Rcra metals limits

(FNV) TTW mod support-I may have went a bit crazy with mods and now need help to fix the mess ive made. Was working until i installed Dyanvision and a few other mods. Now CTDs upon loading into a worldspace. pls help(removed ENB for Reshade as i was told it helps with performance)

2024.05.14 00:39 SolidusSnake57432 (FNV) TTW mod support-I may have went a bit crazy with mods and now need help to fix the mess ive made. Was working until i installed Dyanvision and a few other mods. Now CTDs upon loading into a worldspace. pls help(removed ENB for Reshade as i was told it helps with performance)

Load order

FalloutNV.esm
DeadMoney.esm
HonestHearts.esm
OldWorldBlues.esm
LonesomeRoad.esm
GunRunnersArsenal.esm
Fallout3.esm
Anchorage.esm
ThePitt.esm
BrokenSteel.esm
PointLookout.esm
Zeta.esm
CaravanPack.esm
ClassicPack.esm
MercenaryPack.esm
TribalPack.esm
NavmeshOverhaul.esm
TaleOfTwoWastelands.esm
YUPTTW.esm
Vanilla Enhancements.esm
Main And Pause Menus Overhaul.esm
Uncut Wasteland.esp
Rebuild the Capital.esm
Functional Post Game Ending.esm
TTW Reputations.esm
MoreMojave.esm
SSTIndustrializedSloan.esm
TLD_Travelers.esm
AWorldOfPainFO3.esm
Regulators.esm
SSTGroundedRangerStationCharlie.esm
A World of Pain Revised.esm
Sweet Pain NV.esm
A Trail of Crumbs.esm
TTW New Vegas Speech Checks.esm
Home and Safehouse Tweaks.esm
mil.esp
Functional Post Game Ending - TTW Patch.esm
TweaksTTW.esm
Tactapack.esp
mil_Add-On.esp
Bad Touch.esm
[RWM]-Complete.esm
RtC-Hotpatch.esm
DYNAVISION 3.esm
Home and Safehouse Tweaks - TTW Addon.esm
Impostors and LOD Flicker Fix.esp
TTW FaceGen Fix.esp
MigSpeedFix.esp
The Mod Configuration Menu.esp
Vanilla UI Plus.esp
FOVSlider.esp
Power Armor Holo Panel.esp
PipBoyUITweaks.esp
ItemCards.esp
3DGrenadeIndicator.esp
QuickSelect.esp
JustAssortedMods.esp
TTW Ultimate Invisible Wall Remover.esp
TTW Dialogue and Interactions Expansion Overhaul.esp
Root 'n Loot.esp
Casino Exchange All.esp
Rebuild the Capital - No Pony Express Boxes.esp
TTWZetaRewards.esp
JIP Companions Command & Control.esp
MigArmorDegen.esp
WeaponRequirementSystem.esp
ImmersiveRecoil.esp
DynamicWeaponSpread.esp
DWS_JAM_patch.esp
Reload Reloaded.esp
DynamicDetectionSystem.esp
Supplemental Ammo Crafting.esp
Enhanced Movement.esp
S6S Perks.esp
ATMOS Ambient Overhaul.esp
New Blood.esp
S6S Base Game Perks Redux.esp
S6S Base Game Perks Redux TTW Side.esp
Friends With Benefits Perk Pack.esp
SP TTW Patch.esp
MMAWOP Patch.esp
GRA Scavenger Hunt Balanced NVSE.esp
Titans of The New West.esp
Titans of The New West - Power Armor Sprint JAM.esp
S6S Ingestibles NO DLC.esp
SSTMojaveOutpostSecurityBooths.esp
AfterglowNeonIllumination.esp
Aid Addon.esp
AK112.esp
B42Dropmag.esp
B42Inspect.esp
B42Bash.esp
B42Descriptions.esp
Player Headtracking.esp
B42Inertia.esp
B42Retrievables.esp
B42 RWMS.esp
New Blood TTW Patch.esp
Natural Interior.esp
TestHK33.esp
NVRA - Uzi.esp
M1C.esp
LaserRifleReplacer.esp
127 SMG Rebirth.esp
JSRS.esp
CharacterKitRemake-Hair.esp
Interior Rain.esp
Interior Rain - TTW.esp
CharacterKitRemakeHHandsFix.esp
RtC-RootnLoot.esp
RtC-TrailofCrumbs.esp
NewVegasQuickStart.esp
JustHitMarker.esp
JustHitIndicator.esp
JustHoldBreath.esp
JustLootMenu.esp
JustBulletTime.esp
JustDynamicCrosshair.esp
Casino Bets - Jackpot Limit and Chips Exchange v1.2.esp
10YearPack.esp
T60Pistol.esp
GhoulPistol.esp
dD - R.B.E.T Main NV.esp
dD - Enhanced Blood Main NV.esp
MCPipBoy2000MK6_clock.esp
HeadShotSplatter.esp
Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks TTW.esp
ATMOS Ambient Overhaul Patch - Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks.esp
FNVLODGen.esp
DNWeathers.esp
RTC-DNWeathers.esp
NeutralWeathers_TTW.esp
Realism Redux.esp
Mod list
+DYNAVISION 3 - Total Visual Enhancement
-Dusty Distance Redone
+Desert Natural Realism - Redux
+Blood Trails - ESPLess
+FNVLODGen
+OneTweak for FNV
+The Mod Configuration Menu-Quickfix
+Neutral Weathers - DNW for NVR - NV - TTW
+New Vegas Quick Start
+Natural Interiors
+3D Rain
+Interior Rain
+Interior Rain-Main
+Longer Weather Transitions ESPless
+Simple Total Fog Remover - NVSE
+NillaPlus MIRROR MIRROR 4K 2K 1K
+Real Time Reflections - NVSE
+Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks (Interior Lighting for FNV and TTW)
+Flags HD
+Desert Natural Weathers - NV - TTW
+NillaPlus Crate Expectations 4K (large metal shipping containers)
+NillaPlus Howitz Started--Howitz Going 4K (Nellis artillery)
+NV Compatibility Skeleton
+Fabulous New Vegas-Smile
+Fabulous New Vegas
+10 Year Anniversary Celebration Pack
+Red Rock Canyon Sign HD retexture
+Feral Ghoul Retexture by Koldorn
+Super Mutants HD - 4k Retextures
+TTW Billboards Upscaled Pretty Good HD
+Billboards HD Remade
+NewVegasReloaded
+HQ Freeside Shop Signs
+Goodsprings Sign
+Cottonwood Cove Sign
+Medical Clinic sign
+Strip and Freeside Signs HD Overhaul
-Signs HD - Honest Hearts
+UTI (Upscaled Texture Improvement) - Old World Blues DLC
+UTI (Upscaled Texture Improvement) - Honest Hearts DLC
+UTI (Upscaled Texture Improvement) - Gun Runner's Arsenal DLC
+UTI (Upscaled Texture Improvement) - Lonesome Road DLC
+UTI (Upscaled Texture Improvement) - DLC Projectiles
+UTI (Upscaled Texture Improvement) - Projectiles
+Headshot Splatter
+Explosions Ignore Line of Sight - ESPless
+EXE - Effect teXtures Enhanced
+ETJ Realistic Enhanced Blood Textures
+Enhanced Blood Textures for NV v2_22c
+UTI (Upscaled Texture Improvement) - Decals and Impacts
+Rivet City Signs HD (TTW)
+Paradise Falls HD (TTW)
+Megaton Signs HD (TTW)
+Sunset Sarsaparilla HD
+Hoover Dam Signs HD
+HD Signs Overhaul - Part 3
+HD Signs Overhaul - Part 2
+Street Signs HD Overhaul
+HQ Upscaled posters - Part 2
+Posters HD Remade
+Various Signs HD
+Casino Posters and Signs HD
+Robots HD
+Creatures HD
+Blue metal door retexture
+NillaPlus Wood (Please be mature in the comme
+Honest Barks (new bark textures for maple cedar mesquite and burnt trees)
+Random Stuff HD
+Unique Journals
+Unique Books
+NillaPlus Rebar McEntire (4K 2K 1K)
+Afterglow -- Neon illumination
+TTW - Megaton Signs Redone
+FNV TTW AIO - Interface Upscaled
+White Horsenettle HD
+Clocks HD
+Food HD
+Broc Flower HD
+Xander Root HD
+Vanilla Graffiti Redone
+Great Khans Graffiti Redone
+FNV-TTW Graffiti Redone
+NillaPlus Vault Doors 4K (FNV - TTW)
-Legacy Reborn - Quality Edition
+Contrasted LOD Noise Texture
+Impostors and LOD Flicker Fix
+Simply Upscaled Grass
+Mobile Pip-Boy Light - NVSE
+Pip-Boy 2000
-Visuals_separator
-ExRB - Extended Roombounds
+Collision Meshes
+TTW Ultimate Invisible Wall Remover
+JSRS Sound Mod 2.0
+ATMOS Ambience Overhaul - Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks Patch
+ATMOS Ambience Overhaul-main
+ATMOS Ambience Overhaul
+Sound Extender
-Optimizations_separator
+Aid Addon - Medkits - Blood Draw - Bandages - Afterburner Gum - More
+New Blood
+Sweet Consumables
-Hardcore_separator
+HQ Ranger Hat
+Titans of The New West
+Lily Outfit HD
+Clothes HD - Kids
+Clothes HD - Unique
+Clothes HD - Brotherhood
+Clothes HD - Powder Gangers
+Clothes HD - Doctors
+Clothes HD - Gamblers
+Courier Duster HQ 4K
+Clothes HD - Prewar
+Clothes HD - Kings
+Clothes HD - Workers
+Clothes HD - Wasteland
+Physically Based Rangers
+Glowing Ranger Visors
-Armor_separator
+New Vegas Animation Overhaul Guns
+M1 Carbine (KNVSE)
+FNV Clean Animations - Auto-Axe
+FNV Clean Animation Sets - Laser Rifle
+FNV Clean Animation Sets - Grenade Rifle-Main
+FNV Clean Animations - Explosive Mines Pack
+FNV Clean Animations - Grenades Pack
+Assume the Position - An Unarmed Animation Overhaul - Part 1
+FNV Clean Animations - Minigun
+FNV Clean Animation Sets - Grenade Rifle
+FNV Clean Animations - Throwing Weapons Pack
+FNV Clean Animations - Ripper
+FNV Clean Animations - Fat Man
+FNV Clean Animations - Grenade Rifle Redux
+FNV Clean Animations - Alien Disintegrator
+FNV Clean Animations - Grenade APW
+FNV Clean Animations - Incinerator
+FNV Clean Animations - Rock-It Launcher
+FNV Clean Animations - Missile Launcher
+Butcher Pete Complete - A Melee Animation Overhaul
+Wasteland Warrior - A Melee Animation Overhaul
+Laser Pistol 3rd Person Latch animation fix
+Grenade Launcher - 3rd person bug fix
+No Reload Cancelling
+Hit - Anti-Materiel Rifle Anim Set
+Hit - B42 Interact Skinning-Human
+Hit - B42 Interact Skinning
+B42 Weapon Inertia
+Retrievable Throwables Reforged
+MadAce's Ragdoll compatibility patch
+Player Headtracking
+B42 Melee Bash
+B42 Inspect - aka Animated Ammo and Weapon Condition Checking
+B42 Dropmag and One in the chamber
+B42 Inject - Animated Item Use - ESPless
+B42 Optics - ESPless
+WAP B42 Optics Patch
+B42 Loot - Animated Physical Item Pickup - ESPless
+B42 FireMode - Selective Fire and First Shot Precision - ESPless
+B42 Interact - Animated Items and Interactions Framework - ESPless
+Hit - Lewis Gun Anims
+SYNC - Remade kNVSE Animation Set - Classic AK-112 - The Adytum Rifle-
-Animations_separator
+Gauntlets Debulked
+NVRA - Uzi-4k
+NVRA - Uzi
+NVRA - HK33-4k
+NVRA - HK33
+Physically Based Plasma Rifles
+Fallout TV - The Ghoul's Handcannon
+WAP Year One and Bonus
+Laser Rifle Rebirth
+WAP 12.7 SMG Rebirth-4k
+WAP 12.7 SMG Rebirth-Reticle Fix
+WAP 12.7 SMG Rebirth
+WAP Lever Action Shotgun-4k
+WAP Lever Action Shotgun
+WAP F4NV Recharger Weaponry-4k
+WAP F4NV Recharger Weaponry
+WAP Single Shotgun-4k
+WAP Single Shotgun
+WAP 12.7MM Pistol-4k
+WAP 12.7MM Pistol
+WAP Grenade Launchers
+WAP F4NV Laser Pistol and Pew-Pew-4k
+WAP F4NV Laser Pistol and Pew-Pew
+WAP Laser RCW-4k
+WAP Laser RCW
+DKS and Friends
+WAP - F4NV .44 Magnum Weaponsmith
+WAP - F4NV .44 Magnum-4k
+WAP - F4NV .44 Magnum
+WAP Bozar and LMG
+WAP Year One and Bonus-4k
+Tactapack
+Another Millenia
+Another Millenia Gun Add-on
+T60P - Power Armor Sidearm-NVAO patch
+T60P - Power Armor Sidearm
+Classic AK-112 - The Adytum Rifle-SYNC animation patch
+Classic AK-112 - The Adytum Rifle
+NVRA - M1 Carbine-4k
+NVRA - M1 Carbine
-Weapons_separator
+B42 Descriptions aka Pip-Info
+Character Kit Remake - Teeth
+Improved Vanilla Male Body
+Character Kit Remake - Hands
+Improved Vanilla Male Body - Seamless - 4k-f3
+Character Kit Remake - Hands-IVMB
+Character Kit Remake - Hair
-Character Kit Remake
-Character Kit Remake TTW Facegen
-Character Kit Remake - Uncompressed Faces
-Character Kit Remake-IVMB
-Character Kit Remake Facegen Patches For Many Mods-The Living Desert
-Character Kit Remake Facegen Patches For Many Mods-Uncut NV
-Character Kit Remake Facegen Patches For Many Mods-Sweetpain
-Character Kit Remake Facegen Patches For Many Mods-MoreMojave
-TTW Character Kit Remake Facegen Patches For Many Mods-Rebuild The Capital
-Character Kit Remake Facegen Patches For Many Mods-FPGE
-Character Kit Remake Facegen Patches For Many Mods-EVE
-Character Kit Remake Facegen Patches For Many Mods-AWOLP
-TTW Character Kit Remake Facegen Patches For Many Mods-The Regulators
-TTW Character Kit Remake Facegen Patches For Many Mods-A Trail of Crumbs
+IHWT - Improved Heavy Weapons Textures
+HIPControl - Weapon Idle Position Adjuster - ESPless
+TTW (D.I.E.O.) Dialogue and Interactions Expansion Overhaul
+GRA Unique Weapons Relocated
+TTW The Regulators
+TTW A Trail of Crumbs
-TTW - Wasteland Supplements-Uncut Extra Collection
+TTW - Wasteland Supplements-Uncut Wasteland
+Rebuild the Capital - A Brotherhood of Steel Expansion Mod TTW Edition-Hotpatch
+Rebuild the Capital
+MoreMojave- AWOLP
+MoreMojave
+Sweet Pain NV-TTW Patch
+Sweet Pain NV
+Improved Security Booths
+Grounded Ranger Station Charlie
+Industrialized Sloan
+A World of (Less) Pain - A Lore Friendly AWOP Revision
+TTW A World of Pain for Fallout 3-JIP CCC Avatar
+TTW A World of Pain for Fallout 3
+Uncut Wasteland
+The Living Desert - Travelers Patrols Consequences Increased Population and more
+Functional Post Game Ending
+Content_separator
+Realtime Weapon Modding System
+Essential Vanilla Enhancements Merged
+Higher Casino Bets - Jackpot Limit and Chips Exchange
+Friends With Benefits Perk Pack
+Sweet Perk Overhaul
+Sweet 6 Shooter Perks - TTW - NV
+Enhanced Movement
+Enhanced Movement-Ini
+New Vegas - Enhanced Camera
+Supplemental Ammo Crafting
+Combat Enhancer Updated
+Sweet Dynamic Detection System
+Weapon Jamming Tweaks - ESPless
+Reload Reloaded
+Dynamic Weapon Spread 2.0-JAM Patch
+Dynamic Weapon Spread 2.0
+Immersive Recoil 2.0
+Weapon Requirements System
+Real Weapon Mods 2
+ADO - Armor Damage Overhaul
+Home and Safehouse Tweaks
+Perk Styled CCC Icons
+JIP Companions Command and Control
+TTW - Mothership Zeta Rewards
+TTW New Vegas Speech Checks
+TTW Reputations
+TTW Merchant Supply Expansion-Flak
+TTW Merchant Supply Expansion
+Hardcore Perk Every Level
+TTW - Wasteland Supplements-Tweaks for TTW
+TTW - Wasteland Supplements-MAPMO
+Casino Exchange All
+Better Caravan
+Root 'n Loot TTW
+Tweaks for TTW
-Gameplay_separator
-Radiation Visuals
+Drowning Visuals - ESPless
+Quick Select - A Zelda BOTW Style Quick Menu
+3D Grenade Indicator
+Item Cards
+Pip-Boy UI Tweaks
+High Res Local Maps
+Simple Maps
+TTW Goodies
+Pop-Up Message Icons
+Map Marker Icons
+Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v4
+Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Reputation
+Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Addendumb
+Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Dynamicon
+Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Extension
+Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Weapons
+Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Items
+Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - DLC's Items
+Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Apparel
+Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Framework Plugin
+Vault Boy Paper Doll
-3rd Person Camera Overhaul
+High Resolution Screens
+Vanilla Fonts Revisited
+Recent Loot Log - ESPless
+JDC - Just Dynamic Crosshair
+JLM - Just Loot Menu
+JBT - Just Bullet Time
+JHB - Just Hold Breath
+JHI - Just Hit Indicator
+JHM - Just Hit Marker
+B42 Notify - Corner Messages Overhaul - ESPless
+MAPMO - Main and Pause Menus Overhaul
+Cursor Unilaterally Matched (NVSE)
+Clean Vanilla Hud
+Simple Power Armor HUD
+FOV Slider
+Sleep Wait Hardcore Needs
-Scum's Considerably Cute Corner Load Wheel
+Main Menu Redone - TTW
+ySI - Pick Up Prompts
+ySI - Sorting Ycons
+yUI - User Ynterface
+Vanilla UI Plus (New Vegas)
+The Mod Configuration Menu
-User Interface & HUD_separator
+Hit - Millenia Animations - Part 2
+zlib Updated - NVSE
+Weapon Mod Description Fix (TTW)
+Viewmodel Shading Fix - NVSE
+Vent Lighting Fix
+Swimming Creatures Fix - ESPless
+PipBoyOn Node Fixes
+Pip-Boy Shading Fix NVSE
+Muzzle Flash Light Fix - NVSE
+Mostly Fixed FaceGen Tints (NV or TTW)
+MoonlightNVSE
+Improved Lighting Shaders
+High Resolution Water Fog - Water Aliasing Fix
+High Resolution Bloom NVSE
+Fog-based Object Culling
+Fallout Alpha Rendering Tweaks - NVSE
+External Emittance Fix - NVSE
+Equip and Movement Speed Fix - ESPless
+Depth of Field Fix - NVSE
+ActorCause Save Bloat Fix
+ISControl Enabler and Ironsights adjuster (now ESPless)
+Viewmodel Shake Fix - NVSE
+Smooth True Iron Sights Camera
+VATS Lag Fix
+Combat Lag Fix (NVSE)
+Bad Touch NVSE
+Aqua Performa - Strip Performance Fix
+lStewieAl's Engine Optimizations
+Stewie Tweaks Essentials INI
+lStewieAl's Tweaks and Engine Fixes
+Improved AI (Navmesh Overhaul Mod)
+Items Transformed - Enhanced Meshes (ITEM)
+Meshes and Collision - Totally Enhanced Nifs (MAC-TEN)
-Collision Meshes-FNV
+TTW
-Bug Fixes_separator
+Cloud Upgrade NVSE
+Climate Control NVSE
+KEYWORDS
+Basic Console Autocomplete
+Console Paste Support
+Improved Console (NVSE)
+Yvile's Crash Logger
+FNV Mod Limit Fix
+UIO - User Interface Organizer
+kNVSE Animation Plugin
+JohnnyGuitar NVSE - INI Presets
+NVTF - INI Presets
+NVTF - New Vegas Tick Fix
+NVAC - New Vegas Anti Crash
+SUP NVSE
+AnhNVSE
+ShowOff xNVSE Plugin-Settings
+ShowOff xNVSE Plugin
+JohnnyGuitar NVSE
+TTW - Wasteland Supplements-JIP
+JIP LN NVSE Plugin
+Weapon Hotkey Icons
+ROOGNVSE Plugin
+JIP LN NVSE Plugin-Settings
-Utilities_separator
+Fixed ESMs
*DLC: CaravanPack
*DLC: ClassicPack
*DLC: DeadMoney
*DLC: GunRunnersArsenal
*DLC: HonestHearts
*DLC: LonesomeRoad
*DLC: MercenaryPack
*DLC: OldWorldBlues
*DLC: TribalPack
submitted by SolidusSnake57432 to FalloutMods [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 00:24 WasdCritics Lightyear Frontier

Lightyear Frontier, the first title from Frame Break, a Swedish game development studio, presents an open-world game in early access, in which the player piloting a Mecha must work to survive and revitalize the newly colonized planet, as well as uncover the secrets present in this unknown world.
The game offers a set of elements that broaden its scope and make it daring, to say the least, especially considering that it is the first game from an indie studio. After landing on the unknown planet, it is necessary to recover the Mecha and its various tools. Upon completing this brief tutorial, the player has their Mecha ready, which is basically a Mecha made for agricultural purposes in order to help colonize other planets by obtaining resources. At this point the player is introduced to the farm element of the game, the player must collect the alien plants from the planet and cultivate them in order to develop the agricultural land, along with this proposal is added the whole layer of managing a base with different structures and improvements for the Mecha. Finally, there is the element of the open world, which is eager for exploration in order to discover new resources and uncover the mysteries of the new environment.
The story of the game goes hand in hand with the main objective: upon entering the planet, the player needs to start a new life in the new world, and a big part of that life, apart from the little farm, is exploring the environment. Each time a new environment is cleared, the player learns a little more about the game's history through a personal AI that tells them why the space exploration mission took place and what the process was like. At the same time, there is a sealed door that has its seals unlocked according to each new environment that is rejuvenated. After the environments have been completely rejuvenated, the sealed door is opened and part of the world's secrets are revealed, along with a special ability for the mech. Unfortunately the story stops there, there is a sequel but it hasn't been produced yet, you'll have to wait for future updates and for the game to be officially released for it to be completed.
As for the farm part of the game, this is also essential to the story as a whole, it's not there as an extra element that takes up time without any purpose, because it's from the 5 tools that the player has in their mech that the process of cleaning up the environment takes place, especially with the plant watering tool and the harvester. The robotic watering can is used to remove harmful mud and the harvester is used to remove harmful weeds, so without both, the whole exploration element becomes meaningless. So where does the farm come in? Mud and weeds are more resistant in more advanced environments, so you need to upgrade the mech's tools so that these obstacles can be removed, and that's where the farm comes in, it's where the different constructions are made available and resources are obtained in order to improve the mecha. The Mecha's improvement site is also built at the base next to the buildings that process the different metals, woods and alien plants into oils to be used as improvements. In addition to the farm itself, exploration is important in the Mecha's evolution, since resources such as trees, stones, aluminum, copper and iron need to be collected from the environment. All these elements are there to make improvements to the Mecha possible, improvements that are not only essential for the game as a whole to continue, but are also important for more efficient maintenance of the plantation.
There are also other interesting elements such as the product store that appears daily on the player's farm, where you can sell and buy products to facilitate progression and partly reduce the need to grind. There's also the quest board, which offers tasks in exchange for money to be spent in the produce store. One element that has been developed that is a positive surprise are the random events on the plantation, which are basically two: the noxious bubbles that need to be popped with the water jet before they grow and explode, and the rain of noxious weeds, both of which can wipe out the player's plantation and both of which always occur in the morning and close to harvest day, for this reason the player is almost obliged to sleep in the house overnight, because if they don't and the random event occurs the next day, it's practically impossible to remedy the disaster on the plantation, so the element is used to limit exploration to an extent that the farm won't be abandoned, an excellent game design idea.
An impactful characterization of decoration in the gameplay has been developed by Frame Break in Lightyear Frontier, unlike other games, the work generously rewards the player for decorating the area of their residence. The different levels of housing allow for different degrees of bonuses, and these bonuses are incredible, such as the chance to increase the collection of resources, destroy objects more quickly with a “critical” with the blade tool, or even increase the yield of the plantation. The fact is that the game has turned the element of customizing the house and its surroundings into an essential element of the gameplay, and it's an incredible way of encouraging the player to explore all the infinite decorations beyond “I want to make my house pretty”.
Aesthetically, the work has a pseudo-realism, where the playful mixes with the real and the cartoonish style takes over. It's an interesting mix and is in line with the model proposed by Frame Break, the exploration and colonization of a new planet. Graphically, the game is beautiful and presents almost no performance problems, with few bugs to be found.
In conclusion, Lightyear Frontier delivers the old and basic in a revamped form, not a bad thing for a small studio that has made great strides with its first work. Meca's idea draws attention to the game, which features exploration, base management, the creation of a farm, and a story with normal levels. There is nothing extraordinary or innovative about the basic structure of the game, but it is solid and very well interconnected, the elements of the work are interdependent, which generates continuous progression in all aspects of the work. In short, the work is characterized in this way: the basics done with care and dedication so that the homogeneity of the work is maintained, together with a dash of daring with a somewhat out-of-the-box idea.
submitted by WasdCritics to u/WasdCritics [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 23:58 musical-amara Rip and Tear: A Decade of Doom

In the annals of gaming history, few titles command the reverence and adoration as the legendary Doom franchise. Born from the minds of John Romero, John Carmack, Adrian Carmack, and Tom Hall, Doom would go on to lay the foundations for just about every modern video game that exists. It was a true tour de force, a success story few could scarce ever imagine.
Released in 1993, Doom was an immediate smash hit, thanks in no small part to its shareware format, which allowed users to experience the first few levels of Knee Deep In the Dead, and then order the full game via the phone number included. Players could then share the floppy disk with their friends, and so on, and so on. It was a truly revolutionary system, and within a single year, Doom had sold over 2 million copies.
The history of the Doom franchise is one of innovation, ultra violence, and controversy (1999's Columbine High School Massacre), and that reputation is one that continued with 2016's DOOM. DOOM was officially revealed at Quakecon 2014, ten years after Doom 3. Players had long resigned to Doom being considered a dead franchise. A reboot had been in the works for a number of years prior, but never got released, having been quietly cancelled by id in 2010. The future was bleak, but the 30 second long teaser ignited a spark that had been burning dimmer every passing year.
Then came E3 2015.
The hype was unreal. The trailer had everything that fans could possibly want. Gore, intense violence, insane run n gun gameplay, a rip-roaring soundtrack and the MFING CHAINSAW. But fans had been let down before. Would it really hold up its promises?
Yes. Yes, it would.
PART I: Presentation
When DOOM burst onto the scene in 2016, it did so with a visual and auditory spectacle that left players awestruck. From the moment the game boots up, players are made aware that this is not your average shooter. You are greeted with a deep, commanding voice. "Rip and tear, until it is DONE."
Immediately, players are greeted with a scene of carnage and the Doom Slayer chained to a table, which, of course, he instantly breaks free from. A zombie attempts to relieve the Slayer of his life but is beaten to the punch with a prompt skull smashing. After putting the other zombies to rest, he interacts with the panel in the corner, is greeted by one Dr. Samuel Hayden, who attempts to justify the outbreak, and decides he would rather kill shit than listen to excuses and destroys the monitor.
That is the introduction to this game. It never wastes the player's time. We aren't here to listen to long droning monologues or watch MGS style cutscenes. id Software knew their audience, and knew what that audience wanted, and they deliver in spades. This introduction sets the tone for the entire experience: relentless action, unapologetic violence, and a protagonist who is as unstoppable as he is uncompromising. The Doom Slayer's disdain for exposition and his single-minded focus on annihilating demons resonate with players who crave a pure, unadulterated gaming experience.
By eschewing lengthy cutscenes and exposition-heavy dialogue in favor of fast-paced gameplay and visceral action, id Software delivers a game that respects the player's time and delivers exactly what they came for: non-stop demon-slaying action. In an era where many games are criticized for padding their runtime with unnecessary filler, DOOM stands out as a shining example of how to create a focused and engaging experience that keeps players coming back for more.
Rather than bombarding players with lengthy exposition or intrusive cutscenes, DOOM opts for a more environmental storytelling approach. Throughout the game, players can discover audio logs, read text-based terminals, and observe environmental details that provide context and background to the events unfolding around them.
The story of DOOM revolves around the Doom Slayer's mission to stop a demonic invasion unleashed by the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) on their Martian facility. As players progress through the game, they uncover details about the UAC's experiments with Hell energy, the origins of the demonic invasion, and the Doom Slayer's own mysterious past.
While the story may not be front and center in DOOM, it nonetheless adds depth and richness to the game world, enhancing the overall experience for players who choose to engage with it. And for those who prefer to focus solely on the action, the story remains secondary, allowing them to enjoy the game on their own terms.
That's all well and good, but what about the actual gameplay? Simply put, it is exhilarating. From the moment you are given control of the Slayer, players are thrust into a frenzy of blood and violence, and it never lets up. At its core, DOOM is a first-person shooter that harkens back to the genre's roots while injecting it with a healthy dose of modern flair. The gameplay is fast-paced, frenetic, and utterly unapologetic in its brutality. You're not just a player – you're the Doom Slayer, a force of nature hell-bent on eradicating every last demon in your path.
Central to the gameplay experience is the game's combat loop, which revolves around a delicate balance of aggression and strategy. In DOOM, there's no hiding behind cover or waiting for your health to regenerate – you're constantly on the move, strafing, dodging, and leaping across the battlefield as you unleash a torrent of bullets, rockets, and plasma upon your enemies.
Weapons include the iconic shotgun, heavy assault rifle, plasma rifle, rocket launcher, and the devastating BFG 9000, among others. Each weapon offers different firing modes, such as single shot, burst fire, and continuous beam, providing players with tactical options in combat. A key aspect of combat is the Glory Kill system, which allows players to perform brutal finishing moves on staggered enemies. Glory Kills not only provide health and ammo but also contribute to the flow of combat by encouraging aggressive play. It is incredibly satisfying to watch the Slayer rip an imp in half or stomp their head into the pavement, and doing so rewards you with a large return of health.
The Chainsaw mechanic is another integral part of combat, allowing players to instantly kill most enemies and gain a large amount of ammo in return. However, Chainsaw fuel is limited and must be managed carefully. Like Glory Kills, watching the chainsaw tear demons apart is incredibly satisfying. Certain demons require more fuel but provide the player with more ammo in return. Balancing which demons you chainsaw and which ones you choose to Glory Kill is an important part of combat.
Exploration is key to progression and is rewarding to those players who choose to do. Hidden throughout the levels of the game are Argent Cells, Praetor Tokens, and Rune Trials. Each of these provide upgrades to your health/shield/ammo, suit, and passive abilities respectively. Also hidden throughout the game are levers that lead you to classic levels from Doom 1 and Doom 2, which then unlock the full level of its respective game, playable from the main menu. You can also find toy models of the Doom Slayer, which unlock various character models to view. On some of these models, the Doom Slayer will perform a unique action when picking it up, such as fist bumping the classic Doomguy. It's a nice and cute little touch added by the developers that does a little to add character to the Slayer, who is a silent protagonist.
id Software masterfully blends modern game design with a deep reverence for the classics, paying homage to the series' storied history while introducing new elements that propel the franchise forward. Central to this approach is the game's character design, which strikes a delicate balance between nostalgia and innovation. At its core is the iconic protagonist, the Doom Slayer, whose design pays homage to the original Doom Marine while incorporating modern updates that make him feel both familiar and fresh. With his battle-worn armor, imposing stature, and silent demeanor, the Doom Slayer is the embodiment of raw power and unrelenting rage.
The game's roster of enemies is a veritable who's who of classic Doom foes, reimagined for the modern era. From the lowly possessed soldiers to the hulking Cyberdemon, each enemy is lovingly crafted to capture the essence of its 1990s counterpart while introducing new mechanics and behaviors that keep players on their toes. Whether you're facing off against the agile Revenants, the relentless Hell Knights, or the grotesque Cacodemons, every encounter is a nostalgic trip down memory lane, punctuated by the satisfying sound of demon flesh being torn asunder.
But the main story is not where it ends. DOOM has an arcade mode, where players can run through the levels again, this time trying for high scores and medals while collecting 1 Ups. It's important to move fast and have accurate aim; the more kills you chain together, the bigger your score is. Getting hit reduces your score. At the end of the level, your score is tallied against others on a leaderboard. It's a great way to incentivize players to keep playing, in order to get a better and better score.
There is also multiplayer, where players compete in various game modes such as classic deathmatch, warpath and free for all. Players can become demons by collecting runes on the battlefield and this gives them a distinct advantage; demons are larger, stronger and more resilient. Players are bizarrely restricted to only two weapons and a loadout in multiplayer, which blew my mind. Loadouts. In a DOOM game. The demons are also massively unbalanced and if one team manages to get a particularly powerful demon such as a baron of hell, then it's a guaranteed win. All in all, the multiplayer just isn't great. You are better off replaying the story or arcade mode, or even SnapMap.
SnapMap is id Software's proprietary level editor, and it puts every other editor on the market to shame. SnapMap is an incredible, intuitive, easy to learn system allowing players to create their own multiplayer, co-op and single player maps. There is an extensive tutorial system that teaches users the basics, and goes up in depth, covering how to use AI triggers, switches, combinations, object layering, actions, recalls, audio cues, etc. Never have I ever seen such an in-depth interface on a console game before. While it is only surface level in the grand scheme of things, SnapMap is a great introduction to teaching users how game development works, and I urge everyone to try it out at least once.
Part II: The Music
In DOOM, the music isn't just a background accompaniment – it's a driving force that propels players forward, electrifying every moment of the gameplay experience. Composed by the incredibly talented Mick Gordon, the soundtrack of DOOM is a relentless onslaught of metal and electronica that perfectly complements the game's fast-paced action and visceral combat. From the moment you boot up the game, you're greeted by the iconic strains of the main theme, a haunting melody that sets the tone for the epic journey that lies ahead. As you traverse the game's environments, the music shifts seamlessly between atmospheric ambience and pulse-pounding metal.
But it's not just the composition of the music that makes it so memorable – it's also the way it's integrated into the gameplay itself. Mick Gordon's dynamic scoring system ensures that the music evolves in real-time based on the player's actions, ramping up in intensity during combat encounters and dialing back during quieter moments of exploration. This creates a sense of momentum and flow that enhances the overall pacing of the game
One of the standout features of the soundtrack is its use of unconventional instrumentation and sound design. Mick Gordon's signature sound combines distorted guitars, pounding drums, and industrial noise to create a sonic palette that is as brutal and unforgiving as the game itself. From the deep, guttural growls of the synth bass to the ear-shredding shrieks of the guitar solos, every element of the music is designed to evoke a sense of chaos and destruction, mirroring the relentless carnage unfolding onscreen.
Of course, no discussion of the music in DOOM would be complete without mentioning the iconic tracks that have become synonymous with the game. From the adrenaline-fueled "Rip & Tear" to the bone-crushing "BFG Division," each track is a masterpiece of composition and production, perfectly capturing the essence of the DOOM experience and elevating it to new heights. Mick Gordon's composition for the DOOM soundtrack is a tour de force in heavy metal and industrial electronica, meticulously crafted to evoke the essence of the game's frenetic gameplay.
The backbone of the soundtrack is the distorted guitar, which provides the driving force behind many of the tracks. Gordon's use of extended-range guitars and custom-tuned instruments gives the music its signature low-end punch, while his aggressive playing style adds a raw, visceral energy to the sound. In addition to guitars, Gordon incorporates a wide range of electronic and synthetic elements into his compositions, including synthesizers, drum machines, and sampled sounds. These elements are used to create atmospheric textures, rhythmic patterns, and dynamic effects.
One of the most innovative aspects of Gordon's sound design is his use of audio manipulation techniques, such as granular synthesis and spectral processing. These techniques allow him to deconstruct and manipulate audio in real-time, creating complex textures and effects.
Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of Mick Gordon's composition for DOOM is his dynamic scoring system, which adjusts the music in real-time based on the player's actions. This system, known as "MIDI-controlled dynamic music," allows the music to seamlessly transition between different layers and variations depending on the intensity of the gameplay. Gordon achieves this dynamic effect by dividing each track into multiple stems or layers, each representing a different element of the music (e.g., drums, guitars, synths). These stems are then triggered and mixed in real-time using MIDI data generated by the game engine, allowing the music to adapt and evolve dynamically as the player progresses through the game.
Part III: Building a Legacy
All too often in this industry, legacy franchises are either left in the dust to be forgotten, or brought back to a limp fanfare, only to be thrust back into the shadows of the past. This happens for a myriad of reasons, and I believe the biggest one is that they don't respect their legacy, and they don't respect the players who engage with them.
At its core, DOOM is a game that understands what players want: fast-paced action, engaging gameplay, and a sense of empowerment. By focusing on these core principles, id Software created an experience that resonated with players old and new, capturing the spirit of the original games while pushing the series forward. Central to this approach is the game's unwavering commitment to respecting the player. From its minimalist storytelling and streamlined level design to its intuitive controls and dynamic difficulty system, DOOM prioritizes the player's experience above all else, ensuring that every moment of the game is engaging, immersive, and satisfying.
One of the most notable ways that DOOM respects the player is through its approach to difficulty. Rather than imposing artificial barriers or punishing players for their mistakes, the game encourages experimentation and mastery through its responsive gameplay mechanics and adaptive enemy AI. Players are given the freedom to approach encounters in their own way, whether it's through brute force, cunning strategy, or a combination of both.
Another key aspect of DOOM's player-centric design is its emphasis on accessibility. From its difficulty settings and intuitive user interface to its robust accessibility features, such as colorblind modes and customizable controls, the game ensures that players of all skill levels and abilities can enjoy the experience without feeling excluded or overwhelmed.
But perhaps the most important way that DOOM respects the player is through its commitment to fun. At its core, DOOM is a game that prioritizes the player's enjoyment above all else, delivering a seamless and exhilarating experience that keeps players coming back for more. Whether you're blasting demons with a shotgun, exploring hidden secrets, or rocking out to Mick Gordon's pulse-pounding soundtrack, DOOM is a game that never stops prioritizing YOU.
DOOM's legacy is one of respect – respect for the player, respect for the franchise, and respect for the medium of video games as a whole. By prioritizing fun, accessibility, and player agency, id Software created an experience that not only honors the legacy of the original games but also sets a new standard for what a modern first-person shooter can be. And for that, we owe them a debt of gratitude.
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2024.05.13 23:39 DrBlackJack21 Of Men and Ghost Ships, Book 1: Chapter 16

Chapter 1

Concept art for
Sybil
Of Men and Ghost Ships, Book 1: Chapter 16
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As he made the Captain's case, Carter was staring down his...crew, for lack of a better term. "Listen, I'm not big on allowing some random people on our ship either, but according to the Captain of their vessel, this guy might not last until rescue gets here. You can quickly treat him while we're cannibalizing that pirate vessel, and then we'll put them back in their pod and be on our way. In return, they're offering us all the munitions on the ship they have a claim on. It's not a bad deal."
The vixen seemed to have already made up her mind. No surprises there. "Absolutely not! We don't owe these people a thing! They're already lucky you're letting them keep what you are!"
The girl adjusted her glasses. "I don't see any particular benefit to us in this either. What few munitions are left on that ship aren't likely in any condition to be of use to us unless we take them apart and put them back together again, costing us almost as much time and energy as just going out and finding more elsewhere. We've got more than enough resources from that nearly whole vessel at our disposal for the time being. It is an unnecessary risk with little payoff."
So, this time, it came down to the pirate. All three turned to him as he considered the options. "Well, I don't know about owning anyone anything or how well we'll get paid, but from the sounds of things, this lad got injured fighting against overwhelming numbers in an all-hope-is-lost kinda situation and managed to get not only himself but his companions out alive! That kind of heave-ho attitude deserves to be rewarded! Sides, the only one who'll really be at risk is our Captain. It's not like they can do anything to the ship if we don't let them!"
Carter was starting to suspect the supposed pirate was more of a softy than he let on but wasn't about to say anything to that effect. Instead, he just shook his head. "Even split, so I guess I get to use my tiebreaker authority to make the call again. Contact Captain Dimitri and let him know we'll be taking the injured man on board just long enough to stabilize him, but no one can take any weapons off the pod with them. If we see so much as a knife, we'll space the lot of them."
-
As Alen sat up, he noticed he was having trouble focusing. Vanessa was speaking with someone on their console. It might have been the Captain, but he wasn't sure. "Are you sure we can trust them? This is taking a considerable risk..."
The response didn't sound as confident as he usually did. "Honestly, no, I'm not, and from what I remember of this ship, it doesn't exactly have the best of reputations. However, they could have easily waltzed in here, killed us, ignored us, and/or taken everything they wanted. Instead, they took the time to say hi and even bothered with negotiations. Also, judging by what we just saw, they aren't any more friendly toward pirates than we are, so that's a mark in their favor. If the boy was in better condition, I'd say he could just ride it out, but you mentioned he's not doing very well, so this is his only option. Besides, it's not like the government would let us keep many of the munitions on board that ship. He's got no choice, and it's not really costing us anything, might as well."
Vanessa didn't seem particularly appeased, but she didn't argue other than to mutter low enough that the Captain probably couldn't hear her. "It might cost a couple of us something..."
At this point, Alen was reasonably sure they were talking about him. However, the world wouldn't stop spinning long enough for him to consider his own thoughts on the subject. Instead, he just closed his eyes and hoped things would work out for the best.
-
Carter watched from overhead as the pod docked in the ship's bay. It seemed so small compared to the cavernous room, but he knew appearances could be deceptive. For instance, he wasn't exactly prepared to put up much of a fight himself, as his handgun was still mostly empty, but he wasn't about to let them know that.
The Captain had warned him there were not one, but two aliens aboard the pod and that they were pretty intimidating to look at. Carter had to admit that it made him curious. Everyone knew about the Vitexrā by now; they'd made quite the galactic splash a couple hundred years ago, but he'd never heard anything about a second species being discovered and wondered where the hell this other guy had come from or even what he looked like.
The girl was beside him as usual. "We've begun cannibalizing the pirate ship. The process will take several hours, though we're prioritizing more important components first in case we're interrupted."
Carter nodded. "Sounds good."
As he watched their guests disembark the ship, Carter couldn't help but frown. The big alien he's been warned about looked like he could easily cause more than his fair share of trouble. Nodding in their direction, he asked the girl, "Any weapons you can scan on them? And how about the kid? Is he really injured?"
The girl shook her head. "No weapons, although those two are pretty much weapons in and of themselves. Even if you had a full magazine, I'm not sure I'd put any money on you in a fight. Luckily, now that we have a captain, you won't be alone. We have some ancillaries ready to escort our guests to and from the med bay. As for the injured party, he seems legitimately in trouble, and the wounds are from before we showed up."
With a sigh, Carter turned away from the observation screen. "Alright. Sounds like we might as well get down there and say hi."
-
Carter conceptually knew how large the alien he was greeting was, but when he first opened the door, he had to fight the urge to take a defensive step back. Standing in front of him was some sort of anthropomorphic, nearly eight-foot-tall cat lizard, which gave off a vaguely Viking aura as it grinned down at the much smaller human.
When it spoke, Carter noticed the alien had a thick accent, thick enough to make him somewhat hard to understand, even though he seemed to be speaking Basic. "You must be the Captain! Good to meet ya!" Then, he turned to the other alien, the Vitexrā, who would have been just as intimidating despite her smaller size if Carter hadn't already had some idea what to expect. "See? I told ya they wouldn't bother inviting us on just to space us!"
The alien gave Carter a grin he suspected was meant to be more friendly than intimidating, but it failed on that account. Still, with the two large robotic frames at Carter's back, he knew that if push came to shove, he stood a reasonable chance of getting out of this alive. "Yeah, well, I'm not in the habit of spacing people who just need some help. I'm Captain Carter, by the way, and so long as you don't make any trouble, you won't get any from us. With that said, welcome aboard the Sybil."
Carter wasn't exactly a medical expert, but he'd been around the injured enough to see that the human the two aliens were escorting was in rough shape. Blood loss and shock, at the very least, probably caused by some sort of traumatic injury. Hopefully, the out-of-date medical facility on this ship would be up to the task, though Carter guessed the odds were more fifty-fifty.
The large alien's grin somehow grew broader and more toothy. "Call me Erik. This is Vanessa and Alen. Any help you can offer would be welcome!"
Carter refrained from commenting on how weird it was to hear the alien use such a standard human name, and instead simply nodded. "Alright, then follow me."
With that, Carter turned and led the way to the med bay, with the two robotic frames walking between him and their guests. He was reasonably sure he remembered the way from here, and if not, Sybil could say something. He had to fight the urge to turn and get another look at the two aliens, though.
As he finally approached the door he'd been looking for, Carter triggered the lights and pointed to the table. "Alright, put him there, and Sybil will see if she can't fix him up. I have to warn you, though, our facility isn't the most up-to-date, and given his condition, I'd say his odds are pretty even at this point."
As the large cat/lizard put the human down, the Vitexrā looked around as if searching for something before she spoke up, surprising Carter with her unexpected English accent. "Are there no medical personnel around?"
Carter was so surprised by the accent that he hesitated answering just long enough for the vixen to pop into existence and answer for him. "As if I need some wasteful organic assistance to do my job. And not to contradict my Captain, but I'd say this boy has a more than seventy-three percent survival chance. Now, if you will all please leave the room and let me do my job, I'll see if I can't save this human despite your best efforts!"
Carter sort of wanted to say something about her bedside manner but decided to keep his mouth shut as it served no purpose at this point. Besides, as the various metallic articulated arms around the table came to life, he decided he didn't want to see what the vixen considered medical assistance and decided to do as she'd commanded and leave the room.
However, the Vitexrā, Vanessa, he reminded himself, spoke up. "I am able to not release biologically active micro lifeforms when I so desire. May I remain to observe your treatment of the boy?"
As the vixen seemed to consider for a moment, Carter prepared himself for the usual belittlement, but surprisingly, she nodded. "Very well, but please observe from the corner. It would be best if you did not get in my way."
Vanessa nodded. "That is agreeable."
Carter looked back and forth between them, then decided it wasn't worth getting involved. Instead, he led the way out the door, and Erik followed. "Well, if you like, I can show you our mess hall while we wait, though I have to warn you, the food options are somewhat limited... Can you even eat human food?"
Erik grinned, making Carter wonder if the alien had another expression, and nodded. "Yup, for the most part! Don't worry. I can smell if you've got anything troublesome in there, but for the most part, if you can eat it, I can eat it. Don't waste your time on anything sweet, though; I apparently can't taste sweet!"
Carter raised an eyebrow, wondering if he'd heard that right or if it was just the accent. Then,m after a moment's hesitation, he responded. "Well, how do you feel about mint flavors?"
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Next chapter, lets see how these folks hit it off!
My
Wiki has all my chapters and stories, including the short series and stories that I write for an occasional change of pace or style!
If you like my work and want to support it, I do have a Patron! I also post short stories early there from time to time, so keep an eye out for those!
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2024.05.13 23:29 Then_Marionberry_259 MAY 13, 2024 AOT.TO ASCOT REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2024 RESULTS

MAY 13, 2024 AOT.TO ASCOT REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2024 RESULTS
https://preview.redd.it/tsxynee0i90d1.png?width=3500&format=png&auto=webp&s=616474707538de01b837d7ace47799ab73f53192
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascot Resources Ltd. ( TSX: AOT; OTCQX: AOTVF ) (“ Ascot ” or the “ Company ”) is pleased to announce the Company’s unaudited financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2024 (“ Q1 2024 ”), and also to provide a construction update on the Company’s Premier Gold Project (“ PGP ” or the “ project ”), located on Nis
g
a’a Nation Treaty Lands in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia. For details of the unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2024, please see the Company’s filings on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca).
All amounts herein are reported in $000s of Canadian dollars (“ C$ ”) unless otherwise specified.
Q1 2024 AND RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
  • On May 7, 2024, the Company announced a $5,000 non-brokered flow through private placement (the “Offering”), the proceeds of which will be used to fund the 2024 exploration program at the PGP. The Offering will consist of 6,024,096 common shares of the Company, which qualify as "flow-through shares" within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “FT Shares”), at a price of $0.83 per FT Share. The closing of the Offering is expected to occur in one or more tranches in or around late-May to mid-June 2024, and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the acceptance of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
  • Rock was introduced into the grinding circuit of the mill on March 31, 2024, and first gold-bearing ore was introduced to the mills on April 5, 2024. On April 20, 2024, first gold was poured as a part of the commissioning process. Commissioning of the processing plant at PGP is ongoing, with commercial production anticipated in Q3 2024. Two gold pours have been completed using gold recovered from the gravity circuit. Another pour from gold recovered from the carbon-in-leach (“CIL”) circuit is anticipated imminently.
  • On February 20, 2024, the Company closed its previously announced financing package for a total of US$50 million from Sprott Resource Streaming and Royalty Corp. and its affiliates (“SRSR”) and Nebari Credit Fund II, LP (“Nebari Credit Fund II”), as described in the Company’s news release dated January 22, 2024. $13,700 of the above proceeds were used to buy back two existing 5% NSR royalties on various PGP property claims on March 15, 2024.
  • On February 20, 2024, concurrently with the above-noted financing package, the Company closed its previously announced bought deal private placement financing, under which the Company issued a total of 65,343,000 common shares of the Company (the “Common Shares”) at a price of $0.44 per Common Share, for gross proceeds of $28,751.
  • At the end of Q1 2024, overall construction excluding mine development was 98% complete compared with 86% complete at the end of 2023. A few remaining commissioning activities in the mill are underway. The tailing storage facility was completed and signed off by the engineer of record at the end of March 2024.
  • The new water treatment plant began operations in February 2024. The high-density sludge plant has been successfully commissioned and water is being treated and discharged into the environment. The moving bed bio-reactor (“MBBR”) is complete and media have been loaded into the tanks.
  • As of April 30, 2024, underground development totaled approximately 2,710 metres at Big Missouri and 150 metres at Premier.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROJECT
Project financing
On February 20, 2024, the Company closed a bought deal private placement for gross proceeds of $28,751 and a financing package of US$50 million for the completion and ramp-up of PGP. The financing package consisted of a royalty restructuring and a cost overrun facility.
Construction progress key performance indicators
At the end of Q1 2024, overall construction was 98% complete, compared with 86% complete at the end of Q4 2023. With first gold having been poured on April 20, 2024 via gold recovered through the gravity circuit, the project construction is 100% complete on schedule and on the most recently provided budget of approximately C$339 million. Commissioning and ramp-up activities in the processing plant and in the mine continue towards achieving commercial production in Q3 of 2024.
Safety
The Project had no lost time injuries in Q1 2024. There was an increase in recordable injuries at the end of the quarter which in part, can be attributable to seasonal changes and the transition from construction to operations. As the Project continues its transition from construction into operations, focus has been placed on the ongoing development of standard operating procedures, in field job hazard analysis and worker training. There was a small increase in property damage reported in the quarter due in part to weather conditions and the onboarding of a significant number of new workers to the site. The re-enforcement of reporting to the operating team remains a key focus to ensure that all learnings are identified and applied to prevent re-occurrence and reflect in the future training plans. In Q2 2024, significant work will be placed to support the operational teams to begin to operate the newly constructed plant through the final stages of C4 and C5 commissioning.
Processing plant and site infrastructure
Mechanical and electrical work in the mill was substantially completed in Q1 2024 with minor associated systems and punch list items to complete. Focus has shifted to commissioning the process plant and ramp up as well as completing minor deficiencies.
Stage one of the tailings storage facility (“TSF”) raise was completed and accepted by the Engineer of Record for use. Earthworks activities in 2024 will focus on raising the spillway dam by three metres, producing material for the 2025 raise and advanced work on the Cascade Creek Diversion in preparation for the 2025 works and final completion of the diversion.
The new water treatment plant was substantially mechanically and electrically completed in Q4 2023 with some minor areas remaining. The high-density sludge circuit was commissioned in Q1 2024 and is advancing towards full ramp up. The MBBR circuit was substantially complete in Q1 2024 and will begin full commissioning as the process plant continues to deposit tailings into the TSF and feed nitrogen species into the MBBR circuit.
The site power reticulation was completed in Q1 2024. Sustaining capital works in 2024 will focus on reticulation to the Premier portal as well as the Big Missouri portal.
Mine development
Procon Mining & Tunnelling (“Procon”) a mine contractor with extensive experience in BC and the Golden Triangle continued to advance mine development at two portal areas: S1 about 9 kilometres north of the mill which accesses the Big Missouri and Silver Coin deposits, and the mill adjacent Premier Northern Light (“PNL”) portal which accesses the Premier and Northern Light orebodies. As of the end of Q1 2024, Procon had about 57 people on site, 40 of whom were miners and 10 were maintenance personnel.
At Big Missouri, Procon advanced development into several ore headings in the A zone, as well as reactivating the S1 ramp heading that goes to Silver Coin deposit. In Q1 Procon developed 936 metres at Big Missouri (258 metres in ore and 678 metres in waste, and by April 29, 2024, development advanced to 905 metres in waste and 507 metres in ore total in 2024. Including the development completed in late 2022 and late 2023, the total development to date is approximately 2,710 metres in both ore and waste. Productivities at Big Missouri have continued to improve, with availability of key equipment such as Maclean bolters being made a priority.
During Q1 2024, the geological team continued to encounter high grade material occurrences in both face sampling and probe hole drilling in multiple areas of the A zone. As previously reported, these occurrences are in or very near existing wireframes or logical extensions of wireframes. At the end of March 31, 2024, a total of approximately 30,000 tonnes of ore was mined from Big Missouri and stockpiled at Diego pit.
At PNL, Procon dealt with issues related to near surface structure and weak ground. These issues seem to have abated at the end of April, and Procon has started to make better progress as they move into the better ground conditions expected at Premier given what was seen historically. In Q1 2024 approximately 85 metres were advanced at PNL, and at the end of April this increased to approximately 150 metres as ground conditions improved.
Mining development is being advanced down into the Premier deposit for initial mining in the Prew Zone, with ore development now anticipated to begin in early Q3 2024, and initial longhole stope production following later in Q3 2024. The ramp has been strategically laid out to allow for underground drilling on the Sebakwe Zone in 2024 and will eventually connect a footwall ramp over to the 602 area at the southern end of the Premier deposit. Although progress has been slow, the quality of the resultant work with ground control and shotcrete arches has been excellent, allowing for a secure and stable ramp for the life-of-mine production to come from this area approximately 350 metres from the Premier Mill.
Recruitment
At the end of Q1 2024, total site recruitment has reached approximately 90% of the planned operational team. A key achievement was the successful recruitment for some challenging roles pertaining particularly to some of the maintenance roles, health and safety (specifically, mine rescue), and technical roles for the mine and processing area. Policies and procedures development have been ongoing throughout Q1 2024 and key documents will be rolled out in Q2 2024.
Permitting and Environmental Compliance
A Joint Permit Amendment Application (“JPAA”) was required to be re-aligned with the project completion dates and was submitted in October 2023. The JPAA underwent first round comments through February 2024 and second round comments were received in late April 2024, with our responses anticipated to be submitted in May 2024.
The air permit was received on March 25, 2024. The updated environmental permit PE-8044, including the sewage treatment facility discharge permit is anticipated to be received in late May 2024.
2024 EXPLORATION PROGRAM
Planning for the 2024 exploration program is in full swing with an anticipated start date in late June. There are several areas on the properties that will be targeted by new drilling. Near the Premier mill, several drill holes have been planned around the Prew and Sebakwe zones of the Premier deposit. The new holes will complement the existing drill pattern at Prew and test induced polarization geophysical anomalies from last year’s survey.
Additional drill holes have been planned for the Big Missouri deposit where underground development is rapidly providing access to different parts of the deposit. The new holes will be designed for resource conversion and mine plan addition at this deposit. Specific new drill targets have been identified at the Day Zone on the western edge of the deposit, where geophysical anomalies seem to outline previously untested mineralization along strike of known ore zones.
Additional exploration drill holes are targeting a large geophysical anomaly to the west of the Dilworth deposit that extends surface showings to the north onto Ascot’s PGP property. This target has a large strike extent and may require drilling over more than one exploration season.
The Company anticipates a drill program of between 15,000 and 20,000 metres distributed over the areas described above. The program will require utilization of two drill rigs into late September or early October 2024.
FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2024
The Company reported a net loss of $6,208 for Q1 2024 compared to $7,589 for Q1 2023. The lower net loss for the current period is primarily attributable to a $2,170 decrease in the loss on extinguishment of debt and a $1,196 decrease in financing costs, partially offset by increases in other expense categories.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
As at March 31, 2024, the Company had cash & cash equivalents of $47,028 and working capital deficiency of $33,030. The working capital deficiency is caused by an estimated $23,024 as the current portion of the deferred revenue only to be settled with future production from the Project and the $25,180 value of the Convertible facility, which is classified as current due to the lender’s right to exercise the conversion option at any time at a variable exercise price. Excluding these non-cash current liabilities, working capital was $15,174. In Q1 2024, the Company issued 67,807,135 common shares, 10,164,528 warrants, and granted 110,000 stock options and 28,667 Deferred Share Units. Also, 100,766 stock options expired or were forfeited, 24,427 Restricted Share Units were forfeited, and 99,039 stock options, 137,533 Deferred Share Units and 158,726 Restricted Share Units were exercised in Q1 2024.
MANAGEMENT’S OUTLOOK FOR 2024
In 2024, the Company will transition from the construction of the mine and related infrastructure to the operation of the entire site and becoming a gold producer. Despite the challenges associated with this transition, there are many opportunities for the Company to grow and create value.
The key activities and priorities for 2024 include:
  • Making health and safety a priority in the commencement of operations
  • Completing the commissioning of the process plant
  • Completing the access ramp and starting the mine production at the Premier deposit
  • Continuing to expand the mine production and development at the Big Missouri deposit
  • Shipping and selling of gold doré
  • Advancing the exploration and infill drilling program on the numerous opportunities to increase resources
  • Compliance with the environmental requirements of the site and making sure water treatment and the tailings management facility operate as designed
  • Successfully transition from a mine developer to a mine operator
Qualified Person
John Kiernan, P.Eng., Chief Operating Officer of the Company is the Company’s Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Ascot Resources Ltd.
“Derek C. White”
President & CEO, and Director
For further information contact:
David Stewart, P.Eng.
VP, Corporate Development & Shareholder Communications
dstewart@ascotgold.com
778-725-1060 ext. 1024
About Ascot Resources Ltd.
Ascot is a Canadian mining company focused on commissioning its 100%-owned Premier Gold Mine, which poured first gold in April 2024 and is located on Nis
g
a’a Nation Treaty Lands, in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia. Concurrent with commissioning Premier towards commercial production anticipated in Q3 of 2024, the Company continues to explore its properties for additional high-grade gold mineralization. Ascot’s corporate office is in Vancouver, and its shares trade on the TSX under the ticker AOT and on the OTCQX under the ticker AOTVF. Ascot is committed to the safe and responsible operation of the Premier Gold Mine in collaboration with Nisga’a Nation and the local communities of Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska.
For more information about the Company, please refer to the Company’s profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca or visit the Company’s web site at www.ascotgold.com.
The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
All statements and other information contained in this press release about anticipated future events may constitute forward-looking information under Canadian securities laws (" forward-looking statements "). Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "targeted", "outlook", "on track" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could", “would” or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements, including statements in respect of the terms of the Offering, the closing of the Offering, the advancement and development of the PGP and the timing related thereto, the completion of the PGP mine, the production of gold and management’s outlook for the remainder of 2024 and beyond. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including risks associated with entering into definitive agreements for the transactions described herein; fulfilling the conditions to closing of the transactions described herein, including the receipt of TSX approvals; the business of Ascot; risks related to exploration and potential development of Ascot's projects; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; the need for cooperation of government agencies and indigenous groups in the exploration and development of Ascot’s properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in Ascot's filings with Canadian securities regulators, available on Ascot's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca including the Annual Information Form of the Company dated March 25, 2024 in the section entitled "Risk Factors". Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions made with regard to: the estimated costs associated with construction of the Project; the timing of the anticipated start of production at the Project; the ability to maintain throughput and production levels at the PGP mill; the tax rate applicable to the Company; future commodity prices; the grade of mineral resources and mineral reserves; the ability of the Company to convert inferred mineral resources to other categories; the ability of the Company to reduce mining dilution; the ability to reduce capital costs; and exploration plans. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. Although Ascot believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since Ascot can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Ascot does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements, other than as required by applicable laws. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

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2024.05.13 23:15 oftenfrequently Comparing the HTT strategies for each of the main families

Comparing the HTT strategies for each of the main families
Fair warning, this is gonna be a long one :)
I started working on this for my own purposes because I’m fascinated by the similarities and differences between the HTT styling approaches Kibbe recommends for the different ID families, but then thought it might be helpful to share with the sub. I always see lots of mention of “lines,” but the overall HTT approach for each ID is sometimes (often) oversimplified. Plus all the other very fun elements that make up a HTT are, imo, getting short shrift! There are a few users who have posted amazing full HTTs for their IDs and I'm hoping even more people will be inspired to explore.
So what even is this post?
Basically, I went through the styling directives in Metamorphosis (Chapter 4) for the main families and directly compared the recommendations for the IDs on a number of smaller, more discrete variables because my brain finds it more digestible that way. I only did the main families because “you’re a [insert family here] first and foremost!!” is a thing regardless of your ID ;) And I thought it was more interesting to compare the elements of the pure families without the influence of any other undercurrents. Also it just would have been a lot of work to do all of them 🙃.
A few notes before getting to the good stuff
  • I tried to mostly focus on the words Kibbe uses to evoke feelings rather than specific items, since the book was written in the 80s and clothing is obviously quite different.
  • Some of the things that fall in the middle of a scale have debateable positioning since the middles are sometimes hard to compare (ex. Is a moderate pinstripe more angular or less angular than a soft-edged plaid? My vote was more angular but your vote could be the opposite!) I included all of the language I used to determine placement on the scales so you can make your own call if you want.
  • I disincluded some, ahem, charged descriptors in a few IDs but I don’t think it changes the overall picture painted of what that ID would be looking to channel in their HTTs
This post includes all of the scales I compared the families on in 6 main categories - silhouette, fabric, detail, prints, color, and accessories - plus some keywords that came up for each family that give the overall impression of the HTT. I might make a second part later with key similarities and differences between the approaches for each pair of families, but we'll see! I'm also interested in any discussion here or observations that others might have on the various categories :)
And of course you can always read Metamorphosis for yourself in full here, which I highly recommend!

1. Silhouette

This section is related to the base silhouette of an outfit - the overall shape of garments that make up a HTT and how they relate to one another. For the purposes of this category, I'm defining "ensemble" as the pieces look related or like they were purchased together, which I believe is the sense Kibbe uses it in.
https://preview.redd.it/8earo8fbm70d1.jpg?width=1965&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=40f17625fbfc45cc723b9cc83d447111428d8b02
Shapes
  • D - “keep shapes sharp and geometric. Triangles, rectangles, and everything sculpted, sleek, and elongated, with crisp edges.” “square, sharp shoulders”
  • R - “keep your shapes rounded with soft edges! Circles, ornate swirls, and intricate flowing shapes” “shoulders should be curved”
  • C - “slightly geometric or slightly curved, blend the same shapes together in your look” “slight, crisp shoulder padding”
  • N - “geometric shapes with soft or rounded edges are the key. Rounded-edged rectangles. Soft oblongs, rounded-edged squares, irregular shapes, and soft asymmetrics.” “soft-edged shoulder pads are very good”
  • G - “small, sharp geometrics” “sharp edges and crisp tailoring” “crisp” “sharp edges and extreme tailoring and construction” “sharp shoulder pads”
Outline quality
  • D - “Always straight, with elongated draping that is sleek”
  • R - “your outline should always be soft and flowing” “lots of gentle draping everywhere” “soft fluidity”
  • C - “smooth and symmetrical with the emphasis on controlled and even edges, soft, straight lines, or smoothly curved lines - softly tailored or slightly flowing.”
  • N - “a relaxed, straight line is the outline of your look”
  • G - “sharp, straight, and staccato” “severe lines with sharp edges” “broken, staccato, animated outline. Utilizing many short vertical lines and many short horizontal lines is also effective.”
Closeness of fit
  • D - “always tailored and sculpted” “streamlined shape” “tailored and sleek” “the more tailored the better”
  • R - “showcase the lush curves of your body” “Sleeves should be tapered at the wrist” “waistline should always be emphasized, with soft gathers, folds, draped sashes, and lightweight and supple belts to give a cinched effect” “[Jackets] should be fitted at the waist”
  • C - “very slight draping in constructed garments” “crisp and finished cuffs” “tailored pleats” “narrow and tailored [jackets] with a smooth outline.” “lightweight unconstructed jackets are fine when they are kept sleek and narrow. Blazers, cardigan-style, elongated Chanel (not cropped) are all good choices” “softly tailored”
  • N - “softly tailored, always unconstructed” “Your outline should be fairly narrow and slim, in a loose and easy way.” “Dropped waist detail (loose sashes, overbloused tops, ties, etc) is excellent, as are slightly dropped shoulders.” “Relaxed shapes” “relaxed and easy fit” “dresses should be simple and unconstructed, with a narrow shape and a relaxed outline.”
  • G - “Precision fitted and crisply tailored” “[a] precisely fitted silhouette is crucial to your look” “Sharp and narrow waist definition.” “very fitted” “[skirts] should be very fitted at the waistband” “Pants should always be very sharply tailored with outlined or animated detail at the edges (waistbands, pleats, crisp cuffs).” “Skin tight stretchy pants are excellent” “Very tailored [blouses] with sharp edges and crisp detail (collars, cuffs, pleats, etc.)”
Length of garments
  • D - “Long, vertical lines are essential.” “generally [jackets] should be long (ending at the mid-thigh area), although a very sleek, Italian-style might be cropped (be sure this has an extremely sculpted, streamlined shape)” “straight and long [skirts]” “a long hem” “long cardigans or pullovers”
  • R - "lengths should be kept gracefully long as uneven hemlines (mid-calf), and short as the tapered styles with an even hemline (mid kneecap)" "[for sweaters] short lengths with waist detail"
  • C - “standard length is best [for jackets] (just below break of hip)” “slightly longer jackets are possible when the corresponding skirt is elongated to match.” “moderate length [skirts]”
  • N - “Elongated [jackets] (ending from the upper thigh on down.)” “Moderate length [skirts]” “Very short skirts for fun/funky looks.” “Nearly all styles [of pants] are excellent, from very casual to very dressy… short, cropped, or long.” “Any and all lengths [for sweaters]”
  • G - “Short, cropped [jackets]” “Straight, sharp, and short [skirts]” “A slightly flared hemline [on skirts] may be slightly longer (top of the calf). Anything extremely long is very tricky, and must have a slit and be pencil slim.” “[For pants] Short lengths, anywhere from cropped at the calf to the top of the ankle.” “Short, cropped cardigans” “Short cropped jackets, vests, and boleros work well with dresses for you”
Cohesion
  • D - “keep individual pieces blended together in an artful way for elegance”
  • R - “include an artful blending of plush textures, draped fabrics, and luxurious colors” “avoid any kind of harsh contrast between top and bottom”
  • C - “A clean, unbroken silhouette is your most elegant statement! Think ‘head-to-toe’, and blend everything accordingly.” “Use [separates] carefully and sparingly” “Make sure colors, textures, and prints blend together”
  • N - “Separates are extremely exciting on you, and should make up the bulk of your wardrobe” “you’ll do better with an artful mixture of patterns, textures and colors than you will with an overly matched look” “designer sportswear” “definitely mix n’ match in the most sophisticated sense of the word”
  • G - “A use of well-coordinated separates with lots of animated and colorful detail can be very exciting to your look.”
Some random observations from me about this category
  • N fam has a truly impressive amount of versatility in terms of the length of pieces they're recommended, probably because they're the only family that's really strongly encouraged to go whole hog with a mix and match/separates-forward approach (a superpower tbh).
  • Although the scale of pieces recommended are obviously quite different, the words he uses to describe the shapes for D and G fams are extremely similar. Definitely two families that benefit from an emphasis on crisp sharpness and angularity.
  • I thought it was interesting that he used "softly tailored" in both the C and N fam sections, although the effect they're going for is very different (blended understated elegance vs. relaxed funky easy vibes).
  • He never uses the word "wide" in the N fam section. He does, however, use "narrow" and "loosely tailored" a number of times 😈 No oversized shapeless potato sacks here!

2. Fabric

This category is pretty self-explanatory I hope!
https://preview.redd.it/94e76p19190d1.jpg?width=1976&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=816214030ae525dd16ec2e071426eab1e571c544
Definition
  • D - “fabrics that hold a defined shape are necessary”
  • R - “fabrics that drape easily” “flowing”
  • C - “beautiful, luscious fabrics are an important element in your understated look” “very slight draping in constructed garments.”
  • N - “loose and easy”
  • G - “must always be crisp, able to hold a defined shape, and be tailored easily”
Range of textures (how many different fabrics can they use)
  • D - “Moderate to heavyweights are best, with a matte finish and a smooth surface” “textures should be tightly woven, and shiny fabrics should be very stiff and ultraglitzy”
  • R - “softly woven fabrics” “ultrashiny fabrics” “ultrasoft or plush textures” “sheer fabrics” “any kind of sparkle is excellent”
  • C - “Matte finish or slight sheen.” “Luxurious to the touch” “lightweight textures” “smooth knits” “smooth chiffon and elegantly beaded fabrics for evening.”
  • N - “All soft textures are excellent” “any fabric with a rough or nubby surface” “any wrinkly fabric works well” “all woven fabrics” “knits are excellent in nearly any weight and thickness, from very finely woven to very heavy and rough” “Plush velours, suede, and soft leather are perfect” “drapable fabrics are best kept to heavier weight jerseys.” “A matte finish is far superior to sheen for daytime” “In the evening, you can go very glitzy with hard-finished sheens”
  • G - “a flat surface or light texture is best” “finely woven knits, especially when ribbed and skinny, are good choices.” “matte finish is best, although hard-finished sheens can be very exciting (especially metallics)”
Weight
  • D - “Moderate to heavyweights are best” “occasionally lightweight fabrics can work if they are extra-structured in the design of the garment”
  • R - “lightweight fabrics”
  • C - “moderate weights. Lightweights in very constructed or tailored garments.”
  • N - "knits are excellent in nearly any weight and thickness, from very finely woven to very heavy and rough." “moderate weights are best, although textures can easily be lighter”
  • G - “usually your fabric will be of moderate weight, though lighter weights that hug the body are excellent”
Some random observations from me about this category
  • Again lots of similarities for G and D fam as far as structure and matte finish, although D also has heavier structured wovens while G has fine knits.
  • R fam and N fam get by far the most diverse recommendations as far as fabric and textures go (again a ton of versatility in N fam!). Seems like you really can't go wrong with something sparkly, shiny, glitzy, or plushy if you're in R fam. And for N fam it sounds like you get to mix far more textures into one HTT than everybody else does, which is exciting!
  • I thought the emphasis on flowing for R fam was interesting. It makes total sense - I haven't read too deeply into R since I am clearly not one lol - but for some reason I had flowing associated with N in my mind.
  • I really love the C recommendations myself - "luscious fabrics" just makes me think about burrowing in a cashmere blanket haha. I could definitely picture Grace Kelly as I was reading them.

3. Prints

Also self-explanatory!
https://preview.redd.it/nn24my93490d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a8d47c3a4d4d5984b6cac8d9deeccdf7da834c4
Pattern
  • D - “bold and geometric: stripes, zigzags, asymmetrics, and irregular shapes.” “Think Picasso and strive for a contemporary feeling”
  • R - “rich and luscious with the emphasis on an abstract, watercolor blend (think Monet). Swirls of color, flowing together, with soft and rounded edges may be used in abundance.”
  • C - “symmetrical, evenly spaced, and regular or realistic patterns. Understated prints (pin dots, pinstripes, checks, blended plaids, herringbone, symmetrical paisleys, etc.)”
  • N - “casual styles that are soft-edged geometrics (plaids, stripes, paisleys, etc.) and funky prints in irregular shapes (abstract asymmetrics, leaves, animal prints, etc.).”
  • G - “Prints should be sharp, colorful, and animated. Small geometrics and angular asymmetrics are excellent. Most of your prints should be very contemporary in feeling (“Picasso-ish”) although humorous styles that are outlined and caricatured can be quite stunning on you as well.”
Contrast
  • D - “Bold color combinations and high-contrast blends work best”
  • R - “swirls of color, flowing together”
  • C - “Make sure colors, textures, and prints blend together” “understated”
  • N - “generally have a softly blended edge”
  • G - “colorful and animated” “outlined” “contrast”
Scale
  • D - “bold”
  • R - “luxuriously large: oversized florals or feathery shapes are especially lovely”
  • C - “understated”
  • N - “moderate scale to slightly large”
  • G - “small”
Some random observations from me about this category
  • Again lots of similarities for D and G for the type (sharp geometric) and feeling of prints (contemporary/Picasso) with the main difference being large vs. small scale (don't worry, they're about to diverge hardcore 😂)
  • R fam is recommended significantly more abstract and organic prints than everyone else. I also thought it was interesting that both D and R call for larger-scale prints - finally something in common!
  • For C fam it seems like the most important thing is that the prints blend in and are understated rather than drawing attention to themselves.
  • Preferring high contrast and sharp prints vs slightly more blended and soft ones seems like a notable difference between D/G and N fam.

4. Garment Detail

This category is related to the details within the confines of the outline of a garment. So things like necklines, collars, effects like beading and sequins, trim, buttons, etc etc.
https://preview.redd.it/342pwi6y390d1.jpg?width=1971&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64115f1045c7a3cb6d9ac1d6d843754ca943a603
Shape - sharp vs soft
  • D - “angular shapes” “sharp edges” “clean, angular necklines (plunging v’s, skinny turtlenecks, high Mandarins, slashed collars, halters…)” “anything tailored (crisp cuffs, sharp pleats, sharp lapels, etc.)”
  • R - “soft” “[Sleeves can be] very soft and flowing” “lapels should be curved, rounded, or shawl-collared” “gathers, tucks, or bouffant shapes” “any draped, gathered, or shirred touches are wonderful accents”
  • C - “clean, tailored necklines” “crisp and finished cuffs”
  • N - “Any unconstructed or loosely tailored detail works well.” “Simple necklines… are best, and you should concentrate on open necklines for your air of casual chic” “lapels should be tailored, notched, or clean (lapel-less).” “Cuffs should be very plain.”
  • G - “Detail should always be… sharp” “very crisp, staccato, broken up, and multicolored” “lots of crisp trim” “lots of outlining (collars, cuffs, waistbands, lapels) with piping of contrasting colors or fabric, braiding, beads, etc.” “Small, crisp pleats.” “Sharp, angular necklines - also small” “Small, crisp ties (ribbon, leather, etc.)” “Small, tailored lapels or crisp lapel-less with piping.” “Small, crisp cuffs.”
Scale - large vs small
  • D - “bold, sweeping geometrics”
  • R - “oversize bows, flouncy ruffles, and delicate lace are always good choices”
  • C - “[detail] should never call attention to itself”
  • N - “pleats should be soft and deep” “You can use small touches of hand embroidery or rough lace and eyelet for very simple trim.”
  • G - “Detail should always be small” “Small, crisp pleats.” “Sharp, angular necklines - also small” “Small, crisp ties (ribbon, leather, etc.)” “Small, tailored lapels or crisp lapel-less with piping.” “Small, crisp cuffs”
Complexity - clean vs intricate
  • D - “detail should always be clean and minimal”
  • R - “intricate, ornate… with an emphasis on framing your face” “Sleeves should be tapered at the wrist with intricate buttons” “any kind of sparkle is excellent (pearls, sequins, beading, etc.)” “belt buckles should always be intricate” “the more intricate or antique looking your buttons are the better” “ornate detail” “ornate necklines”
  • C - “clean, simple, and minimal - just enough to add an elegantly understated touch.” “never call attention to itself” “clean lines” “minimal detail” “minimum of detail”
  • N - “detail should be kept minimal. Plain and simple is best for you.” “gathers should be minimal” “simple tailored styles with minimal detail” “Simple shapes with easy fits” “Minimal detail”
  • G - “an overabundance of detail” “You can never wear too much detail! An abundance of it and everywhere in your look is one of the most effective tools you have for capturing your animated effervescence!” “Detail should always… call attention to itself (not blend into the lines of your garments)” “lots of animated and colorful detail” “Collar, cuff, lapel, and waistband detail (outlining, trim, piping, ribbing) are essential”
Some random observations from me about this category
  • A very stark divide here between the families that lean minimal/clean (C, N, D) and the families that lean complex (R, G)!
  • Even though R and G both call for a lot of detail, G fam seems to like it literally everywhere (but especially at the edges) while R focuses on framing the face. Another difference between them is that G detail is high contrast, sharp, and colorful while R fam's detail tends to the ornate, flowing, intricate, and sparkly - very different shapes I think.
  • Finally a category where N fam is not running away with the versatility haha - it seems like a more minimal and clean approach to detail really helps them shine.

5. Color

Y'all know what colors are :)
https://preview.redd.it/5he7hmfk790d1.jpg?width=1949&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bc59971dc9518bfbd276300feccba5838f4d7971
Number
  • D - “Always think ‘head-to-toe’ with your color schemes” “All monochromatic schemes are excellent”
  • R - “include an artful blending of… luxurious colors”
  • C - “Make sure colors, textures, and prints blend together” “monochromatic schemes are excellent, although you do not need to be limited to just one or two colors.”
  • N - “Color is an area in which you should have lots of fun! Strive for zip, verve, and lots of pizzazz with bolds, brights, pastels, vivids, and wild color combinations - anything imaginative.” “Break all the rules when it comes to color! Mix ‘n match with ease.”
  • G - “lots of animated and colorful detail can be very exciting to your look” “Your use of color should be bold and sassy; break all the rules here! Multicolored splashes are perfect. Bright and shockingly colored accessories played against a dark or light background. High, sharp contrast and wild color combinations are all very chic on you. Break your line with color!”
Effect
  • D - “color combination should be bold but elegant. Combining bright shades with dark shades achieves this with ease.”
  • R - “should emphasize a watercolor palette of soft pastels and luscious brights.” “rich, luxuriously blended colors” “pale neutrals… are your best accents”
  • C - “accentuate your smoothly blended visual outline. This means that a mixture of colors in an outfit should blend together in intensity so as not to disrupt your clean and smooth silhouette.” “The key is to make sure the tones (intensities) blend, instead of contrasting.”
  • N - “Strive for zip, verve, and lots of pizzazz with bolds, brights, pastels, vivids, and wild color combinations - anything imaginative. Neutrals work well when they are used in beautifully textured fabrics… but you will feel a little dull without a few bright accents, either in accessories or jewelry.” “Colors can be very wild and unusual if you wish, or more muted and earthy-looking”
  • G - “bold and sassy” “Multicolored splashes” “Bright and shockingly colored accessories played against a dark or light background.” “High, sharp contrast and wild color combinations”
Some random observations from me about this category
  • It's been said before but D fam's inability to do anything but monochrome has been greatly exaggerated. Outfits can have high contrast colors as long as they still read bold and sleek!
  • I found it interesting that both C fam and R fam call for a blended effect.
  • Color seems like a key category to focus on for both N fam and G fam - bold color kings/queens 👑

6. Accessories

The category for everything else - bags, hats, shoes, jewelry, belts, etc etc.
https://preview.redd.it/ek7fu7oz790d1.jpg?width=1923&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7c24f3db63656cef4a8da916665ba0f19893cc86
Scale
  • D - “Belts should be bold and wide” “Metal belts will be sculpted and quite large.” “[Hats should have] wide brims” “[Jewelry should have] an emphasis on bold, modern shapes.” “[For jewelry,] Pieces should be large but not overly bulky.”
  • R - “The effect may be lavish, but the workmanship should be intricate and delicate.” “delicate [shoes]” “[For bags,] Delicate shoulder straps. Elegantly slim briefcases.” “Jewelry should always be delicate and lavish, with intricate and ornate touches. Rounded shapes, curves, swirls, and lots of dangles”
  • C - “slender pumps” “narrow heels” “moderate size [bags]” “slim and elegant” “keep [belts] elegant, slim, and narrow with small smooth buckles” “small and crisp [hats] with even brims” “Small [jewelry]”
  • N - “moderate-sized [bags]” “Jewelry should be kept on the chunky side” “It is possible to get away with very minimal chains, tiny diamond studs, etc., but chances are you won’t be satisfied with this once you experiment with a zippier look!”
  • G - “All accessories should be small, crisp, geometric, and colorful” “Small, crisp geometrics [for bags]” “[Belts] may be narrow to moderately wide.” “Small, crisply tailored hats.” “Jewelry should be small and sharp.”
Shape
  • D - “All accessories should be crisp, sharply tailored, and angular with geometric shapes. Keep everything sleek and contemporary in feeling.” “High, straight heels, crisp soles, and elegantly tapering toes.” “Angular envelopes, clutches, or structured briefcases.” “[For jewelry,] thin sharp pieces are good choices, as are avant-garde works of art.”
  • R - “softly sophisticated.” “[Shoes of] Lightweight and supple leather.” “[For bags,] small, rounded shapes. Soft, supple leather or fabric.” [For belts,] soft and supple leather or fabric.” “Soft, curvy [hats]” “Large, fluffy fur hats.”
  • C - “elegant scarves in symmetrical ties” “tapered toes” “elegant leather” “softly tailored flats” “crisply tailored [bags]” “supple leather [bags]” “tailored, symmetrical shape[d hats]” “Keep your jewelry elegant, smooth, and symmetrical” “Small, slightly geometric shapes [in jewelry] are good, as are smoothly curved swirls.”
  • N - “Unconstructed styles with soft or rounded-edged geometric shapes are most effective.” “high heels should be very angular and straight, not tapered” “unconstructed pouches” “Simple geometrics in supple leather” “softly geometric [belts]” “unconstructed [hats]. Large, loose, and floppy. Shaggy-haired fur.” “Soft or rounded-edged geometrics [for jewelry]”
  • G - “All accessories should be small, crisp, geometric, and colorful” “tailored and angular [shoes] in lightweight leather. Unusual shapes in toes and heels are excellent (asymmetrics, wedges, sharp points, etc.) as are bold colors and printed fabric.” “Small, crisp geometrics [for bags]” “Stiff leather [belts] with geometric buckles.” “Jewelry should be small and sharp and in geometric, asymmetrical, or irregular shapes.”
Detail
  • D - “sleek & elegant”
  • R - “ornate” “strappy, slender-heeled [shoes] with tapered or open toes” “[Flats] with ornamentation” “[For bags,] Ornamentation or luxurious detail (beads, gathers, trim).” “[For belts,] All beaded, bejeweled, or sparkly styles are excellent.” “belts are a focal point, and should be selected as carefully as a fine piece of jewelry” “Jewelry should always be delicate and lavish, with intricate and ornate touches. Rounded shapes, curves, swirls, and lots of dangles… sparkly materials are essential… and an antique, baroque, or rococo effect is desirable.”
  • C - “simple, clean, and elegant” “Be careful not to overdo! Go elegant instead of extreme.”
  • N - “Accessories should be kept minimal; plain and simple is your best look here” “evening sandals should be very bare, not strappy” “belts should be simple” “[For jewelry, think] “wearable art”... or it can be bright and funky costume pieces that add pizzazz! Earthy materials are very elegant and sophisticated on you (copper, silver, amber, turquoise, etc.). Hard-finished enamels and glass are fun, especially when used in bold colors for vivid accents”
  • G - “[Accessories] should call attention to themselves as detail” “Contrast is being strived for with your use of accessories, as well as bringing out your wit and a sense of fun.” “[For shoes] bold colors and printed fabric. Flats of all kinds should always be funky and fun (patent leather, trimmed, etc.)” “Brightly colored belts are excellent aids in breaking your line.” “[For jewelry] Brightly colored enamel, stone, or glass are best. Very contemporary avant-garde pieces are excellent on you, as are trendy pieces that accentuate your wit.”
Some random observations from me about this category
  • In keeping with the general themes, D fam again shines more with much bolder or larger scale accessories than everyone else, although they don't need a ton of detail within them. The overall shape seems to do most of the heavy lifting.
  • In contrast, G fam and R fam once again call for a lot of detail within their accessories. They also get the most fun-sounding shoes (to me, a magpie).
  • And again N, C, and D have the cleaner strategies for accessories, although N does have a more G-like approach recommended for fun colorful jewelry.

7. In closing, some keywords

Picked out from the sections for each main family. I find these helpful to kind of paint a word picture of the overall vibe each family is recommended to go for.
  • D - sharp, geometric, elongated, sculpted, sleek, streamlined, defined, structured, clean, bold, sweeping, angular, tailored, elegant, long, straight, contemporary, avant-garde, crisp, modern, chiseled, high-contrast
  • R - soft, rounded, ornate, intricate, flowing, draping, light, shiny, plush, sheer, delicate, curved, tapered, sparkle, gathers, folds, blended, luxurious, fluid, antique, shirred, flounces, frills, fluffy, swirls, watercolor, rich, abstract, sophisticated, strappy, ornamentation, beaded, bejeweled, lavish, rococo, elaborate, colorful, glitzy
  • C - smooth, even, blended, controlled, softly tailored, slightly flowing, clean, elegant, luscious, understated, quality, moderate, simple, minimal, crisp, symmetrical, gathers, slim, beaded, sleek, natural
  • N - geometric, soft, rounded edges, irregular, asymmetric, relaxed, straight, softly tailored, unconstructed, narrow, slim, loose, easy, textured, plush, matte, minimal, plain, simple, open, casual, chic, separates, mix and match, pattern, color, sophisticated, easy, elongated, short, zip, verve, pizzazz, bold, bright, pastel, vivid, wild, imaginative, funky, blended, chunky, elegant, tousled, free, fresh-faced, glowing, radiant, healthy
  • G - small, sharp, geometric, fitted, crisp, tailored, straight, staccato, severe, animated, broken, short, detail, defined, flat, light, matte, sheen, moderate, call attention, colorful, trim, outlined, piping, ribbing, contrast, pleats, angular, ties, lapels, narrow, well-coordinated separates, tapered, stiff, slim, asymmetrical, bold, sassy, splashes, bright, high contrast, wild, chic, contemporary, humorous, wit, fun, angular, unusual shapes, prints, irregular, avant-garde, sleek, beading, tousled, cropped, fresh-faced, glowing, doe-eyed
Phew! You made it to the end. Hopefully it was helpful, or gave you some ideas of smaller, more approachable categories to explore for HTTs. If not, at least it was a great exercise for my own weird brain processing lol. Feel free to drop any observations/thoughts you might have in the comments, I'm curious what everyone else sees or thinks is notable or interesting!
submitted by oftenfrequently to Kibbe [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 23:13 Tacitus2389b4h5ii405 Raid Mechanics Spotlight 3

Raid Mechanics Spotlight 3

Raid Mechanics Spotlight 3:

Defensive Debuffs

\*Please note that the strategies covered here are not original to the author. Often, these strategies are collaborative works which have been developed by communities over time***

Overview:

Defensive debuffs can be used to increase damage to a raid boss significantly. Combining these with other support methods and offensive buffs can end raids in as little as one or two turns. Specific debuffs can be used to reduce Defense or Special Defense through the raid boss’s shield as well, something particularly useful in event raids.

Details:

Defensive debuffs work by changing the stat stages of a Pokémon, which changes the damage multiplier used during damage calculations. For a more thorough break down of stat stages, see the Raid Mechanics Spotlight 1. The table of damage multipliers has been included below.
Stat Stage Multiplier Table
Defensive debuffs put negative stat stages on a target. This multiplier then reduces the associated defense accordingly. So, for example, a raid boss who has negative four stat stages on their Defense will have their Defense multiplied by one third during damage calculations.
Defensive debuffs can be divided into two categories: Physical Defense debuffs and Special Defense debuffs. Those can be further subdivided into status moves and damaging moves. Status moves cannot be used through shield and can be disabled by Taunt. Damaging moves can be used through shield and cannot be disabled by Taunt, but are very limited in which Pokémon have them.
Physical Defensive Status debuff moves are: Screech, Leer, Tail Whip, Tickle, and Spicy Extract. Leer and Tail Whip aren't used as often as other moves on this list because they only lower Defense by one stat stage. Tickle also lowers Defense by one stat stage but it lowers Attack by one stat stage at the same time which can be particularly useful against bosses which buff themselves before the raid begins.
Screech is by far the most commonly used Physical Defensive Status debuff as it is available on a wide variety of Pokémon and it lowers Defense by two stat stages. The major drawback of Screech is its Accuracy which is only 85%; however, there are a number of ways to mitigate this. One way is with held items. Wide Lens can be used to increase Accuracy by 10%, which will make Screech’s Accuracy about 93%. This improvement isn't perfect, but many raiders find it sufficient for every day raids because often, if Screech does miss, they can simply use Screech again the next turn without fear of being knocked out or running out of time in their strategy. For event raids and farming raids for resources though, 93% isn't the best option. That's where Zoom Lens comes in. Zoom Lens increases accuracy by 20% as long as the user is slower than the target. This leads many raiders to make Screech supports with 0 Speed IVs and Relaxed or Sassy natures to get their Speed as low as possible. Popular Zoom Lens Screechers include Umbreon, Perrserker, both forms of Muk, Corviknight, Bastiodon, and Snorlax.
Items aren't the only way to increase Accuracy. Moves such as Gravity, Defog, and Sweet Scent can reduce raid boss Evasion, which is the same as boosting Accuracy. Additionally, Dipplin and Hydrapple have the ability Supersweet Syrup which lowers the Evasion of opposing Pokémon by one stage. There's also an ability called Compound Eyes which increases accuracy by 30%. Venonat is often used as a Screecher because it has Compound Eyes and has good bulk when it holds Eviolite, which increases both of its defenses by 50%. Yanma, Joltik, and Galvantula also have Compound Eyes and the move Screech, but aren't used as often for various reasons including lack of access to a Special Defense debuff move.
Spicy Extract is a very special debuff move because it is also a buff move. It lowers Defense by two stages and increases Attack by two stages. This can be a valuable tool but it can be dangerous as well. It shouldn't be used against a raid boss with a physical attack. If Spicy Extract is used on the raid boss, a raider can copy the Attack boost using the held item Mirror Herb. Using Simple Beam on the raid boss before Spicy Extract doubles both the debuff and buff and can be used to end raids as quickly as one turn if used correctly. For more information on Simple Beam and an example strategy using Simple Beam, Spicy Extract, and Mirror Herb, see the Raid Mechanics Spotlight 1. Spicy Extract is only available to Scovillain currently.
Physical Defensive Damaging debuff moves are: Fire Lash, Grav Apple, and Thunderous Kick. In Scarlet and Violet, each of these moves is only available on one Pokémon naturally (though Smeargle can learn them using Sketch) which greatly limits their use. Fire Lash is learned by Salazzle. Grav Apple is learned by Flapple. Neither of these is particularly bulky and isn't the best support for long raids, making them not particularly popular. Thunderous Kick is learned by Galarian Zapdos which, while reasonably bulky, doesn't possess a great deal of other support moves and isn't the most widely available Pokémon, only being available in Sword and Shield DLC or Pokémon GO. It should also be noted that all three of these moves only drop Defense by one stage, which is fairly slow compared to the Special Defense options in the damaging category.
While the above moves guarantee a Defense stat stage decrease, there are also a number of moves which have a chance to lower Defense. These can be useful in a pinch and as a backup moves, but aren't reliable enough to plan strategies around. These moves are Crunch, Crush Claw, Iron Tail, Liquidation, Razor Shell, Rock Smash, and Triple Arrows. Some of these moves have a drop chance as high as 50%, while others are significantly lower. Theoretically, Serene Grace could be Skill Swapped onto a Pokémon with access to one of the moves with a 50% drop chance, but in practice this is slow and not usually worth it or required.
Special Defense Status debuff moves are: Fake Tears and Metal Sound. Metal Sound has the same Accuracy as Screech. This makes Fake Tears far more common to use as it is 100% accurate. This allows Fake Tears users to hold an item like Covert Cloak to avoid secondary effects instead of holding a Wide or Zoom Lens without the need to increase accuracy through other methods.
Special Defense Damaging debuff moves are: Acid Spray, Apple Acid, and Lumina Crash. Acid Spray is the move common mainly due to the fact that it has the most possible users. It lowers Special Defense by two stages, which is extremely useful when compared to similar options on the Physical Defensive Damaging debuff side. Many, though by no means all, Acid Spray users have a Poison typing which can limit usage in raids where the boss has moves which are super effective against Poison Types. It should also be noted that Acid Spray will not work on Steel Tera bosses. Notable Acid Spray users are Venonat, Hisuian Qwilfish, both forms of Muk, Arbok, and Goodra.
Apple Acid and Lumina Crash are both limited to one Pokémon each currently (Smeargle notwithstanding). Apple Acid drops Special Defense by one stat stage and is only available to Appletun. What makes this move particularly useful is Appletun’s bulk and access to Giga Drain, which makes it an excellent solo raider. Lumina Crash, like Acid Spray, drops Special Defense by two stages and is available to Espathra. Unlike Acid Spray, Lumina Crash can be used against Steel Tera, but it cannot be
Like the Physical Defensive Damaging debuffs category, the Special Defense Damaging debuffs category has moves which have a chance to drop Special Defense but aren't guaranteed and thus aren't recommended for planning strategies. These moves are: Acid, Bug Buzz, Earth Power, Energy Ball, Flash Cannon, Focus Blast, Luster Purge, Psychic, Seed Flare, and Shadow Ball.
While debuffs in these categories can be extremely useful, there are a few things which can render them useless. One thing is certain abilities. If the attacker in your raid has the ability Unaware, it will ignore all stat changes to either defense, including your debuffs. Additionally, Pokémon with the ability Clear Body cannot be debuffed. The ability Contrary will reverse debuffs, making them buffs instead. Similarly, when a Pokémon with Defiant or Competitive is debuffed, their Attack or Special Attack, respectively, will increase by two stages. These abilities can be changed or neutralized using a move like Gastro Acid in order to make use of debuffs. For damaging moves to debuff, they must be able to hit their target. This means that Acid Spray will not work on Steel targets, Lumina Crash will not work on Dark targets, Apple Acid will not work on targets with the Sap Sipper ability, Fire Lash will not work on targets with the Flash Fire ability, and Thunderous Kick will not work on Ghost targets. Though raid bosses do not normally get items, theoretically if one were to hold a Clear Amulet they couldn't be debuffed until the item was knocked off using Knock Off. Raid bosses are also able to clear their stats and negative effects, which means that their negative stat stages will return to zero (though this will not affect their positive stat changes). The moves Clear Smog and Haze will remove all stat changes, both positive and negative. Clear Smog affects one target while Haze affects every Pokémon active on the field. The move Mist prevents all debuffs on the user. Mist can be cleared using Defog or bypassed using a Pokémon with the Infiltrator ability.
For those looking for a solid team of debuffers to start their raid team, this author recommends the following builds for Umbreon, Perrserker, and Muk.
These builds and Pokémon give you a variety of options to overcome obstacles. Together, they are strong against a number of types with one often covering the weaknesses of the others. Additional, these Pokémon are all slow, allowing for them to be used as Zoom Lens Screechers. They all also possess both physical and special defensive debuffs, with one of them even possessing a Special Defense Damaging debuff. While they will not cover every single situation, they will cover a great number of situations and allow for new raiders to find a place in most raids.
Note that the above builds are designed as Balanced Builds, which may not suit every situation but are designed to take the least amount of damage from both physical and special attacks. The given IVs are ideal IVs, but are by no means required for most situations. The Speed IVs tend to be more important due to the requirements of Zoom Lens, but plenty of raids will not require 0 Speed IVs.

Examples:

Here are some examples of specific strategies where debuffs can be used:

Basic Example:

Defensive Debuffs Basic Example
This is a two turn example strategy using Screech against a Bug Tera Goodra. Bug Tera was chosen to showcase this strategy against a type which takes super effective damage against Fire type moves, which we are using for the Attacker.
This example strategy begins, like many others, with buffs and debuffs changing stat stages. All of these actions happen at approximately the same time. Charizard uses Belly Drum to increase its Attack to the maximum six stages. Belly Drum also takes half of Charizard's HP, but a portion is restored using the Sitrus Berry. Mew uses Helping Hand to boost Charizard's next damaging move by 50%. Because this effect isn't used until Charizard uses a damaging move, it doesn't matter if Charizard uses Belly Drum before or after Mew uses Helping Hand.
Both Umbreons use Screech twice. Since the maximum amount a stat can be lowered is six stages, one of these Screeches is technically not needed, but for the sake of simplicity and ease of execution, the action has been included for both Umbreons. This way, both Umbreons do the same thing in both turns, rather than trying to do different things and possibly causing confusion among the players. These Screeches are all 100% accurate because Umbreon is holding a Zoom Lens and is naturally slower than Goodra as long as Umbreon has 0 Speed IVs and a Sassy nature.
To add a final extra boost, Mew uses an Attack Cheer to further boost damage from the team by 50%. This stacks with the boost from Helping Hand as well. Charizard then uses Temper Flare to achieve a One Hit Knock Out (OHKO) on Goodra.
This strategy can be found in the TRB here

The following are more advanced strategies that make use of Raid Mechanics which may be covered in future Spotlights:

Simple Spice:

https://preview.redd.it/p0yhhpe3e90d1.png?width=3600&format=png&auto=webp&s=02d2c0975504bec84b22b44cee1eb2cc306fb4da
This is a single turn example strategy using Simple Beam and Spicy Extract against a Psychic Tera Frosmoth. Psychic Tera was chosen to showcase this strategy against a type which takes super effective damage against Dark type moves, which we are using for the Attacker.
Spicy Extract, combined with Simple Beam, gives the Frosmoth raid boss 4 stages of Attack and minus 4 stages of Defense. Because Frosmoth has no physical attacks to make use of the 4 stages of Attack, this is fairly safe, but with other bosses, such as the Goodra above, this strategy would be much more dangerous. The fact that Frosmoth is a special attacker is also why Spoink was chosen over a similar Simple Beam Support like Golduck since it has particularly high Special Defense.
The Kingambit attacker copies the positive stat changes from Spicy Extract using the Mirror Herb that it holds, giving Kingambit 4 stages of Attack as well. When it does this, the Mirror Herb is used up. Florges then gives Kingambit the Choice Band using its Symbiosis ability. Florges further supports Kingambit by using Attack Cheer, though Helping Hand could be used instead. All of this gives Kingambit the strength it needs to achieve a one turn OHKO.
This strategy can be found in the TRB here

Acid Spray and Fake Tears:

Defensive Debuffs Acid Spray and Fake Tears Example
This is a three turn example strategy using Acid Spray and Fake Tears against a Grass Tera Vaporeon. Grass Tera was chosen to showcase this strategy against a type which takes not very effective damage to Electric type damage in order to showcase a high level of damage without the fear of overflow. Note that while this strategy is a three turn example, some may refer to it as a 2.25 turn example. The .25 indicates that only a single Pokémon moves on the third turn.
As the raid begins, Hadron Engine summons Electric Terrain before anything else can happen. The Electric Terrain will prevent Vaporeon from putting any of the raiders to sleep with Yawn and increase the power of Electric type moves by 30%. Additionally, the terrain activates Hadron Engine, which increases Miraidon’s Special Attack, and Quark Drive on Iron Moth. Iron Moth’s build has been designed specifically to ensure Quark Drive increases its Special Defense by 30% rather than its naturally high Special Attack. This is in contrast to the other builds which focus on overall damage mitigation, what is often referred to as Balanced or Optimal builds. An Iron Moth Balanced build would have 252 EVs in Defense and an Impish nature, rather than the 252 Special Defense EVs and Careful nature this Iron Moth has. Thanks to the extra Special Defense EVs, its Assault Vest held item, and the Special Defense boost from Quark Drive, Iron Moth is able to survive up to three critical hits from this Vaporeon, despite being weak to its Surf attack. Note that if the Tera type for Vaporeon was changed, Iron Moth and the other raiders might not survive as well due to the inclusion of Tera Blast in Vaporeon’s moves. This strategy would also be completely useless against a Ground Tera Vaporeon since Electric type attacks cannot hit Ground types.
The order of moves in the first turn doesn't matter, though this is not the case for turn two. Tinkatuff, aided in its survival by Eviolite, uses Fake Tears to lower Vaporeon's Special Defense by two stages. Iron Moth similarly uses Acid Spray to lower Vaporeon's Special Defense by two stages. Florges uses Helping Hand, which will persist on Miraidon until Miraidon uses a damaging move. This means that despite Miraidon using status moves in this strategy, the Helping Hand boost will not be used until it attacks. On the first turn, Miraidon uses Calm Mind to increase its Special Attack and Special Defense by one stage each.
On the second turn, move order is more important. Tinkatuff must move after Miraidon to avoid having Miraidon trapped using Charge by Choice Specs. So Miraidon, Iron Moth, and Flores move before Tinkatuff. Miraidon uses Charge, which increases its Special Defense by one stage and doubles the power of the next damaging Electric type move it uses. Iron Moth uses Acid Spray to lower Vaporeon's Special Defense another two stages for a total of six stages, which is the maximum it can be lowered. Florges uses an Attack Cheer to further boost damage done by its team. Then, Tinkatuff uses Fairy Wind on Miraidon. Since Fairy Wind is super effective on Miraidon, this activates Miraidon's Weakness Policy, the which increases Miraidon's Attack and Special Attack by two stages each. This puts Miraidon at a total of three stages of Special Attack. Once the Weakness Policy is used up, Florges passes its Choice Specs to Miraidon using its Symbiosis ability. Note that Symbiosis passes the held item of the Pokémon with that ability to which Pokémon uses an item first. To avoid having the Choice Specs passed to the wrong Pokémon, Miraidon is the only Pokémon in this strategy with a consumable item.
With the boosts from Calm Mind and Weakness Policy, the boost from Choice Specs, the debuffs from Fake Tears and Acid Spray, the boost from Helping Hand, the boost from Attack Cheer, and the boosts from Electric Terrain and Hadron Engine, Miraidon is able to knock out Vaporeon using one Electro Drift despite Vaporeon's Tera type resisting Electric damage.
This strategy can be found in the TRB here

Summary:

Defensive debuffs are at the heart of most raids strategies and provide a way to deal massive damage to raid bosses with each hit. Most debuffs are status moves, but some are damaging moves which can be useful in cases where a raid boss summons a shield.
https://preview.redd.it/lb67kduxe90d1.jpg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=88a493de12acf00c12e33a96dc32fea981931154
submitted by Tacitus2389b4h5ii405 to PokePortal [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 23:00 Pontiacmatt Pre ordered 2 1974 GTOs and got a white lightning!

submitted by Pontiacmatt to JohnnyLightning [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 22:52 OneShotSammyV2 [WTS] [NM] ICS Grease Gun (M3), PPSH 41, EF M4 , SR-47 Shorty, M1 Carbine, M712 Broom handle, Mac 11, Claymore Mine

Letting a lot of things go, Everything test shot yesterday. Nothing is set in stone, worst I can say is no. Shipping is depended on you location but I do use Shippo to get lower shipping prices.
Date Pics: https://imgur.com/a/yaROIch
EF M4 - $100
https://imgur.com/a/XvLxF0N
398 fps w/.20
Used manly as a loner gun, has ambidextrous Mag release, Panted, 6.03 Barrel and flat hop.
Includes: 3 Hi-cap Mags
SR-47 Shorty Project - $150
https://imgur.com/a/Gyg0Kiy
360 fps w/.20
So this thing was an Idea I had, wanted to make one of those tanker M4s combined with a SR-447 type gun. Exterior has some nicks and scratches. Gearbox 80% SHS parts with few other parts I had. Motor is a Lonex A3, Modified Flat Hop, Mad Bull 6.03 Barrel 230 mm (Was originally a Prometheus but was not doing that well). Stock has 6 adjustment points and can be extended quite a lot.
Includes: 3 Hi-Cap Mags
ICS Grease Gun (M3) - $225
https://imgur.com/a/0DDgGzP
330 fps w/.20
Stock ICS grease gun, this thing has a spring relece function where you cock it back with the side lever, but to release it you must press the button. Battery space is also limited. Would recommend looking up a vid on it before buying.
Includes: 4 Mags and ww2 Mag pouch
SWIT Upgraded S&T PPSH 41 - $240
https://imgur.com/a/8S2kv6h
Shoots 385 fps w/.20
Got this of a guy a while ago, was a swit upgraded PPSH, everything works fine buy Semi is a bit finicky but works fine with a 8.4. Semi only works some times when using 11.1 or 9.6 battery’s. I think its an issue with the trigger.
Includes: 2 Drums, Drum pouch and Sling on gun
King Arms M1 Carbine - $200
https://imgur.com/a/OU7Hbop
Shoots AVG 465 FPS w/.20
This thing in faux wood, has no hop up.
Includes: 2 mags, sling and t ww2 mag pouches
SDU Airsoft XPower M18A1 Claymore - $150
https://imgur.com/a/xR79MwJ
Used mostly in my back yard. Comes with the claymore, remote, Powder Charges, and CO2 Adapter. It needs to use the CO2 Adapter to work. There is a little metal pin that was used to transport the claymore, but I have since lost it and made a new one out of sone scrap I had.
KWC M712 Broom handle - $120
https://imgur.com/a/ydlj4rw
Shoots 390 to 408 FPS w/.20
Stock KWC Broom handle, comes with stock, holster, 3 mags and stock holster
Wellfire Mac 11 - $75
https://imgur.com/a/oYl6yJq
Shoots AVG 385 FPS w/.20
Not sure exact model, but this is the one without a functional Hop up
Includes: 3 mags and Mac Suppressor
submitted by OneShotSammyV2 to airsoftmarket [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 22:45 Ok-Vegetable-4511 HDFC rejected DCB Metal application

I currently hold a Regalia Gold CC with a limit of 2.65 lakhs. My annual spending is around 8 lakhs, and I have a net monthly salary of about 2.2 lakhs. My salary account is with HDFC. Recently, I applied for the DCB Metal card, but my application was denied without any explanation. Can someone assist me in understanding how to get this approved?
submitted by Ok-Vegetable-4511 to CreditCardsIndia [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 22:33 Tigra21 Hunter or Huntress Chapter 189: Reporting In

As the world faded away into nothing but a dark void, Tom felt the only mildly familiar sensation of magic flowing like a gentle stream. It wasn’t much of a draw, but it was certainly noticeable.
“Right, best make this quick then,” he tried thinking to himself, feeling the flow peak as he did.
“Who is this? Make what quick?” an ethereal sounding female voice replied. It did sound a bit like how he remembered Joelina sounding. Though she did not exactly sound calm.
“Uhm… Hello? Anyone there?”
“Yes hello. Who is this? What must be done quick? Answer me at once!”
“It’s Tom… Is that you, Joelina?”
“Yes of course it is! Stupid dragons taking ages, I have questions for you! So many questiiioooonssss...”
“Yeah I figured that… Fire away I suppose.” Tom replied a little uncertainly as to just what he might be in for.
“Firstly! Did you read the letters?”
“I did yeah…”
“Disregard them, I have learned much since they were written! So much more yes, cursed blessed knowledge…”
“So you do know we have gone to space then?”
“What? No, I re-experienced the memory you had of the movie about the moon mission. It was evident on the second watching that it was trickery of the eye! Spaceflight is but a myth!”
“Riiight.”
“Then how have your kind visited space? And what of the gods above!? it was evident that the woman with the crystals was but a fraud!” Joelina explained with all the calm and restraint of a shoppingmall Karen
“Well the rockets to the moon, that did happen.” Tom attempted, doing his best to remain calm and diplomatic. “The movie you saw was probably a recreation… Tell me, did things go wrong on that trip but they made it home anyway?”
“Yes, do you know of what I speak? Ahr what am I proclaiming! of course you do it is your own memories, how could I forget.”
“Yea…, you watched a movie about Apollo 13 I think. Good movie, and that all happened too. Like for real happened”
“I see…” Joelina replied, sounding rather unstable. “And what of the gods?”
“We ain’t got any. Well not in space at least.”
“Impossible!”
“No, quite possible. Many still believe in gods though, but let’s not get into that too much. It’s a right old mess.”
“No, you must tell me what happened to the gods? Have they left you?”
“Well some think so, but no. I just think it all works a bit different for us. They might be a little more hands off.”
“But the churches… and these religious warriors you did battle with,” the inquisitor all but muttered to herself, sounding like she was struggling to put pieces together. “Do Jesus and Islam fight for power then? no no, they would have long since lost the battles to the ancient gods of war the teachers spoke of… though why they were always naked eludes me yeeees…”
“No, again we don’t really have gods just floating around... Could we please talk about something else? Or is that all you wanted to know?” Tom tried, hoping he really didn’t have to dive deeper into that particular subject.
“No no don’t you dare cut me off! I have seen what you talked of, nuclear fire and missiles, ships of the oceans and planes soaring in the skies. But is it not all fake? Surely it must be! It must be? It must be…”
“I don’t know what you saw… but we have ships sailing around. If you’ve ever seen flying ships like you have here then that’s fake I can assure you of that. We do have airships, but they look more like really big long balloons.”
“But we could make such vessels, or someone could from times past. If you can visit the moon then surely you can make a ship for the skies!”
“No no, we ain’t got grav oil. Or dragon essence as I guess it’s called. That means no anti gravity, and that means weight is a very very big problem for anything you wanna make fly. Planes and helicopters are how we fly. Remember how I flew to Afghanistan on a big ass plane? Or when I learned to parachute later?”
“What is parachute? is it the ham from your times doing, vacationing? what has dried meat products got to do with flying machines of battle!”
“Wooo easy now easy. I guess you didn’t get that far yet. Uhm. It’s a cloth kite you dangle from and then glide to the ground. Very good fun.”
“A cloth kite used to fly?... such strange inventions. Wait was there not a movie of with something of that nature? yeeee… there was a song. I liked that song… something something brains upon his chute. Yeesss…”
“Yeah… You’ll know it when you see it. I have one actually.” Tom clarified trying not to get too weirded out.
“You must demonstrate on a suitable occasion.”
“Yeah… I do have a question too though,” Tom replied, letting silence reign for a short time. “...Your last letter was in Danish.”
“Oh, uhm yes. I- I was having some difficulty separating what was real and what was not… I still am. Do not tell Glazz, she musten know the truth yet. She seeks to limit my excursions.”
“You’ve ended up like I did, have you?”
“No no no, the effects do indeed recede as expected, everything is in good order… But I had to know more. So so much moooore.”
“Maybe you should cool it a bit. You never know when a brain snaps. Or how,” Tom tried, confident his advice would be ignored.
“There is not time!”
“And why is that? How is it going in our beloved Inquisition?”
“Mind your tongue, human! Things are progressing, but so are our enemies. Infiltrators have been caught, traitors within our ranks are making their moves. The reemergence of Rashan, attacks on mines, keeps and a daring heist attempt at a Royal Guard fortress! The game is afoot, we cannot delay.”
“You can’t overreach yourself either. Weren’t you supposed to be winning over the rest of the inquisition right about now? Can’t do that as a gibbering mess.”
There was silence for a while more after that. “Glazz sent you a letter? What did it say?! You may not keep secrets from me- wait not… I should confiscate her arm… she cannot write with her left. Yes far better plan, avoid upsetting him. And fill her pen with invisible ink. Yes very good.”
“No, it’s just obvious to any idiot. But what about winter, won’t things slow down?”
“They should, yet as autumn progresses it has only been picking up. I hope they too are running out of time… But time for what? I must know what they are planning. They might be behind schedule. But what SCHEDULE! sorry…”
“Well you’re not gonna find the answer to that in my memories, now are you?”
“You were sent by someone. You are here for a purpose. I must know this purpose. It will help me understand. The puzzle is large and much of the box kept from me.”
“As far as I’m concerned, I’m here to help you guys get in gear. That’s a decades to centuries long sorta problem, not a couple of years. Sounds like this war will be in the couple of years category.”
“Then why now? Why did you arrive now?!”
“Shitty luck? Sounds like 10 years ago would have been a lot better… Oh on that note, did you hear? We found something down below.”
“No, Paulin would have told me.”Joelina dismissed, he could almost feel her turning her snout up and away from him.
“Well we opened the vault like 3 days ago,” Tom replied, quite surprised Paulin hadn’t said anything. “Wait yeah she can send you messages, no? She sent the message about what we wanted to buy too, didn’t she?... How did she do that by the way? Why didn’t you just have her ask me questions?”
“That is not for you to know, and this is not for her.”
“Really? More secrets still? Come on, tell me or I’ll let you think flying whales exist.”
“I know those are not real. If they were, you would have harvested them long ago! likely for some deranged snack… or facial decoration.”
“True, but you get the idea,” Tom persisted, feeling like this was something worth pushing for. Why would Paulin not have let her precious Joelina know?
“Very well. This does not leave your mind… In the name of, what was it called… camaraderie. Paulin is in possession of joined paper. Messages may be written down and read by anyone with similarly joined paper. Unsecured. Originally believed to be fore love letters… dastardly studs and wenches using perfectly good magic for such trivialness… simply tie the message to a rock and throw it though the window. Most peasants cannot even afford glass” Joelina trailed off, seemingly zoning out once more.
“You have magical paper that can relay written information… and you don’t fucking use it!?” Tom explaimed, not quite believing what he was hearing.
“No, we do not know how to make freshly bonded paper… only more linked to all other paper in existence…” Joelina agreed. He could almost feel her looking at the floor in shame. “But it is not as if you are infallible, why did you not bring one of these radios?”
“I uhm…”
“Why didn’t you?!”
“I forgot,” Tom admitted, thinking back to his packing days. Of all the things that could have proven useful, that one might have been his biggest blunder.
“For the love of all that is holy! You are our saviour?!” Joelina scolded, understandably so, but still.
“Hey I never claimed to be smart!”
“I have lived your dreams. That is a lie! You very much claim to be smart!”
“Fuck off, I know you are just a scared little insecure girl.”
“She died 30 years ago!”
“Well I haven’t gotten to that bit yet!”
“What in the devils do you mean?” Joelina questioned calming right down in a fraction of a second.
“I’ve only had like three proper dreams about you… wait no, not like that,” Tom blurted out as it clicked just how wrong that sounded. Joelina didn’t seem to care in the slightest though.
“Three? That is it!?” going right back to outrage.
“Yeah… Wait, how many have you had?” Tom questioned. He rather wanted to know just how much she might know about him in addition to the memories she had already picked through when inside his head.
“Several a day!” the inquisitor exclaimed in reply.
“Okay, I can see how that would drive someone a bit mad.”
“I am not going mad!”
“Did Glazz say the same thing?” Tom questioned, quite certain he was striking a nerve.
There was no reply for quite some time, Tom feeling the headache growing as things grew tranquil once more. He could feel his breath. It was rapid, and his heart was pounding. He probably shouldn’t do this for much longer. Thus he endeavored to break the silence.
“You probably should listen to her you know.”
“No! These matters are above her station!”
“Hasn’t she been in the Inquisition longer than you?”
“She has yes. But she is no inquisitor. She is a body guard.”
“Seems like she is a wee bit more than that,” Tom pushed on. He didn’t yet know how those two came to stick together, but it was clear they had been working together for decades by now. All the way since she was assigned to Harvik
“Mind your own matters, human.”
“Very well, don’t think I can keep this up anyway.”
“We have barely been chatting! Where do the dogs come from?!”
“Selective breeding for thousands of years. But I’m gonna go. Take a break, do what Glazz says… even if Jacky hates her.”
Yet more silence followed that, though it was brief and Joelina was the first to speak again.
“Fine! In the interest of cooperation I shall let you rest. Wear the earring at all times, I shall be contacting you again soon.”
“I think I’m gonna be the judge of that. I’ll put it on when I feel like it.”
“You will do as I say!”
“You need a nap and a bit to calm down. I’ll give you three days. Around noon. See yah… How do I get this thing off?”
“I’m not telling you,” Joelina grumped like a little girl. She really didn’t seem quite like herself at all today. She had been the spitting image of restraint and arrogance before. The arrogance was still there, but the restraint had certainly gone.
“Come on, do I just try to cut off the magic or is that a bad idea?”
“If you answer a question I might answer.”
“Right then… Gimme gimme gimme aaaa-”
“JUST CUT IT! Farewell!” she called out loud enough Tom’s head pulsed and then there was blissful silence once more.
“Hehe. That did the trick, right concentrate on that funny feeling aaan-”
__________________________________________________________________________________
After dinner had been rounded up, Dakota had given a brief address as to some of the news received. There wasn’t much that hadn’t already made the rounds at the tables during the dinner itself. The war had been expanding, recruitment had started in full in the cities, and if not for the rather special situation at Bizmati they could have expected their banners to get called by spring.
Rumors had it that the kingdom was preparing itself for counterstrikes the following spring, which meant training through the winter for many volunteers.
“And a lot of not so volunteers,” Fengi muttered as Dakota carried on with the address.
“You can say that twice. At least the street rats might get something to eat and a place to sleep,” Tirox the trader escort added.
“I suppose that is true. Not a bad deal in winter time… I might even have taken it.”
“But we must instead keep our minds on our home,” Dakota carried on, talking to the whole hall. “There can be no mistake, we will be a target. We will be ready. They are getting bolder by the day it seems. It is not impossible they may attempt to take our keep before the winter comes. Or perhaps they will be waiting for spring. It is equally clear their forces are spread thin. We will weather such assaults, I have no doubt. But we must keep training. We must keep vigil. We cannot afford to be surprised or outmatched. I know you will all do your best. And tonight, we have no less than 4 dragons here. So breathe easy, have your snacks and your drinks. If the weather holds soon we will be finished with the warehouse and then we may make final preparations for winter. It is sure to be an interesting one for once.”
The hall replied with a half-discordant cheer, not overly enthusiastic unlike what Dakota had likely envisioned. The talk of them possibly getting attacked even before the snow came wasn’t really that encouraging. But Dakota tended to speak her mind, and she was probably right. Bizmati keep would be a damn tough nut to crack. And to Dakota’s credit she did seem to recognize she hadn’t really managed to rile them up.
“Didn’t you hear me?” she tried again in a slightly more humorous tone. “Eat, drink, and have fun! And put those tables together, don’t want you brooding in your corners.”
That did get a bit more of a reaction, as well as some good humored chuckles. People started getting up and set about moving the tables closer together.
It was a little rude to split up their guests in the same way as they normally did. Saph carried one of the benches over to the new spot, glancing around for any sign of Maiko, but there was no sign of him anywhere.
Feeling a little miffed, she sat down with the others as Ray came back with one of the small kegs of cider looking very excited. “We should have a taste, right?”
“Oh yes please!” Pho called out, Essy giving her a slight slap on the wrist.
“This one is only for those who paid for it. You will have to do with whatever you bought. Or the ale I’m sure they intend to serve.”
“Aww man. Not even a sip?”
“Okay, maybe a sip,” Essy relented. “Oh, I should get Koko his gift.”
“You got him a gift?” Saph questioned with mirth in her voice.
“Of course, that is what people do for each other… you did get Maiko something, right?”
Saph felt her expression slip a little as she prepared to disappoint their chief people person. “No, not really…”
“All that money and you didn’t get him shit? That’s cold girl,” Pho laughed, clearly finding it hilarious.
“Oh shut up, not as if I got something for Unkai either,” Fengi added, springing to Sapphire’s defence, though it seemed like the delivery had Fengi second guessing herself as well.
Esmeralda did look a little saddened by the news, but she was far too nice to say anything. Tirox however had no such filter.
“Oh don’t worry about it, just gotta go with a different sort of gift.” The diminutive guard laughed heartily at his joke. Udanti found it quite funny as well, and Pho certainly loved it. Bo just shook her head a little and went back to a small puzzle of some sort she had been working on, on and off, for most of the dinner by now.
“So uhm… One mug each?” Ray questioned, having been left hanging at the keg.
“Oh yes sorry, just the one, this stuff is expensive,” Saph replied, holding out her mug, Ray pushing it back down.
“One moment.” And she produced a wooden mallet and one of the metal taps. It looked like one of Raulf’s, so it was probably old as faded dragonscales.
Ray gingerly placed it against the cork and raised the mallet as the table fell silent in anticipation.
With a whack the tap went in clean with hardly a drop spilled, and Ray breathed a visible sigh of relief. “Right there we go.”
There was a quick round of cheers from the table, and Ray started pouring servings.
“Oh got yours open, have you?” the voice of Balethon came as the guard came walking up to the table, mug in hand and lizard on shoulder. “You all know we are gonna have to work out who got the better stuff, right?”
“Oh does it always have to be a competition with you, Balethon?” Saph questioned. She had just wanted to enjoy the cider.
“Look who is talking… And yeah of course we do! Just think of the bragging rights.”
Ray didn’t look too thrilled, nor did any of the girls who had actually paid for the keg. The rest of the table seemed to think it was a brilliant idea, even as Balethon’s voice carried and heads started to turn as people started to mingle between the now closely together tables.
“I’ll be the independent adjudicator!” Tirox declared, not receiving much attention as the full mugs started to get passed around. “Oh come on. I’ll be fair!”
“Shut it pipsqueak, you’ll end up taking 10 rounds of tastings before you make up your mind,” Udanti scolded, though in good humor.
“I might…” the guy relented, looking to Balethon. “Ey, by the way. Did you teach the brainlet any tricks?”
“Sure, Skitters can do a few things.”
“Aside from chasing the food?”
“You know what I think he might yeah,” Balethon replied sarcastically, gently tapping the static lizard twice on the head. The lizard didn’t do much save skitter about on his shoulder to face Balethon’s head, one eye pointing in whichever direction.
‘That thing just looks so dumb,’ Saph thought to herself as Ray handed her a mug. “Oh thank you.”
“Okay, Skitters. Up,” Balethon went, raising a claw into the air as if he wanted the lizard to jump. Or perhaps stand up. “Up… come on.”
There was no reaction from the lizard aside from it jerking to the left a bit, possibly having spotted a fly or something.
“Weeeell obedience might need some work,” Udanti chuckled. “Have you tried with some food in your hand?”
“Sure, then he just tries to eat the hand. Come on, Skitters. Up!” Balethon tried again, doing the gesture once more. And this time the little lizard jumped into the air. The little legs stretched out, taking its pitiful excuse for wings with it, and it half-fell half-glided to the floor where it hit with all the grace of a 6 year old on his first lesson. The slightly fat lizard bounced once, then rolled over twice before coming to a stop, looking around confused.
“Aaayyy! That’s a good boi,” Balethon went, going to pick it up again before someone stepped on it or it ran off under the tables. “And now you get a treat.” True to his word Skitters was fed a small piece of something or other which it seemed quite happy to snap up.
Fengi leaned in to whisper to Saph. “Was that the trick or did it just get sick of staying there?”
“I have no idea,” Saph replied, holding up her mug. “Cheers though.”
“Cheers,” Fengi replied as they clinked mugs.
“Oh hang on now, wait for me,” Essy protested as Ray finished pouring her mug and started on her own, looking to the girls as she questioned “Oh, also what about Jacky? Should we wait for her?”
“Who knows how long that will take?” Fengi replied, holding her mug impatiently.
“I’m sure she won’t mind. She is with Tom. We’ll let him have a mug as well,” Essy added with a reassuring nod, looking up to the high table. “Oh but we are missing Lin!”
“Oh right yeah she paid too… I can’t remember, did Edita chip in?”
“I don’t think so,” Sapphire replied, shaking her head as Essy got up to go fetch Linkosta. Balethon decided to take her place, a big grin on his face.
“So what else is going on over here?”
“Oh not much, hellooo little guy,” Pho went, trying to give skitters a scritching. In exchange he tried to eat her finger. “Oh… I mean I guess it doesn’t hurt.”
“Oh yeah, he can’t hurt a fly… well he can, but nothing more.”
“Shame he won’t get any bigger either,” Udanti added, nodding sagely. “Would have made a good rat hunter.”
“Nah… toe hunter though. Also where is the ale at?”
“Oh Raulf and Wiperna are getting ale and some of the bubble beer.”
“What is bubble beer?” Udanti questioned, tilting her head.
“Oh you’ll love it,” Saph interjected, waiting patiently as she saw Essy and Linkosta returning to the table out of the corner of her eye. “It’s an ale but it’s all fizzy.”
“Riiight… I’ve heard of fizzy beers before.”
“Oh yes, but this one is so much more fizzy.”
“It’s light and almost springlike.”
“Light ale? You mean for kids?”
“No no no. Just trust us it’s good.”
“Right right, I trust you,” the archer replied, looking to Essy and Linkosta, who seemed to be looking for a place to sit. “Should we not just put two end to end rather than this scrunching up business?”
“Yeah we should… Right get the craftsman table over here then. We don’t wanna have to smell the guards,” Saph called out, holding up her mug.
“Hey! That was uncalled for,” Balethon protested as Ray passed a mug to Linkosta. The girls all raised their mugs and had a sip, not willing to wait any longer. They all smacked their chops a little, looking down at the golden liquid. It was slightly fizzy too… and it tasted like the brew of the gods themselves. Ray was looking at them all visibly tense with anticipation and perhaps a twinge of fear.
“Ray… You have not disappointed,” Saph declared, nodding her approval, a smile creeping onto her face once more.
“Oh this is the best drink I think I’ve ever had,” Fengi added, taking another gentle sip.
Ray looked visibly relieved, her expression changing to one of ecstasy as she too took a sip herself. “Oh it’s even better than I remember. I’m glad you liked it.”
“Like it?! I love it!” Fengi cheers, Essy giving an appreciative nod to Ray before looking to Lin.
“Sooo?”
“It’s very good… Do you think we could try and cool it down a little? Imagine this cold.”
“It is often served cold, yes,” Ray confirmed, nodding her assent.
“I’ll go get the powder!” Saph called out, getting up. “I have got to try that.”
__________________________________________________________________________________
The strange ethereal world that had seemed so all-consuming started to quickly fade. Holes grew as light and reality started seeping in, sounds and noise starting to build around him. “Oom-Tom… Tom, are you okay?” came the familiar voice of Jacky as his eyes shot open and he blinked a few times as he returned to reality proper.
“Yeah yeah, I’m here… That is trippy, but hey, I think it worked.”
“How many fingers?” Jacky questioned, holding up her hand.
“4. Clear as day.”
“Pheeew. Okay look around, anything strange?”
Tom obeyed, sitting up a bit straighter and glancing about the room. “Nnnnn, nope all good. Just like last time I used one of these.”
“Right, good. Now what did she say?”
“Oh a bunch of stuff… mostly we chatted a bit about how she’s going a touch mad. Even Glazz thinks she’s falling apart at the seams apparently. She was also not happy I wanted a break.”
“Oh don’t tell me you have to do this every day from now on?”
“I said she had 3 days to get ready to try again. Hopefully she’ll have her case worked out by then.”
“Here’s to hoping… also how is your head? Does it hurt?”
“A bit, it’ll go away I’m sure.”
“Right,” Jacky replied, looking at him skeptically. “If it gets worse, tell me. But dinner was served a while ago I think. And I’m hungry.”
“Me too, let’s go.”
__________________________________________________________________________________
Well then, Joelina got her chat. She seems fine... I am sure she will continue to be a steadfast ally, within the walls of the inquisition for many weeks to co- I mean years, definetly years.
As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, if not you know who to blame. I promise I won't cry to much if you tell me what was wrong... I promise.
Not really any news, other than fuck me I'm a busy boi, luckily I found the time to keep up with the writing yet, hopefully things will quet down soon so I can get back to begin a bit further ahead.
Untill next time, take care
Wiki and Art Gallery If you can't remember who someone is, want to read any of the side stories of fanfiction, or you just wanna watch some of the cool art that's been made for the story. Patreon If you want to help get more cool shit made consider joining the Patreon, you also get chapters two weeks ahead of time. HoH Subreddit if you want more stories from the HoH universe or are interested in writing something for this funny little world. Discord if you wanna have a chat about the story or just hang out First Previous
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2024.05.13 22:31 Recent_Tumbleweed_96 RANKED REALITY WARPERS 2024

1) David HalleLegion -Species:Mutant -Power:Omega level power manifestation -Range:Multiversal/Multidimensional -Existence:Immortal [cannot be erased from existence] -Weakness:Concentration
2)Clyde Wyncham/Marquis of Death -Species:Mutant -Power:Omega level reality warping [Universal] -Range:Multiversal/Multidimensional -Existence:Nearly immortal -Weakness:Immense but limited supplies of energy
3)Franklin Richards/PowerHouse -Species:Mutated Human -Power:Omega level reality warping [Universal] -Range:Multiversal/Multidimensional -Existence:Nearly immortal -Weakness:Concentration, immense but limited supplies of energy
4)Jean Grey/Phoenix -Species:Mutant -Power:Omega level telepath, Alpha level telekinetic+Omega level reality warping [White Phoenix of the Crown] -Range:Multiversal/Multidimensional -Existence:Nearly immortal -Weakness:The wielder of the Iron Fist, Chaos Magic
5)Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch -Species:Mutated Human -Power:Genomic connection with magic+Omega level reality warping [Cthon] -Range:Multiversal/Multidimensional -Existence:Nearly immortal -Weakness:Negative emotions, powerful psychic attack, Phoenix
6)Nate Grey/X-Man -Species:Mutant -Power:Omega level reality warping [Astral]+empowered by the Celestial Life Seed -Range:Universal Plus/Multidimensional -Existence:Nearly immortal -Weakness:Concentration, powerful psychic attack, immense but limited supplies of energy
7)Mattew Malloy -Species:Mutant -Power:Omega level reality warping [Extra-Dimensional] -Range:Unknown -Existence:Nearly immortal -Weakness:Emotional instability, temporal paradoxes, powerful psychic attack
8)Sir.James JaspeMad Jim Jasper -Species:Mutant -Power:Omega level reality warping [Existing] -Range:Multiversal/Multidimensional -Existence:Nearly immortal -Weakness:Void between realities, powerful psychic attack
9)Jamie Braddock/Monarch -Species:Mutant -Power:Omega level reality warping [Quantum] -Range:Universal Plus/Multidimensional -Existence:Nearly immortal -Weakness:Body's distruction, powerful psychic attack
10)Kevin Mctaggart/Proteus -Species:Mutant -Power:Omega level reality warping [Psionic] -Range:Variable/Multidimensional -Existence:Nearly immortal -Weakness:Concentration, energy need, metals
11)Bob Raynolds/Sentry -Species:Mutated Human -Power:Omega level reality warping [Energetic] -Range:Localized/Unidimensional -Existence:Nearly immortal -Weakness:Immense but limited supplies of energy, emotional instability, powerful psychic attack, Knull
12)Natashia Repina/Cosmar -Species:Mutant -Power:Alpha level reality warping [Oniric] -Range:Localized/Unidimensional -Existence:Mortal -Weakness:Body's distruction, lowself-esteem, psychic attack
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2024.05.13 22:18 thetwitchy1 Greentree (1/?)

Author note: Ok, so this is my second attempt at posting this story. I wrote the first attempt a couple years ago, got a few chapters in, and got discouraged and distracted by life. This time I’ve got a bit more buffer, but also have started to use this as a way to destress, so it will be much more consistent. I also have grown a bit as a writer, so the content has more punch and flow.
All that aside, criticism and feedback is ALWAYS a good thing for me. I love hearing from people, even if it’s only to say “hey, you wrote “their” when you meant “they’re”.” So let me know what you think!
It was an impressive view. Stars like diamond dust sprinkled across the dark velvet of open space... I should be getting used to this kind of view as I woke up to it every day, but Carla knew it never got old for me, so she made sure we faced open space when my wakeup notes sounded. "Up and at 'em! You slept too long, and now you need to get to work!" I buried my head deeper into the pillow. "You know how grumpy it will make you if you sleep in, and it's not good for you anyway."
"I know, I know. I'm up, I swear. Just give me a minute, ok?" I rolled out of the sleeping alcove and floated into the main cockpit. "So, have we gotten to the open sky yet? I'm assuming we're close if you've got the engines off right now."
A screen at the front of the cockpit lit up and displayed a simple map. "Yeah, we're there. I mean, the location we were shooting for was open space, so it's not like we have a 'there' to be, but we are where we wanted to be." Carla flashed a small red ship icon on the map. "As expected, there is nothing in the path of our travel for another 3 weeks on our current course. Today though, we will be able to scan an uncharted region of the belt, and maybe find something worth spending our fuel on. Of course, you already know all this, because we have had the SAME DISCUSSION EVERY DAY FOR A WEEK!" Carla spoke with such exasperation I had to laugh. "And you think it's funny! I'll have you know I could have taken up with that diplomat, her ship was ten times the size of this tin can, and she would probably have new and interesting things to talk about every day. Unlike you, she would have a life that was more than just finding rocks and slinging them at Ceres or Mars."
"Oh, come on now, it's not like I don't have ANYTHING interesting to say... I just like the calm out here. It does a soul good to be able to see out into the infinite void and relax. But if you want to get to work, we can do that. Bring up the radar and let’s get some pings out, see what's in the neighborhood."
Carla huffed, but I could tell her heart wasn't really in it. "Ok, meatbag. Pings out. Give me a few seconds to get back the data and... that's interesting."
I bounced over to the console. "What are you seeing, Carla?" I pulled myself up and strapped down so I could concentrate.
"Well, there's a strange reading from this one item. It's showing up as a solid object, but just barely. The radar ping bounced back, but it's weaker than it should be. It's almost like it's hollow or surrounded by debris. But there's nothing in the area registered as a construct, and it's far too big to be one anyway. So either something is wrong with my sensors, there's been a near miss here recently, or something weird is going on."
"And we both know that nothing is wrong with your sensors, or you would have already had me out there to fix them. So, near miss or weirdness... Let's get a spectrograph reading on it, see if it shows any hydrocarbon lines. A dead comet after a near miss would show big water and carbon lines, and a comet like that would be worth a lot to the terraformers on Mars. If it's high metal, we can probably scoop out good material from the cloud."
"But if it's neither metal or carbon rich, we don't want to go near it. A bunch of loose rocks from a near miss aren't worth a hole in our hull, or damage to my scopes." Carla finished the thought for me. "Ok, I'll start up the Spectro, see what it is. I'll also run analysis on the other 3 rocks in the area, see if anything else is worth grabbing out here. Go shower up and get some food in you, this will take a few minutes, and you kinda stink."
"Ok, well, let me know immediately if you find anything really interesting. I've got a strange feeling about that weak bounce."
After washing up in the "shower" stall, I went to the kitchen module to warm up some eggs. The ship was rotating gently, just enough to give me a slight sense of 'down' without actually making me weigh much. This meant that 'cooking' was usually limited to warming up premade meals, but I was used to that. Having grown up on Ceres, I hadn't had much home cooking as a kid, and I had been a rockhound since I turned 17 so my whole adult life had been in similar circumstances. I was packing some bacon with the eggs between defrosted toast, and after a moment of thought, I added a few leaves from the lettuce I grew in the aero-hydro tank. I had asked Carla to remind me to eat healthier, so I knew she would ask about it. As I was looking through the grocery list on kitchen storage to see if there was anything else I wanted to add, Carla popped up a hologram on the table. "Adam, you need to come to the scanners. I want you to see this, I'm not sure what to think." Carla never called me Adam unless something was up.
“€œOk, no worries." I closed the list and my sandwich and started moving toward the scanning module. "You sound spooked. Tell me what you found, and we'll figure it out."
"Well..." the hologram she had up in the kitchen faded out, and she started one up in scanning. "First, the other three rocks in the area show standard lines for stony-type rocks. They're your standard asteroids, a little light on volatiles but otherwise almost textbook standard. We could make money sending them down to Ceres, but not much. We'd more than break even, though. Keep that in mind."
The hologram image looked up at me, then shrugged. "If we find out that my sensors are broken, we can grab them and go get repairs done back home. But... well, look at the Spectro lines on our 'special' rock yourself." She pulled up an image of a screen in front of me, showing the spectrograph results. "That's not possible, right?"
I looked at the lines for a few moments, trying to absorb what I was seeing. At first, it looked like the readings were all abnormally low, except for one line. Then I checked the scaling and realized what was really going on. The lines were reading as a normal asteroid, except the Carbon and Hydrocarbon lines were all 100x higher than they should be. They dwarfed all the rest, pushing them down into the lowest part of the graph. "ulp!"
"That's what I thought! It's too much. There's no way!" Carla's hologram was bouncing up and down. "If it were a dead comet, we'd be seeing water ice in there, but we are getting more carbon and hydrocarbon than anything. It looks like the results you'd get if you scanned your aero-hydro garden, but out in space. It must be a sensor artifact, or something like that, right? There's no way those readings are real."
"If it were a sensor glitch, we should be getting weird readings from all the rocks, Carla. I'm not sure what it means, but it can't just be something wrong with your sensors. I don't think we have a choice; we need to check this out."
"Ok, I thought so too, but I wanted to talk to you about it first. I'll set a course to it, we can be there in 12 hours. In the mean time, we have 3 sensor arrays that need recalibrating, the docking ring needs to be cleaned and checked, and you still have that paper on microstructures in low gravity steel to finish for your engineering class. What do you want to start with today?"
submitted by thetwitchy1 to HFY [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 21:44 Appropriate_Hat9445 FTB story time (being quick to offer and overage clauses)

Just thought I'd post my FTB experience so far (ongoing, not homeowners yet). Been lurking here on reddit for a while.
We are looking to buy in Harrogate, it's considered semi posh I guess. We don't have a huge deposit (barely 10%) and we are mostly looking for something that might need some updating but is livable due to our limited savings. We are lucky that our current rent is great and location is lovely, so we felt we might have to pay more to live in a smaller place... But it would be ours.
I should also add that my husband and I are musicians and my husband specifically wants to play metal drums. Not likely he'd be able to play an acoustic kit at home, but we wanted to keep our electronic kit, and would prefer at least one room/bedroom not to border with neighbours where he could have his music room. Semi detached would be ideal but then again, more expensive and depends what layout you get. A garage would be a bonus.
We viewed a lot of houses, some of them in terrible state and terrible location. My husband grew up here and luckily knows what is what, I sometimes don't when booking. A lot of houses were overpriced to the extreme for the size, I still see some of them being listed months later...
We viewed one house in a village quite far out, and it was spacious and ticked a lot of boxes but the distance to town was just too far. We passed on it.
The first one we bid on was in town, lacked garden but had the space we needed, next to our friends. We viewed it and called the next day just to find that someone else had offered on it already and they didn't want any further bids. It was on the market for 3 days maybe. Fair, first come first served, I wasn't sure how to feel, seemed like we weren't completely sure about it and now it's gone so quickly. It was well priced but I'm picky and anxious.
Next one we put an offer on weeks later was on a busy street and needed quite a bit of updating. Kitchen was all ripped out, all decor old, unsure about heating or electrics without survey. It would have been tough on us but the thing that killed it was that EA mentioned something about land once belonging to the church and there being a clause in the contract... Neighbours said it's been for sale for 2 years with people dropping it last minute. Red flag. Turns out it had an overage clause and any redevelopment would require house owners to pay the church. So not leasehold but something almost equally unpleasant. We didn't know the implications fully but it was enough that no lender wanted to touch it with the amount of deposit we had, it seemed. That was that. We felt lucky we dipped out after talking to the broker, before instructing the solicitors.
Now the current one. We didn't look at any houses in this area before, I personally didn't know it well to consider, but this house came up recently reduced and had the layout we needed, a garage and a garden so we thought we should try? I rang the EA at 10am after a pretty naff morning we had, got a viewing same day at 1pm. We went and although it was again an older person's home, it was lovely and very well kept. New boiler, newish windows. Needed better bathroom and kitchen but not unlivable. Houses around were nice, area quiet and close to green space. We loved it and offered that same day at 3pm (under already reduced price) without even discussing with in-laws like we usually do. They got back to us at 6pm with an adjusted offer and we agreed. All other viewings cancelled and house taken off the market that same day. We were stunned we got it but unlike the previous house we don't feel the dread of making a mistake, we feel excited and hopeful, our naff morning was long forgotten. We will be able to fit our Roland kit and I'll also get my garden and be in a quiet, nice area. I guess we got that feeling that everyone is talking about, I wasn't sure I would get one.
So yeah, this is my story so far, solicitor instructed, broker doing his thing too. Wish us luck and thanks to all of you here on Reddit, I feel less clueless after reading your posts for months.
submitted by Appropriate_Hat9445 to HousingUK [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 21:44 Omycron83 225€ Low Budget Apartment-Gym

225€ Low Budget Apartment-Gym
I've just recently finished this project of mine, and am honestly pretty proud of it! I'm a student with fairly limited space and budget, so I went bargain hunting in my local marketplace, and was able to get - A standard barbell (9kg) with 4x10kg, 2x5kg and 2x2kg for 60€ - 4x15kg plates for 50€ - A Half-Rack with some weight racks for 60€ - An adjustable (incline and decline) bench for 30€ - 4 60x60x2cm mats for 25€ = 225€ (~243 USD)
Unfortunately, this yielded a setup much less impressive and "future proof" (in terms of expandability and weights) than those commonly posted here, but I couldn't find any good deals on olympic bars, metal plates (which would also very much not synergize with the floor) or a "proper" rack. However, I can essentially do any barbell lift I want and (for the time being) even deadlift my max without disturbig the neighbors, so I'm really happy.
For the future, I'm looking into building a diy platform as commonly seen here to protect the floor a little better (though there haven't been any accidents as of yet) and get some metal plates with more weight, as the bar physically can't load more than 110kg with these thick bumper plates. However, that will highly depend on the type of deals coming up. Cheers!
submitted by Omycron83 to homegym [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 21:17 AdRemarkable7835 As I predicted, this nigga makes his return after only being retired for a week

As I predicted, this nigga makes his return after only being retired for a week submitted by AdRemarkable7835 to BlackMetalCringe [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 20:42 DrMillMatt I don't see Ayanokoji being the beyond humanity or even the peak in anything really.

I don't see Ayanokoji being the beyond humanity or even the peak in anything really.
  • Physically: Cutting it short he simply isn't beating a guy with this build in Judo. Literally over a 100 kg difference. It would be like you picking your toddler and throwing him.
So him being a masterpiece in physical stats and martial arts ENDS right with him having the current peak of knowledge in that area. Should he encounter a grizzly bear he isn't using Jeet Kune Do against it.
His feat of beating grown martial artists men at age 9 is even explained to have resulted from him using his nimbleness and aiming to kill to fully KO them with a baton.
We also see from the Vol 0 illustration these men were of average build, so a metal object struck to vital areas would definitely hurt them. Let a 9 year old punch you in the throat, it will still hurt..much less hit the back of your head with metal at full force.
  • Intellectually: As for intelligence, he's noted over and over again like some people are naturally smarter than him in certain areas. Even Shiro and Yuki were stated to be more gifted. His methods are not impossible to read as Tsukishiro had analysed ~99% of his thoughts(doesn't make sense that he still lost but whatever). If he truly had a supercomputer brain none of that would be possible.
People say Ayanokoji is an unreliable narrator in these senses but it's not hard to see when he isn't lying. When he assumes the role of an typical student he's lying, when he isn't he's not lying.
What Ayanokoji does is literally pure adaptation. He says this in multiple instances including his recent talk with Koenji in Y2 V11. It's like encountering a fire element and responding with water, encountering a water element and absorbing it with Earth. Only he does it more rapidly and quickly, with the WR increasing mental age.
An early sign of his adaptation is when he was young he notes he cried alot until he realised no one was coming. This was a key moment in his life that imprinted onto him. From then on he adapted as if he was walking. You don't find it hard to walk or breathe do you? The same goes for Ayanokoji.
His chess feats are also replicable in real life, engines are also limited in their capacity and make blunders and are sometimes not even capable of finding moves like humans, even though the moves humans make stem from learning ability. Thus, does it mean that Stockfish or chess engines in general are inferior to human? No, sometimes the engines are not able to calculate freely and analyze positions that can be easy for humans, And for this very reason the fact that Kiyotaka made a few moves better than Computer scales to literally nothing.
It's also wrong to assume the masters he faced in the WR were SUPER GRANDMasters. There's quite a bunch of levels before that. It's like me saying I beat an athlete in a race. It doesn't mean I beat or can beat Usain Bolt.
  • Memory: It's also very VERY doubtful he has TRUE perfect memory. That would literally be a X Men superpower, and not even a regular one.
    The brain is literally not built to process everything and dumps unnecessary info. Memory is really reconstructing what's no longer there. The world of yesterday no longer exists. So Ayanokoji is really reconstructing events like puzzles and telling it out in story format. This also helps him prepare for the future, but even he can't predict the future 100%. In fact he can only do generalisations at best.
People are also known to remember important events when they were young as early as the age of 2. So Koji remembering him at 2 weeks old is literally a jarring moment as it's the first time he saw the bright of everything that surround him for another decade.
WR students in gen 4 practiced active recall tests and other tests as early as the age of 2. Learning stuff that early would make you exceptional to perfect at it, it would quickly be the same as walking.
  • Perfection/Masterpiece:
No such thing as perfection, even if we go by certain perspectives. If he was truly indispensable alot more resources would be put into capturing Koji and he simply wouldn't be able to stop them. He is still a mere child.
  • Knowledge:
Literally impossible to know everything. I shouldn't even have to explain why. It's far more likely that Koji has general knowledge of topics spread from kindergarten to peak PhD topics.
But he does indeed eat up any knowledge easily, like a wolf eating sheep even. Once again it's his adaptation coming into play.
Given the goal is for him to be a politician(Kojipapa even notes having Koji apply for politics at age ~25 near the end of vol 0) it's also unlikely they'd have him engage in anything beyond current peak PhD level topics along with some topics people don't even know about here and there given he has quite alot of time and mental age to understand them. So no Tony Stark level feats of intellect will be coming in his lifetime EVER.
  • Philosophy:
His mental age isn't saving him here either. I've analyzed his character and goals already. He's a rebellious teen that sees everything as books/tools. His goals are wishy-washy as well. He knows alot of philosophical quotes but saying them doesn't mean you understand them nor does it mean you are smart.
Even if I am wrong on that part, I know I'm not far off the mark. Maybe he wants power or control, but that would all the more prove his philosophy in life as mediocre.
  • All in All:
He is just what I'd expect if a normal functioning kid went through the White Room process and ACTUALLY liked it. Like if say Baby Richard Feynman or Baby Nikola Tesla or Baby Magnus Carlsen entered the White Room and desired the opportunity for endless knowledge they could replicate almost everything he has done, guaranteed.
Koji is really nothing "oUt of tHiS wOrlD". He sees gaining knowledge as a game and is a veteran at it. He's simply grinded for far longer at a difficulty higher than everyone else.
submitted by DrMillMatt to ClassroomOfTheElite [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 20:26 Then_Marionberry_259 MAY 13, 2024 CNC.V CANADA NICKEL ACHIEVES INITIAL METALLURGICAL SUCCESS AT MANN NORTHWEST PROPERTY

MAY 13, 2024 CNC.V CANADA NICKEL ACHIEVES INITIAL METALLURGICAL SUCCESS AT MANN NORTHWEST PROPERTY
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Highlights
  • First two metallurgical tests at Mann deliver strong recovery and concentrate quality:
    • Overall nickel recoveries of 58% and 59%.
    • Nickel and magnetite concentrate grades in line with expectations.
TORONTO , May 13, 2024 /CNW/ - Canada Nickel Company Inc. ("Canada Nickel" or the "Company") (TSXV:CNC) (OTCQX:CNIKF) is pleased to announce robust recovery and concentrate quality results from the first set of metallurgical tests on samples from the Mann Northwest property. The results were achieved using the standard flowsheet developed for the Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project ("Crawford").
Mark Selby , CEO of Canada Nickel, said "We are very pleased by the first tests at Mann Northwest which achieved overall nickel recoveries of 58% and 59% and achieved expected nickel and iron concentrate grades. These initial results at Mann Northwest, along with our earlier success achieved at Reid using the standard flowsheet developed for Crawford, demonstrate the potential to leverage our development work at Crawford across the portfolio of targets throughout the Timmins Nickel District."
Canada Nickel is in the process of completing the earn-in of an 80% interest in the Mann property, with the remaining 20% owned by Noble Mineral Exploration Inc., located 22 km east of Crawford, 20 km south of Cochrane , and 45 km northeast of Timmins , covering the Mann Township. Within the property, there are three large ultramafic bodies, each of which has a target geophysical footprint larger than the 1.6 km 2 footprint of Crawford. Mann Northwest has a target footprint of 6.0 km 2 ; Mann Central is 3.1 km 2 , and Mann Southeast is 4.1 km 2
Table 1 summarizes the recovery results of the first two open circuit tests from the Mann Northwest property on samples with head grades of 0.29% and 0.30% nickel. The samples were tested at a third-party lab to evaluate the metallurgical potential of the property. Both samples delivered strong recovery performance, with total nickel recoveries of 58% and 59% and iron recoveries of 44% and 48%. Cobalt recoveries were 15% and 28% and chromium recoveries were 10% in both tests. More than half of the recovered nickel was recovered to nickel concentrates with an average grade greater than 38% nickel. Iron concentrate grades averaged 58% and 62% iron in the two tests. The Company will follow a similar metallurgical program path as it did with Crawford and begin a variability open circuit testing program to confirm operating parameters and performance and then begin locked cycle testing to confirm metallurgical performance and concentrate grades and recovery to be used in future engineering studies.
Table 1. Open Circuit Test Results
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The samples were selected as higher grade, well-serpentinized dunite samples and confirmed the potential to transfer the Crawford metallurgical process to the Mann ultramafic nickel mineralization. The standard test procedure from the Crawford Feasibility Variability Program was used including grind sizes, reagent dosing strategies and flowsheet layout.
Sample Location
Figure 1 shows the plan view of the Mann properties with the "X" markers indicating where the samples were taken from. Sample 1 was taken from drill hole MAN23-03 from 200 to 273 meters and Sample 2 was taken from MAN23-02 from 112 to 164 meters.
Figure 1 – Plan View of Mann – Drill Results and Sample Location Overlain on Total Magnetic Intensity
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Qualified Person and Data Verification
Arthur G. Stokreef , P.Eng (ON), Manager of Process Engineering & Geometallurgy and a "qualified person" as such term is defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release on behalf of Canada Nickel Company Inc.
About Canada Nickel
Canada Nickel Company Inc. is advancing the next generation of nickel-sulphide projects to deliver nickel required to feed the high growth electric vehicle and stainless steel markets. Canada Nickel Company has applied in multiple jurisdictions to trademark the terms NetZero Nickel TM , NetZero Cobalt TM , NetZero Iron TM and is pursuing the development of processes to allow the production of net zero carbon nickel, cobalt, and iron products. Canada Nickel provides investors with leverage to nickel in low political risk jurisdictions. Canada Nickel is currently anchored by its 100% owned flagship Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulphide Project in the heart of the prolific Timmins-Cochrane mining camp. For more information, please visit
www.canadanickel.com.
Cautionary Note and Statement Concerning Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains certain information that may constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward looking information includes, but is not limited to, the metallurgical potential of the Mann properties including recoveries and concentrate qualities, the economic viability of the Mann property drill and exploration results relating to the target properties described herein (the "Properties"), the significance of drill results, the ability to continue drilling, the impact of drilling on the definition of any resource, the potential of the Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project and the Properties, timing and completion (if at all) of mineral resource estimates, the ability to sell marketable materials, strategic plans, including future exploration and development plans and results, and corporate and technical objectives. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon several assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could affect the outcome include, among others: future prices and the supply of metals, the future demand for metals, the results of drilling, inability to raise the money necessary to incur the expenditures required to retain and advance the property, environmental liabilities (known and unknown), general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, results of exploration programs, risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained in this press release is given as of the date hereof and is based upon the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof. Canada Nickel disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/canada-nickel-achieves-initial-metallurgical-success-at-mann-northwest-property-302143061.html
SOURCE Canada Nickel Company Inc.

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2024/13/c7069.html
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Universal Site Links
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2024.05.13 20:22 Geotechjeff Orion 2 Throttle Base

Does anyone have the 10th Anniversary Limited version of the Orion2 base? Is it worth the extra $50? I’m getting ready to buy the Metal Warthog bundle.
Thanks!
submitted by Geotechjeff to hotas [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 20:00 Dr_Superfluid High end Windows vs high end Mac, personal workflow review

Hello friends!
So after recently completing my dream mobile and desktop setup I did run my workflow today on both to see the differences between the two platforms and their behaviors.
My setup is the following:
Desktop:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7950X (16 core, 32 threads, base clock 4.5 GHz, turbo boost 5.7 GHz)
GPU: NVIDIA 4090, 24GB VRAM
RAM: 64GB
Disk: 2TB Samsung 990 Pro
OS: Windows 11 Pro
Laptop:
MacBook Pro 16” M3 Max
CPU: 16 core (12 performance cores at 4.05 GHz, 4 performance cores at 2.75 GHz)
GPU: 40 core (whatever that means… ), 48GB VRAM (stock because apple limits the access to the shared memory of the GPU to 75% of the total, but there is an easy workaround to have full access if needed)
RAM: 64GB
Disk: 1TB
OS: MacOS (the latest version, don’t even remember the name)
I think that these two devices, while not the absolute best of their respective platforms, they are close enough to get an understanding of the peak performance capabilities in each situation. Of course one is a massive desktop and the other a relatively small laptop.
Workflow:
I work in mathematical modeling and AI. My codes are usually CPU based 70% of the time, with the amount of cores making a huge difference, and for the hardest of the project’s codes I do run them on GPU. My codes are not memory heavy, they comfortably fit in the 64GB of both machines. Also, because I am developing math oriented AI models I write the codes of my models myself, so it’s not the traditional ML with all the known packages that is offloaded to the GPU and it handles everything. Of course I utilize tons of packages, but I want to specify that it doesn’t work like an LLM where everything is preconfigured to run on the GPU, a lot of the maths I do are not to be done in GPU’s so that’s why I need good performance in both.
So to test out the differences, I picked 2 tasks that I run this week to test the multicore CPU performance and the GPU performance. (Disclaimer the GPU task also utilized the CPU quite a bit - but it is what it is, that’s what I had at hand). All 2 tasks are run in Python, version 3.10.something. The maths are done through libraries like pandas, numpy, scipy (BLAS LAPACK accelerated).
Task 1: Pure CPU performance. cpu_count() -> 16 on the Mac , 32 on the 7950X
Task number one is a mathematical one, kind of repetitive calculation running with all cores.
7950X: about 1420 seconds M3 Max: about 1070 seconds
This result surprised me a lot. I do not see a reason for the M3 Max to be that much faster than the 7950X. In theory it should be slower in every single aspect. It is not, and by quite a margin. Possible reasons: 1) Python is more optimized in MacOS 2) access to the memory in the unified chip is a lot faster. (Because I was a bit taken aback I also run this code in two additional machines, my old M1 Pro that I sold to a colleague so I borrowed to test out and run in 2300 seconds, and a company dell laptop that we have with a 13th gen i7, which I got bored of waiting after about 1.5 hours. So this trend seems to hold true also in the lower end windows vs Mac machines)
Task 2: GPU test with some CPU usage.
This is a mixed CPU + GPU code that accesses some big files. GPU is at 95+ % all the time, while CPU fluctuates from 40-90%. Using torch, with “Metal” on the Mac and “CUDA” on the PC.
4090 + 7950X: 8 minutes M3 Max: 25 minutes
This difference is very very substantial and showcases that apple has a lot of work to do in the GPU department. No matter how good the M3 Max GPU is it can’t hold a candle to the 4090. Maybe if the model didn’t fit in the 24GB of the 4090 then the M3 Max would have done better due to double the VRAM, but my model isn’t that big so the 4090 crushed it. Also to understand how heavy this task is, if I run it on the CPU of the M3 Max, it takes about 12 minutes for 1 iteration and it needs to do about 2500 iterations. Thank god for GPU’s.
Single core tasks. Also, in single core tasks in python the M3 Max is a lot faster than the Ryzen.
Conclusions. I was very very impressed with the CPU performance of the M3 Max. I have worked with many high end machines due to my work and to be honest it’s the fastest CPU for my work I have ever seen. It makes the 7950X which felt like an absolute beast compared to the 3900X and i9’s I had before, now feel quite meh… And lets not forget these are extended loads and the desktop is easily 10 times the volume of the laptop (probably more), with water cooling and I don’t even know how many times the wattage.
But… the 4090 is king. Nothing gets close to it. When it can stretch its legs it destroys everything. That said, a 4090 laptop would not have been as powerful (probably still faster than the M3 Max in GPU loads though), and it would be a loud brick with vastly inferior CPU performance ( I have no data on that, but if the M3 MAX beats the 7950X I am pretty sure it will beat all laptop CPU’s as well). I hope that either apple reaches this level one day, or we see GPUs like the 4090 in mobile form in laptops that are not built like anvils and sound like jet engines. So for a laptop of this form factor and battery life I am quite happy with the GPU performance of the M3 Max. But ooof I always know how much better the 4090 is 😂.
Now if only apple allowed us to use dedicated GPU’s with the M chips, and especially NVIDIA ones I would be one happy boy. The next day that happened I would buy another 4090 and an external enclose. But becoming the pilot of the Millennium Falcon seems more probable than that haha.
PS, I do also have a linux machine but it’s a lot slower and I don’t use it for these tasks so I didn’t include 😕.. i don’t have one of even comparable power to see if it would make a difference.
Final Disclaimer: all the results are for my codes and workflow. In different workflows the results might be very different. I can only judge for my case.
I hope that somebody finds this useful or interesting! Cheers
submitted by Dr_Superfluid to hardware [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 19:56 NeronStar7 Forced Evolution... Shin Mitchell - Chapter 5: Meat

Emily was walking through the dark corridors of the colony, somewhat upset, now she had to go to the colony's port, the reason? She had to bring the fruit punch, of course no one was going to eat it but they need it because they wanted decoration.
The map she had guide her to the area where human food was stored was, it was a room with special compartment designe to keep most of the food in a state of preservation, even after 20 years, the food would still be like new, that's why Drones wouldn't have to worry about spoiled food taking up space.
"Why do I have to be the one to look for this and it have to be specifically on the far side of the colony?" She complained before stumbling because she had her eyes on the map not on the road, her visor hit the ground, she quickly composed herself to look at what made her fall and at that moment her oil froze, because of someone legs, leaning against the wall was a vipedic creature, with nearly nothing beyond a pair of pants. Instead of metal, its body was made of something of a greenish hue that slowly became paler and paler.
"what the-" she stopped her words by placing her hands on her mouth, not wanting to wake up to whatever she found, she slowly began to walk away from him, however before she could turn the corner she could see how this creature began to wake up and let out what seems to be a battle scream (Actually he just yawned but since drones don't do that, so Emily got scared of that), that was enough for her to speed up, running with all her might to avoid her premature death at the hands of a creature she has never seen before....
After opening his eyes and letting out a hoarse yawn, M looked to the side seeing how something was moving but he didn't know what it was, his eyes didn't adjust until a few seconds later, already more or less awake, Mitchell stood up and began to walk move in search of an exit or something to eat, he had not eaten in two days, so he needed to regain strength, but if he went outside even when the temperature was more or less the same, it is when there are snow storms that things get worse and complicated all for him, his body had to grow by eating what he found along the way, which was not much because not everything was digestible for him, he had to learn the hard way what he can eats and what he can't, sometimes he missed how it was simply waiting for Yeva and for her to give him food.
Outside the colony, a Spider-pod lands on the top of the mountain where the worker colony was built, since it was underground it would first have to find a way to enter.
"Since the Murder drones in these areas were eliminate after a long time trying to enter, only succeeding because they were able to attack before the door closed, we must find another way" T said to his squad, reading the data that was sent from Jcjenson boss to them.
"Tracking a weakness and exploit it is my speciality" Z said with a crazy smile before jump and fly with her wings to have a better view, she quickly moved towards the west being followed by her companions.
"Looks like someone forgot to cover the roof" Z said while bumping fists with T.
"Well the battle plan is this, me and T hunt down the drones while Z moves through the vents to find the creature and sends a communication to us when she kill it, is that okay?" D asked his co-workers.
"In case that thing is with the Drones, let me know, while I would like to test the capabilities of that thing on my own, from what we have recorded, the workers drones created a anti-disassembly drone weapon, so if they are with that creature and more of those weapons in the same room, it would be good to be all together so we can win" Z added, to which her companions agreed, shaking their heads affirmatively. Now the three entered through the gap in the ceiling that was never repaired, T and D went towards south, while Z moved towards the vents, before moving much, she received a message from T.
"Hey, apart from exploring, you should build a map of this place while you move through the vents, maybe in the potential case that we fail, other Disassembly Drones can use that valuable information to complete this mission, so they will be here in about a week, the other teams are taking their time and want to give us the first try, and then if we can't, they will all go together."
"Okay, this place is very big so even if we succeed, it's better this way, the worker drones probably have a secret escape route and we can use it to ambush any survivors who try to escape" Z replied to her partner.
"OH ROBO-GOD OH ROBO-GOD" N begins to hyperventilate in front of V, who looked at him without saying anything because the boy did not even let her form a word until N got close enough to V and she gave him a slap making him look at her and they both stayed silent for a minute.
"Listen to me N, being like this will be no good for no one, you will only make yourself worry more without being able to do anything to bring a solution to your problem, so shut up and think." V said
N puts his hand on his chin, V was right, if he stayed here doing nothing, everyone in the colony would be killed if he didn't get going but he shouldn't be stupid too with what he will do.
"You're right, I need a plan."
"We need a plan, I won't let those Disassembly Drones eat all the food, remember we overheat without oil, plus I can annoy that purple thing by making her owe me a favor for saving her ass" She said while laughing.
"Okay, let's go," N said as he walked outside, only to notice that V wasn't moving. "What's wrong, V? Move, we don't have all night."
"N, I'm chained"
"...."
"...."
".... I'm silly, not blind" N said and then went up, V opened her eyes a little before moving because the chain had been broken for a long time.
Obviously V didn't tell N what the real reason was of why she had such change, if these drones are here it only means that Cyn decided that "something" was outside of her plans and that it had to be solved . So if she finds this "something"... maybe there was a chance that all of this could lead to the key to finally getting rid of that pirated Windows drone. So she decided to cooperate a little with N, yes, she still thinks about at least drinking some of the oil from the drones already killed by this squad to replenish the lost amount and prevent overheating.
Now in the colony, Uzi was being dragged by Lizzy and Doll, they had made her pretty, something that did not go with her programming, although the dress looked good and that, she was uncomfortable wearing it.
"I still don't know why I have to go to the stupid dance," Uzi said, watching Doll leave for a moment.
"Well, with that attitude you won't make any friends, much less get your friend Murder Drone back, believe me, I know you want to see hum because of the way you answered our questions, it was not only uncomfortable but a tone of guilt that came out of your voice module" Lizzy said as she finished putting on her dress.
"Wow Lizzy, since when were you so good at reading people?" Uzi said surprised.
"When your mother is the only psychiatrist in the entire neighborhood and you have Doll as a friend, you learn to read others, it's just a matter of finding the right opening, and from what I can see after what happened a while ago , your friendship with that Murder Drone N fell for some reason, you must leave the past behind, whatever you saw if you don't let it go you won't really be able to grow as a person, so I advise you, go and talk. I'm sure for the way he describes him, you'll be forgiven." Lizzy said after putting a hand on Uzi's shoulder, before walking out of the room leaving a thoughtful Uzi.
With that in mind Uzi got up and left the room only to find Yeva who was wearing an elegant suit because she was going to see the Prom, although her intention was different, she wanted to check if that monster would try to attack the drones that were there in the Prom, so she and the others can stop it before a drone gets hurt, of course she'll probably need to get her solver out because she doesn't know the capabilities of this thing beyond being bigger than a murder drone, but she's not someone who is intimidated by size.
"Hey Yeva, huh, have you seen Lizzy and Doll?"
"Ну, судя по тому, что мне рассказала Долл, они пошли проверить одну вещь, чтобы завершить свои наряды, так что они должны быть здесь через пару минут." (Well, from what Doll told me, they went to check something to complete their suits, so they should be here in a couple of minutes) The older Drone told to darkXwolf17, Uzi felt slightly uncomfortable seeing her.
"Hey, ma'am, can I ask you something? It's related to my mother." Uzi said before receiving a wave of Yeva's hand to fire off her question.
"Well, how exactly was she like before meet my dad? Although many stories that he told me, he never told me about what she was like in her youth and that you two were found by his group 20 years ago, so I assume that you have been good friends for a long time, right?"
"Да, мы с Нори были друзьями до взрыва ядра, мы служили людям во всем, что они от нас просили. До взрыва отношение Нори было немного другим, более сосредоточенным, и его было легче разозлить, но не так сильно, как было после взрыва. Я полагаю, что отсутствие людей облегчило ему свободу самовыражения, поскольку нам не пришлось бы терпеть особых усилий из-за... нашей работы, которая требовала физических и умственных усилий, потому что она заключалась в кодировании кодов." (Ah, yes, Nori and I were friends before the core explosion, we served the humans in whatever they asked of us. Before the explosion, Nori's attitude was a little different, more focused and easier to get angry, but after the explosion, i think the absence of humans made it easier for her to express herself freely, since we wouldn't have to endure much effort due to... our job, which required physical and mental effort because it involved coding codes.) Yeva told half-truths to Uzi, who was listening. attentively each word being more or less satisfied with that answer.
"By the way, one last thing, what about Doll's father? I haven't seen a single photo of him around the house."
That question made Yeva freeze for a second, before she moved and avoided the question with another
"Я думаю, вы знаете ответ, вероятно, это был ваш друг-дрон-убийца, я не знаю, я ничего не мог сделать, чтобы спасти его, говоря о дронах-убийцах, что случилось с теми двумя, которые были на свободе?" (I think you know the answer, it was probably your friend killer drone, I don't know, there was nothing I could do to save him, speaking of killer drones, what happened to the two that were loose?) Yeva looks at Uzi seriously, because she had afraid that she would have to deal with the Murder Drones if they have used Uzi as a can opener to the secrets of the colony such as the place where they get oil from.
"Well..... the relationship I had with N went down the drain, but I'm about to fix it, so I'll do it now or never." She said, motivated by Lizzy's words before leaving the house, leaving a worried Yeva, who finished her preparations before leaving for the Prom
Lizzy and Doll were walking on their way to the Prom with their dresses ready, that is until Emily collided with the both because she was running without looking, when she fell she saw who she hit, both friends stood up.
"Emily, what's wrong with you? You could ruin this dress, you doesn't know how hard they are to find" Lizzy replied to the Drone.
"I'm sorry Lizzy and Doll, I just saw it, it was horrendous and it made a strange roar." Emily responded. That attracted the attention of both of them, who looked with an expression of wanting to know every last detail.
"Well, you see I was the one who had to look for the fruit punch and all the food for the decoration of the dance, so I was sent to the most remote place in the colony, there while I was walking I found that thing, it was big and ugly, a sickly green color" She said, the girl wanted to keep moving away but she was taken by the hand by Doll
"Покажи нам дорогу, Эмили, к месту, где хранят еду, мне интересно, что ты скажешь." (Show us the way, Emily, to the place where we keep the food, I'm interested in what you say.) Her interest in the situation was clearly piqued, which Emily didn't like, but she was dragged by the purple-haired girl and the blonde into the dark hallway.
N and V were flying on their way to the colony, until they noticed the open door. "Look, there's Uzi, and uh, she's got a dress on, she looks very..." N almost started drooling if it weren't for V hitting him on the back.
"Hey, what was that for?"
"Don't act like that, it's in bad taste for a girl to have a boy spying on her from a distance, plus if she has a dress we probably need one suit for you and a Dreas for me."
"V there is no time" N started to go down....but then he went up again
"Where can I find one?"
"Follow me, I know the perfect place" V said guiding her partner to a clothing store to get a suit and dress for each of them.
Outside in the blizzard, Uzi was running until N and V quickly stop her as they both land in the snow kicking up a small cloud of it.
"¡¿N?!"
"¡Uzi!"
"¿Why-?"
"You look-"
"¿How-?"
"Hey, eh-"
"I... Think some-"
"I could help. But you probably don't want me..."
"OH MY GOD CAN YOU STOP DOING THAT?! WE HAVE A SQUAD OF MURDER DRONES TO STOP" V yelled at them both making their attention turn to her.
"WAIT HOW THAT A MURDER DRONE SQUAD?!!" Uzi panics
"Let me explain, we were relaxing in the spiral until the place moved a little, so I went out to see and it turned out that a ship that we used passed over and headed towards this location, they are probably already inside" N told her while Uzi had her eyes open.
"But luckily purple thing we are here to save your ass and your colony in exchange for donations of oil for all our life" V told her only to receive an elbow from N, Uzi for her part began to run from back towards the colony followed by both.
Yeva was in the Prom and had a glass of oil while she looked around in search of her daughter or at least Lizzy.
"oh hello Yeva" a voice called her, when she turned she could see Khan
"Привет, Кхан, ты видел девочек? я ищу ее"(Hi Khan, have you seen the girls? I'm looking for they)
"no, I expected they would be be with you" That was not a comforting answer, that started to worry her until something fell from the ceiling directly killing the party's DJ while someone close the doors.
"Greetings, dear toasters, and welcome to the funeral dance of this colony" T said as he changed the music to something he liked while D moved out of the doors with his hands transform into claws tearing apart a drone.
Yeva gets ready, hell with pretending she's a normal Drone, they're murder drones, of course she's going to use the Solver now.
"ЧЕРТ ВАС, Я УБЬЮ ВАС ОБОИХ!" (DAMN YOU, I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!)
"Hey, what did she say? I don't have too many languages installed in my software" said D but was sent flying when a table that was next to him suddenly hit him thanks to a push from Yeva who used the Solver, walking in front from the crowd to fight against the two Murder drones
The three Drone girls were walking down the hallway where Emily found the creature, but none of them couldn't see anything there.
"Well it looks like she's gone so I'm going-" Emily start to say but Lizzy would pull her by the shoulder, the popular one took out her phone and looked for her copy of the facility plans that she had stolen from her dad
"If there is a creature that is not a drone in this place, then it is probably in the area where we kept all the human stuff that we don't need, you know blood tests, some other tools, organic food, water purifiers , etc" Lizzy walked leading now, it took 5 minutes until they felt that someone watching them.
"Хорошо, разве я не единственный, кто чувствует, что за ней наблюдают? Что ж, тогда давайте вытащим этого шпиона"(Well, am I not the only one who feels like she's being watched? Well, then let's take out this spy.) Doll, Emily and Lizzy looked around until Lizzy stopped.
"HEY, I saw you, come out now or we'll kick you out" She yelled at whoever was there.
"Неужели кричать было хорошей идеей? Честно говоря, я бы отступил, если бы оказался в подобной ситуации."(Was yelling a good idea? Honestly, I would back out if I found myself in a similar situation.)
"But what does you say? It's super effective"
Then they saw him... he was tall, and his gaze pierced to the core of them, he approached to the group at a slow pace.
Both Lizzy and Emily took a step back, however Doll did not move an inch, she stared at the being, almost hypnotized.
Mitchell looked at the Drone in front of him, she looked so different but at the same time so familiar, as if he knew her from somewhere, he was hypnotized watching how the dark purple-haired girl took a small step, in a moment she stood up her arm and he copied her action, touching your palm with his, it feels familiar, like a part of him is here. However, his instincts quickly kicked in, he pushed the purple-haired girl away using her arm while something fell from the vent. A sword had created a small crater where he and the Drone were a second ago, right there was the owner of the weapon, a Murder Drone, who was looking at the four, three drones and her target.
"Wow, this place is very big but I finally caught you big guy, so I'll kill you quickly and have a little snack with those Drones" Z said while turning her hands into claws
"MURDER DRONE AHHHH" Emily screamed before running out to the way she came, Lizzy and Doll left with no other option, knowing that without Uzi's gun or sunlight both would be no match for this one.
Doll turned to look at the creature, noticing that he did not move an inch from his place, in fact she could see how a mark appeared on his skin, his muscles contracted, before letting out a monstrous scream of anger to the Murder Drone who was laughing to start a fight... which was very one-sided, although Doll couldn't see much as she was pulled by Lizzy out of danger and started running towards the Prom...
"Let's see what you're made of, big guy." Z launched herself to cut Mitchell's face with the intention of ripping his face off, something that miraculously failed because he was able to avoid the cut by twisting his back a little. M took a step back, he knew that in a physical competition he had no way of win, so he decided to do the most logical thing... Run, so he ran in the opposite direction of the 3 Drones to keep the metal demon away from them, Z smiled at the idea of playing cat and mouse, so she deployed her wings, something that was difficult due to the size of the hallways, which Mitchell took advantage of, since Z's feet were not designed to run much on the ground unlike more manly designs, she would be restricted in flight on place like this.
He looked back to see how Z turned her left arm into a rocket launcher and fired a missile at him, so he launched himself into the detour, feeling part of the explosion that shook the entire ground, he stood up and began to run, slightly in pain due the shock wave but that was only a second before his body worked to repair the damage and with adrenaline rushing through his brain, he tried to dodge the projectiles that were now bullets, some hit him but he didn't slow down at all, in one point he sees a detour to the right so he takes it, Z crashes because she couldn't fight the acceleration she had taken, fracturing her visor a little but she quickly regenerates to look at where Mitchell went, noticing a couple of closed room.
"Let's see where you went" Z began to open each door with a kick while she had her weapons ready to turn Mitchell into Swiss cheese, nothing, nothing, nothing, NOTHING.
"Where the hell did he go?" She said, looking when she saw that she couldn't find M, then she heard something above her while she was opening the last door. Mitchell jumped from the roof in a surprise attack, managing to push Z to the ground and because she wasn't prepared for that, Mitchell began to dominate her, managing to retain her arms and using the difference in size to his advantage, immobilizing most of her body...... I say most because Z's tail was free so she moved it and stuck it in the Mitchell's throat.
Making him fall to one side feeling the pain of how his flesh melts, his cells started a war trying to counteract the corrosive properties of the nano acid but they are more powerful, so killed Mitchell's cells on the neck, Z grab him from the left leg and threw him into a room, hitting a vending machine with his body, Mitchell's consciousness almost went away but Z did not end there, she transformed her hand into a knife and began to make mincemeat of Mitchell, now he was ground meat, and then Z looked around noticing that she was in some kind of warehouse.
"It's done" she told herself, send the text to the others and began to returned to the others, she was thirsty for oil.
"EVERYONE CALM, THE CAVALRY HAS ARRIVED!" Uzi shouted after N and V blew up the entrance, noticing how a whole group of Drones was in a corner taking cover, turning her head a little she can see the Murder Drones, two males, fighting against Yeva, she kept them at bay as best she could, using a railing to block a sword while she jumped back after the block and landed on a table like a ninja.
"Wow, I didn't know that Doll's mom had style" she said.
"What are you two doing? You should help us!" T said when he noticed N and V.
"I'm sorry but we're changing sides, the company we're talking about is a bit silly" said V before changing her hands into claws, which were blocked by T's sword, who used his free left hand to hit her in the side with an electromagnetic pulse cannon launching V a few of meter back.
"Naturally, we are resistant to electromanetic pulses, however, it is resistance, not immunity, the closer you are to the target the more the effects can be felt" said T who predicted N trying to attack him from behind with his sword but the sword was broken by T's chainsaw and then N was pushed by his tail.
Uzi attacks D with a knife lying on the ground but the Murder drone was more agile, blocking it with his left claw while shooting with his machine gun at Yeva who created a shield to deflect the bullets, which D responds by grabbing Uzi with his tail and throw her at Yeva, she intended to catch the purple-haired girl in the air using her Solver but she couldn't, which surprised her, she had to catch her manually, only to be received by a stab, which went through Uzi's side and below Yeva's waist, D had moved at the same moment he threw Uzi using this opening to attack both of them.
D took out his sword from both, letting the slightly reddish colored oil come out of both.
"UZI!" N shouted furiously, moving at full speed towards the them, but Z came out of the ventilation and moved quickly towards Yeva, sending her flying to N so both colling, saving D's neck.
"Sorry for being late, that thing while weak didn't want to die and he made me lose three more victims, hey, why are we fighting with those two?" Z asked to her classmates.
"Traitors, eliminating them is a priority, however be careful with the one with the darker purple hair, it seems she has super telekinetic powers" D tells her, blocking V's two swords with his own sword while before making his tail grab Uzi's leg and the smash against V sending them both flying....
"D you will fight with the boy, Z take care of the big purple one and I-" he could not finish since he was hit with a chair by Khan, the problem is that the Chair broke and T turned to see him, Khan gave a nervous smile as T changed his right arm into a chainsaw, Khan start to running for his life.
Now everyone positioned themselves, Uzi was bleeding to death but Yeva quickly stood next to her, a strange symbol appeared on her hand closing the wound but not the pain and Khan would take Uzi's arms moving her out of danger.
Yeva stood next to N and V, it was something she hated but she needed the help of these two to win.
"Я НЕ ЗАБЫВАЮ, ЧТО ТЫ СО МНОЙ СДЕЛАЛ!" (I DON'T FORGET WHAT YOU DID TO ME!) Yeva said to V who looked at her strangely for a second but focused on the fight.
However, through the other door, Lizzy and Doll entered, seeing the disaster.
"Ok, there goes my coronation as prom queen" Lizzy said noticing how there were corpses in some places and a crowd in the background, but she focused on the murder drones.
"подожди, как ты здесь? если несколько минут назад ты был позади." (wait, how are you here? if a few minutes ago you were behind of us?.) Doll asked to Z
"Oh, well after killing the target just enter through the ventilation, this whole place is mapped, there is no escape or safe place now, especially when the other squads get here" She said, everyone open their eyes a little.
For some reason, Doll felt strange hearing that Z had killed that creature, as if she had been told that a relative of hers had been murdered.
However, she looked at her mother who looked at her with the expression that she should go to a safe place... Doll for the first time did not know what to do, her body froze, she felt afraid, she felt afraid of die, she didn't want to die...
Lizzy however did not stay still, she held her friend and took her out of there.
V was the first to move her sword like a dance, hitting the sword of T, who turned around to try to hit v with his other hand, which was blocked by V.
V was fast, she used everything she had, T blocked as best he could, waiting for the right moment until V's left arm got stuck in a weapon change, apparently the effect of the electromagnetic pulse weapon took effect at that moment, which would allow T perform a boxing attack combination Side swing - oblique rise - circular downward turn - wrist lock.
The combination was enough to weaken V and allow T to hit her with a shotgun in her skull, sending her flying, it would take her 3 minutes to regenerate from all the damage.
N's steps equalized D's steps, sparks came out as they both fought, they changed from swords to claws. But there was something that distinguished them, N never fought with someone experienced, he or J or V never tried to train, they always improvised since they never expected the Worker Drones to fight for their lives with the same equipment, D, T and Z for their part did. They trained, not because the Worker Drones were armed but because they had nothing better to do when it was daylight, they trained combat tactics, managing to hurt each other, and from there they knew perfectly how their bodies worked and their limits.
At one point, D spat in N's face which made him put his hands to his face to remove the drool but he ended up with two less arms and a missile in his head being sent flying.
Yeva detailed her movement with Z, using two knives and her solver to compensate the difference in weaponry, with a move of her hand, Yeva imposes a shield that protects her from the explosions of Z who tried to blow her up with a missile. She summons a knife and throws it at Z, removing her arm. Almost immediately, Yeva removes the ceiling fan from its pole and throws it upright.
However Z was faster, she moved her body to the side, the fan remained stuck in the wall, perhaps if she had attacked horizontally she would have been dead.
With a movement of her tail, she raised her severed arm towards her shoulder, placing it and moving to continue the fight. She changed her arm into a flash grenade launcher and fired them. Yeva tried to block it with a shield, thinking that they were explosive grenades, but she was blinded and disoriented. She was slammed against a wall and immobilized again, this time Z would nail two metal barrels, one in her left arm and the other in her right arm.
"Okay, let's get this over with-" she not finished her words due a brick hit her, she turned around, T and D followed her gaze.
At the door they could see someone almost without nothing if it weren't for a pair of shorts, his skin white as snow as some minor wounds closed, his mouth had a piece of meat frozen before he finished eating it, Mitchell with a ax in his left hand and concrete block in the other he looked at the three Murder drones, ready to end this.
(I FINALLY FINISHED THIS AHHHHHH....
The English version has 1.5k views, maybe I'll do a 10k word special when we get 2k views, this one has a little over 5,000 words.
Well, see you another time.
Mitchell to the Z, T and D be like
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Evj6HbsXAAEmdlo.jpg
submitted by NeronStar7 to MurderDrones [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 19:38 TypewriterTypeWrote [SF] 'Diamonds' Part 1 (Part of the 'Human Nature' series)

PART 1

“Don’t touch!” Abe commanded, slapping Max’s hand away. They were both bent over at the waist, admiring.
“Sorry, it’s just… so… what is it?”
“I call it the Alchemic Thaumaturgator.”
“Of course you do. Is that because you couldn’t think of anything simpler, or you just liked the way it rolls off the tongue?” Max smirked.
“Mmm, it’s a work in progress.” He flung a sideways glare at him.
“Sure. So what is one of these?”
“It’s complicated and delicate and to be honest it’s a bit of a mystery, even to me.”
“Right.” There was a moment of silence as they continued scrutinising.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Abe murmured, almost to himself.
“I mean, yeah, of course….”
“Don’t look at me like that, I can’t tell you what I don’t know!” Abe stood up and let out a disgruntled huff.
“Hmm. Well, it’s confusing enough to give you nausea just looking at it so I’m sure they’d love it as an offering for the Nobel Prize, especially with a name like ‘Alcomic Thordy-whatsit.’”
“Well, maybe, if it gets that far. I nearly broke it last week, which is why I’m telling you,” Abe stood up straighter, one hand on his hip and the other pointed firmly at Max, “to strictly to keep your curious hands to yourself, ok? I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t necessary.”
“Ok ok, I won’t touch it. But really, it looks like it should be in a museum somewhere. Or a Cabinet of Curiosities...”
“Little good would it do in either of those places.” Abe turned to Max and clasped both his hands in his own. “Listen, you are my closest friend and this thing is very important to me. I wouldn’t leave it with you if I didn’t think you were perfectly capable of safeguarding it, so please don’t worry, I know it’s in good hands.”
“If you really think I’m up to it?”
“I do.”
“Well, I’ll take that as a compliment!” Max threw his arms in the air in a sarcastic show of tah-dah! “Go forth, oh Knight of Overly-Complex Science, go do what you have to do and I’ll keep an eye on this beast for you. Shove it on the table and I’ll look after it and Will Not Touch It.”
Abe looked put out, but comically so. “Is that really what you think I sound like?” He laughed. “I’ll put it over here, then. Get in touch if you need me, any time. You have my contacts?”
“I do…” Max fumbled around his pockets. “They’re… here. Got them right here.”
“Good. In which case I’ll leave you to your own devices. See you soon, and thank you.”
“See you soon.”
“Take care. Oh, one more thing. If you talk to it, it talks back.” Abe shut the door behind himself.

***

“So, you’re an Alchronic Thormome… grater? Doesn’t sound right… So tell me, what is one of them?” Max stared at the thing, perplexed.
It reminded him of what the love-child would be between a glass roller coaster and a steampunk jellyfish, though it bore absolutely no resemblance at all to a jellyfish, and fascinated him far more than that nature documentary he had been watching last week ever could. Jellyfish bobbing around and being brainless and boring, and when they weren’t they were stinging people to death and getting eaten by turtles. Even the name is boring. Jelly. Fish. Like those squidgy, dry-goo kids toys that you’re supposed to throw at the window but gets hair stuck to it when it falls on the carpet. Yuck.
Which was weird, considering this monstrosity he had been tasked with looking after was definitely the most interesting and intricate and pretty thing he had probably ever clapped eyes on. It had a heaviness to it, a purpose. And it felt like it was watching him.
Better steer clear for a while. It looks weird, he had been told things that absolutely made it sound weird and to be honest, it frightened him a little.
He wasn’t usually one to be afraid. Hell, he’d always been the brawn of his sturdy group of friends, right since he was a kid. He had worked his way up the proverbial ladder and had been widely recognised as the guy you don’t screw with at his school, though he wasn’t particularly proud of how he got there, (there had been a lot of fights behind the bike sheds and nicked sandwiches under the threat of blackmail at lunch). But he had forgotten all that and settled himself into being the relatively good-looking, popular, flirtatious guy who did a moderately average job in the eyes of his colleagues and had a moderate measure of success with the ladies.
Made no sense then that this contraption he had been lumbered with for a stint had shaken him by its sheer solidness on his front room table. It seemed to be unmovable in its presence, though it was light as a feather when it had been brought in and that fact in itself threw him because how can something that looked so substantial weigh that little? His bloody breakfast weighed more!
“What the hell are you?” Max wondered out loud.
He sat and stared at the thing for the longest time, watching to see if it would move. Only the sparkly inner swirled. Nothing more. It gave him the feeling of lying on the bottom of the ocean, staring at the sun beams though the surface until it started to fade. His eyes stared to fade. His mind went blank. He was being sucked down a long, dark tunnel of still water by his chest, he was sinking and swimming and becoming the empty space around him, it seemed he could feel the particles in the air as they vibrated and resounded in his ears, felt himself being blinded…
Max blinked and snapped back into the room, found himself standing in front of the machine. The studded brass bands holding the tubes together rotated slowly, silently.
Yeah, there’s something not right about that thing. Something unnatural.
Slowly backing out of the room and trying very hard not to show the Alcolic Thormatador… Thermanter… the thing that it was making him uncomfortable, he sidled through the doorway and into the hall. Yeah, that thing is just plain wrong.
In the corridor he paused, tried to laugh at himself.
This thing is just metal and glass and sparkly water, he thought. It doesn’t have the brainpower to understand that I feel some kind of way about it and even if it did, what is it going to do? It’s an invention, a machine and nothing more and machines are made by people, made by my friend, so what the hell is there to be afraid of?
He reached the kitchen, surprised at his own existential awareness that seemed to come quite fluidly, which was most unlike him. Maybe he was getting soft in the head. He heard that happened at a certain time of life but that phenomenon would be a bit premature. He wasn’t much past his third decade, thank you very much!
Max filled a mug from the water boiler and threw in a teabag and a few sugars. He squeezed the bag against the side of the mug until the dregs started dropping, plapped it in the sink and poured in milk. He stirred his tea well, just as always, but now the clinking of the mug took on an added layer of comfort when he knew what was in the front room. He wasn’t in a dark tunnel where he couldn’t do anything but watch, he was in his own kitchen that he had had rebuilt last year. He picked out the worktops and cupboards, he chose the shiny silver appliances, he bought the gourmet herbs and put them on the window sill, slightly over-watered and flooding their drip trays until they almost overflowed. He was in his own kitchen, familiar down to the millimetre, and solid. Nothing could touch him here.
No, he thought, it’s just an invention. A thing.
He put the spoon down with certainty on the worktop and squared his shoulders: he marched down the hall towards the front room with his tea in his left hand and the right balled up into a fist. He paused for a second outside the door. No sound.
This is my house, I won’t be intimidated in my own damned house.
He rounded the corner, planted his feet wide and glared hard at the thing.
“Look, I don’t know what you are,” he said to the machine, “but you don’t look dangerous. And seeing as we’re going to be spending some time together, I’m just going to ignore you and you can ignore me, ok? No making me feel like I’m being watched, no making me feel like I’m swimming around somewhere in space, no more weird stuff and I won’t put you in the loft. We’ll coexist in blissful harmony, like water and jellyfish.”
The Alchemic Thaumaturgator just sat there, glistening.
“Ok. Good. Fine.”
He grabbed the fern and the shamefully stunted lucky bamboo (that damned plant his cat was always rubbing his face on) that were perched next to the door and shoved them onto the table in front of the machine, mostly obscuring it from view. Better.
Max backed up and sat on the couch under the window, across the room from the table and that freakish unicorn turd of a contraption. He wrenched his eyes away for just long enough to put on the television and throw one final look over at the thing on his table, searching for it amongst the foliage. It hadn’t moved. It just sat there. He gestured at it rudely with a slightly shaking hand.
The soothing sound of the narrator drew him back into his TV and another nature documentary, this time about the great apes of the rainforests of Western Africa. This was much more interesting. He swivelled sideways in his chair to face the screen directly, sipping away at his tea.
“See,” he said towards the table, “this is exactly what…”
He glanced back and promptly fell out of his chair. His tea went flying as his mug thudded to the floor in an all too under-dramatic fashion compared to what his adrenaline was doing.
The thing was lighting up! It was glowing! Only a little bit but it was actually putting out light!
“Jeez!” Max shouted at it from the floor. “What is that? How is that happening? What is it doing? Stop it! Stop it!”
He scrambled around, on his hands and knees and still on the floor, trying to shut off the sounds of viciously shaken branches and primates howling at each other. The screen mercifully emitted a heavy click and fell into blackness as the remote fell to the floor. In the resounding silence of the room it was just Max, his adrenaline-fuelled breathing and the glass machine.
He stared at it. It absolutely was staring at him, even from between the leaves, there was no doubt, the liquid in the middle was pooling and somehow gathering at the front of the tubes facing the room. The glowing light had already started to fade and the liquid lost concentration and dispersed again, slowly swirling around in all its glittery glory, just as it had before.
Max was still splayed out on the floor, his breathing struggling to return to normal. He stood up and flattened himself shakily against the wall.
“What just happened?” he muttered under his breath. “What the hell was that…”
The thing looked at him, ‘nothing to see here,’ it said, feigning innocence.
“Whatever you are, just stay the hell away from me!” Max shouted at the machine as skirted around the walls until he got to the doorway. The door was ajar but, because his eyes were fixed in horror at the fragments of the machine that were exposed from within the plants, he bumped backwards into the door, nudging it closed and clicking it shut. Fumbling for the handle he tried to wrench it open, only to find the handle in his hand, horrifyingly detached.
He was stuck in there with it.
Panic flooded his body. A sharp twist in his gut and sweat poured from every millimetre of his skin and a faint whine emitted from his mouth.
Deep breaths, he told himself. Deep breaths, you can figure this out. It can’t hurt you, so just sit down and figure it out.
He sat himself back on the sofa, pushing it further back and rucking up the rug into waves in front of him with his feet. Never had he been so afraid of an inanimate object before. Spiders, yes. The open ocean, yes. Heights, yes. But this?
He sat staring at it, filtering his brain through his usual coping processes. He couldn’t beat it, like he had done in school. He couldn’t charm it, like he had done at the office…
“It’s an elaborate Newton’s Cradle, for Christ’s sake! A fancy-man’s Rubik’s cube!” he told himself. “Some science experiment that a five year old could have done. Yeah, I bet he just put some glow stick stuff in the water and mixed it up and told me it’s real to scare me. It doesn’t even look that bad.” He stood up and took a hesitant half step towards it on quavering knees and reluctant feet, fighting the ‘flight’. “See? Can’t hurt me.”
Max blinked. The thing hadn’t even moved. What was so scary about it anyway? The glowing? It was probably the reflection off the TV. He moved the plants from in front of it with outstretched arms and stepped back as far as he could go.
“I’m going to call you Ruth,” he said, getting bold and pointing at it, “because Alcoholic Thermo… whatever is just ridiculous. Ok? And Ruth was my grandma’s name, and I liked her, she was safe as houses.” Sure, his grandma had died of an embolism nearly ten years ago, but he wasn’t going to admit that to this thing that he didn’t even know what an embolism was. Ruth was a safe name and the familiarity was comforting.
He felt the liquid moving towards the front of the glass again, shimmering and pulling him in. He felt his fear spike, then dissolve. It couldn’t hurt him. He was safe. He was in control.
“I think it was mean of him to call you something so ridiculous. But I suppose if he’s going to go for the Nobel Prize they like that kind of thing, don’t they?” He half laughed, took another step towards it. “Those competitions are always stupid though, nobody ever comes up with anything really new, it’s not like they’ve invented hovercraft cars or machines that can take you on holidays to the afterlife, is it?” He had nearly reached the table now. The tubes were glowing a little still and he could see something moving in there. His curiosity peaked over the top of his fear and had a good look at the prospect of getting closer. Curiosity decided to get closer.
Max leaned down, hands on knees, and stared into the ever-moving swirls that flowed through the glass tubing. Arms extended to their full defensive stance, he gently nudged the plants out of the way and took a good look at Ruth. He remembered his friend saying something about studs and elements.
“Hey, there they are! I didn’t see these before! So those… those are elements? Are they elements?” He asked the glass, dumbfoundedly pointing at the stuff he had assumed was glitter but now wasn’t half as sure. He had never seen elements before…
Ripples glowed in the liquid: it had heard him. They moved closer and were warming now, somehow.
“No way!” Max exclaimed, his mouth hanging open. So this is what Abe had meant! “It’s not possible! It’s not real! Is it real? Are you real?” He asked. “Of course you’re real, you’re sitting on my table! Ha! What a stupid question Max. So, if I ask you a question, are you gonna answer me, huh?”
The glass glittered at him, but nothing else.
“Ok, are you alive?”
Nothing.
“Hmph. Maybe it was a trick of the light.”
No answer.
Max flopped into the sofa, his brows furrowed at Ruth.
He found himself talking to himself, trying to dispel the weird energy that his friend’s invention had brought with it.
“This thing is strange. He said if I talk to it then it responds, but I asked it a question and it doesn’t do anything, but when I was watching that monkey progr…”
He stopped short.
“Yeah! Let’s shove that chimp documentary back on, shall we?”
Click, the screen shot into life of every colour of the rainforest, the howls echoing around the room. But Max didn’t watch the TV, he had his eyes firmly fixed on Ruth, remote still in hand in front of her, waiting expectantly.
Nothing. Dammit. Just the glittery same as glittery before.
Max tried not to let the tidal wave of disappointment wash him away. Maybe it wasn’t the show. Maybe it was a prank, a trick of the light after all.
Max bent to put the remote on the arm of the sofa. The light from the TV shone onto the table and Ruth crescendoed into life and started throwing out beams of light that looked like the solar flares he had seen on that awful show about space and rocks and stuff he wasn’t in the least bit interested in but had watched anyway.
But he had figured out the key: he was standing in between Ruth and the screen and his shadow had been overcasting the table! Ruth needed a full view to do… that thing… whatever it was that she was doing with the light.
Ping, pong, ping, pong, his eyes went between Ruth and the monkeys sailing through the trees by their ridiculously long arms, right up until the credits started rolling and she faded to a faint glow again. She still glittered but it wasn’t the same. She definitely needed encouragement. Inspiration, if you will.
Max flicked across through each channel, watching Ruth closely for any changes (of which there were none,) tock, tock, tock went the remote until he found a different channel, one that was obviously designed for people with limited imagination, because wow, even he can outpace the monotonous nasal narrator and he didn’t consider himself a particularly clever man! He wasn’t stupid either, but on the last one when they started to explain what a bacteria is he had lost his rag and shouted at the screen a bit.
“Everyone knows what a bloody bacteria is!” he had yelled. “Tell me something I don’t know, yeesh! Whoever said these documentaries were supposed to be informative obviously hadn’t got two brain cells to run together.” But the cinematography was nice. Lots of nature-looking things to watch, the natural world an’ all.
This time it was about walruses. All flopping around on the sea shore, getting sunburned and jabbing at each other with their overgrown chompers. He had seen this one before, it wasn’t as patronising as the others. Predictably narrated, yes, but not patronising.
He turned up the volume and spun round to look at Ruth.
She was throwing out flares again, hundreds of short wisps!
And just to test the theory, he tocked across onto the menu screen and selected a random game show that he had never heard of. True to form, Ruth dimmed back to her uninspired state of simple glitteritude.
“AHA! I knew it! You’re a sucker for the nature channel too! Aha! Ahahaha!”
Max threw up his arms in celebration, the remote going flying, cheering into the emptiness of the room. Empty, except for him and this thing which apparently had a liking for chimps and sunburnt sea mammals.
Damn, this thing is incredible, he thought. Why the hell, how the hell does it…?
He sat, flabbergasted, mouth agape.
Suddenly he jumped up, scrabbling around behind the sofa trying to find the remote again, where is it where is it where is it…
He flicked the volume up and down and Ruth still put out light. She shone and shone, the beauty!
He started singing to her, “shine on, you crazy diamond!”
She seemed to like that, too.
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