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Nalah affixed the massive shield to her back, the rectangular form large enough for him to fit behind while only needing to crouch slightly. It was mostly ironwood, but the sides and front were metal-plated, so it still weighed a considerable amount. Despite that, the thing’s bulk hardly seemed to be noticed by the blonde-furred female, likely due to the constant construction work she involved herself in. It paired oddly with the long pike she insisted on using, but he couldn’t deny that poking at things while hiding behind a mobile wall sounded like a good idea.
Jax was wearing his new armour, the bulky chest-piece a mirror of his blond-furred pack mate’s. Though he forwent the protection a buckler or likewise would offer, he doubled up on gear. Gauntlets, vambraces, pauldrons, and anything else he could wear to compliment the massive axe he had taken a liking to.
Where Nalah was fitted to look like an apocalypse survivor—her protections limited to her torso, forearms, and shield—the black-furred male resembled a giant, if underfunded, paladin. All he needed now was some religious imagery and a penchant for exalting the qualities of their god. Joseph almost nudged the guy to suggest it for kicks.
On second thought, he decided that Jax absolutely did not need a reason to start yelling about the Human-turned-religious-figure, because there was no way in hell he wouldn’t. There was no telling what he would choose to say, and the Grand Hunter was perfectly happy never knowing.
Having been with the male as long as he had, it would probably involve ‘taming’ females or something else that would leave him groaning for weeks, if not just contemplating another high-dive from the cliff.
Joseph fixed his own equipment, the ‘Wraith armour’ worn over his own thin iron breastplate. He wasn’t thrilled to wear the extra weight, but it beat being mauled by the thing they were heading out to kill. The trips so far had been tolerable, fog and overcast skies keeping the temperature in check, but he didn’t want to go out in this on a hotter day as Summer really kicked back in. He was sweaty enough without baking inside all this crap.
He adjusted the wolf-skull mask, the rest of the hunting party having gotten over the worst of the unease it gave them. Though they’d needed to rotate people out for the sake of fairness, this would be their eighth consecutive scouting. Using the information that Raine and Faye provided, they narrowed down a likely stomping grounds for the creature and were systematically clearing sectors. It might have been discouraging to keep looking after so long, but the occasional marking on trees and the odd moss-wolf corpse tipped them off that they were getting close. There was still another week’s worth of searching left if today wasn’t the day, but somehow he doubted they wouldn’t need that long.
All in all, they numbered six; larger parties were attempted, but their efforts at stealth quickly became pointless between so many trudging through the forest and stopping for breaks. There was a bit of a scare where one of Mi’low’s pack went missing, but the guy had just stopped to relieve himself. Since the discovery was made by someone else knocking him over in the process by mistake, they decided that keeping the number smaller made communication easier. And lowered the amount of grumbling about needing a bath.
Jax, Nalah, two security members, one of the hunters, and him. Sure, grabbing Tel or the Wraiths would have been a bit more useful for cohesion, but they were all busy with things, and he didn’t want to grind everything in the settlement to a halt for nothing if the search turned up empty again. They were more suited to taking out their fellow Lilhun than some monster in the woods, as much as he disliked the thought.
Scarlet was spending a lot of time with Violet and the new Atmo, Faye was spending much of her recovery with the moss-wolves and moss-pup, and Tel was in the process of helping Harrow shore up the few security members that were slated to become snipers. Kaslin was still learning chemistry with Toril, and Raine was helping whoever needed a hand, so that marked off all of his usual accompaniment. He could have taken more of his direct pack, but they all had important things to take care of as well.
Sahari was managing the pack and putting people where people needed to be put, Pan was working with Idee and Heralt to make a line of armour for the whole pack, and Mi’low was...well, Mi’low. He was pretty sure she was unofficially the master of the hunter’s lodge and spent most of her time keeping track of what came in and out of it, while also making sure that everyone got their fair share. It needed to be done with the settlement growing as much as it had, and it kept Mi’low busy enough to stymie the flow of complaints, so he wasn’t about to complain.
They double checked that they had everything that was needed; food, water, arrows, bolts, and some bags to store anything that the snares had caught on the way back. Four ranged and two melee weapons meant that they would be mostly using Jax and Nalah to soak hits if it came down to it, the others peppering it with projectiles. Given that Harrow was insistent on the bear-thing being resistant to anything they could use at a distance, they also carried spare weapons for the ranged users, just in case. Nodding, Joseph gestured to the group finishing up their preparations for the day’s trip.
“A moment, sir?” Scarlet called to him as she approached the gate, the Wraith flanked by Rose and Cobalt. The two Atmo were decked-out in their own armour, which appeared to be almost entirely metal, save for the palm lining the inside for comfort. Each of their six legs were adorned with broad shields, their bases capped off with a flat storage carriage. They looked like someone had a little too much fun testing how much the insects could effortlessly carry and had ended up with sapient hexapedal tanks.
“Only if you explain why those two would look more at home if they had cannons installed on their backs,” he quipped, an expression somewhere between surprised, amused, and plain dumbfounded plastered on his face. The blackish red-furred female smirked for a split-second before resuming her usual servile presentation.
“The young mistress had extended her request for these two to accompany you.”
Joseph tilted his head incredulously. “Violet told you to send them?”
Scarlet nodded, gesturing to the outfitted Atmo. “They have been under her tutelage for some time now, and wish to be of assistance.”
The Grand Hunter snapped his mouth closed when he was about to ask why his daughter would teach them anything that might be useful for fighting a deadly beast. Of course she did; It was one of the first things he did for her. It would have been weirder for her not to pass on what she knew after all the hours she spent either seeing him coach the others, or being coached herself. With the time she had under her belt, she was the local Atmo Close Quarters Combat specialist, and no one else understood how the modified boxing she learned worked with their bodies like she did.
He wore a hesitant expression, shifting his weight to his other leg. “Well, they’ve certainly geared up.”
“It is a product our smith is rather proud of,” the Wraith affirmed confidently.
He exhaled slowly. “Seems a bit much.”
She seemed to be expecting the remark, barely pausing to register what he said before responding. “Your kit wishes you safe, yet understands you would not allow her to accompany you. These two wish to be of assistance.”
To punctuate her point, the two nodded in agreement, walking forward and slinging some of the backpacks onto their carriages. It seemed ‘no’ wasn’t something they were going to accept after Violet had said her piece. He sighed, conceding that they wouldn’t slow the party down with everyone carrying so much weight in equipment, regardless of the bags. They took breaks frequently enough to accommodate the Atmo, so that wouldn’t hinder anything either.
“Fine,” he relented with a wave of his hand. “We’ll take them. Not like they’d hurt anyway. But–” He put a warning into his tone. “–they’re not playing the hero and getting themselves killed. This isn’t going to work if they think any of us dying is still a net positive, got it?”
The two Atmo mimed their understanding, Scarlet replying with a victorious smile. Joseph couldn’t help but bemusedly roll his eyes. The female had taken rather well to baby-sitting, and that seems to have extended to humouring the young Queen’s schemes now. It wasn’t an unwelcome addition to their little sojourn. At least they could haul back any larger game without it tacking hours onto the return trip.
He thanked Scarlet for her trouble before dismissing her, confirming with the group that everything was accounted for, and set off before it grew too late. He wasn’t looking to get caught out in the woods during the night. The Lilhuns might be fine, but he was pretty well blind unless the moon felt generous.
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Jax watched the two Atmo quietly follow on the sides of the group, their heavily armoured forms posing no issues with their naturally soundless movements in the forest. In the den, they would make moderate clacks and clicks as their chitinous legs contacted the ground, but the soft dirt and foliage stifled all but the smallest report of their travel. With Scarlet supervising alongside Violet, he wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the former Blade had influenced their movement with the goal in mind, though he had never paid much attention to how they walked before to compare.
He had to admit, having them carry the additional equipment was exceedingly useful. He had proposed having the group use the newly acquired platforms on their more arachnid-like abdomen to rest in shifts, but Joseph was quick to insist that the insects were of lesser stamina than even Lilhuns. The phrasing seemed like a comparative insult, but Jax had more than enough experience with the Human to know that he had simply spoken his mind. To him, everyone had sub-par stamina. Training had gone some way to remedy the discrepancy, but the Grand Hunter could still continue for longer than even the most well-conditioned of them.
The black-furred male rolled his shoulders, feeling the heft of his axe shift with the movement. It was an impressive size, the weight well-balanced and its edge sharp. He had once laid it to the ground out of curiosity and confirmed that it was about as tall as Pan from head to haft, though only if she stood to her full height. Regardless of its size, it was still lighter than the armour he chose to don.
Having only really worn leathers or a few sets of ironwood protections, the encumbering prominence of the iron equipment took getting used to. It wasn’t entirely restrictive, but did put a damper on any chances he had of sprinting from danger. That was fine, he supposed, since he was wearing it against a beast he had no experience with. It could very well outrun him regardless, and he would rather have the defences in either case.
Nalah seemed to be doing fine, the large barrier she kept on her back swaying slightly as she walked. She was unhindered by it, her movements barely affected by the bulk, which was reassuring. Joseph, however, seemed to be panting more than usual, the rolling cloud coverage easing as the sun progressively warmed the environment. The fog from earlier meant that it was rather humid, and that seemed to bore no well wishes for the male encased in dark leathers and thick plates. He had even flipped down his hood, the sweat beading on his skin adding a sheen to his visage.
“I liked this better when the sun didn’t exist,” the Human lamented quietly, just loud enough for Jax to hear. The black-furred male chuckled.
“It would be rather dark.”
Joseph glared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes. “I just don’t rank ‘heavily armoured hike through the woods’ high up on my list of things I want to do regularly.”
“I believe that list would be occupied by your mates, no?” he ribbed playfully, a smirk arising when the Grand Hunter shunted his eyes closed in a grimace.
“I hate you.”
“I can see your smile underneath your displeasure, Joseph,” Jax quipped, nudging the male with his elbow, then giving an apologetic smile when his friend almost fell. Joseph sighed, waving Cobalt over and fetching a water-skin from the luggage that the insect was ferrying without breaking stride—though he needed to be careful not to get stepped on.
The Atmo always amused Jax. Be it their passive demeanour hidden by their towering stature, or his interactions with the den-kit, they never failed to be curious people. Having the two that accompanied Volta with them was an unexpected development, but he couldn’t claim to disapprove. If they had been imparted the methods of combat that Violet had cultivated, then there was little worry of them being harmed by naught but perhaps their current target. At least not until there was a better reference of its strength than the single encounter the first-years had so long ago.
At the time, it had smashed pillars and pierced flesh effortlessly, claws proving to be little more than tempting ministrations of tender touch to the thick hide. Jax only had some of the pack’s recount to base the experience off of, but was content to take their word for it. He was, ashamedly, preoccupied taking care of baser needs when the event transpired, so he was woefully unprepared for the eventual encounter. Still, he was afforded the best the settlement had to offer so that he might serve his duty of protecting the Grand Hunter. Harrow would never forgive him if only he returned.
His thoughts were disturbed by Joseph calling for a rest, Jax’s legs thankful for the break from supporting the unusual weight for so long. The Human dispensed rations and water for the pack, the Atmo waiting until everyone else was supplied before accepting their portion. They rested on their base directly, instead of curling their legs beneath them like Jax had become accustomed. Perhaps the armour impeded such, or they wished to remain mobile in the event such was required. Regardless, they blocked what little breeze there was, forcing the Grand Hunter to walk beyond them to enjoy it in the shade. It was short-lived however, as Rose quickly repositioned to stay between the pack and whatever lay beyond their protections.
It was a futile effort, it seemed, because it repeated again twice before Joseph groaned loudly and threw himself atop the carriage to lay back, his legs dangling at the knee. He seemed perfectly content with the unorthodox arrangement, snorting his amusement along with a muttered comment about a ‘taxi.’
The entertaining sight was marred by a distant yelp, snapping the group to attention. Jax and Joseph traded looks, subtle nods and gestures given to move out while remaining quiet. Ignoring his earlier complaints, the Grand Hunter flicked his hood up and donned the mask, drawing his crossbow and readying a bolt. The hunter of the pack mimicked the preparation, the two security members loosely nocking their arrows while Rose, Cobalt, Jax, and Nalah took point.
They proceeded quietly for far longer than the proximity of the noise would have suggested, but marks and gashes upon the trees implied a moving conflict. Thoughts of it being a lost cause quickly became moot as a closer growl and bark shattered the careful silence they had been maintaining.
Motioning for the pack to stop, Joseph waved Jax forward, Nalah approaching the other side. Using the large shield as additional cover, they peered around a particularly thick tree. Locked in combat were two moss-wolves, both attacking a truly massive grey creature.
Twice the Human’s height, half that in width. Four pillars as legs—the muscular trunks sinewy and defined—supported the disturbing hunched figure, the wide base tapering slightly into a thick and extended torso. A singular eye-stalk replaced the head, the ocular organ atop it pitch black and free of any indication of its focus. Four arms with deadly claws parried and sliced the two yellow beasts as they attempted to drive off the predator, a sickeningly large maw gaping to catch any attempts at a lunge. The mouth of the creature almost occupied the entirety of the available surface area upon its front, the jagged bone tools of manduction undulating with the promise of sustenance.
Joseph pulled them back, cursing under his breath as he tried to fight off the tension. From Nalah’s worried expression, it seemed his caution was rather potent, the other members of the group smelling his reaction as well.
“So, what’s the plan, Jax?” the Human whispered, his grip on the crossbow alternating with his fingers stretching across the trigger lest his fidgeting cause a misfire.
“I thought that, with your record, you would wish to tame it for the settlement,” Jax replied while thinking through a plan of action. He was glad that his friend trusted him, but he wished he had known the true scale of the beast prior. Joseph grit his teeth, turning to glance past the tree again with sarcasm pouring out of his response.
“Can’t quite see Winnie-the-woodchipper there playing great with kids.”
“You say that after adopting an Atmo as kit, Grand Hunter,” he returned, nodding to himself when a plan formed. The Human smiled, the banter easing the tension somewhat. “Rose, Cobalt, you two are the most well defended of us. Circle around and drive the beast this way. You should be capable of such without noise, yes?”
The two insects nodded, emptying their luggage behind a tree so as not to lose any of it before disappearing into the trees. The slight glimmer of their iron armour was the only indication of their position through the dense forest. Jax hoped that the beast was not particularly curious about the dimly pulsing glare, nor finished with its current altercation in time to impede the pair.
Satisfied with their progress, he motioned for the two security members to scale a tree and gain a superior vantage point. Their weapons would be able to maintain a more rapid pace of sustained fire at longer ranges. Joseph and the hunter were instructed to hide behind trees nearby, though the Human would need to remain grounded as his lack of claws made scaling the large flora difficult with his equipment.
Finally, Nalah and he positioned themselves much closer, in order to flank the creature as it fled the Atmo and occupy it long enough for the others to bleed it out, if not outright dispose of it.
With the forms of the Atmo peeking through the brush opposite them, Jax raised his axe to signal the start.
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Joseph felt the hammering in his chest, his heart preparing him to fight for his life against the walking abomination that easily outclassed the only other predator that he had experience with. Sure, the moss-wolves were easy to take down once you had equipment and a plan, but that thing screamed danger.
He watched Jax and Nalah set up behind thick trees, their goal being for Jax to hopefully disable a leg or two with the war-axe while Nalah occupied it with the shield. As the two strongest members of his little family, he trusted both to do their job.
As a clusterfuck of animal and torture device, he had no faith in the creature playing along.
Swallowing his hesitation, he adjusted his grip on the crossbow again, mentally tallying his shots and cursing himself for not researching explosives. Sure, Toril didn’t want to be involved in that kind of weapon, but at the moment, the tailless white-furred male could suck it up and make one anyway. Joseph would give his left nut to see how quickly the chemist would make weapons of mass destruction just to annihilate whatever that thing called home.
Jax raised his axe, glinting the sunlight of it towards the Atmo. Receiving the start signal, the two clicked and loosed a deafening screech, the Human’s ears ringing even from this distance.
The beast seemed unperturbed by the noise, though the lack of visible ears may have had something to do with the lacklustre effect. Regardless, it did notice the two armour-clad insects charging at it, and smartly decided to extradite itself from the area. The moss-wolves, however, didn’t quite get the memo, mistaking the advancing assistance as yet another foe to defend themselves from.
He had to say, Violet taught the two well. They flashed their blades out in the same flicker jab that he had shown his daughter, and with an unceremonious squelch, the two bisected canines landed in four pieces, a vibrant green ichor now staining the weapon-like appendages of the Atmo. Undeterred by their first act of violence—as far as he was aware, anyway—they continued herding the beast.
It wasn’t as fast as they might have feared, its quadrupedal gait hindered by its proportions, but it was still quick enough to be damn intimidating. Its arms acted as a counter balance, constantly adjusting this way and that just to keep it stable. That thing was clearly never meant for sprinting, all its mobility being given to the overactive maw that pulsated with the exertion.
He readied his crossbow, the shaking in his hands not ruining his aim against such a large target. He eyeballed the distance between the creature and the ambush point, forcibly moving his finger off the trigger so that he didn’t fire early.
Closer. Come on. Almost.
Now.
Jax wound up like a particularly enthusiastic lumberjack, putting his full body into the rotation. The massive axe swung like a horizontal pendulum striking home with all the finality of a clock tolling midnight. It bit into the front leg of the beast, only sinking a few inches before momentum nearly wretched the weapon from the black-furred male. Luckily, the force and timing was enough to trip it, the creature crashing to the forest floor with a deafening roar of pain.
They could hurt it. That made him feel better.
His relief evaporated as the beast swiftly recovered, hauling itself from the ground faster than he thought possible, but his archers took it for an unspoken signal. Arrows and bolts peppered its thick hide, to no effect—it shrugged off the projectiles like they were nothing more than pine needles, none sinking far enough to gain notable purchase.
Jax hefted his axe for another strike, careful not to over-commit this time. Nalah prodded the beast wherever she could with her pike, the melee weapon sliced and skewered just past the surface of the hide, though not enough to do more than marr. It was, however, enough to gain the attention of the target, the creature swinging two of its four arms to rake across the shield that the blond-furred female held. The iron plating across the front let out an unearthly shriek as claws ripped and crumpled the metal.
Well, fuck.
Nalah was quick to react, treating the shield less as an immovable barrier and more like a slight distance buffer, dodging in and out of range to steal jabs with the polearm. The security members nocked another volley, picking different targets than before. An arrow bounced harmlessly off the black orb of an eye, another finding purchase in what passed for gums in its mouth.
The hint was received; aim for the mouth. Thankfully, that was a large target. Less thankfully, it realized that flashing its teeth was detrimental to its health, slamming the maw closed.
Jax managed another swing, this time into one of the rear legs. It wasn’t as effective as the first strike, but it did warrant a sweeping double back-fist from the creature, scoring Jax’s armour with shallow claw marks as he jumped backwards. Joseph let out a breath as he fired his second shot, only just narrowly missing the sliver of a gap between razor teeth that the enraged attack afforded. It couldn’t keep its mouth shut forever, each frenzied swipe pulling its form enough for glimpses of softer flesh within to appear. The hunter dropped from their tree, darting across to reposition for a wider angle to capitalize on. The creature noticed, lunging forward to eviscerate the easier target.
Joseph blinked as two armoured figures jumped in front of the Lilhun, raising their blades in a tight guard to block the four arms grabbing for a quick meal. The beast recoiled with a thunderous screech, two of its appendages sporting deep gashes that fountained blood, while the others managed to impact above the edged outside of the blades. Rose and Cobalt pressed forward, buying time and space for the hunter to collect themselves and scale up another perch. Taking advantage of its pain, two new arrows ripped through the air, smacking into exposed inner flesh. Two new protrusions joined the first in the mouth, one landing next to the existing projectile, while the other cleared the gateway of serration, driving deeply inside of it.
More flicker jabs and extended straights pushed and cut the beast as it tried to gain distance from the two that wounded it, every retaliatory strike earning it another gash in its grey hide.. Unencumbered by the constant barrage, Nalah thrust into its legs more vigorously, her body leaning into each attack to gain every inch of penetration she could into the muscle and thick hide.
Jax used the chance to score another chopping blow, doubling down on a previous wound to a back leg—striking bone this time, based on the unholy wail the beast uttered. Joseph raised his crossbow to land another shot into its mouth, but the beast flailed wildly to fend off the ambush.
Rose managed to block, Jax lunged backwards, Nalah deflected most of it with what remained of her shield, but Cobalt was caught by a strike, taking the hit to its torso. The Atmo flew backwards, rolling when it landed, the carriage and assorted armoured plates trailing behind it. Rose shifted instantly, covering the direction that their companion had been sent while Jax and Nalah focused on pulling the beast away from the downed combatant.
Joseph’s eyes flicked to the Atmo, waging an internal battle on whether helping the insect would be better or worse for the situation as a whole. He didn’t want to lighten up their assault if it would just mean more injuries, but Cobalt could be in dire need for a patch job. It was hard to tell from where he was.
Cursing, he bolted from his spot, firing off one last round into the gaping maw before clipping the crossbow onto his armour and sliding on his knees in front of Cobalt, healroot hastily retrieved from his pocket.
He paused, sighing in relief when none of the armour bore more than deep gashes, the carapace underneath unblemished by the attack. Cobalt clicked lightly, dazed, but otherwise seeming unhurt. Unlearned in the physiology relevant, he ushered the Atmo to remain out of the fight for fear of concussion or something similar. They could look at the insect back at the base to be sure later.
“Joseph!”
His head spun around at both Jax and Nalah screaming his name, a massive clawed hand sweeping at him—the monster's approach unnoticed while he focused on Cobalt. Lacking a better option, he lunged forward towards the underside of the beast to dodge the swipe, crashing to his shoulder on the dirt below.
The creature raised a leg above Joseph, pounding the earth scant inches from his head as he rolled sideways. Ignoring the kicked up dirt, he brought his fist to the underside of the beast, flicking the release on his bracer.
Blood spouted from the newly formed wound, the blade breaking at the mechanism as the massive animal lurched in pain, Joseph rolling out of the way of another attempted trampling. He scrambled to his feet, feeling the wind of another strike narrowly missing him.
Yeah, that would probably kill him.
Luckily, the injuries renewed the desire to flee in the monstrosity, the group of attackers proving too dangerous to continue challenging. It stumbled away from them, sparing Cobalt from its panicked trudging. Jax and Nalah started to run towards him, worry evident in their eyes, but he barked for them to finish it, redirecting the two to keep the pressure going. He didn’t want to mention the pain in the arm from where the bracer hitched. It didn’t feel broken, and thus was irrelevant.
Pressure applied, the grey beast picked a random direction free of opponents to escape, ignorant of the waiting security. When it was too close for them to shoot into its mouth at a decent angle, they slung the bows over their shoulders and drew the swords they had been afforded, patiently waiting with the blades turned down.
It passed below them, the two Lilhuns dropping from the branches to put their full weight into the plunging blades. Both landed on the large target, one sword sinking deep into a shoulder, while the other managed to pierce one of its hip joints. The beast spun haphazardly to dislodge the ‘new’ threats, both security members kicking off and finding new trees to set up in.
Whatever damage was actually done, it had lost the use of an arm, and its gait shifted awkwardly as the blade lodged in its hip worked more harm with each shambling step.. Emboldened, Jax picked up the pace, struggling to position himself with the amount of metal he wore. Ducking another swipe of its claws, he saw his chance and swung, pivoting with his axe as a counter weight. For the third time, his axe blade found the wound in its leg, adding a sickening crunch as the bone snapped from the impact.
The creature swung wildly, forced to favour its two remaining good legs, and the only other leg that could still support at least some of its weight. It was unstable now, the hunched figure swaying while unmoving. Unable to run, it decided to go down with as many of them as it could.
Rose caught up with the attack, drawing attention from the comparatively squishy Nalah as the blond-furred female deflected a wayward swing with her shield. The once iron-plated ironwood now sporting little more than jagged scraps of metal atop its silver wooden structure, a series of deep gouges marring the surface. Two lunging thrusts with the pike bit flesh, drawing new blood from the beast.
Joseph loaded his crossbow, getting off two bolts, but not managing to keep it steady enough to hit anything of use, his arm faltering under the weight of the weapon. Cursing, he decided to flank the beast and try his luck with the other bracer. If nothing else, the force in which the blade deployed was enough to pierce the thick hide, and the others were doing a good job of distracting it.
The red armoured Atmo let loose a series of directed swings, the fifth severing an arm in motion, the flying appendage forcing Nalah to raise her shield to block the unorthodox projectile. The female was sent sprawling from the weight of the impact, but the beast was too busy voicing its agony to take advantage of it. Jax worked another two chops into the broad legs, but neither managed to incapacitate it any more, and the prolonged exertion was slowing his reflexes.
As if cued into his waning energy, the beast flung Jax with another strike, the hunter of the group sinking a bolt deep into the cavernous flesh of its mouth to prevent an attempt at following up.
Joseph roared, desperate to finish it off before the creature could do the same to his downed pack. He sprinted at the monster's back and slid underneath it with as much speed as he could muster. Throwing his fist into the passing undercarriage, he let the deployed blade leave a long gash in its wake.
The grey monster lost its ability to stand, torn tendons, blood loss, and inflicted injuries taking their toll. The Grand Hunter kicked off his knees to fling himself out of the way of the collapsing figure, grimacing as the remaining bracer proved unable to support the abuse he had put it through. He looked back at the beast, the flailing body failing to right itself as teeth did little more than gouge dirt, its back exposed. Rose approached, raising their blades together and plunging it through the body over and over until it stopped moving.
Exhausted, the Atmo dropped where it was, breathing heavily. Joseph’s instinct to yell their victory was delayed as he hurried over to Jax and Nalah to confirm he didn't need to bring back bad news. Nalah seemed fine, if a bit sore from hitting the dirt and rolling, while Jax just asked to lay down when he heard that everything was over. Cobalt came over to the group, the armour that had come off collected atop the carriage it had managed to loosely affix to its base.
It was light, a chuckle originating from the Human as he slumped to the ground against a tree, but soon the entire group was roaring with laughter as victory settled in their minds. The two security members helped the hunter begin disassembling the beast, their contribution to the fight leaving them with more energy than the rest. They hadn’t been slacking off, that much was certain. The number of arrows jammed into the maw of the thing would have guaranteed a few extra seconds of survival and chances to escape if one of them had been forcibly tossed into there, and it had caused enough pause for the rest of them to get in a few hits up close.
Joseph rested across from Jax and Nalah, letting his heart rate slow from the rapid pace it had been pinned to since the start of the conflict. His arm continued its protests, but from the amount of movement he still had, he guessed that he had just strained the elbow. A few days taking it easy should straighten that right up.
Once the active members were about half way through processing the creature for hide and meat, Cobalt approached him, a mimed request for assistance putting their armour back on being redirected to Nalah since he doubted he could lift the damn pieces without hurting himself at the moment. She obliged, getting the blue Atmo back in full attire, though it took a while.
Rose stood first, stopping over to allow the hunter to place collected bits and pieces onto the carriage before securing it with whatever they could make due. A security member gathered the moss-wolf corpses for a similar treatment. Waste not, want not, he supposed.
Rose ended up carrying most of their spoils. When he was about to ask why, he, Jax, and Nalah were dragged to Cobalt and hefted onto the carriage. A series of confused questions revealed that the rest wanted to head back before it started getting dark, and it was pretty obvious who was the most exhausted of them. Lacking the will or energy to argue it, he flopped back on the Atmo as the trees passed them by, Nalah resting her legs across him as her head sat on Jax’s lap. The black-furred male didn’t so much as smirk, so it was clear he had pushed himself too far to quip about the arrangement as he laid down.
“The next time you wish to exhaust me this much, Joseph,” the Head of Security started after a long while of silence, tiredness in his voice, “I would prefer it to involve my mate and a bed.”
The Human snorted, closing his eyes and enjoying the lack of walking as the surprisingly stable Atmo carried the three of them. “Fuck off, Jax.”
“Of course, Grand Hunter.”
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A/N: Patreon is fixed!... aka new one cuz problems with the last. Check it out to support the story, get AI character art every now and then, or even preview sections of chapters as i write them! (aka, before kieve gets to fix them :D)

Is there any word on flames being nerfed? (That falls under the category of Flamethrower, Molotovs, and Engine Fires).
Players should not be catching on fire instantly from simply touching a lingering flame unless its from a direct stream of fire from a Flamethrower, it should be at least 1-2 seconds sitting in the fire to engulf yourself in flames (Damage over time still applies without the instant flame stun). What really ticks me off personally is the engine fires instantly catching me on fire when i'm trying to extinguish it from outside of the vehicle. How big is the flame damage entity on the back of the vehicle? It feels like it covers the entirety of the vehicle than just on the point that's on fire.
In terms of the Flamethrower weapon specifically: It seems logical and fair that it should get a turn speed nerf while firing and movement speed nerf; to what percentage I don't know, as long as a i'm not able to swing nearly 180 degrees with a single mouse movement and casually strafing back and forth while firing the flamethrower. I think it's a good way to balance it as players will simply sprint and burst fire from cover to adapt to becoming sitting ducks when firing for long periods of time in the open without the ability to swing back and forth like its a low pressure squirt gun. Even then, players being attacked by a flamethrower would still be blinded greatly by the flame plume so its not much of a nerf than a balance pass.
I don't want to pull the "Realism" card but a high pressure tank and hose shooting an ungodly hot liquid shouldn't be so easy to spray around willy nilly getting free kills with the most minimal effort.
-Dedicated Flamethrower main, burning players through walls since 2021

We’ve been close friends since our senior years of high school and we have hung out on numerous occasions in the past with our friend group (mixed F and M). Not once did I ever felt uncomfortable.
Recently, it was the first time in a long while since we hung out. He is taking 2 years off university to serve mandatory military service in his home country so, he was really excited to gather all of us again as it’s been a good while.
When discussing availability, he kept on asking me directly on the gc about my schedule to fit his plans around mine and expected it to work for everyone else. I didn’t think much of it and thought it was because I have the busiest schedule in the group .
During the night, we watched a movie, went to a bar (did not drink) and did karaoke. It was all fun and games until I caught on the fact that he was finding every opportunity to sit next to/walk next to me. Sat next to me at the movies, at the bar and constantly tried to walk beside/ near me to make convo or join in a convo I was already having with another friend.
I made sure I wasn’t reading the room wrong so I kept moving seats in karaoke to test if I was right. He would get our friends to scoot over or manoeuvre to a gap thick enough to fit him between me and another person. This happened every time I moved and I finally acknowledged that I felt uncomfortable. I tried to get out of karaoke early by telling them “Mum needs me to be home” and he responded with “I need to go home too” despite him 5 mins ago saying he wanted to extend the karaoke session. I broke out in COLD SWEAT. Luckily two other people needed to leave too and the whole group agreed to not extend. He also managed to sit next to me on the train home I didn’t bring it up to the others until after we departed because I didn’t want to ruin the mood and couldn’t find a good time to tell them because he was basically attached to my hip 🧎🏻‍♀️
I genuinely want to know if this is how guys function when they want to get closer to girls? Am I reaching too far? I have never been in a relationship so I’m clueless
Should I be honest and tell him exactly how I felt?
What if this was purely a coincidence and none of this was his intention and I’m just bad at reading the room?
TL;DR : friend keeps sitting/walking next to me whenever theres a chance and I got really uncomfortable

it’s actually insane how i can be the best or 2nd best player on my team and still get BELOW 30 sr. it’s damn near below 20 at this point. i cannot get out of platinum 2 for the life of me. COD needs to fix this system because clearly they don’t want me to play anymore

I 16F)was always the child growing up who people would call a “social butterfly “ I would make friends really easily I could find people at parks,water parks,hotels,on vacation basically anywhere I genuinely think of myself as a good person/friend So when my friends would say I’m being a bad friend or other things it would hurt for example I was upset that my friend didn’t invite me to something and she got upset at me for being upset saying I need to grow up because she isn’t always invited to things and doesn’t complain so I shouldn’t then went on and on if I do stuff like this again she’ll slap me things like that we never really talked about it again and just dropped it but it still hurts she made my feelings feel invalid other things my fiends have done was get with someone they knew I liked and bragged about how they’re gonna “sleep together” i just ignored her for the rest of the week but once again it was dropped never talked about again there’s been times she’s upset me and we stop being friends but then within a month she’s saying she’ll change and I forgive her but she’s done messed up things to me that I forgive her for on one of my birthdays invited a few friends we played a few party games but the whole entire party didn’t even feel like it was for me or my sister were twins it just didn’t feel like anything was about us the whole entire time it was always about someone else then the next day one of my friends got mad at me for something I didn’t even do any kept getting mad at me for coming near her when it’s literally my house I can go where I want there’s been many times where I tell my friend who I like and then she goes and tells them and when I get upset about it’s I’m being dramatic it’s whatever but what she doesn’t get is I’ve been called ugly my entire life so stuff like that always ends up with me being called ugly to summarize this up I need advice on what to do about these friends do I drop them ?

I'm an incoming, international grad student and considering between housing offers. I have unofficial offers from 2 places. One is considerably cheaper (like, nearly 2x cheaper) but I'll end up living in a shared room. Another is a private room but the rent price there will bring me to remain about 600$ for groceries and food. So, I wonder if I can really live with this limited budget.
I had a meeting with mates in the shared. They are super nice and I feel my vibes resonate with them. I am fine with sharing so that I don't have financial stress. I have emergency savings but I don't want to pay it out of my pocket if unnecessary. However, my family is concerned about my security and privacy (especially security) if I share a room with others. I'm a South East Asian female-identifying if that helps make sense of why they have a security concern.
I'm still looking for a single in other places with better prices too but most of where I contact end up not replying to my messages or choosing others to be their roommates.
I may not check Reddit frequently so thank you all in advance.

Hello! I've posted here on r4r a handful of times now and I wanted to try and write up a more definitive ad. Every time I've written up a new one it contained new information or less information than a previous post so, I'm going to try and compile it all into one master post. That way everything there is to decide whether you'd like to message me is easily available and accessible to you without having to dig around a dozen other posts.
Now that the "prologue" is out of the way let's jump into why you're here and what it is I'm looking for.
Who Am I?

• Future Lawyer - Currently working as a Student Attorney this Summer at my school's legal clinic before my final year of law school. Will probably be taking the Bar July of 2024. I'm not sure as to what kind of law I'll be doing as a full fledged lawyer, but I know I intend to practice here in California. I'm working in Sacramento.
• Philosopher - I got my BA in Philosophy from UC Berkeley. I've always enjoyed philosophical discussion and occasionally write philosophical pieces. I was always into the classical Greek philosophers; Socrates/Plato and Aristotle. If you ever need a deep conversation we can delve into the depths of any subject.
• ENTJ/Leo - For those that enjoy Horoscopes or Myers Briggs tests. I'm an extrovert. I enjoy people and being alone is draining for me. I'm a bit shy and anxious at first, but once I'm comfortable that all goes away.
• Muslim - I know religion can be a big deal for some people, but I don't ask that anyone hold similar religious views as me. As long as we both value humanity, family, and general goodness, a difference in religion shouldn't be an issue. As a Muslim I don't drink and I don't eat pork. I don't care if you do. I'm not the best at praying (it's something I should fix) and I don't do the prayers (I generally just recite prayers to myself without doing the ritual aspects). I do fast during Ramadan.
• Drug Free - I also refrain from smoking and doing drugs. I just ask that if you do any drugs it's no more than weed, but ideally you don't smoke. I just don't like the smell lol and it sets me into a coughing fit if I'm around people that are smoking.
• Writer - I enjoy writing if you couldn't tell from the absurd length of this post. I apologize in advance. I write short stories, philosophy, political opinion, and whatever else comes to mind when I feel inspired.
• Traveler - I've traveled to a handful of places and there are a handful more I'd like to complete. I've been to Italy, Ireland(for a day), Austria, Hungary, Germany, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan

Things I enjoy:

• Mythology - Especially Greek mythology which I'm more acquainted with. My favorite myth is Orpheus or as some know it from the play Eurydice which I have yet to see or read. Also love the myth of Sysiphus hauling the giant boulder up and the one about Prometheus stealing fire for mankind.
• Literature - I try and read on occasion. Haven't been too successful. The last book I completed was last winter and that was Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Trying to get through Homer's Iliad at the moment before jumping to Homer's Odyssey. Some of my favorite books include: Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Rand's Atlas Shrugged, Tolkien's The Hobbit, Luo Guanzhong's Romance of Three Kingdoms, and lots more.
• Gaming - PC Gamer, but do own consoles like the Switch, 360, PS4. I just bought a Gameboy Advance SP to play some old Pokemon games. I have a Gameboy Advance, but it doesn't have the light and the battery exploded inside it, rip...
• Movies/Shows - I love films. I watch a lot of foreign stuff too like Kdramas, Chinese, Japanese, language doesn't matter as long as it's good and it has subtitles for me to read. My favorite film of all time is The Godfather. Some of my favorite shows include Game of Thrones(prior to season 8 of course), Better Call Saul, South Park, Rick and Morty, Criminal Minds(before they changed the whole cast), and plenty more.
• Anime - I could've put the animated cartoons in here too, but I'm currently watching Dr. Stone. Some of my favorites include: Steins;Gate, Kaiji, Legend of the Galactic Heroes(the original although the new one is alright), Death Note, and plenty more.
• Comedy - Love a good comedy show. I've been to a few clubs, the Ice House down in Pasadena, the Laugh Factory in Vegas, and Cobbs in San Francisco.
• Sports - Big fan of Soccer. Watch the Premier League when I get the chance and try and keep up. Man United fan. Also enjoy going to Sacramento Republic games. Football is cool too, 49ers. Watch Basketball on the rare occasion as well, Sacramento Kings.
• Music - Rock and Metal fan. Going to be seeing Nickelback in July and I want to see Disturbed in July as well, but have no one to go with, rip. Some of my favorite bands include: Green Day(who I got to see live alongside Weezer and Fall Out Boy), Rise Against, Five Finger Death Punch, Disturbed, and a handful of others. My music tastes can be a bit eclectic, but rock and metal is my go to.
• Tea - I'll definitely brew you some tea someday. I enjoy black tea for the most part. I order loose-leaf tea online. I enjoy Assam, Darjeerling, Oolong, Pu-erh, Keemun, Earl Grey, and more.
• Museums - A big fan of history so I enjoy going to museums and looking at old things. Love Renaissance/Enlightenment period artwork. Just about any kind of museum is cool. I love learning new things.
• Going out in General - Whether it's hiking in nature among the redwoods, going to a bar, dancing at a club/bar, eating out, or bowling with friends. I'm good for just about anywhere as I like getting out of the house.
• Homebody - As much as I enjoy going out and exploring new places, sometimes I need a break from adventure and enjoy relaxing at home. Play some board games.
• DnD - I'm relatively new to it, but I'm DMing currently for a group of friends that I played my first campaign with. Been playing around two years now if not three (a bit on and off due to scheduling conflicts).

What I'm Looking For?
A woman who I can meet, befriend, love, marry, have kids, and grow old with. I'm a hopeless romantic, I guess lol. It would go in that order and as for the timeline, that's for fate to decide.
Age - Ideally 21+, but will accept as long as you're 18+. Ideal age range 21-30. If you're slightly older or slightly younger that's fine too. +/- 7 is the general rule of thumb.
Looks - Personality beats looks, but attraction is still important. I don't have a type per se. Don't really care about race/ethnicity. I'm trying to work on my weight myself so I rather not cast a stone at a glass house, but proportionality is something I find attractive. A gym partner or someone who can help me with my weight would also be appreciated(we can run together or go hike, etc.)
Personality - I find that sometimes when I'm not attracted to a person , their personality attracts me to them. Personality can elevate a 5 to a 10 or reduce a 10 to a 1 instantly. All I ask is that you're intelligent(a woman who can think for herself, articulate her thoughts, and is able to challenge me when I'm wrong), kind, communicative(communication is key in any relationship), and is sociable(don't need to be extroverted, just able to socialize when the situation calls for it).
Location - In California, looking to move to California, or willing to relocate (a hard ask considering everyone is leaving California lol). For the foreseeable future, I'm stuck here for work and family. Maybe someday I'll have a nice plot of land in the middle of nowhere and can live off the fatta the land with some rabbits. If you read the post and know the book, you got the reference.
What can I Give You?
Tea - As I mentioned before, I'll brew you tea and sometimes I might have a good story to tell over tea lol.
Laughter - I have a contagious laugh and I enjoy joking around. I laugh at most things so it's not too hard to elicit a laugh from me which might get you laughing too.
Adventure - I like visiting new places with friends or a companion so as long as you desire it, we can always adventure out to new places. Whether it's a beach, a new city, a forest, mountain, you name it, we can go.
Optimism - I have a generally happy-go-lucky attitude with life and I'll be happy to reassure you life is good and things will be fine. And if you need the opposite with harsh realism, ask and you shall receive lol.
Hygiene - I do my best to keep myself clean. I also wash my own dishes. I try to keep my home clean, but it's a bit difficult when you're never home. I bought my first condo in 2021 and now I understand why people rent. It's difficult to maintain everything and expensive. And on top of all that you gotta keep it clean even when you're not home.
Attention - As much as you desire. I enjoy people and having someone around all the time is fine by me. I also don't mind some alone time and lawyer stuff can be a bit time-consuming.
Food - I can't cook, but I'll try. I tried to make sushi and failed two weekends ago. Rice was too sticky and too hot. Also the sashimi refused to thaw no matter how long I waited(was well over 12 hours...) But wrapping it was actually easier than I expected just not evenly distributed along the roll.
I think that covered everything I needed to add or wanted to add in here. If I come up with more I'll be updating this master ad over time. Feel free to message me or use the chat feature. Also if you like we can move to Discord, feel free to ask for it. Attached is a photo of me as well. Thanks for bearing through this long post. And if you didn't read it all, that's fine. It's too damn long.
https://imgur.com/a/GgHS6Iu

Hey guys I need your advice if what below is or isn’t meta gaming:
TLDR: I was given the choice between using two skills and choose the skill I was proficient in and accused of metagaming
I was playing in this group where the DM had some real weird homebrew rules for 5e, the most weird being that nearly every check a character does with the party has to be a group check, it couldn’t be one character makes the check or two people do the check and one gives the other advantage, EVERYONE has to make the check and you can only pass if the majority of players roll a passing amount.
So our party was sent into a woods to kill some Bat monsters that were killing the villages livestock and locals who go in to forage. So we go out and explore for the forest, we roll a group perception check to find the bat monsters, we fail twice and waste an entire in game day wondering around the forest and have to go back and rest or risk exhaustion. The next day our Paladin (and constantly self proclaimed leader of the party) suggests we do a group survival instead of perception cause maybe we’ll get lucky. I suggest we stick to perception because my character is proficient in perception but not survival and they use the same ability so the chances of succeeding were significantly lowered. A few other players agreed saying they were in the same boat aside from the Ranger. The Paladin accused me of meta gaming as I was using my knowledge of what proficiencies I have to decide my course of action. But I argued that my character knows he has no knowledge of how to track stuff in the wild, his whole backstory is that he’s never really even been outside of his house until a couple months ago so it didn’t seem unreasonable that my character would choose a course of action that he feel he’d be more skilled at.
Anyway, question is was I meta gaming?

So apparently, Ive had T2N all my life but it just only recently finally blew up (“officially awakened”, according to the diagnosis) this past January when I got the results from my doc after I noticed something very wrong since three months before in October 2022, when I started falling asleep too much during my job as an uber eats driver (eventually had to quit).
Im 40. All my life since before that and even up until February of this year I was very physically active. I did cardio for about 1-2 hours a day 5 days a week. I then started going back to lifting weights.
But with weights, no matter how much I lifted, I would never see any progress.
My whole life I’ve been a massive mercilessy accursed HARD-GAINER. Wether I was at the gym half an hour 5 days a week, 1 hour M-F, 2hrs M-F, 2hrs every other day, 1hr every other day, sticking to a routine, changing up the routine so as to confuse the muscles and therefore build more mass quicker as a result, doing single excercises, doing compound excercises, doing resistance training, doing negatives, doing supersets, focusing on certain parts on different days, doing full-body every other day, wether I ate six times a day mostly meats and eggs and proteins galore with fruits and veggies and nuts and shakes, wether I added supplements to them, wether I took a gallon of creatine daily or just two scoops into my shake after every workout (before post-workout atrophy starts to happen), wether I took pre-workout shakes/drinks or not, wether I withheld from fapping before the gym, wether I slept 7,8,9,10 hours that night or the night before, wether I went during the morning, afternoon or night- on my BEST DAY I would just barely make a difference that barely nobody would ever notice anyway, and it would go away in a heartbeat if I ever stopped lifting for five minutes. Its BAZONKERS people- all that work, and NOTHING to show for it to this day.
Except now the opposite has happened. I have no energy at all to do anything (hell I can barely stay awake as I type this). Cant focus, cant think straight. Even seemingly mundane things like drivig to the grocery store ten minutes away is a daunting task now that worries everyone in my fam to death if I ever would try to do it.
I sleep most of the day. In a 24-hr span, Im awake for about six-seven. I only eat once a day bc of my shitty for life now Keto diet I have to strictly follow so I cant eat 90% of everything so I barely eat and its once/twice a day and its small meals so I dont pass out shortly after. Therefore, I dont eat 6 times a day- nowhere near that. I also had to completely stop working out.
Today, I see myself in the mirror and notice that now that the nightmares and sleep paralysis have progressed, Ive become rail thin. Like, my arms are scary-looking with how thin and bony they are now- they look like those of a 9-year-old boy. Im embarassed to be seen in public. Im paler now, and the Dark Circles under my eyes have grown inmensely darker. I feel like I can charge cars to park in those giant suckers but thats for another story.
So I look like a sickly malnourished skeleton now. Its scary-looking how bad Ive gotten, but gym is the LAST thing I can do nowadays- believe me! I havent gone since Feb when I just had to stop bc I couldnt take it anymore.
So, is rail-thin, bony, extraterrestrial-looking “body” normal for people with Severe T2N to get? I look like a sickly shivering starving animal from one of those Sarah McLaughlin commercials with the song playing and everything.
So is this (“fairly new”?) appearance normal for people with N to display? Remember that mine’s severe t2. Severe.
Thanks!

🇦🇹 Wochenende 08 - 11.06

Do: ⛅ 23° Fr: 🌧️ 24° Sa: 🌧️ 24° So: ⛅ 24° 🇬🇧 Scroll down for English 👇
Kaum bekommt man einen freien Tag, schon wird das Wetter schlecht! Dafür gibt es diese Woche ein bisschen extra Inspiration damit, ihr nicht nur zu Hause sitzen müsst! 🙂
Also, let´s get to it! 🚀

🤌 Laurin’s Auswahl 08 - 11.06

Eine kurze Übersicht der 5 coolsten Events dieses WE in Wien. Der Link zum Event ist immer im Titel.

1/ Thursday Special: Sommernachtskonzert (Do 20:30 Gratis)

Okay, das ist wohl ein no-brainer diesen Donnerstag. Nicht nur ist der Donnerstag der einzig halbwegs trockene Tag dieses WE, sondern es gibt auch gratis die Wiener Philharmoniker zu hören!
Das ganze findet übrigens im Bereich des Schlosses Schönbrunns statt.

2/ Kleidertausch Party (Fr 16:30-19h - Gratis)

Du hast Lust, deine alte Kleidung gegen neue Styles zu tauschen und dich gleichzeitig mit anderen zum Thema Klima-Aktivismus auszutauschen? Dann schau bei der Kleidertausch Party im Dschungel Wien im MQ vorbei!

3/ Intimes Jazz Konzert (Sa 19-22h - Free)

In der intimen Atmosphäre einer alten Tankstelle gibt es ein Jazzkonzert zu hören. Über den Abend verteilt, wird es eine Kombination von traditionellen Instrumenten mit elektronischen Klängen zu hören geben.

4/ Championsleague Finale Public Viewing (Sa20-23h - Gratis)

Nagut, vielleicht nicht für jeden das richtige aber diesen Samstag findet das Championsleague Finale (ManCity - Inter Milan) statt. Gemeinsam schauen macht bei sowas ja dann doch immer mehr Spaß! Einen coolen Ort dafür bietet die Schankwirtschaft direkt im Augarten.
Alternativ kann man am Samstag auch ein recht cooles gratis Konzert anhören.

5/ Acoustic Sundays (So 19-23h - 15€)

Diesen Sonntag im werden vier Songwriter die Bühne von Wiens etabliertester Underground-Location, dem Chelsea, teilen. Gastgeber und Konzeptgeber ist der in Amerika geborene und in Wien ansässige Künstler Ian Fisher. Also warum nicht mal was Neues hören? 🙂

🔥 Party Party

Hier eine kurze Übersicht zum Wiener Nachtleben dieses Wochenende:
Thursday

• Vienna Pride Beach Day - Vienna City Beach Club // DJs, Yoga
• FM4 Swound Sound - Usus am Wasser // Electronic
• Space Odyssey - Kramladen // House
• Rooftop Sommer Party - Der Dachboden // Electronic

Friday

• Back on the dance floor - Weberknecht // 90s, 2000s
• Jetlag Disco - PRST // Disco, House, Techno
• Garten von Eben - Kramladen // Techno, House
• Zuckerwatt w/Dubfire - Grelle Forelle // Techno
• Bas Cave & Shake It - Himmel Und Wasser // DnB

Saturday

• Morgengymnastik - SAAS // Techno, Workout :)
• Kollektiv Ost: West & Friends - Badeschiff // House, Techno
• Dancehall BBQ - Usus am Wasser // Electronic
• Freizeit Exklusiv -PRST // Techno
• Werk in Love - Das Werk // Trance, House, Disco,
• Schlaflos im Juni - Pratersauna // Electronic
• Stromklang Festival - Das Werk // Live Concerts, Electronic
• The Hive, Burr Oak, TR Tactics & ChrisSU - Flex // DnB

🎨 A litte bit of culture & other gems

• Lebanon - in a state of unrest // Vernissage Thur 18h
• Meine Welt // Vernissage Fr 19h
• Essbare Kunst - Exhibition // Sa 12-19h
• Vienna Pride Special - Mumok // Sa 12-16h

Other 💎

• Grätzlfest Spengergasse 2023 // Local Event, Sa 17-21h
• Friday Night Skate // 21-23h

🤗 'Wien Was Geht' unterstützen

Wer mich unterstützen möchte, hat zwei Möglichkeiten:

1. Diesen Newsletter teilen ODER
2. Mich auf ein Bier einladen

👊 Ich wünsche euch ein schönes Wochenende!
-Laurin

⭐️️ Wie haben wir uns geschlagen?

• ❤️ Leiwand
• 😐 Meh
• 🥱 Mir ist immer noch ur langweilig, ich will mehr Content über ...
• 😡 Ich hasse dich, ich hasse den Newsletter - Du hast mir mein WE versaut

Ihr könnt mir auch direkt unter [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) schreiben.
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🇬🇧 English Version

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(Oida), What's up Vienna?

Do: ⛅ 23° Fr: 🌧️ 24° Sa: 🌧️ 24° So: ⛅ 24°
I am torn between joy and sorrow this weekend. On the one hand, it’s pretty bad weather, on the other hand, we have an extra day off. Well, let’s focus on the good things, there are definitely some fun events this weekend in Vienna! 🙂
Let’s get to it 🚀 !

🤌 Laurin’s Picks 08 - 11.06

A quick overview of the 5 coolest things happening this weekend in Vienna.

1/ Thursday Special: Sommernachtskonzert (Thur 20:30 Free)

Alright, I don’t care if you are new to Vienna or already more or less a local. The summer night concert by the Viennese orchestra is a musical highlight every year. Even if you are not a big fan of classical music, the concert is for free and right in the grounds of the Schönbrunn castle. So next to the impressive music, you have an amazing location. Enjoy! 🎶

2/ Clothing Swap Party (Fr 16:30-19h - Free)

Want to upgrade your wardrobe? Why not check out the clothing swap party with a twist? Bring some of your old cloths and swap them for different ones! If you are interested, you can also learn more about climate change while you are there.

3/ Intimate Jazz Concert (Sat 19-22h - Free)

This Saturday there is a small jazz concert in the building of an old and abandoned gas station. The concert promises intimate vibes, and a mixture of traditional jazz together with some more electronic beats.

4/ Champions-league Final Public Viewing (Sat 20-23h - Free)

Maybe not the right thing for all readers but this is probably the biggest football game of the year. It’s the champions league finals between Manchester City and Inter Milan. There is a great location to watch it outside at the ‘Schankwirtschaft’ located in the Augarten.
Alternatively there is a pretty cool free concert happening here.

5/ Acoustic Sundays (So 19-23h - 15€)

Want to explore some new and exciting live music? Go check out the concert of 4 live bands in Vienna’s most established underground venue ‘The Chelsea’ this Sunday.

🔥 Party Party

A quick overview of Vienna’s nightlife.
Thursday

• Vienna Pride Beach Day - Vienna City Beach Club // DJs, Yoga
• FM4 Swound Sound - Usus am Wasser // Electronic
• Space Odyssey - Kramladen // House
• Rooftop Sommer Party - Der Dachboden // Electronic

Friday

• Back on the dance floor - Weberknecht // 90s, 2000s
• Jetlag Disco - PRST // Disco, House, Techno
• Garten von Eben - Kramladen // Techno, House
• Zuckerwatt w/Dubfire - Grelle Forelle // Techno
• Bas Cave & Shake It - Himmel Und Wasser // DnB

Saturday

• Morgengymnastik - SAAS // Techno, Workout :)
• Kollektiv Ost: West & Friends - Badeschiff // House, Techno
• Dancehall BBQ - Usus am Wasser // Electronic
• Freizeit Exklusiv -PRST // Techno
• Werk in Love - Das Werk // Trance, House, Disco,
• Schlaflos im Juni - Pratersauna // Electronic
• Stromklang Festival - Das Werk // Live Concerts, Electronic
• The Hive, Burr Oak, TR Tactics & ChrisSU - Flex // DnB

🎨 A litte bit of culture & other gems

• Lebanon - in a state of unrest // Vernissage Thur 18h
• Meine Welt // Vernissage Fr 19h
• Essbare Kunst - Exhibition // Sat 12-19h
• Vienna Pride Special - Mumok // Sat 12-16h

Other 💎

• Grätzlfest Spengergasse 2023 // Local Event, Sat 17-21h
• Friday Night Skate // Fr 21-23h

🤗 Want to support 'Wien Was Geht'

If you enjoy these e-mails and want to support me you have two options:

1. Share this Newsletter OR
2. Buy me a beer

👊 Have a great weekend!
-Laurin

⭐️️ How was this weeks e-mail?

• ❤️ Awesome
• 😐 Meh
• 🥱 I am still bored, I want more content about...
• 😡 I hate you, I hate your newsletter, you ruined my weekend

If you have any other feedback, or suggestions for improvement, e-mail me under [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) or just reply to this e-mail. 🙂
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Fielding fly balls feels awful. I'm not sure if it's the new angle, or less magnetism toward the right spot once you're close, but if it's deep or anywhere near the wall it's pretty impossible to tell if you're gonna catch it or if you need to jump for it.
When a ball is hit slow mo in the infield, I'm pretty damn sure the game doesn't let you input commands to dive or jump while the slowmo is active. There's been many times, even after making sure the slowmo is over, I press dive and my player simply doesn't dive It has gotten to the point that I am MASHING dive and sometimes even then he won't dive.
The pitching feels either harder or just straight up worse. I've dropped from 85 to 80 ego and still it feels like sometimes the game just decides it's HR time for the CPU. Doesn't matter if I'm nailing GREATs on the corners or even throwing balls.
Batting actually feels pretty much the same for me besides the random balls the game calls strikes sometimes which I think they've addressed.
Is it just me, or is the timing on pitching and throwing different too? Why would they change it??? I've had tons of hours on 3 and I have never thrown so many wild pitches or errant throws.
Another thing, why are their so many fielding errors now? It used to be like 2 or 3 a game, now it's legitimately once an inning. Something like (Low Throw 4%) happens way too often now. Maybe they made everyones fielding generally worse in order for the new traits like the diving/jumping one and the cannon arm to seem more useful?
Add these things up with the broken coop stat tracking and the same exact free agents every new franchise (WHY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WOULD THEY DO THIS? Now every new franchise im just going to be looking to sign the same guys over and over instead of the fun of new randomly generated guys) and it's just been a huge disappointment so far.
I feel like almost all the fans would be happy with SMB3 + extra stuff. This feels like SMB3 plus some stuff, minus some stuff and some stuff different for no real reason, why would they take certain things away? And change things unnecessarily?
Why not add new animations like they did and also keep the old ones? Wouldn't that be a lot more variety? Why take away Gunns Jackman's buff body type? Why not just add more body types?
I think I'm sticking with 3 for a while. This has been more frustrating than fun.

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Summary:
PCR (not present in my country), stool culture (which found CDiff) and Toxin A+B test (2 times negative), CRP low, Calprotectin low, negative for other bacteria and viruses.
Doctors don't think is Cdiff with this overall image, but can't tell what is it.
On and off Symptoms: Bristol stool type 5,6 and sometimes normal stool, symptoms are getting slightly better with usage of probiotic Visbioime, low-grade fever, occasional muscle fatigue,stomach pain, this is going for 2 months nearly with one 2-3 week symptom free period.
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25M.
Had IBS previously but it was getting way better by taking some supplements.
6 weeks ago I had stomach infection which lasted 2 weeks. Doctors did not find the cause of it.
Since then a lot of things changed for me in my life. A ton of other symptoms appered.
So the infection started with extreme stomach pain and bloating, I had bloating in the past, but this was not comparable at all.
The first day I had watery diarrhea 4-5 times going to toilet, also had 38.0 °C fever.
I took ibuprofen and paracetamol and the first it was extremely varying (37.5 - 38.0).
Weirdly enough, the other days, the fever was coming only at night
After the second day of diarrhea, I started caloric restriction because I could not endure the stomach bloating and pain. I was having 1 meal a day, and ofc the weight started to go down.
The Diarrhea was like 4-5 days with low grade fever (37.5-37.8), muscle and joint pain, abdominal bloating and pain, small white coating on tongue (which doctors suggested because of dehydration but I was drinking like crazy (electrolytes and what not)), a bit red throat, my phyisican said that I should wait for my immune system to fight off the infection.
I had 2 blood tests, a lot of parameters tested and all came in the range, CRP was also low
I was only taking Vitamin D3 5000UI, Vitamin K2, Vitamin C 500mg, basically vitamin therapy.
After 1 week dealing with this, I scheduled a visit to a infectiologist in a private hospital.
They tested me for Covid tests, blood tests for electrolytes, conventional culture test.
Conventional culture found C. Diff present. The doctor suggested me to go on a BRAT diet and gave me this strong Probiotic
BTW the second week the fever was still fluctuating (37.4 - 37.5), but as I mentioned was going down a lot of times, after nearly 2 weeks of caloric restriction and a BRAT diet, I started having periods of fatigue
At the end of the second week, all the symptoms were gone, the fever was gone, only the muscle fatigue was present for 2-3 days.
And all my symptoms were resolved, but the real mystery is after this 2 week infection.
I started having floating stools with pain at some days (like 1 day a week), I was using L-glutamine which managed some of the IBS symtoms. I started experencing heart palpitations quite regularly, I had palpitations before, but after the infection they are more frequent.
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Symptoms were not present, I got back to university, and other sport activities, another thing that appeared was becoming very sleepy after meals, which was a thing I never had before, I always had to take a nap after bigger meals.
And after 1 month of going kind of smoothly, I again got a fever (37.5) and frequent stools (4-5 times a day), this was going around for 2-3 days, I started the above probiotic, and the fever went away, some of the symptoms re-appeared like the small white tongue coating and the new symptom was muscle soreness**(not pain but some of the muscles especially biceps, triceps and calves were just sore and some feeling of muscle stressed).**
After 1.5 week, I again went to the infectiologist, and she mentioned to me that I should not worry, that it will go away, I tested for C.diff toxin A+B which came negative, blood tests were fine.
The Doctor suggested now to use S. Boulardi as a stronger probiotic alternative.
And said that it helps for C. diff infections.
Also mentioned to use this immune supporting product (beta-glucans, fermented yeast cells, vitamins).
I have not started using the above, but today I had 4 stools and 1 watery diarrhea.
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Do you guys have any suggestions, since I don't know how to continue with this problem.
Which direction should I take with the doctors to focus?

Hey,
I am a new TM player on PS5 and have some trouble to access clubs and play custom maps.

1. Club Access: Everytime I want to join a club (no matter which one) I get redirected to the subscription screen indicating I need to get a higher membership status. But I already have the standard access and to my understanding, this should be sufficient for joining clubs (and the club access is required for creating own clubs). Does anyone know the problem here?
2. Custom Maps: Are custom Maps by other players only playable via clubs? To me this seems pretty confusing, I was expecting to have some kind of track central (like in trials) where I can easily access and filter tracks created by other players. Am I missing something here?

Thanks in advance for any help. I was trying to google some answers but didnt really find anything.
Ano

So for some context I am 14M and my best friend is 13F. We’ve been friends for about 3 years now and have talked almost everyday and regret when we don’t. We have had some secrets from each other that embarrass us but sometimes we like to talk about them and it’s fun. We get mixed up as boyfriend and girlfriend but we are just friends, some describe us as friends with benefits and she has said it once but I always shrug it off. The other night she didn’t respond to my texts and I thought she went to bed early because we had pulled stayed up till sun rise the night before. When I texted her in the morning she said I ram over her cat and I thought it was some friendly satire but when she said she was gonna press charges I asked if it was a joke and she said no. I went into full lawyer mode and told her my family hasn’t drive our truck in over a week(her cat was hit by a truck that she said was my parents.) We had only been using our Lexus’ for shopping and work and we were no where near the road her cat got hit. When I told her this she didn’t believe me and when I called her she said she forgave me and before I could get another word out she hung up. She hasn’t responded to me at all and now I am afraid and currently crying about the thought that I might have just lost my best friend.

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Okay so long story short: went on a couple dates with this guy I met on Hinge. It was good (so I thought) and we both said to each other that we wanted to see each other again. Guy starts getting flaky, says he's busy with work. It's nearing three weeks with no plans for a next date. I'm feeling like something isn't right so I end up sending an anonymous post on my local Are We Dating The Same Guy Facebook group. After many responses and a week later I'm talking to this woman online (let's call her Katelyn) who says she has been in a relationship with this guy for 8 months now. I, feeling horrible for getting involved with him, start sending her screenshots and describing everything that happened between us.
I'm 1000% against cheating, both emotional and physical, so I still feel awful and disgusted for what I've done. I know it was only a few dates but this guy really had me fooled. Made it sound like he was into me and even switched shifts around to see me for both dates. But even after telling Katelyn every single detail, between our texts and even down to the day and time of our dates, I still feel guilty. I'm losing sleep over it.
What makes this even more frustrating is that Katelyn has left me in the dark. She ignored the questions I asked her, and when I asked her what she was going to do about him, she left me on read. I know it's none of my business but I want closure. Did he go see her after our dates? Did he lie about "switching shifts at work" to see me or did he actually reschedule plans with Katelyn? Is she still with this jerk or did she leave him???
Guess I'll never know. I'm just going to continue hating myself for being involved. Dating sucks.

I'm an international student with pretty good grades and ECs. I'm thinking of majoring in Economics + Mathematics. I also need full financial aid. Can you suggest me some liberal arts colleges based on the following.
What I'm looking for: - suburban setting, safe campus (I don't wanna be in a big city for college but also don't wanna be isolated from everything, can people from colleges like Williams share their opinion on rural campuses?) - internship opportunities - collaborative and accepting environment - lots of clubs and societies ( I'm interested in literature, art, theater, everything, give them to me!) - sports (I've never been a big sports person but I want to start watching sports now) - challenging but also fun - pretty places to hike and stuff
What I'm not sure of: - Rural Campus (I don't wanna be in a big city for college but also don't wanna be isolated from everything, can people from colleges like Williams share their opinion on rural campuses?) - Open Curriculum ( this one is said to be good but I wanna learn everything so I don't think I'd mind having to take a few specific classes to graduate...?)
Thank you for your time.

Every morning I have started doing a long-line decompression walk with my 6 month Golden Retriever called Sunny. She's very excitable and can sometimes have trouble staying calm in outside environments. These walks have been great as its given her the chance to have some freedom to burn off energy, take in lots of sights and smells and give me an opportunity to walk on attention, recall and settle. I tend to do these walks in big open parks as we have a couple nearby. However, I am becoming so frustrated with other dog owners. It seems that because we're in a park, 90% of dog owners think it's fine to let their dog off lead despite having 0 recall and not paying to attention to what they're doing. It's getting to the point where I'm questioning if we can even go to these places ourselves. I have countless examples over the last couple of months but I couldn't help but feel the need to vent with this mornings encounter. Towards the end of the walk I like to get her into a semi-distracting environment, but one she can keep settled in. Today this was near a pond and kids recreational area. It was early morning so there wasn't many people about but once I get her in a settle, I like to do some hand feeding and capture attention she's giving me. We stayed in this spot for about 10-15 minutes and I fed most of her breakfast, to the point where she was completely settled and focused on me. We notice a man walking past with a lead in hand, he gets about 10 meters up the path and still no dog in sight. At this point the owner is nearly out of sight and then a dog appears and stops, staring down my dog. The owner hasn't realised (why would he when he's far away from his own dog) and his dog begins to slowly approach us. I attempt to keep my dog’s attention, while gathering our stuff and attempting to move on. At this point Sunny gets very excited (shock) and the other dog comes closer. Sunny gives off a playful bow and starts jumping from side to side, typical excitable puppy stuff and in return the other dog begins to growl at her. All the meantime the owner has just about realised and repeats his dog’s name over and over. I'm fearing if this dog is going to react and attempt to attack my dog. Eventually I manage to get our stuff together and begin walking away and the other dog ran away. For the rest of the walk back to our car I had to deal with an over-aroused dog that wouldn’t listen and began making bad decisions. I’m so sick and tired of other owners not being considerate of us. I explicitly make sure we’re out of the way of other dogs and people and always keep her on a long line so I have control over her. Why can’t anyone else do the same? I’m trying to best to keep encounters with other people and dogs calm and measured but every morning I feel like we get set back by other people who fail to control their own dogs. Does anyone else have similar experiences? What do you do in these situations?

Hi Makklea, I hope your doing fine in this hot day.
The post is about how i get know my crush and how I saw her after a decade. It's a very big post kindly bear with me.
This happened during 2012. I was studying +2 & she was studying +1. Our classes are next to each other. She is a new to my school,she was dead gorgeous. Every guy in my school had crush on her.
So every day I will go to school early just to see her. We constantly see each other when ever we had the opportunity. This was goin on for few months.
So oneday I was not feeling well,so I took leave. The next day I came to school & my friend told, She came to our class and asked about you da. I was totally in shock to know that she asked about me. I was smiling & laughing the entire day. The next day during interval I was standing out side in the corridor. She was also standing opposite to her .
There was no one expect me & her. So I gathered all the courage, did some breathing practice & counted 1 2 3 started to walk in her direction. It was just few steps. But for me it was like mile walk.
I went near and said "Hey Hi" she didn't even see me she just ran in to her class room. Gosh I felt so sad & cold. I went to my class and sat down. For the next 1 week I didn't go out of my class & I didn't see her.
After a week I was eating lunch in my class. Everyone from my class went out for lunch. She came inside my class. She said "Excuse me duster irruka?" I didn't even look up I just pointed where the duster is and I started to eat. After few mins she again came in.
This time she came to my & placed the duster on my desk. And said thank you. I didn't say anything. And she ask can I sit next to you. I just nod my head. After that she said "Hey I am really sorry for what happened on that day, I got shy and ran in to my class dont mistake me"
I started to smile, and we spoke for few mins. And she went to her class. From next day onwards we became very close. We didn't cellphones at that time. So we will come to school just to talk. We will walk together to her area. This was going for few months. I wanted to propose her but I thought once we both are in college I will Express my love towards her.
After the public exams I joined in college. And +2 class have started in my school. So I went back to school to see her. But she was not there principle said her father died so she discontinued. I even asked her friends they don't know what happened to her & she shifted her house too. So I felt really sad. It took me an year to move on.
This week Tuesday I went to OMR to see a client.Whle coming back it started raining. I was standing in the red signal & a girl crossing the signal with her umbrella. She looked amazing. So I was looking at her suddenly I remember it was her. It was my 1st crush. She saw me but I was wearing helmet so she couldn't recognize me. So I was there standing and thinking all the good times we had. I was seeing all the way till she disappeared into the crowd. It was one hell of a day.
So Makklea tell me about crush stories .I love to know how you met your crush or GF or wife. Thank you all 🙏🏻