire, then has its head decapitated by a thrown metallic letter from a sign ^{NW 142}

Esoteric

• Walks through the flames of a chemical explosion without issue ^{ROB 14}
• Goes down to an electric shock ^B+
• Downed by an electric shock from his jailer ^{BW 2}

Multiple Damage Types

• Takes a dart to the hand and a punch to the face from Batman, but immediately fights back ^{BAT 418}
• Fights through Tim stabbing him in the wrist and tearing out his cybernetic eye which had wires running into his brain ^{ROB 14}
• Shot by a handgun point blank, and jumped 40 feet out of an exploding plane and then hit in the chest with a steel girder and kicked by Roy Harper, all without injury ^B+
• Survives a fall from a rooftop, then dies to two shots to the head ^{DC 817}

Speed

• Briefly outfights and escapes Batman ^{BAT 418}
• Draws and fires on Batman before Batman can respond, then kills several police officers in the moment they hesitate so that half of them did not even know what hit them ^{BAT 419}
• Blocks Tim's bo staff and disarms him of it before stabbing him through the shoulder ^{ROB 14}

Equipment

Prosthetic Gun
General

• Goes to an expensive manufacturer of illegal weapons to craft a unique weapon that will replace his hand and kills the manufacturer ^{BAT 419&420}
• Releases tear gas he is protected from with nose filters ^{BAT 420}

Firearm

• Fires on Batman, who considers putting it out of commission a priority ^{BAT 420}
• Shoots a man in the chest several times ^{RI 2}
• Fires after Tim Drake, tearing through a car windshield and the asphalt of a street ^{RI 2}
• Helps hail a bus ^{RI 2}
• Fills an elevator shaft with gunfire ^{RI 6}
• Shoots multiple people in close quarters quickly ^{RI 6}
• Tears through the tank of a traincar ^{ROB 14}
• Fires, reloads, and keeps firing ^{DC 817}

Bayonet

• Unsheathes a bayonet that slices across Batman's chest and digs deep into a sewer wall where Batman snaps it apart ^{BAT 420}
• Bayonet cuts Tim's staff apart until he later gets a new one that is ceramic coated magnesium alloy ^{RI 2&4}
• Bayonet slices through a piece of debris ^{RI 4}
• Slices King Snake and embeds into the floor ^{RI 6}
• Stabs through Robin's armor which is stated to be bulletproof ^{ROB 14}
• Rips through one of Nightwing's eskrima ^{NW 35}
• Slices a chunk out of a concrete wall ^{NW 35}

Explosives

• The rocket launcher leaves a huge hole in a building ^{RI 4}
• Fires an explosive that splinters apart a wooden wall ^B+
• Fires an explosive that Roy Harper dodges ^B+

Other Weapons

• Uses a Thompson with a 50 round clip that fires through the roof of a van ^{BAT 418}
• Uses a rocket launcher that destroys a room, his Thompson, and several shuriken ^{BAT 418}
• Uses a rocket launcher that destroys a plane ^{BAT 419}
• Uses a16 shot .9mm Beretta that pierces Batman's shoulder ^{BAT 419}
• Uses a rocket launcher that blows up the tanks at a chemical plant, starting a massive fire ^{DC 682}

Skills

General

• Said to be a master of several martial arts, a master of all deadly weapons imaginable, the best assassin the Soviet Union ever produced, and an assassin who killed 9 CIA agents and possibly over 200 people, including Anwar Sadat ^{BAT 417}
• Locked away by Batman in a sewer, and escaped within hours before the police could arrive ^{BAT 420&439}
• Trained and juiced Gregor Dosynski, the NKVDemon, who credits KGBeast with everything that he is ^{BAT 445}
• Trained Avruskin in combat, who refers to KGBeast as the best ^{AC 803}
• Catches a ball accidentally knocked down from behind him ^{DC 682}
• Nightwing considers KGBeast a major player who Batman alone is good enough to stop ^B+

Assassinations

• Sneaks into one target's room to suffocate him while he sleeps, and sets up a steel wire along another target's motorcycle route so that the target beheads himself ^{BAT 417}
• Sneaks into a target's home and swaps out their orange juice with poison gas, killing the target and their partner ^{BAT 418}
• With his partner, pulled off the poisoning of over 80 of Gotham's wealthiest individuals ^{BAT 418}
• Set up plastic explosives on a door knob that kills their target before their guards could warn them ^{BAT 419}
• Throws a cinder block accurately down an elevator shaft to kill a specific person in such a manner it could have looked like an accident ^{BAT 419}

Combat

• Kills 8 armed men with his bare hands and some luggage ^{BAT 417}
• Detects Batman's trap, proceeding with his assassination because he has pre-planned escape routes, and briefly outfights Batman before fleeing and ultimately escaping Batman, who admits KGBeast is better than him ^{BAT 418}
• Set up plastic explosives on a door knob that kills their target before their guards could warn them ^{BAT 419}
• Escapes Batman again, shooting him and killing several police officers during the escape, ultimately only pulling it off because KGBeast was willing to sever off his own hand ^{BAT 419}
• Batman considers him a super-assassin, and his mission in Gotham was not only largely successful but he managed to murder over 100 people during it ^{BAT 420}
• Murders several CIA agents in the course of escaping Batman a third time, then engages in a brutal battle with Batman that leaves both injured ^{BAT 420}
• Incapacitates Huntress off panel ^{RI 5}
• Kills several people, though when King Snake intervenes he beats KGBeast ^{RI 6}
• Has killed diplomats and presidents and kings, but loses a fight to the Tally Man. ^{DC 817}
• Beats a weakened Bane in their first fight, leaving Bane with a broken nose, bruised trachea, popped ribs, and a fractured leg, but loses after Bane conditions himself ^VoB

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