Env touch gpsone hacks

Man my entire life nothing has worked out for me. Everything ive ever had has always blown up in my face usually not due to my own error, family relationships jobs school all just end up fucking me over in some way. Im an okay person i think, i dont think im bad or that i owe some massive karmic retribution, but everything always feelss like a punishment. My whole life has just felt like one long punishment. I had an ugly childhood but i worked with it, it wound me up with bpd and nice touch of ptsd but ive worked with it, always managed to bag a decent education and decent job and everytime ive either been ditched cuz the company was losing money and were ditching newest employees (which i usually was) or been targeted by angry chefs (im 18 lol most of my work has been part time.) i bagged a great job recently after lwaving my last job cuz a chef screeched the ears off me for taking an extra bathroom break (me and my bf had js broken up my mother was extremely ill and i wa behind on insurance payments i had thought she may pass away etc i was very depressed so i took five minutes to cry and i js couldnt hack him shouting at me) school was always decent but due to my mh i could never excel that much as i was always too caught up in my own world, i met the love of my life about 7 months ago, he has turned out to be an awful person. Love never works out for me, i always seem to choose the worst people. Just there now my father rang me angrily to tell me ive disappointed him, today i couldnt find the training centre for the best job oppurtunity of my life so far today, ive missed my job post, i have nothing going for me, genuinely nothing, the only thing thats ever half worked out for me was drgs and that didnt either it gave me a heart condition lol. My entire life has been a series of kicks to the face, i dont know what i did thats so bad that ive been punished this badly for it. But things need to change and fast, im not usually so self pitying, ive learnt to take most of life on the chin and move, but i cant anymore, i know its just luck of the draw but fuck all i can think is why me? Its constant, i have nothing left to give. I shoild not feel this old, worn down or this tired at 18. I xannot keep doij g this. If anybody knows why this is happening to me please tell me

TLDR: If you actually love penetration testing (you do all possible CTFs, hack the box, try hack me, etc) you can go for a "Red Team" and you already know it. In all other cases - Blue Team only.
It seems like folks think that cybersecurity is all fun and hacking, but this is only a small portion of the space. Anyone interested in cybersecurity should never target red team as the primary goal, you go there only when you know a ton about other things like SOC, IAM, Compliance, engineering behind everything, coding, hardware, etc. Pen testing is extremely difficult and not rewarding in many cases, try to report an open SIEM with no creds to the company or an open s3 bucket - you will not even get a "thanks" message in most cases, and that's by design, they discourage people from pen testing outside official penetration testing campaigns.
Most companies do not hire for a red team at all, Blue Team only and it's for a reason too - it is very beneficial for the company to hire a different 3rd party team of experts to be tested every 6-12 months, it exposes them to different approaches, avoiding bias and saving money too.
If company is serious about security they hire security engineers and soc/siem team. Security engineer role is primarily configure everything starting with vulnerability scanners, WAF, DNS, email security, CNAPP, Antivirus, EDXDwhateverDR, forensics, SCA, SAST/DAST, establish secure policies, like password managers, secret stores for applications, ssh over public keys, help resolve "anything related to security", etc, there is like a million things to do! All of that is attached to the SIEM and SOC team works with that. Now to test and improve on the defenses use a 3rd party provider (pen tester or a vulnerability scanner or both and x2). If there is something very internal needs to done - most security engineers should be able to accomplish most things. Test a new 0-day from Checkpoint doesn't require you to work on a red team, most securiry engineers should be able to validate and mitigate this (that's the topic of this week together with Snowflake and Ticketmaster!)
In other words, a Security Engineer is way more valuable to an average company, because if they do think about security those are the folks they have to hire full time. A good pen tester should also have a security engineer background, this will help them know the system and how to go around them. If you never configured a tool you might never know about its limitations and all you do is randomly guessing (dramatic example).
My recommendation to anyone is to target a security engineer role, in many cases you need to do SOC/Desktop Support/admin/coding/networking roles etc first. And if you fall in love with pen testing - go ahead, you will succeed if you love what you do, just don't do it because "it looks cool!"
I also recommend folks taking computer science degree instead of a dedicated "security" degrees because security require knowledge about everything IT, CS is the base for your knowledge, everything else goes on top of that and will help you learn new things faster, and you will have to learn all the time until the end of your career.
I didn't even touch on auditing, IAM, forensics and fraud, there is soany things you can do in the cybersecurity! Remember: pen testing chooses you, not the other way.

Apologies for the absolutely insane number of words, got carried away trying to compensate for being slower than usual with my recap.
The cold open for the finale has a nice little parallel to the cold open in S1E2, which similarly has Deborah walk in to Marty who’s in a somewhat compromising position with his trainer to deliver good news, although in this case her news is something they both celebrate, rather than a win she uses to gloat over Marty
Even though she’s in a much less combative place with Marty, Deborah still isn’t willing to admit that she came over to tell him the news in person and insists that she’s only there to return the key, showing the limited extent to which she is willing to open up even to people she’s known for a long time.
Deborah and Marty doing the tango together to basically celebrate the news is quite cute and a fun way to kick off the episode
I do think it’s kind of sweet that Kathy is quite looking forward to Deborah’s visit, and J Smith Cameron plays up Kathy’s somewhat childlike excitement at this during the opening of the phone call
Nice to see Deborah making an effort to follow up after inviting Kathy for Christmas, committing to a sister’s weekend is a not insignificant step although it also becomes clear that she’s not 100% committed to it. Waiting for Kathy to call and then tell her there’s a change in plans instead of just straight up telling her isn’t a particularly nice thing to do
Deborah has a weird look on her face when Kathy brings up her parents at the mausoleum, which I initially thought was because she didn’t really like to reflect on the past, although on a rewatch it becomes clear it’s because she knows the truth about the mausoleum.
“She’s pivoting into being an adult” Found the way Kayla phrased this part of the child star to adult actor experience to be very funny. I guess the Bella Donaldson character is supposed to be a reference to people like Zendaya, Zac Efron and Selena Gomez (Cannes Best Actress winner!!???), Disney child stars who are trying to shed their past image and be taken as serious adult actors to varying degrees of success. Also the bit about getting awards buzz for an Aronofsky movie feels a bit like what happened/ was projected to happen with Sadie Sink and The Whale
Deborah watching her old Late Night tape and Ava seeing her do that is a nice callback to and reversal of S1E3, where it was Ava watching Deborah’s tape and discovering more about her past
I love Hannah Einbinder’s simple but sincere delivery of “I knew you would” as Ava, and the way Jean Smart lets just the tiniest smile play across Deborah’s lips in response to Ava’s belief in her
Ava being able to only write stuff for Deborah’s Late Night show and not any actual material of her own shows that even though it’s been a year plus since the S2 Finale she still has the same issue of Deborah being “the one with all the stories. What do I even have to say?”
Ava’s voice going up endearingly high when she says “This is gonna be amazing” is very cute, what a touching and lovely scene between Deborah and Ava showing the respect and admiration they have for each other. I’m sure that will continue for the rest of the finale!
How does a safe in the floor of the pool even work lol
Very fun comedy freaking out by Mark Indelicato as Damien, him becoming hysterical at the thought of becoming the new Marcus is hugely entertaining.
According to Hannah Einbinder and Jean Smart on Variety’s Award Circuit podcast, thy did shoot a scene for this episode where Marcus does tell Deborah that he’s leaving but it was cut from the episode. Honestly not sure what role Marcus will play next season and curious to see what the writers will do since it seems he’s going on a very different plotline than the rest of the show. If this was another show I’d say he’s being written out but from interviews and other behind the scenes material the cast and showrunners are fairly tight knit, so I’d imagine they’ll find a way which makes sense for Marcus to continue being around
Between this guest appearance as Bella Donaldson and the release of Lisa Frankenstein and Abigail, Kathryn Newton is quietly having a pretty cool 2024. She absolutely nails the passive-aggressive “nice” girl type that she’s asked to play here. Also the Zack and Cody mention is kind of neat since Newton starred along with Cole Sprouse in Lisa Frankenstein earlier this year, while the goat demon movie mentioned might possibly be a nod to Newton’s affinity for the horro horror adjacent genre?
Quite like this Jimmy/Kayla B plot, allows Meg Stalter to show a different/more emotional side to Kayla who’s usually just the very fun comedic relief. Her smiling nicely and trying to politely ward off Bella’s passive-aggressive “niceness” is such a deeply human character beat.
Deborah Margesson doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as Deborah Vance, so I guess that’s why she didn’t go back to her maiden name after the divorce.
Deborah moving her parent’s remains to Vegas and not telling Kathy for twenty plus years is absolutely deranged behaviour. “It was a corner plot” and “I used my art shipper!” are ridiculously bad responses to the situation, this being the last straw for Kathy is very understandable. Although in Deborah’s defence I guess the fact that she was willing to accompany Kathy to the mausoleum for what she knows to be a completely empty gesture is her deranged way of showing care for her sister and not wanting to hurt her feelings.
Also in hindsight Deborah lying to/not telling Kathy about their parents to avoid hurting her feelings and any conflict is good foreshadowing since that pretty much turns out to be what she does regarding Ava and the head writer job
Deborah’s look of absolute disdain/confusion after hearing the “going to the hardware store for milk” line is gold from Jean Smart
I think Kathy’s reaction to Deborah here and deciding that she’s had enough of her BS and not wanting to put herself through even more hurt in attempting to maintain a relationship is completely reasonable, really liked J Smith Cameron’s work here, as well as Jean Smart playing Deborah’s silent acceptance of this relationship blowing up yet again
Deborah standing alone in the mausoleum is a great shot
Kathy’s reaction to Deborah’s BS here serves as a great contrast to how Ava deals with Deborah’s BS later on in the episode, it truly takes someone special/equally deranged to want to continue being with Deborah despite all her flaws and the hurt she causes to those around her. To use some internet parlance, Kathy is unwilling to put up with Deborah’s freak, while Ava ends up being more than willing to match Deborah’s
Lewis Benton/ fake John Oliver’s line to Ava about her being the hardest-working person in the office is a nice reminder of how working with Deborah has changed Ava for the better in some ways by giving her a stronger work ethic
“Maybe our paths will cross again” Just speculating here, and maybe this would be too inside baseball of a storyline for a show that initially at least was about two people on the “outside” of the entertainment industry, but might there be a future storyline of Deborah competing against fake John Oliver for an Emmy? A recent Emmy rule change starting from the Emmys earlier this year means that Oliver no longer competes with the more traditional Late Night shows like Colbert, Kimmel, Meyers, The Daily Show etc prior to that this had been the case for the past ten or so years
Kayla being the funny one growing up as a defense mechanism against bullies like Bella is such a great character detail on the part of the writers, makes so much sense and explains so much about Kayla’s outlook and attitude
This conflict is so great because both Jimmy and Kayla do have a point. Obviously Jimmy standing up for Kayla who’s being bullied is a good thing for him to do as a friend, but Kayla’s also not wrong in feeling that Jimmy is kind of ignoring her work and being a bit patronising. Really liked how Meg Stalter plays Kayla’s hurt feelings in this scene, it’s a well-executed emotional beat for a generally comedic character. And this continues the throughline about whether Jimmy has what it takes/enough stones and guts to be in the business which was also seen in the back part of S2
Quite liked the scene between Deborah and Biff Cliff (what a name!), a pretty sobering reminder of the obstacles faced by women in entertainment and just how precarious making it in the business actually is, makes complete sense that it would spook Deborah to do what she does later on
I thought the Jimmy Page dating a 14 year old story was meant to be a jab and Jerry Seinfeld and his 17 year old girlfriend, but googled and found out that that was a true story too
I feel like the bit Ava has as a writer taking new headshots and the different treatment they receive compared to actors must be drawn from the real-life experiences of the writers/showrunners, it’s such a specific joke. That said I think if you asked a layperson to tell who’s a writer and who’s an actor from this Deadline photoshoot I think they’d be hard pressed to tell the difference (very complimentary).
Ava sharing her excitement over her “dream job” as head writer for Deborah with a random make-up artist is very endearing, and just makes what happens later on even more crushing
Deborah going to the exec meeting and slowly realising just how much is being invested in her is a great bit of reaction acting from Jean Smart, and further helps reinforce the pressure she’s under and explains her choices
Quite liked the scene of Deborah telling Ava that the network doesn’t want her as head writer, on first watch it seems like Deborah is just worried about how to break the bad news to Ava and let her down easy, but on rewatch it feels so obvious that Deborah is just lying through her teeth to Ava and struggling with it big time.
Jimmy’s “proposal” to Kayla on the plane is such a great comedic setpiece/skewing of the rom-con trope, everything from the overly-excited passenger who completely misreads the situation to Jimmy kneeling because the flight attendant says there’s no standing in the aisle is just perfect.
It’s also just a really good way to cap off the season long plot involving Jimmy and Kayla, we’ve seen throughout the season that they make a very good thing and that Kayla’s kind of a genius at this in her own unique way, very satisfying to see Jimmy finally recognise this and promote her. Jimmy and Kayla’s mentomentee relationship serves as a healthy contrast to Deborah and Ava,with Jimmy as a mentor who recognises the mentee’s contributions and is willing to make compromises (see his acceptance of Kayla’s three funny videos a day)
Jimmy’s voice going up absurdly high when he says “Leave us alone!!!” and “What is your deal” is fantastic comedic work from co-showrunner Paul W Downs, he’ll get Writing and Series Emmy nominations this year, but he should really be getting one for Supporting Actor too.
I guess if you want to nitpick you could say Ava running into Winnie is a very convenient thing to move the plot along, but I choose to look at is as a reminder that Ava has moved on up in the world since the end of S2 and is now at a place where she can get takeout from fancy places where a high-level network head might also dine
Ava’s look of betrayal and anger after realising that Deborah lied to her is great work from Hannah Einbinder
Deborah is reading a Churchill biography when Ava storms in
My god, Ava confronting Deborah is just a perfect perfect scene, the writing is so sharp and Jean Smart is fantastic at playing Deborah going into ice/hardened mode when being confronted, but what a tremendous performance by Hannah Einbinder. She just captures the mixture of betrayal, hurt and anger that Ava feels so naturally and powerfully
There’s so many callbacks and references to previous Deborah/Ava confrontations and scenes from across the show. Ava accusing Deborah of just doing the same thing is from their very first meeting S1E1 where she calls her a hack as well as from their argument in S1E10 when she calls her the same thing. The line about being “a shark or whatever” comes from S2E5 which is what Deborah’s retired comedian friend Susan describes her as, with Deborah later then telling Ava that “You’ve got to be a shark” at the end of S2E8. And Deborah’s advice to Ava to be ambitious and saying that she feels lonely when opening a champagne bottle comes from S3E5 (take that people who said the woods episode was pointless filler).
“You can be the woman behind the man behind the woman” What an unappealing job description, and also a sign of how far Ava has comes since the S2 finale when she was unwilling to take the credit for writing Deborah’s special. Now her time away from Deborah has allowed Ava the space to truly value herself, her achievements and be justifiably proud of them (she stresses her job at On The Contrary to Deborah back in S3E1 and stresses her co-producer role when in bed with Christina Hendricks in S3E6), and she’s no longer willing to accept this demotion and wants credit for her work.
“You’re already making decisions out of fear and you’ll keep doing it” A really cutting observation from Ava which completely nails what Deborah is doing, much like how she immediately clocks in S2E8 that Deborah is pushing her away because she’s afraid.
“It has to work. I’ve lost way too much for it not too” Deborah’s sentiment applies equally to Ava as it does to herself, and helps explain just why Ava would go to the the extremes she does later on
As much as the dialogue in the scene is great, this Deborah and Ava argument also hits hard because of the silent moments in between. The wordless ten seconds or so which rests entirely on Ava after Deborah says that she’s willing to lose her is just tremendous stuff from Hannah Einbinder, all the hurt plays across her face and Einbinder is simply terrific in making the audience feel the deep hurt and sense of betrayal of that moment
Ava saying that Deborah will die alone is something that Deborah has thought about before, saying back in S1E9 in her interview with a journalist that she accepts the truth that people leave the world completely alone and refuses to pretend otherwise
One Last Time - Deb’s Final Stand Up is the track which plays as the big Deborah/Ava argument scene closes out according to Shazam, with the track (that played in the S1 Finale) taking on a whole new meaning in this context. The soundtrack isn’t a big selling point of the show unlike something like say Succession, but the themes by Carlos Rafael Rivera are simple but always effective
Jimmy taking a selfie in his new office is quite cute, and him saying that he didn’t do it alone and comforting Ava at the end of this scene is a much needed nice beat after the intensity of the previous scene
“shows that already exist with one tiny tweak, or huge global hits” Honestly a pretty depressing but frankly accurate read of the current media/television landscape
Jimmy saying that he knows Ava will do the right thing brings to mind these Deborah lines to Ava from the previous episode “It’s so easy for you to say what’s right or wrong. It’s never that simple. One day you’ll understand that” Ava’s move of blackmailing to get Deborah to do right by her certainly falls into the “never that simple” category
Curious about the politics/legal behind the scenes stuff that needed to be cleared to have Deborah be the host of a CBS late night show in the world of Hacks, while Hacks the actual show is under Warner Bros. Discovery which does not own hacks. I guess in this universe Deborah gets the Late Late Show timeslot instead of Taylor Tomlinson with After Midnight
Deborah’s left Vegas but the vanity plate for her car will continue to follow her and be updated
Deborah excitedly taking a photo of her Host parking spot is very cute, but the beat immediately after when we see a hint of her being sad and uneasy/regretful is also great, she’s achieved her dream but at great personal cost, and has no one to share the photo and moment with
It’s been a central thesis of the show that Deborah and Ava are ultimately more alike than different despite their different ages, backgrounds etc. Even in S1E2 the antiques dealer says that Deborah and Ava are “the same” and are “both psychotic b*tches”, and in episode after episode we see just how alike they are. For example in S2E2 after Deborah finds out about the email she says that Ava is just like her, being equally cruel and selfish. Ava blackmailing her abusive boss so that she can continue to work with her is just a completely insane thing to do, and also very much something Deborah would do herself to help her career, as we saw back in S1E5 when Deborah blackmailed Marty to secure her dates at the Palmetto
This move also shows just how much Ava has learnt from Deborah and how much the student has learnt from the master. Ava takes Deborah’s advice from S2E8 to be a shark, and her advice from S3E5 to “concentrate on what’s best for you”. It’s also ends up becoming a twisted version of Ava saying that she won’t leave Deborah in that same episode too, with Ava resorting to blackmail to stay with Deborah. And Ava finally does what she said back in S2E8, which is that “I get to decide what’s best for me”. I love love love the layers to this show!
I love love love the cocky and slightly confident/smirking Ava that we get a brief glimpse of from this scene, coupled with the power suit she’s rocking it makes for such a satisfying moment as she gets one up over Deborah after being on the back foot previously
We’ve seen a different and more vulnerable side of Deborah this season in S3E5 and S3E7, and seen her be like a fangirl in S3E4, but this scene and her stepping up to Ava and slightly seething as she says “You wouldn’t” is a nice reminder that she can be absolutely terrifying when she wants to be
That tiny tiny little gulp that Hannah Einbinder does when/just after Ava says “I would” is so so good, Ava’s standing up to Deborah but Deborah is still one very scary person. Also really love her cocking her head to one side as she says “Wouldn’t you?”
This has already been pointed out on Twitter, but Deborah and Ava sitting apart in the writer’s room at the end is kind of like the pepper shakers which Deborah rearranged to be apart in S3E1. Also a nice contrast to S3E8 when they were sitting apart as Ava was reporting the journalist’s article to Deborah, even despite them sitting separately they were still very close emotionally, but now the physical distance between them is reflective of the division between them as friends/colleagues
Spoilers for Succession S2E10: This Hacks finale is very reminiscent of the Succession S2 Final This Is Not For Tears. In both episodes the older mentor who’s been trying to teach their protege/successor to be harder and tougher ends up being too good at their job and get betrayed by their mentee in a stunning rug pull moment, even though for much of the season it seems the mentee is perfectly content working undefor their mentor. It’s a plot twist that’s both completely shocking in the moment yet makes so much sense when looking back on the season and the series as a whole. And of course the finale ends on a shot of the older mentor as they take in what their mentee has done, with a mixture of anger but also just the slightest hint of pride and begrudging admiration
This final twist in the finale of Ava blackmailing Deborah is so so good and satisfying, does what great season finales do which is deliver a “twist” that feels like a gut punch initially but has actually been building over the season, and sets up a really juicy scenario/ status quo for next season
Ava blackmailing her way to head writer on Deborah’s show is such a juicy scenario to leave things for Season 4, Ava has never had power over Deborah like she does now and I’m personally very much looking forward to how that changes their dynamic next season
My only concern is that I do hope the Vegas aspect and the characters from that part of the Hacks universe don’t get left behind with the focus shifting to running a Late Night show. If there is something to ding this season of the show it’s that there’s not enough Kiki, I’m not smart enough to figure out how a Vegas casino dealer will be able to regularly show up in LA but I selfishly want the writers to figure that out because Poppy Liu is just too fun as Kiki to leave out. Also kind of curious as to how they’ll keep Marcus around since he’s now leaving Deborah’s QVC empire.
Overall a really really great season finale and a very strong season as a whole, easily the best Comedy of the year and one of the best shows of the year. Really rooting for the show to win big prizes at the Emmys later this year against the Bear although that will be tough, pulling hard for Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder to win and for the show to at least win Writing if it can’t win for Comedy Series. Also would be very happy if Meg Stalter and Paul W Downs got their first-time noms this year, they were both great this season

My husband and I have been married for over 6 years now and he has always sworn he didn’t watch porn. He always told me he has never had much of a sex drive because he’s been on antidepressants since he was 12 and I left it at that. I had no reason to not trust him. One day at the end of last year, I got this gut feeling to look at who he was following on tik tok ( I never do things like that) and behold, there are 2 girls who regularly post explicit content and when I confronted him about it, he told me that “the algorithm targets men with these sexual videos and he must have accidentally followed those girls while scrolling.” Well, dumb ass me gave him the benefit of the doubt & believed him. Like I said, I have no reason to not trust him. Fast forward to the beginning of this year, he bought an iPad for work. One day while he was gone, it made a noise that I didn’t recognize and I got curious. I got on his safari history and I find links to these content creators twitter where they post their content. I confront him and he basically has the same story. “I was scrolling on tik tok and the link must have accidentally got clicked on” and I guess I believed him? I think I knew then in my gut but he kept gaslighting me into thinking maybe I was overreacting to something so innocent. I brought it up in couples therapy and our theorist basically told us that we both needed to delete tik tok since it’s a huge point of tension for us and so I did. Last Friday, I asked my husband for his phone to look at a video he had showed me on Facebook the night before. I get on his link history to find the video and I find 20 links on the same day I went hiking with my friends. I wanted to crawl in a mouse hole and never come out. I kept my composure and when he came to get his phone I told him when he was ready to talk about what I had just found, to come back in the room. He immediately denies it and tells me someone had to have hacked into his Facebook. I told him I wasn’t dumb and I wasn’t falling for his shit again. He leaves the room for about 5 minutes and comes back to finally admit his guilt. He says he didn’t want to tell me because he knew it would hurt me and I would react bad. That he has watched it since he was 15 and just figured that I did it too but didnt talk about it. Basically it was a habit. He says he goes months in between sessions but my mind can’t help but wander if everytime he turned me down was because he had watched porn that day. I’ve always had a much higher sex drive which has caused a lot of arguments in the past. Now I can’t even stand the thought of him touching me after this, I feel so betrayed especially after he has had multiple opportunities to tell me. Ive been down and depressed since I found out and I don’t know how to shake it.
TLDR; my husband of 6 years has been caught watching porn after being confronted 2 different times with evidence. Will I ever get over this?

I've been logging into "Adopt Me!" for over 2 years. I'll one day get my 1,000th day streak, a milestone I doubt anyone reached, but after what I went through, I don't think I'd play "Adopt Me!" anytime soon.
On the day where I should've gotten by 1,000th day streak, I knew something was off as the game loaded. Instead of having the familiar and cheery intro screen, I was already in the game (it just popped up). The usual iconic music was replaced by a stinging silence. I once prided as a very rich player, but I now had no bucks and only one Flare-age Neon dog named Alex, and a Luminous-age Neon cat named Lilly.
It had been a long time ago since I played "Adopt Me!" for the first time, but I couldn't bring up anytime where I had a Neon dog which I named Alex, nor a Neon cat named Lilly.
I didn't even think that was possible, because I never recalled creating a new account, and even if I did, only either a dog OR a cat would hatch from the Starter Egg, and it definitely wouldn't have a Neon cat/dog of ANY age.
I began getting worried. Had I been hacked? Had I loaded into the wrong server (I realized I had been playing alone)? Or was some other technical issue? But if it was a technical issue, how could I just get two Neon pets for free?
I looked further into my pets, and found something that was DEFINITELY not right. Why did the pets have healthbars, along with a stamina, energy, hunger, and thirst bar? Was this a survival game? "Adopt Me!" hadn't ever been a survival game- it was always an RP and pet-raising game!
Not even my avatar was the same. It was reduced to the standard Roblox Noob, when I really had a lot of Robux. Had I logged into a doppelganger account?
I looked into my 'Toys' section, and all I had were a Flashlight and Toy Sword. Had someone hacked this into a survival game? If so, what kind?
But I wasn't gonna sit around to find out. I called the Roblox support number, but the voicemail was just dead silence even as I turned up to full volume, almost as if it was off-duty.
When I looked back in my game screen, I found a note on the ground, I picked it up by pressing E, and it read:
"I know you. I know you're wondering why this game seems so out of place, and you tried to call Roblox support. A virus has just started spreading in the Nursery and much of Adoption Island has been destroyed by its hosts. The infection doesn't spread by air, but if they touch you, well, you know. Wait... someone's-" I immediately put the note down and ran my avatar back home, not thinking of looking back. But then a dialogue box opened.
LILLY: Wait! I can't keep up!
I wanted to slow down, but I was afraid of what was behind me. I realized my avatar was almost out of stamina, so I cut behind a tree to recharge. I realized Lilly's healthbar was completely red, and I dreaded to think on what would happen if either pets' or my HP reached 0. I tried carrying them both, but that left me defenseless. As I listened closely, I didn't hear anything, so it might be safe again. But I couldn't relax as a message popped up that said, "DON'T MAKE A NOISE!" with an audio recording waveform that had a bar limit. I held my breath and remained as quiet as possible, not as quiet as the game's ambience.
After quietly breathing in and out of what felt like forever, the warning message finally faded. I picked up the two pets, and snuck quietly back into my home. When I got home, though, I realized there had been a crate in there.
"Do I open the crate?" I asked myself. "What if it's infected?" I drew my Toy Sword and pressed 'E' to open it. What I found inside washed most of my worries away. Inside there was a Flame Sword, with the typical blade replaced by a 2D fire icon. I didn't know what this new weapon would do, but I wasn't gonna keep my blunt Toy Sword around.
Suddenly, a speech bubble popped up on what seemed to be behind me. "ANNA: You've upgraded your weapon." I dragged my camera around, and there was Anna, the young girl typically from the Nursery with blonde hair and a pink onesie with a rabbit tail.
"What's going on?" I typed in the chat.
I didn't expect her to respond, as she's just an NPC. But merely 3 seconds later, she replied, "I... I don't know." She responded. "But I think the source is in the Nursery."
Another chat bubble popped up from behind.
"ALEX: But what if we die, even if we destroyed the beacon?"
"We have no choice," I typed back. "It's either us, or them. But maybe, if we just work together, we could make it out alive."
As we stepped out with my volume as high as possible to sense any infected, suddenly, as we were about to enter the Nursery, the ground below us suddenly gave away, and it was dark, too dark, so dark I worried that if I were to turn on my flashlight, I would get jump scared.
I equipped my flashlight and covered my eyes and slowly pressed the left mouse button, preparing for the worst. But nothing happened. The cave was lit up slightly, and after a few tense seconds, no monster came.
But another thing made me flinch- the torches around suddenly burst alight, nearly making me spill water all over my keyboard. I could vividly hear my avatar's footsteps as I inconsistently tapped the 'W' key to try not to make too much noise.
After tapping the 'W' key on what felt like forever, we came across a very questionable door. As I selected the Flame Sword, I realized it had a series of abilities. I used 'One Slash,' which had the least required energy, but it easily sliced the hinges off and the door fell.
But we were met with a horrible sight. I expected the source to be some like reactor core, but I nearly puked over my computer screen. It was a number of masses of unknown fluid tied together by what appear to be veins. But one mass in the center seemed to be distinctive from the rest, almost as if it had an eye in it.
But I realized that all too late as the central mass began to crack, as if it were an egg. As I drew my Flame Sword open, a huge tentacle burst open from the center mass. I nearly froze. As I panned my camera back facing the door, the door was shut. I tried pressing 'E' opening the door and running, but a dialogue box popped up.
"ANNA: We can't leave yet! Otherwise, the virus would spread out of control!"
I reluctantly panned my camera back to the single tentacle, and shakily pressed the '1' key, equipping my Flame Sword again. But I noticed all too late that that single imposing tentacle was a mere decoy as 8 other tentacles popped open from the other masses.
I quickly popped open my Flame Sword move lists, and I scrolled left to right at what felt like the speed of light, desperately trying to find a good attack. I figured that "Fire Cage" would trap the thing and slow it down as I try to find a new attack.
As I thought, the tentacles were immobile and couldn't move. As I scrolled left to right amid the Flame Sword's attacks, one of them caught my eye, "Infernadius Executionis." It sounded rather powerful, but just as I hovered my mouse over the button, I quickly saw a message:
"DO NOT USE UNLESS LAST RESORT. THIS WILL UNPOWER YOUR SWORD."
But I figured I wouldn't need it as the cage seemed to be burning the thing itself. Without hesitating, I began clicking my left mouse button as fast as I could. I began thinking my finger would create a trance because of how fast I was clicking, then, as the multiple slashes piled up, I was faced with a "time-it-perfect" press circle and ring. I pressed almost perfectly, and the slashes blew the being into nothing.
There was no time to celebrate, though. Almost immediately, a hole appeared in place of the being. The place around began crumbling and a wall of very toxic materials of what seemed to contain the virus began tracing the hind wall. I pressed 'E' as fast as I could to try to push open the heavy door. But it didn't work and I clicked the left mouse button. That triggered a slice which bust the door down into two molten pieces.
As we ran out of the main chamber, we saw more infected monsters that began charging at us immediately followed by a jump scare. But I was so focused on killing the monsters I merely blinked.
I swiped my camera down and slashed, jumping into the air with an incendiary jump. Then, an idea immediately sparked into my mind. I scrolled my camera backwards and looking down about 45 degrees. As I swiped the sword repeatedly about 2 times per second, the monsters began falling like bowling pins.
But all that stopped when I hit a wall on the other side. At this point my Flame Sword was completely drained of energy and was basically a Toy Sword now. But my avatar automatically dropped it and I really couldn't fight off all of them with a mere Toy Sword.
I swiped my camera around in all directions, trying to look for some way to get out. I even spammed the left mouse button to try and see if I could escape. But it all stopped as I heard repeated gunshots behind me and I quickly swiped my camera.
It was Anna, and she seemed to now be around in her teens, with an assault rifle in her hands. Before I could type anything in chat, she spoke up in a voice bubble, "ANNA: Don't worry. I've been in Arsenal before."
Another voice bubble popped up.
"ALEX: But we still have to get out. I can smell the virus from here. If we don't get out, we'll all get infected."
My camera view began developing a red, blurry, vignette. I feared what would happen if my camera became completely opaque. I thought I heard the ceiling crack as I slashed it, so I panned up as hard as I could, and began clicking faster than I ever had.
I thought my mouse was gonna shatter, but all that faded away as the ceiling opened and the camera refreshed. Back out of the ground, the ground patched back up, almost as if nothing was there.
The sky had been clear again, and one last message appeared.
"Congratulations! You've saved Adoption Island from certain extinction, thanks to your party's hard work and determination."
This would be an experience I would never forget or unsee. As I finish this post, I want to remind you that after what I've been through, I'll likely never see "Adopt Me!" the same way ever again.
After all, who knows if the virus is really dead? Is it still buried underground? All I can hope is that another disaster doesn't happen which triggers the virus to be released again, and I REALLY hope this cruel hacker doesn't spread the virus to other games.

Hi all, I have a cat who just turned 5 last April and he has been having a whole slew of health issues since getting some teeth removed, so I'll lay out the timeline and express my thoughts at the end. If anyone else has had a similar experience or has an explanation, please let me know!
​

• April 24th: Went in to get some bad teeth removed (pretty standard, three of my cats have had this done now and they were all fine) and seemed to be recovering well over the next two weeks.
• May 8th: we noticed he had been more lethargic the last couple days and we hadn't seen him get up yet at all that day, we went to get him up and he sort of flopped over. He was very wobbly as he got up; walking slanted and not being very responsive. We made an appointment for the vet the next day.
• May 9th: Got bloodwork, an ultrasound, and X-Rays after getting a physical exam and showing discomfort when being touched in his belly. We found his upper GI was a bit inflamed but nothing else out of the ordinary. He had a Cerenia 0.7 ml injection and we were given Gabapentin 100mg to give him at home, but they did not have an official diagnosis. At this point he was walking fine but wasn't eating.
• May 10th: After no improvement whatsoever, he was brought back in to be looked over once more via ultrasound to make sure there was nothing else going on, and all that was found was the GI still a bit inflamed. At this point, the vet was pretty confident it was gastroenteritis and she gave us Maropitant 16mg and Clavamox Chews 62.5mg on top of the Gabapentin 100mg. By May 16th he had finished his medicine regiment and was thankfully back to normal it seemed.
• May 18th: Since his last visit to the vet, he'd been totally normal but sometimes we would notice what looked like labored breathing out of nowhere. After his surgery we were told he might be hoarse from the aspirator, so at the time the best I could figure was maybe it was due to lingering effects from that. Based on what happened on May 18th, I now know that those moments of breathing were much more important. Around 11pm he started breathing heavily on his side again, but this time it progressed very quickly. He was restless and keeping getting up, laying on his side, breathing heavily, and repeat. When he started open-mouth breathing we rushed off to the closest emergency vet 45 minutes away. The ride down was one of the worst experiences of my life because we really thought we'd lose him. He was hacking up some kind of phlegm that looked like he was foaming at the mouth and he was straining to breathe the whole time. When we got there, the doctor told us she suspected heart failure due to undetected heart disease but said she would try to stabilize him. Thankfully she did, and they held him for the next 24 hours to make sure he stayed stable. His lungs had been taking in fluid, hence the trouble breathing and hacking up fluid. She gave us Lasix for fluid regulation and Clopidogrel as a blood thinner to give him indefinitely.
• May 30th: Since that awful night, we've met with our home vet many times about what happened and he recommended an echocardiogram so that if it is heart disease, we would know for sure. The echo was yesterday on the 30th but we do not have results yet. Those will likely come next week. Since the 18th, he's been mostly normal save for 1.) random bouts of laying on his side and breathing heavily while zoning out (when it gets bad, we give him an extra Lasix pill to mitigate any possible fluid buildup that may be causing it) but HE usually snaps out of those within 5-10 minutes and 2.) he hasn't been eating his hard food. He'll eat turkey, various wet foods, temptations hard treats, and puree tubes but no interest in his regular food at all. The foods he will eat, he doesn't necessarily gorge on. Yesterday we were given Mirtazapine Transdermal Ointment 5g to improve his appetite, and it does seem to get him to eat hard food but he def doesn't want the food without it.

​
Now that I've laid out the timeline, I just can't help but feel like it's weird that all this is happening right after his surgery. His mouth healed great; no issues whatsoever! But then the gastroenteritis. Now possibly HEART DISEASE? What the hell is happening? This is a 5 year old cat that has NEVER had issues before. The only reason he went to the vet was because I suspected dental issues based on his rancid breath, and I was right. Best thing to do was remove the diseased teeth. Been through that many times now with no issues with my other cats. But it's like getting that surgery flipped a switch and now it's one thing after another! Maybe its just pure coincidence, but is it not strange???
​

Hack 1: DIY Face Masks for Glowing Skin
In the pursuit of a luminous complexion, incorporating DIY face masks into your skincare routine emerges as a delightful and effective natural beauty hack. These masks not only pamper your skin but also contribute to a radiant and healthy glow. Let's explore the significance of integrating face masks into your beauty regimen and discover a simple yet powerful DIY recipe.
Face masks play a pivotal role in a holistic skincare routine, offering an indulgent self-care moment while addressing various skin concerns. Whether it's hydration, exfoliation, or soothing irritated skin, face masks provide a versatile solution. By dedicating a few minutes to this ritual, you allow your skin to absorb the nourishing benefits of natural ingredients.
Creating a DIY face mask at home is a straightforward and enjoyable process. Begin with a base of natural ingredients like honey or yogurt, known for their moisturizing and soothing properties. Add a dash of freshness with ingredients such as crushed berries or cucumber slices. Mix the ingredients into a paste, and voila – your personalized face mask is ready.
The benefits of this natural beauty hack extend beyond the joy of crafting your skincare products. The concoction of natural elements works synergistically to cleanse, revitalize, and impart a radiant complexion. With regular use, DIY face masks become a cherished routine, fostering not just beautiful skin but also a sense of well-being. Embrace the simplicity and efficacy of this natural beauty hack as we embark on a journey to unlock the secrets of glowing skin.

Hack 2: Herbal Infusions for Healthy Hair

Embark on a journey to nurture your locks with the natural magic of herbal infusions, a captivating beauty hack that breathes life into your hair. Discover the wonders of herbal remedies, the simplicity of creating nourishing hair infusions, and the transformative effects they bestow upon your hair's texture and shine.
Herbal infusions stand as a timeless remedy for promoting optimal hair health. Delving into the bounty of nature, these infusions often feature herbs like rosemary, lavender, or chamomile, renowned for their hair-loving properties. By harnessing the power of these botanicals, you embark on a path to strengthen, nourish, and revitalize your strands.
Creating herbal hair rinses or treatments at home is a breeze. Begin by steeping your chosen herbs in hot water, allowing their goodness to infuse into the liquid. After cooling, use the herbal infusion as a final hair rinse or incorporate it into a DIY hair treatment. The process is not only simple but also offers a therapeutic moment, allowing you to connect with nature's offerings.
The benefits of incorporating herbal infusions into your hair care routine extend beyond mere aesthetics. These natural beauty hacks work harmoniously to enhance hair texture, impart a natural shine, and provide a holistic solution for common hair concerns. Embrace the simplicity and purity of herbal infusions as you indulge your hair in the nourishing embrace of nature's healing touch.

Hack 3: Natural Remedies for Blemish-Free Skin

Embark on a journey towards clear, blemish-free skin by embracing the simplicity and efficacy of natural remedies. Discover the gentle yet powerful properties of ingredients from Mother Nature's bounty, learn to create simple spot treatments, and understand the significance of consistent skincare in keeping breakouts at bay.
Nature offers a treasure trove of ingredients renowned for their blemish-fighting prowess. Ingredients like tea tree oil, aloe Vera, and witch hazel are celebrated for their natural antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. By incorporating these into your skincare routine, you pave the way for a clearer complexion without the harshness of synthetic solutions.
Crafting your own spot treatments or overnight remedies is both easy and cost-effective. For example, a mixture of tea tree oil and aloe vera gel creates a potent spot treatment for targeted blemish control. Applying a dab before bedtime allows the natural ingredients to work their magic while you rest.
Consistency in skincare is key to preventing breakouts and maintaining blemish-free skin. Regular cleansing, gentle exfoliation, and the use of natural remedies contribute to a harmonious routine. By making natural beauty hacks a consistent part of your regimen, you not only address existing blemishes but also fortify your skin against future challenges. Embrace the natural path to radiant, clear skin and revel in the beauty that simplicity brings.

Read PART 1 here
 
Erik only emerged from his room at around noon the next day with puffy eyes and red marks and bruises on his face. He dragged his legs and hung his head as he moved.
Once he’d gotten something to eat, I waved him into my room and closed the door.
“Erik, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“Why did you barricade your window with a table, chair, and wardrobe?”
“Uh, never mind that. This Old Henriksen guy. Did he get eaten by the Great Eel God in the past?”
“Nick, I really don’t want to talk about that right now. I don’t even want to think about Storålens natt anymore.” He sighed.
“I know, Erik, I’m really sorry. I just need to know this.”
“He got regurgitated during the festival, but that was a long time ago. Maybe before I was born, or at least when I was still a baby.”
“Did you see him before he stopped showing up in Maelstrom?”
“I barely remember. Think so. Lots of unkempt hair. Kept scratching himself.”
“Right, thank you.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Pay him a visit.” I slung my bag onto my shoulders.
“You can’t be serious. He’s…probably dead or something.” Erik shook his head in disbelief.
“Won’t know until we actually look.”
“It could be dangerous, especially for a newcomer. You could get stopped.”
“Then come with me.”
He looked down at the floor.
“Erik, this is our chance to really uproot all this. Expose Storålens natt.”
He shook his head. “This festival has been running every year for centuries, ever since my ancestors first settled here. It’s not being stopped anytime soon.”
“We can just take the first step. Just visit Old Henriksen. Will you come with me?”
He placed his face into his hand, pacing in a circle. Then, he looked up and sighed. “You have a way with words, Nick. Let’s go.”
Heading out his door, we quickly headed up the terraces, Erik leading and allowing us to avoid anyone who would stop me. Several people watched us from windows, but nobody actually approached us.
It took a while, but we finally arrived at the top of the hill.
“Goddamn, I’d never leave my home either if this was the climb back.” I said, panting hard and wiping buckets worth of sweat off my forehead. I looked out over the rest of the village, at the completed festival square and the boats out on the calm blue water. For a second, I saw a massive snaking shape under the surface, just like I had on my arrival, but it vanished in the next moment. Was that the fabled Great Eel God?
Rubbing my eyes, I turned my attention back to Old Henriksen’s place. This house was old. The red paint was flaking off, the windows were boarded up, and the doorknob was entirely rusted. I tried it. Locked.
“If we kick it down, people will hear and tell the village chief.” I said.
“Don’t worry, I know a little trick.” He gave me a sly grin and pulled what looked to be a piece of metal wire, which he inserted into the keyhole.
“Is that a lockpicking wire? Erik, you’re naughtier than I thought.”
“Don’t tell anyone.” He giggled and worked away at the door. After about a minute of finicking and under the breath curses, I heard one final click and Erik turned the doorknob.
An overwhelming smell hit us immediately upon entry. I’d been in old buildings before, slept in them even. They have a strong musty stale smell to them. Old Henriksen’s house was on another level entirely. It was putrid rot that wormed its way down my throat. I gagged, as did Erik, as we tried to hold in our vomit. The rancid stench was unbelievable.
All the furniture were still in their proper places, untouched by any signs of struggle or human inhabitation. A thick layer of dust covered everything from the plates to the floor, which etched our shoeprints as we walked.
Erik put a handkerchief to his nose and I made do with the sleeve of my arm. Peeking into the lone bedroom, his bed was unmade, and a hole in the roof had been letting in rainwater, turning it into a grimy brown sponge for filthy water. Whatever the case, Old Henriksen had not been in this room in a long, long time.
“Nick, come here.” I followed Erik back out into the main room, where he pointed at a trapdoor in the corner. He leaned down and pulled it open. Unlocked. A ladder led down into darkness. We looked at each other.
“I have to go down to check.” I quickly said before he could express any doubts. “You can stay up here if you want.”
“I’m coming with you.”
The ladder shook and creaked with each step down I took, but it didn’t go down very far at all. I stepped on the dirt floor, putting my hands on my knees and gagging in a desperate attempt not to vomit. The revolting odour was even worse down here, packed into this small underground space and crowding out the breathable air.
I heard Erik come down behind me. He lit a candle, illuminating a small portion of the musty basement. We crept forward into the main room, lined with old shelves filled with various tools and cans. The ground was sticky with something. Our shoes squelched with each step.
A strange hissing groan came from just ahead, making both of us jump. I could hear something shifting, grinding against the ground. We stepped closer into the centre of the room, and that was when we saw it.
There was something long on the ground about the width of a large plastic bottle, occasionally squirming as we got closer.
“Oh my god.” I muttered.
“What is it?” Erik’s hands were shaking in terror.
“Find one end.” We followed it carefully as it snaked across to one end of the basement, and there we saw what it looked like at one end.
It was Old Henriksen, there was no doubt. He become long enough to stretch like rope across the basement. His skin was loose like torn clothes, covered in thousands of massive rotting ulcers and black sores, oozing fetid necrotic fluid onto the basement floor and coating it in a thin layer.
The top part of him ended in his oblong skull, but his skin had gotten so loose that his face had entirely detached, lying in a messy heap half a metre away. One eye on the side of his face not lying in his own rotting flesh goop looked up at us. He had no iris, just a small black pupil in his white beady eyes. He opened his mouth, where his few remaining teeth had turned razor sharp, and made the same hissing groan we heard moments earlier.
I felt something slowly wrap around my calf and let out a high-pitched shriek, leaping up and stomping on it. Old Henriksen hissed at me, and I looked down to see pencil-thin rubbery fingers as long as my legs retreating, attached to arms similarly disproportionately long. They were coiled all round the room, one even pooled in a corner like a heap of rope.
“Where’s his other end?” I asked. Erik nodded and we went along by his candlelight, following his sore-filled body with skin pooling off, until we reached the opposite corner of it. A shelf filled with heavy paint cans had toppled and practically shattered his legs. What was left was actively decomposing while he was alive, releasing even more of the septic stench. As much as his long eel-like body squirmed, the heavy shelf remained pinned over him.
“He must have gotten trapped down here and just kept growing and growing.”
“For…my whole life?” Erik gasped in horror. “How’s he not died of thirst yet?”
We walked back across to his head, where I had Erik lift the candle as high as he could. The ceiling was cracked in placed, and even know, the filth-water from his bedroom was slowly leaking through the cracks and dripping down into the basement, right into his open mouth.
“I-I can’t believe it.” Erik gripped onto one shoulder to support as he held his head in the other. “I’m getting lightheaded.”
“Alright, we’re getting out of here.” As Erik turned, I noticed Old Henriksen’s mouth moving. It sounded like a word.
“Henriksen? Did you say something?”
“Eeeee…” He groaned.
“Yes?”
“Itchy…” He scratched at a black wound the size of a basketball, fingernails digging into the rotting flesh and ripping it up.
“Yeah, sorry.”
“Hungry…” I felt his other hand suddenly grab me and shove me towards him.
“Erik!” I cried out. I violently wrenched at Henriksen’s fingers, but despite his thin limbs, he was freakishly strong. He yanked me towards his face, where his mouth hung open. Erik rushed over, pulling at Old Henriksen’s arm, but he couldn’t overpower him either.
“My bag! Take his photo!”
“Now?”
“Just do it!” I screamed, shoving a shoe into his mouth and stomping on his loose skin. Erik unzipped my backpack and pulled my camera free.
“This button?”
Old Henriksen sunk his teeth into my sole, and I could feel the very tip of his fangs stab into my socks.
“Yes!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “Now!”
Erik took aim and clicked, briefly engulfing Old Henriksen and me in a blinding flash. His pupil constricted immediately and he let go, letting out an unholy half-hiss, half-shriek as he raked at his eyeballs with his fingers. Erik grabbed me by the hand, and we bolted towards the ladder, scrambling up it as fast as our bodies allowed us to. We slammed the trapdoor shut and rushed out of the house, coughing the last of the awful fumes out.
Fresh sea air filled our lungs again and it was like ambrosia to us. We gasped and took deep inhales, clearly any dizziness we had. Breathing heavily, we sat down on the front steps of the house, trying to wrap our heads around what the hell we just saw.
“Old Henriksen. He…he’s what people who got regurgitated are turning into?” Erik asked, incredulity in his voice as he passed my camera back to me.
“They’re not just growing taller. They’re turning into human eels.” Erik buried his face in his hands, trying to make sense of it all. “They never told us anything about that.”
“What do you think happens to those the Great Eel God swallows?”
He didn’t reply.
“I’m going to get evidence about the festival.” I told him. “You can join me if you like.”
“I’m going home.”
“Erik…”
“You saw it yourself. My mom either gets eaten or she starts turning into one of those things. I don’t want to think about this anymore.” Erik got up and trudged off slowly back down the hill.
It didn’t matter. I’d do it with or without him.
 
I waited until the Sun vanished behind the western hill and darkness slowly fell onto Maelstrom once more.
Yet this time, it wasn’t the same omnipresent blanket of night. The festival square lit up, lanterns blazing, bonfires in braziers lining the sides of the square. Blazing torches adorned the open-air towers, each with one particularly tall villager standing there beating a drum. It lit up like a sole beacon in the darkness of Maelstrom and the surrounding forests.
Processions of villagers began to drift towards the festival square like moths to a flame. They mostly wore their usual clothes, but each carried a light source – handheld lanterns, fiery torches, the odd flashlight. Other villagers watched from the same or higher terraces.
I spotted the village chief standing before the raised platform. The tall man was dressed in a purple robe that glinted in the light of the flames around him. Before long a crowd had gathered, and the chief started talking to them, though I couldn’t make out the words from where I was standing.
A loud, deep, groaning call came from the sea, shaking the foundations of the village houses and vibrating my very bones. Maelstrom fell dead silent, all eyes staring at the coast.
Seawater began creeping in, slowly turning from abnormal tide into a full-scale of the coastal region. Everything not nailed down was swept away as water rushed down every street and alley. Then, something absolutely gargantuan emerged from the sea. I could see only its silhouette from here but it dwarfed the houses around it. Not caring about them, the giant eel pushed itself onto land, scraping across the slightly flooded ground and smashing straight through the first house it touched.
I could feel my hands trembling in sheer amazement at what I was witnessing. It continued dragging itself for a while, crushing houses and shoving the debris aside until there was practically a wall of smashed furniture and devastated walls surrounding it. With a great groan, the eel lifted its front section up and flopped forward, crossing half the coastal town in one move.
It landed with a massive crashing noise, shaking the ground beneath my feet. Hundreds of houses crumbled apart like a house of cards, crushed beneath its massive weight. It began its climb up the side of the hill towards the terrace. The entire place shook. Rocks dislodged and tumbled down the slope. Even as it continued pushing up the terrain, more and more of its massive, elongated body slithered out of the water. It must have been well over a hundred metres long.
At last, it reached the festival square. It rested its head onto the velvet-covered platform, fit rather snugly with the wooden roof above it and bent, angular pillars all around. Finally, it stopped moving and all was still in Maelstrom.
Taking the opportunity, I began to descend the terrace layers, running down the steep staircases. I could see the village chief and several other abnormally tall villagers approached it, splashing it with buckets of water. Other villagers began to dance and wave banners before it, casting shadows onto the eyes of the silent god-beast.
Finally, I arrived at the terrace where Erik’s home was located, one step up from the festival square. Finally close enough, I could get a good look at this eel god. It appeared to have…human skin? Pale, loose, wet skin hung from its body and pooled on the edges of the platform. It was absolutely covered in massive rotting wounds and sores. It opened its mouth wide, and from within I could spot more putrid oozing ulcers and disgusting gums lined with sharp fangs.
One of the chief’s tall assistants nodded and walked straight into its mouth, taking care to avoid the teeth. I thought he was about to stroll right down its throat too, but the eel god lifted its tongue and flung him off his feet. With a gulp, he vanished right down the monster’s throat without a sound.
The village chief made another call, and this time a regular-looking woman climbed in and was practically swallowed immediately too.
This was it. What I needed. I slung my bag onto one shoulder and pulled the camera out. Zooming in, I waited for the next person. In came a tall woman, who bowed to the Great Eel God before stepping in.
No, I had to get a photo with a regular-looking person or someone could get suspicious about fakery.
Footsteps and talking spectators began to approach me.
Shit. Hurry up!
One man, dressed in rags and with a white bandana around his head, carefully took his clothes off and handed them to one of the village chief’s assistant before he stepped into its mouth.
The footsteps closed in.
I clicked the button.
The bright flash enveloped the entire festival square.
The Great Eel God’s pupils immediately constricted.
Dozens of heads turned to look straight at me.
I felt my blood run cold.
The eel let out a deafening hissing call of pain and smashed its jaws shut. I heard the sound of screaming and snapping bones as it swallowed its prey. The village chief backed off in surprise as the furious eel god flung its head upwards, smashing the wooden roof above it into a million splinters that came raining down. Screeching ever louder, it pushed itself forward, opened its mouth, and enveloped three of the nearest villagers in one gulp, shredding one of them on its teeth. Blood spewed from its mouth as it swallowed them.
It swiped its head to one side, flinging several people off the square and sending the fiery braziers toppling off. Then it appeared to tense up and cracked its own body like a whip. Its lower half swept across half the coastal village in seconds. Houses were ripped off their foundations and broke to pieces. A tsunami of debris and the eel’s body tore through streets and boats alike. Dozens of people tried to flee before being enveloped and vanishing into the carnage.
Debris flung high into the air. Chunks crashed into the hillside. One massive metal piece landed on Old Henriksen’s house and collapsed it down into the basement.
At the square, the eel god continued its feast, snatching up villagers and devouring them. Yet they didn’t flee. Instead, they bowed, clasping their hands, and silently awaited their turn.
But not all. The village chief glared straight at me and broke into a run, scaling up the terrace steps with frightening speed. I felt my entire body freeze instantly as the tall man approached me with nothing but murder in his eyes, but I pried myself from my spot and broke into a run.
I could hear his footsteps. He was closing in. Closer and closer.
Thud!
I heard him cry out in pain and fall. Turning my head, I saw the chief lying on the dirt path, one hand on his bloodied head and a large sharp rock lying beside him. Another rock cracked him on the chin, and I looked up to see Sigrid on the next terrace up with an armful of stones as ammo, hurling them at him.
“Go, run!” She yelled at me.
“Sigrid!” He roared, getting to his feet and running up after her. Tucking my camera into my bag, I continued to sprint away as well, pushing past a woman in my way. I barely made it much further before I collided straight into Erik. We both fell to the ground, groaning.
“Nick! W-what’s happening?”
“Your god’s pissed off! It’s eating everyone!” I pointed over, where the eel had coiled around the entire festival square and was picking through the last of the villagers awaiting their eternal prize.
“My mom!” He screamed, pointing behind me. I turned round to see the woman who had just gone past me, currently scampering at full speed towards the festival square. “Stop her!”
Both of us scrambled up, chasing after her. She ran and ran, darting across the wooden boards that led to the now-abandoned open-air towers. Picking up a drumstick, she beat on the drums, yelling down inaudibly at the Great Eel God.
Erik pulled ahead of me and ran over onto the tower as well, grabbing onto his mother’s arm.
“Mom, stop it! Please!” He screamed. She yelled back, tugging away from him and slapping at his face. As I started crossing over the wooden board, I looked down to see the eel god bringing its head back and swinging it like a bat. One pillar snapped with a thunderous cracking noise. The tower violently leaned onto an angle, sending Erik’s mother tumbling over the side.
Erik leapt right off as fast as lightning, one arm grabbing onto the wooden railing and the other clutching her forearm tightly as she dangled over the festival square. He caught his foot on the edge of the railing on the way down and I heard an audible crack and an agonized cry from him.
The eel god pulled back once more and slammed into the tower again. Erik’s fingers slipped and he fell. Literally throwing myself forward, I slammed into the railing and caught his hand with my right, both of us clutching tightly. Pain immediately ripped through my shoulder in protest from the sheer weight dangling from it.
Down below, the eel god opened its massive bloody maw. Its loose skin rippled as it roared, waiting for its sacrifices. Dangling several metres up, Erik’s mother struggled to land in it, but he wouldn’t let go.
“Erik! Let go of me, now!” She screamed.
“No! I’m not going to!”
“Let go!”
“Mom! Stop this. Just come back home with me.” He pleaded.
“He’ll will take me to his eternal kingdom.”
“You don’t know that!”
“Let go of me, Erik.”
“Please.” Tears were streaming down his face. “Don’t abandon me too. Don’t leave me alone. Please don’t leave me alone!”
“Erik…”
“I’ll have no one left if you go! Don’t leave me too!” He screamed from the very bottom of his heart.
“Erik!” I cried out. I could feel his fingers slipping from my grip. My shoulder screamed in sheer white-hot agony. “I…can’t hold on much longer.”
The eel god snapped its jaws impatiently, waiting for its food.
“I’m not letting go!” He shouted.
“Erik,” his mother said gently, a calm look on her face, “it’s okay.”
“No, it isn’t.” He desperately shook his head.
“Listen. You still have your life ahead of you. It’s okay.”
“I’m not letting you go, mom!” Erik wailed, his voice going hoarse from the strain.
“Erik. I’m just going to see your father again. I’ve missed him so much.”
“Erik, please!” I begged, clinging onto him with the tip of my fingers, the two positioned right above the snapping jaws of the eel.
“…goodbye.” Erik whimpered.
“I love you.” She smiled.
And he let go.
She fell for just a second, and then she was gone, engulfed by the Great Eel God.
With the weight lessened, he gripped my hand with his other arm, and I pulled harder than I ever had in my life until we both collapsed on the floor of the precariously leaning tower.
“Is the god going to puke them out now?” I asked.
“He should.”
We watched as the Great Eel God raised its head and screeched one last time, and it turned and began slithering sideways through the wrecked village back into the sea without regurgitating a single person.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He wiped his tear-stained face. “I don’t think I can stand.”
I looked down to see his right leg had swollen considerably and turned black-blue with massive bruising.
“Alright, careful.” I wrapped one arm of him over my shoulders and we very carefully clambered up the sloped tower floor and onto the terrace.
Before us stood the village chief, blood profusely leaking from his forehead. He stared daggers at us and in his massive hands he held a huge woodcutter’s axe.
He opened his mouth to speak or snarl or maybe curse us before he hacked us to death, but I interrupted him before he could.
“Chief. Are you going to keep your god waiting?”
His head turned, watching the Great Eel God crawling halfway to the sea, sweeping houses and bloodied corpses with it.
The village chief dropped his axe with a metallic clatter and ran off into the ruined village after it.
 
Dawn broke on a brand-new day for Maelstrom.
Erik and I sat wrapped in a blanket, him leaning into my shoulder, softly crying at the utter carnage that had ensued in his hometown. Different emotions swept across me. Guilt, relief, despondence. I really felt like I had to do it. To finally expose the cultish religion that had seized hold of the town for the past few hundred years. I’d never expected such devastation to occur.
Local country police officers swept through the town, while paramedics and firefighters worked to help survivors and find anyone buried in the rubble. The flashing red and blue lights alarmed me at first, but nothing emerged from the sea after us.
A paramedic had applied a splint to Erik’s fractured shin, and I’d told disbelieving police officers to get divers or a submarine to look into what was underwater. Right now, I could spot people in wetsuits wading out of the water after a dive.
Elsewhere, I could see Sigrid embracing her family as they were taken out on stretchers, hurt but alive.
“Erik.”
“Nick…I don’t know what to do now.”
“You could come with me.”
“With you?”
“If you don’t want to stay here, that is. I don’t know what Maelstrom’s future holds, but me and Addison, we’ll be going upstate. And what I’m saying is, I’d be happy to have you join me. Join us.”
He was quiet.
“It’s up to you.”
“I think…I just want to sleep for now.” He lay his head fully on my shoulder, and I carefully wrapped a hand around his.
A police detective came up to me, dressed in a drenched coat. All colour had drained from his face.
“You’re the one who called us to check under the water?”
“Yeah. What did your divers see under there?”
His teeth were chattering. “This information will go nowhere. You’re not to speak about this to anyone.”
“What did you see? What’s inside the water?”
But he didn’t answer. He walked away, shaking his head and staring at the sky, as if asking the heavens for an explanation.
Holding onto Erik even tighter, I could only wonder what had become of those eaten by the Great Eel God.
   
Author's note: IceOriental123 here! Hope you enjoyed this kaiju story!
This turned out to be my longest short story yet, and definitely took a lot of work.
You can check out my other stories in my subreddit at this link.
The subreddit's still WIP but the story list in the link is updated.
Thanks for reading!

A newcomer to the strange town of Maelstrom finds himself embroiled in a strange festival dedicated to their Great Eel God
“Maelstrom! Everyone off for Maelstrom!” The lethargic voice of the bus driver rang out.
I felt a dozen seated eyes on me as I awkwardly stood up, mumbling apologies as I shuffled past the unhappy-looking man beside me and onto the aisle. I couldn’t help but notice the bus driver’s stare on me as I clambered down the steps off the rickety old bus. Nobody else had alighted with me.
“Hey, sir!” He called out. I gulped. Did he notice…?
“You sure you’re alighting here? Augusta’s two stops down.” He continued.
“I’m alighting here, that’s right.” I said, a small sense of relief washing through me. His eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to say something else, but apparently decided otherwise and bit his lip.
“You’re letting the bugs in!” An annoyed voice shouted from within the bus.
“Alright, suit yourself.” The driver gave me a slow shake of the head before closing the doors. The bus drove on down the lonely road, spluttering black exhaust as it clattered onwards.
I took a deep inhale, breathing in the salty scent of the sea. It had been a long time since I was on the coast, or anywhere nice, really.
It was a short walk off the road and along the coast before I came upon it: Maelstrom. The tiny quiet fishing village stretched from the coast all the way up the side of a hill. The villagers had carved the slope up into terraces, each packed with houses, narrowing the higher up the hill they went. Each terrace had its own path, and they were connected by steep flights of stairs cut into the earth.
Something caught my eye. At the heart of the village, around halfway up the hill, construction was ongoing. It seemed like some sort of festival square, wooden beams and arches draped with unlit white lanterns. Two open-air wooden towers flanked the square reaching in height to the next terrace up, a wooden plank connecting it to that path. Banners with all colours of the rainbow were strung up between them.
My gaze then leapt from house to house, spotting a lone red one at the very top where I presumed the village chief stayed, but none of them showed any signage designating them as an inn.
 
“An inn?” The first stranger I’d gone up to asked as if it were the strangest question in the world. He was slightly taller than me, with dry matted hair and leathery sun-baked skin. “We don’t have an inn.”
“You don’t?” My eyes widened.
“Don’t get visitors around here. We don’t like tourists.” He gnashed his crooked teeth together.
“I’m not a tourist. I just want to stay here for a few days before moving further upstate.”
“Well, doesn’t change much. We don’t have an inn, a motel, or a hotel here.”
“Great…thanks anyway.”
Staring at the man as he limped off towards the coast, various possible solutions ran through my head. This wasn’t going to be fun.
 
My sore knuckles rapped against the next door down.
“Hey, sir, I’m new in town. I’m wondering if you have a room that I could rent for about three to four days.” I forced a smile for the umpteenth time.
“No tourist is going to live in my house.” The bald grumpy fisherman slammed his door in my face.
“I don’t even have enough rooms for my own family, run along.” The bearded man with a long scar across his eye shooed me away.
“Leave!” I heard the elderly lady latching at least three locks on her door.
“Sorry, no openings here.” A young woman said, only peeking her right eye at me from behind her door.
The setting Sun’s orange rays peeked through from behind the hill and cast a long shadow behind me as I went for what must have been my millionth door and tapped on it. It slowly creaked open.
“Hi sir, I’m new here. Do you have room for rent or something?” I asked. God, I was thirsty.
“Room?” A raspy deep voice emerged from the house. Elongated thin fingers about the length of my hand wrapped around the edge of the worn wooden door and pulled it open, slowly revealing the inhabitant to me.
The man was tall, at least two metres in height. He towered far above me, bending down nearly 70 degrees to avoid hitting the doorframe. I barely reached his hips, which were supported on disproportionately long and thin legs. A belt had been curled three times around his waist to hold up his baggy pants…or were they regular-sized?
“You need a room, you say?” His beady eyes surveyed me as he leaned out the doorframe, then grunted in annoyance at the sunlight reflecting off the sea. The brief glimpse of him in the light illuminated what his wrinkled, sagging oval-shaped face. Both it and his long neck were covered in black festering sores. He settled back halfway out the door.
“I think I’ve one to spare, young man.” The man said, scratching his arms. I had a sudden, very bad feeling about this situation.
“A-actually, I don’t need one.” I stammered out.
“So, you knocked on my door for fun?” He glared at me, his scratching on his arms getting faster and faster. “I think it’d be rude not to come in to take a look, wouldn’t it?”
“No, no, um…how many rooms do you have on offer?”
“One.”
“Ah, see, I’m actually renting for two people.” I said, before another thought rushed into my mind. “And we both cannot stand being in the same room with each other.”
“Hmm…well I think I could spare two rooms.” He pondered, biting on the skin of his index finger and pulling it a dozen centimetres away before letting it snap back.
“Did I say two? I meant three people total.” I nodded frantically. “Three rooms. We all hate each other.”
He stared at me.
“Welp, gotta go then.” I gave him a slight bow and power-walked away from the house as fast as I could.
Just my luck! I grumbled under my breath as I walked off. I’d chosen this town since it was so remote and unknown. Just one review on Google too (one star), saying it was weird but cheap. Everything lined up, or so I’d thought.
Now what? Addison was probably heading this way, if she hadn’t been caught already, but it would take three or four days. The thought of sleeping rough in such a strange town didn’t bode well, but if I had no choice…
I was snapped out of my thoughts when I nearly walked straight into a thick wooden pillar in the middle of the terrace path. Looking round in annoyance at this awful bit of town design, I realised I’d accidentally stumbled my way onto the festival square. Nobody seemed to be around; it was evening after all.
Rounding the pillar of the leftmost tower, I stepped onto the festival square. It was about 15 metres wide or so, with the centre having a massive rectangular platform raised slightly from the ground, stretching to the edge of the terrace facing the sea. Perhaps they’d construct some altar of sorts, I thought.
I stared into the sea, waves gently lapping at the shore. I blinked. For a moment, I thought there had been something utterly massive under the waves.
“First time seeing this?” A gentle-sounding voice came from behind me. I quicky turned round to see an attractive young man, looking to be around my age, with loose, neck-length black hair and tanned skin, dressed in a T-shirt and frayed jean shorts.
“Umm…sorry I was just taking a look.” I tried to explain.
“Yeah, don’t worry, you’re new.”
“Oh, is it that obvious?” I scratched my hair sheepishly, cheeks turning red.
“We don’t get many visitors, and people who live here don’t gawk at the festival square like that.” He said, running his hand along the wooden pillar of the towers. As if on cue, a tall woman with stringy blonde hair walked by, clasped her hands, and slightly bowed at the square, before continuing onwards without a second glance at us.
“What’s this festival about anyway?” I asked, glancing round at all the beautiful decorations in the half-finished square.
The young man stepped closer to me and pointed out to the sea, where the waters twinkled with the orange sunlight and where several boats were slowly pulling back to the small harbour.
“This town worships a god, who lives in the sea. Each year, we hold a festival, lighting this square up, and bring him to shore where we give him our devotion.”
“And he shows up?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright.”
“You don’t believe me, I get it.” He giggled. “Just look there.”
I followed his finger, watching it trace an invisible line from the square all the way to the coast, across dozens of houses. At first, I didn’t quite get what he was showing me. There wasn’t a road or path for this god of theirs, it was just various houses, somewhat haphazardly built.
That’s when I noticed it. These homes. They were repaired out of seemingly whatever materials the villagers could get, unlike the ones to the edges of the village or in the terraces of the hill. They looked awful, like two halves made from different materials and by different people had been awkwardly smushed together, but only houses in a rough wide line from the coast to the square. Almost as if a very precise tornado ripped through there a year ago.
Or a god.
“Well, if that’s true,” my mind was racing for explanations, “why would they rebuild their houses in the same place? Why not leave a proper gap for your god?”
“That’d be the smart choice, I guess,” he had a small grin on his beguiling face, “but people think its auspicious if their homes get touched by the divine.”
Touched? Just how big was this god of theirs, if he were actually real?
“When is this festival?”
“In two days. We’ve never actually had a newcomer arrive this close to the festival. Will you be staying?”
That stomped my current conundrum firmly back into my conscious thoughts and all I could do was sigh. “Well, I want to, but this place doesn’t actually have an inn, and people don’t want me to rent out a room.”
A twinkle seemed to appear in his brown eyes.
“You’re not going to believe this.”
 
“Hmm…”
I sat straight as a needle and sweated buckets as the short, middle-aged woman with dark eye circles and braided hair circled me, looking me meticulously up and down by the light of a candle.
At the other side of the small wooden dining table sat the young man, who I now knew as Erik, giving me an embarrassed smile, frequently averting his eyes.
“Mom, come on, isn’t that enough? Nick's fine.” He shook his legs anxiously.
“Hmm…he seems nice enough, not like a troublemaker.” She said in a wiry voice. Erik covered one side of his face in sheer awkwardness.
“Plus, he’s not bad in height.” She continued.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, throwing in a half-hearted laugh to avoid sounding rude.
“We like tall people around here. The taller, the better. It symbolises closeness with our deity.” Erik explained. The image of that grotesquely tall man staring at me in the doorframe crept back into my brain.
“We’ll let you take that room then.” Erik’s mother pointed to the closest of a set of three doors. “Rent will be $30 a day, and you will have to pay for what you eat here at the end of your stay.”
“Thank you so much!” I leapt up and shook her hand, feeling the weight of one solved problem being relieved, and at a price I could afford too! I’d been saving so much on my money that I’d even actually not gotten a real ticket for that bus ride. That would be solved once Addison makes it here. If she could without getting caught. Right away, I handed over the $30 in cash.
“Hope you like seafood.” Erik was positively beaming, an alluring smile from ear to ear.
“Don’t worry, I love seafood.” I said, sitting back down at the table again.
“Speaking of seafood, those useless fishermen caught less than half their usual haul today.” She said, bringing a plate of steamed fish to the table, the aroma making my famished stomach grumble.
“Mom, it’s just that they caught so many eels this time.” Erik said, clearly salivating at the food too.
“Eels are nice.” I said, causing both to look at me. “I’ve a friend, Kana, who’s really into researching them.”
“Research?” Erik’s mother raised an eyebrow.
“You know, studying them in jars, cutting them up after death, that kind of stuff.” I’d just finished the sentence, but it was like someone had taken a knife to the mood. Both the others at the dinner table now stared at their food, disdain slowly rising in Erik’s mother’s face.
“Um, Nick,” Erik cleared his throat, “eels are kinda sacred here in Maelstrom.”
I felt a deep sinking feeling in my gut.
“Sorry, really sorry, I didn’t know.” I said, looking over to Erik.
“Newcomers are always like this, right?” He gave his mom a light laugh in an attempt to defuse the situation.
“Don’t say it again.” She stared straight through my soul.
“Never will.”
 
The room they gave me was alright apart from all the junk that looked like it had been dumped in the corner and chopped apart with an axe.
“And that is?” I pointed at it, small candle in hand.
“Ah well,” Erik sat down on the bed, bouncing on the mattress a little, “this was my uncle’s room. But he did something we didn’t like.”
“We as in you and your mom?”
“We as in Maelstrom.” Erik looked down at his feet. “Look, there are some lines you don’t cross if you were born here, and he did.”
“And he’s…gone?”
“He left the village. Mom gave him three days to come back, and when he didn’t, she destroyed everything that he owned and has been looking for someone to live in this room for a while. To get rid of the scent, according to her.”
“Why not burn it, instead of just leaving it lying in a corner?”
“We’re not really allowed to start a fire so close to Storålens natt, even during the day. Inauspicious thing.”
“Sto-what?”
“The festival.” He let out a giggle. “Like I said earlier, we light up the square at night and bring our god in once a year. Every other night, Maelstrom is darkness incarnate.”
I peered out of the window, and he was right. The only light source was the dim glow from the candle in my hand. Everything outside the wooden windows had been swallowed up by the pitch-black night. I could hear footsteps in the dirt and some light chatter from nearby, but unease crept into me at not being able to actually lay eyes on those producing the sounds.
“That’s…creepy.”
“You get used to it. You can start unpacking now, I guess.” Erik motioned towards my bag.
“I don’t have much.” I chuckled softly, unslinging the backpack from my shoulders, placing it on the floor, and pulling my camera from it.
“Is that…?” His eyes widened.
“A digital camera, yeah. Smile.” I raised it to my eyes and aimed it at him. He let out a childish squeak and waved his outstretched hands to block his face.
“Don’t worry, I’m just joking.” I laughed again, lowering the camera and moving to replace it in my bag.
“Are you any good at photo taking?”
“Sure, I’m decent.”
“Hmm, I suppose it would be a waste to not take a picture.”
“So, you do want it, Erik?”
“Alright, Nick, you can take your photo. And you can delete it if it’s not good either.” He hurriedly threw the second sentence in.
“Smile.” I brought the camera up. Erik scrambled to a better position on the bed, crossing his left leg over the other and giving a slight smile. I clicked the button and enveloped him in a bright flash which made him flinch in surprise.
“Careful, don’t aim that out of the window.” He warned, before pushing that concern aside and practically bounding across the room to me. “How does it look? Not too bad, I hope.”
I flicked it over to gallery, staring at the captured image: his twinkling brown eyes, his smooth hair, and semi-confident look. “I think you look great.”
“That’s quite good. Uncle never took photos like this with his camera.” He rubbed his hands together in excitement.
“Did it get smashed to pieces?”
“He took it when he left.” He said with a wistful tone that clearly divulged some sort of longing for that man. “Do you have anything else fancy?”
“Just my extra clothes mostly.” I gave him an apologetic smile.
“You’re not traveling with much. Where are you going after these three days?”
“Upstate probably. Just waiting right now for a girl, Addison.”
“A…girlfriend?” He looked away at the floor.
“Nah, just a good friend. A partner of sorts.” I just hoped she’d avoided trouble so far.
“And you’ll be settling down somewhere in northern Maine then.”
“I suppose, yeah. You?”
“We’re not really allowed to leave. That’s part of why my mom was so mad about my uncle.” He sighed, anxiously fiddling with his fingers. “When we reach adulthood, all of us swear an oath for a lifetime of devotion to our god.”
Both of us fell silent for quite a few seconds before he awkwardly got up and cleared his throat. “I’ll leave you to it then. Goodnight, Nick.”
“Goodnight, Erik.”
 
They say the first night in an unfamiliar place is always sleepless. I’d managed to sleep in all sorts of places just fine since I left home seven years ago. But now here I was, staring into the ceiling, engulfed in total darkness now that I’d snuffed the candle out. Something about Maelstrom was off. It wasn’t just the weird customs or religion. The whole village felt wrong.
As I tossed and turned in the bed too short for my stature, strange sounds began to creep through the closed windows. I strained my ears, trying to make it out.
That was…hammering? Sawing? Soft chatter. Dragging wood and metal. Slowly, I got to my feet and crept to the window, pulling them open. The noises got louder. It was definitely construction, and it seemed to be coming from the direction of the festival square. Of course, as much as I squinted, I failed to pierce the veil of night that hid them. Why were they doing building up the festival stuff without any light? It seemed like a safety hazard.
Should I…take a photo with flash?
No, no, awful idea. Erik already warned me about the rules. Physically shaking my head as if to get that dumb thought out of it, I closed the wooden windows again and settled back in bed, the sounds of them building the festival square forming a monotonous background noise.
I’d just began to drift into sleep when I heard a different, louder sound. Boots crunching in the rocks and dirt, getting closer and closer. My mind shot awake immediately, but I stayed lying under the blanket. Just someone passing by with materials, probably.
The footsteps got closer and closer until they got to outside my window. Then they stopped.
I sat up quietly.
Sniffing sounds came from outside. I heard the wooden windows slowly open with a creak.
As silently as I could, I reached into my bag, taking extra care until I felt the metal blade of my knife and the remnants of dried blood on it. Tracing my finger along until it touched the handle, I grabbed the weapon and pulled it out, crouching low to the ground and very slowly creeping until I was beside the window, which had just hit the angular limit of its opening.
Then nothing.
They were waiting, I was sure of it. Waiting for me or waiting for something. I couldn’t see a damn thing, so I only had my ears. It was quiet except for the distant construction and the loud thudding of my heart, pounding at my ribcage. My hands were so sweaty I was sure I was going to drop the knife and alert whoever it was.
I could smell something vaguely fishy. As in actual fish. What the hell was happening? Should I go back to the bedside and light the candle?
Something big touched me on the front of the chest. Barely able to restrain a yelp, I hacked the knife down as hard as I could, cutting through it. Something heavy thudded to the floor and a deep howl of pain came from outside the window. Footsteps quickly retreated away from my window towards the festival square.
One hand still clutched on the knife handle in a death grip, I backed away until I felt my legs hit the bed. My left hand swept across the bedside until I grabbed the lighter, flicking it on and reigniting the candle.
I pushed the windows closed with my foot to make sure no light escaped and crouched down to the floor, searching for whatever I’d chopped off. My heart nearly stopped when I saw red blood staining the wooden floor. Following the trail, I spotted my target.
Still squirming on the floor was a severed human finger, at least fifteen centimetres long.
 
All the colour drained out of Erik’s face when I showed him the bloody mess the next morning.
We went out for a walk at dawn at his insistence, and I watched as he quickly tossed the finger into a small pond nearby, where the fish began to devour it ravenously.
“Don’t talk about it.” He told me grimly, and I could do nothing but nod. After a quick breakfast, Erik led me down the hill and into the more coastal section of Maelstrom. We navigated through streets filled with junk, where stray cats hissed at us and tired-looking villagers shot us glances as they went about the chores. Up close, these hastily rebuilt houses looked even worse. Walls barely held up corrugated metal roofs and gaping holes led water into them.
Finally, we arrived at the vacant remnants of a house that evidently never got reconstructed. Most of the items in the house had been cleared, as had much of the debris, leaving several piles of junk and the occasional weathered piece of furniture, where two others sat, a young man and young woman with dark tanned skin.
“Who’s the tagalong?” The woman asked, giving us friendly waves.
“This is Nick, he showed up in Maelstrom yesterday. Nick, my friends Jonas and Sigrid.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“We haven’t had a newcomer come this close to Storålens natt before.” Jonas mused.
“How exciting.” Sigrid said with a level of sarcasm I didn’t know was possible. “You looking to get eaten too?”
“Eaten?!” I exclaimed in alarm. “What do you mean?”
Both of them looked over at Erik.
“What?” He shrugged sheepishly. “There wasn’t a good time to explain yesterday.”
“You’re saying this festival involves people getting eaten? I thought your god just came ashore, crushed a few buildings, and got worshipped.”
“See this house we’re sitting in?” Sigrid said.
“Not really much of a house.” I pointed out.
“Exactly. The Larsen family used to live here. Two elderly parents and an unmarried son. The two old folks got eaten a couple of festivals ago, and their son finally went with them last year. Nobody was left to rebuild this place, so the village chief just collected their stuff and distributed it.”
“You need to explain what the hell happens.”
“Our god, a great eel, comes out onto land on Storålens natt every year.” Erik said, a deep frown on his suddenly crestfallen face. “Part of the festival…the most important part…devotees feed themselves to him.”
I gulped reflexively.
“They stuff him as much as possible, and he vomits out most of them before he leaves. Those ‘lucky’ ones are consumed, and we believe he takes them to his underwater kingdom to live for eternity. The Larsens got lucky, as they say.”
Words failed me in the moment. I looked back and forth at all three of them. Jonas gave me a sympathetic shrug.
“And those that get thrown up?” I finally said after what felt like an eternity of silence.
“They get blessed by the Great Eel God, physically.” Sigrid said.
My mind, overwhelmed by racing thoughts, snapped on a crystal-clear image. “You mean they get really tall and thin.”
“That’s one of them.” She nodded.
“Erik,” Jonas said hesitantly, “is your mother still insisting on feeding the Great Eel God tomorrow?”
He looked away. Both Jonas and Sigrid gave him empathetic looks.
“But don’t you all think that’s good? I mean, in your religion?” I asked.
“We’re supposed to.” Sigrid sighed. “But once you’ve actually…lost people or seen them change, it doesn’t feel good.”
“All the proper adults, our parents, the chief, everyone. They say it’s the nature of youth to have shaky faith in the Great Eel.” Jonas threw his hands up. “As if we don’t know anything.”
“Hate the chief.” Sigrid growled. “Spineless prick. When my grandma got eaten, he scolded me when I was sad. Said I was selfish.”
“We just have to go with it. Not like we can leave anyway.” Jonas continued.
“Why not?”
“I already told you last night. We’re not allowed to.” Erik said.
“Are there guards preventing you from leaving?”
“Um…no?”
“Then why can’t you leave?” The three of them stared at me incredulously.
“We can’t just leave our parents, you dick.” Jonas’ face reddened.
“It’s Nick. And I ran from my home when I was just 13. Sometimes, if there’s a situation where you just have to get out, you get out, even if it hurts. You have to let go.”
They all glanced at each other, except Erik, who stared at the ruined ground and refused to look over.
“And has your life been good since you ran away?” Sigrid asked.
I took a sharp inhale. “Well, no, it’s been pretty awful to be honest, but it was better than staying with my mom and dad. I’m just saying, really think about it.”
We stayed talking for a while, them prodding me for life details and me prodding them on this festival, but nothing substantial came from it. Sigrid and Jonas showed me around the coast, and before I knew it, the Sun was setting again. We bid goodbye to the two and Erik led me back up the hill through the steep terrace staircases and back to his home.
As we reached the terrace where his home was located, our path was blocked by two figures. I recognised the first man immediately. Looming menacingly before us was the same tall, thin man that I had rejected the room rent offer from, his saggy face with disgusting black sores moving closer to me.
“Village chief!” Erik greeted immediately, standing up straight.
“He’s the village chief?” My disbelief that my luck could be that bad rising.
“Is there a problem?” The village chief rubbed his ten spindly fingers together.
“Oh, no, chief. I’d just assumed that the village chief would be staying at that lone house up there.” I pointed to the highest house on the hill, roof glinting with sunlight.
“That’s just where Old Henriksen stays. Just a weirdo who never shows up.” Erik explained. A weirdo even by Maelstrom’s standards? That I had to see.
“Through my tenure as chief and my predecessors before me, it was deemed untenable to move Old Henriksen from his rightful home. But enough about that. I see you have decided to stay, newcomer.” He said.
“Yes, with Erik here.”
His lips curled open, but not into a smile, instead showing his rotting pointed teeth.
“I recall you saying you had two companions with you who required separate rooms. Yet young Erik here only has one room to spare, that of his rotten uncle.” His breath was pungent like rotting fish and meat.
“They decided they hated this place and left for Augusta.” I stood as strong as I could, barely hiding the sheer panic telling me to run for the next town.
“Very well. You are welcome in Maelstrom, even to observe Storålens natt, but we will not allow you to participate.”
“I understand.” Not like I wanted to get eaten by this supposed eel god anyway.
“And you will not take any photographs or videos to share with the outside world. This is our most sacred ceremony…I hope you understand for your own good.” He slapped me on the shoulder with his hand, fingers wrapping halfway down my spine.
“Of course.” I said, stepping back to dislodge the physical contact. “We will be hosting it here tomorrow night.” He gestured at the festival square one terrace step down. Work had been done on it since yesterday. A wooden roof structure with angular bent pillars covered the rectangular platform, now covered with a glittering piece of purple velvety cloth. The decorations of unlit lanterns and banners was far more complex, criss-crossing over and hanging from every available height.
“One more thing, don’t forget not to use any bright lights at night, or there will be consequences.” The chief said, breaking into a smile. “At last, after having been so devoted for so long, I will finally get my chance to join our god down in his eternal abyssal domain.”
“You’re leaving tomorrow?” Erik asked, surprised.
“Yes, Edvard here will be taking over.”
The man behind him, even taller and thinner with crumpled scratchy skin, nodded in a way that was somehow threatening. He scratched furiously at his face, where the skin was clearly peeling off and red raw.
“You better listen, newcomer.” His voice was thin and croaky.
His hand. Where his index finger should be was instead bandaged and stained with dried red blood.
“Lost your finger recently?” I stared at him. He returned the gaze with his beady dark eyes.
“Fishing accident.”
 
The exquisite taste of the salmon was almost enough to make me cry.
Erik’s mother looked at me amused as I scarfed down the food as soon as it touched my plate.
“See, son? My cooking is as good as it still is.” She boasted with the proudest grin on her face.
Erik stared sullenly into his own plate of food, taking the smallest nibbles once in a while. As dinner went on, his mother talked constantly to both of us, but he never replied to her once.
“What are you so angry about?” She finally asked. “Is it about Storålens natt?”
He didn’t speak.
“Erik, I’ve been waiting for this chance for a long time. I know your faith is shaky.”
Silence.
“Your father got lucky that day, you know?”
“He did. But we didn’t.” Erik mumbled just loudly enough for us to hear.
“Stop talking nonsense, Erik.”
“He got to go to his eternal underwater kingdom. We had to live life without him.”
“You should be happy for him.”
“I am. I’m just not happy for us.”
“I know you miss him, Erik. I miss him too.”
“Then why did you let him go?” He was shouting. “Why did you let the Great Eel God consume him?”
“It’s what he wanted.”
Erik silently shook his head, staring down at the table. “He was being selfish, letting us go.”
“Erik, what are you talking about?” His mother snapped at him.
“How much of our money did you have to spend on this?” He jabbed a fork at the salmon.
“Having a guest over is a special occasion.” His mother awkwardly glanced at me.
“Uncle Jakob had to get two jobs to help earn us enough money. He saw Storålens natt for what it was. That’s why he ran away.”
“That idiot abandoned us!” She slammed a palm on the wooden table. “He left us to have to fend for ourselves.”
“Isn’t that what dad did too?”
The sheer boiling rage displayed across her face made me want to cower under the furniture. She grabbed him by the collar and dragged him with little resistance to her room and slammed the door shut. I heard loud cursing and the sound of palms colliding onto flesh. My appetite suddenly gone, I hurriedly retreated into my room.
About half an hour later, I heard the door open and slow footsteps shuffle into Erik’s bedroom. I heard him crash onto his bed and softly sob for a long while. Part of me urged me to go over to talk to him, comfort him, but when I stood up, nothing but a huge wave of anxiety and fear washed over me.
Giving up on that thought, I sat back down on the bed and took my camera out in the dim candlelight. Clicking into the gallery immediately took me to the pleasant photo of Erik last night.
Could I? Should I?
Two sides of my mind were in fierce debate. I’d enough run-ins with the law not to risk it. Not to mention the village chief had warned me of ‘consequences’.
But listening to the quiet weeping next door, I had to. I was going to capture evidence of this accursed festival tomorrow and get some sort of law enforcement intervention.
 
Read PART TWO here.

Hackers <= Tankers < Quitters
That’s it.
​
Hackers = 🤡
Hackers used to be very rampant. There is still a lot of subtle hacking that takes place, but it’s much more difficult to catch, as it requires a very watchful eye and internal clocking. Yet, these losers still have a very high 🤡 status. Hackers like to claim that everyone else is doing it, so they may as well. What kind of stupid logic is this? Something about bridges or cliffs... Quit being a hacker and play the game. Or are you too scared to show people how crappy of a player you truly are? Go ahead and comment below and let us know you're a hacking clown. No? Yeah, thought so.
Tankers = 🤡
Tankers are still pretty bad. They still are found in the lower leagues, but we don’t see them that much anymore, or nowhere near the rate we used to in CL matches. A lot of tankers have been re-leagued with reporting and the new MM scoring system. It’s really only those who are very hardcore about it (and imagine being such a 🤡 that you’re hardcore about tanking and seal clubbing) that really infect lower leagues. Tankers have long had a secured clown status. These losers have never touched grass, a woman, man, or whatever their sexual preference happens to be. These losers probably harm the game more than hackers because they discourage lower league players. Go ahead and comment below and let us know you're a tanking clown. No? Yeah, thought so.
Quitters = 🤡🤡
There has been an exponential rise in quitters. Matches are so often determined by quitters these days that it vastly overshadows hackers and tankers. Why do players quit? A variety of reasons: 1) they feel a match is unfair, 2) they are purposefully tanking, 3) the rare disconnect, 4) their mom called and their crustless PB&J is ready with an apple juice box, 5) their favorite bot was destroyed in 20 seconds so why continue to play…
Regarding 1) Guess what? By quitting you just made the match even more “unfair” for the remaining blues. Life is tough. Winning is hard. But quitting won’t help you learn at a faster rate than playing through adversity.
Regarding 2) See tankers. Quit being a loser clown.
Regarding 3) I get this once in maybe 100 matches. Freak accidents happen. But there have been mumblings of “my internet connection is poor.” I have played on my phone data with low bandwidth and still did fine. Does your internet run on hamster wheels?
Regarding 4) Smh. Just don’t even start a match until you have 10 minutes to play it. Go take a poop or something.
Regarding 5) Boo hoo. It sucks losing a favorite or new bot in the first 20 or so seconds. I lose my new or favorite bot a lot (maybe not in the first 20 seconds, but still quickly) yet still play. See (1).
Any other excuse is just that. Quit complaining about LPQ. Your internet isn’t that unstable that you’ve been reported that many times. Just stop quitting and actually try and contribute because every little bit helps.

Okay, so I tend to watch YouTube videos from Google search itself. I just hit the expansion arrow and then I watch the video through Google. Typically I listen to music and nothing more. I always love to loop my videos from the settings icon. Here's the thing, though: I notice that sometimes the annotations setting toggles itself on and off. Sometimes, on certain videos the annotations are on, and on others the annotations are off WHEN I KNOW for sure that I never toggled or even touched that setting. It's really confusing me, and I'm wondering if it's possible my Google/YouTube accounts are possibly hacked or something. Same this with the Stable Volume setting. I've heard that setting has been a thing for quite some time now, but I haven't seen it until just a couple weeks ago, not to mention the fact that on the SAME exact video I watch (but at two different times) the Stable Volume setting only sometimes shows up as an option and not all the time. And, in certain occasions the option of annotations and stable volume are not even there to begin with. Would appreciate the help. Thanks guys!

Using Linux is a constant worry. And its 2024, still even as basic as fractional scaling and bluetooth headphones don't work
I have been using Linux on and off for over 15yrs now. I have tried many distros - Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, Zorin, Elementary, Garuda, OpenSuse, RHEL, CentOS, PopOS, Debian, Kali, Asahi - and with various desktop environments like Gnome, KDE, Mate, Cinnamon and with both display servers wayland and x11.
Loonix fanboys: Loonix is sooo stable and customizable.
Me: Oh yeah. Here is an extremely simple receipe to try customizability and also stability of the latest most popular Linux distro Ubuntu 24.04:

1. install Ubuntu 24.04 - with Gnome
2. install Mate desktop env to try it out for "customizability" sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-desktop
3. install KDE for the same purpose - sudo apt install kde-full
4. Logout or restart and try out KDE or Mate
5. Logout or restart and log back in to Gnome
6. Uninstall KDE and Mate - sudo apt remove --purge ubuntu-mate-desktop kde-full
7. And reboot
8. Bam! You are at a black screen tty with no idea why the display server did not start. I had to startx and then copy my files and do a clean install to keep using it.
9. Another example: Install Dash To Panel, a popular Gnome extension. It replaces Ubuntu Dock. But now on lock screen Ubuntu Dock sometimes becomes visible.

I have had so many instances of my Linux installations just failing to start on multiple different hardwares that using Linux as my work machine is a constant cause of worry for me. I am always worried that whether the update that is happening now, after this it will reboot or not.
And yes, you have to reboot even in Linux to apply updates if you want to do it cleanly and have to make sure that the latest softwares and packages are getting used. Loonixtards saying otherwise are just lying.
Truths:

1. Fractional scaling won't work properly no matter what. X11 causes screen tearing with fractional scaling and some apps don't support it. KDE + Wayland has best support for it but even then it is far from being smooth. Apps like Slack and Chrome will look blurry and you will have to edit their .desktop files and chrome://flags to get it to work with Wayland.
2. Wayland colours are washed out compared to x11. Also Wayland still has many unresolved random bugs. Like zooming apps will sometimes crash it.
3. Bluetooth headphones with mic don't work correctly even with pipewire or pulseaudio
4. You DO have to go to various sites to get some of your software. Want to install Chrome? Slack? Sublime text? VSCode? These are not available in most package repositories and you will have to go to the respective site and download the .deb or .rpm or .AppImage or whatever. Flatpak and Snap have some of these availble but both have their pros and cons.
5. I (and many others) have a particularly strange problem with Linux - I get eye strain on it but not on Windows. It is not brightness, resolution, gamma or font rendering issue. It has something to do with temporal dithering and how proprietary drivers handle colours vs open source drivers. Just search "Linux eye strain" and you will find what I am talking about.
6. Linux is more secure - No. It is most vulnerable to supply chain attacks. There are literally 10s of thousands of packages that are there installed on you system. And moreover, if you add 3rd party PPAs, then it is just your luck and lack of motivation on the attacker part that is saving you from getting hacked or infected.
7. Linux is more stable - on servers yes, not on personal computers. And even if the hiccups are being caused by 3rd party packages and not core Linux so what? Vanilla OS is of NO use to me. I need those softwares. And if those software causes kernal panic or whatever, then OS is simply not for me.
8. Linux is less bloated - yes. But if you install everything you need and have your typical workflow going, the difference in RAM usages is not that great. I have 16gb RAM on work computer. During my typical dev workflow, Win11 uses 9GB RAM, while Ubuntu hovers around 6.5-7GB.

Yes Windows Recall is a privacy nightmare. But aren't we already giving so much data to big tech using our smartphones? Privacy and anonymity is a deep rabbit hole and it requires extensive technical knowhow to go down this path. You can simply use router level ad and telemetry blocker and use tools like O&O Shutup to restrict Windows telemetry.
Also, Recall is not coming to you existing computers anytime soon. It is for newer laptops with Snapdragon processors with NPU. So hold on and see how this situation matures before taking a call.
I am a developer and I prefer Linux. But as I am growing older, the enthusiam to keep trying it is going away due to the instability and fear of losing my work and docs. Yeah I don't want to upload everything to a cloud storage because if you are concerned about privacy to switch to Linux, then how having everything in cloud is private and safe?

The error says

Script Overwrite detected! You're being shown this message because a script FPGE depends on has been overwritten by the following plugin: YUPTTW.esm Please check and resolve conflicts with FadeToCreditsTimerScript in FNVEdit or remove the mod, as it will prevent FPGE from functioning.

I have no idea what any of this means. I just installed the Wabbajack begin again mod pack and its always been there. I haven't changed anything so in theory it should be the correct load order. Maybe a plugin updated and its caused this issue? But it worries me that the ending mite be broken or something.
Here is my load order

# This file was automatically generated by Mod Organizer. FalloutNV.esm DeadMoney.esm HonestHearts.esm OldWorldBlues.esm LonesomeRoad.esm GunRunnersArsenal.esm Fallout3.esm Anchorage.esm ThePitt.esm BrokenSteel.esm PointLookout.esm Zeta.esm CaravanPack.esm ClassicPack.esm MercenaryPack.esm TribalPack.esm TaleOfTwoWastelands.esm Contextual HUD.esm TweaksTTW.esm Auto Activate Invisible Doors.esm Main And Pause Menus Overhaul.esm Tale of Bi Wastelands.esm TTW New Vegas Speech Checks.esm TTW Reputations.esm Tale of Bi Wastelands + TTW NV Speech Checks Patch.esm Tale of Bi Wastelands + TTW Reputations Patch.esm DCStreet.esm Sierra Madre.esp Simple Open Freeside.esm Simple Open Freeside - TTW Patch.esp Simple Open Strip.esm Enhanced Landscapes for NVLO.esm New Vegas Landscape Overhaul.esm Functional Post Game Ending.esm TTW NPC Overhaul - FPGE Patch.esm OpenStripMonorailTTW.esm Mojave Backdrop Overhaul.esp Bad Touch.esm Better Brotherhood.esm HiddenValleyOverhauled.esm Wild Card - Open the Lucky 38.esm Strip Lighting Overhaul.esp Strip Gamblers.esm TheHUDEditor.esm YUPTTW.esm TTW NPC Overhaul.esm Functional Post Game Ending - TTW Patch.esm Landscape Texture Improvements - NVLORR Patch.esm Landscape Texture Improvements TTW.esm fixy crap ttw.esp MojaveOutpostFenceFix.esp TTTW_SMIM.esp MadrePass.esp Better Brotherhood - FPGE Patch.esp Vanilla UI Plus.esp Vanilla UI Plus - Max Carry Weight Patch.esp The Mod Configuration Menu.esp TTWUSMarkerAlt.esp VegasPlasticSurgeons.esp 1st Person Sliding Fix.esp 360Movement.esp Diagonal movement.esp 360Movement - Diagonal movement Patch.esp B42Inertia.esp B42Dropmag.esp Real Recoil.esp Real Recoil Tweaks.esp AidUI.esp FOVSlider.esp SSTFixedRepconnEntrance.esp McCarranFieldSignScheduleFix.esp HappyBeepingTTW.esp CasualPointLookout.esp Casino Crowds.esp Better Brotherhood - TTW Patch.esp B42Bash.esp TTW No Mojave Start Option.esp Benny Humbles You and Steals Your Stuff.esp Better Hacking.esp Casino Exchange All.esp Food Effect Tweaks.esp InfirmaryOverhaulTTW.esp Progressive Needs.esp Progressive Sneak Attack Damage.esp RAD.esp ArmoredVault101Improved.esp Remove Faction Paint TTW.esp sawyerbatty.esp TTW NPC Overhaul - SawyerBatty Patch.esp PerkSawyer.esp SawyerBattyTTW PA Rebalanced.esp Begin Again Perk Rebalance.esp Vanilla SWEEP.esp Vanilla SWEEP Big Guns Reversion.esp SPARE.esp Vanilla SWEEP + SPARE Patch.esp New Blood.esp New Blood TTW Patch.esp CharismaAffectsReputation.esp Friends With Benefits Perk Pack.esp JustAssortedMods.esp TTW Cooking Revolution.esp TTW Lone Courier's Dialogue - DC Origin.esp TTW Dialogue Improvements.esp TTW Skill Book Rebalance.esp TTW Trait Menu Change.esp Universal Water Bottling.esp UWB - Extra bottles.esp UsefulMegatonPurifier.esp WeaponRequirementSystem.esp PAVE_NV_TTW.esp Unique Fort Armor - PAVE.esp Unique Fort Armor Begin Again Consistency Patch.esp Power Armor Holo Panel.esp PAHP_Edits.esp MCPipBoy2000MK6.esp Pipboy 2000 Mk VI Begin Again Integration.esp Veronica Outfit Replacer.esp Wanda.esp Better Strip View.esp Lively Street Vendor.esp Misc Content Restoration.esp NVxMcCarranMonorailAnimation.esp Root 'n Loot.esp Sierra Madre Suite Windows.esp Simple Freeside Overhaul - Simple Open Freeside.esp Strip Of Serendipity.esp Strip Wall Billboards.esp The High Road - Building Density.esp TrashedWater.esp ultra luxe expanded fountain.esp WelcomeToNewVegas.esp Windows of the Mojave v1.2.1.esp FPGE Patch - Casino Crowds.esp FPGE-Rebuild Vegas.esp OpenHQTTW.esp Lucky38ExtRemasterNew.esp Lucky38Remaster-BetterStripView.esp AimAssist.esp DelayDLCRedux.esp Immersive Pickup Sounds FNV Patched.esp TTWZetaRewards.esp _FreesideLandscapeLOD1.esp Impostors and LOD Flicker Fix.esp TTW LOD Overhaul.esp Wasted Quarry Rock LOD.esp Corn LOD.esp TTWLods.esp Begin Again Object LOD.esp Begin Again Terrain LOD.esp TTW Quick Start.esp BetterCourtyards.esp Tops Casino Window Fix.esp Begin Again Worldspace Merge.esp DNWeathers.esp Begin Again Conflict Resolution Patch.esp Interior Rain.esp Interior Rain - TTW.esp CC - Rain.esp CC - 3D Rain.esp Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks TTW.esp Minor Mojave Lighting Additions.esp ProperlyIlluminatedStripCourtyards.esp Longer Weather Transitions.espThe error saysScript Overwrite detected! You're being shown this message because a script FPGE depends on has been overwritten by the following plugin: YUPTTW.esm Please check and resolve conflicts with FadeToCreditsTimerScript in FNVEdit or remove the mod, as it will prevent FPGE from functioning.I have no idea what any of this means. I just installed the Wabbajack begin again mod pack and its always been there. I have changed anything so in theory it should be the correct load order. Maybe a plugin updated and its caused this issue? But it worries me that the ending mite be broken or something.Here is my load order# This file was automatically generated by Mod Organizer. FalloutNV.esm DeadMoney.esm HonestHearts.esm OldWorldBlues.esm LonesomeRoad.esm GunRunnersArsenal.esm Fallout3.esm Anchorage.esm ThePitt.esm BrokenSteel.esm PointLookout.esm Zeta.esm CaravanPack.esm ClassicPack.esm MercenaryPack.esm TribalPack.esm TaleOfTwoWastelands.esm Contextual HUD.esm TweaksTTW.esm Auto Activate Invisible Doors.esm Main And Pause Menus Overhaul.esm Tale of Bi Wastelands.esm TTW New Vegas Speech Checks.esm TTW Reputations.esm Tale of Bi Wastelands + TTW NV Speech Checks Patch.esm Tale of Bi Wastelands + TTW Reputations Patch.esm DCStreet.esm Sierra Madre.esp Simple Open Freeside.esm Simple Open Freeside - TTW Patch.esp Simple Open Strip.esm Enhanced Landscapes for NVLO.esm New Vegas Landscape Overhaul.esm Functional Post Game Ending.esm TTW NPC Overhaul - FPGE Patch.esm OpenStripMonorailTTW.esm Mojave Backdrop Overhaul.esp Bad Touch.esm Better Brotherhood.esm HiddenValleyOverhauled.esm Wild Card - Open the Lucky 38.esm Strip Lighting Overhaul.esp Strip Gamblers.esm TheHUDEditor.esm YUPTTW.esm TTW NPC Overhaul.esm Functional Post Game Ending - TTW Patch.esm Landscape Texture Improvements - NVLORR Patch.esm Landscape Texture Improvements TTW.esm fixy crap ttw.esp MojaveOutpostFenceFix.esp TTTW_SMIM.esp MadrePass.esp Better Brotherhood - FPGE Patch.esp Vanilla UI Plus.esp Vanilla UI Plus - Max Carry Weight Patch.esp The Mod Configuration Menu.esp TTWUSMarkerAlt.esp VegasPlasticSurgeons.esp 1st Person Sliding Fix.esp 360Movement.esp Diagonal movement.esp 360Movement - Diagonal movement Patch.esp B42Inertia.esp B42Dropmag.esp Real Recoil.esp Real Recoil Tweaks.esp AidUI.esp FOVSlider.esp SSTFixedRepconnEntrance.esp McCarranFieldSignScheduleFix.esp HappyBeepingTTW.esp CasualPointLookout.esp Casino Crowds.esp Better Brotherhood - TTW Patch.esp B42Bash.esp TTW No Mojave Start Option.esp Benny Humbles You and Steals Your Stuff.esp Better Hacking.esp Casino Exchange All.esp Food Effect Tweaks.esp InfirmaryOverhaulTTW.esp Progressive Needs.esp Progressive Sneak Attack Damage.esp RAD.esp ArmoredVault101Improved.esp Remove Faction Paint TTW.esp sawyerbatty.esp TTW NPC Overhaul - SawyerBatty Patch.esp PerkSawyer.esp SawyerBattyTTW PA Rebalanced.esp Begin Again Perk Rebalance.esp Vanilla SWEEP.esp Vanilla SWEEP Big Guns Reversion.esp SPARE.esp Vanilla SWEEP + SPARE Patch.esp New Blood.esp New Blood TTW Patch.esp CharismaAffectsReputation.esp Friends With Benefits Perk Pack.esp JustAssortedMods.esp TTW Cooking Revolution.esp TTW Lone Courier's Dialogue - DC Origin.esp TTW Dialogue Improvements.esp TTW Skill Book Rebalance.esp TTW Trait Menu Change.esp Universal Water Bottling.esp UWB - Extra bottles.esp UsefulMegatonPurifier.esp WeaponRequirementSystem.esp PAVE_NV_TTW.esp Unique Fort Armor - PAVE.esp Unique Fort Armor Begin Again Consistency Patch.esp Power Armor Holo Panel.esp PAHP_Edits.esp MCPipBoy2000MK6.esp Pipboy 2000 Mk VI Begin Again Integration.esp Veronica Outfit Replacer.esp Wanda.esp Better Strip View.esp Lively Street Vendor.esp Misc Content Restoration.esp NVxMcCarranMonorailAnimation.esp Root 'n Loot.esp Sierra Madre Suite Windows.esp Simple Freeside Overhaul - Simple Open Freeside.esp Strip Of Serendipity.esp Strip Wall Billboards.esp The High Road - Building Density.esp TrashedWater.esp ultra luxe expanded fountain.esp WelcomeToNewVegas.esp Windows of the Mojave v1.2.1.esp FPGE Patch - Casino Crowds.esp FPGE-Rebuild Vegas.esp OpenHQTTW.esp Lucky38ExtRemasterNew.esp Lucky38Remaster-BetterStripView.esp AimAssist.esp DelayDLCRedux.esp Immersive Pickup Sounds FNV Patched.esp TTWZetaRewards.esp _FreesideLandscapeLOD1.esp Impostors and LOD Flicker Fix.esp TTW LOD Overhaul.esp Wasted Quarry Rock LOD.esp Corn LOD.esp TTWLods.esp Begin Again Object LOD.esp Begin Again Terrain LOD.esp TTW Quick Start.esp BetterCourtyards.esp Tops Casino Window Fix.esp Begin Again Worldspace Merge.esp DNWeathers.esp Begin Again Conflict Resolution Patch.esp Interior Rain.esp Interior Rain - TTW.esp CC - Rain.esp CC - 3D Rain.esp Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks TTW.esp Minor Mojave Lighting Additions.esp ProperlyIlluminatedStripCourtyards.esp Longer Weather Transitions.esp 

The GCPD don’t make jokes about him anymore.
They used to. Back when they thought they knew the rules. Familiarity breeds contempt, after all. They’d let the freak handle the other freaks, even if he didn’t go all the way like he should have, but the Blue Wall was too big even for him. He’d know his place or get crushed.
So yeah, there were jokes. And some of the braver cops even made those jokes when in earshot.
(Never face-to-face, though. Funny that. Not a single cop was brave enough to make those jokes with him standing right in front of them.)
But not anymore.
Thank Lenny Flasco. CSI tech, out of the 65^th. A real entrepreneur, Lenny. Had a sideline in selling evidence from high-profile crime scenes. Quickly figured out how to make bigger profits. Made it known that, for a generous fee, he’d make sure you never got caught. It’s easy for fingerprints to get smudged, after all, or evidence to be contaminated. Had a good thing going for a while there.
Thing is, Lenny fancied himself an artist. Was aiming for the big time. And, well, you need a gimmick in this town to get noticed. And he’s kind of an asshole, is Lenny, and one day he happened to get the term ‘pencil-dick’ thrown his way, and a synapse fired.
And the Eraser was born.
To be honest, even in Gotham the helmet got him some odd looks. But he was too damn good at what he did for people to make a big deal. Guy practically was a human eraser anyway. Robberies, rapes, murders, whatever you did, he could make it disappear. Make it like you were never there. It was almost like rewriting reality. And no one even noticed.
Well, almost no one. A lack of evidence can be its own type of evidence, after all.
But he couldn’t do anything. No evidence chain to follow. And besides, the Eraser knew the nature of the Blue Wall. The wealth was spread generously. Too many cops benefitted for the game to stop, and even among the ones that didn’t there was the joy of rubbing in exactly who was in charge in this town. And if a few victims went without justice and a few lives got ruined, well, shit, que sera, you know? Their fault for not being able to buy justice in Gotham. Just the way the game is played. Suck it up.
So, life was sweet for the Eraser. The mobs were eager to pay, as were the wealthier perps. Plenty of uniforms and detectives and ADAs willing to spread the word for a cut. Things got so good that for a while there he practically ran CSI. You wanted a conviction, you had to run it by the Eraser first, make sure he hadn’t set up an arrangement.
Yep, for a while there, things were pretty sweet.
Then Trent Davenport happened.
Trust fund asshole, heir to the Davenport millions. Streamer and social media influencer, which just meant idiots gave him money he didn’t need to be a too-online rich asshole with some barely coherent far-right views. But one night, after some media event, Trent got coked up with a thousand-dollar-an-hour call-girl and took her on a joyride around the Adams Expressway in his Mercedes. Got into a fender bender with a family sedan and went off on the occupants. Lifelong Gothamites, but with enough visible Puerto Rican and Guatemalan ancestry to set Trent off. The resulting racist tantrum, recorded by security cameras, both dashboard cams, and at least 100 onlookers, would have ordinarily have just prompted a tearfully insincere apology on social media the next day… except Trent pulled out a ridiculously large gold-plated handgun and filled the sedan – and family – with bullets. Only the youngest, Celia, survived.
Frankly, Trent’s brief career as a criminal didn’t cover him with glory. He barely made it to the city limits before he caught up, and it wasn’t even an especially difficult collar; Trent basically pissed himself at the first glimpse of a cape. And there was so much evidence that he wasn’t even really needed. Hundreds of witnesses, video footage, a custom handgun, a custom car with custom plates… even the GCPD couldn’t screw this one up.
But Daddy Davenport didn’t like the idea of his son and heir, useless waste of DNA he might be, bringing that kind of shame on the family name. Certainly not just over a car full of brown people. So, when a cop sidled up to him and suggested a solution, he listened.
And the Eraser went to work.
In a twisted way, it was genius. A work of art. All that evidence somehow evaporated. Even the call-girl who’d been next to Trent all the time was somehow seen at the other side of the city when it happened. It was like someone had managed to hack reality. When it came to trial, the thing had been cleaned up so efficiently that the judge – one of the most honest in Gotham, no less – had no option to throw the whole thing out with prejudice.
It didn’t matter how much the little people in the courtroom exploded. Trent Davenport swaggered out, made a smarmy comment to the press hoping the “real culprit” would be found, implied he was gonna sue the little girl and her surviving family for damages, and hopped into a substitute for masculinity to prepare for his celebration party. That night, at one of Gotham’s most elite club. Only the most beautiful and the most elite would be there. Entry cost, your soul, but a price too many were willing to pay if it meant a night they wouldn’t forget.
And so, Gotham sank a little further into the muck. Felt a little rottener and more hopeless. When even Plastic Man couldn’t crack any jokes on TV that night, you know something had broke.
The GCPD were worried. Incredibly – and somewhat ironically, given how things turned out – they were as shocked by what happened as everyone else. They actually hadn’t approved this fix. They might be many things, most of them rotten, but they weren’t stupid. They knew how Trent Davenport strutting away from getting caught murdering three people practically red-handed would look. They knew they were only hanging on to whatever public support they had by a thread. They knew fucking over an orphaned six-year-old in public was the last thing they needed. They knew the city only needed a spark to explode. And some of them even had consciences. Trent Davenport was too rich to get the whole book thrown at him, but he needed to hit with a few pages at least.
No, this one was all the Eraser. He’d gone off the reservation. Because Lenny had been getting greedy, Lenny had been getting cocky, and worse of all, Lenny had been getting bored. The usual heists, drug deals gone wrong and accidentally dead hookers were beginning to bore him. He wanted a real challenge. And part of him wanted to show everyone who was really in charge of this town. Who really decided who was guilty and innocent, what was true and lie, reality and fantasy.
So, the GCPD got out the riot suits and tanks, ready to crack a few heads… but the streets were weirdly quiet. There’d been the usual pleas for calm, but it didn’t feel like people were listening. No, it felt like people were mostly… bunkering down. That there was some weird collective, animalistic instinct spreading through the people of Gotham, telling them there was a storm coming and that no one wanted to be on the streets when it hit.
Oh, how right they were.
Because there was another victim of crime in Gotham City. A victim who looked at a little girl with a void in her life she’d have to live with forever and saw himself. A victim who had felt that powerlessness and despair and hopelessness only too keenly.
A victim who had made a Vow.
A victim who went to work.
Trent Davenport really enjoyed his celebration party. Especially enjoyed the feeling that he really was untouchable. Looked forward to proving it with a few hot bitches who caught his eye. They wouldn’t say no. Even if they wanted to. Because he could do whatever he wanted to whoever he wanted.
Yeah, Trent really enjoyed himself that night.
For about forty-seven minutes. Until the gate crasher arrived, and the storm began.
The beautiful elite of Gotham certainly got an experience they wouldn’t forget that night. Not the one promised, however. They spent it cowering in the blacked-out ruins of an elite rooftop nightclub, the power dead, the exits blocked, the only source of light a ragged hole in the ceiling. The only sound the screams of an influencer, snatched from the floor under cover of darkness, as he whined and shrieked that he didn’t know who fixed his trial, that it was Daddy who cleaned up his mess like always, that he was sorry and would never do it again, oh God, he’s sorry, please stop, he’s so so sorry…
They never did figure out how the sound system still functioned despite all the damage to the electronics.
(Incidentally, you don’t see Trent online much these days. He shies away from the spotlight. Not just vanity, though the surgeries have mostly restored his former looks. Or the legal troubles, though he no longer has the income streams he once had. He just doesn’t really have the time for content creation these days. Or politics. Or partying, or fast cars, or girls, or skiing, or anything, really, outside of relearning to walk. Turns out, Trent couldn’t do anything he wanted. Flying, for example, remained beyond him. As he made abundantly clear.)
Then it was Roland Davenport’s turn. He faired comparatively better to his son. But as one of the wealthy and powerful of Gotham City, he wasn’t used to inconvenience. Or pain. Which meant it only took a broken nose, a few good punches, and about thirty seconds dangled off a penthouse balcony for him to begin screaming about a detective, possibly called Kline or Keane or something else beginning with ‘K’, who offered to put him in touch with someone who could make his son’s latest screw-up disappear. But he never met this ‘Eraser’ directly, it was all handled by intermediaries…
And that’s the problem with Gotham: there are so many intermediaries.
So he decided to go through all of them.
The GCPD was so preoccupied with the possibility of riots that it took Dispatch a while to realise certain officers were beginning to go AWOL. Just completely dark, no communication at all. But it somehow took them longer than it should have to realise the connection: from the first beat cops on the scene to the precinct captain, all the missing officers had at some point worked the Davenport case.
And then those same officers began showing up in emergency rooms. Or walking into precinct houses or churches desperately begging to confess their sins. Or, in one notable case, were found in their patrol car as it was dangling off the Azzarello Bridge by a cable. They found Detective Andrew Kendall at the altar of St Jerome’s naked from the waist up, on his knees, arms wrapped around the parish priest and sobbing, desperately begging for someone to absolve his sins because he’d had a taste of Hell and didn’t want any more…
And then more began to join them. It’s still one of the worst nights in GCPD history for 10-13 callouts. There weren’t enough cops to cover all the cops who were suddenly screaming into whatever device was closest to them that they were under attack, they needed immediate assistance, oh God, they think it’s the—
Cops from all over the city. Cops guilty of any number of sins. But who all, some bright spark eventually realised, had one particular sin in common.
And then the entire 65^th Precinct went offline.
Word is, every single SWAT officer present refused to even enter the building. Five tactical units, twenty men a piece, and every one of them said no way. Apparently, not even one of them wanted to risk being caught alone in the dark. There’s a photo of Commissioner Loeb literally stamping his foot and screaming at a guy like a toddler which somehow managed to slip through the media blackout and blew up on social media. Apparently his now-customary death orders didn’t carry the same weight they once did.
They eventually did storm the building… when the lights went back on. The place was a war zone. Cops sprawled everywhere. No fatalities, but plenty wishing they were. The lucky ones were just unconscious. A few of them – the clean ones – were unharmed, but this was the 65^th, so there weren’t many of them. Non-badged criminals were all sitting in the cells, quiet as kittens, not making trouble. Not wanting to attract any attention. The precinct’s forensics team were found huddled together in the remains of their office, cowering and whimpering, but for the most part physically unharmed. They weren’t much help, though. The most lucid one just kept sobbing “I’m sorry” over and over.
The most useful comment came from a witness who’d been processed for possession when the storm hit. He just looked the interviewing officer right in the eye, and said “He’s out for blood tonight, bro.”
Lenny Flasco was nowhere to be found.
Oh yes, the Eraser had seen it coming. And he’d made plans, because he was smart, and cunning, and a slippery little asshole when all was said and done. Oh yes, Lenny was well away from the 65^th by the time the storm showed up, and he was planning on being even further by the time the evening was through. Somewhere nice and sunny and sandy. He had plenty of money to enjoy it now, after all.
But you know what they say about plans and the enemy.
Because, like all plans, the Eraser’s hinged on other people helping him out. And by that point, those other people had also realised the nature of the storm passing through Gotham. And who was the focus of it.
Connections suddenly started drying up. Phones weren’t being answered. When they were, people were pretending not to know who was calling. Finally, someone had to spell it out: the Eraser was marked, radioactive, and no one with two brain cells to rub together wanted to be between him and him. Even Two-Face didn’t need to flip the coin to make that decision. The Eraser was persona non grata. He’d been cut loose. Erased.
You might feel a small stab of pity for the Eraser at this point: he’d made millions on his fixes, but none of it would even buy him a cup of coffee in this town. Word is, last anyone saw of him when he could still stand under his power, he was desperately trying to force a bag full of thousand-dollar bills into the hands of a sketchy car dealer who was equally desperately trying to pretend he wasn’t even there over some shitbox. He was still wearing that helmet.
No one else knows if the Eraser managed to get the car or not. But they do know he didn’t get somewhere sunny and sandy. Unlike Trent, he didn’t even get to the city limits before the storm finally hit him.
Next time anyone saw the Eraser, he was lying in a mangled and whimpering heap on the floor of Commissioner Loeb’s office, tangled in black fabric. He’d been thrown through the window. Forty-nine floors up. With him was a recorded confession, detailing every crime he’d covered up. No one’s been willing to listen to it more than once. And even with that, a week later, when he woke up in the hospital, the only thing he’d say was “I confess.” His physical injuries healed surprisingly quickly, but his brand-new stammer doesn’t seem to be going anywhere fast. Or his night terrors. To this day, no one’s managed to figure out exactly what he did to the Eraser.
They know what he did with that stupid helmet, though; it’s still impaled on the tip of Lady Justice’s sword. No one’s been able to figure out how to get it down.
Or if they should.
A lot of cops left after that mess. Not enough to really change things, but enough to make people notice. Some of them – not enough, but some – left facing criminal charges. More just quietly took early retirement. Trauma, they said. They couldn’t handle the pressure anymore. What specific pressure they couldn’t handle went unsaid, but everyone knew. For months after, there were stories of cops having panic attacks just after being assigned the night shift. Some were physically invalided out. No one likes to think about them. (There’s a significant overlap between these ones and ones facing charges.)
And the ones who stayed, clean or dirty, even they couldn’t help but notice a gradual change in the GCPD. The rot didn’t disappear – it was too deeply embedded, for that – but it wasn’t like before, when the times were good, the money was flowing like wine and you could laugh at the jokes about the freak. Now, someone offers you a kickback, someone offers to make it worth your while to look the other way or fix a problem, someone even makes a joke about bats, every time you feel a sudden cold chill, and you can’t help but think: that he might be watching. That he might somehow know. That the only reason you’re even still here might just be because he allows it. That he doesn’t kill only because there are worse things than death, and he can summon them. And that some night, when you’re alone on the mean streets, no backup in sight, the shadows might suddenly move, and it might be your turn for your sins to catch up to you, to get yours like the Eraser got his…
…No, the GCPD doesn’t make jokes about him anymore.

First off, just want to say I enjoyed the game a lot. So much so that I just recently started a third playthrough (want to get the true ending at least). While I have not previously played any FromSoftware games, I would not say I'm entirely new to the genre and have touched stuff like DMC.
My typical playstyle is just to aggressively stick to the boss with the sword and weave in as many attacks as possible. (too cheap to use consumables, and really really like the feel of having a duel), so that may effect how I view an enemy. That said, here are my impressions of each of the bosses.
Gyobu - Aside from being on a horse and running around, nothing really of note. He doesn't parry or anything, so he's more like a typical hack and slash boss.
Lady Butterfly - First main hurdle, this is where I learnt to jump dodge things where previously I was just normal dodging everything. In hindsight, she was my teacher and honed all my basic skills.
Genichiro - A fun fight, this very much felt like a samurai duel. He is very straightforward and fair and it just really depends on the back and forth bouts.
Folding Screen Monkeys - neat little puzzle
Guardian Ape - His first phase is much more dangerous than 2nd, his lunge throw seems to have a huge forward hitbox and will one shot if you're not full health. Second phase is much less erratic and once you learnt to disengage from his roar, he becomes rather simple with some very obvious openings.
Headless Ape - First phase is just basically 2nd phase of Guardian Ape, and by then you should be well experienced with the fight. 2nd phase is more tricky with the 2 vs 1, but the brown ape has really low HP/posture so you can just focus it down (carefully) at which point its just the headless ape again. Ended up one-shoting the fight even on my first playthrough.
Corrupted Monk - Despite having only 1 health bar, she either has a lot of HP or a whole lot of DEF. Her movements are very smooth and graceful like, and parrying can end up feeling kind of like a dance.
Great Shinobi Owl - Okay, now this fight ended up being my biggest hurdle. He was punishing me hard for sticking on him and fighting conventionally, and not sure if it was how I was fighting him at the time but he was spamming those firecrackers that would just wreck me. That anti heal would usually connect with me as well for some reason. He hits hard and does heavy posture damage, and a good run can just suddenly end in a second. This fight was where I learnt to start managing my posture, and not just try to deflect everything. He beat his lessons into me, thank you father.
True Monk - On the most part, similar to the corrupted monk fight. First and second phase feels mostly the same, but 3rd she gets a lot more aggressive and the terror spit hitbox can sometimes all connect with you even if you jump and instantly end you. Much safer to dodge to the side. She will also counterattack quite readily, so need to be ready to parry.
Divine Dragon - Not much of a boss fight, but very impressive visually.
Owl (Father) - Basically a tuned up version of his great shinobi self, he has a lot more options and his obvious weaknesses are removed. Still hits super hard, and can punish hard. However by this point of the game, his former self had taught me well and it wasn't nearly as bad once I picked up on his new habits.
Demon of Hatred - This fight was more like MH or I guess your typical souls game, once you learn how to avoid his attacks he mostly becomes your usual hack and slash boss. You can still parry his stomps and headbutt but on the most part just dodge and keep hacking at him.
Isshin, Sword Saint - Isshin is again what I consider a straightforward fight/duel, and having a good back and forth with him is quite fun. 2nd phase, his attacks gets more tricky and sometimes it feels like there could be an extra attack somewhere and I end up playing bit more defensively. 3rd phase doesn't change much, and arguably easier since the thunder attacks are heavily telegraphed.
Oh and Genichiro is there too, moveset mostly the same. Mortal blade instead of the thunder.
Inner Genishiro - Can suddenly instagib you with his mortal blade, but once you learn the timings to deflect it, he felt mostly the same. Definitely a lot more deadly than normal still.
Inner Isshin - First impression of him was like, wth did they do to this guy. I spent quite a bit of trial and error learning how to avoid his mortal blade without just straight up running out of range. His new move into sweep comes out super quick and would often interrupt me when I'm attacking and does a lot of damage. The new spear phase attack is fairly easy to avoid (once you learn it) but it does a whole lot of damage if it ever connects. Was quite surprised when he essentially swatted me out of the sky, then finished me off the thrust. Inner Isshin overall feels a lot more lethal, but isnt particularly harder once you know what to expect. This is also the fight where I learnt how to reflect lightning, when I performed it by accident. (usually just dodge it) and boy has it made 3rd phase Isshin a cakewalk.
Inner Father - Not too much different from his normal self, and with how adept I had become with the regular fight I had almost cleared on my first attempt. He can be really fluid with his attacks teleporting in and out, and he honestly feels like the most reactive boss in the game. Most of the other bosses, you just respond to their attacks, Inner father responds to yours. Very fun fight.
Isshin Ashina - Emma is surprising dangerous, she does respectable damage and is quite fast. And that grab seems to tag me so much. The hitbox seems pretty big and catches me even when I'm jumping. She however is weak when you can apply continuous pressure on her.
Isshin 1st phase is basically just SS 1st phase, minus some attacks and plus the bullshit grab that Emma does. He also has this annoying dodge into a counter attack, which had often break my tempo when I get smacked instead. His 2nd phase he gets real annoying, and starts spamming unblockable fire attacks. Eventually adapted into a more skirmishing style with more running and dodging. RIP sword duel.
Overall its been a very fun journey. 9.9/10 game. (-0.1 for not being clear on how to progress sometimes)

I've been able to play a bunch of other Mario 64 hacks in Bizhawk just fine, all patched with the correct original game. But I'm trying play Super Donkey Kong 64 by Kaze Emanuar, and I used the same patcher, on the same unaltered Mario 64. But the hack doesn't work.
This particular hack opens right at the file select, which is intended, but when I load it, it's upside down, and if I choose a file, it crashes.
I tried a different patcher, and it produced the same patched game. Extending the size doesn't change the result. Narrowing down issues has eliminated the files, so now I'm just left looking at the emulator itself. I have never touched the default settings, and I don't remember doing so on my previous computer (I lost my patched game as it was in a different folder to the one I backed up).
I'm not sure just yet if the issue is specific to this hack, so I'm hesitant to approach Kaze directly for now. This is the only one I'm having trouble with, granted, but I don't know if anyone else is having trouble with other SM64-specific hacks.