Throughout highschool I had smoked weed relatively often, maybe once every few weeks and I was always able to handle quite a bit without any bad effects. I’d get extremely high, sure, but never uncomfortable.
One time however, me and a few friends decided to go to a beach to smoke some of their uncle’s home-grown weed. The tide was going out and the beach has extremely shallow water so when the tide is low you can walk like a kilometer out towards the sea over flat sand. We made a fire and had some hot dogs. Once the sun started to set my friend pulled out a joint and lit it. He warned us it was fairly potent so we all had a conservative hit and enjoyed the sunset. When it was dark we were all a little high and having a good time so we decided to smoke a little more. I'm not sure when exactly it happened but I started feeling uncomfortable. I couldn't put my finger on what was bothering me but we decided to go for a walk on the beach to do something to take my mind off of it.
We walked out towards the sea for a while and looking back at land I could see the fire on the beach with trees behind it silhouetted by the moonlight. I started having a good time again and was chilling. My friend started doing this thing where he'd draw a line in the sand and then jump through it, saying he just went through a portal. I did it too with him and it was a good bit of fun. We were basically imaging we were in another dimension, and I remember he pointed out a little cloud and called it a UFO, since it was illuminated by the moon. Because we were both pretty high it was entertaining and I sorta imagined it to be a ufo.
At some point through jumping through these "portals" I started becoming very disoriented. My high imagination was getting the better of me and I started thinking "maybe I really did go through a portal". My friends noticed something was up so the sat me down on the beach and talked to me. I closed my eyes and my friends voice seemed to teleport around me, almost as if I were spinning in circles as he talked to me. The direction of the voice would be illuminated by a white light in my vision when my eyes were closed. Very suddenly I felt extremely dissociated, and when I opened my eyes and looked back to the fire my vision seemed to pivot upwards, as if it was a TV screen folding up to the ceiling. This is when the paranoia became super intense.
I had many existential thoughts running through my mind, all along the lines of "am I a real person? Are my friends real people? How am I conscious if I am just a brain?". As you probably know, these thoughts on drugs can be very hard to describe accurately after the fact, and they can be extremely overwhelming and convincing at the time. As I thought these things I became increasingly disconnected from my body and convinced that all of reality was an illusion. That we were nothing more than a bunch of biochemistry in an organic body. I looked at my friends and I saw them as zombies, not hallucinating, but I "realized" that people were like animals reacting to the world around them based on stimuli and chemistry. Sort of like the "deterministic universe theory". This freaked me the hell out. On top of this I felt as if I had been stuck in a time loop for many many many hours. I felt like I'd never leave this terrifying dissociative state, and I was stuck there with all of these thoughts in my head forever.
As I was on this beach basically going insane I had these visions of different monsters on the beach with me. I can't say if they were real hallucinations or if I was imagining it with my eyes closed, but I saw thousands of people on the beach stumbling around like zombies. Guided only by the primal instincts that the chemistry in the brain dictates. Like a sea of zombies out of the walking dead, except they weren't dead or rotting. I saw this as if I were not in my body, but floating above because I was extremely dissociated. Again, my eyes may have been closed and I was just imagining all of this, but it felt very real.
I have a very hard time remembering exactly how long this all lasted, but it felt like a LONG time, to the point where I thought I had been like this forever and also I would be like this forever. The next thing I remember seeing was looking around me at this beach sandy beach which seemed to stretch infinitely in each direction other than the shore. I saw these one-eyed black blobs sprout from the ground. They had like a teardrop shape with a stump at the bottom. Look up "chuchu zelda phantom hourglass" and its basically a one eyed black version of those. There seemed to be hundreds of them on the beach.
I think it was at this point when my friends took me back to the shore. It was probably only like 10 minutes since I started freaking out but it felt like eternity. We had parked one of our cars there and had plans to be picked up by another friend after his night shift. I went and sat in the backseat of the car and I opened my phone to look at who had snap chatted me. I looked at the bitmojis and they seemed completely foreign and I couldnt assign a real person to each of them. I felt as if I had forgotten who I was and who I knew. I looked at photos of people on my phone and couldn't remember who they were. I then felt as if I had pissed myself. I hadn't, but that feeling kinda woke me up and I actually laughed about it and then promptly went back to freaking out. I kept telling my friend "make it stop" over and over again.
Eventually at some point my other friend picked everyone up and drove us home. I had a hard time falling asleep, although I was less panicked at that point.
In the morning I woke up and felt extremely strange. As if I was watching my vision through a screen like playing a video game. The next couple weeks were scary because I was very forgetful. I forgot where my friend lived when driving them home one day that week. I couldn't picture people's faces if I tried. I felt as if I wasn't real. I was terrified that I had broken my brain or that I was going insane.
The scary thoughts I had during that experience plagued me for two years. I found myself mulling over these existential thoughts that I couldn't put into words very well. I also felt very dissociated for a year, gradually getting better until 3 years after the incident where I finally felt normal. I went to therapy for it and it helped a bit, but I never found a magic cure to my dissociation other than just waiting it out. I also had semi-regular anxiety attacks for a while related to existential dread which I hadn't had before and haven't had recently either.
I have tried smoking weed a few times since then and the same sort of paranoia has happened, to a slightly lesser extent though. Most recently was 4 years after the experience and I had instant paranoia about the feeling of being high. I used to be able to keep up with my "experienced" friends when smoking weed but now I cant even handle a single small hit off of the weakest joint you can buy. I find it really interesting and that the experience instantly and permanently lowered my weed tolerance to exactly zero. I have also tried LSD and mushrooms since then and they were totally fine, no scary experiences there.
Every time I've told people this story they don't believe me that I had this time-loop effect. They also don't really believe that I saw those zombies or those monsters (neither hallucinations or imagining). They suggest that maybe the weed was laced but that's virtually impossible because it was home grown and I personally know the guy who grew it.
Anyway, roughly 4 years later I feel fine. The dissociation is gone and I don't have much existential dread. Not due to me finding any sort of answer or coming to terms with it, it just seemed to fade away by itself. Glad its all over now.
Anyone else have similar experiences with weed?

Introduction

Rapid Assault Tactics was a fighting method created back in the 80s and 90s by Paul Vunak. The original tapes were designed so that someone with little to no training could be able to hold their own in a fight.
The logic was to win a fight your strategy is to position yourself so that you have an advantage in the exchange, and that most fighters of the time trained for kickboxing range and grappling range, but few trained in trapping range. He realized teaching proper punching and kicking would take a lot longer than more simple techniques which are used in trapping range.
An entry was created so that pressure could be applied using a straight blast, and then finishing moves would be used to terminate the altercation. It is very solid in theory. The only big criticism I have, especially in my profession, is its weakness against edged weapons.
Eddie Quinn would in the late 90s develop The Approach. The original Approach also had the same basic ideas and structure, except it was based on knife fighting movements, as its creator was cut up by an aggressor quite badly in a street fight, which provided the inspiration for creating the system.
His system features preemptive striking, no blocking, constant forward pressure after creating an entry, and finishing movements to terminate an altercation.

Detailed Comparison of the Two Systems

	Rapid Assault Tactics	The Approach
1. Entry System	Elbows are directed into incoming jabs and crosses, and the knee is raised to destroy kicks. Hooks are intercepted with eye strikes.	Preemptive closure of distance from a non-threatening stance to smash the arms out of the way using hammer-fist strikes from the dominant arm.
2. Pressure System	Straight blast while advancing forward to destroy the attacker's stance and structure.	Hammer fist strikes delivered rapidly while moving forwards down the center-line towards the person's head, face, sternum, and collar bone.
2.5 Clinch Fighting and Trapping	Energy drills section of his training involves trapping movements.	The original approach has a section on trapping and clinch fighting between its pressure system and its termination system.
3. Termination System	Headbutts, knees, and elbows are used to incapacitate the attacker.	Elbow strikes to the sternum neck and face are used to stop the attacker, or at least stun them enough to get away.

Best of Both Worlds?

The biggest weakness of the two above systems is the lack of ground fighting and grappling. That cannot be easily remedied without substantially increasing the training time requirements, which defeats the purpose of these products. If we consider these simplistic striking systems each one has some significant weaknesses.
The Approach has zero blocking, except strikes passively hitting the non-dominant hand(which is held in the same place it would be for knife fighting). This lack of blocking really makes it harder to use the system when you are in a situation where you cannot keep a reactionary gap, and cannot preemptively strike due to the rules of engagement. Additionally without training the ability to block you become a glass cannon, able to dish out a lot of damage, but little ability to take it. Sometimes this works, other times it will not.
Rapid Assault Tactics has some really interesting ideas. It held up well in sparring, and having been on the receiving end of it, it was indeed pretty strong stuff for what it was. Its biggest weakness is that it was not designed to be used with a weapon, or against a weapon.
If we borrow the blocking based destruction, and the headbutts and knees terminations, of the RAT system and use it as an optional entry system for when a preemptive strike entry is not possible, and keep the rest of the approach we should have the best of both worlds: a system compatible with knives and more options to create an entry.
Finally before the actual high guard is entered, the interview stance is a good neutral position that keeps the hands in a ready position, while consuming little energy and appearing non-threatening.
I will call this Frankenstein combination self defense system Approach Tactics.
​

	Approach Tactics
0. Neutral, Inactive Stance	Interview Stance
1. Entry System	Preemptive destructive entry, or blocking elbow and knee destructive entry.
2. Pressure System	Hammer fist strikes delivered rapidly while moving forwards down the center-line towards the person's head, face, sternum, and collar bone.
2.5 Clinch Fighting and Trapping	Very simplified trapping borrowed from Wing Chun.
3. Termination System	Headbutts, knees, and elbows used for terminating the altercation.

​

Who Are/Were These Systems Marketed To?

Primarily security, police, jailers, and soldiers.
My first encounter with R.A.T. was when I sparred with a combat veteran I met in training. My first encounter with The Approach was hearing from U.K. law enforcement that they were learning The Approach. In the military and law enforcement world the R.A.T. system made its rounds in the late 80s and 90s, and The Approach made its rounds in Europe in the 2000 and 2010s.
Now there seems to be very little interest(in the U.S.) in unarmed combat training except B.J.J. because of how useful it is for subduing a resisting opponent without necessarily injuring them. This is largely is because officers now have more access to less lethal weapons and protective vests.
Security guards and bouncers still seem to have an affinity for striking arts, and avoid ground fighting arts. This seems to be because they do not have access to the same weapons and protective vests, and are not trying to restrain anyone because the rules of engagement only allow them to defend themselves. Most bouncers seem to avoid ground fighting due to the risk of bystander involvement.

Limitations of the Above Systems

The above systems are streamlined self defense products and are not full featured martial arts. They are designed to build basic competence quickly. After one has mastered one of the above self defense products and wants to become a more well rounded fighter their next step is probably MMA.
Without a good MMA gym a person needs to pick martial arts that address the weaknesses in these trapping range systems: those weaknesses are found in kickboxing and grappling range.

Hello Guardians, my name is u/PandaPaxxy. Today I am here to go over my process for evaluating weapons. From hand cannons to glaives I will go over what I look for in weapons and why. A lot of the time it will fall into “Reload gun and get damage.” But in terms of other stats to look for, why I choose certain perks sometimes and other perks other times. My guides serve to educate Guardians on weapons for the season. I work hard to test and find out what works on weapons so you can dedicate your time to playing with them instead of testing them for yourself.
Ultimately my guides and wishlists are a jumping off point. They serve as a great baseline but are neither gospel, nor all-encompassing. I build them to get you to a point where you can look at perk pools and decide for yourself what you want on your weapons.
Exotic armor builds are always a great place to start, see what exotic you gravitate towards and build your weapons around that. Do you like mowing through enemies? Well then Subsistence might be your best friend. Do you like punching things? Pugilist, Swashbuckler, One-Two Punch, and Trench Barrel just became your best friends. Depending on your build and what you use can drastically change perk recommendations one way or the other. Building into a specific play style with your weapons can not only get you to a point where clearing activities is easier, but it can also create your own identity within Destiny. Two players using the same subclass and exotic can choose very different weapons to pair with it and have very different play styles. My recommendations are purely that. Recommendations.
This guide not only serves as what I recommend on weapons but also a peek behind the curtain into my brain. To set you off right, I LOVE high handling weapons, if I could have Ophidians or Dragon’s Shadow on my Titan, I might never take them off. Any way I can bump up handling on my weapons is always going to be my forefront choice, that’s why a lot of the time I recommend Fluted Barrel, Fastdraw HCS, or QuickDot SAS. The faster the animation the better.
With all that being said, let me get into the meat and potatoes of this breakdown of my breakdowns.

Primary Ammo

Auto Rifles:
Auto rifles need some stability and a good recoil direction to make them work. Any base recoil direction less than 70 needs Arrowhead Brake, and even above that it might be necessary. It depends also on what magazine perks the auto rifle gets. Ricochet Rounds is the best as it marginally increases range while heavily increasing stability. Steady Rounds almost never gets recommended as it lowers the next best stat being range.
In terms of perks a lot of the time it will either be consistency for PvP or damage + reload perks for PvE. Reload perks come in all forms; Surplus, Threat Detector, Outlaw, and Overflow are easy choices. Ambitious Assassin and even Envious Assassin are also great choices depending on how you use this auto. They pseudo-bypass reload by giving you a bigger base mag each time the perk activates. They fall under Overflow because with Overflow you will never see your reload animation but get all the benefits.
In terms of damage perks all of them work perfectly. Golden Tricorn is the best overall and will be for most weapons as it has the highest damage increase and stacks with surge mods. As long as you keep the same element you will be golden.
For PvP there are few choices. Consistency perks like Tap the Trigger, Dynamic Sway Reduction, Zen Moment, and even Threat Detector are fantastic for keeping bullets on target. Autos need your full dedication to the engagement to kill and keeping your bullets on their head is the only way to succeed. There are “Win More” perks like Kill Clip that allow you to slay past that first engagement, but most autos I recommend will have full consistency unless there isn’t a consistency perk in the stereotypical “damage” column.
Combat Bows:
Bows were a fantastic addition to the game and provide a nice balance between scouts and snipers. Harder hitting than a scout but less damage than a sniper. Primary ammo over a sniper, but less damage per second (or shots per second) than a scout. Very cool choice. Most of the time I will recommend dropping draw time as low as possible and bringing up accuracy after the fact. This will make the damage per second go up a bit as you can fire more shots and keep your “range” and feeling sticky the further away the enemies are.
There aren’t a wide variety of perks to choose from on bows. Crowd control perks and reload perks are the only things. There are a few choice perks for builds specifically. Wellspring, Demolitionist, and Pugilist are great for specific builds or general ability uptime. However, I will, more often than not, recommend Archer’s Tempo or Rapid Hit over them. Bringing up the base reload speed and draw time means you won’t have to invest as heavily into dropping draw time, though the two do help together.
In the final column going with your damage perks or crowd control perks are the best. Headstone, Dragonfly, Explosive Head, or Frenzy. All of them work to clear rooms faster. This comes mostly down to player preference and what build you will ultimately use.
Bows in PvP have two main play styles, swap (blinting) or laning. With either Opening Shot is the best in slot whenever it is available. It allows you to almost always get a crit which will be helpful in either play style. With the swap builds you could also opt for Explosive Head for some added flinch, but you definitely want Quickdraw or Moving Target for added Flexibility. For a more laning approach I would always recommend Rapid Hit for a faster draw time after you get that first crit with Opening Shot.
Hand Cannons:
Well these are certainly my favorite weapons in the game. They really don’t feel good in higher end PvE. Shame. For the most part I look for a decent mix of stability, range, and handling. In that order. If the weapon has decent stats for each of those that aren’t way out of band I usually default to handling. Range does help in PvE but it can be mitigated through Explosive Payload or Timed Payload. You also can pseudo-break range with higher damage. Hand cannons experience a hard damage drop off, so investing into range isn’t a terrible choice either.
For the first column usually a reload perk resides here. Ensemble, Outlaw, Rapid Hit, Surplus, etc. Almost all hand cannons follow in the footsteps of Midnight Coup for PvE. Outlaw and Rampage was a beast in year 1, and while it still works in year 5 it isn’t as versatile. Headstone has replaced most damage perks for me, though there are some good alternatives like Frenzy and Thresh.
In PvP there are only really a few choice perks to look for. Even after the Rangefinder nerf it will still be a very sought after perk. Eye of the Storm is S tier on everything it rolls on, so are Opening Shot and Rapid Hit. Snapshot, Zen Moment, and Moving Target are great supplemental perks. Explosive Payload and Timed Payload might become more sought after if you want to consistently win your 1v1s.
Pulse Rifles:
The most important stat on pulse rifles is the recoil direction. Anything less than 100 should be dismantled immediately. That makes Arrowhead Brake almost a requirement on all pulses. Depending on the pulse and more specifically its archetype will determine what magazine perk is best. If the magazine is less than 30 I would usually go for Appended Mag or Tactical Mag. If the pulse has low reload I will often recommend Flared Magwell as an alternative or best in slot. It also bumps up the stability which definitely helps with a good recoil direction.
Almost all perks within the reload and damage column work here and will be great to maximize your pulses utility. Golden Tricorn is best when applicable. But I have been enjoying Void with Repulsor Brace for a small overshield in the legendary campaign. Being able to keep up a small overshield almost all the time is incredibly helpful in all activities you feel squishy in.
In PvP most of the above applies that recoil direction and stability are important. Range isn’t as important depending on the archetype You might even be able to go for Steady Rounds if you wanted more stability and aren’t utilizing all the range pulses get. I would recommend anything that helps you secure bursts on target, Moving Target, Heating Up, Rapid Hit all come to mind as they each help your burst patterns. Firmly Planted is an incredible shout out too if you slide into engagements or hold lanes instead. Lots of consistency perks. There are a few archetypes that are able to two-burst with a little help from damage, or that damage makes the bursts you need to kill more forgiving. Each of those are great ways to utilize damage perks; not all the time are they necessary in PvP.
Scout Rifles:
Scout rifles are most people’s first weapon type. They help you stay safe and far back while still doing respectable damage. I know I used them, and they still hold up in higher tiered content. High recoil direction is important but not necessary. None of the stats really do a lot on scouts until you get down into the faster firing scouts in which case you’ll want stability to keep shots on target. I always look for consistency perks over damage perks because the rise and fall of damage really shifts gameplay in higher level content. In GMs you’re not always running around with max stacks of damage so something neutral like Explosive Payload will pull way more weight.
In PvP scouts fall into a weird hot and cold. They are either the top of the meta or bottom. Scouts cater to a passive play style so depending on how games go they are either the best thing or you’ll get rolled for being too passive. Damage perks are great for streaks, and consistency perks are plenty. Depending on the archetype I might opt for one damage perk over another to push down the TtK but overall I tend to mix both damage and reliability perks.
Sidearms:
Sidearms are super interesting. Outside of exotic sidearms you don’t see too many people using them aside from niche builds or players looking at a shiny new toy. Range is what makes sidearms even remotely useful in this sandbox as you don’t want to use a sidearm that literally any other weapon could do the same job. Swords could even be better than sidearms sometimes. Pushing out the range as far as it can go, and pumping the sidearm full of damage will give you some great results but will be very hard to take into higher level content. Rat Pack go back in your dens, that is not a sidearm.
In PvP sidearms live and die by their range. Similar to PvE they need to compete outside of melee range. Shotguns will eat them up and fusions will turn them into space air. I find that the best sidearm users make effective use of their space and by manipulating sight lines. If you can control a small space effectively you can use sidearms, otherwise any other primary weapon might be better.
Submachine Guns:
Submachine guns in PvE are great weapons for being aggressive and spraying down enemies. While auto rifles do this job excellently, submachine guns are just smaller and faster versions. They make you feel agile running and gunning while doing great dps but less good sustained damage. They might be great against rank-and-file enemies but won’t scale up with their low magazine, high RPM, and medium damage. In order to make these weapons strong you will want to look for a way to circumvent the reload entirely or speed it up so it feels non-existent. That way you’ll be able to output incredible damage while still being able to weave in and out of cover.
In PvP SMGs will always have a place. They exist as shotgun deterrents and act as breaching tools. They can spray down targets faster than auto rifles while keeping your mobility up. Technically no weapon lowers your native speed, but SMGs with their high RPM allow you to hit your TtK fast in a way that auto rifles cannot. With damage perks they can really reach into auto rifle range, but those few are usually outliers. SMGs exist alongside hand cannons for fast paced, aggressive game play

Special Ammo

Fusion Rifles:
Fusions in PvE are either hit or miss. The charge time is a weird mechanic to get behind at first, and can cause some frustration compared to other special weapons. I always try to maximize the recoil direction to land all my bolts, and then try to stack damage after the fact. There are few perks I look for in order to really create a PvE fusion. Other things to look for are magazine replenishing perks. Subsistence, or Reconstruction. In terms of magazine I either opt for Accelerated Coils for more damage per second, or a larger mag. Oftentimes the extra damage per bolt from Liquid Coils is beaten by Accelerated Coils shooting a whole other burst.
Fusions in PvP are all about consistency. Sure you can find a few rolls that offer kill chaining potential. The biggest threat that came from the fusion community was the Xur Main Ingredient that offered only consistency perks. Under Pressure adds aim assist and stability. Tap the Trigger works on every burst. Firmly Planted works in a slide and pairs well with Kickstart. Rangefinder bumps out the stability and pushes out the zoom for deep one-bursts.
Glaives:
Glaives are interesting, they take out your charged melee, and offer both protection and a fusion rifle-lite experience. The damage protection and resistance is perfect for higher level content, but pushing out the range means your shot is more likely to connect. Depending on the roll you might want to bump one or the other. Impulse Amplifier is the real kicker so that will help with range and projectile speed, so bringing up their shield duration will keep you alive.
In PvP I don’t feel personally well equipped to speak upon. Every time I try to use them myself I get absolutely bodied. There are some quirky builds like a one-shot glaive or blinting with them, but I cannot use them to save my life and try to remain as neutral as possible when giving roll recommendations. I can see how to use them, my body just doesn’t input the right Konami code to win in PvP.
Grenade Launchers:
Grenade Launchers are great for chip damage and setting up for other weapons. Disruption Break is legendary tier on grenade launchers and I always look for it to boost not only your weapon damage but your teams. Debuffing an enemy so that all kinetic damage deals an additional 50% damage is incredible. I always try to maximize blast radius and velocity at the same time. Reload and handling are also incredibly useful as you will be swapping weapons often or reloading your single shot to become a double shot when applicable.
Grenade Launchers in PvP are as good as the other weapon attached to them. They live and die by how good their pairings are. Fighting Lion is the best as it can pair with anything and make things work. Special grenade launchers have a harder time because of the ammo economy. You’re almost always stuck with a primary ammo weapon and only sometimes is that a good thing. It can set up sweeps and kill chaining, but it can also mean your GL shot bounces thirteen times and blows up in your face and not theirs.
Shotguns:
Shotguns are the leading example of a DPS weapon. They shoot things good dead quick. They do high damage at the cost of range. Even the rapid-fire frames have great damage because they shoot so fast. Anything to boost that damage is worthwhile. Surrounded, Trench Barrel, and my favorite One-Two Punch. You are close enough to melee so throwing one or two in there will enhance your shotgun, or your melee. Kinda cool right? I also love seeing things like Grave Robber and Auto-Loading Holster on shotguns as they are one of the few weapons that reload each bullet one at a time. This can be both great and awful at the same time.
In PvP right now we are at a weird divide. You want to bump up your handling as high as you can, and bump up your range as high as you can. Preferably in that order. Things that enhance your animation speed or your handling are greatly preferred. Surplus is great if you keep your abilities but the gold standard right now is Threat Detector. This applies an animation scalar based on the number of enemies around you. Even at 1x it is incredibly strong and hopefully you won’t find yourself where 2x is active because you might be dead.
Sniper Rifles:
Sniper rifles serve one of two purposes. Add clear or DPS weapon. There is no inbetween. There are a handful of snipers that can bridge both but typically don’t particularly excel at either. A jack of all trades, master of none. DPS snipers are hallmarked by some sort of damage bonus natively like Firing Line, High-Impact Reserves, or Focused Fury. Alongside a magazine enhancing perk like Fourth Time’s the Charm, Triple Tap, Rewind Rounds, or Reconstruction. Anything to limit reloading by shooting. Add clear weapons have perks that are great at AoE such as Incandescent, Firefly, or Voltshot.
Snipers are not as meta in PvP but are the strongest weapon in the game. A one-shot from any range at any time without a charge up. They can be used as a shotgun, a follow up, an opening kill, set up, and many more things. They are great at doing high damage from anywhere, and most Destiny maps are not made to see sniper’s damage drop off they will maintain that high damage throughout the map. Snapshot is a must have for some users, other users like high handling. Opening shot is incredible for adding range and aim assist for some bullet bending capabilities.
Trace Rifles:
Trace rifles are beefed up auto rifles. Anything auto rifles can do, traces do better at the cost of special ammo. Without it, you’ll feel like you’re missing a weapon entirely, but with it you’ll wonder why autos and SMGs exist.
In PvP there is a similar handicap where you live and die by the special ammo you do or don’t have.

Heavy Ammo

Grenade Launchers:
Grenade launchers in your heavy slot are primarily used for damaging bosses but have small niches where they can be used for add clear. They don’t have the best damage but they make up for it in continuous damage. Being able to fire repeatedly and quickly for high burst damage makes them good for short damage phases and champions.
In PvP think of a rocket launcher, now cut it in half. That’s what you want in a heavy grenade launcher. A quick firing easy kill that you can run around with.
Linear Fusion Rifles:
Very few times are you using a linear fusion rifle on a red bar enemy, and far less often are you using it to clear rooms. Linear fusion rifles excel in high damage per shot and as such you want to make it easy to hit crits for getting the most per shot. Arrowhead Brake or Fluted Barrel will make it easier to swap to this weapon when it is time for damage, while specifically the former will be best for lining up shot after shot. I prefer faster firing fusions too so Accelerated Coils and a charge time MW would be best DPS. You do lose some impact but you will be able to make up for that loss in impact in more shots fired.
In terms of first trait you’ll want either Field Prep or Triple Tap / Fourth Time’s the Charm. While the latter doesn’t roll on any linear fusion, yet, it will still be a great perk to look out for.
Linear fusions in PvP should have the fastest charge you can obtain while giving you the highest range possible. The idea is to have less of a fusion rifle and more of a sniper with a charge time.
Machine Guns:
Machine guns are the kings at clearing rooms. Either through AoE perks like Dragonfly or Incandescent or through pure damage like Rampage, or Killing Tally. I like perks that either keep the ammo in the magazine or make it so I never have to reload my machine gun. Auto-Loading Holster is perfect, but Subsistence and Reconstruction are fantastic too. Mag boosting perks like Appended Mag and Extended Mag also keep my shooting going.
In PvP Machine Guns are pretty niche. They used to be incredibly strong and they still are but the time to kill has gone down with more grenade launchers and it's been getting harder to hit enemies with abilities that cause them to zoom around the map or change directions on a dime. Consistency perks are the name of the game as I don’t think kill chaining will be as strong anymore.
Rocket Launchers:
Rockets are both the Gold Standard for damage as well as the bar. If you can beat rockets in terms of DPS either for an encounter or boss, you’re on a good track. These weapons do insane single shot damage only lessened by the fact they cannot do precision damage. If a special weapon beats out a rocket for damage, we are in for a wild meta. Rockets need two things in order to succeed. A damage boosting perk and a reload perk. Which feels like I am saying this often. The downfall of rocket launchers is the fact you cannot shoot more than three at a time and even that is under specific use cases. Rockets would be incredibly strong if you could still stack multiple rockets into one tube to keep firing.
In PvP Rockets will obliterate almost anything so your goal is to get splash kills either via Chain Reaction or Cluster Bomb for multikills, they are often fire-and-forget weapons that don’t need a lot to succeed. Just fire in the general direction of an enemy and hope it kills.
Swords:
For the most part these weapons are the easiest to choose, you will want high Impact, decent guard depending on what the weapon tries to enforce. A shorter Charge Rate is better for damage, and a better Guard Resistance is better for add clearing or general use. If you have a zoom sword with Valiant Charge you will want decent Guard Resistance to stop damage from coming through. On a different zoom sword with Eager Edge you will want high ammo capacity for as many zooms as possible.

I’ve had a male whites tree frog for around 3 years now, I purchased him off Craigslist (I know it’s bad, he just looked so sad in the photos I had to rescue him), and when I got him I took him to the vet and he was treated for some bacterial thing I forgot the name of and has had no medical issues since. He’s currently in an 18x18x24 tank that I keep at around 50-60% humidity and 70-75 degrees. Since I’ve had him, he’s been very lazy and it just concerns me because I see some people saying it’s okay for them to be like that, and some saying the opposite. He has a lot of plants, hammocks, trees, and things to climb on that are easily accessible. But he spends all of his time on the ground under a tree sleeping, or at night he’ll come out and sit in his pool or eat. Id also like to mention his previous owners had him in a VERY small home, similar to the size of a shoe box, so I’m thinking he never learned to climb properly? But I’ve put him up on his decorations and he just sits there for a bit and climbs back down. Is this okay? I just feel like he should be climbing around more and it worries me, would having a similar sized friend help him be more active ?

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

Toxic Rats: DJ, Scott, Trent, Sammy, Sierra
Mutant Maggots: Anne Maria, Molly, Scarlett, Geoff
Episode 08: The Treasure Island of Dr. McLean
"Last time, on Total Drama Revenge of the Island!" The recap montage opened with several RCMP helicopters flying around before cutting to the Mutant Maggots entering the mining elevator. "The players went on an impromptu to environmental coveru-uh, clean-up challenge," Sammy, DJ, and Sierra were shown running down a mineshaft, then Scott and Trent tripped on a rail, "and tried not to get a toxic make-over like everything down there." Geoff was shown struggling with Molly, both looking sickly, and a few shots followed of various mutant gophers running and squealing.
"Max came back to the island," the host continued over clips of the super villain revealing herself to Scarlett, "and E-Clone wasn't far behind," the alien was shown tackling DJ, "and after overcoming his germ phobia," Chris said as Dave was shown hitting the gopher and saving his teammates, "he voluntarily took the old heave-ho," the normal guy was shown getting hurled.
"Makes you wanna reflect, don't it?" Chris asked as the last clips finished up. "Maybe...with a cup of Chris McLean Instant Coffee," he said as the scene cut to him standing on the docks holding a mug with his face on the side. He took a sip, his eyes went wide, and he spat it out. "Bitter...better!" he quickly corrected with a forced smile. "Better than the rest." He dumped the mug out into the lake, and a fish promptly surfaced where the drink had landed and vomited in disgust.
Chris held his awkward smile for a second before regaining his composure and walking to the side. "Who will survive? Who will wish they didn't? Find out right now, on Total! Drama! Revenge, of the Island!"
XXXXX
The episode opened to a shot of the sun rising over the lake, a few seagulls calling in the distance. The camera slowly cut from close-up to close-up of the sleeping campers – Sammy and DJ, Trent, Sierra, and Scott, Scarlett and Geoff, and Molly and Anne Maria. All nine of them were sleeping on wooden rafts in their usual clothes, until the shot cut to an alarm clock tied to a buoy with large acoustic horns next to the bell. The hands struck approximately 7 o'clock, and a loud ringing sang through the morning air.
DJ bolted awake with a gasping start, and so did the others a few seconds later.
"What? Where are we?" Anne Maria asked in confusion, the camera cutting outward to show the two rafts floating next to each other and the buoy-alarm amid a mass of debris mostly consisting of wood, furniture, and waste barrels. Each raft had a signpost with their respective team logo on it – the Rats on the left; the Maggots on the right.
"No!" Sammy griped, the camera coming out even further. "Chris must've set us adrift after we went to sleep!"
"Yeah," Scott said as the camera moved behind him and Sammy, showing the island of Wawanakwa off in the distance. "Wait, I don't remember anything after dinner."
Scarlett's eyes widened in realization. "Dinner! Of course!"
\
The footage flashed to a close-up of a meal tray, held by Scarlett as she collected her dinner. The meal was a slimy pile of spaghetti, tomato sauce, butt-shaped meatballs, and feathers, plopped down onto the tray without ceremony.
The shot zoomed out to show her eyeing Chef with mild disgust.
"Turkey buttolini," Chef explained with a grin. "Enjoy your na~ap!" he said before realizing his slip-up. "Err, meal..."
Scarlett just pursed her lips at the man as he laughed darkly to himself.
\
The scene flashed back to the Maggots. "Turkey makes you woozy, so mutant turkey can easily knock us all out," Scarlett deduced.
The focus moved to Trent, still sleeping peacefully on the raft.
"He can't be sleeping forever," Scott said as the camera moved to show him looking down on his teammate. "Come on! Get up!" he said as he bent down and picked Trent up.
Trent opened his eyes. "How did we even get here?" he asked before smiling at Scott. "Hey Scott."
Confessional: Trent
"Scott's really cool. I think we made a great connection these past few days. Either way, it'll be hard for me to vote anyone off the team," Trent said.
Confessional: Scott
"Trent makes me feel weird, and it feels good. I like the feeling, but it's distracting. I have to get rid of it somehow," Scott said.
Confessionals End
The scene cut back to the Mutant Maggots on their raft.
"I'm never gonna eat turkey again!" Geoff said to Anne Maria. "That food can knock you out!"
"Not as much as I'm gonna knock Chef out for serving us this," Anne Maria replied back.
"Take it easy. We're still alive and all," Geoff calmed her down.
Anne Maria took in a deep breath. "Alright, but I'm avoiding breakfast until further notice."
The shot cut over to Scarlett, who was pulling Molly aside. The indie chick raised an eyebrow and the quiet brainiac leaned in close and whispered "Have you noticed how close Anne Maria is getting with Geoff ever since he switched to our team?"
"I'd have to be blind to not notice," Molly remarked.
"With that as the matter of hand, I'd suggest us joining forces if they'll be cooped up with one another," Scarlett said.
Molly raised her eyebrow. "Even so, we have four members on the team after Dave's elimination last episode."
"I know that, and we'd have to convince them to vote individually for both of us," Scarlett strategized. "That way, we can easily target one of them."
"I do work alone, but I also want to save my butt from being eliminated," Molly said back. "You've got a deal."
Confessional: Molly
"Scarlett's not exactly my go-to as an ally, but given we're both closed off, and I don't have Dave to talk to anymore, we might as well stick together," Molly accepted.
Confessional: Scarlett
"We're nearing the merge, and that means I must analyze the remaining contestants and see their strengths and weaknesses," Scarlett smiled in satisfaction.
"Trent and DJ are major physical and social threats. The sooner they are eliminated, the better. Sierra and Scott are wild cards, though I sense Scott has more intelligence."
"Sammy and Geoff are fit and in good shape, but I'll save them for later as they can't outscore me in intelligence. And as for Anne Maria and Molly, they're average in every single way. Going up against them in the finale will be beneficial to winning," the brainiac finished proudly.
Confessional Ends
The static cut away to a shot of the rafts from a perspective a little higher, a little further away, and at a right angle to where the camera had been before. The roar of engines and the honk of a horn heralded the arrival of Chris and Chef from the right, the two men riding jet skis and wearing life jackets.
"Morning, suckers!" Chris greeted with an exuberant grin. "How'd you enjoy your turkey buttolini?"
"I've eaten better," Sierra said, irritated. "It tasted good and didn't knock people out cold enough for you to kidnap them."
"I'm sure you have," Chris replied teasingly.
"And what's with all the kidnappings?" Sierra continued. "You can simply ask us to meet you someplace like a normal person, not lock us in extremely cold trucks or do this."
"Because," Chris answered, "that wouldn't be good for ratings. As Total Drama's biggest fan, I thought you'd already know that?"
Sierra narrowed her eyes at the host.
Confessional: Sierra
Sierra was shown to be feeling furious. "Okay, mom? I know how hard it is to end a crush, but he's a total jerkface! When I come home, the Chris McLean museum/guest room better be destroyed!" the uberfan hissed lowly.
Confessional Ends
Chris regained his usual demeanor, "First thing's first: If any of you are still trying to find that McLean Brand Invincibility Sculpture I hid at the beginning of the season," he announced, taking out a photograph of the head in question, "you can stop now. Somebody's already found it," he said, dropping the picture into the lake.
The contestants were all upset and angry about the news. "And speaking of digging things up, today's challenge is all about winning the ultimate reward: Life, itself!" His tone became deeper and more dramatic as he made his declaration. "Your first challenge is to race to the shore, by any means possible." The camera panned over to the island in the distance. "First team there wins a handy reward. Last team gets a heinous penalty, before you embark on a quest for buried treasure."
"You're using us to dig up buried treasure?" Trent asked. "That's just weak."
"There was treasure here once, but I found it years ago," Chris emphasized. "How do you think I bought the island?"
"It must've been a small treasure," Trent mumbled to himself.
"I thought it was through all your movies and songs you put out before becoming a host, and I own a hundred of them," Sierra smirked.
Chris' brow shot up in shock, and Chef snickered behind him. "Just get moving already!" the host demanded, backing up his jetski then speeding away with Chef.
"I thought Sierra liked Chris, but now she's insulting him?" Sammy asked DJ.
"She must've seen how rotten he is both on the inside and outside," DJ quipped.
Confessional: Sammy
"Mocking someone who's the host of the show is definitely a risky move," Sammy admitted. "Sierra will be lucky if she doesn't get disqualified."
Confessional Ends
"Are you all just gonna stand there or are you gonna come help me pry this off?" Anne Maria asked, the shot cutting to her trying to break the rigid signpost.
"What? Oh, yeah. Sorry, Anne Maria," Geoff said, quickly turning around and moving to help her with Scarlett and Molly following right behind. All of them grabbed on to the sign and pulled, and after a moment of effort, the post snapped at the bottom.
"I use poles for canoeing back home," Molly said as she held the broken sign, "but we can use this to paddle to shore."
"I'll do the paddling, girls," Geoff volunteered, taking the broken sign from her. "I can kick this raft into high gear!"
"Be sure to take caution while you do so," Scarlett said. "There are sharks in the water."
The focus shifted over to the Rats, who were watching their rivals. "We have to do what they're doing," Sammy suggested.
Sierra put one hand on the top of their sign, bending it slightly, then snapped it with a swift kick.
"That was excessive, but we can row now," DJ said as he took the sign.
Confessional: Trent
"Using that sign will be much better than using my guitar as a paddle," Trent said. "It wouldn't flow well in water."
Confessional Ends
The focus cut back to the Maggots and it heralded the start of challenge music, and Geoff began to row with his sign-paddle. "We need to put some distance between us and the Rats!" Scarlett ordered. "Stroke like you mean it!"
The camera cut outward, revealing that DJ's own paddling was keeping the Rats about neck-and-neck with the Maggots, and the shot focused in on them. "Not to be a downer, but we need more than just DJ on this," Trent said.
"If we want to catch up, we'll have to get in the water and kick," Sierra realized.
"No way!" Scott protested. "Remember the shark?" He got shoved into the water courtesy of Sierra.
"The faster we get to shore, the faster we won't be eaten," Trent said, walking to the back of the raft and jumping into the lake. Sammy and Sierra then dived in as well.
"Fine," Scott gave in and pushed the raft with the other three.
\
The scene cut to the Maggots, Anne Maria and Molly and Scarlett standing near the back of their raft as Geoff continued to paddle them forward. A whoop of excitement caught their attention, and the shot zoomed out to show the Rats' raft moving ahead quickly in the foreground.
"That's it," Molly said in an upset tone. "We need to paddle and push the raft at the same time."
"Into the water!" Scarlett immediately commanded and dived into the lake alongside Molly while Anne Maria lingered with Geoff. "You too, Anne Maria."
"You know," Anne Maria said, "Geoff should be in the back with you guys. His legs are better suited for kicking."
The shot cut to Geoff as he paused his paddling. "My calves are toned now that you mention it."
"I'll agree to this, but you have to be the one that paddles now," Scarlett told Anne Maria.
Geoff handed Anne Maria the sign post and dived in shortly after and the camera lingered on Anne Maria paddling the raft.
Confessional: Geoff
"I do a lot of leg exercises, and my legs never let down if I need them for a race or for swimming," Geoff summarized.
Confessional Ends
"Keep kicking your feet and we'll be on shore!" DJ told his team, but stopped abruptly along with his team's raft as it smacked into something that sounded pink and fleshy. He looked warily ahead, the camera panning on to his reflection in the massive yellow eye of a truly gigantic octopus that was resting just below the surface with only the top of its head in view.
It shuddered, then bellowed deeply and angrily and lifted its tentacles out of the water. DJ and his teammates screamed in terror.
The shot cut to the sky above, where Chris and Chef were watching the challenge unfold in their helicopter. "Awww, it's playing with them," the host laughed.
\
The focus moved back to the Rats, all five now on the raft with Sierra holding their sign post and DJ being held captive in one of the octopus's many tentacles. The shot cut to Sierra as she screamed "Let go of my teammate!" and swung at the tentacle several times, only to repeatedly hit DJ in the face.
The camera focused on the captive brickhouse, and his face looked more bruised with each whack. "You're hitting me!" DJ wailed with every whack.
"Giant squid dead ahead!" Anne Maria yelled as the focus cut over to the Maggots' raft floating a little ways away.
"Keep it down," Scarlett hissed, her eyes still locked forward. "We should be able to sneak by it if it's focused on the Rats."
"You might want to look behind you," Molly fearfully pointed at a circling shark fin.
The shark circled around to the front and jumped onto the raft, revealing itself as Fang. As the mutant grinned menacingly at Anne Maria, she held up her sign-paddle in front of her.
The camera briefly cut to Geoff frozen in fear, and when Fang jumped into the water, he screamed and swam around the raft in a circle screaming "Shark! Shark!"
"This is just going to get us killed!" Molly hissed.
As this went on, Anne Maria became frustrated. She held the sign above her head and slammed it down on Fang, causing the shark to be sent flying off-screen.
"Thanks for the save," Geoff said as he got back on the raft.
"Now you owe me twice for saving you twice," Anne Maria replied.
Confessional: Anne Maria
"Technically, I didn't make the gopher go away, but I prevented it from attacking Geoff, so I'd consider that a save," Anne Maria prided.
Confessional Ends
The shot cut to the Rats, all of them being held captive by the octopus. Then, to the shock of the team, Fang flew into the octopus's eye. It shuddered and bellowed in pain, then dropped its captives into the water as Fang sank down.
The camera panned right to show the Rats resurfacing away from the octopus.
"Let's get out of here while we still can!" Sammy shouted, diving into the water with Trent following shortly after.
"Hurry!" Trent shouted as he and Sammy hastily swam off towards the right, with Scott, Sierra, and DJ quickly joining them.
\
The scene flashed back to the Maggots, all of them now on the raft.
"Okay," Molly whispered back to her teammates, "I think we're clear now."
Their raft promptly rammed into something. She turned around, and yelped as the shot zoomed out to reveal the angered giant octopus surfacing in front of them.
"That doesn't look clear," Anne Maria told her fearfully as they scrambled to the back of the raft.
"Now how are we going to escape this?" Scarlett griped.
Geoff was lost in thought until an idea came to his head. "Wait a minute! I have an idea! Get as far back as you can!"
Geoff made his way to the squid and faced him. "I bet you can't even smash us with your jelly fins, Octo-Guy!" the party boy mocked and grinned at the octopus.
The octopus raised a tentacle high and curled it almost into a fist while Geoff's teammates gasped and spoke in fear at the same time.
The curled-up tentacle suddenly sprouted several large spikes, and the three Maggots at the back of the raft screamed...
And then the footage and music ground to a halt, a 'pause' symbol appearing over the slightly-faded scene. "Will Geoff's shouting outsmart the octopus's punching?" Chris asked, standing up in front of the paused screen wearing a hat shaped like an octopus head and tentacles. "And what's up with Sierra? Find out, after the break," he finished, crossing his arms coolly.
\
(Commercial Break)
\

Cover Art <<Previous Start Next >>
Mordecai had always enjoyed designing bosses, once he was experienced to think beyond their potential as defenses. That first group of explorers had taught him how to consider combat as a dangerous game instead of as just conquest or killing. A young dungeon’s instincts were not always kind in this regard before they have some exposure to others. Especially when they first realize that killing intruders gave them a lot of energy, and that the dungeon could ‘eat’ people to become stronger.
Fortunately, there were many other options. While a group that turns around early because they are intimidated provides little mana, defeating them soundly without actually killing them provides lots of energy, if still less than killing them. But two drawn-out explorations provide more energy than a single quick defeat of a group, and that process could repeat more often as well. The dungeons that couldn’t learn to moderate themselves could become dangerously greedy when not enough people came to them.
Not a problem they would be facing, so Mordecai shook off his reminiscing and focused on the task at hand. He knew he wanted a fungal boss, but it was hard to make a fast mushroom creature, especially when it was large. A creature rooted in place was generally very easy to target from afar, but while part of his mind had been wandering, another part had been chewing on the issue, and he had found a solution.
After all, a fungus’s true body was usually hidden. So the first stage of building this boss was to make another large cavern, about a third the size of the main one. Then he sunk the floor well below the entrance, and filled in most of the gap with a room-wide mycelium, mixed with loose earth and then topped with another foot of soil to appear like mostly normal if slightly soft ground. It would be difficult for most groups to completely kill something like this, so while this was the base life form for the boss, he was going to create a few stages, with normal victory being after Stage 1.
His next step was a bit of preparation work, he needed to make the entire organism immune to acid. There was a price to pay, a limit to how much power could be wrapped into a fifth-floor boss, and so he paid it in the form of a balancing weakness. Fungi tend to already dislike fire and cold, so this would be weaker than usual to both. Oh, Mordecai could have made it immune without balancing it out, but then he wouldn’t have been able to make it as strong in other ways.
Filling in the room with look-alike sprouting bodies was going to both hide and be a clue as to the true nature of the boss. They weren’t the same sorts of mushrooms as filled the main cavern, they were extensions of the boss’s true body below the surface, but it would take a keen eye to tell the difference.
Time for the showstopper, the visible main body of the boss. It was going to be clearly a mushroom, though not like any mushroom that could ever normally develop. Its total height was 20 feet tall, but the first ‘cap’ was at 10 feet, spreading out a wide canopy from which tendrils could snap out at prey. Just above that cap was a ring of branching stalks that ended in tightly packed balls that could be launched at nearby enemies, though not at those below the cap of course.
Above that was a double ring of thinner branching stalks, tilted slightly upward, and they ended in the explosive, venom-laced darts he’d developed previously. They couldn’t be aimed below the cap or even nearby, but had a much larger range.
And finally, the topper of this strange mushroom monstrosity was a delicate-looking bell-like cap, from which rained a gentle, steady dusting of debilitating spores. The spores trickled from the small cap and rolled over the stalks and cap below, meaning that some would also get caught in the darts and nets as well.
But he wasn’t quite done yet. The tendrils for his boss were not going to whip around like the other mushrooms, they were going to be directed and grab at foes, to bring the victim towards the maw. Well, one of them. Mordecai gave the main stalk of his boss three distorted, toothy maws, with more rows of hard fungal teeth inside. There was no throat or stomach, it was simply designed to keep chewing on anything it shoved into its mouth until nothing was left.
But for all of its fearsomeness, this mushroom tree was relatively fragile, and none of its borrowed attacks were as potent as the original, despite the increased range of some of them. Most bosses would be much tougher. That would not be quite the end of a fight however, for immediately after defeating the first stalk, another would spawn from the ground below, and after that a third and final stalk would form. Hmm. Might be good to give a small clue here. Ah, that would be easy. In the center of the ceiling Mordecai grew four red crystals, three of them in a triangle with a dark red glow. The fourth sat in the center unlit. Each time a stalk went down, one of the red crystals would turn a brightly-hued blue. When all three turned blue, the boss would be ‘dead’, the forest would go quiescent, and the doorway out would open, ending stage 1 and technically entering stage 2. Usually. Unless the second boss was active of course, in which case the fourth crystal would light up red as well, and stage 1 didn’t end until it was defeated too.
As frenetic and emotionally charged as this fight would feel, a team that could make it to this room shouldn’t have much trouble. It was high tension, but if one handled it correctly it wasn’t actually hard. Treat it like a boss fight, throw around fire spells or alchemical bombs or what have you, and it would be a short, fast-paced fight. The boss trees would want to spawn near the group, after all, you only had to hunt down the first one.
Which meant that it came with a penalty for people who were badly behaved. There was enough information in the way everything acted for someone to figure out that the ‘real’ boss was below. The forest would only be quiet and still until the group had moved on, then would slowly restore its boss trees. But if someone realized that the real body of the boss was below and decided to try and ‘finish the job’ or any such foolishness, inflicting enough damage to the mycelium would stir it back into activity and switch the boss fight into stage 3. The full tree wouldn’t respawn, but the seemingly ‘normal’ mushroom trees would become more active and directed, and the mycelium mat could animate and shuffle itself about, drawing its deadlier trees towards its attackers even as its rippling surface did its best to knock people off of their feat.
As one would have to go out of their way to activate this mode and the first stage was easier than it seemed, the total difficulty and toughness of the boss was significantly higher than it would be otherwise if someone did activate stage 3. Mordecai paused a moment and ran a couple of scenarios in his head, then shrugged at the results. He’d tried out the idea of deliberately activating stage 3 early if hostiles managed to get here, and the simulation didn’t run properly. He thought he might be able to make the transition more sensitive, but the invading party would still have to do some significant damage to the base mycelium.
Well, nothing for it, he’d already committed to it, the energy for this creature already tied to one of the boss nodes for the floor. Mordecai finalized his creation with a name. “I name you Sarcomaag.” And with that it was done, everything sealed. He could feel a mind stirring in the depths of the fungal mass, and it was quite different from most. Slower in some ways given how far it was spread out, but also deeper. He checked its aura and found it to still only have a spirit instead of a soul, but the mind inside was awakening at its own pace, and he could see the first signs of that denser, more complicated knot of energy forming. He expected Sarcomaag to have a fully functioning soul before long, especially as he could feel the first hints of curiosity. Hmm.
Oh. That was going to make things interesting. Whoops.
“Whoops?” Came Kazue’s query on the heels of that thought.
“Erm, I think I got ahead of myself with Sarcomaag here. I mean, what I designed is perfectly fine for a fifth-floor boss. But I didn’t place any proper growth restrictions on them either.” That was embarrassing, and the sort of thing that he should know better than to do. Maybe he was getting too comfortable and ambitious with designing complicated bosses, even with two brains it was hard to keep track of all the little things that had to be tuned correctly.
“Which means what my darling?”
When had Kazue learned to do the sweetly dangerous tone? It was cute, but Mordecai kept that thought to himself. “It’ll be slow, but Sarcomaag is going to spread, and they’ve already started to instinctively try to grow along and inside of the living crystal layer. The fact that some of its fruiting bodies already use living crystal makes it easier. So, well, I’m not entirely certain. They won’t do anything to harm the dungeon of course, and it shouldn’t make much difference to anything. But I also wouldn’t be surprised to find small mushrooms cropping up in places it wants to ‘see’ what is going on.” Its senses were different, but would be as good as vision for most purposes, and better for a few.
“Um, is that okay? I mean, we have rules about what can be where, doesn’t that kind of break them?” Kazue sounded worried, and he couldn’t blame her.
“I don’t think it’ll be a problem? Sarcomaag shouldn’t be able to act on the upper floors, though maybe they can on the lower floors as we grow.” Mordecai didn’t think that the fungal boss was going to default into one of the future raid boss nodes, but he was considering assigning it one anyway. “Well, we can discuss it with them when they wake up. Just don’t expect it to be a fast conversation, their mind works rather differently.”
“Alright. I guess we’ll wait and see. So, what did you have in mind for the second boss?”
Mordecai smiled. “Something much more straightforward love. Though I think most people will prefer to face Sarcomaag.”
<<Previous Start Next >>
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$3 Patreon: Early chapters, lore excerpts $5 Patreon: Short Stories $10 Patreon: New stories not published anywhere else (Until after I finish this story at least)

So, you know how there was a pool of "Not Ready for Prime Time" bots competing in exhibition matches this past season?
I've been thinking about it, and I wonder if it would be a good idea to turn those exhibition matches into something of an "audition tournament" where the winner earns an automatic spot in the field of 50 for the next champion tournament.
(So like the winner of the "audition tournament" held during WC7 earns an automatic spot in the Field of 50 for WC8)
It would give those exhibition bots something to aim for and look forward to above and beyond "I'm just happy to be here!"
I suppose the big challenge would be how to organize/structure such a secondary tournament within the constraints of an already pretty tight production schedule, but I still think it would be a cool idea to make the exhibition matches actually mean something relative to the main tournament.
What do y'all think?

First season with the new pool, trying to dial in the chemistry as the builders opened the pool about 2 months ago and dialed it in, everything seemed fine but I know it needs to be tested.
It is a 5300 gallon in ground pool with SWG.
The SWG is a Hayward t-3 and is showing 3000 ppm.
I’m using the k2005 test kit. I tested for FC and the color was so faint I’d say it was somewhere in the .6 range. I know it needs to be between 1-3 so I tested CYA to see where that is and the water is not getting cloudy at all, and the dot is never disappearing.
I was looking to add liquid cya first, get that to a level of 60-80, then retest the FC, and add liquid chlorine as needed to get within acceptable range.
Am I right or way off ?
Thanks pool fam

I'm having trouble completely getting rid of algae in my pool. I have gone through several bottles of algaecide and plenty of shock. After putting in shock, it appears like I have brown sand all over the bottom of the pool and when it is brushed it just turns into a brownish green cloud in the water. Everything gets killed and settled to the bottom and after a few days I have patched on the walls and in the corners of the pool where it appears algae is re-growing. I was informed I should vacuum to waste because my filter isn't getting all of the algae. I'm worried about how long it will take me to vacuum and how much water I'll be losing. Normally when I vacuum, I turn off everything except for the skimmer I will be using to vacuum. I am seeing online that you should leave your main bottom drains open halfway. Wouldnt that make me lose more water faster? What do you keep your valved on to vacuum to waste?

Back in the beginning of this channel, it started as a modest and hard working family man vlogging about his autistic daughter (Abby) and really centered around teaching about resources, common language used in the autism world, and detailing the families personal journey through diagnosis, adjustment, and learning about their daughters specific autism.
Finding this channel was such a huge help for me and normalized of a lot of things that I was experiencing for the first time with my own daughter. Also, Abbys case is more severe than my own daughters case, so I learned a whole new appreciation for what my daughter is capable of compared to another child with much harder struggles.
As the channel progressed, however, the family began experiencing much success, I assume from the channel, as well as other channels the family runs (the mother has like a make-up channel or something).
Now, it has made this channel completely unrelatable to someone like me who is very much poor and cut off from real resources.
These days, they vlog about "shopping" for dentists and listing off Abbys' full day to day schedule of therapists and other sorts of interventions. Abby is very blessed with a whole team of people. As well as a huge beautiful house and in ground pool (definitely not bitter or anything). The father is so well off now that he doesn't work anymore and is now homeschooling Abby and vlogs about planning field trips and lesson plans.
So now I find watching this channel to be very painful to watch as it is very much a reminder of a life I most likely will never be able to provide for my daughter. It leaves me wondering what my daughter would be capable of now with those kinds of resources. I'll never know.. and this channel emotionally drains me with the thoughts that I am so far from giving my daughter every chance for success.
The only message I get from this channel now is "what you are doing is the bare minimum " and while I want to support this channel for their best intention efforts of autism awareness and representation, they very much don't represent us anymore.

National Self-Determination Bill 2023

A BILL TO
guarantee British Overseas Territories, Scotland and Wales the right to hold independence and transfer referenda.
BE IT ENACTED by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Section 1: Definitions
(1) “British overseas territory” has the same meaning as in the British Nationality Act 1981.
(2) “Independence referendum” shall mean a referendum where registered electors of the relevant territory may vote on whether or not to become governed independently.
(3) “Transfer referendum” shall mean a referendum where registered electors of the relevant territory may vote on whether or not to leave the United Kingdom and join another state which has officially indicated to HM Government that they would be willing to accept the territory.

CHAPTER 1: THE CALLING OF REFERENDA

Section 2: Independence and Transfer Referenda
(1) Citizens of a British overseas territory, Scotland, or Wales may present a petition to the Secretary of State to hold an independence or transfer referendum, which will be binding if:-

(a) the petition is signed by 20% of the registered electors of the relevant territory; and
(b) the signatures were collected within a 9-month period; and
(c) a previous unsuccessful referendum was not held within 10 years of the petition beginning to collect signatures.

Section 3: Assent of Devolved or Local Governments
(1) For the purposes of this section, an appropriate person is any of the following-

(a) The First Minister of the relevant territory,
(b) The Chief Minister of the relevant territory, or-
(c) The head of Government of the relevant territory

(2) Should none of the above be available or appropriate, the Secretary of State may designate as an “appropriate person” any person who is a part of the functioning of a devolved or local government in the relevant territory, so long as that person is reasonably able and appropriate to carry out any duties foreseeably arising from this act.
(3) A petition under Section 2 shall not be valid unless an appropriate person representing the relevant territory affirms to the Secretary of State that they support the aim of the petition.
Section 3: Entitlement to Vote
(1) Those entitled to vote in a referendum called under this act in Scotland or Wales are-

(a) the persons ordinarily resident in the territory in question who, on the date of the referendum, would be entitled to vote as electors at a parliamentary election in a constituency within that territory,
(b) the persons ordinarily resident in the territory in question who, on that date, are disqualified by reason of being peers from voting as electors at parliamentary elections but would be entitled to vote as electors at a local government election in any electoral area in Great Britain.

(2) Those entitled to vote in a referendum called under this act in a British Overseas Territory are the persons ordinarily resident in the territory in question who, on the date of the referendum, would be entitled to vote as electors at a general election within that territory,

CHAPTER 2: THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE

Section 4: Duties of the Secretary of State
(1) Upon the receipt of a valid petition under Section 2 of this Act, the following duties are created for the Secretary of State:

(a) the duty to move an order under this act so as to create a referendum of the type intended by the petition, within one calendar year of the date of receipt,
(b) the duty to produce and publish such regulations that are reasonably necessary and expedient to ensure the smooth, orderly and fair discharge of the referendum in question,
(c) to publish a report detailing the issue at question, and what efforts His Majesty’s Government will take to ensure that an orderly transition between the status quo and proposed constitutional change within the territory in question can occur
(d) to appoint whatever persons the Secretary of State deems reasonably necessary to discharge the functions of the referendum, and-
(e) to provide whatever funds are reasonably necessary to discharge the functions of the referendum.

(2) The Secretary of State may reimburse any reasonable costs incurred by Section (1)(e).
Section 5: The Powers of the Secretary of State
(1) The Secretary of State shall have the power to make regulations specified under Sections 6 and 7 of this act.
(2) The Secretary of State shall have the power to make such regulations as are reasonably required so as to fulfil a duty under Section 4 of this act.
(3) Regulations and Orders under this act shall be subject to the negative procedure.
Section 6: Referendum Orders
(1) The Secretary of State may make an order that a referendum to which this act applies is to be held in the territory in question, so long as they have received a valid petition.
(2) The Secretary of State must, by regulations, appoint the day on which the referendum is to be held.
(3) The Secretary of State shall have a duty to refer the question to appear of the ballot papers to the Electoral Commission, and must ensure that the wording they provide is that which appears on the ballot papers in question.
Section 7: Conduct Regulations
(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations—

(a) make provision about voting in the referendum and otherwise about the conduct of the referendum,
(b) apply for the purposes of the referendum any other enactment relating to elections or referendums, including provisions creating offences;

(2) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for and in connection with the combination of the poll for the referendum with any one or more of the following—

(a) the poll for any election specified in the regulations;
(b) the poll for any other referendum specified in the regulations.

(3) Regulations under this act may not change the date of either a referendum called under this act, or any electoral process to which subsection (2) applies.
(4) Before making any regulations under this section, the Secretary of State must consult the Electoral Commission.
Section 8: Short title, commencement, and extent
(1) This Act may be cited as the National Self-Determination Act 2023.
(2) This Act shall come into force immediately upon Royal Assent.
(3) This Act extends to England, Wales, Scotland, and the British Overseas Territories
(4) Nothing in this act shall be construed to have extent to Northern Ireland
This bill was written by The Rt. Hon. NicolasBroaddus MP, Leader of the Opposition, The Most Hon. Marquess of Belfast, the Rt. Hon. Dame SpectacularSalad KG OM GCMG KCB KBE CT PC MP MLA FRS, and The Rt. Hon. Sir mg95000, and was submitted on behalf of His Majesty’s 37th Official Opposition.
Appendix 1: Devolved or Local Governments
For the purposes of this act, the Devolved and Local Governments are:
The Scottish Government
The Welsh Government
The Government of Anguilla
The Government of Saint Helena
The Government of Bermuda
The Government of the British Virgin Islands
The Cayman Islands Government
The Government of Montserrat
The Falkland Islands Government
The Government of Gibraltar
The Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands
The Government of the Pitcairn Islands
The following individuals may be taken to be appropriate persons:
The Administrator of Tristan de Cunha
The Administrator of Ascension Island
The Secretary of State may by regulations amend this Appendix for the purposes of adding or removing Devolved or Local Governments, or appropriate persons where no recognised Government exists.
Deputy Speaker,
I must start by making clear that, while this coalition does not agree with the decision the Commons has made on the Direct Democracy Act, we have no choice but to abide by that decision. However, this puts us now in an even less clear constitutional position on a specific area in which referenda are the only viable and accepted method to be used: independence votes.
We have seen recently, outside of this simulation, the UK Supreme Court decision regarding the legal status of a Scottish independence referendum. While I am sure many here would wish to debate the grounds and arguments made in that particular judgement, that is not the intent of this bill. The intent of this bill is to guarantee the specific right explicitly, so as to prevent this sort of controversial court judgement subverting the will of the people in contravention of Article 15 of the UN Convention on Human Rights. To quote:
“(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.” To this end this bill will guarantee that right for Scotland, Wales, and the British Overseas Territories. Northern Ireland is specifically not included in this bill so as to remain in compliance with the Belfast Agreement, which supersedes the authority here as a pre-existing mutual agreement. The required signatures and time between possible referendums is based on the previous Brexit referendums and the Fixed Term Parliament Act, respectively.
To be clear on a more metagame angle, independence is still blocked unless it should come to be in real life. This may not apply to British Overseas Territories, given the actions taken regarding the establishment of New Chagos, but this is undoubtedly a less impactful aspect of MHOC remaining recognisable as a simulation of British politics. However, whether or not we can actually hold a referendum in game is irrelevant to the main point at hand: this is legally and morally the correct guarantee to make. The UK has been part of actions taken against other nations by the UN regarding Article 15, we are obliged to also honour its conditions.
This reading will end on 12th June at 10pm BST.

Hi. I'm currently a mediocre gardener based in Maryland. I'm also a meteorologist and have a master's degree in Atmospheric Chemistry/Environmental Transport and Fate. My thesis was on particles in the atmosphere and their impacts on waterways and plants, and along the way I picked up an awful lot of other information on air pollution impacts to growing plants (my postgraduate project was sponsored jointly by the meteorology and the agricultural colleges at Penn State).
After the past few days (June 6-9, 2023, and maybe a little bit next week) there have been dramatic air pollution events all up and down the East coast of the US and Canada. Once people address their personal health concerns, it is natural for gardeners to have questions about their plants. With my advice here, please understand the world is complicated, and I am not trying to address all potential wildfire issues everywhere in the world at every time; this is just for us folks affected by this specific event in June 2023.
The two most important things to know about this particular event is (1) the particles are very small, 2.5 um or smaller, and (2) the origin of the particles is Canadian forest fires. These two facts both impact how the plants will be affected and also what to do about it. It's also late spring/early summer here which also affects which plants are impacted and how much.
Q: What do I have to do now for my vegetable garden?
A: Once your air has cleared out, go out and water your plants using well water or city water. I would not use your rainbarrel water right now. Of course, if the AQI is still bad (over 150), stay inside and don't exert yourself. But once it has cleared out, go out and give your plants a good watering, being sure to wash down the leaves, especially for lettuces, leafy greens, and herbs.
Q: Anything else I should do later?
A: This sounds unusual, but *after the next time it rains, go out and wash everything down again. Think about how after you go swimming in a pool, you take a shower afterwards to get the chlorine off. The next rain will bring down some more contaminants out of the sky and you should wash them off your growing plants. Wood smoke combines with water to make a very basic solution (you can make lye from wood ashes) which can damage leaves. So after the next time it rains where you are, go out and give everything a good rinse.
Q: Should I just throw out my lettuces, leafy greens, and herbs?
A: No. While those plants are very sensitive to atmospheric particles, because those parts of the plant are what we eat, you do not need to throw them out. The air pollution has been very bad, but in good news for plants, the particles are super small and mostly stay in the air. That's why they have travelled hundreds of miles from the fires to our areas, they don't settle out of the air very much. However, when they do, they settle directly on to the lettuces, leafy greens, and herbs in our gardens, so it would be good to give them a wash with clean water.
Q: What about my strawberries, sugar snap peas, and other things that are ready to eat now/soon?
A: Wash off the plant when you are able, as stated above, so the pollution will not harm their development. Wash the food before you eat it, though, to eliminate any surface contamination.
Q: Any impact to things like potatoes, carrots, and radishes?
A: No. Just give those plants a wash with clean water as stated above as soon as you are able, and after the first rain. The potentially corrosive (basic) nature of the wood-fire particles and next rainfall will be buffered by the natural minerals and components in your soil, so no worries there. But you do want to prevent the leaves from being damaged by the potentially corrosive pollution.
Q: The rabbits are eating my whole garden, will this stop them?
A: Sadly, no. But if it makes you feel any better, they're eating my whole garden, too.

1700 gallon 12x12x30in above ground pool. Bought 3in tablet and cut in half a week ago. Tablet is still about the size I put it in. Pool looks great. Dumb question; will the tablet completely dissolve?

Some time ago, I made two posts with some of Percy's best feats. The first one can viewed here. And the second: here.
Now I know that Jason isn't the most liked character in the fandom, but I like him. So I wanted to scale him.
Contents: Strength, speed, reaction speed, skill, durability, actual powers, Tl;dscaling, closing segment.
​
He was able to throw a club hard enough to knock down a Venti. Even causing it to curve so that it would hit Dylan when he tried to doge:

Jason threw the club. It seemed useless with the winds so strong, but the club flew right at Dylan, even curving when he tried to dodge, and smacked in the head so hard he fell to his knees
The Lost Hero

He was able to deflect a spear hit from a giant:

Jason raised his javelin to block the giant's next strike-a big mistake. Don't fight force with force, a voice chided him-the wolf Lupa, who told him that long ago. He managed to deflect the spear, but it grazed his shoulder, and his arm went numb.
The Lost Hero

The same giant was able to cause the entire mountain to shake just by slamming the butt of said spear into the ground:

Before they could get very far, Enceladus slammed his spear against the ground. The entire mountain shook.
The Lost Hero

Moving onto House of Hades, we see him casually shatter a metal with a kick, firmly putting him into the superhuman category of strength. Not only that, but he managed to stagger and knocked a giant to his knees:

One last time Jason flew at [Clytius], kicking him in the chest, and the giant's breastplate shattered. Clytius staggered backward..He fell to his knees, and the demigods encircled him
House of Hades

He was able to cut through a statue made of metal with help from Piper:

Piper and Jason went to work on Hygeia. They slashed through the statue's knees
Blood of Olympus

We are now done with Jason it the strength department. Obviously, he lacks many feats in this department, especially compared to Percy, but he is definitely stronger than an average human.
Speed:
He was able to stab a giant:

[Jason] rolled away from the giant's first spear thrust and jabbed Enceladus in the ankle. Jason's javelin managed to pierce the thick dragon hide, and golden ichor-the blood of immortals-trickled down the giant's clawed foot.
The Lost Hero

This might not seem that impressive, but Jason was being slowed down by Gaea. The Giant was being helped by Gaea. Finally, the giant was predicting Jason's attacks:

Enceladus' spear missed him by a millimeter. Jason kept dodging, but the ground stuck to his feet. Gaea was getting stronger, and the giant was getting faster. Enceladus might be slow, but he was not dumb. He began anticipating Jason's moves, and Jason's attacks were only annoying him
The Lost Hero

We see this here again:

Enceladus let him approach, grinning with anticipation. At the last second, Jason faked a strike and rolled between the giant's legs. He came up quickly, thrusting with all his might, ready to stab the giant in the small of his back, but Enceladus anticipated the trick. He stepped aside with too much speed and agility for a giant, as if the earth were helping him move.
The Lost Hero

Reaction/ combat speed. This is where Jason really shines. As he has several impressive feats:
He was able to keep up with Lit. The same guy who was so good, he earned the name Reaper of Men:

Lit charged.
The guy was fast. He slashed and sliced, and Jason could barely dodge the strikes, but his mind went into a different mode-analyzing patterns, learning Lit's style, which was all offense, no defense.
The Lost Hero

He can react to giants:

Jason raised his javelin to block the giant's next strike-a big mistake. Don't fight force with force, a voice chided him-the wolf Lupa, who told him that long ago. He managed to deflect the spear, but it grazed his shoulder, and his arm went numb.
The Lost Hero

He scales to Percy in reaction speed and was able to amaze Piper:

[Piper] rolled to the edge of the road and looked back, dazed and horrified, as [Percy and Jason] crossed swords, gold against bronze. Sparks flew. Their blades blurred-strike and parry-and the pavement trembled. The first exchange only took a second, but Piper couldn't believe the speed of their sword fighting.
Mark of Athena

The same guy who I scaled to have reaction speed as fast as 10 milliseconds. And the average human reacts at 250 milliseconds.
He can react to lightning:

Jason called down another lightning strike, but Ephialtes caught it on his spear and deflected the blast, melting a life-size plastic cow. He slammed a stone column out of his way like a stack of building blocks. Percy tried to keep the lake churning. He didn’t want Otis rising to join this fight, but as Ephialtes closed the last few feet, Percy had to switch focus. Jason and he met the giant’s charge. They lunged around Ephialtes, stabbing and slashing in a blur of gold and bronze, but the giant parried every strike. “I will not yield!” Ephialtes roared. “You may have ruined my spectacle, but Gaea will still destroy your world!” Percy lashed out, slicing the giant’s spear in half. Ephialtes wasn’t even fazed. The giant swept low with the blunt end and knocked Percy off his feet. Percy landed hard on his sword arm, and Riptide clattered out of his grip. Mark of Athena

While technically not reacting to lighting, Percy fought a giant who could, so Ephialtes' reaction speed=Percy's. What I'm getting at here is Ephialtes can react to lightning. Percy can keep up with Ephialtes. So Percy=Ephialtes' reaction speed. Jason=Percy reaction speed. Therefore, Jason=Ephialtes' reaction speed.
Too much for you to follow, here:

Jason swung at the first spirit. His blade passed through it and the creature's smoky form disintegrated. The second spirit let loose a bolt of lightning, but Jason's blade absorbed the charge. Jason stepped in-one quick thrust, and the second storm spirit dissolved into gold powder
The Lost Hero

There you go.
He reacts to arrows:

This time Jason's senses were on high alert. He felt the air ripple as an arrow materialized, racing towards Nico's chest.
Jason intercepted it with his sword and deflected it sideways.
House of Hades

Now, Romans use a type of composite bow called a Sagittarii. Composite bows can shoot arrows as a speed of 250 to 370 feet per second (76 to 113 m/s).
Also keep in mind that he is nearsighted. Giving him even less time to react than normal:

"Oh, of course!" Asclepius said. "You're a bit nearsighted! Simple fix."
He opened the drawer, whipped out a prescription pad and an eyeglasses case. He scribbled something on the pad, then handed the glasses and the scrip to Jason.
Blood of Olympus

So all in all, he has some fast reaction speed. Well above human.
Next up, skill.
He can keep up with Lit, a man so deadly, he was named the Reaper of Men:

Lit charged.
The guy was fast. He slashed and sliced, and Jason could barely dodge the strikes, but his mind went into a different mode-analyzing patterns, learning Lit's style, which was all offense, no defense.
The Lost Hero

He did all of this:

"I slew the Trojan sea monster," Jason continued. "I toppled the black throne of Kronos, and destroyed the Titan Krios with my own hands. And now I'm going to destroy you, Porphyrion, and feed you to your own wolves."
The Lost Hero

He killed the Trojan sea monster and killed a Titan without a weapon.
Durability:
He is immune to, or at least, resistant to electricity:

Dylan's form flickered. "That was enough lightning to kill twenty men!"
The Lost Hero

He survived this:

Enceladus let him approach, grinning with anticipation. At the last second, Jason faked a strike and rolled between the giant's legs. He came up quickly, thrusting with all his might, ready to stab the giant in the small of his back, but Enceladus anticipated the trick. He stepped aside with too much speed and agility for a giant, as if the earth were helping him move. He swept his spear sideways and met Jason's javelin-and with a snap like a shotgun blast, the golden weapon shattered.
The explosion was hotter than the giant's breath, blinding Jason with golden light. The force knocked him off his feet and squeezed the breath out of him.
The Lost Hero

While this is an already impressive feat, we have this to make this even more impressive:

The javlin's destruction had released so much energy, it had blasted a perfect cone-shaped pit thirty feet deep, fusing the dirt and rock into a slick, glassy substance.
The lost Hero

He was uncut by plastic shrapnel:

Together, the giants picked up a fake mountain as big as Percy's New York apartment and hurled it at the demigods. Percy and Jason bolted. They dove into the nearest trench and the mountain shattered above them, spraying them with plastic shrapnel.
Mark of Athena

He can tank a hit from a giant trident, although he was in a lot of pain:

Jason managed to avoid the prongs of the trident again, but the giant swung the other end around and smacked him in the chest.
Jason reeled back, stunned and in pain. Polybotes came in for the kill. Just before the trident would have perforated him, Jason's ventus acted on its own. It spiraled sideways, whisking Jason thirty feet across the courtyard.

Powers. This is another place he is impressive in. He has several abilities he can call on in a clutch:
He can correct aim of things he throws:

Jason threw the club. It seemed useless with the winds so strong, but the club flew right at Dylan, even curving when he tried to dodge, and smacked in the head so hard he fell to his knees
The Lost Hero

He can control air pressure:

[Jason] felt a tugging sensation in his gut, and the air pressure dropped so rapidly his ears popped.
The Lost Hero

He can summon Tempest, a horse made of wind and electricity:

Suddenly the air turned cold. Piper's ears popped. About fifty yards away, a miniature cyclone three stories tall tore across the tops of the sunflowers like a scene from The Wizard of Oz. It touched down on the road next to Jason and took the form of a horse-a misty steed with lightning flickering through its body
Mark of Athena

Jason and Percy working together can create a massive storm:

On the deck of the Argo II, Percy and Jason stood together, their swords crossed. Annabeth got a tingle down her spine as she realized the boys were working together as one, summoning the sky and the sea to do their bidding. Water and wind churned together. Waves heaved against the ramparts and lightning flashed. Giant eagles were knocked out of the sky. Wreckage of the flying chariot burned in the water, and Coach Hedge swung a mounted crossbow, taking potshots at the Roman birds as the flew overhead.
The Mark of Athena

Jason can fly and carry people with him:

Jason summoned the wind to carry him and Piper to shore
Mark of Athena

He can cause water to boil and temporarily blind Piper:

BOOM! Lightning stirred the water into a boiling cauldron, steaming and hissing with electricity. Piper blinked the yellow spots out her eyes as the god Achelous wailed and dissolved under beneath the surface
Mark of Athena

He can use wind offensively:

The demigods rolled to either side, and Jason summoned the wind, using the giant's own momentum to shove him into the water
Mark of Athena

He can get angry enough to generate electricity:

the air turned electric-literally, as Jason started throwing off sparks.
Mark of Athena

He can melt iron and cause gold to steam:

Just then, thunder boomed overhead. Lightning flashed, and the bars on the nearest window burst into sizzling, melted stubs of iron.
Jason flew in like Peter Pan, electricity sparking around him and his gold sword steaming.
House of Hades

Jason has the ability to track people who use winds as a method of transport so things like air spirits can't run from him:

Jason couldn't exactly see him, but he'd had enough experience controlling the wind that he could track the angel's path-a warm wisp of red and gold zipping across the street..
House of Hades

He can control the four winds and even construct this out of wind:

[Jason] thrust out his hand. A swirl of dust shot toward the nearest horse. A lasso-a rope of wind, more tightly wound than any tornado-wrapped around the horse's neck. ..In less than a minute he had tethered all four venti. He reined them in, still whining and bucking, but they couldn't break Jason's rope. It felt like flying four kites in a strong wind-hard, yes, but not impossible.
House of Hades

He uses wind defensively:

Jason summoned gusts of wind to last aside javelins and arrows. He deflected a vial of Greek fire right up the throat of a gryphon, which burst into flames and spiraled into the pit.
House of Hades

He can carry others without having to fly himself:

Three dead Romans rose into the air and flew across the chasm. Then three more joined them. Finally Jason flew himself across and his squad began cutting through some very surprised-looking telkhines
House of Hades

He can use a sword or a javelin:

Jason slashed his gladius in a wide arc, vaporizing the nearest suitors; then he vaulted onto the table and jumped over Antinous' head. In midair he willed his bade to extend into a javelin-a trick he'd never tried with this sword-but somehow he knew it would work.
Blood of Olympus

He once more demonstrates his ability to create objects from air and now he can encase himself in air armor:

[Jason] raised his arm and summoned a lasso of wind... He lashed out with his wind rope, searching for strongest, most ornery *ventus in the storm.
He lassoed a nasty patch of storm cloud and pulled it in. "You're serving me today."
Howling in protest, the ventus encircled him. The storm above the ship seemed to lessen just a bit, as if the other venti were thinking Oh, crud. That guy means business.
Jason levitated off the deck, encased in his own miniature tornado. Spinning like a corkscrew, he plunged into the water.

Jason is capable of summoning weird lightning stuff at the bottom of the ocean. Also worth noting it is still as deadly and didn't shock Percy who was also in the water next to him. On top of that, he can now separate the volts to attack multiple targets instead of just one:

But [Jason] couldn't think of a better option. He thrust up his sword. Immediately the blade glowed red-hot.
A diffuse cloud of yellow light billowed through the depths, like someone had poured liquid neon into the water. The light hit Jason's sword and splayed outward in ten separate tendrils, zapping the basiliks.
Blood of Olympus

He can carry a current throughout his body, holding it for latter:

With a deafening blast, a white-hot bolt arced from the sky, straight through Jason's body as he leaped, wreathed in lightning, at the giant king.
Jason fell on King Porphyrion with such force that the giant crumpled to his knees-blasted with lightning and stabbed in the neck with a golden gladius.

He can blast a 30 foot giant off a clif:

Porphyrion lashed out wildly with his spear, but Jason cut it in half with his gladius. He charged in, jabbing his sword through the giant's breastplate, then summoned the winds and blasted Porphyrion off the edge of the cliff.
Blood of Olympus

Tl;dr and scaling: So Jason is powerful. He is definitely superhuman in al physical states. I am going to say, city level durability. His power level is at mountain level.
Closing segment: Honestly I think he could have been more powerful if we'd seen him in more books. Also I didn't use a Trials of Apollo feats as there I didn't find any. If you see any feats I missed let me know so I can scale them. So what did you think? Did this make you see Jason as more or less powerful than you originally thought? Who else would you like me to scale?
Respect Jason Grace, son of the sky god, Zeus!

Hi,
I think we have a bat hanging out at night above our front door.
There’s mouse-like poop on the ground and a little bit on the wall. Is this what it looks like in the pics, and if so, what type of service do I call for this?
Thanks!
https://imgur.com/a/CqzV5yO/

For context: One year term ended in May, currently month-to-month. Standard PA Realtor's lease agreement that doesn't say anything specific about pools. After signing a year back, the Code Enforcement officer came to make inspections and recognized the name of the tenants and said something to the effect of "in their last place they tried to build a pool in their backyard. Just a heads up. They'll need approval; can't do it on their own."
Fast forward, they haven't been nightmare tenants. Our interactions have been weird at times, but not necessarily confrontational. Then again, I don't need to be friends and they've maintained the home decently so it is what it is.
Recently there have been some anonymous posts on the community Facebook page asking if anyone knows of someone that can level a slope in the backyard for an above ground pool. The most recent one asked again and said that it has already been purchased.
So here's the deal. We have no idea that it's them other than that they wanted a pool in their previous place and that our backyard has a bit of a slope. So, since we aren't interested in the liability, potential damage to the yard, etc., some of my questions are:

1. I'm wondering if now is the time to just reach out and make it known where we stand on pools? Or do I wait until there actually is one? I'm stuck on how to even approach it without seeming psychotic as we generally try not to be micromanagers of the property.
2. Would leveling the slope in the back yard be considered going against that clause in the agreement regarding "destroy, damage or deface any part of the Property or common areas."
3. Is there some other language in our common lease that we can leverage to prevent this if, in fact, it is their intention?