Alright so I own a well known ICE based tuning, fabrication and servicing shop in Auckland and I’ve always worked with new technologies as they come along within the industry and I’d love to utilize our expertise toward some EV’s but not just in the modified world, we would love to look after some EV’s with servicing and maintenance etc so I guess part of my question is, what do you look for in a place, do you look for someone specialized/branded or do you just go to a run of the mill garage? And is anyone interested in converting older ICE cars to EV, maybe something of sentimental value or a vehicle you loved as a younger person that you’d love to have now but with an EV package and road legal?
Thanks in advance for anyone wanting to take part in this conversation :)

I am a new runner, going roughly 30-40km a week and am currently doing all my runs on the road or treadmill in Invincible 3s. Other than having issues with the lockdown, I love them. I have roughly 350km on them and was looking at trying the Triumph 20s.
I’m looking for a cushioned daily trainer and with the 21s due to drop soon, would picking up the 20s on sale be a good option? If not, what else should I go for?

Does anyone have thoughts on these two sandals for road running?
I have experience with Bedrock Carin, Luna Mono (retro) and Xero Genesis.
Out of the three the Bedrocks are my favorite for daily and trails and Mono was favorite for running.
I’m searching for something a thinner than the Bedrocks or Monos for road runs; I think I have it pretty well narrowed down to the Luna Venado vs Shamma Charger. Any thoughts?

The Release Notes for 2023 Season 3 have been posted on the iRacing Forums!
Find them posted here:
https://forums.iracing.com/discussion/42721/2023-season-3-release-notes-pre-release-version#latest
​
Or read them below!
========================================================================

2023 Season 3 Release Notes [Pre-Release Version]

This is the iRacing 2023 Season 3 Release! This release contains both content and upgrades for 2023 Season 3, which officially starts on June 12th! This season update includes three new cars: Cadillac V-Series.R GTP, Ligier JS P320, and Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). iRacing also expands its track offerings to include MotorLand Aragón (7 configs) and Willow Springs International Raceway, as well as a new 2023 Cup config for Chicago Street Course.
Our Dirt Taskforce has completed their work on the Dirt Refresh Project shared with the community back in February, and we are excited for you to experience the fruits of their labors. The Spotter System has received a Race Control-focused set of updates and new calls that will liven up your racing and keep you better informed about what is happening on the track and in the race. New challengers approach - you will now have the ability to add AI Opponent Rosters to your Hosted Sessions that utilize the Heat Racing format! We are excited to announce we have been investing time into saving you time, loading time to be precise, and this Season Release includes a first phase of loading optimizations that should get you into the driver’s seat just a little bit faster. Willow Springs International Raceway is proud to pioneer a new 3D Foliage System that automatically populates the environment with grasses, shrubs, and other creations of Mother Nature. USB Audio Hot Swapping is now fully enabled and supported by iRacing for all of your headset and speaker needs. A new Graphics Option has also been added which controls the display of all cockpit obstructions instead of this parameter being car setup specific.
The New Damage Model has been put into practice on eleven additional cars. And last but not least our AI Drivers have mastered eight new cars and twenty-four new track configurations. Welcome to iRacing 2023 Season 3!
Season highlights include:

• Cadillac V-Series.R GTP
• Ligier JS P320
• Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
• MotorLand Aragón (7 configs)
• Willow Springs International Raceway
• New Track Configuration: Chicago Street Course - 2023 Cup
• Dirt Racing Refresh Project
• New Spotter Calls and Updates for Race Control
• Hosted Session AI Heat Racing
• Phase 1 of Loading Time Improvements
• 3D Foliage System
• USB Audio Device Hot Swapping
• Cockpit Obstruction Removal Graphics Option
• New Damage Model for 11 Vehicles (Cadillac V-Series.R GTP, Dirt Late Model (ALL), Ligier JS P320, NASCAR Truck Series Trucks, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992), Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), and Renault Clio R.S. V)
• AI Racing for 8 Cars (Aston Martin DBR9 GT1, Cadillac CTS-V Racecar, Cadillac V-Series.R GTP, Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1, Ford GT GT2, Ligier JS P320, Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), and Radical SR10)
• AI Racing at 24 Track Configurations (Autodromo Nazionale Monza - GP without first chicane, Junior, and GP without chicanes, Chicago Street Course - 2023 Cup and Prototype, Circuit of the Americas - East and West, Irwindale Speedway - ALL FIVE Configs, MotorLand Aragón - ALL SEVEN Configs, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway - Mini, New Smyrna Speedway, Twin Ring Motegi - East and Oval, and Willow Springs International Raceway)
• Hundreds of new and optimized official iRacing vehicle setups

Visit our 2023 Season 3 features page here: https://www.iracing.com/seasons/2023-s3/
Full 2023 Season 3 Release details are below.
​

iRACING UI:

--------------------------------------------------------------

Hosted Racing

• The Create Starting Grid functionality and button are now disabled whenever both Heat Racing and AI Opponent Roster are selected for an Event.

AI Racing

• AI Drivers have completed an extensive training course for participating in the Heat Racing format!
• - - Heat Racing is now available for Hosted Sessions using AI Rosters!
• - - This is a brand new feature implementation for both AI Racing and the Heat Racing format.
• - - - - It is important to note that this feature is only available for Hosted Racing events at this time. AI Drivers still need the support of real humans in their Sessions or artificial chaos would surely ensue.

Tracks

• All Track location information has been standardized and updated. All Track locations are now identified by: City, State/Province, Country.

Leagues

• Fixed an issue where the names of AI Drivers who won League Series Sessions were forgotten when viewing the League Season Schedule.

Paint Shop

• A new sponsor, Maconi Setup Shop, has been added to the Paint Shop!
• Fixed an issue with a missing font for the Stock Car Pro Series Class Cars.

​

SIMULATION:

--------------------------------------------------------------

Windows Support

• With the release of iRacing 2023 Season 3, the Windows 8.1 operating system is no longer able to successfully launch the iRacing application.
• - - Microsoft officially dropped support for Windows 8.1 on January 14th, 2023. As a result of this, it is no longer compatible with our software, and it will fail to launch.
• - - If you need help installing or running iRacing on Windows 10 or 11, please contact Customer Support here: https://support.iracing.com. Customer Support cannot get iRacing to work on Windows 8.1.

Race Servers

• Race Server capacity has been expanded to allow for nine different car models to be present within a Session.
• A user’s average lap time will no longer exclude laps that had been labeled as “invalid”.
• Fixed an issue where some Open Practice Race Servers were closing early due to inactivity.
• Fixed an issue where track temperatures were changing wildly if the Session was restarted (via AI Racing controls for example).

Loading

• Some adjustments have been made to how video memory resources are loaded.
• Some car loading algorithms have been optimized.

Dynamic Track

• The manner in which the dynamic track algorithm was calculated on surfaces has been improved, particularly along outside track edges.
• Fixed an issue where the visual display of some dynamic track data including dirt, marbles, and rubber was not functioning correctly on some track segments.

Race Control

• The algorithm for generating race splits based on car classes has been improved slightly.
• Short Parade Laps are now available for use at the following additional track configurations:
• - - Barber Motorsports Park - Full Course
• - - Brands Hatch Circuit - Indy
• - - Canadian Tire Motorsports Park
• - - Charlotte Motor Speedway - Roval, Roval - 2018, & Roval Long
• - - Circuit Park Zandvoort - Grand Prix
• - - Circuit Zolder - Grand Prix, & Alternate
• - - Daytona International Speedway - Oval - 2008, Road Course - 2008, & Moto - 2008
• - - Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg - PEC - Outer
• - - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Oval - 2009, Open Wheel Oval - 2009, Road Course - 2009, & Bike
• - - Long Beach Street Circuit
• - - Mount Panorama Circuit
• - - Phillip Island Circuit
• - - Talladega Superspeedway

Qualifying Scrutiny

• The Qualifying Scrutiny system has been adjusted to better handle cases where cars needed time to get up to speed after leaving their starting location.

Dirt Racing

• A variety of updates as a result of the Dirt Refresh Project have been enabled!
• - - This project enlisted a focus group of developers, vehicle dynamicists, and testers who did a deep dig through everything that makes our Dirt Racing tick, and they’ve emerged with some sweeping improvements and updates.
• - - Dirt track parameters as a whole have been updated, including:
• - - - - Racing dirt properties at all levels of wear and wetness
• - - - - Dirt height variance, depth, and hardpan behavior
• - - - - Track wear parameters
• - - - - Tire rubber accumulation
• - - - - Dirt displacement from tires
• - - - - The formation of track roughness and perturbation
• - - - - The progression of dynamic track data has been updated for all dirt tracks
• - - All Dirt Racing tires have been updated with some of the following improvements:
• - - - - New wear rates based on the hardness and wetness of the dirt racing surface
• - - - - Dirt displacement parameters
• - - - - The manner in which tires calculate their contact on undulating dirt surfaces has been improved.

AI Racing

• AI Drivers have completed an extensive training course for participating in the Heat Racing format!
• - - Heat Racing is now available for Hosted Sessions using AI Rosters!
• - - This is a brand new feature implementation for both AI Racing and the Heat Racing format.
• - - - - It is important to note that this feature is only available for Hosted Racing events at this time. AI Drivers still need the support of real humans in their Sessions or artificial chaos would surely ensue.
• AI Drivers are now fully trained and capable drivers for the following new vehicles:
• - - Aston Martin DBR9 GT1
• - - Cadillac CTS-V Racecar
• - - Cadillac V-Series.R GTP
• - - Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1
• - - Ford GT GT2
• - - Ligier JS P320
• - - Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
• - - Radical SR10
• AI Drivers have memorized and are ready to race for the gold at the following new tracks and configurations:
• - - Autodromo Nazionale Monza - GP without first chicane, Junior, and GP without chicanes
• - - Chicago Street Course - 2023 Cup and Prototype
• - - Circuit of the Americas - East and West
• - - Irwindale Speedway - ALL 5 Configurations
• - - MotorLand Aragón - ALL 7 Configurations
• - - Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway - Mini
• - - New Smyrna Speedway
• - - Twin Ring Motegi - East and Oval
• - - Willow Springs International Raceway
• AI Drivers have graduated from yet another season of advanced education classes. Training for 2023 Season 3 included the following programs:
• - - Kinesthetics for Preventing Pace Lap Panic
• - - [PHY-220] Drafting Speed Predictions
• - - White-Knuckle Door-to-Door Racing: A Retrospective
• - - Fast Cars Beware: Slow Cars
• - - Slow Cars Beware: Fast Cars
• - - AI Program Upgrade IV: Reaction Timing (Class: Pistol Shrimp)
• - - Danny S.’s Pre-School Seminar: Left-Hand Makes the “L”!
• - - The Technical Know-How Overlaps for GTP & Rocket Ship Piloting
• - - SuperTravel SuperProgram 2023: SuperSpeedways
• - - Lessons from Slot Car Racing on Racing Lines
• - - Tire Compound Connoisseur Magazine (Spring ‘23 Issue)
• - - Brake Pad Dissection - a Science Lab Qualified Course
• AI Drivers have improved their driving skills with the following vehicles:
• - - NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen Cars
• - - NASCAR Trucks
• - - BMW M Hybrid V8
• - - Dallara P217
• AI Drivers have improved their driving skills at the following track configs:
• - - Atlanta Motor Speedway - Oval
• - - Bristol Motor Speedway - Dual Pit Roads & Single Pit Road
• - - Canadian Tire Motorsports Park
• - - Daytona International Speedway - Oval
• - - Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle
• - - iRacing Superspeedway
• - - Talladega Superspeedway
• AI Drivers and their cars are now immediately removed from the world at the end of a Session. For safety.
• Fixed a handful of AI System issues including:
• - - Fixed an issue where custom Paint Schemes were not appearing on AI Drivers in Replays.
• - - Fixed an issue where AI Drivers could lag up to several seconds after the green before hitting the gas for standing starts in Hosted Sessions.
• - - Fixed an issue where AI Drivers could incur gain-time penalties while they were being towed back to their pit box. We don’t know what they were doing to Race Control staff to earn them, but it should be fixed now.
• - - Fixed an issue where multiple “Pitting In” notifications could be received.
• - - Fixed an issue with the display of AI Driver names on the Entries tab for Replays.
• - - Fixed an issue where AI Drivers appeared to be using the incorrect dive plane for the Dallara P217.

New Damage Model

• The New Damage Model is now active on the following additional vehicles:
• - - Cadillac V-Series.R GTP
• - - Dirt Late Model (ALL)
• - - Ligier JS P320
• - - NASCAR Truck Chevrolet Silverado
• - - NASCAR Truck Ford F150
• - - NASCAR Truck Toyota Tundra TRD Pro
• - - Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992)
• - - Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
• - - Renault Clio R.S. V
• Some New Damage Model system code has been reorganized to make future development easier.

Auto Fuel

• Spotters and Team Members may now control their driver's Auto Fuel state.

Spotter

• The iRacing Spotter System has received some updates to help make it more accurate and dynamic. It is now better able to read Race Control events as they occur on the track, and a variety of new Spotter Calls have been added:
• - - Car in Front/Behind is Pitting
• - - Faster Car Approaching
• - - Gaining/Losing the car in front
• - - Leader Change
• - - Leader Lap Time
• - - Leader is Lapping You
• - - Session New Fastest Lap
• - - Your Personal Best Lap Time
• - - Time Remaining in Session 20/10/5 Minutes
• - - Settings for these new messages have been added to the “[SPCC]” section of the “app.ini” file.
• - - - - These messages will only play if “Chattiness” is set to MEDIUM or HIGH, and they are turned on in the “app.ini” file, which they are by default.
• A new “Silence” function has been added for the Spotter.
• - - In the Sound Options Menu, users can bind a key press that will interrupt and stop any current spotter message and temporarily disable future messages for a short duration. The duration of the hush may be adjusted via the “hushDuration” variable in the “app.ini” file, found in the “[SPCC]” section.
• “Leader Car” calls now returns the leader car in the same class as the player car. This means all spotter messages pertaining to the leader will now reference the leader in the same class as the player, instead of the outright leader.
• - - Messages include:
• - - - - Leader is pitting now
• - - - - Leader is at Start/Finish
• - - - - You're catching the leader
• - - - - One lap to win (if you are the leader car)
• Both Italian spotter packs have been updated and improved!
• - - Many thanks to Renzo A. Olivieri and Marco Arcidiacono!
• The Race Laps remaining spotter message logic has been updated.
• Fixed an issue with the fuel spotter calls when the pit entry location was dramatically different from the Start/Finish line location.

Graphics

• A new Graphics Option has been added: Hide Cockpit Obstructions.
• - - This option hides several visually obstructive elements from the world, including: Halo, A-Pillar, and Rock Screen.
• Vehicles that utilize the New Damage model have had their car model format adjusted to reduce video memory demands.
• Improved the accuracy of steering angles for viewing your opponents’ cars’ wheels.
• Adjust brake light exposure on some cars to try to prevent them from turning white when viewed from a distance.
• Updated the system which processes the hiding and displaying of halos for Replays.
• GGX blended dirt texture shaders have been improved.
• SpeedTree lighting has been updated.
• The graphics Option for SpeedTree self-shadowing has been removed.
• - - The visual benefits were minimal and the processing needs were demanding.
• Tooltips have been added for SSAO parameters.
• A new SDK for SpeedTree has been integrated.
• Fixed an issue where the reverse and unseen sides of some SpeedTree faces were being rendered, wasting processing time.
• Fixed an issue where distortion particles were not rendering properly unless they were inside the car.
• Fixed an issue where motion blur would trigger whenever the garage was visited.
• Fixed an issue where motion blur was appearing at different amounts on different parts of the same car.

3D Foliage System

• A new environmental graphics feature option has been added to the graphics options menu: Foliage!
• - - The new Foliage system procedurally generates 3D foliage of an appropriate biome type at specified tracks. Foliage may include grasses, shrubs, boulders, cacti, flowers, and other small environmental assets. 3D foliage has no impact on driving or physics, but should decorate the world much more realistically.
• - - In the Graphics Options menu, there are several levels of detail that may be selected for use by the 3D Foliage System which can customize your visual experience and your rendering performance. You may also select to disable the system entirely.
• - - With this release, only Willow Springs International Raceway has been seeded by the new 3D Foliage system so far, but Mother Nature always finds a way to spread!

Visual Effects

• Lighting for particle effects has been improved.
• The PopcornFX SDK has been updated to the latest version.

Audio

• Audio Hot Swap support has been added to iRacing!
• - - Forgot to plug in your headset before the race starts? iRacing now detects your device when it's plugged in, even during a race. If you've selected "System Default" from the sound options, audio automatically moves to the new device when the default changes. If you have selected a specific audio endpoint, it activates once it's available.
• - - Runtime audio device switching is now supported. When the default device is selected, a new default device can be chosen in Windows, and the Simulator will use the new device. If a specific device is selected, it will be used in the Simulator when it is activated in Windows.
• - - - - disableWindowsCoreAudio=0 When enabled (1), this option disables any Windows Core Audio integration (native windows audio).
• - - - - disableAudioDeviceChangedEvents=0 When enabled (1), this option disables dynamic audio device changing.
• - - Please note: Audio Hot Swapping is enabled by default.
• A new Audio Options setting has been added which allows you to assign a System Communication Default Device.
• A new audio option, “ambientMusicDisabled”, has been added to the “app.ini” file.
• - - 0 is the default value. Setting this parameter to 1 will disable all environment music that is normally played over the PA system while in the Simulation.
• Dynamic brake sounds have been rebalanced.
• Audio for load transmission on a variety of cars has been improved.
• The engine audio for all Pace Cars has been adjusted and optimized.

Environment

• New color and texture variations have been added for a variety of parked vehicles found around the tracks.

Interface

• Enhanced the right-click pop-up menus on the Session/Replay screen, and the Driving screen, to provide the option for private messaging (PM-ing) an individual user, the current driver of a car, or a car's entire Team (which includes a driver's spotters/crew in non-team sessions).
• - - Existing Admin/Race Control operations applied to a car that would have PM-ed someone on the team have been updated to message the whole team, instead of just one team member.
• - - Manually PM-ing a car number using "/#N", with N being the displayed car number, including leading zeros if shown, will now PM the whole team.
• - - To PM just the team member that's currently driving the car, use "/#N@" (add the @ symbol immediately after the car number). If the team's car is in its pit stall but the driver has gotten out of the car, that user is still PM-ed. If the team's car is not even in the world, no PM is sent when attempting to message its current driver, and you will be informed of this.
• - - - - To prevent receiving duplicate messages, if you would receive a chat message you sent because the target includes you (you're on the target team, you're the target team's driver, or you're talking to yourself!), you only receive the message due to being associated with the target of the message. That is, the message is not separately echoed directly back to you.
• - - You can continue to manually PM an individual using the existing mechanism of specifying their name after the "/".
• Text chat responses to Race Control Admin commands now identify the targeted entry with the team name and car number, instead of the name of the driver. In non-driver-swap events, the “team name” is the driver's name.
• An option for the units selection has been updated to “English (USA)” for clarity.

Camera

• A new highest option level, “Ultra”, has been added for Motion Blur.
• Fixed an issue with Driver View Pitch/Roll chassis effects so that when the view is locked to the horizon the car can now roll farther without the camera following the position of the car. This should help reduce motion sickness in VR if you use this feature.
• Fixed an issue for whenever a car’s center-of-mass left the camera frame, all motion blur on the car was lost.
• Fixed an issue where the focus of the camera was getting unwanted motion blur for cockpit cameras.
• Fixed an issue with motion blur on cars when using multiple displays.

Controls

• The automatic parking brake that holds a car still when you come to a stop will now fully apply itself anytime the car comes to a stop, rather than waiting for the user to hold the brake pedal down once stopped. This should help prevent cars from accidentally rolling away when you come to a quick stop but fail to fully engage the brake pedal.
• The Reset Button now prevents users from putting you into the car if your steering wheel needs assignment. Doing this now will take you to the Controls Wizard and allow you to assign and calibrate your driving controls.
• The test for XInput devices has been simplified.
• Fixed an issue that could cause some joysticks to fail to calibrate properly if the previous calibration was similar enough to the new calibration.
• Fixed an issue in the Options screen where the inputs (shifter, wheel, etc) would not respond if a button was held down on a wheel.

Force Feedback

• When calibrating a wheel, iRacing now checks that your selected maximum wheel angle and Force Feedback status match what we expect based on your detected hardware. A notification will appear if these do not match.
• - - This is an effort to detect common errors with certain wheels, either that do not have the correct drivers installed or that have a maximum wheel angle set to a very low value by default. If you receive this notification, or need help setting up your racing wheel, please reach out to Customer Support.
• iRacing will now try to automatically detect your racing wheel’s maximum force, and adjust the wheel force slider accordingly. This is used to help us safely and automatically calculate the force levels to send to your wheel. We can't always know how your wheel is set up, so this may be an overestimate of your maximum force level. This is the safer guess, but in some instances it may limit how strong of a force you can request from the simulation. In those cases you can turn off the “auto-mode” and manually set your wheel’s peak value, if known.
• Improved the force auto tune button so that it takes the wheels maximum force into account. This will lighten up the auto tune as the wheel force increases.
• - - There is a new scaling parameter in the “app.ini” file, “autoForceFactor”. This value defaults to 0.5, and allows you to adjust the aggressiveness of the reduction. Setting “[Force Feedback] autoForceFactor=1” will remove all reduction, giving you a 1:1 force output. Setting it to 0 will effectively always give you 6 Nm of peak force at the wheel. Any value in between will blend between these two extremes. The default value of 0.5 should be a good value for most users.
• A mappable button (Ctrl-A) has been added to apply the Auto Force adjustment found in the F9 Black Box.
• For the Auto Force Feedback peak force detection, data collected when the car is out of control will now be suppressed. Also, data collection will be paused for several seconds immediately after an incident. The goal is to make this system more stable and consistent, even if you wreck.
• For Force Feedback, a safety check has been added to detect if the wheel jumped in position (ie: we lost/gained communication with the wheel). If a communication interruption is detected, Force Feedback will be suppressed momentarily for safety.
• A new slew rate limiter filter that is controlled via the smoothing slider is now available in the Force Feedback options tab.
• - - This filter limits the rate of change of the force feedback signal so your wheel can't accelerate beyond a fixed value. In essence it smooths out the large jolts while leaving the rest of the signal alone. A value of 25% will have almost no impact on your regular driving, while softenting out curb or wall impacts, and a value of 75% will smooth out most rumble strips and make curb hits almost invisible. If you find that you have to turn down the FFB forces below the level you would like because the jolts from curbs or accidents are too large, then try turning this filter up instead. Try a value of 50% to start, and turn it down to 25% if you feel it is too much.
• - - - - You can go back to the old boxcar filter via the “[Force Feedback] smoothingFilterType=1” entry in the “app.ini” file.

Replays

• Chat messages and incident point accruement are now saved and viewable with Replays.
• Fixed an issue where custom Paint Schemes were not appearing on AI Drivers in Replays.

Telemetry

• Live brake line pressure (LFbrakeLinePress) has now been zeroed out and will no longer show a value.
• - - Disk based brake line pressure is still available (LFbrakeLinePress), and now has any ripple from the abs modulation included in its value.
• - - A new BrakeABSCutPct value has been added to the disk based telemetry that shows the percent of brake force reduction being applied by the ABS system.
• Driver suit, body, face, and helmet type ids have been added to the session string.

Official iRacing Sporting Code

• A variety of updates have been made to the Official iRacing Sporting Code, including:
• - - A new section 6.8.3. has been added which describes the correct behavior for Starting from Pits.
• - - Restructured the paragraphs describing Rolling Starts for improved clarity for both Oval and Road racing.
• - - Better explained how multiclass cars grid, and defined what starts a multiclass race.
• - - License Class images have been updated.
• - - Identified that Joker Laps may not be used for time-based competitions at Rallycross Tracks.
• - - A reminder has been added that it is unacceptable for suspended or restricted Members to use alternate accounts.
• - - Identified that nefarious tactics may also not be used during Races, and removed a poor example of nefarious behavior.
• Review the latest version of the Official iRacing Sporting Code here:
• - - https://www.iracing.com/iracing-official-sporting-code/

Hi,
I'm on a road trip going through lots of mountains. I want to see how high and low I'm going. I don't think Waze has an altimeter built in, but I'm wondering if anyone knows of a way to show that info on my phone.
Maybe an Altimeter app that can display over the top of Waze when it's running or something like that? Anyone ever looked into this?
Thanks.

Thanks and Credits in the Comments Section due to LONG chapter.
Chapter 31: A Whale of a Tale and it’s All True
“IT’S FUCKING J-POD!”
Kalai watched in shock and awe as the two humans collectively lost their minds, hopping up and down and letting loose a series of high pitched vocalizing as she, Papa, and Mama Sakalbi stared in confusion at the two ecstatic aliens.
Andy turned and ran back to where Kalai and her parents were still staring in amazement and held his hand out, face alight and happier than she’d ever seen him before. “Binoculars! Quick! I want to see who’s out there!” Mama Sakalbi tentatively held them out, and he took them with a nod of thanks before rushing back to the bow. Kalai started as he jumped up on the bow and balanced against the roller horns to spot the black and white whales that were swimming fast towards the net.
“Eyes on Mama Shachi! Look, over there, see her?” Kalai approached cautiously as Andy pointed in the direction of a cluster of porpoising black shapes that were coming nearer.
“Eyes on! I got Grammie Slick out there too; the WHOLE POD’S HERE!” Jackie cut loose an undulating cry and waved her hands as little geysers of water and air shot out from the water on the other side of the net.
Kalai nearly jumped when a miniature version of the Orcas from the clone tank at Headquarters breached the water, leaping almost twice her height into the air before splashing back down in a massive wave.
“Look at that! Butterball’s getting some good air these days!” Andy crowed as he hopped back down from the bow and passed the binoculars to Jackie.
“Butterball?” Mama Sakalbi asked as she and Papa joined them. Kalai stared as the Orcas formed a line and charged at the middle of the ‘S’ bend in the net before diving down in front of it, sending a wave that pushed the corks back. She saw the spouts and the dorsal fins rise again for another charge at the net.
“He’s the baby, only about four years old. Grammie Slick’s taking the family hunting, see how they’re flattening the net out? We’re about to have a great fucking day!” Andy took Jackie’s shotgun and took it back to the cabin as Kalai and her parents crowded the rail.
“What are they doing?” Mama Sakalbi’s question was directed at Jackie and the woman turned to answer with a gigantic smile.
“Herding! See the ones circling around the net?” Jackie pointed to the two dorsal fins that were almost invisible in the fog that was starting to burn off in the morning sun that had started to clear the eastern mountains. “They’ll be starting to round up small schools of salmon once they’re done turning our net into a reef. Right now, they’re running along the line and probably seeing what they have to work with.”
Mama Sakalbi did a double take, “You must be joking, that level of intelligence would almost be-”
“Human?” Jackie interrupted with a smile, “Yeah, that’s our original teachers out there. We learned to fish from them.”
“I was going to say ‘sentient’, but I take your point. What I want to know is, what are they doing?” Mama Sakalbi gestured out at them, with a bewildered look on her face.
“They’re using the net as a sea wall. Thing is, the net’s hard to see in the water, but the fish can feel it. They’ll put their heads into the net, but that doesn’t catch them. They’ll try to swim around it so that’s why we put an ‘S’ bend. That’s where most of the fish get tangled.” Andy returned and picked up the explanation. “See in the center of the line? That fin with the black and white little checkmark behind it? That’s Grammie Slick, the Matriarch. She’s around sixty now, and grew up out here LONG before you all came down. They don’t always do this, but I guess with you all keeping the fishing fleets docked, she saw the net and wanted a big meal for the family. They’re going to keep pushing the net until it’s in the shape of a crescent and herd a bunch of small schools into a big baitball with pickets to keep the fish pinned in the middle. You watch, there’ll be salmon jumping all over in the middle as they school up.”
“That’s when you’ll see them charge up the center and take big old mouthfuls of salmon. It’ll be a smorgasbord for ‘em!” Jackie pulled up Andy’s omnipad and started recording.
“Wait, but you hate seals for competing with you for food, why are you this excited about Orcas who take so much more?” Papa asked as he also took out his omnipad and started recording as the pod of Orcas finished repositioning their net just as Andy described.
“Because they’re using the nets as a reef to trap the fish! See? Look! There they go! The wolves are out scaring every salmon in the area here!” Kalai dug her own omnipad out at Andy’s words and watched as the dorsal fins sank below the waves, with only a faint and fading wake to tell where they’d gone.
“Now watch ‘em set pickets! They’re going to start patrolling the outside of the net. When they get enough salmon in the middle, they’re going to charge. When they do, watch the entire middle section of our corks go under from the salmon trying to get away. They get whole heaping mouthfuls of food and we get a full net!”
Kalai watched the Orcas swimming in circles around the net like Helix Sharks, and felt a pang of fear seeing the big predators that seemed so gentle and inquisitive in the tank. “But what if they get caught in the net?”
Jackie suppressed a laugh before sweeping an arm out at the net. “I’ve never seen that happen before, and I haven’t even heard of it happening before… at least not here in the Salish Sea. All our Orcas grew up around these nets, so they’ll either avoid them or use them like they are right now.”
“I think it’s because they can see them and the fish can’t. Either way, we’re in for a show!” Andy patted Kalai on the back before pushing Kalai and Mama Sakalbi forward.
For a long while, the surface was calm, save for the circling Orcas as they all watched. Then, by degrees, there was movement on the surface of the water as fish the length of Kalai’s arm started to jump and kick in the baitball. Kalai watched, fascinated, as Orcas seemed to appear and disappear along the edges but never approached the middle of the net.
All the fins disappeared from the surface and an eerie stillness settled over the water. Suddenly, the water in the middle of the crescent erupted, with hundreds of fish shooting out of the water and a sudden surge that hit and pushed the corks outward before they sank completely out of sight. Jackie and Andy started vocalizing those strange undulating cries again, raising their fists in the air before shouting something in their language. From as best as Kalai could guess, it was encouragement as the Orcas started breaching and jumping. In those moments, Kalai could catch glimpses of their mouths full of salmon.
Kalai watched as the terrified fish swarmed towards the net, and watched as many seemed to jump over it and swim away as the Orcas gorged themselves on the enormous school of salmon they had trapped. It was an awe inspiring sight to see, and Kalai lost herself in the moment watching the amazing display of symbiotic hunting and fishing between them and the Orcas.
The engine of the boat turning over broke the spell they were all under as Andy moved the boat at a dead slow pace back towards the net. “Alright, let’s haul it in and reset for ‘em! Jackie! Get on the bow with the billhook!” Jackie whooped in agreement and gently pushed passed Kalai to grab a long pole with a small metal hook at the end.
“We’re gonna have to work fast. They’re hungry, and we all want salmon today,” Andy called over the sound of the engine as they approached the giant buoy that marked the end of the net. “Doc! Open that hatch back there and watch your step! Mrs. Vaida, stand clear in the cabin; I want no accidents today, and three on deck’s going to be a crowd with how many fish we’re going to be taking in. Kalai, I want you back in the-”
Kalai shook her head as she put her omnipad away. “I can do it! Let me help!” she was riding the high feeling of watching the Orcas, and seeing Andy and Jackie preparing to go to work while she was to be just a passenger galled her.
Kalai saw Andy give Jackie a look that she couldn’t quite interpret. “Alright, but you’ll work with me picking fish. Jackie, you’re on the Drum; trade places with me!”
Kalai saw Jackie huff and give Andy a piercing look as she handed off the billhook. “Watch out for jellies, they tend to explode,” the native woman muttered to Kalai as she took over at the net drum’s controls. Kalai was about to volunteer to grab the line with the hook, given her longer reach, but Andy had already leaned almost all the way over the side. Kalai had a momentary scare as Andy seemed to dip forward, seemingly in danger of falling overboard, until he seemed to almost levitate himself using his lower legs back into the boat and pulled the line over the roller horns. She stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do when Andy braced a foot against the side and began to pull on the line and feed it back towards Jackie.
“Way, haul away, we’ll hang and haul together! Way, haul away, haul away Joe!”
Though she didn’t understand the words, Kalai knew a sailing song when she heard one and didn’t wait for any instruction. She moved forward opposite Andy and lent a hand, pulling the heavy line in to the cadence of his chant. After two verses, Kalai heard the whine of hydraulics and the slack in the line behind them went taught.
“Stand back! Here we go!” Andy called to her and the line began pulling the net back aboard. Kalai looked back to see that Jackie had wrapped the line around the center pole of the drum, with the wheel turning to pull the line and net in out of the water. A small set of guide poles that moved when Jackie twitched the controls kept the line evenly distributed on the drum as the first corks and the dripping wet net began to appear out of the water.
“Put your hoods up!” Andy yelled at her over the noise of the machines, and demonstrated the motion. “It’ll keep the water, seaweed and Jellies out of your face and eyes, and take this!” Andy tossed her what appeared to be a handkerchief and he mimed the act of tying it around her face like a mask.
“What about you? You’re sleeveless!” Kalai’s voice was slightly muffled from the cloth as she tied it around her face before pulling up both hoods.
Andy didn’t respond, except to grin at her as he leaned out to watch the net coming up out of the water before it got pulled aboard.
From behind her, Kalai heard Jackie start singing another human sailing song. It was a bit fast paced, and Andy joined in for the chorus. On the third time she heard it, she joined in too.
“Blow ye winds in the mornin’, Blow ye winds, high ho! Haul away your running gear, And blow ye winds, high ho!”
“Coming up!” Andy shouted as there were several loud thunks before six large salmon appeared in the giant fluorescent green tangle of the net. The drum stopped, bringing the fish to a halt as Andy pulled on the corkline and scurried his hands back and forth, gathering the net up as he did until he reached the first fish. Kalai watched in awe as he seemed to magically pull the fish from the tangle and shake it out onto the deck. The second one seemed to be resting on top of the tangle and he flipped it over the corkline and shook the fish out onto the deck.
“Just watch these first few. When you get a feel for how I’m doing this, jump in. Until then, slide these beauties back towards the stern. Jackie’ll pitch ‘em into the hold.”
Kalai nodded and watched Andy’s movements intently. It looked like sorcery, with how fast he moved his hands and zeroed in on a fish. As soon as he was done, he’d whistle to Jackie, who kept singing the cadence out to pull more of the net in, only to stop when more fish were pulled up and over the horns.
The song changed twice before Kalai felt confident enough to jump in. She almost got tangled in the net herself trying to pull out her first fish, but Andy gave the net a quick tug and she was free again. Maddeningly, the fish had simply fallen out of the net without any help from her, and she fumed just long enough for Andy to point to one that was closer to her.
“Hoist up the thing, batten down the whatsit! What’s that thing spinning, somebody should stop it! Turn hard to Port! That’s not Port, NOW I GOT IT! Trust me, I’m in control!”
On the second refrain, Kalai managed to dig her first fish out and drop it to the deck. She let out a whoop, and Andy paused for a moment to give her a quick applause.
“That’s one, girl! There’s a thousand left if we’re lucky!” Jackie called out as Andy sang a verse and tackled another fish in the net.
“Keep an eye on the lead line; make sure it doesn’t go over the corks!” Andy called as Kalai ran down her second fish and was about to throw the excess net over the other side. She stopped, and Andy helped her get the fish without tangling the net.
It took until the end of the song for Kalai to find her rhythm, and soon she and Andy were running down fish in the net in a crisp and quick manner. Kalai felt like she could go faster, but Andy had cautioned her to keep pace with the songs, as there was still a lot of net to go. When Kalai spared a glance at the length of net still in the water, she saw that Andy wasn’t kidding. It looked like they hadn’t even really started to reel it all in. Ok, it’s hard work, but so is sailing, and he’s my size so I should be able to keep up with him. If he can do it, I can do it!
“Haul away you rollin’ kings! Heave away, Haul away! Haul away you’ll hear me sing, We’re bound for South Australia!”
Andy was impressed. Kalai had jumped in without complaint, and she was very coachable. He could feel himself start to flag as they were starting to come to the last third of the net, but Kalai’s persistence, even though she was sweatier and more haggard than he was, kept him going.
The pile of salmon was almost as deep as their calves, and the deck was getting slick with fish slime. For that matter, so was Andy. In a momentary lull in the fish coming over the horns, Andy caught a glimpse of himself shimmering with all the scales that had flown off the fish as they scraped against the net to hit the deck, flopping. He took a big gulp of air and Kalai groaned as she straightened up, cracking her back as she twisted and bent to relieve her aching muscles.
Andy groaned a bit and looked back towards the stern. It was getting hard to see over the amount of net they’d pulled back in, but he could see Doc and Mrs. Vaida doing their best to help throw and shove the piles of salmon into the hold. Everybody’s getting their hands dirty today. Andy smiled and heaved a happy sigh. This, this is what I want. Being out on the water and doing good, hard work.
“SHIT, JELLYFISH!” Kalai shouted as she twisted away to hide her face behind her rain slicker hood. Andy blinked just in time as a wet squelching sound sent a spray of disintegrating jellyfish exploding all over the bow as the net bunched up and got squeezed together.
Andy felt it splatter all over his arms, neck, and face, before he felt it start to slide down his shirt to his chest. Almost immediately, he started to feel the burn. His arms, neck, and chest he could stand, but the blossoming pain on his lips, eyelids, cheeks, and most horribly the inside of his nose overwhelmed all his conditioned pain tolerance.
“FUCK!” Andy screamed. “FUCKING FUCKER! RIGHT IN MY FUCKING FACE! GOD FUCKING DAMNIT! FUCK!” Andy only barely avoided bringing his hands to his face. It was a hard fought thing to deny his instinct to try and scrape it off, but he felt his boots loose purchase and his feet slide out from under him. He hit the pile of fish that surrounded him hard. He was aware of Kalai yelling for her father and Mrs. Vaida, while Jackie’s braying laugh carried over everything else.
Andy felt Kalai trying to grab him, but her gloves were too slick to get a grip and all she did was spread the stingers more evenly over his arms. Andy kept his eyes squeezed shut as he heard Jackie start to direct the confused and panicking aliens.
“Hold your breath, cuz, vinegar incoming!”
Andy felt the bitter stinging splash as Jackie poured a steady stream of vinegar out from what he assumed was the giant jug he kept for these occasions underneath the little kitchenette in the cabin. Though nothing about the intensity of the burn changed, in the back of his mind, Andy knew that it was killing the stinging cells.
“Alright, Kally, take that bucket and fill it with seawater from over the side, then dump it on him.”
Andy sputtered a bit and spit as he scrabbled onto his knees. He steadied himself with one hand on the rail beside him and the other which found the corkline. He kept his eyes shut and growled as the burning spread from his hairline down to his navel. A sudden bracing splash of cold water nearly bowled him back over. Without warning, Andy hadn't had time to get a breath and he sputtered and yowled as the water soaked down under his rain gear.
Andy shook his head like a dog, whipping his braid back and forth before daring to open his eyes. “Son of a BITCH!” Andy growled as he got a look at Kalai holding an empty bucket, while Jackie was shoo’ing Mrs. Vaida and Dr. He’osforos away to give him some room.
“Jesus, quit your bawlin,’ you big baby, you’re acting like you’ve never been stung before!” Jackie called back to him as Andy ripped the gloves off his hands and plunged them over the side to clean off the stingers.
“It’s in my fucking nose you horse’s ass!” Andy shouted back as he splashed his face. A few strings of purple stingers fell into the water and Andy reared back aboard. “Ugh, get another bucket of seawater! I can still feel this shit!”
“Andrei, as a medical professional, I advise you to cease work and-”
Andy looked over as Dr. He’osforos spoke but waved him off mid sentence. “I appreciate it Doc, but I’ve had it far worse than this. There’s a brown and yellow bottle in one of the drawers under the bench that says ‘Motrin’. Get me the bottle or enough to tranq a cow, and I’ll go back to work just fine.”
Kalai let loose a piercing scream and Andy looked over just in time to see her rocketed herself backwards, dropping the bucket over the side. The Doctor caught his daughter before she fell into the hold, but he too had a look of fear plastered on his face. Andy and Jackie moved to the side to see what had scared her so badly, and the two of them couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Grammie Slick and two of her daughters were there, sticking their heads out of the water with their mouths open, while Butterball was playing with the bucket.
Jackie laughed and stuck her hand out, rubbing the Orca matriarch on the snout. “Raggedy Andy’s fine, Grammie Slick! He’s just milking it for sympathy from these gullible hwun’eetums!”
“What in the Balance of Nature is going on here?” Mrs. Vaida’s shocked voice caused Andy and Jackie to look at her as she stared dumbfounded at the Orcas that were gathering alongside the boat.
“Oh they’re just saying ‘hi.’” Andy shrugged with a smile, despite the burning.
“More like ‘What the hell, cousins, you still got fish to pick. Quit loafin’ around and get another set in!’”
“Jackie, Motrin… NOW!” Andy growled at her. Jackie blew a raspberry at him before diving into the cabin.
“They’re pretty friendly, if you’d like to be introduced,” Andy held out a hand and motioned for Kalai and her father to step forward. Andy dipped his hand in again to make sure it was clear of any stinging cells, before he gently guided the hesitant Kalai to stick her ungloved hand out toward Grammie Slick.
One of the daughters blew a spout before sliding back under water, but Grammie gave a few clicks before briefly touching Kalai’s outstretched hand. “Kalai, this is Grammie Slick, Matriarch of J-Pod. Grammie, this is Kalai… a purple hwun’eetum.” Andy laughed a bit at the look of incredulity on Kalai’s face and the concern on her father’s.
There was a series of shutter clicks from behind Andy, and he turned to see Sakalbi snapping pictures as fast as she could. Kalai was clearly torn between fear and wonder as she held perfectly still and silent for Grammie, who was letting her touch her before she slid back under the water herself. Andy laughed as several clicks and whistles from the pod reverberated through the hull of the boat and he leaned back in.
“Alright, break’s over,” Andy called as he caught the flying bottle of pills Jackie threw at him. He popped two and swallowed them dry before washing the gloves off and putting them on. The extra rinse would have to wait, and he’d have to tough it out until they got back to shore. His boots squelched as he picked his way through the fish on the deck to get back to his station and nodded for Jackie to restart the drum.
It was another twenty minutes before the last of the net was pulled aboard and they were able to clear away all the fish into the hold. Andy stuck his head in and smiled. In a single set, they’d filled three quarters of it, and they had more than enough fish for the gathering and to feed another ten to fifteen families besides. The spouts and the clicks of J-Pod hanging around the boat, however, told Andy that they wanted their reef back and were still hungry.
Andy ordered them to prep the net for another set and helmed his boat again, only to bomb out in a straight line and let J-Pod take care of the fishing from that point on. Once they’d finished, Andy moved the boat out of the Orcas’ way and stood outside the cabin with Jackie while the three aliens crowded the bow, watching and recording the whales going to work a second time.
“Ok, I think we might get a moment to talk,” Andy muttered to Jackie in Salishian. “New orders from the Council. There’s going to be a raid.”
Jackie sucked in a breath and looked at him, all levity gone. “Cambrians, Militia, or the Dummy Bunnies?”
“Militia and the Interior.”
Jackie whistled softly in surprise as her eyebrows shot up. “Really poking the bear, cuz… When and where?”
“Uncle Willy wants us to hit the Militia Supply Depot out by Tanner on Saturday,” Andy growled quietly as he watched Kalai pointing to Grammie Slick’s dorsal as she swam out on the picket around the net.
“You mean the one close to the Snoqualmish?”
“Yeah. Full raid, we’re to hit it and take any supplies, especially military, that we can and destroy what we can’t. The messier we can make it the better. We’ll meet up with the Resistance on the old Bessemer Logging road by Hancock Creek and they get half for taking the credit. Me and Chuck’ve been assigned to ‘lead’ you.” Andy nodded and tried to flick some of the fish scales off himself, but got nowhere.
Jackie sat down on the rail with a groan before looking back up at him with a smirk. “You mean babysit on overwatch while we do the real work.”
Andy pursed his numb lips together and considered the ramifications of folding his arms on the jellyfish burns that had started to go quiet thanks to the Motrin. “Grandma and the Council want me to ‘get my hands dirty.’” He gritted his teeth in frustration.
“What? I’m sorry, that sentence made zero sense.” Jackie shook her head like she’d just been slapped.
Andy couldn’t keep the frustration and anger out of his tone when he spoke. “Apparently there are doubts about my loyalty to the tribe and whether or not I’ve lost my way.”
Jackie huffed in amusement. “Everyone knows the Council’s fucking stupid, but this is a new level of dumb. You got us land back, you got them to allow you to break the rules to feed our people, they’re fixing the fuck ups on our waterways because of you and they think you’ve gone to the dark side?” Jackie started laughing at the nonsense of the politics.
“Last time we talked, you thought I was playing with fire and-” Andy started to throw back at her before she snorted loudly.
“Results talk, cuz. Three of our Hatcheries returned, and my whole family drawing good money in Imperial Credits? Fuck, even if you had sold out, we need more Clan Heads doing the same thing.” She smiled as she nodded towards their guests on the bow.
“They still don’t trust that I know what I’m doing,” Andy growled as he folded his arms unconsciously and immediately regretted it.
Jackie snorted. “Of course they don’t. You didn’t talk to them or get their permission first. Hell, I’m surprised your grandma didn’t chuck you out on your ear for even suggesting that you should work for the dummy bunnies.” Jackie stretched and hopped up and around Andy to grab a water bottle. “But it’s working out. There’s land being returned, money in our hands, and food about to be on our table. You’re doin’ what a Chief is supposed to do.”
Andy scoffed and started to object. “I’m no Chief-”
Jackie gave his shoulder a slap and grinned evilly as a starburst of pain and burning cut through the painkillers, shutting Andy up mid-protest. “You keep saying you aren’t, but that don’t make it true.” She resumed her seat as Andy fought the yowl of pain back so as not to give her the satisfaction. “I mean, case in point, what are you going to do with all these fish Grammie’s catching for us right now?”
Andy blinked a few times as he regained his composure and thought seriously about his answer. “We’ll pull fifteen for the gathering they got invited to… Then all the fish you can pack into the truck goes to the Exiles. The rest? I’ll call Chuck and get some folks from the Council to claim the rest and distribute it to the families that need it.”
Jackie deepened her voice and adopted a cowboy drawl. “He never eats until he sees the pots are full of meat in the lodges of the widows and orphans-”
“That’s Comanche Law, not Salish, and that’s from a John Wayne movie, you ass.” Andy huffed and Jackie giggled wickedly, flipped him off.
“Still haven’t refuted my point, cuz.” Jackie’s singsong voice caused Andy to glare spitefully at her, until she raised her hands defensively. “Alright, you’re not a Chief. So, Not Chief Tsu’titsi’uqw; you need to get your hands dirty and lead a raid. I’ll scrape up what we need and scout the target. You just meet up with us Saturday night at the Snoqualmish Casino and I’ll put a gun in your hands. Don’t worry, we’ll only get dirty enough to make the Council happy.”
“I’ll be a bit late; I’m escorting them to the Hwatcom Family Gathering on Friday.” Andy took a step back as Jackie stood up and twisted a bit to stretch out.
“No surprise there, grandpa’s an old school traditional Indian. They’re dummies, but they’re trying to do right by us, finally. Again, thanks to you, Chie-” Andy slapped the back of her head hard and growled at her, but she just started laughing, making him even madder.
“Alright, enough. Let’s get on the bow and not look like we’re sketchy Indians plotting to attack an Imperial fort.” Andy snarled, shoving her past him while she just kept laughing.
Andy stomped forward, aware of the wet sounds his boots made as he walked. Kalai turned and smiled at him as he moved to stand beside her and her father. “So how are they doing out there?”
“They just started their attack. This is fascinating! Their coordination, their ingenuity, and adaptation to human activity is astounding! I wish I had brought observation drones!” Sakalbi was glued to the binoculars and holding her omnipad up while she muttered observations into the speaker. Andy was content to watch as the pod put on a repeat performance and the net sagged again until they all came up and started swimming lazily around the net and the boat. All of them except Butterball and one of his older brothers. The two seemed to be getting into a jumping contest.
“He’s feeling a bit hyper. Must be nice to be full,” Jackie commented as the two whales took turns jumping out of the water and twisting in the air. Andy smiled and nodded and felt a hand go to his shoulder. He looked down and saw it was Kalai making eyes at him. Andy hid the grimace at the burn and gave her a wink.
“That one’s getting closer, should we be concerned?” Andy looked over at Dr. He’osforos and Kalai quickly moved her hand as they watched Butterball getting closer and closer with each jump.
Jackie hopped up and straddled the railing as Andy and Kalai shared a concerned look. Jackie hooked a hand around one of the roller horns and peered down into the water. “I don’t think so, I mean he knows we’re-”
The sudden appearance of a flying adolescent Orca only a scant few feet away from the boat right next to the lot of them cut Jackie off. Most of them only had enough time to watch the little playful bastard hang in the air for a moment before he twisted to almost shoulder punch the water as he came back down. Andy had just enough presence of mind to pull Kalai and her father down, and braced himself as the plume of water rose from where Butterball landed.
“Oh shi-” Andy heard Jackie say before water cascaded down on them and drenched them all, sending the boat rocking violently.
It took a moment for Andy to recover and he helped the two Shil back to their feet. “Quick check, is everyone alright?”
“HEY! WHAT THE HELL, BUTTERBALL! GRAMMIE! YOU HAVE A TALK WITH YOUR GRANDSON! HE’S GONNA GET SOMEONE KILLED ONE OF THESE DAYS!” Jackie screamed at the water, shaking her fist.
A camera shutter sounded and a dripping wet Mrs. Vaida stood, wide eyed in fear, staring out over the water.
Andy started laughing at the sight of his boss soaked to the bone, her hair and her fur a dripping mess. “That picture right there? You can title it: ‘Angry Native Woman Yells at Whale.’”
Kalai looked like she was on Krek’s doorstep. Akil’eas knelt next to her as he finished his examination and was looking over the readings on his omnipad. His daughter sat in front of the cabin on the little step, legs splayed out in front of her while she leaned against the railing on the side of the boat. Her father stood next to her as he finished a quick check of her vitals and her viral load.
“Unsurprisingly, you’re a bit elevated, but given your numbers over the last week, that’s saying that you’ve come back up to your normal levels.” Akil’eas had been worried. When they’d hauled in the net the second time, Kalai had stayed on the bow with the boy, Andy, while Akil’eas’d stood over the human woman’s shoulder and studied the controls.
Akil’ieas had also pitched in and helped fill the hold, but when he and Sakalbi could no longer stuff them in, they’d given up and stood out of the way. His old friend and colleague had spent the rest of the time recording, either the large predators that continued to circle and play around the boat, or the seemingly inefficient fishing practice of Andy and his people. No wonder he was so big, and his brother had been that strong. It beggared belief that their people worked at that backbreaking pace for so long, but there Andy stood, proud and tall at the end of it, while he and Sakalbi struggled to stay standing.
Akil’eas had to focus on keeping his hands from shaking and retrieved another water bottle for his exhausted daughter. Andy had them moving at a slow pace back towards a different harbor from the one they’d left that morning. They’d stopped briefly at the pier they’d started from to allow Jackie to disembark. The two humans packed all the fish that couldn’t fit in the hold up to Jackie’s truck and filled the bed of it without any help. She drove off with close to a hundred fish.
Now with the deck cleared, Andy told them they were on their way to the harbor most of his Band used. The trip had been slower going than the morning had been, but only because they were riding much lower in the water than they had been.
“King Triton’s farewell,” Kalai muttered looking up. Akil’eas followed his daughter’s gaze up to see a flock of white and gray seabirds calling out loudly as they kept pace with the boat as it headed towards the docks.
“It means work’s almost over. It’s a great sound, isn’t it?” Andy called out from the cabin where he sat at the helm.
Kalai shifted herself with great effort to look around the door to the cabin. “It sounds amazing.”
The smile Andy gave Kalai caused Akil’eas to have a pang of fatherly protectiveness, and only fatigue kept the scowl off his face. “Just wait, we’ll clean a few once we’ve off-loaded to the families. Fresh salmon tonight for everyone, and I’m cooking! Doc, we’d love to have you, too.”
“I’d love to but-”
Kalai grabbed his arm and stopped him. “Trust me, Papa, you don’t want to miss it.”
Akil’eas chewed his tongue for a moment, looking from Andy to Kalai. Sakalbi caught his eye and nodded emphatically. “Alright, if you’ll allow me to help. You must be exhausted.”
Andy beamed at Akil’eas, “You won’t hear me turn down free help.”
“Vaascon fellas don’t have no frills, Haul away, haul away! They’re plain and skinny as a lodthfish gill, And we’re bound away for Vaasconia!”
Kalai sat back and started singing between sips of water. Akil’eas sat down next to her and joined in the chorus for a Vaascon sailing song. It was strange to think that these humans also sang to their sea gods to placate them and coordinate the work. What else could you expect from a sailorman? Some things call to the soul across time and evidently even the gulf space and peoples.
“So heave him up my Turry Turry girls, Haul away, haul away! Heave him up and let the sails unfurl! And we’re bound away for Vaasconia!”
Andy’s voice joining in on the chorus startled Akil’eas and Kalai and they both turned to look back at him.
He gave them another wide grin, “I started learning some of the sail songs after Kalai told me about sailing on Shil.”
“Akil’eas, a word?” Sakalbi motioned with her head towards the bow and offered him a hand up. He followed her to the bow, leaving the two children singing together.
The harbor mouth was coming up fast, and between the noise of the engine and the net drum keeping them out of sight, there was some privacy. “I’ve heard some rumors about your feelings toward humans…” Sakalbi leaned against the railing, giving him the look that every teacher and professor had when questioning a belligerent student. When Akil’eas didn’t answer her, save to throw her back his own look, she continued. “Kalai is quite taken with Andy. It’s been quite a refreshing thing to see her come out of her shell.”
“It’s a vacation romance, nothing more.” Akil’eas felt his stomach clench and couldn’t stop himself from looking back.
“I don’t think so, Akil’eas. This is the first time I’ve seen her so on thorns and thistles around anyone, much less a male. She’s been very keen around him.” The smile she gave him was a bit galling, but he had to admit, he didn’t really know Kalai as well as Sakalbi and her spouses.
“He is… I’m sure he is a very nice young man, but as a fit consort for a soon to be Duchess? No, and I’ve yet to meet a human that is.” The thought of a human becoming the next Duke He’osforos was absurd. Sure there had been the occasional non-Shil Kho-liebhaberin or even the one Duke Aurar’ian He’osforos who was a Triki, but a human? “They’re far too individualistic and self centered to rise to the responsibilities of the Peerage.”
“That’s not exactly as large a sample size as you think it is, Leas. If you had Andy in your class, or on your crew, disregarding the fact that he’s human, what would your read on him be?”
Akil’eas locked his jaw and pursed his lips, defiantly. “I don’t know.”
“Come on, Leas, you’re better than me at reading people, and I’m damn good at it.” He hated how Sakalbi’s eyes flashed and her right ear would twitch when she thought she had the upper hand in an argument. He huffed a sigh and decided to play her little game, just to humor her enough so that she’d drop the subject.
“Dependable, fastidious and competent, judging by the state of his equipment and his boat. Self sacrificing, diligent, hard working, given what I’ve observed today. He’s got a temper, but it takes a bit to get there, and he’s carrying some pretty heavy emotional scars.” He’d not seen very much of Andy, but the old Sailing Master and Professor in him started to come out and assess the boy just as he would any of his students or junior sailors.
“That’s my read, too. Doesn’t sound so individualistic and self-centered to me. Blighted Nature, Leas, from what I’ve learned about him and his people, he broke with several of their traditions and customs to help us. He’s stuck his neck out far further for us than we would have for him and his people, for no other reason than to try and save his homeland. Were he an Erbian on Myr or even back home in Vaasconia, there’d be Groom-War over his hand.”
Akil’eas was a bit piqued about her statement, “What about your daughter? Kalai made no secret about little Sitry mooning after him, and her disapproval of their courtship.”
“She thinks she’s in love, and it very well might be that she is, but Kalai’s disapproval should tell you what it tells me, given your own rather astute assessment of the man.”
“HEY DOC! TAKE THE WHEEL, I GOTTA DRUM US IN!” Andy’s voice cut their conversation short as Akil’eas turned to look back around the drum. Andy waved him back as he slowed their approach to come in. “Take us to Dock 5, straight back and to port.”
“Straight back and to larboard, aye!” Akil’eas rattled off as he traded places with Andy at the helm.
Kalai heaved herself up to stand as Andy grabbed a large leather circle and ran forward to jump up on the bow. As Akil’eas piloted the boat into the harbor and made the turn, he saw a large crowd of humans gathered on the pier and the shore. As soon as they were in sight, he watched as Andy, standing tall, began to drum a beat and vocalize, projecting his voice over the water to those on shore. Akil’eas sputtered a bit in surprise as he guided the boat slowly towards the open mooring.
“That’s their call. His family’s song lets the people on shore know who he is and that he’s friendly.” Kalai looked back at Akil’eas before moving inside the cabin to stand next to her father. “All the families know it, but only he is allowed to sing it. It’s their version of a family crest and coat of arms. Elder Hwatcom taught us about those. There’ll be a reply in a second granting us permission to come ashore.”
There was indeed a response of drumming and singing from the assembly of humans as many started to crowd forward carrying what appeared to be coolers. Andy reappeared and took the controls back and reversed to kill their forward momentum as Sakalbi threw out their mooring lines to the waiting humans. Andy killed the engine and moved quickly out of the cabin to speak in a language that Akil’eas did not recognize. There seemed to be a bit of confusion from those gathered on the dock, but Andy opened the hatch to show the hold full of fish.
“Don’t thank me, thank them. Sockeye and Kings to all comers, courtesy of the Vaidas and the Vaida Warren!” Andy shouted happily in Vatikre as he pulled two giant fish out by their gills and handed them off to the applauding humans.
Sakalbi managed to shoot Akil’eas a smug look before she plunged her hands into the mass of fish and began helping Andy hand them out to the people.
First:
https://www.reddit.com/Sexyspacebabes/comments/yz0u3h/the_cryptid_chronicle_chapter_1/
Previous:
https://www.reddit.com/Sexyspacebabes/comments/13tppad/cryptid_chronicle_chapter_30/
Next:
Possible Late Post Due to Vacation. I will try to post on time, but it may be as late as 6/12/23

I just want to see if I was justified in what I did or was I jerk. Also what do you guys do if you get weird feeling about a job?
Got a call at 12am for Lockout. 30 min drive, half alseep. Almost to my destination no one on the road. (small town) Start slowing down to take the right hand turn. I see a car stopped at the stop sign running with a man in the driver seat. In the left hand lane. Then out out of my peripheral vision (not made the turn yet) on a dangerous blind corner is a lady starting at me. In the dark. No flash light. She's not on the phone. She is trying to get in front of my van and half waves. Just weird. I merge over in the bike lane. My Spidey Spence hit told me Keep trucking. I punched the gas and kept going.
What would y'all have done? Was I wrong and should have asked if they broke down?
Also how do y'all handle situations that feel off with a customer, Especially ones when your already at there house? Thanks.

Hi! Honestly this is my last resort to get unbiased advice, I’ve spoken to friends, we’ve spoken to his family, I’ve even chatted to my coworkers about it. Sorry it’s so long, TLDR at the end.
We’ve been dating for over a year with a driving distance of just under 3 hours between us. We took our relationship seriously since the first month we started dating and we want all the same things got our future.
We met because I work remotely and I was visiting the headquarters of the place I work at, he lives and works in that area.
I live in a major city, he lives in a small town that is joked about for not being a nice place to live. He moved there for his job, moving him 5 hours away from his family and friends. I moved to the city I live in after covid, I have no family here, I have some friends here, mostly I’m attached to the city because I chose it. I moved around over 15 times before the age of 18, none of the moves were my choice so I never felt like I had a hometown, let alone a home. It’s a cool city, industrious, lots of opportunities and good activities for our age range.
This is the only long distance relationship either of us have been in, and we’ve both been honest that we wouldn’t have done it if it weren’t for how much we click. From 3 months in, we started talking about wanting to live together, we just want each other in our lives, we’ve both said that if it weren’t for long distance, if we were living in the same town, we probably would have already been living out of each others places.
Early on, I suggested moving to his town later down the line, but he did not want me to. He doesn’t like the town, he never wanted to settle there and always imagined moving away after two years, he’s now been there for two years. My workplace have discouraged me from moving there even though their HQ is there, even they are trying to move out of that town. They want to set up an office in my city, and want me to be a part of setting it up.
We decided in January to set a date of June for my boyfriend to move to my city. He started applying for jobs in March and it has not been going well. He was honest with his current employers that he’d need hybrid or remote to stay working with them and they have been very difficult about this.
They offered him hybrid, we found a flat, put down an offer, were accepted to rent it…. Then his work took away the offer. They’ve asked him why I can’t move there. He’s had to put an application in to explain why. My city is also closer to his family and friends.
So now we’re stuck. We have signed a contract for a new flat, we don’t know if we should pull out of it or keep it for me to live in until he moves here (if… he can). If we do that, it’s expensive. It’ll be tight until he can move here, if he can’t, we’re locked in the contract for 6 months and still doing long distance. My current flat’s contract is up soon (landlord already found new tenants) if we get rid of the new flat, and I move into his flat in his town, we’ll save a lot of money until he gets a job in the city and we can move there… but we piss off that apartment building by pulling out of the contract.
Honestly I feel insane at this point, we’ve thought about the options so much that it’s hard to tell any sense from them. We’ve also thought about moving to cities in the middle of where we both live, but it feels like a lose-lose and isolating as we’ll both know no one.
We’re both tired, we love each other and just want to see each other every day, every day apart feels like a waste.
Part of me is like, fuck it, I’ll move to his town until he gets a job. But, that opens up a whole other box of worms. My employers have about 40 employees in this town, it’s not a large town. My boyfriend runs into my colleagues every time he leaves his flat. My colleagues even live on the same road and in the same building as him. I don’t know how I’d handle being in a small town surrounded by my colleagues at every turn. I’ve worked hard to move to the city I live in, I’m scared that I could end up stuck in a place I hate. I don’t have an emergency fund, so if we broke up there, my name wouldn’t be on his lease, so I could be in a very difficult position. In smaller worries, moving into a new place together is one thing, moving into a place one partner has lived in as their own for two years is very different.
What do we do? Is there anything I’m missing here?
TLDR: in a relationship for over a year with 3 hours distance, he wants to move to my city, but is struggling to find a job here, he doesn’t want me to move to his town and neither do my workplace, moving to somewhere in the middle is pointless, we’re sick of long distance

ChocoPro 314: GanPro Returns Need something to do tomorrow morning (or to check out after you wake up!)? Ichigaya has you covered! The Special Early Morning Episode features Akki teaming up with “May” Suruga once again to take on the Showa Era shooters, Mei Suruga (classic) taking on Smiling Violence Sayaka, and EGG TART welcomes Shota (teaming with Ichigaya’s Lucky Charm, Miya!) for his first official appearance on the regular show. Let’s Go, ChocoPro!
🍫 CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK! ChocoPro 314 🍫 Ken Ohka & Baliyan Akki VS Tokiko Kirihara & Cherry, Mei Suruga VS Sayaka, and EGG TART (Hagane Shinno & Chie Koishikawa) VS GanPro’s Shota & Miya Yotsuba! It airs TOMORROW at 4 am EDT / 1 am PDT / 9 am BST / 5 pm JST. Live and Free on YouTube!
This link will be updated with a direct one when available

Don't forget to Adjust Your Volume, Wrestling is Loud!

Change the stage, escape the normal! ChocoPro is built different. Find out why wrestlers like it so much: Find a new home on the bleeding edge. (This is not your regular wrestling show.) Join us for this episode, or check out the back catalog of 17 wonderful Seasons on the Gatoh Move ChocoPro YouTube channel...260+ episodes with stories and pro-wrestling like you've never seen. New to the promotion? It features a roster of skilled veterans, rising stars, and wonderful guests fighting in the ChocoPro Arena: Ichigaya Chocolate Square. Subscribe for more content than just the live matches! (AEW Watch Alongs, Discussions, Interviews, Food Challenges, etc) Even if you can't catch it live, don't sweat it! It will still be available on the channel.

Ken Ohka 🤠 (as May Suruga) & Baliyan Akki ♠️

VS

Tokiko “Otoki” Kirihara 💃 & Cherry 🍒

Best Bros?

Ken Ohka, the hero of Ganbare Pro-wrestling, is basically a regular part of ChocoPro as well at this point. When he’s not working with food at DDT’s restaurant Ebisco Sakaba with Obi or getting the crowd roaring at GanPro, he’s spearing someone out of their boots in Ichigaya! This man is enthusiastic about everything he does, even when he is occasionally pretending to be Mei Suruga. Now that “May Suruga” has been officially recognized, be careful not to be overwhelmed by his charm. Baliyan Akki & Mei, the regular Best Bros, are one of the greatest Tag Teams out there. Baliyan Akki keeps a serene attitude while dealing out some of the most devastating strike combo’s you’ll ever witness. The “Zephyr of Ichigaya” is among the best when it comes to in ring quality, but how well will he handle this replacement Mei? Ken & Akki have teamed together in the past (especially in GanPro!), but this false version of the beloved tag team is still untested. How will the Apple Substitution go? Can the Ace find that awesome synergy with a different “Mei”?
Cherry Comaneci returns!? The Showa Era Shooters Tokiko “Otoki” Kirihara & Cherry are two of a kind! Will these two show the boys the power of their physical perfection? Otoki is a very down to earth fighter for the most part, bringing a vicious realism that is a bit more visceral than a lot of the high characters of ChocoPro! Though the Iron Claw user might occasionally pull off a Comaneci Taunt or torturous twist, she's known for her ungodly kicks and throws...She was a champion Kickboxer, after all! Mischievous Fortune Teller Cherry also brings a lot of ground work and technical prowess, being able to slickly roll into pins and armbars. Cherry is one of the scariest grapplers to grace Ichigaya, considering she even gives a rough time to a lot of the power fighters! Can the False Best Bros bring down these dynamic pair?

Mei Suruga 🍎

VS

Sayaka 👗

Apple Violence

Whether you know her as the Apple Goblin or the Big Apple Girl, Mei Suruga is a vast sea of charisma. The real Red Fairy of Ichigaya tends to convert new viewers into her “dummies” quite quickly, even the coldest heart finding it hard to resist her charm and explosive wrestling ability...despite her being so utterly rotten most of the time! She is undeniably a rising star of the Joshi world...making appearances for STARDOM, TJPW, DPW, AEW, Evolution Girls, DDT, and many more! Though the Goblin tends to appear mostly in tags at Ichigaya these days, singles are a rare tasty treat for her: Mei loves getting an opportunity to be a goblin the entire match! With her 5th Anniversary in the rear view, the Apple Road continues...with a pit stop in violence city.
“I'm gonna kill you! Yayyyyy!” While she has become infamous for her unsettling quotes, “Smiling Violence” Sayaka is known more for her ungodly striking power. Those explosive forearms and pinpoint dropkicks stagger even the toughest opponents! Sayaka’s unnerving cheerfulness while she does brutal things provides her with a big presence in the square. That unattached joy will eventually be the stuff of legends! (After all, she’s “happy to beat someone”!) Don't forget, Sayaka hangs out around Minoru Suzuki and survives to tell the tale...This photogenic phenom is on the rise, keep an eye on her! After the Lucky Violence team managed to deliver some brutality during the Birthday Gauntlet, Sayaka will be delighted to bring more pain to the Apple Goblin.

EGG TART (Chie Koishikawa 🏵️ & Hagane Shinno ⚔️)

VS

GanPro’s Shota ⚾ & Miya Yotsuba 🍀

Mr. SHOWTIME

Chie Koishikawa & Hagane Shinno, the combination known as EGG TART, are a hot and cold team. Opposites definitely attract, and the polar attraction results in some of the craziest team attacks you will ever witness! “Too Much Energy” Chie brings an uncontrollable excitement wherever she goes (including to the recently rebooted GanJo), sprinting around the Square and delivering lightning quick striking...often from the air! Her tightly locked Stretch Mufflers and eye catching arm drags will have you shouting as much as she does. The Frantic Fencer is one of the most popular characters in all of ChocoPro! Her Wintery partner on the other hand is a remorseless killing machine...and the Super Asia Champion. Hagane’s icy ferocity usually brings about ugly thuds via heavy striking and brutal slams. The “Cold Killer” earned his epithet by easily dispatching some of the best the promotion has to offer. This ageless assassin only shows emotion around his chaotic partner...and together they amplify each others personalities. These two have limitless potential, and now that Hagane has the Big Blue Belt they will also have limitless enemies looking for an opportunity! Speaking of which...
Shota, GanPro’s charismatic underdog technician, finally makes his official ChocoPro Debut! He might give off some of the same vibes as “Generic Masa” from long ago, but there is nothing generic about Shota! This world traveling jump suit enthusiast impresses everywhere he goes, so expect Ichigaya to be no different. Anticipate a lot of flowing transitions and crisp technique! With an unbeatable in ring IQ and a talent for complex pinning skills, “Mr. SHOWTIME” is going to be a great support for his Rookie partner: The Avatar of the Fifth Generation, Miya Yotsuba! “Ichigaya’s Lucky Charm” Miya brings a strength empowered style that is quite flashy (especially that Miya Hammer)! Our new powerhouse has begun a series of difficult matches against her seniors (joining gangs and facing clowns, fortune tellers, drunks, cannibals, and the truly wild), in order to speed up her adjustment to Ichigaya’s strange (and vicious) world. Teaming up with guests is a common theme in ChocoPro, so this will be a great test for the Mint-Green Bruiser...especially with a guest this good! Good Luck, Miya!
Let’s Go ChocoPro, Let’s Go GanPro!
Come and see the wild creativity that produced Two of the Seven AEW Women's World Champions! (Both of which have appeared on ChocoPro!) You'll be wondering if you're seeing future champs, as well. ChocoPro is the Frontier of Pro Wrestling! Match after match of hard hitting, chaotic, fun bouts with a friendly online audience. We're quickly growing, and you're welcome to come along!
Here are some Frequently Asked Questions:

“What is this?”

ChocoPro is a free online promotion run by AEW's Emi Sakura, that takes place in the legendary Ichigaya Chocolate Square! It features a steady pace of live Episode releases, fan interaction, season long story arcs, and much more! A place where the turnbuckles are replaced with 14th floor windows, the ropes are often replaced with fans, unforgiving walls provide creative avenues for skills otherwise unthinkable, and you can take solace in knowing that the referees usually do nothing. While it might be a shocking change at first, the intensity and storytelling will leave you wanting more.

“Why are they fighting in ____?”

Short answer is that it is a cost effective, unique venue with a better availability schedule and allows the roster access for training. Emi Sakura has been using this place for a long time, and you might be surprised at some of the names that have used it (even outside of ChocoPro!). There are a few in-ring Episodes and Gatoh Move has in ring shows with crowds on the YouTube channel. Think of it like the Hart Dungeon but as a promotion, if that helps!

”What are the rules?”

While special match stipulations will usually be explained before the respective matches, the general rules of ChocoPro are simple. Pins only count on the Chocolate Mat and are not broken by the edge or Wall. Submissions usually only count on the Chocolate Mat, and ARE broken by reaching the edge or wall (sometimes ceiling...). Double pins and Double submissions are legal (and encouraged) in ChocoPro Tag matches, meaning cohesive teams will always have the advantage! Count Outs only exist if specified, since many matches stray from the comfort of the Chocolate Square into the streets (and the rest of the building itself!) There is a Time Limit for each bout (based on card placement and importance) and the Referee has discretion (even if they tend to do nothing most of the time!). Every Ref is different, some have different levels of bias and speed.

“How can I support them?”

Watch the show! Even if you can't see it live, the views matter! Like & Subscribe! You can join the Channel's membership for different tiers of perks...but also, you can buy single episode Sponsorship, Digital autographed photos, and more on their shop site as well as purchase shirts from PWTees (which features some great options!) If you'd like to donate or purchase a main wall sponsorship, you can via Paypal or Patreon...and don't forget to cheer for your favorites! (especially if you want to do a superchat!)

”How come there aren’t a lot of comments on the threads?”

ChocoPro is a YouTube show, meaning the discourse happens live...in the chat! Those that comment in the threads on here tend to do so in order to help new viewers that might be intimidated by the fast moving chat. Don’t be afraid to just dive in though, the community is friendly.

“Why are you posting this here? / Are you paid for this?”

This is a wrestling forum, and I'm trying to broaden the horizons of others! There is a lot of good wrestling out there...Plus growing the fan base means more people for me to joke around with! I honestly do believe this is what a lot of fans are looking for, even if it is too different for some! But different tastes are good. Variety is the spice of life. This is a labor of love (it really doesn't take that long) considering how much work they do to put on so many shows...for free!
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me on here or on Twitter, where I’m everywhere! ChocoPro is going to the UK!
Season Tracker: We're 14/18 into Season 18! (Each Season is usually around 18 episodes)

TL;DR course is beautiful, race is super well organized, would recommend.

Race Information

• Name: Revel Rockies Half
• Date: June 3, 2023
• Distance: 13.1 miles
• Location: Denver, CO
• Website: https://www.runrevel.com/rdv
• Time: 1:28:52

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed?
A	Have a good time	Yes
B	Sub-90	Yes

Splits

Mile	Time
1	6:50
2	6:46
3	6:26
4	6:50
5	6:52
6	6:46
7	6:52
8	7:13
9	7:12
10	6:27
11	6:35
12	6:31
13	6:10
13.1	1:28:52

Training

This was my 4th half of the year. In January, I ran the Kaiser Half in San Francisco and finished with a 1:30:24. This race - Revel Rockies - was the last in a series of three, over 2 months: The Get in Gear Half in Twin Cities, MN (1:31:07), and the Brooklyn Half in NYC (1:30:02).
Between all these races, I followed a weekly schedule of one speedwork day and one long run, with lots of easy miles thrown in.
Because I had come pretty close in Brooklyn, and the Revel Rockies course has a net downhill of about 1,700 feet, I thought I’d have an excellent chance of going sub-90, and maybe it’d even feel easy! (it didn’t)

Pre-race

I got to Denver Wednesday that week. This year, I planned my race calendar around cities where I have friends; in this case, Denver is where the designer on my team lives, so she and I worked together for a bit, but we also hit up the kid’s casino (Round1) to play some claw machine games. Obviously, the house always wins, but we did win a bunch of soft toys for ourselves and a children’s hospital nearby, so let’s call it a draw.
While we were working together on Thursday, I was nursing a headache, and it suddenly dawned on me to ask: “Are we at altitude?” (lol). Being a mile up from sea level explained why I was feeling so trashy for the last 48 hours - that, combined with the person in the next door hotel room deciding to smoke throughout the day/night (???)
On Friday, I went for a short 3 mile trail run and was significantly more winded than I should/would have been for the route. Still, I was pretty confident the significant downhill would win out - it’d just feel a bit sucky.

Race

To get to the start line, everyone had to park near Bandimere Speedway and take a bus up the mountain so we could run down it.
With a 6:30am start, the first bus left at 4:30am, which in turn had me waking up at 3am to eat 3 bagels and drink a triple espresso. I went to bed at 8pm and had a pretty decent sleep, all things considered.
In terms of organization, I didn’t really know what to expect, but as I pulled into the parking lot and saw a long line of neatly parked school busses waiting to take runners up, I started to get excited - the whole scene had the vibe of a school trip; one where you’re either up super early or super late to go somewhere fun.
I had originally planned to nap on the way up, but I happened to sit next to a really nice lady and we chatted throughout the ride. I’m not sure I would have been able to fall asleep after all that coffee anyway.
We got to the starting line around 5ish and it was a little chilly, but the organizers had provided everyone with heat blankets, gloves, and arm sleeves, which was super thoughtful, and definitely came in handy. I used the bathroom, warmed up, went to the bathroom again, before lining up at the starting line.
Unlike my last race in Brooklyn, where I had a pretty detailed pace plan, I was going to take the first couple of miles easy (1:30 pace at most), and then run the rest of the race by effort. The course has a couple of rolling hills, but the elevation profile pretty much looks like a right angled triangle, starting at about 8,000ft and dropping to around 6,000ft, so it’s not really that complicated. Having said that, there was some mild elevation gain in the course: 174ft (for reference, Brooklyn had 236ft).
The course actually started with some rolling hills, which helped me stick to my plan of not going out too fast; I took my foot off the gas when going uphill, and let some faster runners pass.
The rest of the race consisted of winding roads downhill, with a couple of smaller hills (the 7min+/mile splits). Running at altitude definitely felt different. I usually race with a heart rate in the 170s-180s, but I was getting winded in the high 160s, and my heart rate never made it above 176, despite me feeling like I was pushing plenty hard. Also, the small hills felt like a lot more work than normal. I’m not sure if it was because I’d been running downhill the rest of the time and my muscles were thrashed, or I didn’t have the cardio capacity because of the altitude, or both.
In any case, the course was gorgeous - you’re surrounded by mountains pretty much the whole race, and they closed one of the road lanes, so you’ve lots of space to run.
This was a smaller (~1,200 people for the half) race, so there wasn’t a lot of passing/being passed going on. A small group of runners took off at the start, and other than a handful of times I was passed/passed someone, I was running by myself.
For the last few miles, the gradient got even steeper, and so I managed to clock some faster miles, and by the time mile 11 came around, I knew that unless something stopped me from putting together two 7:10-7:20 miles, I was going to come in at under 90 minutes. The last 200m though, was actually uphill, but I had enough in the tank to sprint to the finish line and was pleasantly surprised to find out that I’d come in 3rd in my age group.

Post-race

I have to say that this was one of the most well organized races I’ve run. The finisher’s area was right next to a creek and really picturesque. They had lots of great snacks and vendors offering samples. There was also a beer garden (that I didn’t check out). After checking out some of the booths, I took the bus back down to the parking lot and went back to my hotel.
In addition to doing a great job with the logistics, the organizers also put together many small touches that made the event special. For example, immediately after the finish line, you could get your results printed on a nice card. Also, the age group awards were a white embroided band that they attached around your medal ribbon, which I hadn’t seen before and thought it looked really cool :D There were also lots of photo opportunities, including a cool “R E V E L” sculpture-thing that lots of people (myself included) were taking photos in front of.
It definitely felt like they went out of their way to put on a great race!
Overall, I had a great time and would definitely consider running another Revel event.
Made with a new race report generator created by herumph.

video of the glitch: https://streamable.com/ququks
I have tried:
- reinstalling XPMSE
- running Nemesis
- Reinstalling Skyrim
none of it works to fix it.
If I run FNIS at the same time as Nemesis the jump works, but then I can't use MCO, wich for me doesnt work.
Modlist is here:
(Part 1) SSE Engine Fixes for 1.5.39 - 1.5.97

1. Ultimate HD Fire Effects SSE - Ultra Resolution

A Quality World Map - Classic with All Roads
AC Valhalla Inspired Animation For All Races
AC Valhalla Inspired Animations For Player Only
Achieve That SE English
Address Library
Animation Motion Revolution
Apachii Divine Elegance Store
Apocalypse
Ars Metallica - Smithing Enhancement
Better Jumping SE
Better Third Person Selection (AE - SE)
Beyond Skyrim - Assets
Beyond Skyrim - Bruma
Beyond Skyrim DLC Integration Patch
Billyro's OldSwords
Billyro's Weapons
Bruma and Other Patches for Convenient Horses
Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Enhancer -CBBE-
Cannibal Draugr on Solstheim
Complete Crafting Overhaul Remastered
Complete Widescreen Fix for Vanilla and SkyUI 2.2 and 5.2 SE
Convenient Horses
Crafting Categories for SkyUI
customEbonyValkyrie1_2.7z
dTry's Key Utils SE
DynamicAnimationCasting
Elden Power Attack
Elden Rim - Weapon Arts English 1.9.9.2
ENB Helper SE 1.5 for SSE 1.5.97
Enhanced Blood Textures
Equippable Tomes - Belt-Worn Books - Special Edition
EVG Animation Variance
EVG Conditional Idles
Faster HDT-SMP
FSMPV
HD Reflective Ebony Armor and Weapons
Home in a Hat updated
Immersive Armors 8.1 SSE Test
Immersive Equipment Displays for 1.5.39 - 1.6.353
Immersive Equipping Animations
Immersive Interactions
Immersive Weapons
Interesting NPCs 3DNPC
JackGa's Pub - SE
JContainers SE
Kozakowy's Falka Armor UNP - SSE
KS Hairdos - HDT SMP (Physics)
KS Hairdos SSE
LeanWolf's Better-Shaped Weapons - All in One Installer
Legacy of the Dragonborn
Legacy of the Dragonborn Collectors and Vendors
Leviathan Animations II - Sprint
MCM Helper SE (1.5.97 BACKPORT)
MCO Universal Support
Nordic Faces - Complete Version
NORDIC UI - Interface Overhaul
Nordic...ish - A TrueHUD preset based on Nordic UI
Oblivion Camera
Ordinator 9.31.0
Ordinator Beyond Skyrim Bruma Patch
Papyrus Ini Manipulator
PapyrusUtil SE - Scripting Utility Functions
Payload Interpreter
powerofthree's Tweaks
Precision
RaceMenu Anniversary Edition
Realistic Water Two SE
SCAR - Skyrim Combos AI Revolution
Scriptfree Behavior Staggerlock
SkyHUD
Skyrim Unbound Reborn
Skyrim's Paraglider
SkyrimSE HD Reworked Horses
Skyshards
SkyUI_5_2_SE
Smooth Magic Casting Animation
Soaking Wet
Sonderbain's Chevalier - Randomized One Handed Block Animations
Spell Perk Item Distributor
SSE Display Tweaks
Static Mesh Improvement Mod
True Directional Movement
TrueHUD
Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch
Valhalla Combat
Veydogolt Trees
VioLens - A Killmove Mod SE
Visual Animated Enchants 2-023 Se Ae version
Weapon Styles - Draw-Sheath animations
Witchhunter Spells and Prayers Pack - Special Edition
1three-eyed swallowSE
[immyneedscake] BDOR Berserk SSE (Cloth SMP)
Abyss
ABYSSAL BLADE MCO One Handed Moveset and Weapon
Adaliya - High Poly Female Redguard Presets for Racemenu - 2 Versions
AddItemMenuSE_114_SKSE2019
ADXP I MCO Berserker guts Animation
ADXP I MCO elden rim moveset collection (SCAR)
ADXP I MCO ER Katana (SCAR)
ADXP I MCO ER Mixed Scythe (SCAR)
ADXP I MCO ER rapiers (SCAR)
Aldamar - Druid Mushroom Home
Alpha Jab -Unarmed Combat Sounds Rework-
Amber Guard
Amol Village
AnathemaStudio's Elf Ears (Enchantable)
Ancient Land
Ancient Land Patches
Animated Armoury - DAR Version - New Weapons with animations
Animated Armoury - New Weapons with animations SSE Version
Animation Queue Fix
Apachii Divine Elegance Dynamic Outfits For Nobles SPID
Apocalypse - Balance Patch
Armors of the Velothi Pt. II
ARTFUL DODGER - Dynamic Pickpocket Cap
Awesome Potions Simplified -ENB Lights
Awesome Potions Simplified by Revoith
Base Object Swapper
Beast Race Bodypaints SE -Khajiit and Argonian Themed Bodypaints Facepaints RaceMenu Overlays-
Behavior Data Injector
Better Dialogue Controls
Better Falskaar and Wyrmstooth Map With Roads
Better Vampires 8.7 SE
Bijin Skin - CBBE
Bloodborne Pack by Team TAL SSE
BodySlide and Outfit Studio
Bone Colossus- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SE-AE version) (''undead'')
Bow Charge Plus
Bow_Rapid_Combo_V2_1.4_I_Full
Bright Waterfall Fix for ENB
Campfire - Complete Camping System (Supports Skyrim VR)
Capital Windhelm Expansion
Cathedral - 3D Thicket and Dead Shrub
Cathedral Weathers and Seasons
CBBE SMP (3BBB)
CBPC - Physics with Collisions
CBPC Equipment Physics
CG4 Trees and Bushes SE
Citizens of Tamriel SE
CL's Rapier
Clean up the physics outfit - Collision Reset
Cleaned Skyrim SE Textures
Combat Pathing Revolution
Compass Navigation Overhaul
Comprehensive First Person Animation Overhaul - CFPAO
ConsoleUtilSSE NG
Controlmap.txt Fixed and Cleaned
Convenient Carriages
Corvus - Swords of Nocturnal
Cosmo-War Scythe
Crouch Sliding
Crouch Sliding TUDM Patch - Slide with Your Weapon Drawn
Customizable Camera
Daedric Armor SE
Daedric Shrines - All in One
Dark Brotherhood Armor SE
Dark Souls Pack by Team TAL
Deadly Spell Impacts
Delux ArchMage Quarters plus Mages Kitchen
Detection Meter
Dodge MCO-DXP
Dovahkiin can lean Sit Kneel Lay down and Meditate etc too
Dragon Slayer - Berserk
Dragonbane - Replacer
Drifter Armor and Outfit - My version
Dwarven Colossus - Mihail Monsters and Animals (SE-AE version) (''dwemer'')
Dwemer Colosseum SE
DX Cassandra Frost Witch Outfit - UNP
DX Celes Nightingale Armor SSE - with Optional Heels sound and UUNP Bodyslide - Physics - UNP UNPB 7BB DreamGirl Seraphim and More
DX Druid Armor - SSE CBBE BodySlide (with Physics)
DX Druid Armor - UNP
DX Witch Hunter Armor - UNP
DX Witcher Swords - SE
Dynamic Animation Replacer
Dynamic Bow Animation
Dynamic Female Wall Leaning
Dynamic Impact - Slash Effects X
Ebonblade War Axe SE
Elden Power Attack Fix for MCO DXP
Elemental Fist - Brawler weapons
ELFX Shadows
ElSopa - Quivers Redone SE
Elven Silver Daggers by ClipsyMoon
Embers XD
Emeri's Presets All in One
ENB Light Inventory Fix (ELIF)
Enhanced Lights and FX
Eternal Flames
EVG Animated Traversal - Patch Collection
EVG Animated Traversal Addon for Windhelm Capital Expansion
EVG Animated Traversal Skyrim Integration Patch
Eviscerate
Experience
Experience - MCM
Expressive Facegen Morphs SE
Expressive Facial Animation - Female Edition
Facial Piercings SSE
Faction - Pit Fighter
Falconer Armor SE
Falskaar
Female Makeup Suite - Face - RaceMenu Overlays of Eyeliner EyeShadow Contours and Highlights - Special Edition
Ferrum Nibenis
Festus Krex Insideout Spell
FileAccess Interface for Skyrim SE Scripts - FISSES
Footsteps Sounds Overhaul
Functional Fearsome Fists - Innate Unarmed Boost
God of War Leviathan Axe
Goetia Animations - Magic Spell Casting
Granite Hill Village
Gravelords- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SE-AE version) (''dark souls'')
Griffith Armour SSE fixed and updated
HDT-SMP Infantry Armor Patch
HDT-SMP Three-eyed Swallow Armor Patch
HDT-SMP Traveler's Backpack
Hearthfire multiple adoptions - Now with custom home support for kids and spouse
Hellblade - Timed Block
High Elf Archer (Goblin Slayer) - Jinxxed Followers SSE
High Minotaurs - Mihail Monsters and Animals (SE-AE version) (''eso'')
High Poly Head SE
High-Poly Inigo Replacer
Highly Improved Male Body Overhaul
Hogwarts in Skyrim
Hot Key Skill
House Cats- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SE-AE version) (''pet'')
Hydra's Reversed Daggers
IFrame Generator RE
Ilieh - Cry of the Damned
Immersive Diving Animation
Immersive World Encounters SE
Imps SE
Infantry Armor SE
Infinity UI
INIGO
Inquisitor HDT-SMP Armor
Inventory Interface Information Injector
Ish's Respec Mod
JaySuS Swords SE
JK's Whiterun V1.4b - SSE
JS Unique Utopia SE - Daggers
Judgement Cut End - ap05's Remake
Khajiit Eyes Extended - Khajiit Heterochromia and More
Khajiit Has Wares - A Caravan Camp Overhaul
Khajiit Overhaul SSE Unofficial Port
Knight Winds
Kurone Bell Bodyslide Preset (CBBE 3BA) And (3BA V's Cut)
Lamenthia's Marks of Beauty
Leather Armors Retexture SE
Legendary Alpha Shields
Leviathan Animations II - Female Idle Walk And Run
Leviathan Animations II - Male Idle Walk And Run
Light and Shade SE
Lupus - Swords of Hircine
Mage Backpack SSE
Magical College of Winterhold
Maleficus' Traversal (EVGAT)
Master The Summit
Max's Season 2 - RaceMenu Presets - High Poly - Low Poly - Male - Female
MEMOSPORE - UI Sound Effects
Menu Maid 2 - MCM manager
Mikan Eyes - SE
Missives
Missives - Notes Retexture
monster race crash fix
Moon Monk's Robes
Multiple Followers Framework
Mythic Dawn armor SE
Natura
New Weynon
Nicos Craftable Arrows SSE
No Recoil
No Thieves Guild Grind
Nocturnal Moths
Northern God Armor SE
Oakwood
Odium - Swords of Molag Bal
Ogres SE
Old Gods of the Hunt- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SE-AE version) (''the witcher'')
Opulent Thieves Guild
Particle Patch for ENB
powerofthree's Papyrus Extender
Project ja-Kha'jay
Quality Over Quantity - KS Hairdo's Reduced Plus HG
QuickLoot EE
RaceMenu High Heels (Height Fixes)
Raven HDT-SMP Armor
Realistic Aspen Trees SE
Redguard F Hair Grouped and Replacer
Relationship Dialogue Overhaul - RDO SE
Reversed Daggers Moveset for MCO
Ryn's Dragon Mounds Collection
Ryn's Sleeping Giant Inn
s6o6t LORE - Dark Anchors Ruins and Dolmens
Security Overhaul SKSE - Lock Variations
Security Overhaul SKSE - Regional Locks
SG Female Eyebrows
Show Player In Menus
Silver Armor SE
Simple Dual Sheath
Sindora's Hidden Hearth
SkyALERT - Detection Meter Redesign
Skyland AIO
Skyland Blacksmith Texture Overhaul
Skyrim Immersive Creatures Special Edition
Skyrim Search SE - Simply find your missing followers
Skyshards Offer Skills - Boss Containers Grant EXP
SmoothCam
SmoothCam - EasyEase Preset
Sons of Skyrim
Sprint Sneak Movement Speed Fix
Sswaye's Revenant's Sword Moveset ADXP I MCO DAR
Stave Church of Skyrim
Store Entrance Doorbells
Storm Golem- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SE-AE version) (''atronach'')
Storm Lightning for SSE and VR (Minty Lightning 2019)
Strange Runes
The Eyes Of Beauty SSE
The Welkynar Knight - Quest
To Your Face SE - AE - VR
Triss Armor Retextured SE
Triumvirate - Mage Archetypes
TUDM - Script Fixes
UIExtensions
Unarmed Moveset for MCO
Unique Bows Collection
Valkyr HDT-SMP Hairstyles
Vampire Beasts- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SE-AE version) (''the witcher'')
Vanguard - Bash Behaviors Overhaul
VIGILANT SEAE
VIGILANT Voiced - English Addon
Way of the Monk -Unarmed Combat - Extended
Whiterun Horse Statue
Wild Witch
Wind Ruler Armor SE
Wind Ruler Armor SE - hdt-SMP Patch
Windhelm Bridge Revived
Wyrmstooth
(ESL)HDT-SMP Daedric Armor Patch (4thUnknown Version)
3D Junipers - Trees and Berries
Adventurer HDT-SMP Armor
Air Dash Whirlwind Sprint
Airgetlam - Shouts SFX -
Airgetlam -Modern Magic Sounds Rework- 4.1 Redesigned
Better Ferns
Cabbage - A Cabbage Mod
Calling of the Conjurer
Cathedral - 3D Clover Plant
Constellation Magic
Dear Diary Dark Mode (warm text)
Diverse Dragons Collection SE (DDCse)
Dragon Animation Replace in Special Edition
DX Witcher Armor - UNP
Dynamic Fus Ro Dah
Dynamic Random Spell Idle
Dynamic Whirlwind Sprint
Elden Equip
ElSopa HD Shields Part I
Flame Atronach SE
For Honor in Skyrim I Centurion
For Honor in Skyrim I Gryphon
For Honor in Skyrim I Warden
For Honor in Skyrim I Warlord I Sword and shield I MCO Animation
Frankly HD Masque of Clavicus Vile
Frozen Electrocuted Combustion
Fuz Ro D-oh - Silent Voice
GoT Dragons (A Game of Thrones)
HDT SMP beast race tail
Instantly Skip Dialogue NG
Izba - An Herbalist's Cabin in the Woods
JK's Arcadia's Cauldron
JK's Belethor's General Goods
JK's Bits and Pieces
JK's Blue Palace
JK's Dragonsreach
JK's Palace of the Kings
JK's Radiant Raiment
JK's Skyrim
JK's The Bannered Mare
JK's The Drunken Huntsman
JK's The Winking Skeever
JRC's Witcher Style Sword Pack
Jump Behavior Overhaul SE
Jumping Attack
Kharoxia Armor
Landscapes - Cathedral Concept
League of Assassins Armor
Less Boring Loading Screens - SE-AE
Lux - Via
Markarth - City of Stone
Mysticism - A Magic Overhaul
Nirnroot by Mari
NPCs React To Invisibility
Rainbows Remade
Realistic Skin And Hair Shaders - Giants
Realistic Skin Shaders - Falmer and Hagravens
Remote Interactions
Ryn's Western Watchtower
Skyrim Platform
Spaghetti's Palaces - Dragonsreach
Spaghetti's Solstheim - Raven Rock
Spaghetti's Solstheim - Tel Mithryn
Spriggans SE
Stellaris
Storm Calling Magic
Stylish Dodge Chaos - DMCO
Taunt Your Enemies - Taunting Matters
The Forgotten City
Untarnished UI
Yggdrasil Music and SoundFX
XP32 Maximum Skeleton Special Extended
Attack MCO-DXP
Magical Jumping
Frankly HD Thieves Guild Armors
Desecration
Flames of Coldharbour
Vulcano
Nemesis Unlimited Behavior Engine

It’s that time of year again! Love is in the air along with all the plant jizz, and I am looking for the someone who is willing to venture out into this yellow, dusty mess with me, and then come home and just take a nap before our sinuses close up in anger and we cough ourselves to sleep. I am looking for someone to vent my mundane troubles too, someone that I know would be there to help with whatever may come up, and someone that I can laugh with, someone to cry with, someone that would just run with a crazy idea without hesitation.
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How about it? Wanna get itchy eyes and a runny nose with me?

[←Chapter 55] [Cover Art] [My Links] [Index] [Discord] [Subreddit] [Chapter 57→]
Sorore awoke from the blessed, dreamless sleep of the dead to the sound of thin wind outside the waggon. The morning’s sermon on the nature of mages and magic, as well as the recitation of the night of the Burning Tree, was soothing to her. Doubts that had lingered about her ever since the eruption of fire from the church top were set, if not to rest, but to at least silence.
Frare was still fast asleep, and she knew that nothing short of a blow or a scream would wake him. It was odd that he slept with such security with the energy he displayed in waking life. Upon thinking further, Sorore reckoned that perhaps it wasn’t - the boy needed to recover his strength somehow. She picked at her brother’s cheek gently as she fussed over this feature and that, and pondered the riddles of his overflowing vitality.
The strange inkling came that it was not a matter of energy, so much as it was that he bore his confidence into the well of his dreams.
She was about to pursue this thought further before the sound of quiet footsteps outside snapped her to attention. Quickly, she pulled the blanket over her shoulders and pressed herself to her brother, slowing her breathing. The canvas waggon that had been so graciously supplied to them by the villagers rustled as it was teased apart slowly.
“Are they asleep?” came the voice of Niche.
“Yes,” another voice, Lillian’s, “Yes they’re asleep.”
With another rustle, the canvas fell closed, and after a moment, Sorore heard the distant conversation better. She could only see a glimpse of the paladins, perhaps a dozen steps away or two, sitting by the embers of a fading fire.
“What are we doing Lillian?” said Niche, sounding more tired than she’d ever heard before.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“That’s an understatement,” said Niche with a bitter laugh, “we’re letting the commander have free reign.”
“Quiet down,” whispered Lillian, “let them sleep.”
“Why? Why do we let him?” complained Niche, “the children are our charges, ours. Not his. Is he planning to steal the glory?”
“He outranks us,” said Lillian sourly, “it’s that simple. Not to mention he has a hundred men, good, strong, armed men, at beck and call. We don’t. I had hoped we could settle up in the Alonshaze with Ryzea at our backs but…”
There was a silence that hung heavy in the air. It possessed a conspiratorial quality, which disturbed Sorore. The paladins should announce their contentions boldly; skulking was beneath them.
“Do you think he told the truth? About Ryzea?” Niche said.
Something cold and oily ran through Sorore at the words. Of course Naia had told the truth - there would be no reason to lie, would there?
“The other soldiers from the fort held up his side,” Lillian said, “Half the mountain gave way onto the walls, with Ryzea patrolling atop them if the stories are true. He wasn’t lying about the delay either, I don’t think. It would’ve taken weeks to clear the passes properly.”
“I just wish that… wish that we had some idea what was going on,” Niche said as he played with a dagger, “Why were we sent here? So far, with so little?”
“The mysteries of the church run deep,” said Lillian, in a tone that almost sounded sarcastic.
“Please,” he said, “we only stumbled upon lady Aya by happenstance. My faith runs as deep as anyone, but saying that we were meant to find her… after sixty years of nothing? By better men?”
She could see his face, turned toward Lillian with a pinched expression.
“Lillian,” he said, voice grim, “what is the reason we’re really out here?”
“I don’t know,” she said, “you know full well my information is just as limited as yours.”
“Better than mine, by leagues,” he said, “my family’s not on the council of purity.”
The silence became colder and more hostile at the words.
“Do you think I know everything because of my family?” she said quietly, “Do you think they still talk to me?”
“That wasn’t meant to-”
“What? Indicate your intellect?” she said, “point proven then. Your ability to keep your mouth flapping on the other hand-”
“You want to do this right now? Fine,” Niche said, his voice rising, “You know something. You’ve been acting odd from the first moments of our journey. You have connections, regardless of how estranged you might be. And whatever you know, you’ve been keeping it from us the whole time.”
“Keep your voice down,” she hissed, “no, I don’t know anything, and if I did I-”
“Do you trust me or not?” he said, “would it be different if sister Dalia was still with us?”
Lillian’s voice faltered at that, and Sorore remembered the young, brash paladin who’d set out with them. It was a sparse memory - the warrior had always ranged further afield saying that studies were best left for priests, earning her Niche’s exasperation.
“Fine,” said Niche, “now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll take the first watch. I’ll wake you when it’s time.”
There was a sound of clinking as the paladin rose, and Sorore quickly moved to press herself to Frare’s back. She could hear the sounds of footsteps approaching the waggon once more as she settled in and stilled her breathing. As the flap opened, she let her eyes close and sank into darkness once more.
“May the lost forgive me,” intoned Lillian, before the flaps rustled shut and the footsteps receded into the distance.
For a few minutes, making certain that the paladin had moved onwards, Sorore lay absolutely still near her brother. She rolled over and peeked through the flap, finding no one nearby, she sank her fingers into her brother’s side. He stiffed, eyes snapping open. She was rather envious of her brother for how quickly he moved from rest to alertness.
“What is it?” he whispered, turning over and looking at her.
“It’s… I don’t know, something just happened with Lillian and Niche,” she said.
Frare grew more upright and attentive as she relayed what she had just witnessed outside the waggon.
“Interesting,” he murmured, messing his hair in a way that seemed precisely calibrated to annoy Sorore.
“No. No it’s not interesting,” she said, “it’s horrible. They shouldn’t be fighting like that. I hate it.”
“Calm down,” he said, shrugging, “I’m sure they’ll get past it soon enough. We should tell her.”
He gestured to another bundle of blankets, slightly rising or falling. That started Sorore, who’d not realised that Aya had made her way in. Before she could stop him, Frare had a hand on her shoulder, shaking her more harshly than a lady should’ve been shaken. To that point, Sorore grabbed his wrists and wrenched his hands away from Aya.
“Ow!” he said, rubbing his arms, “what was that for?”
“You’ll never get a wife like that. Treating her so roughly,” she said, shaking her head as her brother shrank from her admonishment.
It took a few gentle pats, but finally Aya was up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Good morning,” she said, looking around, “is it morning?”
“Nope,” said Frare, and told her about the conversation, with Sorore providing close annotation when he strayed from the facts.
Aya looked quizzically from one twin to the other as she processed the information.
“So… what? Lillian’s hiding things? What’s new about that?” she said, “I’m sure there’s lots they don’t tell us.”
“This is different,” Sorore insisted, “this is… I’ve never heard them fight before. Not like this.”
“It’s a good question,” said Frare, and by his hurried voice, she could tell exactly what he was going to say, “I’ve been saying from the start of the trip that-”
“Oh not that fancy again!” she hissed, nearly swearing before catching herself.
“It’s not fancy,” her brother whined, “it’s a good question.”
“What is?” said Aya.
“Well, when we were back in the shattered city, I-”
“Silver,” Sorore corrected him.
“Silver. Silver city. Well, we were always surrounded by paladins, every day, all day. A dozen between the two of us, so-”
“A dozen?” Aya said, looking notably uncomfortable by the prospect.
Sorore huffed at her brother, knowing that he was going to phrase it in the worst way, and make Aya scared. Dauntless, he continued on with his ludicrous theorising.
“Yes, a dozen,” he said, “and they rotated out. Each watch was led by a light lord proper. So, when they sent us out with just three.”
“They said, if you were paying any attention Frare, which you clearly weren’t, that such a large protection force wasn’t needed,” Sorore jeered, on the verge of losing her temper with her brother, “and they said it was about time we experienced the world without protection. That we wouldn’t always have it. Like Leonard.”
Even as she said it however, she could feel something wrong about the statement. They weren’t like Leonard. No one was like Leonard. A shiver passed up her spine as she remembered the gaunt form of their brother in spirit, and his sickly yellow-tinged eyes. But such thoughts were unkind, and besides, Leonard wasn’t the main topic of conversation.
“I don’t believe it,” he said, “we were safe in Angorrah, safer than here.”
“No one knows who we are out here,” she said, “that was also a thing they said, since you clearly weren’t paying attention.”
Frare faltered at that, trying to formulate an argument against it to confirm a conclusion that he’d clearly already reached.
“But there are beasts, and… other things,” Aya said with a shiver of her own, “they wouldn’t care about you.”
“Three paladins are more than enough to deal with beasts, come on,” Sorore said with perfect conviction, “as for the other things, how would they know?”
Aya muttered vague assent, but Sorore could tell she wasn’t convinced.
“What?” she demanded, “what is it?”
“Nothing,” she said, “but it still seems a little odd. Maybe we should just ask Lillian about it?”
“No!” both twins rounded on her, possibly a little too loud.
“What? Why?” she said, “if someone’s keeping something from you, you should at least ask them. If they say no, then you drop it.”
It was said with such perfect ease that Sorore could see Aya asking every question she ever thought out loud to her parents. There would be some things you never asked in polite society, and the girl would have to know to avoid embarrassment. Making a mental note of teaching her about it later, Sorore chose to discontinue the point.
“I’m sure it's just an odd patch. We’ve been through some strange things,” she said, “nothing much to worry about. Let’s go back to bed, before we wake up Lillian.”
After some humming and hahhing, the trio pulled the blankets onto themselves, and fell fast asleep.
The morning, when it came, was quite beautiful, as far as mornings in the mountains went anyways. They rode along in the wagon, Niche drive, and Lillian riding alongside and ahead. The road was a rough beaten tract through the trees, but it had seen enough use to minimise the worst of the bumps and shakes. Sorore had engaged Aya in a childhood game of Shoesal, using a pouch of numbered tiles she’d carved herself. Aya soon proved to be a competent player, although Sorore could beat her and Frare without much difficulty.
Lunch brought another lesson, this time mastered by Lillian, sitting inside the wagon.
“All right, you have questions don’t you?” she said, never having been one for the more formal speech of the lesson, and looking tired besides.
“About magic?” Aya spoke up.
“Yes. I can’t claim any great specialty, but I’ll share what I can.”
“Well, what is magic then?” she asked, “No one’s explained that to me.”
Her face seemed oddly focused on Lillian’s, almost like a challenge. Perhaps it was the result of last night’s conversation, which made Sorore feel sorry for the paladin.
“The church teaches that magic and faith are distant cousins. One allows you to perform spells, the other, miracles. You’ve already seen an example of this, out on the rooftop.”
She clenched her fist and held it up, within a few moments, a golden light emanated from within.
“This is an example of such a miracle, as humble as it may be,” she said, “we use it to defend the faith. Over time, you’ll be instructed by those better versed in such things, on how to perform miracles of your own.”
“We’ll be using magic?” Aya said.
“Miracles. I appreciate the confusion,” Lillian said, “from a distance, they can look similar. What’s far more important, however, is the source. Our miracles are holy, untainted, because they are produced by our faith in the Lost. In essence, we believe in them, and they give us the strength necessary to serve the faith.”
Aya looked like she was about to say something else, and Sorore willed her to not provoke the paladin. The girl ultimately shrank back, a questioning look in her eyes as she settled. It all seemed perfectly straightforward to Sorore, although she’d been raised in a city with a proper cathedral. Any doubt or anger towards her sister in spirit fell away when she remembered that Aya was from a remote mountain village, and was filled with pity.
“So now you know the difference,” said Lillian, letting her fist fall, “we don’t usually speak much on it. The laity can get confused easily, and we don’t mean to cause more than is necessary.”
“So, we’re going to be able to fight monsters?” Frare said, clearly excited at the prospect.
Of course it was the prospect of violence that excited him the most. He couldn’t help it, being the Bequeathed of Elizarhein, but did he really have to be so forward about it? She still hadn’t figured out what being ‘fertile’ meant in the context of her role as the chosen of Nafthatazia. ‘Life-giving’ made a little bit more sense to her.
She looked at Aya, the chosen of Salahazdrey, there could be no doubt. She wondered what her role would be in the coming years. Something to do with maidens, and water, or something like that. She would have to ask Lillian later about the specifics.
Lillian continued on, answering various questions on what kinds of miracles there were and what they were used for. Frare, of course, was mostly interested in those that were used in combat, while Aya was more interested in those that were specifically associated with tales of the church. Sorore just sat there, happily soaking up the explanations that were offered.
This was her place of peace, where everything was calm and made sense. The only thing that chafed at her meditation was the knowledge that Lillian must be hiding something. But even that overcast shadow didn’t do much to dampen her contentment. As for the other two, when they’d finally peppered the paladin with their last questions, she got up.
“Niche must be tired of leading the horses around,” she concluded, “I’ll have to resume my riding.”
The rest of the afternoon passed without much incident, and the trio amused themselves in various ways, although there was a strange distance between the twins and Aya. Chalking this up to merely being new, Sorore ignored it with what grace she could muster as she played games and recited stories from her youth.
When they stopped for the second evening, it was then that she noticed Aya slipping out for the first time. She was gone perhaps twenty to thirty minutes before carefully slipping quietly into the waggon. Something seemed strange about her, as Sorore glanced at her sleeping form. It seemed more defined, more solid compared to the world around her. Once again, merely chalking it up to an innocuous walk, or perhaps the need to relieve herself, Sorore quickly fell back to sleep.
Ringing hammers heralded her dreams, along with the feeling of heat radiating across her face. She could feel her sibling’s shoulders as she cuddled closer to him, though he seemed both immense and impossibly dense. Cold stone was under her side and to her back, something smooth and black, though she couldn’t see it.
What she could see was something immense before her, a collection of revolving rings, of glass, of metal, of stone, of substances that shone soft like velvet. The thing oscillated and warped into a fantastical facsimile of an immense creature. The gears and rings that comprised its being span and interlocked in a ticking choir to complement its pronouncements.
Thunder claps echoed across the landscape, now a yellow-grey desert of cracked mud and wizened trees. Footfalls shuddered her skull as it rose between shattered mountains, reaching clockwork claws to grip still smouldering rubble. A single glassy orb, within which turned a furious molten fire like the heart of the earth, focused at her from the head of the structure-beast.
The dream ruptured with a grinding bellow.
When Sorore awoke, it was with a pounding heart and the thinnest tracery of light, glowing across her arms.
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It’s that time of year again! Love is in the air along with all the plant jizz, and I am looking for the someone who is willing to venture out into this yellow, dusty mess with me, and then come home and just take a nap before our sinuses close up in anger and we cough ourselves to sleep. I am looking for someone to vent my mundane troubles too, someone that I know would be there to help with whatever may come up, and someone that I can laugh with, someone to cry with, someone that would just run with a crazy idea without hesitation.
Enough about me! Let’s talk about what you may be looking for! Are you looking for that special someone? You know, the one that laugh with on a daily basis. The one that you can have an entire conversation with using nothing but funny pictures? Are you looking for the creepy and the kooky? What about the mysterious and spooky? Would that someone be a person with a mohawk that is forever changing colors? How about a neatly trimmed beard that smells of sandalwood? What about the smell of Old Spice? Would that person also happen to have a few piercings and tattoos? Do you like the twang of a Southern accent? What if that accent was happen to be from a guy who is open minded? Do you enjoy a quick wit? How about being fluent in smartassary? How about a guy that is taking care of way too many fish? How about a guy who is starting to find grey hairs in his beard and is embracing the chance to become a silver fox?
Would you like for that person to be able to build a computer and change your oil all in the same day? How about having your tires rotated, breaks changed? I can even do headlights and air filters! Does the thought of helping turtles cross a busy road and helping tiny tadpoles stay safe with a pool of water during the summer tickle your fancy? Would you like to come home and have a pot roast and chocolate cake waiting for you? How about coming home to that random piece of IKEA furniture fully assembled? What about someone who would help while you built the IKEA? Does the idea of a guy who has reached the level of old that he enjoys puzzles intrigue you? How about if he has a love for cats that like to sit on said unfinished puzzles? Are you looking for a guy who can change your oil, replace your brakes, and cook you dinner in the same day? How about a guy who is good with his hands and knows it? If you answered yes to any of these questions, the nerdy home maker package is for you! Who doesn’t want help around the house, basic maintaince taken care of, and some good dick?
Do you have an endless supply of DIY ideas? Well look no further because I do too! Ever wanted a stylish bat house or raised garden bed? I have made both! Would you want a greenhouse? I have plenty of ideas for that! Do you like watching a guy get dirty restoring canoes or building trailers? Do you have a Mad Max fantasy you want to live out? Do you want a house straight from the shire? I have the skills and the 3d printers to make you swoon with possibilities! If you answered yes to any of these questions, the glistening geek package is for you! What’s not to love about watching someone you like getting sweaty while watching your ideas come to life?
For a limited time, if you pick both packages, I will add in the nerdy outdoorsman package for no extra charge! Want to stay in one weekend and marathon Doctor Who, Star Trek, or Futurama? Do you want to play Don’t Starve Together, DnD, or Civ 6? How about Nerf gun fight, or a game of Mario for bragging rights? Feel like staying up late bundled under a load of blankets watching B movies or playing all manor of video, board, or card games? Feel like getting outdoors instead? I can offer spontaneous adventures that may include wondering aimlessly, hiking, and floating blissfully down a river which singing the PACMAN theme song! Random acts of hilarity that could include striking poses and quoting pop culture references! Are you more of a night owl? I can offer you a view of the stars with my telescope!
How about it? Wanna get itchy eyes and a runny nose with me?

My dog Brick is my soulmate im pretty sure. Hes a Lab Husky Mix I adopted as a puppy 2 years ago while my husband was stationed overseas to help me cope with the loneliness and he hasn't left my side since outside of road trips where is wasn't feasible to take him. He sleeps with me, stays at my feet when I eat, and is all around a really great dog. Loves people and is super gentle with small animals and kids. He was technically the first one to find out I was pregnant. (He was right outside the bathroom when I took the test and I had a mild freak out so he forced his way in and let me hold him.) And has been super duper gentle with me the whole time.
The problems started when my husband and I took a trip home for the holidays. We were gone for about 3 weeks, and usually when we take long trips like that we have a trusted friend stay in our house to pet sit. Brick has never had any issues prior to this trip. Usually our friends who stay with him love having him around so much and enjoy not having to stay in the barracks that they dont even ask for payment and will come take him on walks even after we return. Hes like a mascot at this point.
Before we left everything appeared to be fine. We did what we usually do, invite our sitter over a few times for dinner leading up to our trip to show him where all of the pet stuff is and help Brick get used to this new person and make sure they seem to get along if its their first time, like it was this guys. He works with my husband and I had met him plenty of times before and he seemed to be a good fit with our animals. We go on our trip, he gives us updates every few days, and this is where I notice behavior changes before we even got back.
Our sitter texted my husband that Brick had Dug out of the back yard and escaped, running around the neighborhood away from him until a neighbor managed to grab him by the collar and catch him. Brick has never, and I mean never, escaped a yard before. Hes never even dug or tried to get out , and Hes very good at recall. Not a single time has he run from me unless we were playing and if I called him back to me he always came and he does the same for most everyone. I figured He didnt know this sitter and chalked it up to him thinking they were playing, even though I knew he had never ever done that with any other person hes stayed with before.
When we got back My house was Destroyed. Partially from Brick chewing and tearing apart the living room, but also the housesitter being disgusting. There were beer cans and trash everywhere, He had been sleeping on the couch even though we had a guest room and when I cleared the blankets from the couch to try and get my house back in order I found Vomit, whether it was from Brick or the house sitter Im not sure but it was obvious it had been there awhile. The toilets had Urine in them like he hadnt been flushing them after he peed and for whatever reason he had moved the coffee table right up against the couch and had been using it like a bedside table even though we had couch side tables? I knew the guy was a little messy but holy crap you know? I was raised to respect peoples spaces and leave them cleaner than they were when I got there. I even strip the linens from beds when I stay in hotels to make it easier on housekeepers, so I was absolutely appalled at how dirty my house was. My husband and i went up to our guest room to strip the sheets, and when we walked in we were blasted with an overwhelming stale urine smell. When I turned to light on, My white Bed skirt was Soaked in dog pee. It was so bad the only foreseeable way I can see that happening is if he locked Brick in that room for hours at a time, possibly even days without letting him out. My carpets are permanently stained because of it. But honestly Im not mad about the mess at this point, im worried about my dog.
What I cant let slide is what Im worried he did to my dog. Ever since weve gotten back Brick has been a nervous wreck and insanely depressed. He tears the house apart if we leave for too long, pees all over the floors and poops on the carpet (Only when we aren't home, if were home he will come get us like he usually does, but its like all his housetraining goes out the window if were gone for more than 20 minutes) But the most concerning thing ive noticed is if he is laying down and something touches him he will jump up and growl like hes been hurt or like hes scared. Hes not injured, we made sure to get him checked out because I was worried maybe he had broken a bone or maybe sprained something but he has a clean bill of health. in the past few weeks hes been playing with my husband again and being energetic, but for a really long time it seemed like he just slept the whole day and night away and only got up and around if we were feeding him or taking him on walks. Another weird detail I noticed is that the extra bag of Dog food hadn't been opened while we were gone, and based on how much was still in the other one when we left it definitely should've been at least open and partially used. He didn't seem like he had lost a ton of weight, and I know that I had told the sitter that sometimes we cook the pets portions or meals when we have dinner and breakfast (all pet safe versions, like pancake mix thats specifically for dogs or unseasoned steak) So I thought maybe he had been cooking for Brick mostly instead of using the dog food, or possibly had bought a new bag while we were gone. His eating habits haven changed so I dont think he was starving him, but the food bag feels like an important detail for some reason.
It didn't cross my mind that maybe the sitter had done something to him (I can be a bit too trusting sometimes, seeing the best in people when I really shouldn't. Its a problem) until he came over for dinner one night with another one of my husbands friends. With the friend he had never met Brick was his usual sociable self. Playing with him and letting him rub his belly and just having a grand old time. But when the Sitter came in? Brick Hid behind me and wouldn't move away until he left. I even reached down to pet him and could feel him trembling like he was scared. I had never seen him do that before and It broke my heart to see. The sitter made a comment along the lines of "You know me, why are you hiding buddy?" and it clicked for me. He had only been acting like this since our trip home, and I had considered maybe he had some separation anxiety because we were gone for so long but even then, we had gone on longer trips without him and always came back to the same pup we had before, and he had never Ever Cowered away from anyone in the 2 years ive had him.
I kept my mouth shut during dinner and kept an eye on my dog, not letting anyone near him and letting him stay at my side while I was cooking when I usually dont let him in the kitchen because I can be clumsy and dont want to spill something on him. But while we were eating Sitter made a comment about how Brick slept at his feet the first few nights and then stopped.
Something about that comment makes me think he had been kicking my dog when he was at his feet, on purpose or not I dont care. I might be jumping to conclusions about that but ever since we got back Brick will jump away from us and yelp like hes been hurt if hes touched even lightly while hes laying down. I almost have to announce that Im about to pet him if hes laying down. Ive spoken with my husband about this, and weve come to the same conclusion that something definitely happened to my dog while we were gone and it has something to do with Sitter.
Ive made it clear hes not to be around our home anymore and Husband agrees, and that from now on we will stick with a sitter who we know loves Brick and who Brick trusts, and I will be asking for more updates from them that include pictures and what they did that day. But for now Im going to be taking him with us and doing road trips instead of flying until I can trust someone with him again. Weve been making strides towards getting him back to where he was. We recently got another puppy for my husband ( He wanted a dog that could bond with him like I was bonded to Brick) and since then weve seen some pretty serious improvements in his mood. They play together and I can tell hes getting his energy back. His eyes dont look as sad and just a few days ago he had the Zoomies in the back yard. He doesn't freak out when we touch him as much, but he still jerks away like hes scared. As far as the housetraining goes, We think its improved but honestly we cant tell the puppy mess apart from his sometimes so who knows on that front.
The amount of guilt I feel is overbearing. I love my dog, hes the one who got me through one of the hardest times in my life with my Husband being gone. Hes like my best friend and the idea that I Put him in a situation where he was mistreated and possibly abused has made me burst into tears. I dont understand how anyone could look at this kind hearted and sweet dog and be cruel to him in any capacity, hes such a fun and loving goofball. I feel like such a failure of a pet parent.

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Auli Travel Package

As uttarakhand’s local travel agent, we will offer you best auli travel package. Before that you should know some facts about the place. Auli is located in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, near the world-famous holy temple of Badrinath, and is surrounded by snow-capped peaks of the Garhwal Himalayas. Auli’s well-dressed slopes are surrounded by coniferous and oak forests, which offer a panoramic view of mountains, at an altitude of 2,500 to 3,050 m above sea level. Find yourself at Auli, among the high peaks Nanda Devi and Mana Parbat, if you’re looking for adventure, excitement, and frolic this winter.
Feel the rush of air on your face as you go skiing on the well-kept snow slopes, blazing a bold trail. On a blanket of snow, pummelled each other with snowballs. Let your eyes feast if you’re a lover of natural beauty.
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WAYS TO REACH AULI

Airplane – Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun, roughly 300 kilometres from Auli, is the closest airport. Dehradun’s Jolly Grant Airport is a domestic airport located around 20 kilometres from the city centre.
By train, there are railway stations in Rishikesh, Haridwar, and Dehradun. Rishikesh is the closest railhead to Auli (250 km approx). Auli may be reached via bus or taxi from Rishikesh.
By Road – Joshimath is 16 kilometres apart by road from Auli. Between Joshimath and Rishikesh, state transport buses run often (253 km). Between Joshimath and Rishikesh (253 km), Haridwar (277 km), Dehradun (298 km), and Delhi (298 km), Local Transport Union buses and State Transport buses run (500 km). Auli may be reached via ropeway, bus, or cab from Joshimath.