Firstly, I don't mean physically better. Just better in terms of policy. Don't get mad at me lmao, at least hear me out.
Our healthcare is free. If I break my leg right now, I can call an ambulance and go to the hospital and have that fixed free of charge. Although i guess you have to pay the 15$ for a wheelchair or crutches. Paperwork? Yes, one form. And its easy. Within the same day you broke your leg or whatever, you also go home and watch tv without crippling debt. You dont even have to pay for the ambulance ride. Theres entire hospitals specifically for children, cancer etc so you get the best treatment possible. Dentist appointments are not free, but 90% of jobs here including McDonald's provide insurance for that and medication. I take aderall for adhd, and its 45$. Thats it.
Education is literally a legal requirement, and nobody goes to school worried about a shooting. There has only been 11 deaths related to school shootings in our countries entire history. Scholarships are accessible to basically anyone that actually tried in highschool.
Your money is literally worth more here. So if you moved here you'd have maybe twice what you have in the US.
For the stoner's, the entire country legalized weed. Theres a store 3 blocks from my house. They're everywhere. Its like 7-11 but for weed.
For the gun lovers, you can have guns here. Anyone saying you can't is wrong. The difference is, you cant have a weapon meant for mass murder, and you cant buy them at fking Walmart. Idk all the laws around it, because you dont need a gun here. And there's no open carry. (Btw, the 2nd amendment confuses us. You could have any gun on earth, and it wont matter. If the government decides to take u out, ur gone. They have the entire military. So it literally doesn't make sense why you would need an RPK or AK etc.)
Our country isn't without its flaws. And our prime minister(president) is an idiot here too. But its safer, easier to get healthcare, financially beneficial, and just....better fundamentally. The US sent men to the moon, but they cant give you healthcare?
And btw, taxes are nothing here. Its barely an extra dollar on any given purchase.
Anyways lmk what your opinion is, and keep in mind that I won't die on this hill. I dont know everything so you're allowed to disagree.

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Please note: my post is about credit scores only, it does not address interest rates or carrying costs of any loans you may have.
Lets say you have 2 loans: Loan A and Loan B.
You miss Loan A's payment. Uh oh. Your credit is gonna get dinged. If you rush to try to pay it as soon as possible...that is nice, but the damage is done. Whether you pay it one day late or 28 days late...damage is done.
If the following week you find yourself only capable of paying either Loan A (already a week late) or Loan B, which is due tomorow, pay loan B ON TIME
Paying back loan A as fast as possible doesnt matter, as long as you get the payment in sometime between 1-30 days after it was due, the small penalty to your credit is gonna happen...there is no benefit for getting it close to on time. Again, whether your payment is 2 days late or 28 days late...same penalty. BUT if you pay A late and then miss paying B on time also, you just dinged your credit twice for no good reason other than logically...paying as soon as you can makes sense..sometimes even if it means being a little late on another payment to do so.
Once your missed payments go beyond 30 days the penalty grows...then it grows again at 60 days...then again at 90 days...then again at 120 days. After 120 days its generally sent to collections.
Having less than ideal credit over your lifetime can cost someone as much as a years worth of income just because they are paying higher rates on loans because they are seen as a greater risk to loan to.
Protect yourself and your credit.

First off, this mostly pertains to Hanklights specifically, as they're the lights I own the most of, and know the most about the driver design (plus, at the moment, there is exactly one non-Hanklight anduril light with >1 channel, the Sofirn LT1S Pro, which does not have a DD FET). Also worth noting that FETs are used elsewhere in the driver depending on the driver in question, but for the sake of simplicity here, when I say FET, I am referring to one that will direct drive the LEDs from the battery separate to whatever regulated output the driver has.
I've seen a lot of people here (and elsewhere, but mostly Reddit) repeating wrong information like "no dual channel light has FET DD", which is outright untrue, or "only the DM1.12/K9.3 do", but I've never put all my knowledge down in one place on the subject to be able to point people to, and realised the need for this post after getting into a relatively heated argument (which I do accept fault for, both as I was not as confident in my knowledge of this at the time as I am now (that was what caused me to do a deep dive into the PWM code to make sure, as I was wrong on one detail), I was having an awful day at the time for multiple reasons and I have chronic pain which was also acting up a lot that day which can easily put me in a bad mood). natsac4, if you see this, I could definitely have been less of an asshole about it, and I'm sorry for that. Anyway, onto the writeup.
First off, you'll need a basic understanding of how ramp tables work in Anduril. Some basic knowledge of C is helpful, but not required. The intensity of the output is controlled by PWM on an output pin on the MCU. Some drivers also have an enable pin (e.g. the boost driver and the D4S driver as well (including other lights that use that layout/firmware)), which needs an output there to enable the channel separately to the PWM signal to actually set the output level, but enable pins aren't specifically relevant here and mostly mentioned for completeness' sake.
PWM is calculated in terms of MCU clock cycles; there are two relevant variables here, PWM_TOP and PWM_LEVEL. PWM_TOP defaults to 255 (clock cycles in one PWM cycle), but can also be overridden for different ramp levels. This is why older anduril versions had a more "bumpy" ramp at lower levels, (and going even further back, dual channel lights having a higher moon level than single), as the PWM resolution is lower when you're going from, for example, 1/255, 2/255, 3/255, while with newer anduril versions, PWM_TOP can be set per ramp level (referred to in the documentation as dynamic PWM), e.g. 1/4095, 1/2071, 2/3200, 3/3586, 3/2518, 4/2778, etc.
Old (static PWM) single-channel D4 (no FET) PWM ramp (PWM_TOP always 255)
Some lights (e.g. a 1+3+FET driver) have multiple different PWM outputs for the same channel, for example, https://bazaar.launchpad.net/~toykeepeflashlight-firmware/anduril2/view/head:/ToyKeepespaghetti-monsteanduril/cfg-emisar-d4sv2.h#L15, this works the same way, but what is important to note is that the PWM level is always applied based on the selected ramp level. Note that the two linear channels (PWM1_LEVELS and PWM2_LEVELS) have 0 set for their level at 150,disabling them for 100% FET direct drive at level 150, while at levels 94 and up, the FET is open some of the time, but most of the power to the LEDs is via the regulated ramp, with increasing use of the FET and decreasing linear use up to level 149.
Now we get into dual channel lights. Here's an example dual channel with FET disabled (d4sv2-tintramp, also used for various other dual channel lights like the KR4/D4 via inheriting the ramp config). In this case, we have dynamic PWM, so for most of the ramp, it's much the same - 2/16383, 2/13234, 2/9781, 3/13826, 3/9593, etc. The interesting part comes at level 131 and up. Here are just those levels, for convenience:

#define PWM1_LEVELS ,511,530,550,570,591,612,634,657,680,705,730,755,782,809,837,865,895,925,957,989,1022 #define PWM_TOPS ,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511 

Enable pins don't strongly matter here, but are defined here if interested, along with the rest of the MCU layout.
For level 130, a single channel is on for 511/511 cycles, as expected (single channel at 100%), but above that, we have a higher PWM1_LEVEL than PWM_TOP - this is where the enable pin comes in. Normally, when the user ramps between channels, this controls the ratio at which the enable pins will be toggled (e.g. 50% mix = both enable pins have equal on/off time, inversing each other). Now check level 131 - PWM_LEVEL is 530, but PWM_TOP still 511. When PWM_LEVEL is above PWM_TOP, this means both enable pins will be enabled at the same time for part of the PWM cycle, bringing the second channel in (what happens when you set the ceiling above 130 on a dual channel light, then ramp up). At level 150, 1022/511 means both channels are on 100%.
Now we add the FET. Here's the D4Sv2 config with the FET enabled (d4sv2-tintramp-fet). This config file inherits the previous one (cfg-emisar-d4sv2-tintramp.h) so PWM1_LEVELS and PWM_TOPS will be the same. Note that for most of the ramp, PWM2_LEVELS for the FET is zero. For convenience, levels 130+ for each:

#define PWM1_LEVELS ,511,530,550,570,591,612,634,657,680,705,730,755,782,809,837,865,895,925,957,989,1022 #define PWM_TOPS ,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511,511 #define PWM2_LEVELS ,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,5,14,27,45,68,96,129,166,208,255 

We see the FET start to be enabled at level 141 (at 5/511), in addition to the linear. For the sake of simplicity for an example, let's assume the user's channel mix is 100% to one channel. This means that at level 141, we have linear at 755/511 (100% on the selected channel, and 244/511 clock cycles for the other channel, or ~48% power. In addition, the FET is open for 5/511 cycles, giving whichever of the two channels has the FET extra output from the direct drive when it is open. As the user continues to ramp up, the brightness on the FET channel increases as the FET is used more, and more of the second channel is added to the linear mix approaching 200%.
Yes, this means that the FET is not used for a single channel of a dual channel light ever, only on the top ramp levels where the two channels are both being used, where the FET will start driving its LEDs at level 141.
Hardware definitions: https://bazaar.launchpad.net/~toykeepeflashlight-firmware/multi-channel/view/head:/ToyKeepehwdef-emisar-2ch.h and https://bazaar.launchpad.net/~toykeepeflashlight-firmware/multi-channel/view/head:/ToyKeepehwdef-emisar-2ch.c - the former is similar to the older hwdefs, while the latter contains additional code for custom channel modes.
The multi-channel anduril branch is able to handle things a little differently. By default, PWM works the same way, with PWM_LEVEL and PWM_TOP, but there is additional provision for defining channels in software (e.g. the LT1S Pro has one channel that ramps from red at low brightness, through warm white and then to cool white, using 3 different LED sets in a single channel). This allows light-specific code to be written to set levels on channels, so a channel can do different things based on more than just a ramp table, or things like using aux as a channel as if it was main emitters. Most of this is outside the scope of this writeup (although I should probably do a separate one for the multichannel changes) and I don't want to sidetrack myself but it's important to consider.
Here is an example config file for multi-channel. This is emisar-2ch which is a generic firmware that works on most Emisar lights with the D4S driver layout, but does not use the FET).
Config file: https://bazaar.launchpad.net/~toykeepeflashlight-firmware/multi-channel/view/721/ToyKeepespaghetti-monsteanduril/cfg-emisar-2ch.h
Hardware definitions: https://bazaar.launchpad.net/~toykeepeflashlight-firmware/multi-channel/view/head:/ToyKeepehwdef-emisar-2ch.c and https://bazaar.launchpad.net/~toykeepeflashlight-firmware/multi-channel/view/head:/ToyKeepehwdef-emisar-2ch.h
Note SET_LEVEL_MODES in hwdef-emisar-2ch.h. This contains a list of function calls which are used to set the level for each channel. For the two main channels in the example (CM_CH1 and CM_CH2), these are set_level_ch1 and set_level_ch2 (defined in hwdef-emisar-2ch.c) - these functions take the PWM level from PWM1_LEVELS and apply it, but for the single channel only, with mixing being controlled in a separate function for the CM_BLEND channel that more resembles the older ramping code. This allows a ceiling of 150 on a single channel, rather than only 130, while still allowing a 200% turbo mode, and PWM_LEVELS shows this, with max regulated being level 150. This branch also includes better support with helper functions for channels that are the same channel but have more than one output (e.g. a linear+FET or 1+3+FET driver). These are defined here. At the time of writing, there are no lights that use this, but a (very simplified, 11 levels and PWM_TOP always the same) example of a linear+FET single channel might look like this:

#define PWM_TOPS 10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10 #define HIGH_PWM_LEVELS 0,0,0,0,0,1,2,4,6,8,10 //FET channel #define LOW_PWM_LEVELS 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,10,0 //linear channel, disabled for 100% FET DD at level 11 

With this, it is possible to define HIGH_PWM_LEVELS only for the channel with the FET, without having them affect the non-FET channels. The result would be:

• 1: linear 1/10, FET off
• 2: linear 2/10, FET off...
• 6: linear 6/10, FET 1/10...
• 9: linear 9/10, FET 4/10
• 10: linear 10/10, FET 8/10
• 11: linear off, FET 10/10 (direct drive)

On the pre-multichannel branch, this is not possible because all PWM levels always get applied based on the ramp setting, so if, for example, you made level 130 on the FET channel use the FET, then even if you were ramped fully to the non-FET channel, the FET ramp table will cause the FET to be enabled at level 130, so when you hit 130 on the non-FET channel, the FET will still drive those LEDs.
You also might have noticed that on the dual channel ramp tables, the FET PWM_LEVEL only ever maxes out at half PWM_TOP, while on the single channel it equals it. This is because direct drive of two LEDs in a D4S (that the dual channel firmware was originally written for) would destroy the LEDs, even if they were W2. Limiting the FET to 50% duty cycle keeps it at a safe level (essentially equivalent to 100% direct drive of 4 LEDs), but this does mean that other dual channel lights with more LEDs (DT8K, DM1.12, etc.) are performing below their full potential as they are only getting 50% FET drive (they get 100% linear all the time, so it's not a straight "half what it should be") but there is some theoretical output left on the table. Consider this experimental, but if someone's willing to try it on a light with at least 4 LEDs on the FET channel, I'll make a firmware image that uses 100% FET for level 150. Note that the dual channel D4/D4K/KR4 do not seem to ever ship with the FET firmware (even with W2 or 519A), but AFAIK there would be no reason it doesn't work (if someone has a driver sitting around who can verify that the FET is still at least physically present on the driver?).
Any questions, I will try to the best of my ability to answer, and possibly edit this post with an FAQ.
tl;dr: D4S with the tintramp-fet firmware uses the FET at 50% power at level 150, which only drives one emitter channel, and only when in the 200% region of the ramp (levels 141 and above, specifically). The same firmware is used on the DT8K, DM1.12, etc. This may change with the multichannel development branch which is capable of having multiple outputs per LED set. If you want more info, actually read the post ;)

It´s a long story, but maybe you know someone who goes through it.
My mother adopted my sister in 1981 and then she got pregnant 1985, that´´s when I was born. During our childhood, my grandmother (dad´s mum) treated her different from me, with worse gifts, but I was very small and I didn't understand why, I was 5. This caused my sister to hate me very much, which I can understand, and to compensate her for this situation, my parents were harder on me. For me, "no" was "no". For her, "no" was "maybe", and this became much worse after my father passed away. She was 17 and I was 13 when he passed away, and my mum is a pathological " good person" that prefers to please people to avoid fights instead of setting boundaries.
My sister, when we were little, instigated bullying against me at school. My friends were always unwelcome and badly treated by her in our house. Throughout my childhood, to have the" luxury" of playing with her, I would have to submit to being beaten up and was obligated to play with only on her terms. Today, she is 42 and I am 38. We recently went to Portugal (me, her and our mother). Our mother is now 77 years old, she walks with difficulty and she is going blind due to a retinal degeneration. This has made my mother extremely dependent and insecure since 2020, as she can no longer drive, and stays indoors most of the time. I encouraged mum to do therapy.
In the pandemic, my sister took a course on morphopsychology, which is a pseudoscience that studies physical characteristics and associates it with personality. So now she only knows how to talk about it, using the knowledge acquired in this course to disqualify me, my mother and my friends, besides claiming that she knows lots about psychology, even though she didn't take this course in college. She even said that my body is triangular (it isn't), that I dress badly, that I have a small ear, which means I don't know how to listen to people, etc. He criticized my mother's wrinkles (77 years old, who doesn't have marks on their skin)? and told her to correct it because it was something very negative. He spent the whole day taking physical characteristics and telling you to correct it because it is something bad. Our mother came to ME one day and said: "I think you need to get Botox too because your sister told me that people think you are the oldest". She has a constant need to boast as an excellent daughter that forces our mother to do things during that trip for her own good (my mother was already exhausted, she can't with 77 have the energy of a 42 year old person in that trip, but my mother tried to do everything she was told, because otherwise it was worse). Mum confessed to me that she prefers to travel with me because she gets on her nerves a lot. She puts an issue in 90% of the things mum does, dictates what she should buy, wear, eat and think. Now she also dictates what she should want.
Recently my sister adopted a dog for my mum, but our mum doesn't want dogs anymore. So I did something that one should not do with a narcissist: I pondered! I said mum doesn´t want more responsibilities and I think we should take into account what she thinks and respect her wishes". So sister sent me a message saying I´m selfish, I don't think about the real problems, since if my mother doesn't have another dog, she will get depressed and bored, that I only want to create war and make false statements". I politely explained that I appreciate her effort trying to help our mother, but we should give her less responsibility and I believe that if mum continues to go to therapy, she will improve her mood and it´´s not the number of dogs in a house that will prevent her from depression. After that, I texted my mum to take a stand, but what she does is tell me to stop "throwing her into the fire" and leave it alone because arguing with her is worse.
She is constantly saying what mum should do and if somebody upsets her, she says to mum "You need me"! She has thrown this in her face for 3 occasions in the same week.
For me, all this is very sad. My sister lives in an apartment that is in my mother's name, she also works and sublets a practice that belongs to mum, me and her, and she never gave us any money. She only knows how to blame me because I came to live in Europe 10 years ago and "left" mum behind.
Yes, I came to Europe, studied, paid bills alone, no financial support from anybody, I am a doctor and I am successful. I'm going to get married soon and I've made my life here and she didn´t do much so far. When my mother is around, she tries to throw my mother into a fight so that she will take her side, but my mother doesn't take a stand. So wherever she goes, she has to be the centre of attention. She only talks about her, her, her. On the last day of the trip I decided to tell her to stop picking on me and stop criticising my physical features and those of my mother. She says that many things she was joking about, that I have a resistance against her. My mother is afraid of her, afraid to set limits, afraid to confront her, since they live in Brazil and my sister has her closer than I do, so she is like a "hostage" in this situation and I am not welcome to try to weigh in. I only pondered that she listen to what our mother thought, that's all. I started to feel really bad about being here in Europe a while ago and talked to my mother about it. She said that she is very happy to see the woman I became and that I should follow my own life with her blessing, and she also said I don´t need to go back to Brazil just to be with her. I talk to my mum 3-4 times a week and our video calls are enjoyable. It has made me feel so much better, but my sister loves to say I am a selfish person. She loves to humiliate me, usually when there is an audience. Plus, she loves to play doctor. She doubled the dose of my mother's antidepressant, only thank God my mother confessed to me in secret that she didn't follow her advice.
The problem now is that I depend on her too, for my mother to come to my wedding in the UK. Without her my mother won't come, since she can no longer read the signs at the airport and my mother is the person I chose to walk me down the aisle, since my father died. It would be very sad to walk down the aisle alone. She knows this and told me she won´´t come. My fiancé is worried about her putting on a show at our wedding. We are 3 months away from the date and it would be really unpleasant if this happened. What would you do in my situation? Be honest, I appreciate it.

Bitcone mining and the tipping culture in Coneheads has drawn in many new users. If you're one of those users then.... welcome to the party!
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90th minute: they announced that there will be 6 minutes of extra time
90+1st minute: Apart from an AS Roma throw in nothing happened
90+2nd minute: Sevilla had a great chance but it just went over the net
90+3rd minute: Sevilla has the obvious possession advantage
90+4th minute: AS Roma seem to be wasting as much time as they can while still attacking
90+5th minute: Both teams are attacking as hard as they can now
90+6th minute: Sevilla are going all-out with many opportunities but they just can’t seem to score the deciding goal of the game
End of 90 minutes: It is 1-1 right now and we are headed to extra time which consists of two 15 minute halves.
91st minute: AS Roma are not looking to lose as they are already attacking
92nd minute: Sevilla are trying to keep possession at all costs here
93rd minute: Sevilla are attacking more and more but can’t really get a chance to score
94th minute: Sevilla player Alex Telles is injured and gets subbed off
95th minute: We see Sevilla making changes as Jesus Navas gets subbed off for Gabriel Montiel
96th minute: AS Roma are attacking hard with a great opportunity but nothing came of it
97th minute: AS Roma have a corner kick but Sevilla get the ball but eventually it goes out of play leading to a Roma throw-in
98th minute: Sevilla are attacking and trying to find a way through that Roma defense and they nearly score but the Roma defender clears it
99th minute: Sevilla are looking for a goal but lose possession
100th minute: Sevilla lose possession again and Roma are looking to just score no matter how
101st minute: Sevilla have possession again and are trying to get a goal but they can’t seem to get past Roma defenders
102nd minute: An AS Roma player seems to be injured but plays on I think it was Matic
103rd minute: AS Rome are trying anything to keep the ball in Sevillas half but lose possession and Sevilla are keeping possession
104th minute: Sevilla are attacking but the cross inside the box was just too fast and no could catch it
105th minute: Sevilla is getting more and more desperate for a goal but the AS Roma player Zalweski commits a foul resulting in a yellow card and 2 minutes of extra time are announced
105+1st minute: Sevilla had a chance but it really wasn’t worth anything
105+2nd minute: First half of extra time is over and the score remains 1-1
106th minute: Second half of extra time starts and Roma made some substitutions but Sevilla just have that possessional advantage over Roma which could lead to the winning goal for Sevilla
107th minute: Sevilla had a corner, it bounces out Sevilla shoot and miss by a mile
108th minute: Roma have the possession but they just get a pass wrong and give the ball away to Sevilla who are playing for possession and a win
109th minute: Matic is on the ground again but Sevilla player Fernando is also on the ground but they got up
110th minute: Sevilla player Lamela gets a yellow card which is pretty reasonable after hitting someone on the face with his elbow
111th minute: AS Roma player Ibanez who got hit in the face by Lamela got up and continues playing on
112th minute: Roma has a chance to decide the game with this corner kick but they give the ball away after an unsuccessful follow up to an unsuccessful corner
113th-115th minute: Roma get a chance right now but can they score? Zalwski throws the ball in but Sevilla get the ball in the end
116th minute: Sevilla are on a counter attack right now trying to score but no one seems to able to get past the other teams defense and a Roma player is on the ground right now
117th minute: The Roma player got up
118th minute: Sevilla have a great attacking opportunity in the final minutes of the game but can they score? AS Roma get a free kick after an obvious Sevilla foul
119th minute: Matic is on the ground again looks like he can’t continue to play but we will see if that’s true
120th minute: Matic gets subbed off for Bove and 6 minutes of extra time announced
120+1st minute: Sevilla has the possession for the millionth time
120+2nd minute: Sevilla have a chance but Rui Patricio collects the ball calmly
120+3rd minute: AS Rome are on the attack and there was a foul by Sevilla player Jordán
120+4th minute: Ibanez on the ground again with a Sevilla player beside him after they accidentally collide with each other
120+5th minute: Sevilla player Montiel gets a yellow card
120+6-8th minute: Sevilla are preparing for a possible substitution, the Sevilla player on the ground was Gudelj who gets subbed off for Marcao, Sevilla have another injury with Jordán coming in for Fernando
120+9-10th minute: Roma are taking a free kick, they can win here and Bono saves it and another horrible Sevilla foul by Lamela this time and Ocampos gets a yellow card
120+11th minute: Roma get a free kick but miss and now they have a corner AND BONO WITH AN AMAZING SAVE TO KEEP SEVILLA IN THE GAME
120+12th minute: It’s over and the game is going to a penalty shootout.
Penalty shootout: One round here consists of one player from both teams taking penalties against the other teams goalkeeper this usually lasts for five rounds but after that it becomes a sudden-death shootout.
1st round: Sevilla player Locampos is the first one to take a penalty and he calmly scored it, Roma player Castagne is the next one at the spot and he scores it. 1-1
2nd round: Lamela steps up to shoot and he scores it but Rui Patricio was very close, Couldn’t read the name of the next guy but his shot gets blocked by Bono. 2-1
3rd round: Rakitic steps up and he scores it, Roma need to score here if they want to win, Ibanez steps up to the spot and he MISSES, ROMA IS DOOMED. 3-1
4th round: If Sevilla score here they win, Montiel steps up and MISSES, RUI PATRICIO GETS THE SAVE NEEDED BUT IT IS UNDER VAR REVIEW AND THE PENALTY GETS RETAKEN, AND IT GOES IN THIS TIME. SEVILLA ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE EUROPA LEAGUE, THE LAST 6 EUROPA LEAGUE FINALS SEVILLA ENTERED THEY WON AND THEY PROVE THAT THEY CAN DO IT ONE MORE TIME ADDING A 7TH EUROPA LEAGUE TO THEIR TROPHY COLLECTION! Poor Dybala, he moved away from Juventus to Roma and he could’ve won the Europa League with his first ever season with the club but the club name being engraved on the trophy right now is Sevilla FC. It’s so sad seeing the Roma players crying like they knew they were there, they were leading already but Sevilla equalized and after that no one could score a goal. Roma already had one hand on the trophy but only one hand. I wish my club could reach a European final, I don’t care which one. I just want to see Ferencváros in any UEFA club competition final. But that’s just a dream far, far away for now. Anyways I hope everyone enjoyed the game and good night!

Previous Index Next

Welcome to the Magia Record rewatch, season 3 episode 4!

Relevant links

Season 3 did not have any TV end cards, so for a bit of levity here's a featured page from Magia Report instead! This is chapter 68 of season 2. Magia Report is a comedy manga by PAPA that started out as a sort of manual/advertisement for the Magia Record game, but then just kept going with jokes. I guess there are no more anime spoilers as of today, so if you don't mind spoilers for the game, feel free to go and read Magia Report!
Original episode discussion thread
MyAnimeList AniList
Depending on where you are in the world, Magia Record's streaming availability tends to be pretty good. You can watch it on Crunchyroll, HiDive (S1, S2, S3), Wakanim (DE, FR) or Amazon Prime Video (Amazon US seems to be missing the last 5 episodes from what I can see, Amazon DE has all of S1, S2 and S3). The show is also listed on Funimation if you still have an account there. See LiveChart.me for their list of streaming options. Lastly, there have been Blu-ray and DVD releases in Japan, North America, Germany, Australia, and probably other places.
Added note: People have pointed out to me that from around the middle of season 1 onwards, you are going to see increasing quality differences between the TV broadcast version and the Blu-Ray version of the show. These differences will increase in number and severity through later seasons, sometimes with entire shots missing. Many streaming sources, notably Crunchyroll, only offer the TV version. If you've enjoyed the show so far and you would like to experience the rest in the most complete version available, it may be worth double-checking if you can get your hands on the Blu-Rays.

Questions of the day

1. While the Magius plan had a self-serving pragmatic goal, Alina Gray's plan was more driven by emotions. What did you think about it?
2. When was the last time you felt like one chapter of your life was ending and a new one was starting?
3. Fanfic/headcanon time: We see the world go on after Homura vanishes into her time warp. What does that mean for the PMMM multiverse?

Please note: As with almost everything else in a rewatch (except the spoiler policy), these questions are an entirely optional thing and you are encouraged to comment whether or not you feel like answering them. Their main purpose is to act as a discussion prompt and a starting point for people who are unsure what to say about the episode.

Characters

Character chart
Newly introduced this episode:

• Nobody

Visuals of the day

Here are your VOTD entries for yesterday's episode! Please let me know if I've missed anyone's.

Spoiler policy

I guess today there aren't any spoilers for the show anymore. But if you want to post about events exclusive to the game or other media (e.g. the manga), please continue to spoiler tag them appropriately.

Tomorrow's questions of the day

For those who want to prepare their comment in advance:

1. [MR] What's your overall verdict for this show? What is its place in the wider franchise in your eyes?
2. [MR] How did you like this rewatch? Should it be run again at some point? If so, what should be changed?
3. [MR] What will you be watching next?

Ave Faustina Imperatrix, morituri te salutant.
Lean back, and get some minutes' peace; Let your head lean Back to the shoulder with its fleece Of locks, Faustine. The shapely silver shoulder stoops, Weighed over clean With state of splendid hair that droops Each side, Faustine. Let me go over your good gifts That crown you queen; A queen whose kingdom ebbs and shifts Each week, Faustine. Bright heavy brows well gathered up: White gloss and sheen; Carved lips that make my lips a cup To drink, Faustine, Wine and rank poison, milk and blood, Being mixed therein Since first the devil threw dice with God For you, Faustine. Your naked new-born soul, their stake, Stood blind between; God said "let him that wins her take And keep Faustine." But this time Satan throve, no doubt; Long since, I ween, God's part in you was battered out; Long since, Faustine. The die rang sideways as it fell, Rang cracked and thin, Like a man's laughter heard in hell Far down, Faustine, A shadow of laughter like a sigh, Dead sorrow's kin; So rang, thrown down, the devil's die That won Faustine. A suckling of his breed you were, One hard to wean; But God, who lost you, left you fair, We see, Faustine. You have the face that suits a woman For her soul's screen — The sort of beauty that's called human In hell, Faustine. You could do all things but be good Or chaste of mien; And that you would not if you could, We know, Faustine. Even he who cast seven devils out Of Magdalene Could hardly do as much, I doubt, For you, Faustine. Did Satan make you to spite God? Or did God mean To scourge with scorpions for a rod Our sins, Faustine? I know what queen at first you were, As though I had seen Red gold and black imperious hair Twice crown Faustine. As if your fed sarcophagus Spared flesh and skin, You come back face to face with us, The same Faustine. She loved the games men played with death, Where death must win; As though the slain man's blood and breath Revived Faustine. Nets caught the pike, pikes tore the net; Lithe limbs and lean From drained-out pores dripped thick red sweat To soothe Faustine. She drank the steaming drift and dust Blown off the scene; Blood could not ease the bitter lust That galled Faustine. All round the foul fat furrows reeked, Where blood sank in; The circus splashed and seethed and shrieked All round Faustine. But these are gone now: years entomb The dust and din; Yea, even the bath's fierce reek and fume That slew Faustine. Was life worth living then? and now Is life worth sin? Where are the imperial years? and how Are you Faustine? Your soul forgot her joys, forgot Her times of teen; Yea, this life likewise will you not Forget, Faustine? For in the time we know not of Did fate begin Weaving the web of days that wove Your doom, Faustine. The threads were wet with wine, and all Were smooth to spin; They wove you like a Bacchanal, The first Faustine. And Bacchus cast your mates and you Wild grapes to glean; Your flower-like lips were dashed with dew From his, Faustine. Your drenched loose hands were stretched to hold The vine's wet green, Long ere they coined in Roman gold Your face, Faustine. Then after change of soaring feather And winnowing fin, You woke in weeks of feverish weather, A new Faustine. A star upon your birthday burned, Whose fierce serene Red pulseless planet never yearned In heaven, Faustine. Stray breaths of Sapphic song that blew Through Mitylene Shook the fierce quivering blood in you By night, Faustine. The shameless nameless love that makes Hell's iron gin Shut on you like a trap that breaks The soul, Faustine. And when your veins were void and dead, What ghosts unclean Swarmed round the straitened barren bed That hid Faustine? What sterile growths of sexless root Or epicene? What flower of kisses without fruit Of love, Faustine? What adders came to shed their coats? What coiled obscene Small serpents with soft stretching throats Caressed Faustine? But the time came of famished hours, Maimed loves and mean, This ghastly thin-faced time of ours, To spoil Faustine. You seem a thing that hinges hold, A love-machine With clockwork joints of supple gold — No more, Faustine. Not godless, for you serve one God, The Lampsacene, Who metes the gardens with his rod; Your lord, Faustine. If one should love you with real love (Such things have been, Things your fair face knows nothing of, It seems, Faustine); That clear hair heavily bound back, The lights wherein Shift from dead blue to burnt-up black; Your throat, Faustine, Strong, heavy, throwing out the face And hard bright chin And shameful scornful lips that grace Their shame, Faustine, Curled lips, long since half kissed away, Still sweet and keen; You'd give him — poison shall we say? Or what, Faustine?

As many of you know on this subreddit know, the Nevada Legislature held a meeting on Memorial Day regarding the Southern Nevada Tourism Innovation Act, otherwise known as the SB509, which would provide $380 million in public money from the state of Nevada and Clark County for a 30,000-seat partially retractable roof ballpark that would cost $1.5 billion and built on the site of the Tropicana Las Vegas with an opening date of either 2028 or 2027 with the Athletics playing there as a replacement venue for the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland. Public officials, residents and even some out of state people like Athletics fans in Oakland were invited to provide comments for and against SB50 or were otherwise neutral. After this hearing, John Fisher and Dave Kaval went to Carson City recently to speak with lawmakers on the bill. And that brings us to the question of what the Nevada Legislature will do next.
The Nevada Legislature is on a tight deadline to get the bill passed by June 5 before the regular legislative session expires, not to mention that the MLB Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred, has said the league could vote to allow the Athletics to move to Las Vegas during the owners meeting on June 13-15 which will probably depend if Carson City can pass this bill. Now, support for the bill is by no means unanimous in the legislature as some are skeptical of it's benefits or promises for the Las Vegas Strip and the Las Vegas Valley as a whole. Nonetheless, there are supporters within the legislature throwing their lot with Governor Joe Lombardo (R-NV) on the bill itself. Also, Las Vegas has experienced success in sports with the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights and the NFL's Raiders to a lesser extent in addition to the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators (the Athletics affiliate) drawing decent crowds to Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin South. The allure of an MLB team in the Valley and a potential tourist destination on the Strip to compliment the Golden Knights' T-Mobile Arena and the Raiders' Allegiant Stadium does appeal to some Las Vegans and Nevadans, including legislators, which gives this bill some serious weight. All of this can lead to option A: Most of the Nevada Legislature votes yes to provide $380 million to finance the Athletics ballpark in Las Vegas. In this scenario, the team would get what they want and ensure their relocation to the Sin City is a foregone conclusion with the MLB voting to allow it during the owners' meeting. It also means that the Aviators would share a market with their MLB parent club, similar to the St. Paul Saints and Minnesota Twins, and this could extend to the Las Vegas Ballpark as a temporary venue for two to three seasons if artificial turf can be installed, much like how the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers shared Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson with the MLS's LA Galaxy from 2017-2019 while SoFi Stadium in Inglewood was under construction for them and the Los Angeles Rams. Alternatively, the Athletics might remain at the Coliseum for two to three years while their new digs in Las Vegas are under construction much like the Raiders and Allegiant Stadium. Moreover, Oakland loses it's last sports team and is devoid of professional sports forever. Last but not least, John Fisher sees the net worth of his franchise go up and a shiny new ballpark with the potential to host multiple events besides the MLB overseen by the Las Vegas Stadium Authority.
However, the fact that there are some skeptics of SB509 in the Nevada Legislature means that they could persuade the others to vote no to giving $380 million to the Athletics, which will result in option B for the team. In that scenario, the Las Vegas plan is dashed and the Sin City is now off the table for relocation, which puts the Athletics in an awkward position as they need a new ballpark to replace the Oakland Coliseum by January 2024, or else they will be shut out of the MLB's revenue sharing agreement. Oakland wouldn't be an option under Fisher because they don't have a good relationship with the city, even with Mayor Sheng Thao open to negotiations on a new ballpark after Howard Terminal since, according to Jeremy Aguero of Applied Analysis, they aren't going to turn to the East Bay again. A rejection within Carson City might lead the Athletics to court Portland or Salt Lake City as a relocation destination since both cities are hungry for baseball and already have plans for an MLB-calibre ballpark which the team would see as an improvement over the aging and outdated Oakland Coliseum. Moreover, the Athletics would need to take up the ballpark plans for the Portland Diamond Project (PDX) or Big League Utah as well as gain support from local and state officials, business owners or unions to relocate there, which means starting from the ground up. They will face some challenges in either city like they did in Las Vegas and only one of them would get the team ruling out expansion.
Between the two options, I will say that the first one, option A, is the most likely outcome for the Nevada Legislature's vote on SB509 because the state of Nevada has a tight deadline and under pressure from the Athletics organization and the MLB's owners' meeting in New York to some degree to provide the necessary funding for a ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip. Oakland also doesn't have a good track record of keeping it's sports teams, as the Warriors and Raiders can attest, and the Athletics don't have a good relationship with the city, as mentioned earlier. When we enter the early days of June 1-5, we will see whether or not the Nevada Legislature will vote yes for $380 million for the Athletics' ballpark in Las Vegas.

Visiting Big Bend National Park
This was not my first road trip in my 2021 Model Y LR AWD, but it was my first time departing from the comfort of the Supercharger network. I mostly used ABRP and PlugShare to plan, but also tested out the relatively new app-based Tesla trip planner. My MY has has its original 19" Continental ProContact RX tires (25k+ mi), front mud flaps, and the Tesla roof shade.
Lessons Learned

• Be conservative over 65 mph: Texas' I-10 is 80mph, which is unsurprisingly inefficient. What was surprising was the lack of accurate arrival State of Charge (SoC) predictions. Heading West on I-10, neither Tesla nor ABRP could accurately predict arrival SoC. Tesla estimates were typically 8-10% off traveling west, slightly less heading East. ABRP would recommend charging to say 55% - I would charge to 65% and arrive with 7% SoC. I always looked for Tesla to give me "20%" arrival SoC, before starting for my next charging stop.
  • I-10 in West Texas is also windy (hence the wind farms) which is another reason to be more conservative
  • No shame in dropping speed to 65mph (Distance = Rate * Time)
• Autopilot: I relied heavily on Autopilot for the trip and it was amazing ~98% of the time.
  • Phantom Breaking: On long, straight stretches of highway driving (mostly I-10) I experienced several instances of phantom breaking. In each case I observed a distant mirage. Not a scientific study on my part - just an observation. Be alert!
• Steep Grades and Sharp Turns: Occasionally I would receive a forward collision warning although nothing was in front of me.
• Call ahead to make sure hotels have functional destination chargers or equivalent options.
• Tesla's app-based trip planner wanted me charge up to almost 100% and then skip Superchargers for a given route. ABRP takes the cake in enabling drivers to plan more efficiently, with shorter charging stops (user interface is still a bit clunky)
• For Park driving, the Tesla Navigation to Destination feature was accurate and crucial to a successful trip (late Spring/early Summer).
  • Do spend time to learn how to Add a Stop, versus Edit a Stop. (MY Manual).
  • At all times, my return trip to Terlingua was dialed in.
  • Any spur of the moment destinations were added as stops, ensuring I was comfortable with the ultimate arrival SoC.
  • Big Bend National Park has a max posted speed limit of 45mph. This seemed to work in my favor from an efficiency and accuracy standpoint.
  • Almost any park destination requires elevation change. It was fun to watch my range increase! That said, I never noticed a meaningful change in my final destination arrival SoC.
• Grab a paper park map from the visitor center! Not exactly unique advice for Tesla drivers, but it's pertinent to my next point.
• No Cell Service: The lack of cell service in West Texas meant I often had a blue route, but no map loaded on my screen.
  • For the journey to/from the park, I download over wifi Google Maps for offline use. Never really needed it. Whenever I lost my Tesla map, my route was very clear.
  • Inside the park, the official paper map was the perfect backup!
• Turn Off Sentry Mode: Going in and out of the car for gear, it's easy to leave on Sentry Mode. This will drain your battery while you hike!
• Off-Road Assist. I used this liberally for unpaved roads.
  • Memorize your favorite way to find this feature
  • I did not attempt Old Maverick Road, but Redditors claim it's easy enough for a sedan (with previous off-road experience). While I was there, Park Rangers were pulling a truck out of mud.
• I did not attempt to charge in the park. Some folks on PlugShare scrounge for random 110v sockets, but that is not my idea of a vacation.
• Driving on Texas highways after dark is not without risk
  • Bugs constantly smeared my windshield reducing visibility - windshield wiper fluid almost made it worse. Next time I'll try the bug wash formula.
  • Deer and other animals criss-cross roads at night too. Hitting an animal in an area with no cell service can't be fun.
• Bring extra windshield wiper fluid. Not that you can't find it en route the park, but I used mine liberally. Especially for night-time driving.
• For any road trip, bring a spare set of windshield wipers. Also great for when the OEM store runs out.
• I brought a Tesla Tire Repair kit.
• I recommend bringing a NEMA 14-50, TT-30, and 110v adapters along with your mobile connector. I also brought an outdoor 110v extension cable for emergencies.

Itinerary: Departing and Returning to the the Supercharger Highway

• Ft Stockton Supercharger to Marathon: Departure SoC 65%. Gage Hotel has ONE Tesla destination charger for customers. Call ahead to make sure it's operational! Accordingly to PlugShare 110v sockets can be used in a pinch.
• Marathon to Terlingua: Departure SoC 80%. Had sufficient charge to drive to Terlingua via Big Bend. Slightly longer drive, but worth it!
  • Terlingua / Basecamp: While Basecap does have a single destination charger, it's a wildly popular destination. There's competition for the single 30A J1772 EVSE. Staff mentioned additional capacity is planned. Some drivers report unplugging the equipment and directly using the NEMA 14-50. I was not comfortable doing this. With my luck, I'd break something.
    • It was 1/2 mile walk on a dirt road from my lodging, to the EVSE
  • Terlingua / Retro Rents Painted Ladies: I had access to an invaluable, dedicated NEMA 14-50 adjacent to my "antique" camper trailer. The experience is not for everyone, but at 48A I could easily charge up to 95% whenever was convenient.
    • They charge $20, cash for each day you use the 48A socket.
    • Call ahead! Ensure you will have access to the NEMA 14-50.
  • Staying in the park is an option, especially if you stick to the Chisos Basin area.
• Big Bend: In one day, I drove the following itinerary on a 95% charge. I returned to Terlingua with around ~25%. The following routes do not seem ideal, but I wanted to first hike the Chisos area in the morning. I was further limited by weather related road closures.
  • Terlingua to Chisos Basin Visitor Center
  • Chisos Basin Visitor Center to Boquillas Crossing (Rio Grande Village)
  • Boquillas Crossing to Cottonwood Campground via Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. The original destination was Santa Elena Canyon, but the road was closed due to recent rains.
  • Cottonwood Campground to Terlingua.
• Terlingua to Marfa: Departure SoC 90%
  • I drove slightly under the speed limit to ensure I had plenty of juice on arrival in Marfa.
  • El Cosmico was crucial! They have three destination chargers, two of them Tesla. I first asked the front desk, and they kindly allowed me to charge. I made sure to buy something at their shop each time.
    • From El Cosmico it's a 10-15 minute walk to downtown Marfa
    • There's plenty to do while charging to capacity
  • The McDonald Observatory is doable from Marfa, but for night time visits Ft Davis is a better bet.
• Marfa to Ft Davis
  • I actually left Marfa for the Prada art exhibit first, then drove to Ft Davis via a scenic route using the McDonald Observatory as a waypoint.
  • Hotel Limpia has three destination chargers (2 Tesla, 1 J1772). Also 48A, it was easy to charge.
  • Both the McDonald Observatory and Balmorhea State Park (natural spring) are within comfortable driving distances. Balmorhea State Park is quite close to I-10.
• Ft Davis to Ft Stockton - back on the Supercharger Network
  • I departed Ft Davis with less than 65% SoC and easily arrived at the Ft Stockton supercharger.

I successfully finished Per Scholas software engineering and there aren't many reviews of this program.
background:
I work as Jr Developer before, but it was mostly CSS and WordPress. I knew React and deployed a few (React) sites before attending but had no experience with Express and Mongo. All of my experience was in Frontend, UI, and UX. Near zero backend but I used strapi, firebase, and such.
​
Software engineering:
My program wasn't organized, and our instructors had a hard time following the curriculum. Some lessons were out of date for at least a year or 2, some didn't make any sense to begin with.
On the first day, they told us that Per S. uses the same program that Hack Reactor uses, but I don' think it is true. They might be teaching in the same order, but I don't think Hack Reactor would use this.
Overall quality is 1/5 compared to CodeSmith, Rithm, and LaunchSchool. I joined a few of their free classes, so I kind of know what quality is like.
​
This could be improved easily by just organizing the material and making it clear. Or, I mean at least send a spy to one of those bootcamps and copy the way they do it. Per S. isn't poor by any means, they have many offices around the US and employ hundreds of people. They have the funds, but their software engineering material is worst than a $30 Udemy course.
​
HTML and CSS lessons were 3/5
Javascript was 4/5
React 2/5
Express 4/5
Mongo 3/5
Final project: Nightmare.
For the final project, they show you how to write a full crud, MERN app and I haven't seen anything worst than this. The way the project is organized makes no sense. The code was so confusing, nobody had an idea of what is going on. Total waste of time.
​
They did not teach us how to deploy a full-stack app. To this date, I still don't know how to deploy a mern app. We skipped that part but the goal of the software engineering program is to be able to create and deploy a full-stack app. Go figure.
​
Good things:
My Instructors were awesome people, and that's the only reason why I woke up early every day and completed my cohort. If they had quality material to follow and use, I'm sure the overall experience would be so much better.
This isn't the people working there suck, it's the way the program and the material offered are low quality and unorganized.
--
--
Financial coach,
Career Coach,
Personal Development Coach, and other services:
Per scholas will assign you 3 coaches within the first 2 weeks. These services are great, and it's the only reason why I'm happy to attend Per Scholas.
My financial coach is awesome, he is a super happy guy and he is very helpful. Happy to know him.
My career coach organized an awesome event that opened many doors for me and gave me some great leads. He is awesome as well, he emails me every 2 weeks with new leads or just asks whats up.
My personal development coach re-created my resume from a dumpster fire to something beyond my imagination. That resume he created got a total of 14 interviews, and almost all of these companies were worth +$1 Billion, I got an interview with Yahoo and 3 other companies worth +$6 billion. I think that's all I need to say.
I stopped applying after getting a job, but I still get Zoom calls and emails from recruiters.
Yes, I got hired thanks to my career coach and my personal development coach. I started to apply for jobs in February/March, graduated in the first week of May, and got hired 10-15 days later.
​
I think they offer a few other services like civil services, applying for financial aid, and probably psychology-related things, which I haven't used but remember getting emails about them.
​
Overall coaching and non-software engineering-related things for me: 4/5
They do not offer technical interview prep for some reason, if you need that: 3/5.
I failed 3 interviews because of this but started to study on my own right after.
​
The big question, is it for you?
If you are like me, and know how to code but need to get into the discipline to wake up every day and need coaching here and there, I would say, yes it is.
​
If you don't know how to code, have no experience in this field, you don't even know what CSS is, I would say NO. because you will be wasting your time. However, this applies to other paid programs as well. 4 months isn't long enough to land a software job. The job market is a mess. If you live in New York, CA, and other populated cities, you might land something.
I think you should self-study for 6-12 months before applying to a paid BootCamp, or per scholas. Otherwise, you will be burnt out, confused, and out of $20K.
​
However, If you already have a profession in IT, could be anything, the coaching you get might be beneficial but would it be worth attending to 16-week BootCamp just for coaching? that's something you need to answer.
another problem with this course is that, since it is free, people aren't really committed to it. More than half of the class does not care about or know what's going on. By the time you reach the React module, there are people who ask questions about HTML.
​
Bonus: Should you attend a paid BootCamp?DEPENDS.
If they teach Mern stack, I would say NO.
If they teach Java or NET, and a frontend like React or Angular, I would say yes.
Odin project offers Full Stack Java if you need some free resources.

O----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------O

• general information.

Name: Jaeger, his Yautja name is Nua'yti.
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Family and Relations: His clan
Voice Claim/Accent: Mando’s voice
Role in a party: DPS Rogue
Level: 4 (18/28)
Stats:
Strength: 9(+1 from racial)
Dexterity:7
Constitution:5
Intelligence:7
Wisdom:5
Charisma:5
Spirit:-2

• Personality Info

Species: Half human, Half Yaujta
Personality:
Likes: Cleaning and arranging trophies, dogs, and customizing his gear.
Dislikes: Taking off his mask, ‘Serpents’, and gangsters

• Physical Description

Height: six foot seven
Weight: 247 pounds
Hair: black dreadlocks
Eyes: blue
Markings/Scars/Tattoos: possesses several scars that render any birthmarks too marred to be seen.
Extra: has the yellow skin of a normal Yaujta.
Appearance: Tall, built like a tank, yet oddly quiet.

• Equipment [Pictures also suffice]:

Clothing: loincloth, tabard, fishnet that’s able to be used to fish in emergencies, and several small skulls attached to cords.
Armor:
Head:
Serpent Hunter’s Biomask: A biomask that Jaeger retrieved from one of his kind’s temples, the vision filters of this mask include not only the traditional ones but also one designed to counter the Xenomorph’s ability to blend into shadows and fool thermal vision. As with all Yaujta biomasks, Yaujta cloak tech is automatically nullified by it, allowing Yaujtas to see other cloaked hunters. Is immune to destruction by acid.
Thermal Vision: Sci fi cloaks are nullified for living creatures that aren’t hiding their body heat and ranged attacks against creatures with a body temperature have the intelligence stat added to them.
Tech sight: Allows for Jaeger to see electronics due to a similar ability as IQ’s gadget from R6 Siege.
Serpent sight: Advantage to stealth checks due to being in the shadows are turned into disadvantage for Xenomorphs and similar creatures.
Chest:
Yaujta chestplate: A lightweight chestplate with slots on the back for modifications and a plasma caster mount, the front of it is designed with the energy resistant metal of the Yaujtas that also is designed with a active camouflage tech. While Jaeger currently lacks a plasma caster, he does still have a mount on the back to attach his speargun for storage and spots for extra clips of it’s collapsing spears on the sides of his chest. Thanks to the chestplate, he also has shoulder pads, Is immune to destruction by acid.
Ability: Self destruct, upon activating Jaeger is killed and all enemies must make a Dex Save of 18+Jaeger’s intelligence+level. On a failed save they take 50%+1d4X5% true damage.
Chestplate mod, Dragon Hunter’s jet pack: A jet pack designed by a clan of Yautja that specialize in hunting dragons, this jetpack is capable of not only boosting the wearer’s jumps to double their normal amount but can be used to enhance punches, kicks, and attacks of Yautja as well as to fly!
Gives the ability to fly up to fifty miles per hour, during combat grants a sixty foot flying speed but can only be used three rounds in a row before needing to cool down. Can be used to slow falls even while on cooldown and off cooldown boosts the height and distance of jumps by double.
Can be used to add 1d12% blunt damage to a weapon that adds to unarmed attack damage as well as unarmed attacks, cooldown of three rounds.
Forearms:
Yaujta gauntlets and wrist computer: A pair of bracers that cover the forearms, the left one having a wrist mounted computer that’s entirely indecipherable due to the odd script of the Yaujta but handles not only the active camouflage, the Falcon’s controls as a secondary means, and the self destruct but also can serve to hack other computers easily as well as storing data on creatures. The right bracer contains a pair of wrist blades and both have mounts for various other bits of Yaujta tech, the left bracer being much the same but also having a mount for a second pair of wrist blades. Is immune to destruction by acid.
Applies advantage to hacking checks and animal investigation checks.
Left hand bracer modification
Wrist Shield: A large, yard across shield made from the metal that all Yautja weapons are made, making it acid resistant and extremely durable. When expanded, a slot opens in the top of the bracer, allowing metal slats to expand out and multiply into a massive and incredibly sharp edged shield. It has been shown to be able to cut through not only a tree trunk but also a man’s throat in the process as well as being able to be forced through stone…
Adds 1d20% blunt or slash to unarmed attack (does not stack with wrist blades) depending on how it’s attacked with, while grappling this can be deployed with advantage to end it and attack all at once.
Has a plus four to block and a plus two to attacks with it, 90% damage reduction from ballistic damage, 25% energy, blunt, slash, and Pierce reduction, and ignores armor bonuses.
Legs and feet:
Greaves, sandals, and thigh plates: Simple armor plates that protect from energy blades. Is immune to destruction by acid.
Set bonus:
Ability: Active Camouflage, the entire suit is capable of bending light around it to hide the wearer from view of his prey along with most detection softwares and hardwares. Due to his suit being a hand me down his software is currently bugged out, resulting in the active camouflage being disabled while his wrist computer runs debugging. (Locked till level three)
While active within three meters roll with advantage against 10+Jaeger’s intelligence+level, outside of three meters up to ten meters roll normally, beyond ten meters roll with disadvantage. While in water this ability is nullified.
Accessories: Small skulls attached to belts, bands, and other similar bands on his body.

• Rosarius: A necklace/amulet that can be tied to a belt, the amulet contains technology that produces a transparent field of energy that turns tiny objects and energy moving at high speeds through it into light.

Applies advantage to block bullets and similarly fast ranged attacks. (Does not work against magic)
Vehicle:
Yautja Scout ship: A small (relative, a bit bigger than the Millennium Falcon) ship that has a cloaking device that hides it from view of all non Yautja ships and tech, it contains a pilot chamber, armory, trophy room, and a sleeping chamber. It’s armed with much more powerful versions of the Yautja’s plasma caster to eliminate prey ships that are in the way of the Hunt, though Jaeger prefers avoidance over confrontation. It’s rigged to explode upon Jaeger triggering his own self destruct device after sending a message to the closest person he has to a father.
Trophy room contents:
Sith Skull and spine, psychic’s spine, several mercenaries skulls, and at least three bear skulls.
Weapons/Other:

• Whirlwind Launcher: A armor module that attaches to any form of armor, as well as allowing for impulse control or manual controls. The unit typically remains folded into a small orb with a rectangle to the side but when unfolded forms four rocket launchers loaded with smart ammo.

Uses intelligence and perception.
Deals 20%+1d4X5% blast damage.
Kraken missiles: ignores armor bonuses, deals quadruple damage to armored vehicles and double armor wearing enemies.
Antipersonal: hits all enemies within ten feet of the target, deals double damage to unarmored targets.
Flak shot: Flying enemies automatically are grounded when hit, advantage against airborne enemies.
Energy surge: On a hit apply a 15+intelligence DC, on a failed save all electronics within ten feet of the target are shut off.
Takes ten rounds to load a barrel. (Passive)
Can be fired as a bonus action or fired all at once with a attack action.

• Medcomp: This armor module detaches from the left back side of Jaeger's chestplate, this module contains a clotting factor, syringe, medical stapler, a heavy duty scalpel, bone saw, and other medical supplies meant for a Yautja to use.

Has 3+level amount of charges, requires two actions to use. Using this expends a charge applies a 3d12% heal in addition to a extra d12% per level. Charges replenish during a long rest or when the Med Comp is hooked up to a external power source...

• Wrist blades: twin blades that deploy from his right bracer, acid proof and used in honorable duels and for takedowns. These blades are comprised of a metal that is similar to beskar in composition, allowing them to parry energy blades.

Adds 2d12 slash to unarmed attacks.
Deals double damage against enemies unaware of Jaeger.
Uses strength or dexterity.

• Gnawer Smart Disk: A Chakram that doubles as a saw, it can be thrown with Perception or Strength or slashed with which uses Strength.

The blades will activate and will add 3d6% slash damage to unarmed attacks when it's used to slash and adds 1d12% slash to the base damage when thrown. It returns to him after five rounds or when called manually if caught by someone else or embedded into something.

• Yaujta Saber: A ancient Elder’s custom weapon made from the weapon of a slain prey that could manipulate the world around them mentally. Among certain clans possession of this weapon is statement enough to show that the bearer is a powerful Hunter as well as considered a Elder regardless of age. This blade produces a crimson blade that’s non focused and more like a plasmacaster’s bolt but it’s still as deadly as the Sith’s saber it was taken from… This weapon is famous among Yautja, it’s name in their tongue being Sivk’va-h’sai-de.

Leveling bonus to attacks and blocks, apply wisdom modifiers to rolls with this weapon, and upon a successful block with this weapon against a energy/lightning attack, the attack is reflected.
Deals (Lvl)d6+STR plasma damage (Damage dealt by this blade cannot be healed mid combat), ignores non armor based energy resistances, and deals double damage monsters, unarmored organic enemies, and machines. Natural damage reflection due to things like acid blood is negated. Can be used to melt/cut through doors, floors, and walls.
Curse/Limitation, Clan blade: This blade will always seek out those that are of Yaujta blood or are part of the Jedi, the blade itself rejecting and fighting those that don’t meet those requirements.
If the wielder isn’t force sensitive or a member of the Yaujta race, attacks and blocks with this blade are made with disadvantage. If the wielder is a Yaujta to any degree attacks and blocks are made with advantage. If only Jedi/Sith/Force sensitive, attacks are not made with advantage or disadvantage.

• Sith’s Lightsaber: Jaeger took this from a Sith he killed, it’s part of a pair but he keeps the second on his scout ship as a trophy. He typically prefers his combi stick, wrist blades, and the Yautja Saber over this but will use it in a pinch…

Deals 2d4% plasma damage, doubled against machines and living things. Can be used to melt/cut through doors, floors, and walls.

• Psychic Spine Combistick: An extendable double ended bladed spear, given to Hunters after they finish their training, typically customized with trophies from hunts over time. Martin has infused one of Jaegar’s hunts, a psychics skull and spine, to the weapon. Can be used as a thrown weapon or a speadouble ended sword. Extends from a foot long length to a six foot long weapon.

Deals 1d12+STR piercing or slash.
When used as a throwing weapon use dexterity and strength both.
Leveling bonus to attacks and deals double damage when thrown. Returns to Jaeger after two rounds when thrown. Can pin enemies to walls upon a hit.
Sweeping blows - The Combistick is able hit multiple targets when swung by Jaeger. When making a melee strike with it, make an attack roll for every enemy in melee range.
As an action, the wielder can force an effect from the psychic spine attached to the weapon. These come in a variety of forms:
Hunters Manifestation - Causes a duplicate illusion of the wielder to appear. When an enemy attacks Jaegar, they must roll a D4. On a 1-2, they attack the real Jaegar. On a 3-4, they attack the illusion and destroy it. The D4 is rolled after they make their attack roll. 3 round cooldown.
Chokehold - Can cause a psychic ring to quickly appear near a creatures neck. Creature must make a dodge roll, or have the ring latched around their neck, choking them, causing 8% bludgeoning damage per round and rendering them unable to speak until they make a successful DC15 Strength save to break out of it. 6 round cooldown.
Alpha Predator - As an action, can cause a psychic illusion of fear in a creature the wielder is ‘hunting’. This forces a DC15 Wisdom save, and on a fail, the creature becomes frightened, with disadvantage to attack rolls against the wielder and being unable to willingly move closer, attempting to run away. The creature can attempt to make the save again at the end of their turn. If a creature makes their save, they become immune to Alpha Predator for a day.
Psychic Blast - Can launch a fist shaped blast of psychic energy when the user throws a punch, allowing for either a gauntlet or punch attack to deal an additional 5% psychic damage, or make a ranged attack with their melee bonus. 2 round cooldown.

• Ceremonial dagger: used after a hunt to remove trophies from his prey, can be used in self defense in a pinch.

Deals 1d4+STR+DEX piercing damage.
Leveling bonus to attacks and checks involving removing parts from animals, is capable of being used to block energy blades.

• Yautja Spear rifle: A alien rifle that was made by the universe’s Hunters to serve as a means of eliminating armed and heavily armored prey silently.

While this weapon is considered a sniper rifle, it’s completely silent as well as being able to swap to a shotgun mode when needed.
This weapon has a leveling bonus + one.
In sniper mode this weapon suffers from no debuffs due to range away from the target, beyond ten meters this weapon doubles it’s bonus. It can also apply a dc 17 dex save on a hit to yank targets into melee range, auto succeeds on corpses.
In shotgun mode it fires three spears at once, making a target roll three dodge rolls if in melee range of the user, outside of melee range this attack has disadvantage.
Deals 2d8+INT piercing and a third in bleed damage for . The ammo of this weapon can be retrieved and put into fresh clips, each clip contains 12 spears.

• Net gun: A odd pistol like thing that is meant to be used to restrain prey, capture it, or kill it by bleeding it.

Launches a net with razor sharp strands, upon it hitting the target is considered grappled. Every round the target must make a dex dc of 13 to carefully remove the net, taking 1d4X5% on a failed save.

• abilities

Weakness:
This is sufficient: cannot remove his armor for better armor unless it is of Yaujta make.
(-2 slots)
I swore to not take this off in the presence of prey: will not remove his bio mask in the presence of other living beings unless they are Yaujtas or are considered brethren by him/can see through it regardless.
(-1 slots)
Racials:
Sturdy: Halved fall damage.
Odd sight: Darkvision of 90 feet (bright light) and 120 feet (Dim Light)
Claws: +1 to climbing and deal 1d6+STR blunt or slash damage with unarmed blows.
Apex Hunter Physicality: Yautjas are very strong, with special organs like their dreadlocks that serve the porpose of thermoregulation and sense things around them, and having sharp fangs/claws to attack enemies at short range. The Yautja can survive 20 Minutes Underwater without air. +1 in STR and Infra-Red Vision.
Glowing Blood: Yautja Blood is easily recognizable as a luminous phosphorous green fluid. Their blood can be used to enhance or aid Humans or similar humanoids, carbon-based creatures, If Re-Purposed.
Passives:
Yaujta’s physique: Jaeger’s strength is double that of a human at peak condition as well as the denser skin and bones of one.
Advantage to strength and dexterity rolls.
(8 slots)
Takedown: Jaeger has studied the biology of countless animals and species, his blows from the shadows being guided by such knowledge to be more effective.
Triple damage to unaware targets.
(4 slots)
Chain Strike: Jaeger’s training has resulted in him being able to chain together attacks into one seamless combo.
Upon landing a attack Jaeger can attack again up to twice per action.
(2 slots)
Haste: Jaeger can move far faster than humans…
Two actions per round.
(2 slots)
Actives:
Predator leap: jump twenty feet vertically and thirty feet horizontally.
(2 slots)
Challenge: Jaeger roars, his Yaujta vocal cords unleashing a sound that terrifies and announces his intentions of hunting that target.
Applies a wisdom save of 12+Jaeger's Charisma, upon the target failing the target suffers from disadvantage to defend against and to attack Jaeger.
(5 slots)

• Backstory: Jaeger was once a human, born to a ordinary family that a Yaujta betrayed the code of the hunt when he killed his parents when Jaeger was a infant. The young hunter was exiled and Jaeger taken in by his Clan, he was given to a Yaujta huntress to be raised and taught the ways of the hunt. In his first decade of life it would become clear that he would require... a intervention to be able to survive. He was given regular treatments to boost the durability of his bones, increase his muscle density, and give him a Yaujta’s physique. After his twentieth year with the Yaujta he had completed his training and earned the right to wear the armor and blades of a Hunter, his first and long hunt would begin on Fim...

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Ok, so I want to share my journey for my latest book launch, a fantasy novel (1st in a trilogy), in hopes it can help others with their strategy.
(For some context, I have self-published books before in other languages, not very successfully, but that was years ago and Amazon was a different beast.. just with free promos you rose in the paid rankings and managed to grab sales)
Ok, so I decided this year to publish two of my books in Q1 and Q2, a standalone sci-fi novel and a grimdark fantasy that's the first in a trilogy.
I launched the scifi book without any fanfare, just to have it out there and give me more credibility as an author with more books under his belt.
I prepared the launch of the fantasy book from January up to April 13, which I had set as my preorder date for the ebook so I had an actual deadline to hit :). And I set preorder windows for book 2 and 3 in the series so buyers know there's a series to keep reading afterwards, giving some credibility.
My strategy was getting arc readers to get reviews up using the paperback edition that I launched in January, that way I would rack up reviews on the paperback edition that rolled over into the ebook version when I was ready for launch. And then use promos along with Kindle Unlimited to get a boost in sales and visibility.
For the ARCs I used LibraryThing's Early Reviewers Program, TheBookReviewClub Facebook group, Booksprout and Bookroar.
Results:

• Librarything: 30 ARCs distributed, 1 review on Amazon, 1 on Goodreads. Cost: $0
• Booksprout: 10 ARCs, 3 reviews, mostly 3 stars, from people who seem to not read fantasy usually. Cost: $9 per month for 3 months.
• Voraciousreadersonly: 10 arcs, 1 review. Cost: $0
• TBC: 3 arcs, 0 reviews that I know of. Cost: $0
• Bookroar: this was by far the most useful tool for me. I got some good reviews and the way it works is you have to review other books to accrue credits, so I read and reviewed a bunch of books in the months leading up to the launch date, so I had like 12 credits that I then used to get people to select my book and read it. And since they have to buy or use KU to get it, I got an initial bump in sales, that I keep sustaining to this day so I have a couple sales per week as a minimum. That helps with the Amazon's Best Seller Rank.
• Besides the reviews, I got about 65 subscribers to my mailing list from the ARC lists (I went cheap and used a free mailchimp site with a simple landing page to subscribe, using a short story collection I have as a lead magnet).

After launch, I had to wait till I got 10 reviews on Amazon to qualify for a Bookbarbarian promo, and when I did, I used KDP Select to schedule a 5-day promo, from a 2.99 sales price to a 0.99 discounted promo.
I did 5 days of promos, stacked like this:

• may 26: no promo, just in case the kdp promo was delayed and it ended up going live after the email campaigns. Just an email blast to my database and my very few twitter followers.
• may 27: Bookbarbarian: 30 sales, 2 preorders for book 2 in the series
• may 28: FussyLibrarian: 15 sales, 2 preorders for book 2 and 3 in the series
• may 29: no promo. It was memorial day and I didn't know if people would pay less attention to emails on this date, so I didn't do it.
• may 30: eReaderIQ: 7 sales

Overall, I spent 70 bucks on the email blasts and got like 53 sales + some KENP reads and the preorders, so around $50 in net income and I also got 23 followers on Amazon (don't know how many due to the promo because author central only reports them once you have more than 20, but I bet most of them came from the promo). I also jumped momentarily to 16,505 on the Amazon Best Seller Rank, while I had been hovering around 250,000 before. That number will go down eventually to a new level, hopefully a little above 250,000
So, after almost two months, I now have a book with 12 reviews in amazon.com plus others in the UK and other stores, plus 65 email subscribers, 23 followers, 61 books sold (+5 preorders for the other books) and 5000 KENP read.
Spending: 170 USD
Net income (-tax): 90 USD
So I'm not overly in the red, and for a cheap launch I'm pretty happy. I had never gotten as many sales or reviews before, so overall I'm happy.
​
I'm open to questions that may help anyone else with their launch!

(Kind of long I’m sorry. Feel free to ask clarifying questions because I don’t know if it makes a lot of sense!)
My initial work expectation was below what they wanted it to be, but I put in a lot of effort to raise it, and now I consistently exceed their expectations. One of the reasons I struggled to meet their expectations was due to my long breaks. Having ADHD made it challenging for me to adapt to sitting at a desk all day. I acknowledged my fault in this and actively worked with them, taking in all their criticism and advice. I made significant improvements and found my stride. Interestingly, my coworkers and supervisor often take a 10-minute break but fail to inform anyone until they have already been away for 10 minutes. Today, they returned after a 25-minute break that was supposed to be 10 minutes. In contrast, I get reprimanded if I return even a minute past the allocated break time. There's a colleague sitting next to me who has consistently operated at 70% of the expected performance for months. When he mentioned it to me, he mentioned that the only consequence he received was an email advising him to improve. When I fell below my expected performance, they arranged monthly meetings with me and stated that if I didn't improve within 90 days, they might have to terminate my employment. They went as far as keeping a log of every time I got up from my desk, either for a break or to use the restroom. They tracked me to the second, writing down when I got up and came back. I genuinely tried my best, putting in a lot of effort to demonstrate my commitment to performing well, being on time and completing my work. I did it too! But if I have a bad day or bad week, they’re quick to reprimand me, despite me now consistently exceeding the expectation.
On the other hand, my colleague (same one that hasn’t been meeting expectation for months) openly tells our supervisor that he hasn't accomplished much throughout the day and has no intention of doing so. He also is regularly late for breaks and will take 20-30 minute “bathroom breaks” when he doesn’t want to work. He spends his time watching videos on his phone, which has been explicitly addressed in numerous emails as a violation of the rules. Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, he has never been reprimanded for this behavior. He’s not the only one that does these things either. In fact, another coworker was caught watching a video today, and our supervisor jokingly said, "I'm going to have to ask you to put that away... just kidding! You're good." Although I never watch videos on my phone while working, I can't help but feel that I wouldn't receive the same leniency if I did.
A friend of mine started working here a couple of months ago, and we commute together in the mornings and take breaks together. Consequently, when I have been late returning from a break, he has been late as well. At times, he would prolong our break time, exacerbating the situation for me, until I explained that I needed to be punctual if I wanted to keep my job. However, they have never addressed his lateness in the mornings or when returning from breaks, despite reprimanding me for the exact same issues and our break times being the exact same. In fact, they recently offered him a promotion, stating that they noticed his consistency and punctuality. I couldn't help but feel frustrated. How is he considered consistent while I'm constantly under scrutiny?
I feel targeted and don't know what to do. There are many other instances that add to my frustration that I could go into, but they scrutinize pretty much everything that I do at this point. I'm determined to win them over and prove my worth, because I have a complex about doing well at every job I’ve had. I'm not sure if it's because I'm one of the few women in the entire office? There’s maybe 5 women in the whole office. Most of the other women have established themselves as supervisors, have personal connections, or are related to someone influential, such as a supervisor married to the head honcho of our department.
Maybe it's because I'm somewhat reserved; I mostly focus on my work and don't engage in much conversation. Only recently have I started to interact with some of my coworkers, although my priority remains on my tasks. Everyone has worked together for a while and they’re all friends. It’s a very social place, but despite being here since October I haven’t connected with really anyone. Maybe that’s the reason? I don’t know. Initially, I believed they were being tough on me to motivate me to improve, and I was hoping that things would ease up eventually. However, that hasn't been the case so far. They still watch me like a hawk. I want to speak up and address these concerns, but I'm uncertain about who to approach or how to go about it. My friend's quick promotion felt like a slap in the face, and hearing that he was praised for doing exactly what I was threatened termination over hurt. My supervisor taking an extra long break today pushed me over the edge. I’m so frustrated! What am I supposed to do?
Long story short: My supervisors reprimanded me for long breaks and not meeting expectation, but haven’t reprimanded anyone else for the same things. Even after improving and even exceeding, they still watch me like a hawk and don’t let anything slide.

I am posting this early because I cleared a game last night and I started on my next game and know I wouldn't be able to clear it in a day. I am going to apologize upfront for the large wall of texts. I just had to get my thoughts out on the games, especially BN 3 and TOTK.
So May had some ups and downs for me, some games I really enjoyed, others I was meh on, and some that killed my motivation due to one reason or another. That being said, my list of games that I cleared in May is as follows:
Megaman Battle Network 2: I had played through Battle Network 1 last month and BN 1 was not fun for me to slog through but I am glad to say that BN 2 was an improvement. I never played either 1 or 2 so the chance to play them made the collection really enticing. But 2 was a better improvement in that you don't need chips to escape, you can just try to escape every non-scripted/mandatory battle in the game and it's a huge QOL improvement. The story was pretty okay, nothing too mind-blowing, just experiencing the life of Lan and Megaman after stopping WWW in BN 1 and then having to eventually fight and stop Gospel in BN 2 whose main goal is the revival of Forte/Bass to destroy the net society. The typical cast is here, the areas are fun to explore and the dungeons are way less annoying thanks to those changes.
Live A Live: I remember being sold on this game due to a mutual telling me "It's like Octopath but way less grindy" and while I liked Octopath, the final boss and the grind was so damn bad, I was on board to play Live a Live. I enjoyed all the stories in the game the one I would say I liked the least was. . . Imperial China. There was nothing wrong with the chapter. I really liked them all, the reason I'm ranking Imperial China the lowest is that the major event that happens before the final dungeon (Which I don't want to spoil for others) really hit me in the gut. The final boss was a bit annoying too, but it all makes sense. When all the stories start to fuse together and when in the final chapter, I remember having a revelation about the whole game and was blown away. I loved all the chapters and the various references and homages they contained as well as all the pixel art looking amazing. Live A Live was really great, up to the final chapter where the game does get a bit grindy and while it's nowhere near as BS as Octopath, it's a bit of a drag-and-pace killer, but still, I loved the game and recommend it to anyone who has a PS5/PC/Switch to play it on.
Cassette Beasts: So I ended up doing about 1.5 playthroughs of this (currently on my second run and doing a randomizer now which is really cool since I got to experience more of the game the first time and the randomizer doesn't change much, but it's enough to make me smile) and Cassette Beasts is just so damn fun. After ScaVio was released, my desire to play mainline Pokemon games evaporated into nothingness, but I still love Monster Taming games so I was anxiously awaiting this game. The story is nothing too great, but I do enjoy the partners you can team up with and the side quests which can lead you to find some crazy things to help you out a lot, the number of monsters and the way they all interact is a bit wild with moon logic applying to some type matchups but it still is a great experience (IMO) from beginning to end. Not to mention the battle against the last boss is such a damn pleasure and it was just so dang fun to playthrough. Cassette Beasts has some fun and endearing moments and the only thing that brings it down is the type-match-up chart being very daunting early on.
Tears of the Kingdom: I'm probably going to get flak for my thoughts on this but I will say, this game is very fun to explore and mess around in. the big problem is that the game will stop being fun at some point and will just be painfully horrible to play through afterwards. The Depths are the most interesting part of the game for me but good god, the story is such a cluster duck. To basically spoil the plot The 4 main temples all tell the exact same story, "Long ago Hyrule was founded, Phantom King (Gannon) comes by to destroy it, Rauru forms a team of 6 sages to fight him and gives me (insert sage of matching race) a secret stone to enhance my (insert special power of said sage) but even with the stone, we were no match for Gannon, but thanks to Rauru we were able to seal away Ganon" and it's just draining, the most I got invested in the story was doing the Geoglyphs, but the funny thing is that if you just ignore those and do the main quest, when you're finding the 5th sage, she'll just tell you basically the same things the Geoglyphs tell you with Zelda being brought back to the past and living amongst the others as the Sage of Time before Sonia is killed by Ganon and Zelda finds The Master Sword that came back to the past to find her and she turns herself into that new dragon you saw flying around but it's given is such a rushed state, it's not as . . . I guess impactful. Though the big problem is the game is pretty damn easy and the game stops being fun pretty quickly. I had a blast making fun contraptions like a lot of others, but to give myself a challenge, I went up to about 5 hearts and just did all temples only increasing my heart with the containers you get from beating the temples so I was prepped to go into the final battle with 9 hearts, but I expected a bunch of BS so I used the 40+ lights I stockpiled to increase my heart count a whole lot more (and because it was needed for something in the game) and it was about the time that I beat the last temple that I stopped having fun. The contraptions were no longer fun to mess around, I mapped the surface and the sky islands, I filled out about 79% of the depths map (estimation) and I just wasn't having fun since now with all my hearts and powerful gear, I was rarely faced with a challenge. I was going to drop it, but a friend of mine convinced me to keep playing it and just finish it if I really believed I was at the end game. So I did finish it and honestly, considering I was then forcing myself to trek through the game a few more hours, I had only grown a bit more disdain for the game but what helped it was. . . well, something that occurs in the leadup to the final boss. I won't spoil it, but anyone who's beaten it (all 5 people in the world) will know the part I'm talking about. I went into the final boss, I was about to beat it, and my game crashed. It wouldn't have been a big deal, but the game disables saving and doesn't autosave so I had to redo that part again and it was less fun the second time around. I quickly rushed through the last boss to avoid it crashing again, I saw the painfully generic ending that is visible from space what was going to happen and I was done with TOTK.
Megaman Battle Network 3: Moving onto the 3rd entry, much l like the jump from BN1 to BN2 the jump to BN3 is pretty neat and the QOL improvements help the game a lot. I love how they redesign the net for each installment and that the redesign this time included having the path to each areas Square (or hub) outlined by a bright yellow path making it easy to find the square (except for one area which is intentional) and was a big change from BN2 which made finding the squares in a few areas a chore. The story is what you expect, WWW is back and it's up to Megaman and Lan to stop them. We start the game doing the N1 grand prix which is set to be a tournament but due to WWW the event gets canceled (WWW was already known to be back before this point though) you find out that Wily is trying to revive an ancient beast hidden in the Net and that he was pulling the strings in BN2 by influencing the head of Gospel to create Gospel and create Bass all to help revive the beast. You get there as he revives it, you stop the beast, and the credits roll. This was my actual first MMBN game and I loved revisiting it and had a blast playing the game. I even love the Final Boss's design a lot because as a young child, I thought it was really cool, and even now, I still think it looks pretty damn cool. The game includes a Navi Customizer too in order to slot in different upgrades but the reason I bring it up is due to the 2 best programs. First, there is Sneak Run allows you to avoid encounters with low-level enemies. Once you're at a pretty good level (Which is determined by your health and your buster stats like attack level, speed, and charge) it basically skips all encounters except those in the late-game and even then, it cuts down on the number of encounters significantly so it makes it so much easier to avoid battles if you just want to explore or if you're trying to get to somewhere faster. Secondly, it's Humor. If you've ever seen the images of Megaman telling bad jokes and puns it's more than likely from BN 3 due to this program installed. Once installed, if you press the button to talk to Megaman, instead of him repeating what your current objective is, he'll instead tell a joke and as someone who loves puns it's a great thing. Now, for my complaints, there are 2 different chapters where you get a program that allows you to convert elemental chip into energy to help you bypass obstacles the issue is, that if you don't already have chips of the needed elemental type stockpiled, you'll have to spend a lot of time trying to force encounters with viruses of that particular element you need and it's not always guaranteed they will drop a chip at all, let alone the chip from that particular virus. If you fight 3 viruses 1 elemental, and 2 non-elemental, you'll probably have to fight that same fight 5 times to get the elemental chip you need which then allows you to either get super lucky and bypass a major block or since you're playing a guessing game in one chapter, you just get told to eat shit and keep forcing battles. For this particular chapter, I just ended up turning on the Buster Max so I could get through encounters better and I think getting through the part still took me 2 hours (Which was annoying) The second time it happens it's not so bad since all obstacles need to be removed and more than likely getting rid of said obstacles will net you chips of the needed element to make removing obstacles easier. This also does happen when you go through the first area where this is used, but the difference is that in the 1st area, you may need to clear out as much as 20 different obstacles to find the ones you need and that's just to progress to the next part which may have the same or fewer obstacles, whereas in the second time this happens, you will probably be clearing 20 obstacles in total and it's still a bit of a pain, but this time I had a lot of chips stockpiled so I didn't have to worry about forcing battles to progress. Lastly, the final dungeon, it's basically a stealth section that is so damn touchy if one pixel of Megaman touches one pixel of the thing you're trying to avoid, you get dumped back to a previous area and told to try again. Some of these are so damn impossible to time out or you just have to get lucky when you do a blind run in one particular area where you have to run past 8 of these things at once and you can only see 4 on screen at the time so you better hope you timed it correctly or else you'll have to go back, deal with the 4 speedy sentries that will throw you back if they get a pixel in view and you have to go through them twice to get to the 8 sentries moving in erratic patterns to finish it off. Overall, I still had fun, just fuck the final dungeon.
I didn't mean to make BN3 so long so I'll just go super short with the last two on my list.
Time Wasters: A Vampire Survivors Clone but in space, Time Wasters is a really fun game that is beautifully animated in-game, anime AF (which is funny) with their character designs, and as fun as you would expect from a game in the genre. I won my first run after about 6 hours of playing and the fact that you can even recruit other playable characters to your ship to give you their benefits if you equip their weapon when on a run gives it a hell of a boost IMO. The big problem is the lack of feedback, since it's a VS clone, that means there is a lot of audio and visual noise going on in the game, but the problem is when you're getting hit (or getting shot at because they added bullet-hell elements to this game) if you're not paying attention to your ship and seeing the little numbers above your ship, you may not hear the frankly quiet audio informing you that you're taking damage and can end up dying from what feels like out of nowhere. It doesn't help that enemy ships are faster than you and even using your boost ability just causes them to fly faster to keep up with you because if they surround you, that's an instant game-over since they'll destroy your health and shields faster than you can say "WTF" Toppled with the fact that healing items need to be upgraded unless you want them to only restore about 10% of your health (which isn't much when some late-game stages even normal enemies can get rid of 75% of your health in about 2 hits which aren't hard for them to do) it feels like it's a constant struggle. Overall, I like Time Wasters despite my complaints and I've been playing it since I won my first run because it's definitely fun.
Now, I really wish I could say the same for the next game, even if technically there is no "winning"
V-Rising: So much like a lot of survival games out there, Vrising doesn't have an ending per se, it has a list of boss enemies that you can kill. Though, the problem I had with the game is how tanky enemies can be. Levels are given in Vrising through your gear (think Destiny or Gear Score in WoW and I use both of those for a reason) and even if you're fighting an enemy that is about 5 gear levels below you, you'll still need to hit them a few times to kill them, but if they are 5 gear levels above you, you're going to be in for a long and tedious fight. When fighting bosses in the game, 90% of the time, you're just holding down the basic attack button with the occasional usage of 1 of 4 skills you have. 2 of them are tied to your weapon, and two of them are spells that you set, but ultimately, you'll still be fighting a boss enemy for literal in-game hours in order to kill them. I figured this is due to the game being designed to be played with a group of people and fighting these bosses alongside other players but as I'm an SP-only person, I don't play these types of games with people so I'm sitting there just chipping away at an enemy boss health like if I'm trying to tear down a brick wall with a toothbrush. Overall, I got to about the end of Act 2 (of 3) before I dropped it because I had gotten to the point where I had gotten the best gear I could get at that act, I only had about 3 more bosses before I would theoretically get to the next act, but one boss (I think it was a priestess) kept killing me because I had nothing that could offer Holy Resistance and while I could've crafted Holy Resistance Potions, I was already starting to feel apathy knowing that beating her would just result in me having to do the same thing with the next boss and then the next boss, and then the next 10 bosses from the 3rd act. One thing that Vrising does is that since you're a vampire you do have the ability to bewitch people and turn them into your servants in order to have them raid places you've been to in order to obtain the loot from those areas which sounds like a great way to avoid grinding forever for materials, but the trade-off is that these adventures can take your servants up to 24 IRL hours and if you're not playing with an online server (like me as an example) you would have to leave the game running or have to wait longer than 24 IRL hours for you to get the loot.
So for that reason, it was the only game I've dropped in May and I don't have any regrets about it.
For June, I am excited about the Etrian Odyssey collection releasing on PC in a few hours, but for now, I'm currently working on beating MMBN 4 and I'm very excited to see what else I can clear in June from my backlog. Sorry again for the wall of text and thank you for your time (especially if you read all of this) if you don't want to read it all.
TL:DR I beat Megaman Battle Network 2 and 3, Live a Live, Cassette Beasts, Tears of the Kingdom, and Time Wasters. I also dropped Vrising due to issues with the pacing/progress of the game all in May and I'm planning on knocking out BN4 and some other games in June, not sure which though yet.

one of my best friends asked me to be her MOH. initially i was over the moon - i mean truly, what an honor. but it’s quickly grown into me resenting her and wondering if our friendship will last past the wedding (i would never do anything to put her special day at risk).
first, she scheduled the bridal shower and combined bachelobachelorette as back-to-back weekends. which has been…. a lot, to say the least.
i’ve been planning the bridal shower with her mom which has been fine for the most part, her mom hasn’t contributed much towards actually planning but at least she’s paying for the shower. but the bach party is a whole other story i’ll get to later.
regarding the shower, she told neither her mom (the one paying for the shower) nor myself about a $2,000 room deposit at the venue she and her fiancé chose. we only found out about it a week prior when i confirmed a head count and food selections with the event space coordinator. but according to her fiancé, they had mentioned this figure to me once, in passing, six months ago, during a night of drinking… they say it was my responsibility to inform her mother of this fee that, truly, i had no recollection of existing.
on top of the shower debacle, the bach party has turned into a twenty person event that nobody wanted to help organize but me. the best man in this case is actually a woman, and i’m sorry but there’s nothing the “best” about her. she has contributed $0 and 0 thoughts towards this weekend. she won’t even respond to my texts half the time, and when she does answer, she’s useless. i’ll ask her to look into something and she says she doesn’t have time. i have single handedly planned this entire weekend and purchased everything necessary for it to be great with no contribution from anybody else despite my cries for help.
i’m just resentful that she would plan these weekends back-to-back and then place all responsibility for both events on my shoulders. i mentioned to the bride and groom how the best woman has been useless in the party planning and they just say, “oh, you know how she is.” did i mention they’re also paying for the best woman’s hotel and limo ride up for the bach weekend? the favor is not being returned to me.
i don’t know what to do. it’s not even a money thing really. i just feel like she and her fiancé expect the world from me and totally favor the best woman despite her lack of any type of contribution. is there a way to salvage the friendship, maybe have a different kind of gentle conversation with her? i almost feel like it’s not even worth it. she wants to wring me dry and i don’t have much left to give. i’ve poured my heart, soul, and a few paychecks into these days for her and it’s still never good enough. sorry for the long rant. what would you do???

With the recent influx of melting connector coverage, I'm once again a bit on edge about a 4090. I just picked it up from the store a few days ago so well within the return window. Does it seem like it would make more sense to get a 4070 (or Ti) and plan on reselling to buy a 50-series (or even a 4080 - have there even been 4080 melting cases?)?
With the last couple weeks' worth of content, it's looking less like solely user-error (full-seated adapters still having the issue). And I haven't seen any posts or word about non-90 series having the issue (due to lower power draw?), so it might be a "safe" option in the mean-time.
Or with it still being just a few hundred cases, should I not really worry if I really secure the cable in tightly?

https://amicoage.neocities.org/901
Seems like old u/Tommy_Tallarico was working backwards from the number he wanted to hit, and tried to contort the facts to fit into his dream.
He writes:

Thanks for the link. Just watched. As always, they once again got a LOT of things wrong in that video. Once again they referenced me (which is the only reason I'm responding to this). He says "certain CEO's think just because the average spend on mobile is $93 means everyone does that". Then goes on to explain that I must not understand math and how it works. This of course after complaining the NFC report is $3,000 (i.e. he doesn't even know the breakdown and what the report or statistics are). Well buddy... I have the report and many others like it and know exactly what it says and how it breaks down. I legally can't publish the material, but I can tell you that most of what he declares as fact is nothing more than his misinformed opinion. Like usual, he reads a story on the internet in real time and without doing any research what-so-ever just starts mouthing off as if he's an expert before taking some kind of cheap dig at me and Amico.

He's got some analyst report and figures since he's spending a lot of money, he's entitled to win a bunch of it back, regardless of the quality of his product, which turned out to be remakes of Missile Command and Moon Patrol.

Here are some REAL facts. A "whale" or "Big Spenders" as they are referred to in reports, are people who spend more than $25 PER MONTH on mobile. That is $300 a year. Those folks are a very small majority. Under 3% of all mobile gamers worldwide (2.8% if you want to be exact). Domestically here in the U.S., there are around 6.5 million people in that category. So, do the simple math. If there are 3 billion folks playing mobile and under 3% of them are spending currently around $400 ($400 is the average for a "whale). How can anyone say that the other 97% of mobile players aren't spending much money? How could the AVERAGE money spent per year per person on mobile be $90+ then? His math (like most of his comments on the subject) aren't even close to adding up or making sense. So whose the one that doesn't understand math and averages now?

I don't think the diminutive college dropout understands how an AVERAGE works. You add up all the numbers, then divide by the number of samples. He seems to assume they're all the same, but they're not. If you take the net worths of me (a peasant, let's say $19.99), Jeff Bezos ($142.88B), Warren Buffett ($111.63B), and Elon Musk ($193.19B), you get a result in the billions, but that doesn't mean I'm playing in the same sandbox. Just like Tommy comparing their market position to actual companies doesn't quite add up.
He goes on ...

Here's something else you may not be aware of...
Globally, 67% of mobile Big Spenders are male with the majority aged 21-35. More interestingly, they spend big cross-screen, with 71% of them also spending big on console and 69% also spending big on PC. This is in stark contrast with the average mobile gamer, of whom 11% spend big on console and only 8% spend big on PC.
So... what else does this tell us? That the overwhelming majority of "whales" are hardcore gamers. And is Amico interested in targeting those folks?
No. Not initially.
Do I think they will eventually get one? There may be a good chance... especially if they view it as a 2nd or 3rd choice console (like the Wii was to hardcore gamers) that they can play when their non-gaming friends or family come over.
So there ya go.
Facts or misinformed biased opinions triumph again.
And just so I'm 100% clear. I'm NOT saying that everyone who plays mobile spends money. The majority do NOT. They put up with ads and waiting for coins to fill up or deceptive gameplay because its easy and very convenient (i.e. in their pocket and accessible at all times). But we're talking BILLIONS of people here. Remember... Switch only has 2% of the game playing population in the world. XBOX even less! So if XBOX & Nintendo can be highly successful by owning 1% or 2% of people that play video games... could Intellivision be successful if we got one tenth of one percent? That would be 3 million consoles. I'd take that.

Why was this boob allowed to speak on behalf of the company? Because he brought some money to the table? It's professional malpractice.
He contradicts his own points when he points out that the main spenders on mobile games are young males, who supposedly were not the target audience for the Amico. Then he finishes up with his silly 1% fallacy.The twerp thinks that since it's just 1%, that should be easy, right? WRONG! The bigger the market, the less likely it is that any bit player could break into it, let alone bite off a sizeable chunk like 1%.
This post is 3 years old, and it was ridiculous when he said it, and a shame that he wasn't laughed out of the forum that protected him for so long. It's infinitely more ridiculous now that 3 years have passed, the project has failed in every conceivable way, and he's hiding in his spider-man room.

I don't know where else to write this except here on this subreddit so here goes.
I have so many mixed feelings about Diablo 4. This is going to be long so if you can get through it kudos to you.
A quick history:
I played Diablo upon release and loved it. I still remember sitting in the car with my mother driving home from gamestop as I pondered what I'd name my character.
When Diablo 2 came out I was in college and played it exclusively for what felt like a year. When the expansion came out I once again dove in and the world faded away as I slayed demons endlessly and crafted runewords with excitement.
When Diablo 3 released I was so pumped. I watched videos on youtube for hours and excitedly played the beta. My first few weeks with the game were incredible. I was frustrated with the game though as I quickly realized in order to get a good item for my build to make any meaningful progression in torment difficulty I would have to shell out $100+ in the real money cash store. The market prices on stuff being so high really pissed me off. Furthermore the itemization was pitifully bad. A sharp contrast from Diablo and D2. I'd pick up a unique item and jump out of my chair only to be frustrated it rolled mods for the wrong class. Really? A unique ability tailored for a witchdoctor but rolled Dexterity? Are you kidding me? Wtf was blizzard thinking.
My excitement waned after a few months and I shelved the game. Fast forward a few years and Blizzard reworked Diablo 3 with rifts for end game and fixed the itemization to at least be functional and I got addicted to it. All said and done I've probably played 1000+ hours of D3.
D3 as it stood in its final form was all about sets. You'd reach max level at the start of a season and get going on assembling the set for the build you wanted to play. The set made up about 75% of your gear slots and the modifiers were insane. +10,000% damage wasn't an uncommon bonus for a completed set. The moment you completed it you could jump to the highest difficulty tier and start farming paragons and loot for the other slots or minor upgrades to the set pieces. The gameplay loop was fun however and I enjoyed it for many many seasons. Usually I'd quit around paragon 800-1000, maybe 3-4 weeks after the start of a season. I was never the type to push leaderboards or grind hours for a 1% improved piece of gear I already had.
Project Diablo 2:
When they announced D2R was coming I was like, woah, I haven't played that game in over a decade. How cool! I decided in preparation and after watching all the hype videos I wanted the play the original. So I started looking up how to play it. Turns out you couldn't just load the game up in battle.net like all of blizzard's modern titles. So I read a post online about how to get Diablo 2 working and the same post recommended I use Project Diablo since it had some neat improvements over the original. I was like, what the hell, why not? I think this was season 3 at the time.
After spending a few weeks in Project Diablo 2 I fell in love with it. Holy hell this mod was designed so well and the maps and end game content really set it apart from the original version. The trading was much better and I never felt like I had to dump real money into it to compete. I was just killing stuff, listing it on the site or discord, getting runes, and buying upgrades for my gear with the runes. Phenomenal system. Trading in PD2 felt so good compared to D2 or D3. I've played about 3-4 seasons of PD2 now and absolutely love it. Season 7 feels kind of bad because I know I and just about everyone else is going to be leaving tomorrow for D4 though so it's kind of been whatever. I'm sure we'll all be back for season 8 though and I can't wait for that.
D2R:
When D2R came out I jumped in feet first. Felt like I was light years ahead of everyone else because I just played PD2 for a few months and my knowledge of the game was fresh compared to everyone else who hadn't played it since the early 2000s. But, as I'm sure you can guess, after reaching end game and crafting an enigma and infinity there's not much else to do. Who wants to do Baal runs or Chaos over and over once your character is so strong you can sleep walk through it? Boring. I quit. I did play season 1 and 2 briefly.
I was excited for the "terror zones" but once I realized they were the exact same thing but with higher level mobs so you can get more exp I quit again. That wasn't a real end game addition in my eyes, it was just a way to get level 99 faster. Which, I'll be honest, I've never gave two shits about. You're strong enough at level 90 to trivialize the content so who cares about 99. Seemed completely pointless. Maybe if I was still in college I could see myself going for it but I've got kids and a job. That shit ain't possible or desirable with the limited time I have these days.
I went back to PD2 and never looked at D2R again. PD2 is such an incredible game by comparison and now that we have 60 FPS and HD Text the graphics are fantastic. Sure they're not D2R graphics but they're close enough and the gameplay is so much better it's not really an issue.
Diablo 4:
When they announced Diablo 4 they said they were returning to their roots. I assumed, and I'm sure a lot of others assumed, this meant Diablo 2. The real standout hero of the series. Awesome. Runes were back, hell yes! The gritty feel and look was back, awesome! The numbers wouldn't be in the trillions like Diablo 3, great. You were free to use any items in the end game you wanted and not forced to use a set in most of your slots. In fact they said you could juxtapose the legendary power from one item to another. Sounds interesting.
Now that I've played the beta, twice, and seen the reviews I'm extremely concerned this game is going to be a huge disappointment to me.
First the good stuff:
The graphics are nice. The skills and abilities felt good. The itemization at the low levels felt good. The combat felt great. All good stuff.
Now the concerns:
After watching some reviews and seeing the end game it looks just like Diablo 3 with some WoW mixed in. I'm not seeing anything Diablo 2 oriented here other than the darker graphics in "some" areas. The spell effects at low level looked great in the beta. But having watched some of the end game videos I've seen I swear to god I was looking at Diablo 3. I literally paused a few videos because I could not discern Diablo 4 from Diablo 3 at all. Once all those over the top spell effects from high level combat are on the screen it's just a mess of cartoonish garbage. The way the characters and monsters move and look all felt like Diablo 3 all over again.
The skill tree and paragon system is bloated with filler. Who thought this was a good skill tree?
According to reviewers the overworld is a joke once you're a little ways past level 60. You can sleep walk through it. What is the point of open world if none of it is a challenge after you're level 70? A full 30 levels below max!? Are you kidding me? Why is there even an overworld at that point?
What is with all the walking around and talking to characters during quests? Just give me the quest and let me get back to combat. I don't need to follow some character for 3 minutes to a cellar to kill the purple baddie that pops out of the ground in the middle in 5 seconds. This was a terrible design in D3 and they should have noticed once they released adventure mode NO ONE EVER DID THE CAMPAIGN AGAIN for a reason.
The gear drops all being tailored for your class removes one of the most interesting parts of D2, finding stuff for other characters that make you want to try that class or build. Or better yet, trading it for something you actually do want.
How about the corruption system like PD2 has? I get that they didn't want to directly steal that great idea from PD2 when they did D2R but come on, recognize when someone innovates in the genre and use it when you make a new game. Corrupting gear is some of the most insanely rewarding and heartbreaking stuff I've ever seen in a game. I literally close my eyes when I slam a great item. The high we get from hitting 3 sockets on a badass helmet is something unmatched in diablo 3. Oh boy, I found a new dagger I was already using but this one has 5 more DPS! Nah. Fuck that. I found a Stone of Jordan and had the balls to slam it and nailed faster cast rate and now I'm literally rich and can fund an entire character. Now that is a rush.
This is what we waited all this time for? An updated version of Diablo 3? Did we learn nothing from the D2R launch? Players are yearning for that old school style of Diablo 2. They want to find high runes that have such a low drop rate you literally get chills when you find one. They want powerful runewords that you can craft that change your entire play style once you get. They want to corrupt gear letting you customize your build in unique ways. They want a fleshed out trading system so you can offload the loot you don't need and exchange it for gear you do want. They want to save up currency for those big GG items that you can flex in front of your friends.
I'm not naïve. I realize what D2 offers doesn't necessarily appeal to "modern gamers" at large and currently Blizzard is all about producing a product designed to sell cosmetics to as many people as possible. I just thought maybe they had learned from their mistakes with Diablo 3 and were actually going back to Diablo 2 with a fresh game, like they originally said. We were lied to. This game is going to be Diablo 3 with a damn horse and I'm frustrated.
I wish I had never played PD2. It seriously has ruined Diablo in all it's "blizzard forms" for me at this point. It's like eating at all the finest Steak Houses in Chicago for a few years and then moving to Nebraska and realizing you'll never enjoy a steak in that state ever, because they have no idea how to cook them and expect you to put A1 on it to cover up the fact that they fucked it up.
With that out of the way. I'm still excited to try Diablo 4. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised with the end game. Maybe the cartoonish graphics won't bother me. Maybe the itemization towards the end will be better than I expect. Maybe the gameplay loop will hook me. Maybe they'll add runes with season 1 and powerful runewords. Maybe maybe maybe. But, I'll be totally honest, I'm not expecting to love this game the way I thought I would when they first announced it. I could be wrong, I hope I am.