So I can’t remember what a game was. It was a video game where you went around to different cities trying to beat people at card game tournaments to get into a competition. Kind of felt like a mix of Pokémon where you go from gym to gym. With the Yugioh monster card fighting mechanics. I think I last played it on the GBA or early DS.

Szeth at 3rd ideal sprenblade and nightblood
VS
Kaladin at 4th ideal
Would be a very crazy fight. Kaladin won last time but they’ve both had a buff since then. Kaladin took the W, but does the addition of shardplate mean anything vs nightblood?

TrU3Ta1ent vs Kenzo
Personally I feel they are extremely similar in regards to mentality and playstyle. They definitely work similarly in regard to how they think.
I feel in their prime it would be a interesting fight and I feel True would use a character like Warden someone who requires a lot of skill to be good but feel Kenzo would go with a strong character naturally like a Jorm.
My money is Kenzo winning

Just to clarify, I stole this idea from Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan. It's nothing original.
What if Persephone ate the pomegranate just when Kronos was swallowing her? She could have tore him apart from the insides out due to her growing in size very quickly, maybe not killing Kronos, but definitely leaving him too wounded to fight or even move.
Regarding Persephone, it would make sense that she wouldn't see herself as a powerful goddess, but as someone who had the right idea at the right time. She would also suffer from claustrophobia from that day. I imagine that breaking through Kronos's guts wasn't an easy task, even with the pomegranate effect.
What I'm 100% sure about this scenario is that Ares would have enjoyed seeing that shit, this bastard is into gore and I'm dying on that hill.

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so as title says, im keen to see gaming benchmarks for large HEDT cpu's by intel, against something like a 7800x3d. or 13700k. im not expecting it too blow them out of the water by any means but im interested in gauging the performance of Q1'2023 HEDT cpu's or even and AMD 5975WX vs gaming desktop cpus.
​
because of the large multi channel bandwidth memory support, and multi access cache levels (i think its called Mesh caching) i would suspect these cpus to have fairly good Single core performance, making them quite good at pulling frames for the graphics card. especially the threadrippers large cache size, overclocking the single core boost speeds on these types of cpus, would effectively allow for a higher avg gaming FPS, possibly making them usefull for multiple generations, instead of us upgrading from as an example, a 3600x to a 5600x, to a 5800x3d to a 7800x3d just to achieve a 10-20% avg gaming performance boost, which i believe is tied to cache size (obviously) and single core performance and generation IPC for single core, for cpu fetch and delivery operations to the graphics card, memory instructions, etc.
if this is the case, that these cpus large memory bandwidth busses and cache's why dont we just move to HEDT and buy the cheapest of the lot in here, instead of buying 7950x's and 7800x3d's and upgrading them every year and selling your old stuff. sell the 7800x3d, buy the 8800x3d. OR just by an intel HEDT or amd Threadripper
​
i feel as though intel and AMD are striking or removing gaming benchmakrs of these CPU's on the internet. because i cant find any.
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Oh, and if you have a 7800x3d, post up your OC results and ZT's. i saw some benchmarks with a 5800x3d with 4400mhz ram uncoupled from the IF and it pulls more frames every time you raise the memory frequency. but alas on ryzen 7000 after 6000mhz DDR, the uclock struggles and has to be divided by 2 of the mclock. so trying to pull more frames by locking Fclk and relying on the large cache instead of the memory latency is not feasable as the latency will be heavily retarted due to this Uclock limitation, as far as im aware anyway.

Kona gave everyone a tour of his base. When he was done, it had become night. "It's nighttime, I recommend everyone gets a bit of sleep. We don't want to work on this project tired." Kona said. When everyone was asleep, a figure explored the lab and temple below. This figure is blended to look like Ron but yet isn't Ron. Kona saw this on his camera and grabbed his blowtorch. Kona went into the room Ron was sleeping in and used his blowtorch on Ron's hand. "OWW!!! What was that for?" Ron says as his hand was burnt. Kona responds "You went downstairs without permission. Of all it had to have been you." Kona remarked. "You fried my hand. Isn't that a bit much?" Ron asks. "Well, I guess I have been known for getting carried away in situations like this, but still you shouldn't have been down there." Kona replied. Ron was shown the footage and just ran outside where the swarm of infected grew. In the night Ron had abandoned everyone at Kona's house and started going on his own. The frigid temperatures were nothing for his suit and helped soothed his burn to the point where it just needed to physically heal. Some time later Annie and Duocara went down to the downstairs temple to clear the way for everyone. The first thing they encountered was the thousands year old pharaoh. His claws were long and sharp... He went straight for Annie. Annie tried her best to dodge the pharoah's blows. Duocara's face switched to it's blue sad state "Nobody touches friend..." Duocara said in his robotic voice. Ron was walking through a snowy forest when he found a couple of old Festive (or not so festive because this timeframe isn't anywhere near the holiday season) Cabins. Ron knocked on the door and an older wolf opened the door to greet him. "Wanda Wolf..." Ron said in awe and shock. "Yes it is me. It's been so long since the last we've met hasn't it?" She said admiring how long it's been. "You know when you officers locked me up in the slammer." Before Ron could respond to that, she said "Through my time in there, I've learned a few things. But the struggle of money was a big hassle. Regardless, I hope my children are doing well." Ron paused and asked "Willow and William?" "Correct, do you know what happened to them?" She asked. "I do but unfortunately nothing good." Ron told her. "William died and Willow as far as I know sacrificed herself to an infected." Ron says while taking his hat off and holding in in both hands in front of him, like what he did in front of Willow. "Well, before I loose myself, I want to show you to my friend." Wanda told him. Wanda and Ron walked into a room where there was an elderly tiger staring at a drawing. "What are you look at?" Ron asked the old tiger focuses his eyes on Ron. "It's a drawing my son made of himself, after I haven't heard much of him after he left." he answered. "What made him leave you? And what's your name?" Ron asks "My name's Tank and my son left us because of the things my wife did to him, I remember sneaking him out of the house when she was asleep because I didn't want to see him live life suffering like I did, we got him enlisted to the military and that's the last I've seen of him." He said you could tell he's being fully honest. At that moment Annie found what looked like Ron. With his head down and his back faced towards Annie then Annie says "Ron, there you are, why did you run off? It's okay to tell me anything and you know that." She said in her nice gentle voice. But the reaction she got wasn't so nice and gentle... At that time Kona came down to the temple to see what was going on. That's when he tapped a golem statue made it come to life. "Gryffyn, catch." The Ron-like being said and soon enough Annie and Kona had been picked up by the Gryffyn. Duocara saw this but the Ron-like entity pulled several gears out of Duocara's chest resulting in Duocara breaking. Eventually Annie and Kona were tied together and brought to a dangerous place... The military base of Outpost Echo. Hanging in the cave over a high edge Annie and Kona had be taken. Back at the cabins with Tank, Wanda, and Ron a full on military aircraft landed in the front. Where Commander Fergus hopped out and took Wanda and Ron to see Sgt. Monroe. "Well, what's this? Cop and criminal. We've been flying around for a while. Didn't think we'd see other survivors. Now, we got a distress call from Dr. Payton. The mission would be to get to him and get rid of all the infected." Sgt. Monroe says in his gruff and deep voice. It was then where Ron said "I think I'm feeling a bit queasy." before falling to the ground and blacked out. Purple spirals surrounded the scene. Ron saw Markus and then Dessa then Zizzy, Glenn, Willow, and Marley Russell surround him. "No, you lot are not real." Ron says denying what he sees. Out of all of them Dessa walks up to Ron and put her hand on his arm. "Come with us Ron." She says in a soothing voice that sounds a little chaotic Ron then blinks and all of his dead friends disappeared and TIO takes his position in front of Ron. "Ron..." TIO says. "I've been fascinated with you for a while. You humans are rather... Unique. You see, you nor Annie can't get infected." TIO continues. "And you're calling me unique... Take a look in a mirror." Ron responds. "I love making deals, deals nobody can forget. Look what has happened to Markus, Dessa, Zizzy, Glenn, Willow and Marley Russell." TIO says before talking a bit of a breath and then continues."Join me and we'll get the upper hand on the infection." He continued. "What makes you think I'd join someone like you?" Ron asked. "Why you..." Ron says in frustration as he woke up. He woke up in the military vehicle. "You fell sleep, no worries. You didn't miss much." Said Commander Fergus. Wanda and the Sargent talk about day-to-day lives. Ron walked up to the commander. "So, did you loose anyone near and dear to your heart, Commander Fergus? "Oy, I remember when the troops die to infection. So sad." It was the Ron noticed Commander Fergus' thick and Russian accent, "How about people like family? Maybe a friend you made?" Ron asked Commander Fergus and the commander answered "Oy, it's been so long since I've seen them. They're probably the infected now." Commander Fergus says, his expression being a bit sadder than before. Meanwhile Tigry and Delta led Doggy, Pony, Bunny, Laura, Katie, Mr. P, Sheepy, Torcher, Mimi, Giraffy, Shardantus, Silzous, UNIT-10, Robby, Georgie, and the twins to Outpost Echo. Tigry and Delta along with the other aforementioned personel arrive to Outpost Echo first, only to be greeted a cold welcome... The coldest welcome by Mr. Bliss. The living snowman caught Mimi by surprise but before he could attack, Mitch stopped him, it was living scarecrow vs. living snowman. Mr. Bliss was using his icesicle hand to Mitch's axe, Mr. Bliss then hopped on a building and then Glenn was summoned as shards of ice and crystal blocked the entrance. Mr. Bliss now holding Mitch by the neck while Glenn and the infected soldiers terrorize everyone. That's when Anteo (Another one of Dr. Payton's projects) enters the scene and holds Mr. Bliss by his ant hands, releasing Mitch that's when Mimi recognizes Mitch and gives him a hug. Glenn has cornered Bunny and Giraffy but then Glenn sinks to the ground. That's when the military vehicle arrives at the base opening to reveal Sargent Monroe, Commander Fergus, Ron, Wanda, and some living soldiers. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Sargent Monroe asks himself, "The king of Dolovia, some scientists, civilians and a bunch of deserters and a criminal." The sargent says while looking at everyone. "A serial killer and don't get me started on you..." Sgt. Monroe says while looking at Silzous and then Laura. Doggy was less focused on the military but wondering what Ron was doing with the military. "Ron! There you are. Where have you been? I missed you." Doggy asks. Ron explains it "So, I saw an odd version of myself on Kona's camera and went to blow off a bit of steam when I find a cabin where Wanda here was waiting for the infection to roll over." Meanwhile Shardantus asks the Military to give him and his friends access to the base's lab. Fergus pulls out a white key from his pocket and hands it to Shardantus. "Good luck with that cure. We'll handle things from up here for you. Tigry, Torcher, Delta, do you three mind? Rockets, petrol, and ammunition are plentiful in here." Said Sgt. Monroe. Sargent Monroe looked at Mimi and said "Mimi, it's been so long. Good luck in there." Mimi then responded "Thanks dad, and may the best of luck on blowing brains out of infected." She says while hugging him. In the cave they find Annie and Kona tied up dangling over a ledge. "Hey guys..." Annie says in bit of a struggling but also relieved to see everyone, Kona on the other hand is sleeping heavily. That's when everyone witnesses the other version of Ron appear even though the real Ron is standing between Doggy and Mimi. Ron then charges at the other version of himself and then Ron and his mimic got into a fight, punching, kicking one another. Kona woke up to the sound of Ron and the imposter Ron. The imposter Ron falls over and then a spirit or some sort of entity comes out of it. She flew herself over towards Annie and Kona. She hops into Annie and the imposter Ron disintegrates into nothingness while an imposter Annie falls to the ground on the opposite side of everyone else.
End of Article 22.
"Master would be proud of me. I'm making his distraction."
"No one can hear me down here and Anteo is gone. It doesn't matter, I have you to at least keep me company. Though you may be an infected... A darker, creepier infected... You have kept me company for this long."

I’m new to collecting. I’m someone who loves to collect for my own PC but also to hold some sort of resell value if later down the road I decide to sell. I did some research on this question and it seemed very 50/50. I saw some people state that CGC doesn’t hold any value / is really bad with authenticity. Not sure how true that is. I do like buying singles so maybe that might be a better place to start than slabs right away. Sometimes I just like buying graded cards to show off and display. Im someone who buys already graded cards vs sending singles in for grading. Not sure if that changes anything. Anyways I was just wondering what you all think of either grading company and which you would direct me to go for. Thanks!

Hey guys, Im trying to complete my non foil collection (because good look to anyone trying to get foils, let alone 3Ds🙄) but I just added like 130 cards to my shop on eBay @drtezlasplug09. I have 122 different variations so half of the cards are listed. Feel free to head over and check it out!
Love this community so much man, I’m so happy that there are still people keeping this amazing series alive. Acceleracers consumed my childhood so I’m glad there are so many here fighting for it💙🤎💚💜

As table setting, I haven’t listened to MBMBaM in three years, give-or-take, so I have no clue what the modren era (😎) of the show is like. However, I have been hate-listening to a movie podcast enough that I’ve actually turned a corner into liking it, so I feel spiritually ready for this. Plus I’m a little drunk, which has never been a bad decision for anybody ever.
0:00 - I’ve always kind of disliked the intro, especially the “cool baby” part, and sadly that has not changed with time.
0:20 - First time hearing the new theme song, which is fine if a little twee for my taste. I weirdly hate how they deliver the “1, 2, 3, 4” up top, but that’s just nitpicky. We can’t all be DeeDee Ramone, you know?
1:10 - Introductions. Travis introduces himself as “noted intellectual and middlest brother”, and Griffin just says “…And I’m Griffin… McElroy”. I didn’t laugh, but I did actually find that slightly funny, so I’m optimistic for how this goes.
1:35 - Justin has invented a new game that he wants to play called “Simply the Guests” where he tells them who guested on a celebrity’s podcast and they have to guess the celebrity. Travis points out that the title is a touching tribute (to Tina Turner, he clarifies a few seconds later) and there’s a bit where Justin and Griffin pretend not to know she died that Justin interrupts with a parody song. Is this too soon? I can’t tell, but I also only get my celebrity death news from Simpsons memes.
2:31 - I’ve had to pause and restart enough times that I’ve realized how shitty the web player is, since I have to click like three times before it registers as being on the page and actually trying to play instead of just highlighting the button, and if I try to click the 15 second rewind button it usually skips to the ~11 minute mark right above the button. However, I refuse to actually download the episode because if I do that, Jesse Thorne wins.
2:58 - Justin only has one round prepared, but expects it will take longer than they expect. Griffin rightly questions if it’s actually possible to play this game based on the information that will be provided. Travis says that sometimes when he comes up with a game, it’s like when you start off at level 1 fighting Sephiroth and die, but it just takes you to a cutscene and is all part of the game. I’m struggling to think of games he’s come up, which is maybe a metaphor for how I never finished FFVII. Justin says it should be easy if their heads are on a swivel, and 50-50 if they’re half paying attention.
4:30 - Justin is giving the guests in order as they’ve appeared: Billy Ray Cryrus, John Carter Cash, Billy Bush, Albert Pujols. Griffin laughs and makes a joke about how his head is on a swivel but it hurts, and I’m shocked and a little disappointed that it wasn’t a joke about how one of the greatest Cardinals of all time has a name that’s pronounced “Poo Holes”.
5:00 - The next guests listed Adam Carrolla, Clint Black, and Gary Busey. Travis incorrectly guesses Blake Shelton. Justin says Katie Couric was the next guess, and Griffin’s postulation of Kevin Sorbo is apparently pretty close.
6:10 - Dr. Drew is the next guest. Travis asks if they would be willing to guest, and Justin says he likes to think they’d have a nice long talk about it. Griffin guesses Randy Quaid. Justin neither confirms nor denies, but instead finishes listing the guests - Sharon Stone, Martin Short, Mike Lindell (the MyPillow CEO), Jim Brown, and Anthony Fauci. I actually kind of like this game, because what the fuck?
8:40 - Justin says he’ll give them an episode title for any celeb mentioned. Travis picks Sharon Stone, who covered “Pandemics, Social Justice Movements, and Animal Actors”. Griffin picks Pujols, who covers “Baseball, Downs Syndrome, and Living the American Dream”, and asked if there were other baseball players on the list.
10:05 - Justin admits he skipped Jimmy Morris because he didn’t know who that is. I didn’t either, but I have the power of Google and in the time it took him to explain why he was skipped, learned that he starting playing for Tampa Bay Devil Rays when he was 35 and The Rookie was based on him.
10:30 - Travis and Griffin discuss “Sorbo adjacent” celebrities and Justin scolds them for not talking to each other, saying that’s what a podcast is and that he’s trying to do a podcast. To paraphrase a joke from Jon Gabrus, it’s three straight white men talking, we already know it’s a podcast.
11:30 - Travis suggests Dennis Quaid, since he has a strong connection to baseball and Christ. Griffin agrees and Travis is in fact correct. Ironically, that means that Jimmy Morris was probably the most helpful clue, since Dennis Quaid starred in The Rookie. Justin offers a bonus for naming the show, and says it’s something with “Dennis”. Griffin accurately guesses “The Dennissance”.
13:45 - Justin mentions Morris was the titular rookie, and claims that people forget Dennis Quaid. They discuss the Quaid siblings a bit and advise Dennis to get back in the podcasting game.
15:15 - First question of the episode: “My boyfriend and I were looking for a bar before your Columbus TAZ show and walked by one that looked empty and not our vibe, but it had tinted windows so it was hard to tell. We walked to another bar and inside the door person flagged us down and said someone was looking for us. We were already inside this other bar when the woman who was working at the first bar said she saw us looking in and said “Please come into my bar - we have cheaper drinks. We were confused and startled and decided to stay at the bar we were already at, but we weren’t sure if we regretted it because this person went to the effort to chase us down half a block, cross a busy street, went through a revolving door to get to us. Also, the drinks at the bar were expensive. Should we have gone back to the other bar instead?” - Confused in Columbus. Not to brag, but I’ve been to a lot of bars in my lifetime and can say with some confidence this didn’t happen.
16:05 - They immediately answer that, no, they should not have gone back to the other bar. Travis accurately points out that weird pursuit aside, if they have that little business then 100% of the focus would be on them. Griffin thinks they would have had a tremendous amount of power and would get their drinks immediately, and the bartender might have cool stories. They discuss how bad the design of this bar is that it’s impossible to see inside, both because they crave attention and so that someone will notice in case they go missing.
18:45 - Travis says if he ran a restaurant across from another restaurant, he would go up to patrons at the competitor and try to lure them away. Apparently Tom Green did this with pizza delivery as a TV show, and Justin thinks he would have Shark Tank’d it if it was a viable option.
19:36 - Travis says Tom Green would’ve probably called it “Shart Tank”. I laughed out loud.
20:00 - Griffin says in Austin they basically have to have barkers for the various bars given the amount of competition for foot traffic and Justin thinks they should just go for hyper-local advertising.
21:00 - Travis offers Griffin an investment opportunity, claiming he needs angel investors. Justin is incensed that he isn’t offered the chance, and Griffin says it’s because he has no money but maybe his “crypto shit’s gonna pay off some day”. Justin says he doesn’t have “crypto shits unless I’ve been eating cryp-tacos” (Griffin pitches crypto-salsa) and that Superman hates cleaning up Krypto shits.
21:44 - Travis points out that Superman named his dog after a thing he hates. I swear this had to be a Seinfeld joke at some point, since the two things I know about Jerry Seinfeld are (a) he loves Superman and (b) he’s not funny. Actually, I know a third thing, which is that he dated a 17-year-old when he was 38. Anyway, fuck that guy.
21:50 - Travis pitches having a long stretch of connected bars by buying all the existing bars and knocking down the connecting walls. Griffin and Justin point out that’s essentially the Disneyland model, and Justin mentions the Goofy sour balls.
21:51 - I Googled “Goofy sour balls” and thankfully it was a real candy. Griffin indignantly says that they stopped making them and that “Goofy took his sour balls away”. Travis says “He washed them” and they ignore him. I laughed out loud again, man’s really winning me back. They continue on this riff, making more and worse versions of the same joke.
24:07 - Question 2: “I’m enrolled in summer college courses. In one of my classes, a guy in front of me likes to stretch backwards over his chair with his eyes closed. His head basically ends up right on my desk and he will breathe in my face. I’ve had to move my laptop to stop him from laying on it. Am I the weird one for staring at the guy as he disrupts all my belongings and my personal space? He does it more than five times a class. It’s very awkward and makes it hard to focus on the lecture. Should I say something? Help me brothers, how do I stop this stretching bandit from stealing my peace of mind?” - Cramped College Co-Ed in Canada.
24:57 - Justin has an immediate suggestion. I assume it’s the actual solution, which is to say something like an adult or just switch seats, but nope, it’s the old chestnut of put some jelly on it. Griffin suggests surprise massage. Travis clarifies that they’re definitely ignoring the “excuse me, could you not do that” option, which Griffin confirms because it’s not very funny. This takes me back to when I used to regularly listen, since part of the driving force for me stopping was the sheer number of questions that could be solved by two seconds of slightly awkward conversation. I totally get it, social anxiety is a bitch and I’ve absolutely been there, but the lack of funny kinda stems from the question. They all agree, and Travis suggests adding broken glass to the jelly.
26:57 - Griffins goes back to the massage suggestion, with “dual percussive massagers”. Justin suggests hovering over them and saying “There’s my sweet boy” and Travis suggests a “little kiss on the forehead” which, thankfully, they immediately shoot down. Still, I’m uncomfortable.
28:00 - Justin points out that, if someone actually followed the advice they give, the problem would be solved, it’s just a question of consequences. There’s some more discussion of the Quaids but my spirit is a little broken and I can’t bring myself to rewind to accurately transcribe any of it.
29:43 - Money Zone: Travis says, “Well Justin,” and Justin misidentifies him as Griffin. So far, hardest laugh of the episode. The ad is for Zocdoc, which Justin mispronounces a lot. I assume any service that advertises on a podcast is actually just a money laundering scheme, medical stuff doubly so, but it does remind me that MaxFun podcasts are the only ones where I can tell the ad copy was done in a single take with no edits. I admire it, in a way.
32:45 - A MaxFun ad for “Just the Zoo of Us”, which is apparently a podcast where they rate animals on their “effectiveness, ingenuity, and aesthetics”. It kind of worked on me, which is to say I’m debating the merits of getting a Zoobooks subscription as a childless woman approaching her thirties.
33:30 - A MaxFun ad for “Feeling Seen”, where the editor likes to play the game of taking a sip of coffee anytime the guest says how good a question is, how smart the host is, or cries unexpectedly. I cannot stress enough how much this makes me not want to listen. I don’t even have anything snide to say, I’m just genuinely put off by it.
34:19 - Griffin introduces the Wizard of the Cloud: How to “Talk Nerdy” to someone, which is meant to help you talk to the “cute nerd in your science class” by becoming more adorkable to them. Justin and Travis are disgusted by the word “adorkable”, which feels like a real split with their brand of appealing to mid-2010s Tumblr users.
36:00 - Travis points out that this article presupposes that nerdy people only want to be seduced with nerdy things, and will shun all other romance. The original pickup line is “Are you a carbon sample? Because I definitely want to date you. If you’ve seen The Big Bang Theory, you already know science and physics nerds are the best” Travis punches it up with “I’ve got a theory that we should Big Bang.” Currently he’s batting a thousand for me.
36:55 - Wikihow asks “Can math be sexy?” They talk about how sexy 8 is and Travis makes a 69 joke, so I retract my previous statement. There’s a gross astronomy-based pickup line saying “Do you mind if my comet enters your solar system” and “Hey, nice asteroids”. Mercifully, no “Can I touch Uranus?”
38:30 - More bad pickup lines, now about computers. Apparently “You’re hotter than the bottom of my laptop” is a good come-on. The video game lines are equally impressive, and Wikihow recommends that distracting gamers away from their games is easier said than done. These are more sexually charged than before, but no more clever.
43:30 - We’ve arrived at Star Wars. Wikihow says “Jedis are tough nuts to crack, so you may need to use the Force to woo them effectively.” It’s been a while, but I’m fairly certain Jedis aren’t allowed to fall in love and that’s kind of a whole thing with the prequel trilogy. Also, are we not doing phrasing anymore? Cuz Jesus, they should take a second pass at that.
43:46 - Wikihow suggests several “Yoda-approved pickup lines”, and they do some bad Yoda impressions like “pull down some trim, you will” and “wet, you will get”. This is apparently a thing they’ve done before called “Clipping Yoda”. Justin makes a “something something something, I thought they smelled bad on the outside” joke.]
46:08 - They discuss the very limited situations when the suggested “I find your lack of nudity disturbing” is acceptable, then move on to the Lord of the Rings lines which are equally questionable. Travis brings up the theory that Frodo doesn’t know Legolas’ name, and now I wanna rewatch LotR.
50:09 - Justin suggests coming up with their own lines, which results in “You make me feel like John Rhys-Davies in Sliders, cuz I wanna climb in those holes” and Griffin looking up “nerd movies”.
51:40 - Question 3: “My bank has been advertising a home ownership service to help folks buy and sell homes. I usually ignore them, but this time they’ve been offering a chance to win a flattop grill package with a $100 gift card to a very expensive butcher. I’ve been really wanting to get my dad a new grill. Brothers, I have no way of buying a house, let alone sell one. They’re contacting me, trying to help me buy a house. How do I explain to them I’m only entered to maybe win the grill and have no interest in the service?” From the Poor Hopeful in B (?).
53:00 - First of all. Second, they suggest the asker (a) admits they were only in it for the grill or (b) saying they have a budget of $750 for a furnished home. It devolves into a riff about Bobby Flay and pitches for “Flay Bobby Flay” and “Bob Bobby Flay” to see if he floats.
56:15 - Plugs for stuff and the end of the episode.
Closing Thoughts: I actually enjoyed that, although with a lot of stopping and starting to write this. Also anyone who likes Clipping Yoda may also like Action Boyz, because pedophile Yoda is a surprisingly rich vein to mine. I don’t think I’ll ever actually pick up listening again, since I have about 280 episodes of Off Book to get to first and this whole recap has made me really contemplate my mortality, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it

Current cards:
US Bank AR
Amazon Visa (not a Prime member)
Wells Fargo Autograph
Citi DC (oldest account, ~10 years)
Amex Delta Platinum
​
Annual credit card spend $30-40k.
15-20% restaurants, bars, breweries, cafes
15-20% groceries
15-20% travel (including flights, hotels, ride share, public transit, etc.)
15% Amazon
The rest is miscellaneous -- stuff, entertainment, medical, etc. I probably take about 3-4 round trip Delta flights per year. Have always been able to use my companion pass for >AF value. Could consider downgrading to gold (the free checked bag and Main 1 boarding are nice), but I figure as long as I keep getting the companion pass value from it, no real reason to ditch it?
I was thinking I should use the USBAR as much as possible if mobile pay is an option, then park the Amazon Visa on my Amazon account (since no mobile wallet options and can get stable 3% there). In an ideal world, I'd not even use the other 3 cards -- I probably don't lose that much value even if no mobile pay option, as the USBAR should still get about 1.5% rewards vs. 2-3% that the CDC or WFA could gain? Given how common Apple Pay is now, that seems like a pretty infrequent occurrence and I feel like I could justify the occasional small loss for convenience sake.
My partner suggested just cancelling the USBAR given the fee, but I feel like I make it up with my annual spend and the infinite insurances are nice to have for some added peace of mind. Would you ditch it?
Wondering if anyone has other thoughts on how to optimize this setup? Would ideally like to use no more than 3 regularly (even better if it's just 2).

Start Time

Pacific USA	Eastern USA	UK	Central Europe	Japan	East Australia
June 4 12AM	June 4 3AM	June 4 8AM	June 4 9AM	June 4 4PM	June 4 5PM

Watch

• NJPW World (English Commentary)
• NJPW World (Japanese Commentary)

Venue
Osaka-jō Hall
Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
Match Card

#	Match			Notes	Time Limit
1	Will Ospreay	vs.	Lance Archer	IWGP US Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender Tournament Final
2	Just 4 Guys (Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku)	vs.	Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, BUSHI & Titán)	Eight Man Tag Team Match	30
3	Intergalactic Jet Setters (KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight) (c)	vs.	Catch 2/2 (TJP & Francesco Akira)	IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match	60
4	Zack Sabre Jr. (c)	vs.	Jeff Cobb	NJPW World Television Championship Match	15
5	Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI)	vs.	House of Torture (EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. United Empire (Great O-Khan & Aaron Henare)	IWGP Tag Team Championship & Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship Three Way Match	60
6	David Finlay (c)	vs.	El Phantasmo	NEVER Openweight Championship Match	60
7	Hiromu Takahashi (c)	vs.	Master Wato	IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match	60
8	Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii (c)	vs.	Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Shota Umino	NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship Match	60
9	SANADA (c)	vs.	Yota Tsuji	IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match	60

• G1 Climax 33 entrants will be announced after match 5.

Useful Links

• /NJPW
• /NJPW Discord Server
• NJPW on Twitter (English)
• NJPW on YouTube (English)

#NJDominion

I’ll close the post when I’m no longer considering responses, so don’t be afraid to apply if the post is a little old! The astute among you might recognize this as a repost; lost a player today to an unfortunate schedule change. Unfortunately this game has kinda found lfg limbo but I'm committed to running it for the great players I've found here if nothing else!
I'm hoping for this to become a weekly, long-term game that can see some serious development over time. Expect things to be a bit different from the traditional Tolkienesque adventurer fantasy (though there'll be plenty of action and excitement!); the world of Galrea is my personal 5e setting, designed with an eye towards my strengths as writer and DM! Some big inspirations are Fullmetal Alchemist for themes and handling dark topics, Star Wars for worldbuilding, Fallout New Vegas for intrigue and factions, The Order 1886 for many stylistic and plot elements, and FFVII for getting fantasy elements to work with firearms and an industrial setting. And as for the campaign pitch proper:
For 50 years the elves waged a campaign of subjugation against the human nations of Galrea. The war devastated much of the known world, and saw the rise of many new innovations; well-developed firearms have become the standard ranged weaponry while the armored, hulking, tank-esque constructs known as juggernauts now stalk the battlefields of Galrea. At great cost, through blood and steel, the Osinyan Empire finally broke the elvish invaders - and in turn united two-thirds of the mortal realm under one banner for the first time in history. The Empire is ascendant; a new era of history has begun.
But now, 17 years after the Union, the cracks in this order have become increasingly apparent. The once backwater collection of city-states to the East have reorganized themselves into the Ancian Federation, a rival power capable of effective opposition to the Empire. In the new territories, Osinyan rule has proven unpopular with many, who sometimes even resort to violent insurgencies. All the while the Empire struggles with itself; falling victim to the corruption and internal rivalries that have plagued Osinyan society for nearly as long as history can remember. For all its size, power, and industrial might - the Empire is stretched to the limit.
Within this oversized polity is an organization of exceptional people known as the Imperial Knights; a group your character is expected to be a junior member of, or perhaps simply associated with. For the most part, the Knights do whatever needs to be done to keep the empire running in situations where throwing manpower, metal, or money at a problem isn’t viable. This ranges from monster hunting to espionage to arcane research - even confronting eldritch terrors. Most knights typically specialize in a couple of areas, but the group as a whole are multipurpose enforcers. (The Knights aren't really the traditional, plate-armored kind - the title is more about the nature of their service than it is about a specific role.)
A skilled knight can expect lavish rewards for their service. Riches, land, noble titles, and political influence are common, and it is far from unheard of for an important individual to request more creative favors. The party are not yet full knights, lacking some of the formal authority and informal influence that come with the title - but as initiates they're acknowledged as candidates for the title, should they prove themselves clapable.
But, don't let the above limit your character ideas and backgrounds too much! The Knights have a large amount of freedom in how, exactly, they resolve the situations they are faced with; so long as the problem goes away, their methods needn't conform with traditional Osinyan thinking. (I'm pretty specifically trying to avoid an evil campaign here!) And your character doesn't have to be on board with the whole imperialism thing to have good reason to join; perhaps they might want a measure of social mobility, to use a knight's influence to support unpopular reforms, or simply to stop the bloodshed of a second war. (The one major restriction I have on character motivation is to avoid an outright double-agent type who is expected to backstab the party at some point. I want to make sure everybody can stick together as a cohesive group!)
This campaign is a living world and in many ways a sandbox for the players. In practical terms, while the party is expected to pursue tasks assigned to them, the methods you choose in doing so are entirely up to you, and you'll have increasing opportunities to set your own objectives as your influence grows. All the major people you encounter are probably playing an angle of some kind - you're encouraged to work towards your own ends, too! Don't be afraid to be a driver of the plot in your own right; you'll lose your head in the Empire if you only ever do things you're told. Play your cards right and you might just be able to change the fate of the world.
That’s all the important player buy-in out of the way for now. So, as for some details, I’m going for a smaller party (3-4 people, if we lose somebody I’ll repost here and work with you for replacements), and I’m looking at a level 5 or 6 start. I do have some moderate house rules, the most notable of which is “gritty realism”, though I mostly like it as a pacing tool as I’m not fond of overly much grit nor realism. I should note that while roleplay is my primary focus, I come from XCOM and JRPGs so I do have a love of tactics. I might not always have frequent combat, but I like to think quality beats quantity for tabletop fights! And if you’d like some basic lore I have written up to skim…
-Here’s some lore on regions of the world: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iuaYmO12DxAHGAOv\_Gnddog8wIJ9dQOpNYQLuyOyMSg/edit?usp=sharing
-And here’s some lore on races and cultures: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zbIcWgB11olDWF3WJ1oqEvuOlfjAXmyh5PyY5UiJg-M/edit?usp=sharing
Feel free to message me here for any questions!
And with that, here’s a link to a player survey I’d like you to fill out: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSctG93invNb8w3TvtgStDISco2EMGoelAV8Aqngh9c-xTZSoA/viewform?usp=sf\_link
I know this one was bit long, so thank you if you’ve stuck with me up till this point! Hope to hear from you!

Previous
If I were to guess, I’d imagine they took Andrew to Boss Harold before anyone else and the rumors around Golgotha seemed to support this supposition; the Bosses enjoyed their personal retribution away from the eyes of citizens, maybe it was talking or maybe more, and although there were whispers of the boy being strung up on the wall or maybe he’d be violated in the stocks for all to see, I imagined that the council I held with Boss Harold might’ve had something to do with that never materializing. When I was allowed to the boy’s cell, it was dark, and his face was bruised and the bandaging I’d applied to his severed wrist had been removed probably for amusement. The room was small and there were no windows and only a single doorway let out into the hallway which contained other cells and further, near the exit, there was the office of wall men. The guard that’d let me in locked the door behind me and Andrew sat on a metallic cot without cushioning, and he stared at the grimy floor through swollen eyes.
“Hello,” he said. And I was taken aback by the comment because he spoke it as quickly as he might passing a person in the street. He'd been through so much that the word was abrupt, skittish. I nodded and moved to him, reaching for his arm where he’d been nearly fatally wounded. It was infected. Without fighting me, he allowed me to tend to it without even a question; I wiped it and applied salve. Once it was cleaned and rewrapped and only after I’d settled on the cot beside him, he spoke again, “I heard stories about the cells, but I never thought they’d smell.”
I withdrew a handful of antibiotics, and he took them without putting them to his mouth. “You should have them,” I said, “You might lose the whole arm if not.”
“I might lose my life.”
“Maybe not,” I offered a grim smile and water with for the pills. “You’re alive still.”
“How much longer though?” He took the medicine and grimaced hard. The boy looked older than he was. “It smells like blood here. I can smell the people that’ve been here before.”
I patted him on the back and removed myself from the cell and he did not call after me, not even to ask for the return of his hand and I hoped that I could stave off whatever tortures the Bosses might have in store for him.
It’d been two days since I’d returned with Dave and Andrew and quickly after our arrival, I’d tried departing from the man and hoped he’d drop whatever revenge he believed I could assist him with, but it was to no avail for he attended everywhere with me since our return to Golgotha. Although he’d not been allowed to enter the cells alongside me, he was waiting for me outside as I stepped through the wall men’s office and into the noonday sun; I deftly plucked a pre-rolled cigarette from my pocket and tried at lighting it but before I’d even gotten the chance, he was there at the stoop of the office, pestering, “We should go somewhere quiet,” he said.
“What do you take me for exactly?” I asked while maintaining eye contact with the flame off a match.
“You’re capable enough. You could be a hero. I’d do it with you. We could scrounge up a handful of people and change things. We really could.” Dave was casting sidelong glances at those that passed us in the dirt street just off the stoop, but nary one seemed to care about our conversation.
“Leave it.”
“I won’t.”
I sighed.
He put a hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off.
Felina’s was a structure partially built from ancient shipping containers directly in the heart of the hydroponics towers in the center of town; the chicken shit smell from the base of the towers came with nauseating stagnation and could make a passerby sick, but upon entering Felina’s, the smell subsided and was replaced with the smell of body sweat. The older barwoman stood behind the counter and me and Dave took up on the far corner where we sat around an old card table, using crates as chairs; no one else was there—the smell of the hydro towers probably had some hand in that.
Dave took in close to me so that I could feel the moisture off his breath, “I’ve been talking to a few others over at the towers and they feel the same way I feel—but with you—well without you I don’t think I’d want to do it.”
“No, please go on without me,” I slanted my body across the table to push my face away from Dave’s; with me positioned with my back against the wall, I spied Felina beyond the counter, arms across her chest and watching us with an air of suspicion. She came to our table, slowly with her club foot and upon reaching us, she used our table for mild support with her big hands and greeted us without excitement.
Dave asked for water and her gaze shifted to me and I dismissed her, and we were alone till she limped back over with a pitcher and glass and Dave drank it greedily while Felina watched on from beyond the counter—her eyes suspicious but pretty blue too. She kept the haft from a dismembered axe behind the counter and was known to throttle unruly patrons with it.
Although some might have called Felina’s a bar, it was just short of it because of the rarity of spirits—besides, it was the upstairs brothel portion that the establishment owed to its popularity. Anyone might brave the smell from the street for companionship and if the noises from the rusted overhead support beams were anything to measure, the clientele was content indeed. A man descended from the stairs by the bar, gave a brief nod to Felina then to us and disappeared through the front door; a waft of the outside air rushed in, and Dave scrunched his nose.
“It’s a funny thing, I’ve passed by here all the time, but I don’t think I’ve been inside since before—” he paused, “Well, since before anyway.” He took a drink of water and rubbed his palms against his cheeks. “I know someone that works underground and could get us some gunpowder.”
I merely laughed at this. “Gunpowder, huh?”
“Well sure. The Bosses have reserves in the basements. We could blow them sky high.”
“More likely that you’d blow your hands off.”
“What’s it going to take to convince you?”
I thought, “Could you promise no one would die?”
Dave seemed baffled at the question. “Who cares?”
“These things hardly ever happen quietly—or without collateral. How’s this? Could you promise that no innocents get caught in stray fire?”
“Yes.”
“Then you are as ill prepared as I’d imagined.”
“What’s that mean?”
“The meek are intended to inherit, but many will die before all that.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I wish you’d leave it be.”
Another patron stumbled down the stairs, a scrawny tall man with a thin beard came charging into the chamber without clothes and a voice followed him, crying loudly, “Sonofabitch tried choking me!” A pair of arms and legs came stumbling down after—the source of the cries. There was a topless woman, a belt secured around one of her wrists and a pink mark around her throat. The naked man protested and put up his hands as the woman swung the arm with the belt and whipped at him with it, striking across the forearm he’d shielded himself with.
Felina moved carefully from around the counter, raised the haft, then brought it down across the man’s back. He stumbled to his knees, pleading. The barwoman raised the weapon once more and the sound was like wood against wood as it met the man’s head and his body was taken to the ground completely, perhaps dead, perhaps unconscious. The two women lifted the man out the door and Felina spat through the opening. Outside wind came again and Dave scrunched his nose once more before the door shut. The topless woman removed the belt from around her wrist, tossed it to the floor, then secured an arm across her chest before hurrying upstairs.
“So, gunpowder?” I asked Dave.
He nodded and took another drink of water while eyeing Felina as she took herself back to the counter and stowed the makeshift club into whatever place she kept it. “Yeah.”
“Go for it then and leave me out of it.” I fiddled with my thumbs across the table. “I’ll even make you a deal for when you come running to me for help later. If you blow your fingers off, I’ll try and help you find them. How’s about that?”
“I’ll wear you down.”
Another gust of wind came from the far door and I half expected to see the man that’d been removed there in the doorway, standing on his feet and ready for another round of punishment, but there was no one there in the hollow spot; as my gaze drifted from person-face level, I saw a medium sized mutt there in gray fur, pushing the door in with its nose and then sliding the rest of its starved body through—each of its yellowy sad eyes peered in and I could not tell the breed but Dave lifted himself from his seat and Felina went to the dog too.
“No dogs,” stated the woman.
Dave, the indomitable sweetheart that he was knelt to the dog’s face and touched its snout; it licked his hand and Dave said to Felina, “He’s not mine, but have you got some water for him?”
“No dogs inside. I don’t like repeating it.”
“Fair enough,” said Dave, “I don’t know who he—” he froze and then examined the rear of the dog before petting the dog on the head, “She belongs to, but I’ll take her outside. Just. Please some water, won’t you?”
The barwoman first drummed her fingers against her leg then went to the counter and I noticed Dave flinch as she reached under there, but she came back with a bowl and he took it and ushered the dog out; as he exited, he called to me, and I sighed and moved with him.
Remaining in the street was the man that’d been tossed out, face up, half-opened eyes, and flies buzzed about, and I touched him with my foot, but he didn’t move. Blood leaked from his ears. “Dead,” I said.
Dave took the dog from the body around to the side of the building and the feces smell was strong with the hydro towers, but he sat the water down and the dog went at it quickly, without restraint and spilt half before the man went to steady it with his hand; he knelt by the dog and pushed a shoulder against the wall of the brothel.
“There you go,” I told him, “You’ve found someone dumb enough and maybe loyal enough to follow through with your little gunpowder plan. Strap a handful of dynamite to him and watch him go boom in the Boss’s faces.” I genuinely did try it as a joke.
“You can be very mean,” said Dave.
Once the bowl was dry besides dog spit, he returned it to Felina, reentering briefly, and it was just me and the dog and the dog looked up at me and I turned away while its voice whined in the back of its throat and I took a piece of hardtack from my pocket and tossed it on the ground—the dog went after it, assuredly snapping up dirt in the process. Then the creature made a dry and throaty sound from swallowing too quickly, but moments after the thick cracker was gone. It licked my hand gently, and I scratched its chin and Dave returned and upon seeing me with the dog, he gave me a look and then brought himself to the height of the dog in a hunker.
“Hey there,” he said to it, “Someone’s beat you up pretty bad, huh?” It was true; scars stood out in places where the dog had no fur.
In response, the weathered mutt hoisted its forepaws onto his knees and pushed its nose into his.
“Yeah, girl,” he took one of the dog’s ears between his forefinger and thumb and rubbed it gently and the animal looked up, sad eyed, “What’s a good name for you?”
“Dog-meat?” I proposed.
Dave shook his head. “What sort of sick joke is that?” but he was smiling, “No. I’ll come up with something to call her. Isn’t that right?” He asked the dog, massaging the face of the animal with his thumbs; the dog stared dumbly at him. “Maybe a Beth or a Patty might suit you. How do you like them?”
The dog licked his face but couldn’t speak.
“Well,” I said, “It’s a shame it got you, you’ll pick a person name for it and that’s strange. Why not call her Mary if you want a person name?”
“Bah,” said Dave, rising to a full stand; momentarily, even with the other folks passing us in the street, he took a moment to see the dead man we’d passed on our way out of Felina’s and for a moment he remained quiet. “I’ll come to you again Harlan. Maybe when I’ve got more of a plan. I only hope you’ll listen to the stuff I’ve said about it. I really do. I really hope you’ll be on the right side of this thing.”
“Sides are overrated.”
Dave put a hand on my shoulder, “Of course,” he nodded, “Whatever you say.”
He left with his new friend—the dog following him traced from left to right close behind Dave and I watched him take off and around the nearest hydro tower and I was alone on the street and evening wouldn’t be far away, so I took to home while staring at my moving feet and speaking to no one. A few people along the way tried nodding at me or saying a small greeting here or there, but I was absorbed in my own head, and nothing took me from it once I got going. Maybe that was one of the reasons I enjoyed the wastes; there were no pretenses out there and with the constant thought of death there was no other thing to think about than each passing moment. I could not shut my thoughts up. I could ramble more about the motivations of a scavver, but I don’t think I should—leave that for someone that cares.
Upon taking the catwalks where I could look out on a swatch of Golgotha with the sun beating down and the constant hum of people going about their business, I was frozen on the railing and wishing I’d taken my own life and wishing that Dave had not found me out there; maybe if I was faster or smarter or better in whatever way that mattered.
I pushed into the door into my small abode and cool blood pushed through my body on seeing the robed girl there on my mattress, holding a shotgun with its barrel angled directly at me; she donned a flowy mess of dresses and kept her head wrapped in garb so that only her eyes shone through, but her arms stuck from the mess of cloth and I could see they were skinny with long scab marks like a blade had drawn across the flesh.
“Harlan?” asked the girl.
“Is that mine?” I nodded at the pump-shotgun in her hands. The slowness of the world was gone, and I could think again; if things were different, I’d have been a dead man, but it was unloaded, and I knew it.
“It was hanging on the wall—I don’t know how to use the thing anyway. I don’t know what I was doing with it,” she said, “You just scared me, and I didn’t know who you might’ve been.”
“This is my place.”
She laid the shotgun on the bed and unwrapped her face; it was Gemma, “You were with Andrew.”
“I was.”
“You said he was dead.”
I brought in air slowly through my nose. “I did.”
“You lied.”
I nodded, letting the air come out.
“Why?”
“I needed to find you.”
“But you found us both then, I guess.”
“Not on purpose.” A thought occurred to me, “Does you father know where you are right now?”
She shook her head; although rest had done her good, there was still a fair amount of fatigue present on her. “I snuck out.”
“Would’a though you learned your lesson on that front.”
“Is Andrew okay? No one will tell me anything about it.”
“He’s locked up right now, but he is alive. For how long? I don’t know. I figured your pop paid a visit to him already—wouldn’t you know about that?”
She shook her head again. “Woo,” Gemma slumped onto the side of my mattress and gathered the robes around her, “I’m feeling faint.”
I moved to the bed and gathered the shotgun, putting it back on the hooks in the wall. “You shouldn’t break into people’s homes.”
Cupping her brow in a hand so that I could only see her mouth and the bottom of her nose, she said, “I just needed to know he was alive. These past days I’ve been so worried about him. I knew you told me he was dead, but I knew you were a liar too. So, I had bad thoughts about what might’ve happened to him out there. If what happened to me was anything to go off.” Her voice broke for a moment and then she pulled her hand from her face and blinked a few sudden times. “I just.”
“I get it. You love the boy.”
She nodded without looking at me.
“So, beg your dad to let him go.”
“Everyone’s so mad at him. It’s funny that everyone’s so mad at him, but it was my idea, and they all treat me like a darling little flower. Like I couldn’t have been the one with the idea of running away. I had more reason to run than he ever did.”
“You should leave.”
“I don’t want to. Can’t you see that’s what I’ve been saying? Judge all you like. Call me rich all you like, but I can tell you this: I don’t feel like it.” Gemma grabbed the edge of the bed as her head wavered on her shoulders. “Dizzy spells are awful.” She shook her head. “Like no sickness ever.” Her eyes locked on mine. “Help me.”
“I’ve already tried convincing them not to kill him.” Taking a pause, I thought to add, “And I personally saw to his injuries. Please go and leave me be.”
“Oh, but you’ve asked for it,” she said, “You put yourself in the business of it.”
“Look. All’s I wanted was to save you if I could and get the water running again. That’s it. Now go.” I put my arm up to wave her out the door and she stood to make her way there, catching herself on the frame, then out on the catwalk railing before turning and looking at me over her shoulder.
“Bastard.” she said.
“Yes.” The door shut between us, and I took myself to sitting on the bed’s edge and reminiscing over how Dave reminded me so much of Jackson. Jackson was a real tough one; whatever happened he always kept a cool head (so I reckon him and Dave would be different in that way) and the idea of being a hero was so big for him. It’s a curious thought: whether Dave would have such ideas if hadn’t been for the tragic loss of his family.
The shotgun sat on there on the wall, and I took it and looked over it, putting the stock in my left hand then my right and laid it across my legs; the woven strap on it had gone thin so that the place I’d once worn it over my shoulder was mostly threadbare. I moved to the cabinet by the sink where I kept a few essentials and in the very back there was an old box of shells—it was a surprise they still seemed good, but with old ammo you never could tell, and the shells were just as likely to fire true as they might be to never send pellets from the barrel. I took a knife and began whittling into a shell I’d plucked from the box. Pellets spilled between my feet as I sat on the bed and they rolled across the floor and then I found the gunpowder and rose again, sprinkling it onto the cabinet top into a neat pile. Dave said he had a fella’ he knew that worked in the underground—the sort of person that could get him all the gunpowder he needed. Was he familiar with its destructive force; had he ever fired a gun? He promised me no one innocent would die and I knew that was a lie and there’s surely a piece of him that knew it was a lie just as well.
It was just then as I took a forefinger and thumb and pinched up a bit from the gunpowder splat that I remembered a thing that Jackson told me all the time when he thought none of the others were listening. The gunpowder rained from my fingertips as I rubbed them together and I sniffed the place where they’d become sooty, taking in a smell I’d not smelled in a long time. Jackson would say, “Whoever fights monsters should be sure that he don’t become a monster.” It wouldn’t be for a long time—after I’d visited the libraries in Alexandria or Babylon (take your preference)—till I realized it was a quote that Jackson stole from some guy named Neet-chee. It seemed like a good thing to adhere to, and it was certainly something I wasn’t good at keeping with and if I couldn’t then there was little certainty that Dave would keep to it either. Maybe I had become a monster; morally dubious anyway.
Jackson was a hero, and he was dead as was Sibylle as was Billy as was John and all of them. We’d tried heroing and it got all of us dead. Almost all of us.
I hung the shotgun on the wall and left it there and swept the gunpowder into the floor with a flat palm where the pellets were and chucked the box of old shells into the cabinet again.
Ringing of bells came from the hall of the Bosses and it was time for a display. Denizens gathered in the front square by the gates and awaited while they trotted out Andrew; perhaps the words I’d passed to Boss Harold rang hollow after all. The Bosses were there just as always, drinking their wine on the platform, and Maron was out front with his wall men in the semicircle of gathered Golgotha residents. Of the population, only a hundred or two gathered for this poor boy’s execution. The guards had, at some point after my departure, removed the bandage on his empty wrist and he looked more sickly in the face than before and his cheeks were swollen and he wept, seemingly not from the terror of it but from the skin around his eyes having been so damaged; tears came through swelled eyelids and a wall man kept him by the elbow and Maron marched to the boy and lifted the boy’s face with his hand to look into it and maybe he whispered something to him.
I weaved through the crowd, moving to the steps that led to the stage where the Bosses stood with their foods and wines and their plenty and upon approach, I was stopped by a wall men, but upon catching Boss Harold’s eye, he told the guard to let me through and I took the stairs and from the platform, I could see over the crowd—Dave was far in the rear of those gathered, totally disconnected from the others for he hunkered by a set of crates, patting the head of the dog we’d found just earlier in the day. For a moment, I wished I was there with him and not on the stage at all.
“Dear boy!” Boss Harold shouted at me over the excited jeers of the others, “It’s so good to see you again. You are quite the hero, and it’s always good to be in the company of those.”
I nodded at him and within a flash, he’d slammed his cup of wine into my hand, telling me to drink, and only moments passed before his own cup was replaced by a nearby servant. “We spoke about this?” I tried.
His face was red, and I could just make out the miniscule veins vibrant along the corners of his nose; the man was far gone drunk. “That boy’s been a thorn in my side for too long, so I know you understand it when I say that he needs punishment. I took all that you said into account,” his words slurred, and the sweet sick came off him in a breath of hot air when he pulled me in, resting his ear on my shoulder. “Nobody dies today, but ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’,” the Boss paused. “You’re not a father yourself, are you?”
I shook my head.
“Ah! Then you might not be familiar with that proverb required in bringing a child up in this world.” Boss Harold laughed. “I’d never take my sweet Gemma out in the square like this, but God there’s been times I’ve wanted it. ‘Spare the rod’.” He repeated. “But we’ve something a fair bit more interesting than a rod for that boy.” Boss Harold swayed on his feet and took the fist containing his cup of wine, pointing with his index finger at the open place by the wall where Maron and Andrew and the wall men were. “Speaking of!” Boss Harold was giddy, and he took a magnificent gulp from his cup, throwing his head far back. “You’re a learned man, yes?”
“What?”
“You know how to read? Maron said something about your reading. That’s a rare quality! I’d love to talk about books with you sometime. I’ve my own personal collection.”
The wall men stripped Andrew of his clothes then threw them to the ground and a gasp escaped the audience and the boy shouted and Maron moved to a nearby bucket and reached into the mouth of the container, coming back to a full stand; a whip was coiled around his arm. The Bosses didn’t even look on. The punishment was for the benefit of Boss Harold, and not even he looked on. He jabbered on about how he’d like to speak with me over an old philosophy called Objectivism then he went on about how he’d learned long ago the greatest achievement of man was his own happiness and I listened to the drunk man and when the whip broke skin the first time, I’m sure Andrew felt every bit.
Blood exploded in violent dew off his back and the crack of the whip struck the boy till he couldn’t stand and then several times more. Splatter reached onlookers each time Maron lifted the whip over his head, and it was only once the boy stopped moving that the Boss Sheriff swaggered over to inspect him; Andrew had fallen face down and Maron took his boot to the boy’s side so that the boy rolled onto his back and seconds passed without movement and even Boss Harold quit with his talking. The prone body just lay there and for a moment Andrew looked like the body I’d seen earlier out front of Felina’s. Then the boy spasmed and gasped air and Maron shouted about how he was still alive before giving the toe of his boot to Andrew’s ribs.
“What a show,” said the Bosses—what a show indeed.
The crowd dispersed in clumps, taking back to their jobs or leisure and I left the platform only after agreeing that Objectivism sounded good and Boss Harold laughed and stumbled in pivoting to take on in conversation with the other Bosses and I briefly imagined giving him a nudge, so he’d fall off the stage, but refrained from doing so.
When I met the boy lying in the dirt there, there was me and Dave moved in too and Maron had taken to his station where there was a table by sandbags, and he was engrossed in a game of solitaire; it seemed the man was totally unfazed by the justice he’d dealt. There was a time when that body could’ve been a hero and yet there he was, poisoned.
I called out to the Boss Sheriff, “Ain’t you going to put him back to his cell?”
Without even looking over, Maron swept his mustache with his fingers and waved me off, “Harold was real clear on letting the boy out of custody once it was done.” He lifted his cowboy hat and scratched his head while looking at the cards on the table then he laughed. “He’s a free man. I’ve heard that was your meddlin’ that did it.”
I moved to the boy and snatched up the clothes they ripped from him and Dave, not saying a word with his new mutt by his side, helped me to return some dignity to the boy.
We took him to my small apartment and washed him and tended over him while he lay in my bed.
Gemma came soon after Andrew had been draped in a sheet—she was there in disguise as she’d been earlier and upon me opening the doorway, she began to ask me if the boy was with me. I merely stepped aside, and she rushed to Andrew’s side; if he was aware of her presence, there was no way to tell.
“They killed him.” She’d taken to her knees to be nearer his level. “Oh. Oh, he’s dead.” She touched him and he shivered at the touch. Gemma removed the wrappings of cloth around her head and looked at her sweetie closer and she put a hand to her mouth. “They took his hand!”
“No,” said Dave, “He’s going to live.” The man looked to me and I shrugged. “Yeah,” his voice didn’t sound sure, “He’ll live.”
I moved to the catwalk and Dave came with me, the dog following behind him—the timid mutt looked over the edge of the catwalk to the city below then stepped away and returned to my room. When Dave took up beside me, leaning over the railing, and the sun hit his face just so, he looked exactly like Jackson and maybe that was why when he raised eyebrows then cut his eyes at me with a question—the question was everything and I finally nodded.
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